The group rode in silence, the glow of their bruises and burn marks still fresh in their minds. They didn't speak—not because there was nothing to say, but because they needed a moment to breathe. The Hollow Sprawl was behind them, yet its echoes lingered. Every crack in the road felt like another trap. Every shadow another singer.
But they kept going.
Ahead, the road turned into a slope, descending into a vast, open canyon where silence reigned like a tomb. Fog curled around shattered peaks, and beneath them—miles wide—was a graveyard.
Not of bones, not of flesh.
But of vehicles.
Trucks with shattered engines. Tanks ripped open from the inside. Hovercrafts buried under collapsed steel. Massive wheels with no frame, flipped motorcycles with blood-soaked seats. All corroded. All dead.
Jayce blinked in disbelief.
> "What the hell is this place...?"
Melia read the system prompt that appeared in a pale blue shimmer.
---
[Zone Discovered: The Hollow Yard — Grave of Failed Crossings]
Here lie the broken hopes of thousands. Machines that failed. Riders who died. Their regrets still whisper in the wires.
Warning: Active anomalies present. Aura decay begins after 2 hours. Enter at your own risk.
---
Lian narrowed his eyes. "We're not turning back."
Boom just nodded. "We've been through worse."
> "Barely," muttered Sera under her breath.
They descended together.
As they moved through the yard, the system windows flickered with echoes—fragments of the past recorded into the very ground:
"Our core's down! Bail, now!"
"It's eating the wheels! It's eating the—!"
"Why didn't the system warn us!? Why—!?"
The sounds faded.
Their cycle wheels crunched over rusted bolts and melted tires.
Then the fog parted—and they saw it.
A colossus of steel.
Dozens of vehicles welded together, blood rituals burned into the joints. Its massive form towered over the yard—twenty meters tall, arms of scavenged bus frames, legs of war mechs.
Its head?
A twisted, screaming driver's seat, pulsing with red energy.
---
[Zone Boss Detected: The Reclaimer – Tier 3 Level 2]
Made of a thousand failures. And it wants to add yours to the pile.
---
The Reclaimer's chest opened—and they saw them. Still alive.
Dozens of survivors—some half-fused to the machine. Their eyes pleading. Silent screams caught in place.
> "Lian…" Melia said, voice shaking. "It's using them to power itself."
> "If we fight, we might kill them too," Sera added.
> "If we don't, we die. And it'll use us next," Jayce muttered.
Tough choices. No easy answer.
Lian stepped forward.
> "Split into three teams. I'll go center and distract it. Melia—start peeling off the energy lines near the hostages. Sera, run diagnostics from range. Jayce, Boom—you cut its legs. It falls, we free them."
> "That's suicide," Melia said.
> "Only if I fail."
---
Phase One: Tower of Death
The Reclaimer roared—a sound like a thousand screaming engines—and launched a hail of scrap-metal missiles. The blast cratered the yard.
Lian charged, using Ghostride to phase through a collapsing truck shell, and smashed a coin-empowered strike into the Reclaimer's knee joint. The machine staggered, but its foot caught him and sent him flying.
Sera's diagnostics lit up. "The power lines run through the torso. If we destroy the red cores—six of them—we destabilize it!"
Melia activated a triple-cast rune field, isolating the cores and slowing their regeneration. "Jayce, Boom—clear a path!"
The duo sprinted under flying debris. Boom threw a scrap-car like a missile. Jayce leapt on top, rode it midair, and slammed twin daggers into the joint of the Reclaimer's leg. Boom followed with a seismic hammer punch that detonated the metal.
One leg crumbled.
But the Reclaimer didn't fall. It crawled, anchoring with twisted rebar.
The survivors screamed.
> "They're overheating inside!" Sera shouted. "They'll die if we take too long!"
Melia wept with frustration. "The lines are shielded—I can't cut through fast enough!"
---
Phase Two: The Choice
A system prompt appeared before Lian.
---
[Emergency Option: Coin Burn Protocol]
Sacrifice 1,000 coins to trigger a one-time ability — "Liberation Surge":
Burn through all bindings in the area. Will destroy any non-core survivors. Proceed?
---
Lian froze.
He had nearly 10,000 coins saved for their next vehicle upgrade. He could kill the Reclaimer now—but he'd lose the weaker survivors fused into its limbs.
Or they could keep trying. Risk everything. And maybe fail.
> "Choose," the system whispered. "As you always do."
He looked at the others—sweating, bleeding, fighting for people they didn't even know.
Lian stared at the prompt.
> "...No."
He canceled it.
> "Melia. Full charge. Boom, brace the core. Jayce—get to the hostages. We're not leaving them."
---
Final Phase: Unity Breaker
They gave it everything.
Melia poured all her mana into a concentrated glyph. Boom braced the Reclaimer's remaining leg and held it just long enough.
Jayce freed five people, then threw them clear.
Lian leapt, cycle chain glowing with his last burst of coins—used Ghostride to phase through the chest and ripped the core out from within.
The Reclaimer screamed as its heart shattered.
It collapsed.
---
Boss Defeated: The Reclaimer
> • Survivors Saved: 17
• Rewards Gained:
Coin Bonus (Talent Multiplied): +4,800
Rare Vehicle Blueprint: Salvager Titan (Repair-Class)
New Passive Unlocked: Resilient Hope – The more survivors you save, the stronger your mental resistance becomes.
---
As the dust settled, the survivors stared at Lian.
> "Why… why save us?"
He didn't answer right away.
He looked at his team—tired, hurt, but still here.
> "Because someone has to."
---
End of Chapter 57