A faint sliver of light pierced through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the living room. Outside, the temperature had plunged to negative forty degrees Celsius. Peering through the window, Chen Yuan saw a dim, hazy landscape.
He rubbed his swollen eyes. He had barely slept a wink last night, continuously using his headset to monitor the main door through the dogs' cameras. Thankfully, nothing had come knocking again.
Checking the time, Chen Yuan quickly went to the warehouse.
On the manufacturing platform, a Tiedan twice its previous size lay quietly. Not only did it now sport an offensive mechanical arm, but its body was also covered in a layer of spiked armor, like a mace. Its four legs were thicker and more powerful, and its paws were now tipped with claws that gleamed with a cold light. He touched the tip of a claw; it was absurdly sharp.
But the most important part of this upgrade wasn't the armor. It was the head Chen Yuan had given Tiedan. Atop a head the size of a basketball, two ears stood erect, housing a voice reception system and sonar radar. Its two eyes glowed with a red light, integrating thermal sensors and image recognition. When its mouth opened, it revealed two rows of sharp teeth with a staggering bite force of 500 kilograms—on par with a tiger.
Chen Yuan had invested heavily in this upgrade, but the results were more than satisfactory.
He definitely couldn't lift it off the platform himself. He simply inserted three handfuls of combustion pellets and activated Tiedan.
「Master, Tiedan has returned.」
The voice had changed subtly, becoming deeper and more robust than before.
Chen Yuan grinned. This was his guarantee of safety.
"Get down yourself. I can't lift you anymore."
「Roger.」
Before Chen Yuan could react, Tiedan pushed off with all four limbs and leaped down from the platform. With two heavy thuds, it punched four large holes into the floor tiles.
Chen Yuan patted Tiedan's hard head with satisfaction. "My safety is in your hands from now on."
The materials in the warehouse had mostly been used for Tiedan's upgrade, so he had to go out for a major scavenging run today.
After eating a compressed biscuit, he packed a bottle of Mineral Life Water and another small bag of combustion pellets. Dressed in his thermostatic suit, with the Flame Dagger at his waist and the axe in his hand, he opened the door and left home.
He mounted the cargo baskets onto Tiexiong, the new dog, and then gave his orders.
"Tiexiong, scout ten meters ahead. Report any anomalies immediately."
"Tiedan, you stay by my side. If anything approaches, attack directly."
Chen Yuan already had a plan. After today's supply run, he would upgrade Tiexiong with a manipulator arm. Then, he could scavenge for supplies from the comfort of his own home. As for Tiedan, its upgrades were far from over. It was supposed to be an apocalyptic killing machine; this current level wasn't nearly enough.
And so, one man and two dogs set out into the alley.
Although the air outside was frigid, Chen Yuan barely felt it in his thermostatic suit. With Tiexiong clearing the path ahead and Tiedan protecting his flank, he felt much more relaxed on this trip.
His first priority was wood—his source of fuel. Second were various types of metal. And right, if he wanted to build a third robot dog, he would need another car's main computer unit.
But he no longer needed to chop trees himself. Tiedan extended its two offensive mechanical arms. Even the greenbelt trees, frozen hard as iron, couldn't withstand more than two blows before snapping and crashing down. The noise was a bit loud, but Chen Yuan didn't care. This one trip yielded more than his previous three combined.
Just as he was preparing to head back, Tiexiong, ten meters ahead, sounded an alarm.
Perhaps because the two robot dogs were linked, Tiedan instantly moved to stand in front of him, extending its offensive arms. It bared its sharp claws, its mouth slightly agape, and crouched low, ready for battle.
Chen Yuan also grew tense and turned to look. In the distance, he saw two dark figures walking toward him. The snow, now almost waist-deep, made their advance incredibly difficult.
Chen Yuan pulled the headset out of his backpack. Adjusting the focus, he saw the newcomers clearly through Tiexiong's camera feed.
Her again? It seems the person who screamed last night was someone else.
Chen Yuan made no other move, simply standing his ground and waiting for the two to arrive. This time, he didn't have Tiedan hide. There was no longer a need. Without some serious gear and weapons, he wasn't worried about anyone being able to snatch Tiedan away from him.
After a good while, the two figures finally drew near. Seeing Tiedan and Tiexiong in front, Jiang Nan's movements clearly faltered. Especially when she saw the extended offensive arms on Tiedan, she stopped a good three meters away, not daring to get any closer.
"We meet again," Chen Yuan said with a slight grin.
Jiang Nan pointed at Tiedan, a look of confusion on her face. "What is this thing? Can you… make it retract its claws?"
Chen Yuan shook his head. "This is my bodyguard. If you have something to say, just say it. If you're here to invite me to join your group, you can turn back now."
Jiang Nan shook her head, suppressing her curiosity about the two robot dogs. She asked, "No, that's not it. Our teammate went missing last night. I wanted to ask if you've seen her."
Chen Yuan frowned at her words, a rough idea forming in his mind. But he still shook his head. "Sorry, haven't seen her."
"She went missing in this area. And right before she disappeared, she reported to us that someone was smashing a car over here," the larger, more burly man beside her said, his voice a low rumble. The large machete he was clutching gave off a powerful sense of oppression.
If it weren't for Tiedan's intimidating presence, Chen Yuan suspected he would have already been lifted up and interrogated. But now, with the other party's hostile attitude, he saw no reason to be polite.
"A brain is a good thing to have, but you actually need to have one. She said she saw someone smashing a car, so you come ask me? Are you suggesting it was me here yesterday?"
Wang Hao's brow furrowed. In a deep voice, he growled, "What's with your attitude?! We're just asking you a question!"
"Oh? And I'm obligated to answer your questions?" Chen Yuan shrugged nonchalantly.
"Alright, alright, both of you stop arguing," Jiang Nan said, stepping in front of Wang Hao. "We're very sorry to bother you. Our teammate is missing, and she was indeed active in this area before she disappeared and reported the situation. And, according to our information, you're the only one who has been active around here recently. This teammate is very important to us, so I'd like to ask you to please try and recall if you saw or heard anything strange at the time."
Hearing Jiang Nan's softer tone, a slight smile finally appeared on Chen Yuan's face. See? This is the attitude you should have when you're asking someone for something.
"I did hear a scream. It came from over there," Chen Yuan said, pointing in the direction the two had come from. "About six hundred meters away. The sky was dark at the time, so all I could see were two dark dots."
"And after that? What did you see?" Jiang Nan asked, excitedly taking a step forward. But Tiedan opened its mouth wide, revealing its sharp fangs, forcing her to stay put.
Chen Yuan shook his head. "I was terrified at the time, so I ran straight home. I really don't know what happened after that."
Jiang Nan listened, her brow furrowed slightly, her pretty features knit together in thought. "Then… could I trouble you to take us over there to see the specific location?"
Faced with the woman's request, Chen Yuan thought for a moment. They had lost a teammate. If he refused directly, they would likely pester him every day. He might as well take them over to have a look. Although he doubted anything would be left.
"Fine. I'll take you to have a look."