Zarek tossed the gun to the side, not planning on taking it with him. If there was one thing he struggled to make with Temp Duplicate, it was definitely guns.
The explosive nature of them required far more durability than he could manage. He would have to find a better weapon—or a new blueprint.
'Hm, maybe Pensare is hiding something good around here.'
The place Marx had mentioned earlier was quite interesting. Zarek had yet to be there, but the fact that a place capable of such a thing existed under the control of the likes of GFI… well, it was quite intriguing nonetheless.
Organizations had advantages that came from their numbers—advantages Zarek alone could never match. He was starting to see their benefit.
Zarek bent forward and picked up CEO Pensare's katana.
'Not a bad sword. It's actually a D Class item. You really didn't earn this treasure at all, did you?'
While Zarek was quite fond of the CEO's character, he still had some very clear flaws. A weapon like this should have definitely been in the hands of a true elite, not an old man past his prime.
'I'm not too much a fan of long weapons, though…'
Ranged weapons, Zarek was fine with. Spears, long swords, or great swords, though… he could do without.
The variables involved in wielding weapons like that were too many, and they could be easily taken advantage of. When Zarek saw someone wielding a mid-ranged weapon, he practically chomped at the bit. By comparison, daggers, short swords, machetes… they were more like small extensions of his body. It really felt like he was controlling a slightly longer limb.
'I'll keep it for now. It could be useful.'
If it was E Class, he would ignore it. But a D Class Treasure at this stage was too rare to just discard.
He sheathed the katana. Has a nice weight to it. Not bad.
After checking through the rest of the CEO's body, Zarek found what he was looking for and plucked it out. Two things, actually.
One was a ring, and the other was a key card. From what Zarek could tell, the two worked in conjunction.
'To another vault we go.'
…
It wasn't long before Zarek had worked his way back to the basement of the corporate high-rise. Across from him stood a safe, its large vault door shut tight. The guards that had once protected it were collapsed on the ground.
With a flick of Zarek's finger, the key card flew into a seemingly random crevice in the room. There was a churning motion, and suddenly, a loop was completed.
'Clever. Really is a shame I had to kill you.'
Pensare had shown some of the best innovation Zarek had seen this early in the apocalypse. The key card was made from a special metal that was considered the opposite of Godsfall Steel—soon to be known in the future as Fallen Steel.
Fallen Steel was often mistaken for Godsfall Steel, as the two were very similar in form and makeup. But while Godsfall Steel was good at accommodating Godsfall, Fallen Steel rejected Godsfall in all forms.
Meaning, if a room was surrounded by Fallen Steel, it could lock itself away from the influence of the blood moon's energy, allowing technology to work properly. Or in this case…
Zarek moved forward with a complicated, three-dimensional key, fitting it into the vault and twisting.
…allowing a mechanized vault door to swing open smoothly and easily.
The first thing Zarek saw when the doors opened was a large supply of Fallen Steel, stacked up in beautifully polished silvery-black bricks.
'They processed all of this really fast. Not bad at all…'
The speed with which the Pensare had moved clearly denoted their competency. They had overextended themselves and suffered a lot recently, but that was because their opponent was Zarek. Had they not been going up against a Rebirther, Zarek could see them mounting a strong comeback.
'Bullets made from Fallen Steel…'
Unlike the Common Godsfall Steel Zarek had come across in Jiade's possession, this Fallen Steel was mostly F-Grade. It would still have some effect even against D-Grade Godsfall.
At this point, normal bullets were already beginning to lose their effectiveness. Zarek wouldn't even bother to use a regular gun against a D Class existence.
But if the bullet fired was formed of F-Grade Fallen Steel… if placed correctly, it could definitely deal lethal damage.
That was especially true when matched with Zarek's C Class Scouting Skill. A Godsfall Droplet of D Class or lower stood no chance against an F-Grade Fallen Steel bullet. If properly placed, it would be akin to a silver bullet to a werewolf.
Not that werewolves existed.
'Where's some wood so I can knock on it? If mythical creatures start coming out of the woodwork, I'll need a drink.'
Zarek chuckled to himself as if he hadn't already seen things far worse than werewolves in his life.
'It looks like they've been trying to find methods of forging Fallen Steel, but have failed. Not too much of a surprise…'
Fallen Steel was like a paradox. It was incredibly strong against Godsfall, but it was brittle and an exceptionally soft metal.
It was very effective when acting as a barrier like it was here, and it could easily conduct its ability through touch alone—as proven by the key card from earlier. But if you wanted to forge it into a blade or shield, you'd be out of luck.
Sure, it would stop the Godsfall, but the momentum behind the attack would destroy the Fallen Steel.
So why was it that Zarek was speaking about using it as a bullet? Would it even survive the combustion of gunpowder?
The answer was no.
Which was why you were supposed to use Fallen Steel in the form of an alloy.
'…But they were close.'
Zarek's smile brightened as he walked to the end of the vault, finding that the Pensare were already experimenting with which metals to fuse their Fallen Steel with.
'Jackpot.'