[201-400] THE MECH'S TOUCH

Chapter 310: Vault

The devourer king suffered the same fate as its lesser brothers, but the price hadn't been worth it. The creature managed to wound the Gregarious Wrath severely. Over twenty percent of her systems and crew had been lost, stranding the giant tunneling machine near the inner core of the Glowing Planet.

Who knew if more devourer kings rested deeper inside. What if an even larger devourer emperor rested in the exact center? The Gregarious Wrath couldn't take on another devourer king even if she wanted to, so the entire deep mining expedition stopped advancing deeper.

While the smaller tunneling and mining machines started excavating the Rorach's Bone buried in the vicinity, everyone aboard the Wrath began to help with the repairs.

They only had a few days to get the Wrath functional again. The end of the seventy-day period loomed closer and the Mech Corps started to plan for a comprehensive evacuation. The Wrath needed at least a couple more days to climb back up to the surface.

Meanwhile Ves or rather Lucky became the star of the show. No one expected the small and cute mechanical pet that always hung around Ves to hide such potent capabilities. Even Ves himself didn't know that Lucky could harm energy beings!

"Lucky!" Ves held his dim cat in front of his face. "Why didn't you help me fend off my mother? You could have chased her away at the very least!"

"Meow."

Ever since he repelled the huge devourer king, Lucky turned almost lifeless, as if he expended all of the energy he accumulated ever since he stepped on the Glowing Planet.

"Next time my mother comes, don't sit around like a helpless kitten. Just swipe her face with your claws!"

"Meow…"

Ves sighed. He couldn't stay angry at his cat, especially since he saved his life yet again. Right now, he wanted to make sure that Lucky got rewarded for his services.

The entire crew aboard the Gregarious Wrath looked at Lucky with a new light. Some wanted to pick him up and hug him, while others gripped their holstered pistols tighter. Pretty much everyone took for granted that Lucky was an extravagant bodyguard pet from a first-rate superstate. Many people envied Ves for owning such an exclusive gift.

"We've almost reached the vault." Chief Petrisc told Ves as their lifter platform almost reached the center of the Wrath. "Now, don't misunderstand. You aren't there to take anything away. You're only tasked with inspecting the security systems for any damage accrued from the last attack. Return as soon as you've run over the systems."

"Understood."

"One more thing. The devourer king's attack has wiped out a lot of archival data, including the logs pertaining to the vault. Please take stock of the inventory while you are there. Of course, you're not allowed to take anything away. We will conduct a strict search when you enter and exit the vault, so don't think you can sneak anything past our guards."

"No problem, chief. I'll make sure not a hair is out of place."

They reached the highly-fortified vault doors. Two mechs stood at the sides, one of which pointed its laser rifle at Ves.

"Don't be alarmed, Ves. Any guest we bring to the vault receives the same treatment."

Though it unnerved Ves to be pointed at by a mech-sized weapon, he could tell that the rifle's safeties hadn't been disengaged. He nodded to show his understanding and let the chief bring him up to the checkpoint where a squad of exoskeleton-suited guards awaited their arrival.

After Ves and Lucky underwent a thorough search, the vault doors slowly retracted, revealing a clean metallic chamber filled with small, head-sized storage compartments.