It wasn’t until noon that Barney finally groaned and opened his eyes, waking from his healing slumber.

By then, Silas had already finished scrubbing the battlefield clean.

“Total haul is one hundred and thirty Cores,” Silas reported, wiping sweat from his bare chest. “There were over two hundred carcasses nearby, plus the ones you killed earlier, but a lot of them were burnt to a crisp. The Cores inside were ruined.”

Silas had bundled the harvested crystals into his shirt. He wrapped them tight and handed the heavy sack to Jax.

Jax didn’t stand on ceremony. He took the bundle, feeling the satisfying weight of it. Over a hundred Cores—a small fortune in the wasteland.

“Here,” Jax said, untying the knot. He grabbed a generous handful of glowing crystals and thrust them toward Silas. “For your trouble.”

Silas waved his hands frantically, taking a step back. “No, no, no! I just came to help. Seeing you guys alive is payment enough. How could I take your money?”

“I said take it,” Jax insisted, his voice firm. “Don’t be polite with me.”

Silas still hesitated. Jax looked at the man, and a sudden idea formed in his mind. He needed to test this guy.

“Tell you what,” Jax said, lowering his hand. “If you really want to help, I need a runner. Can you go back to Outpost 15? I need suturing needles, thread, disinfectant, and gauze.”

He pointed to the shredded leather on his back and the nasty gash on Barney’s hip.

Silas nodded immediately. “No problem. I’ll go right now.”

He turned to grab the rope, but Jax called him back.

“Wait. There’s one more thing.” Jax feigned a heavy sigh, leaning against the wall as if his strength was failing. “I’m exhausted. I need to sleep, like, really sleep. I’m worried someone might sneak in and steal these while I’m out cold.”

Jax held out the entire bag of Cores—worth over a hundred thousand Credits.

“You hold onto these for me. Take them with you. Use whatever you need to buy the supplies, and keep the rest safe until you get back.”

Silas stared at the bag. He froze, his eyes locked on the glowing wealth in Jax’s hands.

For a scavenger in the wasteland, this was a life-changing amount of money. It was a windfall that could set a man up for years. Temptation flickered in his eyes—how could it not?

But Silas grit his teeth, took a deep breath, and shook his head firmly.

“No. Absolutely not. It’s too dangerous for me to carry that much wealth alone. You keep them hidden, Boss. I’ll use my own credits for the meds.”

Without waiting for a reply, Silas turned and slid down the rope, disappearing into the canyon.

Jax watched him go. As Silas vanished from view, a cold smile played on Jax’s lips. He reached behind his back and uncocked the pistol he had been gripping the entire time, setting it down on the crate.

It was a test.

If Silas had taken the bag, he never would have left the valley alive.

But the man had resisted the temptation. Jax nodded, satisfied.

However, the vetting process wasn’t over. In the apocalypse, trust was a currency more valuable than Cores, and infinitely harder to earn. Silas had passed the greed test, but Jax needed to know if he would stick around when things got tough, or if he was just biding his time for a bigger score.

Jax looked up. The midday sun was blinding, baking the rocks of the canyon. His eyes drifted to the silent Sentry Towers, and a sudden realization hit him.

“Damn it. I’m out of Energy Shards.”

The towers were dry. Without fuel, they were just expensive statues.

“What do I do?” Jax muttered, rubbing his chin. “Do I spend a hundred Cores to refresh the shop and pray for Shards?”

He looked at the bag of loot. It had taken days of life-and-death fighting to accumulate this. If he spent it on a reroll and got trash, he’d be defenseless tonight.

Just as the anxiety began to gnaw at him, a mechanical chime rang in his head.

[New Task: Bind an Energy Shard Miner.] [Requirement: Target must have Loyalty of 60 or higher.] [Reward: Tier 1 Extraction Well (x1).] [Failure Penalty: All current EXP cleared.]

Jax blinked, then grinned. “Talk about perfect timing. Just as I was nodding off, someone slipped a pillow under my head.”

An Extraction Well. That meant infinite ammo.

He turned his gaze to Barney, who was snoring loudly in the corner.

“Barney?” Jax mused. “His loyalty is definitely over 60. He’d probably die for me.”

He watched the giant sleep, drool pooling on the concrete floor. Barney was simple, innocent. Turning him into a resource-gathering unit felt… wrong. Inhumane.

“No,” Jax decided, shaking his head. “Barney’s been through enough.”

His thoughts returned to Silas.

Jax decided to wait. He would test Silas one more time. If the man returned, and if his loyalty score was high enough, he would be the one.

It was late afternoon when Silas returned.

He came jogging up the canyon path, swaying slightly from exhaustion. He was drenched in sweat, his chest heaving with every breath.

The distance between Sector 33 and Outpost 15 was roughly twenty kilometers. Silas had run a full marathon—forty kilometers—in a single afternoon, carrying supplies, just to get back before dark.

“I… I got everything,” Silas panted, scrambling up to the platform. He held up a plastic bag. “And I heard rumors on the way back. The insectoids might attack again tonight. Do we need to reinforce the walls?”

He didn’t stop to rest. He immediately knelt behind Jax and began cleaning the wounds on his back with the disinfectant.

Jax sat silently, enduring the sting of the alcohol. He was thinking.

Should I bind him? What if his loyalty isn’t high enough? What if he betrays me later?

Silas sensed the silence. He thought he had done something wrong, so he shut his mouth and focused on his work, his hands steady despite his fatigue.

Finally, Jax spoke.

“You said earlier that you wanted to follow me. That you wanted to be part of my crew. True or false?”

Silas paused, the needle hovering over Jax’s skin. “True,” he said instantly. “I’ve decided to follow you, Boss. As long as you’re willing to take me in.”

Jax turned his head, locking eyes with the older man. Silas didn’t blink. His gaze was tired, but clear. No deception.

Jax made his decision.

“Turn around,” Jax commanded. “Back to me.”

Silas hesitated for a fraction of a second. In the wasteland, turning your back on an armed man was suicide. But he gritted his teeth and turned around, exposing his defenseless spine to Jax.

Jax could see the man’s muscles tense, trembling slightly with adrenaline.

“Relax,” Jax said softly. “I’m not going to kill you. But I am going to put you to work. It’s going to be hard labor.”

“I don’t mind hard work,” Silas said, his voice tight. “I can handle anything.”

Jax reached out and placed his palm on the crown of Silas’s head. Silas froze, unsure of what was happening, but he didn’t pull away.

[Target: Silas.] [Loyalty: 65.] [Bind as Miner?]

Jax mentally selected [Confirm].

Hum.

A pulse of golden light surged from Jax’s palm, flowing directly into Silas’s skull.

Silas gasped. He felt a torrent of warm, vibrant energy flood his system, washing away the fatigue of the forty-kilometer run. His muscles swelled with newfound power, and his mind sharpened.

He spun around, staring at his own hands. The calloused skin seemed tougher, the grip stronger. He felt revitalized, stronger than he had been in ten years.

“I… What did you do to me?” Silas stammered, looking at Jax with wide, terrified eyes.

Then, realization dawned on him.

Jax wasn’t just a rich survivor with good tech. He was one of them.

“You’re an… Awakened?” Silas whispered.

In the lore of the wasteland, Awakened were the chosen few. When the cosmic radiation hit, most things died or mutated into monsters. A rare few humans, however, gained supernatural abilities. Super strength, speed, summoning… they were the warlords and kings of the new world.

Silas knew about them from his days dealing with The Helios Syndicate in Redrock Bastion, but he had never met one.

“Boss…” Silas looked at Jax with reverence. “You really are an Awakened.”

Jax paused. He hadn’t expected that conclusion, but it was a useful cover story.

He narrowed his eyes, putting on a mysterious, dangerous expression. He nodded slowly.

“That’s right. My ability allows me to bestow power upon my followers.” Jax leaned in close, his voice dropping to a whisper. “But you know the rules. If this gets out…”

“I know! I know!” Silas interrupted, nodding furiously. “I won’t say a word! I swear on my life!”

Silas was trembling with excitement. Awakened were royalty. Following one meant a ticket out of the gutter. He had accidentally stumbled into the service of a future king. His gamble had paid off.

“Boss, don’t worry. My lips are sealed.”

[Task Complete.] [Reward: Tier 1 Extraction Well (x1) deposited in inventory.]

Jax smiled. “Good.”

He stood up and checked the sky. “What time is it?”

Silas squinted at the horizon. “About five. Two hours of light left.”

“Two hours… alright.”

Jax walked to the edge of the base and looked across the canyon to the high platform on the opposite side.

“Time to expand.”