SSS-Tier Extraction: From Outcast to Overgod!
Chapter 44: Circuit Breaker Frustration

Chapter 44: Circuit Breaker Frustration

Ryan leaned against a cool, smooth wall inside the Precursor Vault, taking a well-deserved break. He pulled up the Sector CommNet on his god Interface, curious to see the reactions to his one-man Power Core collection spree.

He felt like a kid who had just eaten the entire birthday cake before the other kids even got to the party, and now he wanted to watch their faces when they found out.

He switched to the private channel for Genesis Outpost #7 first. To say they were excited would be an understatement. The chat was a waterfall of capital letters, exclamation points, and celebratory emojis.

[Player_BlueFalcon1]: "DID YOU GUYS SEE THAT?! RYAN HAS 350 CORES! THREE HUNDRED AND FIFTY!"

[Player_BlueFalcon2]: "BY HIMSELF! How is that even possible?! Did he find a Power Core factory?!"

[Player_BlueFalcon3]: "Scarlett’s team has 35, Emma’s team has 28, and Jennifer’s team has 17. The rest of us have gathered about 20 total. That puts us at... 450! We’re almost there!"

[Player_BlueFalcon4]: "No, wait, Emma just reported her team got another 10. We’re at 460! This is insane! Ryan is a legend!"

Ryan chuckled. He’d been so busy scavenging and fighting Guardians that he hadn’t even checked his team’s progress.

They were doing great. Scarlett, Emma, and Jennifer were leading their teams effectively, grinding out cores the hard way. Their combined total of around 110 cores was a testament to their hard work and grit. Added to his own massive haul, they were just 40 cores away from winning the entire Scramble.

He received endless messages of thanks and admiration.

"Ryan for President of the Outpost!"

"He’s not just a player; he’s a cheat code!"

"I bet he just walked up to the Labyrinth and said ’Give me all your Power Cores’ and it did!"

Then, a message from Ace Striker popped up. Ryan braced himself for the usual complaint or accusation of cheating.

[Ace Striker | Outpost #7 | Blue Falcons]: "Lord Ryan’s strategy was simply brilliant! Flawless! I knew from the start that he had a master plan.

Luring the Circuit Breakers into the outer sectors while he secured the main prize... truly the work of a genius tactician! We are blessed to have his leadership!"

Ryan had to read that message twice. "Lord Ryan?" He snorted with laughter. Ace had gone from being his biggest critic to his most vocal, over-the-top cheerleader.

The change was so sudden and shameless it was actually hilarious. Ace was clearly the kind of person who always wanted to be on the winning team, even if it meant completely reversing his opinions every five minutes.

A private message pinged, this one from Chris "Boulder" Magnus.

[Chris "Boulder" Magnus]: "Ryan. It’s Chris. My team and I are holding a chokepoint in Sector-G3. We’re not finding many cores, but we’ve stopped two Circuit Breaker squads from advancing deeper. We’re not as fast or as sneaky as you, but we can hit things hard. If you need a distraction, or some heavy support to break through a tough spot, just say the word. We’ve got your back."

Ryan felt a genuine sense of respect for Chris. The man had gone from an arrogant loudmouth to a reliable, team-playing tank. He had found his role and was embracing it. His offer was sincere.

[Ryan Stone]: "Thanks, Chris. Appreciate it. Hold the line. You’re doing a great job keeping them busy. We’re almost at the finish line."

[Chris "Boulder" Magnus]: "You got it, boss."

Satisfied with his own team’s morale, Ryan switched over to the merged channel with Outpost #3, the Circuit Breakers. If his team’s chat was a party, the Circuit Breakers’ chat was a funeral. A very angry, very confused funeral.

The organized, confident messages from the beginning of the Scramble were gone. They had been replaced with complaints, frustration, and disbelief.

[CircuitBreaker_Techie1]: "This is impossible! We’ve been scrapping these old bots for two hours, and we’ve only found 12 cores! Most of them are empty or corroded!"

[CircuitBreaker_Techie2]: "The drop rate is garbage! Marcus, are you sure your intel was right about the Automaton Graveyard? It’s more like the Automaton Junk-heap!"

[CircuitBreaker_Techie3]: "And what’s with the defenses? I thought these sectors were supposed to be lightly guarded. My squad just got ambushed by three Labyrinth Stalkers. We lost a team member!"

Marcus "Gearhead" Cole, Zara’s second-in-command, was trying desperately to keep his troops in line, but his messages were starting to sound strained.

[Marcus "Gearhead" Cole | Outpost #3 | Circuit Breakers]: "Hold it together, people! Stick to the plan! We just need to find a high-density drop zone! Keep searching!"

[CircuitBreaker_Techie4]: "A high-density drop zone? Ryan Stone found a high-density drop zone! He found ALL of it! How are we supposed to compete with 350 cores?!"

The frustration was boiling over. It was clear their leader, Zara Khan, had been silent for a while, probably off trying to find a big score herself. Just then, her name popped up in the chat, along with a progress report.

[Zara "Technomage" Khan | Outpost #3 | Circuit Breakers]: "This is Zara. My personal progress: Level 6, with 1800 out of 2200 god Points. I have personally secured 30 Power Cores from a Sentinel sub-station."

Her message was meant to be inspiring, to show that she was still in the fight. But it had the opposite effect.

[Marcus "Gearhead" Cole]: "Excellent work, boss! That brings our team total to 95!"

[CircuitBreaker_Techie1]: "Ninety-five... that’s great and all, but Outpost #7 has over four hundred..."

[CircuitBreaker_Techie2]: "Our leader, an A-Tier Level 6 Technomage, found 30 cores. Their guy, by himself, found 350. What is going on?!"

Zara’s frustration was clear in her next message.

[Zara "Technomage" Khan | Outpost #3 | Circuit Breakers]: "I don’t know how he is doing it. He must have found a pristine, untouched motherlode. A supply depot, or an armory. Luck of that magnitude is statistically improbable, but not impossible. All units, abandon the low-yield sectors! Converge on the Labyrinth’s central zones! Find another motherlode! That is an order!"

Ryan, sitting comfortably in the very motherlode she was talking about, smirked. He had indeed found a pristine Precursor armory, and he had pretty much emptied it.

There wasn’t another one to find. He had gotten lucky, but his "luck" was the result of him taking a huge risk, fighting a Legendary Guardian, and using his unique skills to unlock a place no one else could get into.

He watched the Circuit Breakers’ messages as they scrambled to follow Zara’s new orders, their organized squads breaking apart as they rushed towards the Labyrinth’s center in a desperate, chaotic treasure hunt.

Their initial, beautiful plan had completely fallen apart, and now they were just running around like headless chickens.

He felt a tiny bit of sympathy for Zara. She was clearly smart and capable, but she had been completely outmaneuvered. She had played a game of chess, moving her pieces with skill and precision.

But Ryan hadn’t been playing chess. He had just walked up to her side of the board and flipped the whole table over. It wasn’t a fair fight, but this world wasn’t about being fair.

It was about using every advantage you had. And his SSS-Tier talent was the biggest advantage of all.