CHAPTER 741: THE IRONFORGE CLAN

During the early stages of the Apocalypse, the Ironforge Clan was always around the 50th Rank in the Clan Rankings.

It was a decent rank considering there were hundreds of thousands of Survivors.

Their power was forged by using the minerals or resources they could find in the mines. Iron, silver, gold: they had it all. They had incredible miners, and their smiths were skillful as the weapons they created were coveted by the Survivors.

The leader of this Clan was Claud, and he had been managing this Clan alone until he was able to join the Alliance that the Overlord Clan established.

Claud only had two Apocalypse Options at the start. They were the Zombie Infestation and Alien Invasion.

Needless to say, he thought that dealing with Zombies was a lot easier than Aliens, as he had watched various Western Zombie Films before, and he thought that he could do better.

Furthermore, he awakened with an Epic Grade Talent: Swordsmith.

Thanks to that, in the early days of the Apocalypse, when melee combat reigned and bullets were scarce, his creations were unmatched.

Blades that could cleave through hordes, sabers that had some elemental effects, and greatswords that could pierce through armor were in demand...

But time had changed everything.

The combat method against the Zombies leaned towards firearms...

In just a couple of months, firearms flooded the marketplace. Blueprints for cannons, drones, machine guns, railguns, and other technology surged forward, and the once-glorious blades of Ironforge became less and less popular.

Of course, they were still earning a lot, but Claud felt that they would soon phase out if they don’t do something about it.

’Ding!’

A soft chime from the system alerted Claud.

There was a private message sent to him. It came from Bran, one of the Black Veil Operatives, Ironforge’s covert division.

[ Bran: We entered successfully. Operation Emberfall: Phase One Complete.

Aside from me, four other agents are successfully embedded within New Genesis Shelter.

They’re Vivian, Grace, Eli, and Ross. They have been assigned to their specialization field, but because we’ve just arrived. We are only given unimportant tasks. Awaiting further instructions. ]

Claud’s lips curled into a smile as soon as he read the message.

Operation Emberfall was their plan to destroy the New Genesis Shelter from the inside.

’This will take time, but it’s good that we’re already on the track...’ Claud mused as he checked looked at his notebook.

’Eclipse Domain: Three agents embedded.

Silver Mine Camp: Entry attempt failed.

Springriver Manor: Entry attempt failed.’

He then made an update...

’New Genesis: Five agents embedded.’

Only two out of four shelters had been breached. Not ideal—but not a failure either.

Claud didn’t mind this at all... The agents that he had sent had already left the Clan, and there were no other traces that would link their identity to him. After all, no one other than themselves could check the private messages made through the system...

’This is a bit dangerous... However, if we succeed, it would turn things around.’ Claud smiled.

Sabotage was only the surface. He didn’t mention his main reason for targeting Shane’s shelter. After all, if his agents were captured, it could bring a disaster to him. That was why he made them quite the Ironforge Clan before sending them out.

Indeed, chaos, disruption, and possible rebellion were not the end of it. His true goal was far more ambitious.

He checked his Inventory and pulled out a scroll wrapped in crimson silk. As soon as the scroll came out, a sinister aura spread in the room.

It was the "Talent Stealing Scroll." He obtained two of them in total. He got it after completing a certain Clan Mission... It was a mission where they had to build an eight-meter-tall Tyrant Zombie Statue made of gold with five other Zombie Statues of different Zombie Types... It was such a weird mission, but they were able to obtain the Talent Stealing Scroll as a reward.

In any case, this scroll could strip a Talent from one Survivor and transfer it to another, but the requirements were a bit tough.

The target must be within arm’s reach.

The target must be weakened, either physically or mentally.

The scroll must be activated during a moment of vulnerability.

And lastly, it could only steal Epic or Legendary Talents. If the talent of the target was lower than that, the scroll would just be wasted.

Claud had no intention of wasting this, and his target was obvious. That would be Shane.

Shane was the enigmatic leader of New Genesis Shelter and three others. He was Rank 1 in the Survivor Leaderboard...

Most importantly, he was the man whose trade networks had destabilized Ironforge’s economy, whose shelters produced Warden Units, a humanoid machine, and recently, there was even news about the existence of Mech Frames.

There was no doubt that Shane possessed a Legendary Talent. There could be even more than two or more! After all, he believed that Shane had Talents tied to logistics, automation, or perhaps even territory control. If Claud could steal it...

He wouldn’t just restore Ironforge’s dominance.

He’d reshape the entire power structure of the continent...

’At that point... Even the Overlord Clan would have to bow down to me.’

Claud returned the scroll to his inventory. He was already excited to use this scroll, but he couldn’t waste it and get pathetic Talent...

Although he also considered using the scroll on others, he just couldn’t think of using it other than the best Survivor out there.

Of course, he knew the path ahead was not going to be easy... Shane wasn’t just powerful, he was cautious, strategic, and surrounded by powerful and talented Survivors as well.

But he understood that the higher the risk, the higher the reward.

That’s why Claud had chosen his infiltrators carefully. Each one trained in deception, sabotage, and psychological manipulation...

’Now that the plan is in motion... I should also get ready on my part...’ He muttered.

He just needed his agents in the New Genesis Shelter to slowly become trusted survivors and obtain higher positions in their fields.