From the drone's perspective, beneath the firmament, skyscraper ruins dozens of stories high were covered by snake-like yellow creepers, while similarly tall giant tree crowns spread outwards.
The dense clusters of metal leaves resembled solar panels arranged in a circle; the air carried the scorched smell of electronics, a result of the Mechanical Bio-Beasts secreting artificial proteins.
The camera rotated, the drone's view continued to zoom in, and in the gaps of the forest, tree roots could be clearly seen piercing the concrete ground of the old city, crushing various metal scraps like large mixers, then absorbing them with newly grown metal pipelines.
Metal, cement, and plant roots, all merged together in a strange and mysterious unity.
As the drone flew past a communications tower, the tower's lightning rod suddenly spun around, slowly opening—it was a sword-leaf-shaped metal flower engraved with 'Iron Tower Co., Ltd.'
'Abnormal signal access'
'Abnormal signal access'
'Signal interruption'
'Signal interruption'
Suddenly, two of the propeller nozzles on one drone lost control, causing its flight path to become erratic, ultimately plunging into the forest.
In the next instant, the Hunter swarm sprang into action, Iron Rats emerging from the sewers as fast as lightning, with metal wheels replacing their foot limbs, resembling autonomous skate shoes from a high-tech brand.
The Turbo Spider followed closely, as a medium-sized Reproductive Life, it measured three meters in length, two meters in height, with three pairs of mechanical pincers, tactile limbs like steel blades, and its radioactive spider eyes on its head functioned like large searchlights, emitting rotating beams of strong light, forcing back competitors.
A sharp siren sounded, and the vehicle head millipede barreled through the high-speed passage, occasionally ramming aside the remnants of cars on the roadway.
However, the Hunters in the trees got there first, and a dozen bird-shaped semi-mechanical creatures swarmed in, their beak-drills expertly opening up the drone's outer shell, biting through the engine wires, causing the drone to completely cease operation.
What followed was a gluttonous feast, with the metal shell like snacks, the circuits stimulating and smooth, the chips nutritious, the batteries most sought after, and the motors tough to chew but offering a good texture.
Ultimately, a Bionic Gecko got hold of the camera, embedding it in its neck, the electronic patterns on its bionic skin lighting up as if undergoing some special pairing, soon activating the camera as if it had found a new job.
The other two drones, seeing this, immediately ascended upwards, but when the trailing drone circled past a Twin Tower, the 'creeper' on the tower's surface suddenly unfolded like snake scales, undulating rhythmically.
The 'creeper' transmitted biological signals into the building's fiber optic, database, and input devices.
'Electronic pairing in progress'
'Signal conversion in progress'
'Virtual invasion in progress'
The Twin Tower's predecessor appeared to be a TV station with twenty-three floors. As the creeper connected, long-dormant backup motors suddenly roared to life, the machine room echoing with sound; from rooftop to ground level, layer upon layer of screens lit up, broadcasting not advertisements, but the drone's flight images.
Within the TV station, there seemed to be countless transparent workers tuning equipment, verifying programs, and editing videos.
Finally, before a suicidal corpse, the screen suddenly came to life.
"...The Sky Enforcers launched cleanups, issuing enhanced safety management regulations for civil drones and other 'low, slow, small' aircraft, establishing eight categories of control zones within the municipality, prohibiting...(except with special approval)"
As the video played, the trailing drone's body violently trembled, suddenly shifted direction, and slowly descended onto the Twin Tower's rooftop.
Then, the screen content appeared to have hit the rewind button, as the 'drone' flew in reverse from the Twin Tower's rooftop, heading directly towards some underground installation.
In an underground control center of a bomb shelter
A staff member's face changed, ten fingers suddenly splitting open into spider-like structures, tapping swiftly on the keyboard at a speed beyond naked eye visibility.
Before him, the large screen turned red in an instant.
'Data anomaly, data anomaly——'
'Flight signal captured, virus intrusion in progress, the first barrier has been breached——'
"What's going on? How is there a virus intrusion, were our actions detected by the Mechanical Main Brain?" The supervisor-like middle-aged man's face changed, exclaiming.
"No, the monitoring stations within the city found no signs of the Mechanical Legion's deployment."
"This type of virus also isn't your typical corporate virus."
Another employee explained, wearing a device resembling a headset, with the 'headset' embedded in the ear, faintly visible was a small circle of wires inserted into the ear canal.
In the Nightless City, this device was known as a 'Network Access Chamber,' and the Knight Order lacked the technical foundation in this aspect, relying on refurbished machines from the Black Market, unable to connect to the Cyber Network using old-era military technology, only accessing the World Wide Web.
This refurbished machine stood no chance against corporate viruses controlled by Advanced AI.
"It seems to be some kind of biological signal-transformed wild electronic virus."
The supervisor breathed a sigh of relief, as wild viruses remained within their handling capacity.
More importantly, the 'Hydra' plan had not been discovered and was proceeding smoothly.
"Investigate the source, and find out why the drone appeared in that place." The manager said with a hint of anger.
"Position confirmed, 213.313.511, the pre-Civilization Era's Jiangbie City; mission level 'Knight,' it's a bounty mission temporarily released by the higher-ups."
A staff member paused, then spoke with some reverence: "It's the Steel Knight—Banner!"
The last drone was still loyally completing its mission. Unfortunately, in this concrete jungle, there are too many of its nemeses.
Soon, a black shadow shot out from the forest, its speed extremely fast, as if tearing through the air. After a sound burst, there was another explosion, flames scattered, and drone fragments rained down from the sky.
In a district filled with countless 'Red Lanterns,' the blood carpet on the ground slowly moved, climbing up skyscrapers, flowing onto overpasses, engulfing every living being in the invading district, ultimately converging towards the center. The moving blood covered the blood carpet's surface, resembling a noblewoman's gown.
The 'noblewoman' in the center of the carpet was a monster nearly three meters tall, composed of white bones and flesh, with countless strands of nerves forming her hair, at the ends of which hung the heads of Mechanical Hunters.
If a radiation detector were turned on, one could observe that the radiation level in this district was terrifyingly strong, nearly akin to the center of a nuclear explosion.
"Daring to intrude into the domain of an A-level Crimson Empress, it's like taking off your pants to fart, courting death!"
[Mission complete, reward 1500 experience points]
Just as the Iron Sand Desert is not a real desert, the Oasis isn't green either. It resembles a well-equipped small town, with a complicated mix of residents: fugitives from the Mechanical City, mercenaries from the factory, natives of the Iron Sand Desert, taboo-modified synthetic people, and Metal Preachers who believe in the Turing Sect.
There are no good people here, you could even say there are no 'humans.' All residents visibly carry implants, organ-weaponized, organs mechanized, each looking quite unapproachable.
And anyone who can open a store here peacefully is definitely a formidable character capable of holding the place down.
The owner of the Rose Petrol Bar is a woman, and a very beautiful one at that. Her fiery red hair looks like blazing flames, emerald-like eyes have a habit of observing people through her wavy hair, her hot upper body uncovered, wrapped in a high-elasticity tight vest, revealing a large area of fair skin on her chest, with a waistline showing a stunning black rose tattoo.
The Rose Petrol Bar offers all kinds of drinks, bionic prostitutes, virtual experience machines, mental drugs, small-scale body repair and modification, agency services, and assassin services.
At this moment, Black Rose is standing behind the bar, casually mixing a Margarita, listening to the boasts and displays of various customers, and occasionally sweeping over with greedy eyes.
Every year, many people come here prospecting for gold, including powerful prosthetic transformers, but familiar faces become fewer and fewer. Ninety-nine percent of them remain here forever in this radiation zone, with only a lucky few earning enough mechanical coins to exchange for a Nightless City entrance ticket, to enjoy the life of a superior.
Most of the time, Black Rose watches coldly, observing these fools jumping from the radiation zone into the more dangerous urban hell.
The city's monsters devour visitors without spitting out the bones!
However, some fools are quite cute, pity if they die.
"Did you hear? The factory's goods were intercepted at the Great Rift Valley."
Amidst the chaotic news, one piece caught her attention.
"Who dares to intercept the factory's goods, courting death!"
"Not sure, maybe some desperate smugglers took the risk."
"These people courting death better not implicate us."
A burly man with a metal arm laughed heartily:
"It's not all bad, the factory is filthy rich, might be able to earn a large bounty!"
"That's true, my exoskeleton has been due for a replacement for ages, the city's goods sold here have increased tenfold, those damn corporate vampires!"
Black Rose's thin and long eyebrow raised, downing her Margarita in one gulp, motioning for the bartender not far away to take over, and then she strode towards the back door.
Besides offering drinks, the Petrol Bar can also host overnight stays, as some activities are more suited for nighttime; Black Rose usually resides in the bar's basement, where there's enough alcohol.
However, few people know that Black Rose has another base, which was originally an abandoned factory, now turned into a garage filled with various models of motorcycles she has collected.
Liquor and heavy motorcycles are the two things this woman loves most.
As soon as the door opened, a strong scent of blood filled the air, yet Black Rose's expression remained unchanged as she directly pulled the switch.
In the next moment, under the glaring spotlight, there was an unfamiliar and battered off-road vehicle, three of its four tires blown, covered in countless scratches and bullet marks.
Inside lay a wild-looking man, blind in one eye, missing a hand, with a half-bitten cigarette dangling from his lips.
"You're here."
Black Rose's gaze swept around, calmly saying: "Who allowed you to bring this garbage into my garage."
Gao Gong smiled wryly, "Sister Rose, can't we talk about the car later? Save the person first."
"If I die, won't you have one less car?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Gao Gong's head tilted to the side, and he completely lost consciousness.
[Mission complete, reward 1500 experience points]