Reborn: Earth Online-Chapter 84 - 85: Settlement Core is Fully Active

The next several minutes felt like hell as Niera stared at the absolute worst situation unfolding right before her eyes. One after another, horrendous beasts started to emerge from the shadows. Some looked vaguely like oversized wolves or bears, but most were so twisted and monstrous that she couldn’t even guess what kind of wild animal they might have once been.

However, none of these beasts could even come near her or the settlement core. Kaden single-handedly took care of all of them.

Every time a beast lunged, he intercepted it with swift, decisive blows. His overwhelming strength was indomitable and the monstrous beasts stood no chance. They might as well have been cats and dogs being thrashed around by the king of the jungle.

Niera’s mind reeled as she tried to comprehend the nightmare before her—each new beast more hideous than the last, a living reminder of how savage the world had become.

And yet they all died to the man in front of her.

Time seemed to slow down and speed up all at once as Kaden fought tirelessly, never giving an inch. His determined eyes met Niera’s every so often, silently reassuring her that he would not let these creatures tear them apart.

As the assault wore on, the beasts gradually began to thin out, and after two whole hours the assault finally ended.

Kaden turned around grinning ear to ear. "We are done. I think." He pointed to the pile of beast corpses on the side. "Two days worth of food. Jackpot."

Niera’s weak smile tugged at her lips. "Only two days?" she repeated, her tone both incredulous and relieved.

Kaden chuckled lightly, wiping a smear of dark blood from his torn sleeve. "Seems like it," he replied with a shrug. "Not bad, huh? For a couple of hours of hard work, we got ourselves a decent haul and we are done setting up the settlement core. Sweet."

Niera nodded, her gaze shifting between the fallen beasts and Kaden’s unwavering presence. Despite the horror she’d witnessed, a glimmer of hope had started to return—a fragile promise that maybe, just maybe, things could get better.

"Thank you, Kaden," she said softly, almost in awe. "For protecting us… for doing all that."

Kaden waved her off with a half-smile and then focused on the system interface screen that popped up in front of him. The screen displayed several options: "Assign Settlement Roles," "Manage Resources," "Scan for Survivors," and "Research Catalyst Upgrades."

He tapped on "Assign Settlement Roles." A prompt appeared asking, "Select Manager Candidate." His eyes flicked to Niera, who sat a few steps away, still watching the clearing with a mix of awe and exhaustion.

"You’re up, Niera," he said softly. "As we discussed, you’ll be our manager for now. This means you’ll help keep everything organized and make sure the safe zone stays secure until we get more survivors in."

Niera looked startled for a moment, then slowly nodded. "Okay," she murmured, still a bit overwhelmed.

Kaden confirmed the selection. "Settlement Manager: Niera," the screen flashed, and another message appeared: "Settlement Core is Fully Active. Safe Zone Established."

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He leaned back, satisfied for a moment. "Alright," he said, looking around at the freshly secured area with a grin. "We’ve got food for two days, a safe zone, and a manager. Not bad, huh?"

Niera offered a weak smile in return. "It’s a start," she agreed.

Kaden then tapped the "Scan for Survivors" option. The system began to search the surrounding forest. "I’m hoping there are more people out there," he murmured, watching the progress bar slowly fill up. "The more we have, the stronger we can make this settlement."

A moment later, the screen beeped with a notification: "Survivor Detected: 3 individuals, approximately 10 km away."

Kaden’s eyes lit up. "Looks like we’ve got some company," he said, his tone brightening. "Once you’re ready, we can head out and see if we can bring them in. The more people we have, the sooner we can start upgrading the settlement and setting up other things."

"Ah…" Niera was unsure what her role in this would be.

"You have to do the talking and convince them. I am not really good with words. Also I am stark naked. Feel free to sing praises of me and convince them somehow." He laughed awkwardly. He knew they probably did not need much convincing.

Normally, he wouldn’t bother with these things but hey desperate times called for desperate measures. He needed the system shop asap so he had to resort to these kinds of things. It would be good if they came willingly but he was prepared to gag and bind them and drag them here as another option.

The two of them left the settlement core and started walking in the direction of the three targets. "This area is quite far away from our beginning tutorial area. These people must be coming from somewhere else."

"That is good news. Maybe we will find more people." Niera chimed in.

"Ya." Kaden nodded, though he wasn’t too optimistic about the number of survivors.

When the first world summit had gathered, they had taken a toll of the survivors and less than one-tenth of the original population had survived.

There were a lot of casualties and not all of them were killed by beasts. Beasts tended to seclude themselves to their territory. It was the humans who became more dangerous in the end.

Kaden shook his head thinking of the events that were about to unfold. He couldn’t possibly change all of those events but he was sure as hell going to pay a personal visit to some of them.

Deeply engrossed in his thoughts he picked up Niera all of a sudden without warning her which resulted in the poor woman screaming slightly.

The next second she calmed down with an embarrassed smile as she closed her eyes and savored the thrill of travelling at a speed she couldn’t possibly imagine.

There was now a safe zone. New people were joining them. Things were happening and she was finally starting to feel normal again.