Salvage system a litrpg.., p.1
Salvage System: A LitRPG Adventure, page 1
SALVAGE SYSTEM
©2024 NICHOLAS SANSBURY SMITH
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CONTENTS
Books by THE new york times bestselling author Nicholas Sansbury Smith
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Chapter 47
Chapter 48
Thank you for reading Salvage System
About the Author
BOOKS BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR NICHOLAS SANSBURY SMITH
hell divers
Into the Storms: A Hell Divers Prequel
Burning Skies: A Hell Divers Prequel II
Hell Divers I
Hell Divers II: Ghosts
Hell Divers III: Deliverance
Hell Divers IV: Wolves
Hell Divers V: Captives
Hell Divers VI: Allegiance
Hell Divers VII: Warriors
Hell Divers VIII: King of the Wastes
Hell Divers IX: Radioactive
Hell Divers X: Fallout
Hell Divers XI: Renegades
Hell Divers XII: Heroes
Hell Divers: The Lost Years (novella)
Rhino: The Rise of a Warrior
sons of war
Sons of War
Sons of War 2: Saints
Sons of War 3: Sinners
Sons of War 4: Soldiers
orbs
Solar Storms (an Orbs prequel)
White Sands (an Orbs prequel)
Red Sands (an Orbs prequel)
Orbs
Orbs II: Stranded
Orbs III: Redemption
Orbs IV: Exodus
e-day
E-Day
E-Day II: Burning Earth
E-Day III: Dark Moon
galaxy in flames
The Last Steward
The Last Ship
The Last Lion
The Last Legends (A novella)
the salvage system trilogy (a litrpg apocalypse)
Salvage System
Salvage System, Book 2
the old guns saga
Old Guns 1 (coming winter 2026)
extinction cycle
(season one)
Extinction Horizon
Extinction Edge
Extinction Age
Extinction Evolution
Extinction End
Extinction Aftermath
Extinction Lost (a Team Ghost short story)
Extinction War
extinction cycle:
dark age (season two)
Extinction Shadow
Extinction Inferno
Extinction Ashes
Extinction Darkness
trackers (season one)
Trackers
Trackers 2: The Hunted
Trackers 3: The Storm
Trackers 4: The Damned
new frontier (trackers season two)
New Frontier: Wild Fire
New Frontier 2: Wild Lands
New Frontier 3: Wild Warriors
standalone titles
Savage Skies (a sci-fi novella)
The Biomass Revolution
For Steve and Rhett at Aethon Books—thank you for your friendship and stewardship of my work. What you have created as a publisher is nothing short of amazing.
“When the going gets tough, the tough reinvent themselves” – Douglas Malloch
1
Chris Mason raised his hard hat and dragged his wrist across his sweaty brow. Overheated from the long day of work in the blazing sun, he leaned against a steel beam on the 99th floor of New York City’s soon-to-be tallest building—the Infinity Spire, located at 50 West 66th Street. Once complete, it would reach over eighteen hundred feet into the sky.
The magnificent skyline of modern and ancient buildings sprawled out before him in a mosaic of glass, steel, and concrete. From his vantage, all five boroughs were visible, the Hudson, even the Statue of Liberty at Ellis Island. He loved this view, along with the rumble of machinery, clank of hammers, whir of drills, and the howl of the wind at what felt like the top of the world.
A lot of people couldn’t believe this was his office when Chris told them.
He focused on the Empire State Building, recalling the black and white images of men sitting on exposed beams hanging precariously from the gridwork of iron. Many of those workers weren’t wearing shirts, and none of them had hard hats. And while there were far more safety measures in place, it wasn’t all that much different now than it was then. Beams still had to be secured, bolted down, welded.
The work was still done by humans, and it remained just as dangerous. Especially at the top, where Chris and his crew worked in a wind tunnel. He tucked his curly brown hair back behind his ears and slid his hat back on as a gust of humid wind hit him. The blast wasn’t much relief in the blazing sun. But there was hope for some relief.
On the horizon to the west, storm clouds bulged outward, getting darker by the second. As long as there wasn’t lightning or extreme wind, Chris wasn’t worried. In fact, he welcomed a bit of cooler air and even some light rain.
“Hey, Chris, you gonna hump that beam or what?” called out Max. “You really need to get out more, find a girl. Settle down. There’s so many out there, jeez.”
Chris snorted at the joke. His friend knew he wasn’t interested in settling down. At twenty-four, he was enjoying the freedom of his life, and loving every minute. Working on the spire, playing baseball after work, and experiencing the vibrant city night life.
“Why don’t you worry about yourself,” Chris replied. “You’ve bagged some real hippos lately, Sir Maximus the beast tamer.”
Rusty, their other good friend and crew-member, let out a bellowing laugh. The redhaired beast of a young man was the perfect example of a gentle giant. Max, on the other hand, was the polar opposite. He was short, with a fiery attitude and thinning black hair. He shot Rusty an annoyed glare, then looked at Chris.
“You’re just jealous, Chrissy boy,” Max shot back.
“Jealous, yeah, okay, buddy.”
“You guys sound like a married couple,” Rusty chimed in.
“Married, I’ll never get married,” Max said. “Getting married is for people that want to ruin their lives, and so is having kids.”
“Not true, and I can’t wait to have kids.” Rusty grinned, showing his big white teeth. “Lots of benefits to being married, especially the kid-making process.”
“Oh, you guys are trying? Congrats, man!” Chris said.
Rusty nodded proudly.
“Bro, why do you want to ruin your life with some carpet-hugging, ankle-biting, drooling whiners?” Max said. “I get the same benefits of ‘making’ kids with random girls. I just use a rubber.”
“Good thing your parents didn’t think all that drooling stuff about you. If they had known, maybe they would have worn a rubber,” Rusty said.
“Definitely would have,” Chris said.
“I was a good baby and kid,” Max said with a grunt.
“Don’t lie,” Rusty said.
“Kids are cool. I want to be a dad someday too, just not anytime soon,” Chris said.
“You guys are lame,” Max said with a scowl. “I’m going to stay a bachelor forever.”
For now, Chris was too. He enjoyed dating and meeting new people, but he wasn’t in a rush to get married. In high school, he’d fallen in love with his girlfriend. Or least he thought he had at the time. When he went off to college, they grew apart, and eventually, they broke up. For now, he was enjoying his freedom in the big city.
Athletic, fairly smart, adventurous, and funny, in his opinion at any rate, Chris didn’t have a hard time finding girls. Finding the girl wasn’t the top of his priority list right now.
Wind howled through the open floor, rustling over the secured equipment throughout the level.
“Holy crap,” Chris said. He was used to working in the wind tunnel, where wind speeds were significantly higher than at ground level due to reduced frictions with buildings, trees, and other obstacles. The top of the skeletal structure could amplify the wind, causing gusts that could create vortex shedding that damaged scaffolding or materials. But these gusts were almost random and were getting stronger.
“You good, Mason?” Rusty asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Chris eyed the storm again, seeing it was still a ways off. If it was a true threat, they would get an adequate amount of time to evacuate the area from hand signals or a warning over the radio. So far, his superiors must not have been too worried.
The grinding of metal continued across the floor as the whoosh of the wind faded away. Machinery and hammering took over again. Chris rejoined Rusty at a ten-foot section of beam with Max to finish securing it. They had known each other for six years, meeting at the University of Iowa while playing on the baseball team, then relocating to Brooklyn because Max convinced them it was heaven. It was, if you ignored the scent of trash, constant noise, and dog-sized rats. Not to mention the ridiculous cost of rent.
At least there weren’t cornfields here, and Chris had always wanted to escape the rural farm life. He’d really taken a liking to this massive city and cultural center over the past five years. Even though he wasn’t using his degree in finance, he preferred construction over some job on Wall Street or at a bank. Each day, he left the job site feeling accomplished and proud of progress he could see with his own eyes.
“Okay, let’s get this secured,” Rusty said.
Together, the three friends worked silently as they bolted down the beam. As Chris screwed in a bolt, a clap of thunder echoed, resonating off the concrete jungle below.
Rusty looked up from his work. “That’s starting to look sketchy. Hope it doesn’t rain too hard and mess up our ball game after work.”
“Taylor’s letting you out for it?” Max asked.
“Better believe it, and I’m going to go deep tonight. Hit one out of the park.”
“You must mean at home. Makin’ a ginger baby, ’cause no way you’re gonna do that at the park.”
“Man, shut your shit hole already,” Rusty groaned. He pretended to swing a bat with his hands. “Crack… the crowd goes wild.”
“Keep dreaming,” Max snickered. “Last time you swung for the fence, you tripped over your own feet and face-planted.”
“That was bad luck… and I was drunk.”
“Speaking of, a cold one sounds really nice,” Chris said.
“I’ll pass on the drinks,” Rusty said. “I’m taking Taylor out for a nice meal this weekend and can’t afford to drink you boys under the table again.”
“What did you do to get in the dog house?”
“Nothing. It’s our anniversary, two years now.”
“Damn, two years already.” Chris couldn’t believe it. The wedding party, what he remembered of it, seemed like yesterday. And soon, if all went to their plan, Rusty and his wife, Taylor, were going to add a little one to their family.
“I’m taking her to DeLuca’s,” Rusty said with a proud grin. “She’s been dropping hints for months.”
“That place costs a fortune man, damn,” Max said. “Another reason I don’t want to get married. Don’t have to wine and dine ’em. I’ll keep hittin’ the hippos and saving up for retirement while you slave away.”
Rusty laughed, clearly deciding to be a good sport. Max did the same and slapped Rusty on his back. “You know I’m messin’, right, big guy?”
“Sure do, little beast tamer,” Rusty said.
Chris chuckled. This was another part of what he loved about the job. Not just the thrill of being up high, but the way they could all shoot the breeze and make even the hardest days bearable.
A sudden sharp gust howled through the structure, rattling the secured scaffolding. A moment later, a loud bang echoed as Rusty’s metal tool chest tipped over. The unsecured top flipped open and tools spilled out.
“Shit! Heads up!” Max yelled, pointing as a wrench skittered across the decking. It bounced once, twice, and then slid right over the edge.
Chris froze, his heart pounding as he followed its fall with his eyes. In what seemed like slow motion, the wrench fell three floors, and clanked against the floor where two workers glared up.
“The fuck!” one of them shouted.
Chris braced himself against another gust of wind.
“Get that box secured! Now!” barked someone from behind him, the voice barely audible over the wind.
Chris went back to the crate, where Rusty met him.
“Shit, I’m sorry, I thought it was locked and secured,” Rusty said.
“It’s okay, the wrench didn’t hit anyone.”
But it wasn’t okay.
Their foreman strode over, his face red. “What the hell is this rookie bullshit? I said everything stays tied down! You know that!” He gestured at the unsecured tool chest. “We’re working in a damn wind tunnel! You want to kill someone today?”
Chris shook his head, still catching his breath.
“Whose tools are those?” asked the foreman.
Rusty fidgeted, and began to raise his hand, but Chris raised his instead, lying, “Mine, boss. They’re mine, and it won’t happen again.”
“Damn right it won’t, ‘cause I’m writing your ass up.” He plucked his radio off his vest, but when he turned it on, there was only static.
“The hell,” muttered the foreman. “Max, Rusty, you get back to work. Mason, come with me.”
Rusty stared at him, lipping, Why did you lie?
Truth was, he did it instinctively to protect his married friend. Especially after learning they were trying to have a kid. His family would need the money, and Rusty already had a strike against him.
Since Chris was a little kid, he always valued having his friends’ backs, and Rusty was his best bud. Right now, he needed Chris.
“Move it, Mason,” the foreman said.
Chris followed, right into another, stronger gust of wind. A steel ladder leaning against an iron beam shifted near the edge of the open iron-gridwork, scraping against the deck.
The two workers that had been using it rushed over, but not fast enough. The ladder wobbled and the secure locks snapped loose. It hit the floor and slid, right toward the edge. Chris was the closest, and lunged, grabbing a bottom rung as it slid under a safety railing. He pulled back, but it was at an odd angle, threatening to pull him right over the railing. He stared in horror at the drop below, and the small cars and people inching along. Normally, the height didn’t bother him, but his guts tangled now that he was at risk of falling.
“I can’t hold it!” Chris shouted. His muscles trembled as the weight dragged him against the railing. He could let it go, but if he did that, someone would almost certainly get killed on the ground.
A beat later, he felt hands on his back.
“I got you,” the foreman said.
Rusty was the next one to arrive. He bent down and grabbed the ladder through the railing. With the help of a fourth worker, they wrestled it back onto the deck.
Chris staggered away from the railing, chest heaving. That had been too close for comfort, and it reminded him of how dangerous their work could really be up here.
“Holy crap,” the foreman gasped. “That wind’s no joke. We should be shut down, dammit.”
