Chapter 740: Infiltration

Getting visitors like these wasn’t unusual to them. With the shelter’s fame getting higher and higher, it was only normal to attract more and more people.

The guard, Ciara, signaled her team to lower their rifles. “Stand by for inspection. Do not move.”

The gate opened slightly, just enough for a shelter medic to step through. The team approached the five immediately. As a matter of fact, there were also simple arrangements of tents outside the shelter for situations like this.

Just like that, they were scanned with infrared lenses and handheld bioscanners for signs of infection. They checked their body temperature, pulse irregularities, and, of course, any necrotic markers.

Thankfully, there are no bites, no fever, no erratic eye movement.

One woman had a bruised leg, but nothing dangerous. Another had minor dehydration, but in the end, they all passed.

The medic nodded. “Just fatigue and travel strain. No signs of viral infection or exposure.”

Ciara gave a short wave to the gate controls.

The heavy steel doors opened further, and the five strangers were ushered into the inner quarantine holding area.

A second guard took over. This time, the man was younger, clearly new to the post, but followed procedure by the book.

“Welcome to the New Genesis Shelter. Before full integration, you will be placed in the Entry Program. For the first few weeks, you’ll be assigned work tasks based on physical capability or skillset. I need to get your names before I can hand you your temporary residence permit.”

The five answered truthfully as they gave their names.

After that, the new guard handed each of them temporary residence tokens—gray in color, a step below the permanent green ones worn by long-term members.

“We have urgent manpower needs in farming, factory production, infrastructure construction, logistics, and supply maintenance. If you have any specialized skills—such as tailoring, blacksmithing, weapon repair, cooking, and others—please let us know now.”

The man with the revolver, who had introduced himself as “Bran,” nodded and said, “I’ve worked as a blacksmith. And I know my way around firearms. Maintenance, repairs, even for cars… I’ve got the skills.”

One of the women chimed in. “I bake and sew. I can manage a kitchen.”

Another added, “Farming. I was working in hydroponics before the shelter fell.”

The final two claimed construction work experience and general labor. Their answers were quick, confident, and plausible.

Within minutes, the five were assigned jobs.

Bran was sent to the armory workshop for a trial period to assist with weapon repairs.

The female baker, Vivian, was placed in the central kitchen, supervised by Loreen’s logistics team.

The hydroponics girl, Grace, joined the agricultural dome, assisting with crop monitoring and nutrient circulation.

Then, the two “laborers”, Eli and Ross, were assigned to the perimeter wall expansion crew, working on reinforcing the third defense ring.

“Welcome once again to our Shelter. I’m sure you’ll love this place.”

Then, as soon as the final guard escorted them out of the processing hub and into the general living sector, their demeanor shifted.

The group of five glanced at each other, just briefly, but the message was clear. They were all delighted.

The woman who claimed to be a baker now walked with her back straighter. The man who said he could repair weapons let his fingers subtly flex in familiar trigger motions.

They had done it.

They had breached the defenses.

The smiles that stretched across their faces as they familiarized themselves with their temporary shelter. After that, they immediately began investigating the shelter.

They merged into the crowd of survivors within the shelter as they started their mission… Indeed, after just a few minutes, they were no longer weary, innocent, or looking grateful.

If one looked closely, it even seemed sinister.

They all have the same thought:

“We’ve entered the heart of New Genesis… and they have no idea.”

Unbeknownst to the guards and even Shane himself, these five weren’t just survivors. They were deep-cover infiltrators, part of another organization that had long been watching the rise of the New Genesis Shelter. And now, their operation had begun.

***

Unbeknownst to Shane or the guards at the northern gate, the five new arrivals weren’t just exhausted refugees.

They were operatives of the Ironforge Clan—one of the nine dominant factions within the “Alliance” that was controlled or led by the Overlord Clan.

From the start of this Apocalypse, Ironforge’s wealth had been rooted in its vast mines of iron, silver, and gold, with veins so rich they’d built trade with several Clans and even some Neutral Shelters and forged influence through raw ore alone. But lately, cracks were forming.

New Genesis Shelter, and its three sister settlements had changed the game. Shane’s quick and massive trade networks and optimized resource processing had tanked the price of refined metals.

Even Spirit Stones, once considered rare beyond the mountains, were now sold cheaper by Shane’s territory than Ironforge could mine and transport from their newly discovered pocket deposit.

It wasn’t just economic discomfort… It was a threat to them…

Needless to say, the leaders had calculated the losses. If trade trends continued, the Ironforge economy would collapse. They heavily rely on their ores after all…

If they lowered their price, they would suffer a lot.

Of course, they could probably pivot to Spirit Stone production—but they believed that New Genesis Shelter already had better output…

Well, they weren’t really sure it was the New Genesis Shelter, but they highly suspected that it was this shelter managing the mines, since they already knew that this shelter produces the humanoid machines called Warden Units and Mech Frames!

It means that the ores were definitely nearby!

The solution they found? Sabotage, infiltration, and perhaps, rebellion.

There must be other people here waiting to get a chance to overtake their leader!

Bran, Vivian, Grace, Eli, and Ross were all trained in deception, logistics and could adapt to any situation.

“Remember the reward we’ll get when we accomplish this… Let’s all do our best.” Bran said softly.

They’d observe operations, map infrastructure, identify weaknesses, and eventually sow quiet disruption from within.