"Why Type-80... I was the first to regain consciousness..." M3 muttered enviously, watching Type-80 stretch and kick beside Scarecrow.
"Didn't I tell you? It was ranked based on Renault's assessment, and she woke up first. That's simply because Renault saw the most severe damage to your neural core. To put it bluntly, you're the weakest."
Scarecrow spoke without turning back, guiding Type-80 to adapt to her body.
Upon hearing this explanation, M3's face flushed, and so did G43's beside her.
After all, she was the second one to wake up, making her the second-to-last...
The other dolls were about to say something, but upon hearing Scarecrow's words, their thoughts were instantly suppressed.
Their eyes fixed on Type-80's body, wondering if her unusual size was responsible for her relatively minor injuries...
After all, being small meant less surface area for bullets, making one less vulnerable to enemy attacks...
It had to be said that Type-80 was quite reliable. It took her only a few minutes to master the controls of this new body.
After a few test runs in the corridor, she entered the repair chamber and began applying the bionic skin. Scarecrow also began loading the next doll's neural core into her body. While the second doll was adjusting to her form, Type-80 emerged from the repair chamber, donned the clothes Scarecrow had prepared, and returned to her original form.
She removed all the bags and jackets from her original body and put them on herself. As usual, she put on her glasses and fished out her original stockpile of bubble gum...
Looking at Type-80's familiar demeanor, it was clear she'd done this many times before. The only difference was that this time, she hadn't lost any of her memories.
Scarecrow nodded. Her lack of reaction was a testament to the stability of her neural cloud. Renault's previous assessment had been accurate, but it remained to be seen what the second PK would do.
It shouldn't be a problem. PK's performance in the neural space just now was consistent with Renault's assessment. M870, however, judging by her memories, should have been a more talkative figure. But since waking up, she'd been standing silently behind the group of dolls, which was a bit out of character.
Still, it was within Renault's expectations. Such a situation wasn't surprising after such a sudden change.
PK, the second doll with a new body, was also a relatively calm one. Although she had a slight stress reaction when Scarecrow touched her body, it wasn't a big deal.
"Speaking of which, the Rippers and Dinergates that used to hang around outside here have all disappeared for a while now. What happened?" Type-80 asked, standing at the workshop door, peering out for a moment.
"Hmm? Nothing's wrong. We've just arrived at the mission location. For safety reasons, the Rippers and Dinergates have all been moved to the upper deck of the ship. Don't wander off. I'll take you directly to the upper deck. The lower deck is now sealed off."
The quarantine doors between the lower deck's cabin passageways had all been lowered. Only M1 Garand, G36, and herself had the authority to open them—or Renault could open them himself.
"Locked off?"
"Yes, to prevent the leakage of Collapse contamination. After we take you to the upper deck, the quarantine doors in this area will also be closed."
"Collapse contamination... does that mean the ship is now in a heavily contaminated area?"
"Yes, somewhere west of Lake Baikal."
"Isn't that just one step away from the Black Zone!?" Stg-44's eyes widened, and she exclaimed in shock upon hearing this.
"So, for safety's sake, don't move around after changing your body." Scarecrow nodded at Stg-44's words. It seemed someone had checked the map.
The other dolls, including PK, looked at each other in bewilderment, fearing for their future missions.
Such a dangerous commission right from the start... they were in for a hell of a fight.
...
"AR15, CF05, Nagant Revolver, NZ75, HK416, AK47, Executioner, Intruder..."
"And me..."
A weak voice echoed from the cockpit of the nearby gunship.
Simonov was somewhat helpless. She hunched over the controls, watching the dolls all donning their power armor. AR15, meanwhile, had a scowl on her face as she surveyed the others' power armor.
If Renault hadn't said he wanted her to test the stability of their engines, she would have thought he was targeting her...
During this mission, Renault had swapped out the weapons on several of the power armors. While they still carried machine guns, each was only carrying one, with more equipped with machine guns and grenade launchers. CF05's power armor remained unchanged, still equipped with hydraulic clamps and a pile driver.
NZ75 donned the same power armor she had worn before, which might be useful for its chainsaw.
Executioner, of course, donned the SPAS-12 power armor, and she found the barrier-breaking axe quite handy.
"Alright, once everyone's gathered, enter the engine room. Simonov, prepare for takeoff. M1 Garand, open the second hangar hatch once we're inside the gunship's engine room."
"Understood." M1 Garand on the bridge nodded. She turned to look at the reading on the nearby Collapse radiation detector, and a frown crept across her face.
This Collapse radiation detector, purchased on the black market, was nearing failure. The reading kept fluctuating between maximum and error.
Clearly, the radiation levels in this area had exceeded the device's detection limit.
"Commander, are you sure you don't need to wear protective clothing? The level of contamination in this area is truly..."
M1 Garand warned with some concern. Although she knew Renault's physique was completely different from that of ordinary humans, Collapse radiation was something that any carbon-based organism—whether animal, plant, insect, or even microorganism—could not survive in. Their bodies would quickly begin to silicify, skipping even the initial symptoms of ELID, trapped by the silicified shell and rapidly transforming into a mass of silicified matter.
"No need," Renault shook his head, his eyes fixed on AR15.
AR15's bionic skin and some of the fillers within her body were also made of natural materials.
Perhaps soon...