Chapter 111: Estate's Status
After Shane had entered this place several days ago, he already completed a full examination of this place.
The documents he had found scattered around the manor, along with the assistance of Cloud, his A.I. assistant, had revealed the true nature of these relics. They were not mere biological curiosities but the building blocks for Project Z\'s monstrous creations.
The room, lined with chambers, held within it the grotesque potential of the apocalypse—organs and parts harvested or even created for the purpose of enhancing zombies under the control of some unseen hand.
Among these, Shane found several Light Orbs pulsating with an eerie glow, once powering the dreaded Flasher Zombies. He was quite familiar with these Orbs as he had already looted them from the Flasher Zombies before.
\'I\'m sure most of the items here have better use than being converted to points. However, I don\'t have the skills to use them yet… I don\'t have the people who can help me either. It\'s better to convert some of them to points, especially if the rate is high.\' Shane thought as he brought out his Conversion Device.
With a heavy heart but a pragmatic mind, Shane had also decided to convert half of these macabre treasures into points for the auction.
Currently, there are 24 containers or cryogenic chambers holding various organs or parts for the research… He thought that taking 12 of them should be more than enough if the value was high.
As for 12 that would remain, he still believed that there was a possibility that these parts might become invaluable should they master the art of crafting from Zombie Parts.
\'I\'m sure that will happen…\' Shane thought.
Shane then opened the first Cryogenic Chamber and used the Conversion Device. Well, he was worried that the whole container, together with the organ, would be taken out, so he decided to use this method instead.
Ding!
[ Conversion Successfu]
Shane\'s eyes lit up after seeing that the organ and the liquid containing it disappeared.
[ Your Tyrant\'s Origin Eye has been valued at 7,580 Points. ]
"What? So high!" Shane was stunned as soon as he saw the result. The eye was actually valued similarly to 7,580 Zombie Cores!
That was incredibly high!
\'Just how are you calculating these points? Cores are too cheap, but some random Zombie parts are too high?\' Shane was kind of speechless at the algorithm of this Conversation Device.
He even had the urge to ask Cloud to hack this device, but he was worried that he might get disqualified if Cloud didn\'t do well in hacking it.
Anyway, now that he learned that organs are here were valued really high, Shane excitedly continued with his conversion.
[ Your Lurker\'s Origin Claw has been valued at 6,050 Points. ]
[ Your Flasher\'s Origin Light Orb has been valued at 3,050 Points. ]
[ Your Jumper\'s Origin Achilles Tendon has been valued at 6,800 Points. ]
[ Your Tanker\'s Origin Hide has been valued at 9,000 Points. ]
[ Your Spitter\'s Origin Gland has been valued at 5,500 Points. ]
[ Your Lurker\'s Origin Retina has been valued at 6,300 Points. ]
[ Your Flasher\'s Origin Bioluminescent Skin has been valued at 4,250 Points. ]
[ Your Tyrant\'s Origin Spinal Fluid has been valued at 7,580 Points. ]
[ Your Crusher\'s Origin Jawbone has been valued at 8,500 Points. ]
[ Your Hunter\'s Origin Vocal Cords has been valued at 6,050 Points. ]
[ Your Tanker\'s Origin Heart has been valued at 10,000 Points. ]
The points were instantly transferred to Shane\'s account, and as each part was converted, it vanished together with the liquid containing them, leaving behind the chambers itself.
[ Total Accumulated Points: 87,215
Shane stood back, the weight of his actions settling in. A part of him felt a bit regretful since he felt that these things would be better used in the future…
No, he believed that he would regret converting these parts in the future.
However, he just couldn\'t wait for that future yet. The Regional Auction was about to start, and he needed to get all the good items here!
\'Well, I at least preserved 12 of them, and some of them are copies of other parts I converted.\' Shane silently thought to comfort himself.
He then looked at the 12 empty chambers and sighed.
He had stripped the remnants of their former horror and turned them into a currency that could very well ensure his survival in the days to come.
"This should give me an edge…" He whispered to himself with a mix of resolve and regret in his voice.
***
"The atmosphere here looks great…" Eliot muttered as he followed behind the butler.
While Shane was busy converting various items into Points he\'d use in the auction, Mr. Wadsworth, the estate\'s butler, guided Eliot around the manor.
As they walked around, Mr. Wadsworth showed how they repaired the crumbling part of the manor house. The wooden beams, stones, and steel to support the part where the foundation was broken were quickly examined by Eliot.
"We\'ve propped up the broken pillar with fresh timber and steel…" The butler said with a hint of helplessness in his voice.
Well, it was a bit crude, but it had at least done its part.
Eliot nodded, his eyes tracing the intricate network of supports that held the manor\'s broken foundation together.
"It\'s already impressive…" He remarked. "It can still be improved, but with your limited resources, it\'s not that bad if you think about it."
They continued their tour, stepping out into the crisp air where the wooden wall stood sentinel.
"Looks great… You guys must\'ve taken a lot of time to build this wall." Eliot commented.
"Ahem… We have some Super Soldiers here, so it\'s not really that time-consuming. Right, you\'ll meet them later."
Mr. Wadsworth said before he gestured towards the warehouse, its doors firmly shut.
\'Super Soldiers?\' Eliot thought before his eyes shifted to where the butler was pointing at.
"That\'s our warehouse…" Mr. Wadsworth said as he led the way.
The butler then guided the engineer to the warehouse, where he found the concrete mix bags, nails, lumbers, steel bars, and various things like training swords, arrows, wooden pikes, and other materials meant to replace the traps outside once broken.
After visiting this place, they continued to other places in the estate.
The serf\'s house, now repurposed into living quarters, had someone inside.
They saw Harper, who seemed to be busy with something, so they moved elsewhere. They moved to the left side of the estate, where they saw the mill.
The mill\'s sails weren\'t moving, and obviously, it wasn\'t grinding any grain. The granary stood nearby but was also empty for obvious reasons: there was no grain to harvest.
"The smithy is here… Our blacksmith should be busy working, but we can take a look. I\'m sure that both of you will work together soon. It\'s better to get to know each other now." Mr. Wadsworth said as they approached the building where the clang of hammer on anvil rang out.
Inside, they found Leo, muscles glistening with sweat as he worked the furnace.
"Without him, the estate\'s foundation would be weaker."
They didn\'t take too much of Leo\'s time as they knew he was busy. After some brief introduction, they went to see the beautiful lady tending the plants around the estate.
Alexa\'s hands were buried in the earth as she tended to the garden. "Ohh… The new guy is here…" She said with a smile, offering them a ripe tomato.
"We grow what we can here." Alexa added to the impressed engineer.
"Ohh… They taste good! Thank you, Alexa…" Eliot said as he actually felt a little hungry by now.
"Right, there\'s still an hour before the meal. If you\'re really hungry, you can take some bread for now. If the butler hadn\'t mentioned it yet, rations like bread and water were given every eight in the morning. Lunch will be around 12:30 pm, and dinner will be at 7 pm. " Alexa said as she gave Eliot a piece of bread.
"Thank you, Miss Alexa…" Eliot said as he accepted Alexa\'s offer. The butler simply nodded at this. He was actually planning to tell this later.
Anyway, after this matter was settled, they continued touring the estate.
They went to the clinic, where they saw Anna, who was engrossed in her work. She was mixing herbs and liquids with a practiced hand.
"If you\'re wounded, no matter how small it is, you have to let me know… We can\'t have sick people here as we lack medicine…" She said without looking up.
"Yes, Miss Anna… I will not ignore even small wounds." Eliot answered with a surprisingly high tone, which surprised the butler a little.
After that, the tour had basically ended…
Nonetheless, Mr. Wadsworth still wanted to show something… The Super Soldiers.