10:25am.

While Talia and the rebels searched and took over the underground bunker, with one of the modified C-5 drones, Brad sent a different batch of rebels back to the main battlefield where Parasite died on a military-grade truck to retrieve everything valuable that was left behind.

The rebels retrieved all the Karaki CT-3X super bikes that were abandoned during the epic battle, including the military-grade trucks that were still intact.

They also retrieved the guns that were left on the corpses of the Zmer gang thugs, including the weapons the Ascended used like Parasite's Zweihander, Alexander Cain's Spear, Cell's swords, and Swain's War Hammer.

They also retrieved the bodies of their comrades, the brave allies who followed Talia during the initial pursuit and all died during the epic battle.

By the time Talia and the other rebels were done taking over the underground bunker, the rebels returned.

Talia didn't stand on ceremony as alongside her crewmates, they each took a Karaki CT-3X super bike before driving outside the Wastes.

Their destination was the fringe.

From what Brad said, Leon asked for a map leading to the fringe of the Wastes. They guessed Leon's intentions to get rid of the D Rank Beast immediately.

Despite guessing his intentions, they were all worried.

Afterall, none of them had the confidence of surviving against a D Rank Neon Beast, not to talk of a Mechanist, a Class that was not proficient in combat.

Despite all the miracles that Leon had created in the short time that he joined the crew, leaving a deep impression on them, the miracles had one thing in common and that was the fact that they were all related to creations.

Leon had never really stood out with his combat abilities so they found it hard to believe that he somehow survived the assault of a D Rank Neon Beast.

Some of them believed that Leon was already dead.

They believed that just like Rex, he sacrificed his life for the crew but they didn't want to accept this reality till they confirmed it with their own eyes, this was why they left to the fringe to search for him, or at least his corpse.

With Brad still being in charge of surveillance, the search for Leon started.

…

11:45am.

Leon's Shelter.

After more than 2 hours of a morning nap, Leon finally woke up feeling refreshed, both mentally and physically.

He was back in tip-top condition.

He didn't have the regenerative powers of a Gene Augur, but as an Ascended his natural regeneration was far higher than that of a normal humanoid. Besides, unlike the frontline combatants like Daren, Brick, and Talia, his injuries were mild in comparison.

This was why he mostly recovered in just 2 hours.

Leon took a deep breath and looked at his surroundings, taking in the sight of the derelict facility where he woke up one more time.

"It's now or never". He muttered to himself in a soft voice, then he sat cross-legged and started meditating.

He was not going into this blind. With the experience he got from watching Talia attempt her own Trial and ascend successfully, Leon was a bit confident but he was also a bit nervous.

He meditated to calm his nerves just like Talia did then.

With a chuckle, he muttered to himself. "I wonder what the E Rank abilities and powers of a Mechanist are".

"I hope they're not just Construct and Deconstruct again". He smiled, then he remembered Talia's words during the moment of truth back then.

His smile widened, then he joked to himself. "Once I connect, don't hesitate".

"If you hear me scream, ignore it. All you have to do is protect my body, protect this hideout and make sure nothing gets to me".

"And if I change…" he mimicked Talia's voice. "You know what to do".

He chuckled at how silly he was being, but that simple action managed to ease his nerves considerably.

He took a deep breath again, and then he interfaced with his System.

DING!

~----~

[Trial Catalyst is synchronized!]

[Commencing E Rank Ascended Trial… please wait…]

~----~

That was the last thing Leon heard and saw in this reality as…

BOOM!

His brain seemed to explode as a flash of bright white light erupted in his vision, blinding him and forcing him to close his eyes.

A subtle distortion field appeared in front of Leon, bending dust and light till it tore open a rift in front of him like a teleportation portal.

The rift was brown and swirling with what seemed like illusory dust and sand.

Then the next moment, Leon's body slumped as his consciousness was pulled inside the rift.

At that moment, Leon's System lit up one final time.

DING!

~----~

[Subject Consciousness Displaced – Trial Instance Active]

~----~

Silence fell inside the derelict SpaceX facility.

…

Blink!

When Leon opened his eyes again, he saw a familiar scenery.

It was not a scenery that he had seen before, but it was a scenery that Talia already described to him before.

This was why he found it familiar.

All around him was light, extremely bright light in the 7 colors of the rainbow as they illuminated his surroundings, blinding his sight even as his body moved about haphazardly like it was being battered by a storm.

Leon felt disoriented.

And then, suddenly, he felt his body, or was it his consciousness being stretched like a rubber band.

Before he could fully register the horror of this feeling and how it made him feel nauseous, everything stopped suddenly.

One moment, his body was being stretched like a rubber band and the next moment, everything stopped and disappeared… turning blank.

It felt like an eraser just erased him and everything in this void from existence.

…

Blink!

Leon opened his eyes again.

This time, he didn't see any 7 colors of the rainbow that blinded his vision neither did he see the familiar surroundings of the derelict SpaceX facility.

Instead, he found himself inside an unfamiliar environment.

At this moment, he was dressed in dark blue overalls, a yellow helmet, and work gloves with heavy yellow boots.

Leon found himself inside a very large hall that he could not see the end of.

There were numerous people wearing the same attire that he wore and they stood in front of different counters with machines of different types in front of them, both heavy and light-weight machines.

At a single glance, Leon noticed computer numerical control machines, injection molding machines, welding and assembly equipment, quality control equipment, and even hidden rooms with a holo-signpost on the door- [Testing Rigs].

He also saw industrial robots that were even more numerous than the Geneforms and Synths in this busy and noisy hall, moving about and acting as capable assistants to the engineers.

There were also robotic arm machines helping the workers.

Leon blinked. 'This is a factory?'

Without a doubt, this was a production factory.

Just like his counter, Leon saw a lot of other counters where the raw materials to create guns like pistols, Rifles, kinetic machine guns, and other types of kinetic guns were gathered, waiting for him to work on them.

In other counters, Leon saw engineers working on melee weapons like swords, spears, and other types of weapons that could be used by Ascended.

He also saw other larger counters with long and thick chains holding and suspending the chassis of cars and military-grade trucks that were still in the construction phase.

He also saw large counters where sophisticated war weapons like missiles were being constructed!

Leon's eyes widened in shock.

After dozens or even hundreds of counters, Leon noticed a demarcation in the different parts of the hall with massive holo-signboards showing the different zones of this construction facility.

[Raw Material Handling]

[Welding and Assembly Area]

[Blueprint Optimization Area]

[Testing Area]

[Storage Area]

Leon's eyes glittered in excitement as he observed and admired his surroundings. 'Is this my Trial? Am I supposed to work here?'

At that moment, the rough mechanical voice of a Synth reverberated angrily through unseen speakers. "Work faster you bums!"

"The war is starting in 2 days and if we want to retain our contract with the Federation, we need to meet the quota, so work faster!"

'Federation?' Leon froze as he keenly caught on to that. 'Wait, am I in the territory of the Omnicore Federation?'

'F*ck!' Leon's eyes widened as his anxiety levels rose.

At that moment, an A.I Construct that was close to him who was not part of the engineers working walked towards him with a frown on his mechanical face.

"What are you spacing out for?" He berated. "Didn't you hear what the manager said?"

"Get your ass up and start working!"

Leon threw a glance at him and nodded calmly. "Yes boss".

"Humph!" The A.I Construct harrumphed and then trudged off.

As the A.I Construct left and Leon focused on the materials that were gathered in his counter, his System suddenly lit up with a new notification.

DING!

~----~

[Time Period: Year 583 A.G]

[Trial Identity: You are an engineer working for the Big Gig Construction Company, a construction company that has a contract with the Omnicore Federation. The Federation is embroiled in another Civil War.]

[Trial Task: The Big Gig Construction Company has received a contract to equip the Omnicore Army with 18,000 units of standardized, durable melee weapons, 28,000 units of standardized guns, 120,000 rounds of ammunition, 800 basic missile chassis parts, and 85 retrofitted, light-armored transports! You must help the Big Gig Construction Company meet this unrealistic target.]

[Objective Summary: Construct or die.]

~----~

"…"

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