The senior engineer vanished, leaving only a large pool of blood on the chair.
Number 201 immediately became alert, his visual recorder entering combat mode.
"Enemy... fleeing... pursued."
As a uniquely modified unit of the Knights, his prosthetic eyes possessed multiple functions, including visual imaging, infrared detection, and a scope. Combined with his semi-undead nature, his memory bank contained a wealth of combat experience. Although only a low-level unit, ordinary mechanical hunters were no match for him.
In the future Hydra campaign, these artificial soldiers would be divided into small groups and infiltrate the "City That Never Sleeps." Using disguises, ambushes, and explosives, they disrupted the factory's supply chain and caused considerable trouble for the purely mechanical troops within.
Even players who had entered the storyline wouldn't be able to defeat these small monsters without the coordinated tactics of three characters above level 10—under normal circumstances.
However, players, like creatures, always found strange ways to kill them.
While this minor bug was fixed later in the storyline, now was the early expansion pack, a period that no player had participated in!
As No. 201's perspective shifted to red, a heat source was hiding behind the wreckage of a nearby truck, silently concealed by the black smoke from the engine.
Just as No. 201's finger pressed against the trigger, his knee was violently struck. He lost his balance as the ghostly figure of the senior engineer appeared behind him. His left hand, like a pair of pliers, thrust itself under his armpit. The muscles of his upper and lower arms rubbed upward along the opponent's humerus, and the base of his palm struck his chin. The moment the fluid tube on his neck was exposed, the tactical dagger followed the tube and penetrated his chin.
"Electromechanical diarrhea is also a disease. It needs early treatment. Premature ejaculation requires early treatment, while late-stage diarrhea leads to persistent diarrhea."
[You have killed the Knights' artificial soldier. Experience +100]
[You used 'Brawl', dealing a 'One-Hit Kill' on the target. Experience +100]
As the opponent's fluid pipe erupted with a large amount of mechanical fluid, Gabe Steele, without hesitation, spun around, using the opponent's body as a shield. He then fell to the ground and rolled. Almost instantly, a barrage of bullets rained down, the metal tips crackling against the vehicle's hull in a pattern.
The remaining three artificial soldiers' eyes glowed red, transforming them into emotionless killing machines.
The two to the north, one on the left and one on the right, sought cover, their semi-automatic rifles held steady, their barrels blazing.
The one to the west flung aside the intercom and flicked his index finger into his tactical pocket. He spun his 30cm-long dagger as he ran, gripping it in his reversed palm. A red light rippled from his eyes, giving him the look of a wolf on the hunt.
"Enemy, clear!"
"Individual tactics activated."
"Attack! Attack! Attack!"
In combat mode, the artificial soldier possessed no emotions. A hit to a vital point wouldn't kill him instantly, and the specialized metal covering his head was impenetrable even to standard sniper ammunition—unless they engaged in close combat, severing the wires and fluid tubes connecting the electronic brain to the physical body, destroying the brain's internal electronics.
However, during these various "suicidal" monster-killing attempts, someone first discovered that the enemy's electronic eyes could be tricked.
In the infrared world of the visual collector, a heat source moved at breakneck speed along the cover. The two intersecting lines of fire left Gabe Steele with less and less room to evade.
Using cover fire, another artificial soldier had already reached Gabe Steele's back. Suddenly, from within its metal head, the sound of a high-speed engine revved.
Charge mode!
The metal surface visibly glowed red and hot, and human functions began to ramp up.
In this mode, the artificial soldier ignored the constraints of his cloned body and unleashed a variety of dangerous and bizarre lethal maneuvers, fighting to the death.
Its attack speed suddenly doubled! The opponent's tactical boot slammed into a rock, and the entire person seemed to stretch by one-third like a catapulted cobra, flexing and stretching.
The heat source of the visual collector suddenly split in two.
The tactical dagger, which was meant to penetrate the opponent's neck, missed.
"How could this be!"
A flash of astonishment passed through the artificial soldier's mind.
The artificial soldier was fast, but Gabe Steele was even faster!
No. 203's body sank, and Gabe Steele's knee dropped from the sky, slamming into the opponent's intervertebral disc, pinning him to the ground, while the tactical dagger penetrated the back of his neck.
Blood spurted out! A gust of wind blew, and Gabe Steele jerked his head back. A cold flash streaked across his cheek as the artificial soldier's arm twisted 180 degrees in the opposite direction, stabbing at his throat.
He could almost hear the crackling of ligaments in his ears.
"Death bomb?"
Gabe Steele's alarm grew even stronger. A glance saw the other man's other hand had already pulled a pistol from its holster. The back of his head looked like it had eyes, the black muzzle pointed directly at him.
Without a moment's hesitation, Gabe Steele's right hand blocked the gun's port. The next moment, the gunshot rang out, and the back of his hand bulged violently, the flesh tearing apart, revealing a silvery-white sheen.
Hiss! While the mechanical endoskeleton couldn't undergo dramatic transformation compared to the metal exoskeleton, it could seamlessly receive neural signals, making it superior in small-scale combat. However—it hurt!
[You lose 3 health points]
"Die!"
Gabe Steele's eyes flashed bloodshot, his muscles tensed, veins bulging. The micromotor inside his knee increased its power again. He grasped the man's head with his right hand, stepped on it, twisted it, and pulled it. With a loud bang, the man's metal head, along with the awl-like bio-implant, was ripped out alive. At the bottom of the bio-implant lay a cluster of sensors, neural shunts, and chemical catalysts. Electric sparks mixed with the blood, emitting white smoke.
[You have killed the Knights' artificial soldier, experience +100]
Two chains of fire immediately rolled in. Fortunately, Gabe Steele was prepared. With a flick of his hand, four dark shadows shot out in four directions.
The heat source landed in the artificial soldier's visual detector, splitting into four and shooting in four directions.
The sound of gunfire suddenly became chaotic.
Gabe Steele's normal attributes were significantly higher than those of the artificial soldiers. To expedite the battle, he used 'Primary Mechanical Repair' to overload his motor system. In this state, his five primary attributes increased to around 16 or 17 points, nearly double that of the artificial soldiers.
While this state wasn't sustainable, lasting less than three minutes, it was enough. To the artificial soldiers, the heat sources multiplied: two, four, eight, as if a special forces squad had descended from the sky, surrounding them.
Among them, a heat source appeared and disappeared mysteriously, each time it appeared, it brought death.
[You have killed the Knights' artificial soldiers, experience +100]
[You have killed the Knights' artificial soldiers, experience +100]
Until the last artificial soldier was slit in the throat by Gabe Steele, they still didn't understand how these enemies that fell from the sky appeared.
"Sizzle~" Gabe Steele gasped for breath, and the smell of burning artificial protein emanated from him. From extreme movement to extreme stillness, some of the implanted machinery in his body finally gave way, and his elbow suddenly "popped" with a sound like an exploded electrical appliance, the surface charred black.
"Fuck, it hurts, it hurts!"
Players can adjust their pain sensitivity, but unfortunately, NPCs don't have this feature.
Gabe Steele's right hand lost its sensitivity and fell, its forearm and upper arm forming a strange arc.
Overload comes at a price! The ore fragment in his hand naturally fell to the ground.
The 'heat source' was simple, not high-tech: simply ignited energy ore.
Energy ore is a byproduct of energy pollution, resembling a multicolored crystal. The simplest way to utilize it is to burn it. A fingertip-sized piece of ore can burn for three days and three nights, making it the cheapest fuel in the Iron Sand Desert.
Once the energy ore burns, it not only becomes a heat source but also emits a kind of energy radiation that interferes with the artificial soldiers' vision—blinding them in 'infrared mode.'
If you were an artificial soldier, wouldn't it be logical to disable combat mode and return to normal vision?
Actually, that wouldn't work.
Once the artificial soldier's combat program is activated, it locks out infrared vision until all enemies are dead, at which point it returns to normal vision.
This lock mode was intended to stimulate the artificial soldiers' desire to fight, but no one anticipated this hardware issue.
Ultimately, it's because artificial soldiers are considered "low-end consumables."
Low-level soldiers aren't high-end goods; they just need to be usable, not requiring meticulous tuning.
Gabe Steele was certain that this small group of artificial soldiers had only recently arrived in the Iron Sand Desert.
In the "Beast Machine Disaster" expansion, countless artificial soldiers were killed in this way, and the Knights' production line finally fixed this issue.
The early stages of the game are truly the best, with bugs and equipment galore.
Gabe Steele retrieved a cigarette case from the body of a deceased person. On it, a bionic woman, covered in pipes, posed coquettishly.
"Smoking is harmful to your health. The Seagull II Virtual Experience Machine offers you a higher level of spiritual enjoyment."
"What a rubbish advertisement," Gabe Steele muttered, holding a cigarette in his mouth as he awkwardly gathered his spoils with one hand. His mind was beginning to blur again.
In his current state, not only could an ordinary person kill him, let alone an artificial soldier.
The reality of this game lies in the fact that the lower your health, the worse your condition.
This was why Gabe Steele had to take a gamble.
It's not like there's nothing to gain. Gabe Steele casually grabbed a gun, and the system panel automatically identified it.
Name: Assaulter,
Category: Kinetic Submachine Gun,
Quality: Standard,
Weight: 2.8kg,
Caliber: 7.62mm,
Basic Stats: DPS: 156 (Damage Per Second), Attack Power: 16, Rate of Fire: 8.89 attacks/second, Magazine Capacity: 35, Effective Range: 120-220 meters,
Scope Slot: Empty, Plug-in Slot: Empty, Notes: This is a decent weapon, except for its inability to hit targets.
"Bullshit, what do you think this is? A Mother City? Adding a prosthetic plug-in, an intelligent template, and even a miniature rocket launcher? Wishful thinking! This is a radiation zone, a fringe area, where firearms are hard currency!"
Gabe Steele complained about the system while fondly groping at the handle.
"These guns look like they're arsenals sold privately from overseas arsenals. Great stuff!"
He searched around and confirmed his finds: four Assault submachine guns, four bulletproof vests, five pistols, and five daggers. The submachine guns cost 100 Mech Coins on the market, but a factory-made one like this would add at least 50 more. The pistols cost 50-60. Adding the bulletproof vests and daggers, the total haul was around a little over 1,000 Mech Coins.
Mech Coins are the exclusive currency of the Iron Sand Desert and can be used to trade with factories.
At the Gas Bar, a tube of nutrient cream costs only 1 Mech Coin, and a tube of radiation pills costs 10 Mech Coins. If you're not extravagant, a Mech Hunter's monthly living expenses are only 100 Mech Coins.
That's about the original owner's earnings from a normal mission. Often, failed missions meant not only no payout, but also equipment repairs.
However, the original owner remembered that the Preparatory Citizen Certificate had cost him a whopping six figures! The thought of this made Gabe Steele breathless with grief.
Oh, he had a mechanical heart; he couldn't bear the pain.
"There's definitely something fishy about this mission. Someone's bribed the Knights to target me!"
"Wait! I'll investigate thoroughly and find the mastermind behind this, and I'll catch them all!"
The thought of repairing the mechanical body and the subsequent loss of his already empty wallet made Gabe Steele's heart ache again.
"I don't know if this can be sold."
Gabe Steele glanced at the four iron heads in the back seat of the car. These 'soldiers' were in a state of hardware damage, but with some repairs, they could still be used. Businesses in the city should be interested in the Knights' biotechnology, and selling them would be a boon.
"Calling 203, calling 203!" a gruff voice boomed over the intercom.
"Not buying insurance, buying a house, applying for a loan, or getting a credit card. This entire call is being recorded. Get lost, liar."
"Who are you?"
"I'm your father, whom I've never met," Gabe Steele introduced himself as he opened the hood of the car.
The Knights' vehicle was a disguised off-road vehicle, fueled by energy ore extract. Its motor and onboard power system were similar to the electric car of his previous life, though the motor was larger. The "battery" resembled a high-tech steam engine, its surface a cool metallic texture, with countless pipes extending out, faintly visible gas flowing, giving it a distinctly wasteland feel.
With his knowledge of [Mechanical Modification], he quickly grasped the principle. He opened the trunk, found the tools, and deftly separated the circuits, plugging them into three black rubber cables. The other ends of the cables then plugged into connectors on the inside of his knee and wrist (one was broken).
With the modified circulatory system, the heart was no longer a vital organ (though a puncture would still cause serious injury), but a large battery.
And this was just the first step in the original owner's ambition.
His ultimate goal was to replace all his human body parts with electronic organs and bionic components, evolving from human form to a pure cyborg.
In his mind, the cyborg was the most powerful!
(End of Chapter)