Jax felt his heart hammering against his ribs like a trapped bird. This wasn’t a lone straggler anymore; the desert floor was boiling with movement.

Through the gloom, he counted at least a dozen yellow carapaces reflecting the weak light from the walls. A swarm.

“Think. Think!”

Jax scanned his surroundings, desperation clawing at his throat. He needed a miracle, not a plan.

Suddenly, a heavy scraping sound erupted from behind him.

Jax flinched, spinning around just as a gust of wind buffeted his face.

“Don’t hurt my brother! You bad bugs!”

A massive Spiked Barricade sailed over Jax’s head, tumbling through the air like a toy before crashing violently onto a charging Sandworm.

CRASH!

“Holy shit! Barney?”

Jax stared, jaw dropping.

Barnaby stood there, his face twisted in a mask of pure, childlike rage. He grabbed another heavy wooden barricade, hefting the hundred-pound structure as if it were made of styrofoam.

“Brother, don’t be scared! I’ll save you!”

Jax was paralyzed for a split second.

“Barney! Watch out!”

Jax snapped out of his stupor. He didn’t have time to ask how the giant had suddenly woken from his coma. Seeing Barnaby charge recklessly toward the swarm, Jax grabbed the sharp carapace shard he had ripped off the first kill and sprinted after him.

The Sandworms were vicious predators, but tonight, they were facing something primal.

Barnaby hit their line like a runaway freight train. He swung the massive barricade, the wooden spikes tearing through chitin and flesh, scattering the insectoid formation. He was a force of nature, a wild bull in a china shop.

Jax swallowed his fear. This was his chance.

Time to steal some kills.

He zeroed in on a Sandworm that Barnaby had flipped onto its back. The creature hissed, legs flailing, exposing its vulnerable underbelly.

Jax didn’t hesitate. He leaped, bringing the jagged carapace shard down like an axe.

Crack.

The blow was true. The improvised weapon split the creature’s skull wide open, spraying fluids across the sand.

Jax felt a rush of adrenaline. He prepared to dig for the Core, but a shrill cry cut through the chaos.

“Brother! It bit me! It bit me! Waaaah!”

Jax abandoned the loot and scrambled toward the sound.

Barnaby was sitting on the ground, wrestling with a Sandworm. The beast had clamped its massive pincer jaws onto the giant’s thigh, the serrated edges grinding into muscle.

“Barney! Hit its head! Smash it!”

Jax shouted as he ran, but he was cut off. Several Sandworms broke from the pack, circling him, mandibles clicking in anticipation.

Barnaby’s wails grew louder, piercing Jax’s eardrums.

“Damn it! Hold on, Barney! I’m coming!”

Jax ignored the threats behind him. He gripped his carapace weapon and dove at the worm attacking his friend.

“Die!”

He brought the shard down with everything he had.

Thwack.

The carapace crunched, leaving a hole in the worm’s head. But the creature didn’t let go; pain only made it clamp down harder.

“Brother! It hurts! It hurts!”

Hearing Barnaby’s agony, Jax saw red. He straddled the worm’s neck and began to pound the shard into its skull like a piston.

One hit. Two hits… Ten hits…

Blood and brain matter flew, coating Jax’s face, but he didn’t stop. He smashed until his arm burned and the creature’s head was nothing but pulp.

Suddenly, a cold, mechanical voice resonated in his skull, drowning out the battle.

[God-Tier Architect System Binding Task Complete. Binding in progress… Please wait.]

[System successfully bound to User.]

[Constructing Interface…]

[Constructing Storage Space…]

[Constructing Mission System…]

The notifications flashed across his vision, momentarily blinding him.

Jax froze, panting heavily. The stench of ozone and rot filled his nose. Through the blur of the system interface, he saw another Sandworm charging, its red eyes glowing in the dark.

“Where is it? Where’s the damn Newbie Gift Pack?”

He ducked a snapping jaw, rolling across the sand.

“You said there was a gift pack! Give it to me!”

Without that pack, the System was just a fancy way to announce his death.

Barnaby was still wailing nearby, clutching his leg, crying like the overgrown child he was.

“Move!”

Jax scrambled up, grabbing Barnaby’s arm and hauling him backward just as a pair of mandibles snapped shut where the giant’s leg had been.

Barnaby looked at him with tear-filled eyes, trying to show Jax his bleeding thigh.

“Not now, Barney!”

They were surrounded. A dozen clicking, hissing nightmares closed the circle.

Jax felt a cold dread wash over him. His scalp tingled.

Is this it? Am I going to die before I even use the System?

Just as despair threatened to take hold, the voice returned.

[Newbie Gift Pack delivered to Storage Space.]

Jax didn’t wait for the sentence to finish. His consciousness dove into the inventory interface.

There it was. A glowing gift box icon.

Open!

[Opened Newbie Gift Pack.] [Received: Tier 1 Bastion Blueprint x1] [Received: Tier 1 Sentry Tower Blueprint x1] [Received: Augmentation Serum x1] [Received: Basic Resource Pack x1]

Augmentation Serum.

“Yes!”

Jax mentally selected the item. A glass vial filled with glowing, pale blue liquid materialized in his hand.

He popped the cork and downed it in one gulp.

Gulp. Gulp.

The effect was instantaneous.

It felt like swallowing lightning. A shockwave tore through his body. His bones cracked and realigned, loud pops echoing like gunfire. His muscles surged and knit together, density increasing at a terrifying rate.

In a single second, he grew taller. His fatigue vanished, replaced by a reservoir of explosive, violent power.

Shhh-shhh.

The Sandworms lunged.

Jax didn’t flinch. He felt Barnaby hugging his arm, the giant trembling in fear.

“Barney,” Jax said, his voice dropping an octave, steady and calm. “Go to the barricade. Wait there. Don’t move.”

He pulled his arm free and turned to face the nearest monster. It was less than half a meter away, jaws wide.

Jax stepped in and threw a straight right.

CRACK!

The sound was sickeningly wet.

Jax’s fist punched straight through the armored skull, obliterating the creature’s brain. The massive worm went limp instantly.

Jax pulled his hand back, staring at his fist. It was coated in slime and gore, but he felt no pain.

“I’m… this strong?”

A feral grin spread across his face.

For the next half hour, a humanoid monster rampaged outside the walls of The Sprawl.

Jax moved like a blur, hunting the hunters. Every punch was a kill shot. He didn’t need weapons; he was the weapon.

By the time the dust settled, Jax stood alone among the carcasses, shirtless, his rags used to wipe the slime from his new, corded muscles. In his hand, he held over a dozen Tier 1 Cores.

Seeing the battle end, Barnaby rushed over, still sniffling.

Jax patted the giant’s head gently. “It’s okay. Brother is back. Look what I got.”

He held up the handful of glowing crystals.

Barnaby wiped his snotty nose, his eyes widening as he looked at the loot. “Brother… I want a big pork knuckle!”

Jax threw his head back and laughed. “Done! Pork knuckles for everyone! But we wait for dawn. The worms won’t come back tonight. When the sun comes up, we enter the city and feast.”

Barnaby cheered, jumping up and down near the gate, shaking the ground.

Watching the innocent display, Jax shook his head and turned his attention back to the System.

“I know what a Sentry Tower is. The Resource Pack is obvious. But what is this Bastion Blueprint?”

He tapped the icon.

[Tier 1 Bastion Blueprint] [Description: Select a location to construct your personal Bastion. Kill insectoids and complete missions to upgrade the Bastion Level. Unlocks advanced Defense Towers and structures.]

Jax nodded slowly. “It’s a base builder. I need to pick a site.”

He looked around the barren desert outside the gate.

“Do I build it inside The Sprawl?”

He frowned, dismissing the idea immediately.

“No. If the factions in The Sprawl see a fortress appearing out of thin air, they’ll swarm me. I’m not strong enough to defend it yet. I’d be dead in a day. It has to be outside.”

Jax sat down on the sand, lost in thought.

He glanced over at Barnaby. The giant was already curled up on the ground, snoring peacefully.

Jax paused, the memory of the barricade flying through the air replaying in his mind.

A realization hit him.

“Wait a minute…”

He looked at the sleeping giant, then at the heavy barricade, then back at the giant.

“You little shit,” Jax muttered, a smirk tugging at his lips. “You were playing dead the whole time so I’d carry you, weren’t you?”