Old Men All Like Tentacle Monsters

The sudden alarm lasted for nearly fifteen minutes, making everyone in the "City of Radiance" realize what had happened.

People began to gradually stream towards the city hall.

The various supply shops gradually became crowded with people, who began frantically scrambling for firearms, ammunition, food, camping gear, and magical items.

More and more people began to organize their combat gear, their faces filled with excitement.

This is a city-wide hunting extravaganza that can only be seen in this "hunter's paradise" city!

Before long, Karl returned to the Mechanical Workshop.

He didn't bring back any news of Ilubeck's capture from the informant "Red Nose" Hook, but he did bring back another shocking piece of news.

The Barbarian Tribe of the Ashen Forest recently attacked several hunter camps, "ruthlessly" slaughtering hundreds of hunters and destroying several forward outposts of the City of Radiance.

Therefore, the city lord's mansion decided to issue an "S-level All-Staff War Conscription Order," announcing that the entire city would march towards the western misty zone to carry out a genocidal extermination operation against the Barbarian Tribe.

At the same time, the "Howling Wind Pass" behind the City of Radiance was sealed off, and all people entering the city were only allowed to enter but not leave, with the entire population on high alert.

Meanwhile, the city hall released a massive number of high-bounty Scavenger Mission.

The hunters were thrown into a frenzy of revelry.

The City of Radiance located west of the Alkolon Mountain Range. It once had no human enemies; its wars were fought against the monsters of the wilderness. Now, there is a "Barbarian Tribe."

"S-level war conscription" is a tradition that began when City of Radiance.

In the beginning, City of Radiance didn't even have a decent Mechanical City. Back then, it was only through Master Cavo leading his disciples and the Mage Corps that they fought against the monsters of the wasteland in this perilous wilderness, gradually building up their camp and gaining a foothold.

Back then, every Beast Tide meant the possibility of total annihilation; every battle was a group operation in which everyone participated.

However, as the five Mechanical City of City of Radiance gradually took shape, the threat posed by wild monsters to the city diminished.

The purpose of the humans in this city's battles began to shift from survival to hunting in the wilderness.

The scale of battles is getting smaller and smaller, and the scale of the hunt is divided into S-level (entire city), A-level (legion level), B-level (large team), and C-level (small team).

Over the years, the city has been built with ever-higher walls and a more sophisticated attack system, making it no longer threatened by any magical beasts, not even large-scale Beast Tide.

For at least the last decade or so, the city has not heard the alarm for an "S-level war mobilization" that would call up the entire city.

Now, however, it started ringing.

This means that the City of Radiance will use all its strength to completely destroy that "barbarian civilization" with overwhelming force.

The City Lord's Mansion will issue a large number of Scavenger Mission. This is a grand event for all wilderness hunters, and participation is mandatory for everyone!

From the moment the hunters stepped into this city, they pledged to cooperate with the city lord's mansion.

"The city lord's mansion has issued a notice saying that the Barbarian Tribe attacked many outposts on the outskirts, causing a large number of hunters to die. Judging from the signs, those barbarians seem to intend to fight to the death. Therefore, the city lord's mansion has decided to launch a large-scale expedition. If those barbarians do not surrender, they will completely destroy that primitive civilization."

Karl brought back fairly detailed intelligence.

Upon hearing this, Rein inexplicably thought of that barbarian girl, Wudo.

She didn't seem as savage, cannibalistic, or evil as rumored; in some ways, she was quite reasonable.

But resource plunder is always bloody, and no one will have pity on an enemy who hinders the reclamation of land.

Rein frowned slightly but said nothing.

The "City of Radiance" has the courage and the strength to destroy a primitive civilization that doesn't even have iron smelting technology.

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "You mean, everyone in the city has to participate in the 'S-Class War Conscription'?"

"Yes, no one is exempt. Within three days, everyone must go to the City Lord's Mansion to draw lots to receive Scavenger Mission."

Karl briefly explained the rules of the operation, saying, "Even those guys from the Five Great Families don't have special privileges. Apart from essential city-defense professionals like boilermakers, artillerymen, and the city defense Mage Corps, everyone needs to draw lots at the city hall. Otherwise, they'll be detained as 'deserters' by the Enforcement Team and severely punished. Of course, this is good news for the hunters; everyone prefers to actively participate and take on more lucrative missions."

Rein understood.

This kind of conscription is indeed a "benefit" for the hunters.

Group operations, with the participation of large Mechanical City, would achieve a hunting efficiency that small teams simply couldn't match. At that time, they could explore more dangerous territories, hunt more powerful magical beasts, and search for the more hidden treasures shrouded in the mist.

Over 90% of the residents of "City of Radiance" are hunters, so almost everyone is highly enthusiastic about this kind of group hunting. Of course, there are exceptions, such as the offspring of the "Five Great Families" who don't lack resources.

They could have enjoyed themselves in the city without working, but because of the rules of the City of Radiance, they had to go out hunting and adventuring like everyone else.

The earlier you go, the more tasks you'll have to choose from.

This explains why a large number of people rushed to the city hall shortly after the alarm sounded.

After hearing the rules, Rein asked again, "Karl, do you have to go too?"

Karl nodded. "Yes. Even professional merchants need to transport and supply goods during wartime."

Rein then asked, "What about your shop? What about your grandfather?"

Upon hearing this, Karl's little face scrunched up. "Grandpa has Mechanical Exoskeleton implant, so he can move around without any problems. We mechanics are supposed to be in the logistics corps, and our missions aren't directly combat-oriented, so the danger isn't great. But... now that Grandpa Neto has been captured, the Life Potion he needs has become a huge problem."

"If it's a medicine..."

Upon hearing this, Rein was about to say something when he heard a series of clicking and clanging sounds of metal being struck from upstairs.

The person arrived before the voice.

"Little Karl, have any customers come to the store?"

In the blink of an eye, an old man covered in Mechanical Skeleton climbed down the stairs in a very strange way.

Like a gibbon, it used its exaggerated tentacle-like Mechanical Arm on its back to suspend itself from the pipes in the shop, changed hands a few times, and then landed steadily on the ground.

"Huh?"

Rein's gaze naturally fell immediately on the old man's octopus-like special Mechanical Arm on his back.

Its shape resembles a human spine with segmented structure, and its entire body exudes a cold metallic gleam, giving it a strong sense of mechanical beauty.

This Mechanical Skeleton and octopus- Mechanical Arm completely fall into the category of "black technology" that is incomprehensible.

Anyway, as a layman, Rein really didn't understand how this thing worked. Steam Machinery boiler could drive such a flexible Mechanical Arm?

In comparison, the "PM VI Type Micro-Hammer Modified Version" Mechanical Arm that Rein was holding, which he thought was already quite impressive, seemed rather childish.

Rein naturally guessed the identity of the old man in front of him.

However, this was the first time he had met Karl's grandfather, Tuster Forentes.

The two old men are indeed old friends; even their aesthetic tastes are so similar.

A spider and a mechanical octopus, both with a ton of arms.

Although the Mechanical Skeleton looks incredibly high-tech, the old man's physical condition is absolutely terrible.

Because of years of paralysis, his muscles have atrophied severely. He is so thin that he is just skin and bones, with protruding cheekbones and sunken eyes. He looks like a skeleton, and his weight is estimated to be no more than 30 kilograms.

Karl's grandfather glanced at Rein, treating him like family, and said, "You're Neto's new disciple? Sorry, my appearance frightened you, didn't it?"

"Hello, Grandpa Tusla, I'm Rein."

Rein responded politely, bowing respectfully as if greeting an elder, "My teacher often mentions you to me."

He wasn't scared at all; he was just curious.

As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily fell on the octopus-shaped Mechanical Arm on the old man's back.

Putting aside how this cutting-edge technology was created, how can a paralyzed patient use such a flexible robotic arm?

As we all know, all Mechanical Skeleton in this world are purely physical control systems. But the metal tentacles on the back of this old man clearly appear to be directly connected to his nerves.

This "Neural Signal Driven Prosthetic" technology was considered cutting-edge, even in the late 21st century before his time travel.

How did the steam engine era come about?

As a doctor himself, Rein knew that the current medical field simply couldn't achieve that level of expertise.

Thank you to 'Chenyu G', 'Wind Chime Fifteen', 'Ideal Thirty Years', 'Free Black Fairy Tale', 'Gan Liliang', and 'Bu Zheng'. Thank you for your generous rewards and support. Thank you.