Apocalyptic Mechanist

The blade tip grazed, flicking out a few drops of blood.

He could dodge even that? A snake tail this agile?

"A Tier 2 Source Energy weapon?" Guda looked at the battle blade in Jiang Xiao's hand, greed surging in his eyes.

On the Prison Star, a Tier 2 Source Energy weapon was the pinnacle of Individual Equipment!

Without answering, Jiang Xiao flickered several times, rapidly closing in on Guda.

Completely disregarding defense, fierce slashes enveloped Guda, who, seeing this, was not alarmed but delighted, actively meeting the attack!

The instant Jiang Xiao's blade was about to strike Guda, Guda forcibly twisted his body, swinging his club to block a few slashes aimed at vital points, then sidestepped, letting the former's blade tear through his aura and embed into his waist and shoulder flesh.

High-intensity Source Energy defense prevented the former from severing the latter's limbs outright.

At that moment, accompanied by the tearing of air, a long, shuttle-shaped silver-blue mechanical object suddenly floated up from behind Guda, hovering around him, and dozens of finger-thick arcs of electricity rapidly converged!

What the hell is that?

This thing didn't charge quickly—it took a full second or more. Under normal circumstances, Jiang Xiao could easily dodge it, but now he was a step too slow.

As he pulled out both battle blades, the object finished charging, and an extremely fast streak of light shot out violently!

It pierced straight through his chest!

Guda grinned, laughing savagely.

"It's a Tier 2 Source Energy weapon from an Advanced Airdrop Crate. It's not mine, but I'm sure the Vice Leader will understand if I use it to finish you off!"

"Hahaha, ugh!"

Guda's triumphant laughter suddenly froze. He subconsciously looked down and saw both blades buried deep in his body.

One in the heart, one in the waist—two blades, four holes!

The previously pale yellow blade now twisted with a chilling, scarlet gleam.

Jiang Xiao, who should have fallen, pulled out the blades as if nothing had happened.

Blood gushed like a spring.

[Health: 21% (2%/h)]

"Tch, took out eighty percent of my health. I really did take a fatal-level hit."

Jiang Xiao nodded solemnly, then looked at Guda, who lay collapsed on the ground with a face full of disbelief, and struck out with both blades.

Only after confirming he was dead did he speak: "Victory speeches should wait until the other guy is a corpse, dumbass."

Confirming his health was slowly recovering, Jiang Xiao warily scanned the radar map.

He quickly looted Guda's spoils: a long staff, a more refined network terminal, three healing potions, and, most importantly, that long shuttle-shaped machine.

"Let's see what good stuff this is!" Jiang Xiao said eagerly.

[Thunder Cannon Floating Cannon: Tier 2 Source Energy Equipment. Requires the user to provide Source Energy for charging. Can fire a 'Laser Beam'. High Source Energy consumption and long charging time. Requires splitting off Partial Consciousness to control.]

[Attack Power: Can penetrate Source Energy defenses twice the user's Source Energy Intensity.]

[Single Charge Time: 1.5s]

A Floating Cannon?!

Jiang Xiao was pleasantly surprised. He never expected to see such high-end gear on the Prison Star. The micro anti-gravity levitation module inside could only be produced by an Intermediate Civilization.

Most importantly, this thing was a purely mechanical piece of equipment. Unlike Source Energy Battle Blades, where the blade material made up most of the performance, the Origin Data couldn't enhance it at all.

Could the Floating Cannon's charging time be shortened with Origin Data?

Jiang Xiao studied it for a while. Since it was airdrop equipment, there was no complex operational encryption or authentication. He just needed to touch it for thirty seconds to register his Source Energy signal and gain control.

With a thought, the Thunder Cannon Floating Cannon levitated and quickly zipped around him.

"Maximum distance can't exceed twenty meters from the controller. The farther it is, the slower the charge. Attack range..."

Looking at the red markers flashing at the edge of the radar map, Jiang Xiao nodded seriously and said:

"Practice makes perfect. I'll find out by trying."

Chapter 14: Sin Capital in Uproar, Leaving the Old Capital

Boom!!!

A violent roar echoed as a ray entwined with arcs of lightning swept past.

Several Armored Jeeps exploded in a blaze, over a dozen charred and mangled Viper Clan corpses scattered on the ground. Not far away, a Tier 1 Peak Viper Clan member, having lost its snake tail, frantically clawed at the ground with both hands, trying to escape.

"Where is Lord Guda?! What is this, what..."

A head crashed to the ground before it. The Peak Viper Clan member, its face twisted in agony, froze, staring at the familiar head before it, its pupils contracting.

"Gu..."

Pfft!

A cold flash passed in an instant. The name it had yet to speak sank into darkness along with it.

"Maximum range is about thirteen hundred meters. Lethality drops by 65%. Optimal range is around four hundred meters, with no damage falloff. For a single soldier weapon meant for support and disruption, it's passable."

Jiang Xiao pulled the blade free from the Viper's brain, where it had been buried halfway, and felt thoroughly satisfied.

Given the current situation, he was very satisfied.

According to the data on the Doran, many first-tier long-range source energy weapons had a range of at least three to four kilometers, and some sniper-class weapons could reach five to six kilometers, even ten thousand meters!

Let alone second-tier source energy weapons.

Clearly, either laser weapons had inherent limitations, or this floating cannon had its range-related key components removed—otherwise, it would be impossible for its optimal firing distance to be only four hundred meters.

Jiang Xiao leaned toward the latter possibility. In his memory, the vehicle-mounted laser cannon on the Doran could even blow up attack satellites in low orbit from the ground.

Thinking about it this way, the suspiciousness of the Precision Industrial Box had already overflowed.

Even the Alliance Military Starport had nerfed individual source energy laser cannons.

"Finally, I can leave." Jiang Xiao gathered his thoughts and looked at the sky, which was gradually settling into dusk.

The Thunder Cannon Floating Cannon quickly contracted into a prismatic arm shield, covering Jiang Xiao's arm.

As a iconic piece of individual equipment in interstellar society, the Doran had also taught relevant knowledge about floating cannons. The operation method of source energy floating cannons was more or less the same as ordinary floating cannons.

Jiang Xiao quickly found his armored jeep. He glanced around—the twenty or so firearms in the jeep's cabin were fine, but the sniper rifle's barrel had been bent.

Not planning to throw it away, Jiang Xiao placed the sniper rifle on the passenger seat.

"Old sniper, don't worry, I'll definitely fix you up. Later, I'll make a frame and mount you for display."

With that, Jiang Xiao started the vehicle. Just as he was about to leave, he remembered something.

He opened his network terminal, checked the direction of the high-altitude surveillance camera's lens, leaned out the window, and looked up at the camera.

He bared a mouthful of white teeth, picked up his combat blade, and made a slashing motion across his neck.

Then he mouthed the words in Interstellar Common Tongue.

"Wait"

With that, the electric motor roared to life. The armored jeep bypassed the roadblocks and sped off toward the outskirts of the old capital.

Sin Capital.

The bustling, noisy giant city fell into an inexplicable silence for a moment.

In the largest bar at the city center, tens of thousands of Sin Capital prisoners who had been reveling went quiet. After a moment, a voice rang out.

"Just now... did that human look at the camera?"

"Seems like he said, wait for us?"

"..."

"Woo-hoo!! That's awesome! I think I'm in love with him! Hahahaha!"

"Good, good, good! Got guts. I'll wait for him!"

"This is Sin Capital, hahahaha!"

"Who's afraid of who? At worst, I die. Haven't felt this thrill in a long time."

At the edge of the bar, a young alien felt a bit fearful, confused by the madness of the prisoners at the center. It looked at its leader, who was also grinning, the one who had brought it into the current gang.

"Captain, why are they all so excited? That's a Tier 2 martial artist, and he even killed the Viper Gang's Tier 2."

Its leader's smile faded slightly, then he said calmly:

"No matter how I explain it, a 'criminal' born on a prison star won't understand. The crimes we committed in interstellar society are usually heinous felonies. Getting sent here after being caught is basically getting a free pass on death."

The leader bared a vicious grin. "Who among those sentenced here is afraid of death?! A real prisoner's only worry is dying without a sound, without enough glory or fame.

Remember, this is—the Frontier Prison Star!"

Unlike the large bar at Sin Capital's center, the various small bars scattered across the city's outskirts were dead silent.

Many aliens felt their souls flee and their hearts race.

"Damn it! That god of death really got out. He's coming to Sin Capital!"

"Sin Capital is going to be in turmoil again. A Tier 2 martial artist who likes indiscriminate killing and fears no big gangs—who knows how many deaths he'll cause. I hope it doesn't spill over to us small-time gangs."

"Damn it, these criminals from the outside are all a bunch of lunatics!"

"That Tier 2 Pan-Human Hunter who was surrounded in Kasar Street Block recently was also an outside criminal. He used to target non-Pan-Human species exclusively. I wonder if this god of death is the same..."

"..."

In a certain building, completely opposite to the noisy, shaken Sin Capital, it had fallen into utter silence.

It wasn't shock at the provocation in the footage.

It was a more oppressive kind of anger.

In the central meeting room on the top floor, at the end of the long table, a massive figure about four meters tall sat in silence.