Rick knew he couldn't pass out here; whatever had hit him would strike again. Trying his best, he concentrated again, his thoughts racing, and he began to notice several details. Whatever had hit him had entered through his back and exited near his abdomen. It was quick, but he could feel it, and Joe, who was still running towards him, screamed and looked up at the sky as if warning him of some danger, confirming it.
With just a thought, his huge axe disappeared into his inventory, and a smaller one appeared in his dominant hand. In his left hand, a level 1 crystal appeared, and Rick stuck it directly into the wound. This was something that only he knew would work as first aid.
Biting his tongue to help maintain consciousness, he turned around, trying to look in the direction Joe was looking.
But when he finished turning around, all he saw was a circular blue energy disappearing into the sky. A burst of gunfire from the soldier made the circular light appear in the air again, but it soon disappeared as he dodged the shots. Rick knew what had hit him: a stealth attack drone. This type of drone was exclusively for military use, but he had never seen one of these with so much firepower. And the worst part was that such a thing shouldn't even be working after the start of the apocalypse. Rick struggled to get to his feet and shouted:
"DON'T COME CLOSE!"
Joe, Maya, and the soldier stopped before they got any closer, obeying his order. Their eyes turned to the sky, searching for the object again.
Rick continued to support his left hand on the wound and made a throwing pose with his right hand using the small hatchet. Taking a deep breath, he concentrated, trying to use at least a fraction of the power he would only gain after becoming a level 3 mutant...
He knew that the drone would lower its shields during the next attack, and it was likely that, since it had failed the first time, it would try to get closer this time... Still in the throwing pose, he concentrated as much as possible and continued to move slowly, turning his body, not leaving his back exposed for too long.
The complete silence and the anticipation of what would happen left everyone watching Rick anxious and breathing heavily...
Twenty seconds later, when Rick was already reaching the limit of his energy, and almost succumbing to the injury. The circular blue light appeared again; it all happened in less than 1 second. The blue light appeared, went out, and a silver circular sphere the size of a helmet appeared before everyone's eyes. A red beam of light shot towards Rick again, aiming for his heart.
As Rick's thoughts slowed to a crawl, he saw that the drone had fired at his side; this time, the shot would pierce his arm and hit his heart. Although the drone was closer this time, since the shot was from the side, it meant a smaller target to hit. Now fully aware of the shot from the moment the drone appeared, Rick synchronized his body to dodge the shot as much as he could, while also adjusting his throw to counterattack it with all the force he could.
"FWASH!"
"CRACK"
When time returned to normal, Rick fell to the ground unconscious, smoke coming out of the wound on his back where his clothes and skin were burned. And the drone that now had a hatchet stuck in it, fell from the sky like a bird losing the ability to fly…
***
In the same surveillance room, full of floating screens and other strange technological accessories, the Observer and the Vice Admiral's four men watched closely the image of the five drones that were sent to assassinate the individuals with the spatial affinity. Even though it was a task considered simple at the current stage, they still sent their best drone, not wanting to leave room for survival.
With state-of-the-art shield technology and cutting-edge concealment capable of fooling even the sharp senses of level 3 mutants. Together, each of them only had 1 of these drones. So the first five targets were selected, and the drones flew at high speed, reaching the locations where they were supposed to be within the first 24 hours of the apocalypse.
Meanwhile, the AI in the surveillance room that controlled the drones marked the targets with numbers ranging from 1 to 15, with civilians being marked as the easiest and the first to be eliminated. The AI provided real-time footage while reporting:
[Drone No. 1 completely failed to locate its target in all the locations it was supposed to be in, including its residence, his work, his fiancée's residence, and even his parents' house was checked. The target was reported dead/missing, and the attack drone moved on to track the sixth target.]
[Drone No. 2 found the target, and after confirming that he was still hiding in his residence, successfully executed him. The drone then moved on, this time trying to locate the seventh target.]
[Drone No. 3 initially failed to find the target… Its location was found using the surveillance system deployed by the Observer. The target was looting a gun store in his city. After the first shot, the target was seriously injured and fled into the city sewers. With no possibility of pursuing him, the drone set off to locate the eighth target.]
"Hm… Rewind the image of drone No. 3 a bit…
… Now zoom in on the target's jacket… Is that a ballistic vest underneath the jacket?" Asked the new leader of the Vice Admiral's 4-man group.
"It's not just any vest, it's a state-of-the-art tactical vest used only by Federal field officers." Said the Observer. Who was the most versed in the knowledge and technologies of this world.
"I thought all 5 of the initial targets were civilians. How does he have such an item?"
"Hm… Looks like we've found the first troublesome target on the list. Classify him as medium level," another man said.
"But it fled to the sewers, the rats in that place can finish the job for us." The Observer comforted.
[Drone No. 4 failed the mission. The Drone was shot down.]
"WHAT?" The new leader shouted, this time getting up from his chair in astonishment.
"It was the only drone sent to the capital. Did it find someone related to the Temporal Anomaly? Quickly show the last image." The Observer asked the AI.
Suddenly, all they saw was the invisible drone flying at high speed through the sky of the capital, when suddenly the image was completely turned off.
Silence took over the room, the drone was shot down at high speed, and with its camouflage still active...
[Drone No. 5 located the target and, after engaging in a confrontation, was destroyed. Target number 5 was seriously injured, but his death could not be confirmed.]
The Observer swallowed hard and asked for the footage of the confrontation… Everyone watched in complete silence as they still digested the fact that they had lost two invaluable tactical equipment in less than 5 minutes. In the second image, they saw a man dressed as a firefighter take down their powerful drone with a simple hatchet…