>> SYSTEM BOOT...
>> LOADING FILE: CHAPTER_07_OVERLOAD.LOG
>> STATUS: DECRYPTED
>> DATE: [CORRUPTED]
> BEGIN LOG
CHAPTER 7. OVERLOAD
The trek back to the cache felt like a descent into hell.
Marcus walked through a torrential downpour, yet not a single drop of water touched his chassis. They hissed and evaporated centimeters before impact, shrouding him in a perpetual cloud of dense white steam.
He was a walking boiler.
>>> CORE TEMPERATURE: 280°C
>>> SURFACE TEMPERATURE: 145°C
>>> COOLING SYSTEM: NONE DETECTED.
"If this keeps up, I'll just weld my own microchips together," he hissed. The insulation on his internal wiring had already begun to emit the acrid stench of burning plastic.
Marcus reached the bunker where he had left the "Titan."
He threw aside the rusted metal sheets. The massive yellow arm lay where he had abandoned it. When he touched it with his scorching right hand, the cold metal of the limb hissed violently from the extreme temperature difference.
"Alright, let's try this again," he said.
He sat down and began the tedious process of reattaching the arm. But this time, everything was different.
Before, with the old battery, he had connected the wires delicately, careful not to drain the last drop of power. Now, he worked with desperate speed, racing against time before the contacts oxidized from the sheer heat his body was radiating.
When he connected the "Titan's" thick power cables to his new internal grid, the arm didn't just twitch. It bucked violently, slamming into the concrete floor and sending a shower of sparks flying. The heavy-duty servos whined at an ultra-high, piercing frequency.
>>> NEW HARDWARE DETECTED: [INDUSTRIAL MANIPULATOR "TITAN"]
>>> VOLTAGE: CRITICAL.
>>> STATUS: AFTERBURNER 200%.
Marcus stood up.
The immense weight of the arm hadn't disappeared, but now his legs, fueled by the raw power of the fusion reactor, compensated for it effortlessly. Energy was bursting at the seams of his hydraulic systems.
He looked at the pile of scrap metal in the corner.
"Need to do something about this heat. Before I melt into a puddle."
He pulled the [Targeting Servo] and [Optical Sensor] from his inventory, the spoils from the turret he had destroyed. His "Mechanical Empathy" suggested a solution.
He disassembled the high-precision turret servo and used its reinforced components to fortify the "Titan's" elbow joint, which was already groaning under the new power load. Then, he took the thick, heat-resistant power conduits from the smashed terminal and replaced a section of his own internal wiring that had already turned to charcoal.
>>> [SYSTEM MESSAGE]
>>> COMPLEX MODIFICATION PERFORMED UNDER CRITICAL TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS.
>>>
>>> SKILL ACQUIRED: [Heat Resistance (Level 1)]
>>>
>>> CONGRATULATIONS! NEW LEVEL!
>>> Marcus (Constructor) -> LEVEL 2
>>> Unassigned Attribute Points: 2
Marcus immediately dumped both points into **Durability**. He needed to ensure this old frame didn't tear itself apart from its own newfound strength.
"Time to move."
He navigated through the "Shredder Zone." The downpour had ceased, and that became a problem. Without the noise of the rain to mask him, the deep thrum of his overloaded reactor could be heard for a kilometer, and his thermal signature shone like a beacon in the dark.
He heard them before he saw them. The rapid *clack-clack-clack* of metal claws on wet concrete.
A shadow darted out from behind a pile of rusted pipes. [Scrap Stalker. Level 4]. A robotic hound built for one purpose: killing.
The Stalker leaped without warning.
Marcus raised his left arm-shield instinctively.
CRUNCH!
The robo-dog's hydraulic jaws clamped onto the forearm of the "Titan." Metal groaned under the pressure, but the thick industrial steel held firm.
But the Stalker immediately recoiled with a digital shriek. Its metal teeth glowed cherry-red where they had contacted Marcus's scorching armor.
>>> ARMOR DAMAGE! -8% INTEGRITY.
Marcus tried to strike it with his right hand, but the hound was too agile. It circled him, trying to flank him, its optical sensors glowing menacingly.
"Fast, huh?" Marcus hissed, steam venting from his neck joints. His temperature spiked to 320°C.
The Stalker leaped again, aiming straight for his throat cables.
Marcus didn't dodge. He went all in.
He caught the beast in mid-air. His standard right hand grabbed its throat, while his left, the massive "Titan," clamped onto its foreleg.
"Now let's see how you like this," Marcus mentally removed the safety limiters on the reactor. *All power to actuators!*
The reactor flared inside him. The temperature instantly jumped to a critical 450°C.
The old paint on Marcus's chassis ignited, bursting into open flame. He was a burning titan.
The "Titan" arm squeezed with terrifying, hydraulic force.
A sickening, wet crunch of metal echoed in the silence. The Stalker's leg was simply flattened into a pancake.
The creature shrieked, thrashing wildly, but Marcus didn't stop.
"If I burn, you burn with me!" he roared.
He wrenched the "Titan" sideways with all his might.
The Stalker was torn in half. The pressurized hydraulic fluid that sprayed from its severed torso instantly ignited upon hitting Marcus's glowing chest plate, engulfing them both in a fireball.
>>> COMBAT CONCLUDED.
>>> EXPERIENCE GAINED: 120 EXP.
He stood among the wreckage, a figure wreathed in flames that were now consuming the last remnants of his camouflage tarp.
> END LOG
>> SYSTEM STANDBY...