Apocalyptic Mechanist Section 14

It had no aura leaking outward, yet the pressure it brought made dozens of nearby figures dare not raise their heads.

Only two figures beside it remained unaffected, one of them seething with indignation.

After a long moment, the figure at the head spoke.

"Second Brother, I know your son's death has cost you face, but for now, matters with the Council take priority. This is the key to whether we can survive and even leave Prison Star.

Sons can be born again—I recall you have at least ten offspring, don't you?"

"Yes, Second Brother, mobilizing most of the Hunters and directly abandoning over a dozen Advanced Airdrop Crates' worth of second-tier equipment to surround and eliminate him is already everything the gang can do. It's time to refocus. Once we complete our setup, if Second Brother wants to take personal revenge, none of us will say a word. But right now, the gang's resources must be considered for our future."

The leading figure and the one on the left advised.

Finally, the Viper Clan member called Second Brother spoke in a low voice: "I naturally understand what's important."

"Good. Then let's discuss how to wipe out that Pan-Human gang next."

Meanwhile.

Jiang Xiao, who had already driven the vehicle out of the sloped road, looked at the suddenly vast wilderness and Gobi before him, his mood lifting immensely.

Finally out.

At the same time, his vigilance and caution grew even sharper. According to common sense, the Starport didn't allow extra prisoners into the Old Capital, but it didn't say they couldn't set up blockades outside it. For the resources in the airdrops, local prisoners would very likely intercept him out there.

Perhaps the danger ahead would be even greater than before!

Steeling himself, his Origin Data stood ready, prepared at any moment to overload the Jeep and speed away.

Second-tier was strong, but it still couldn't completely ignore encirclement and gunfire.

Jiang Xiao maintained high alert from then on.

Until fifteen minutes later, a look of surprise crossed his face.

No interception?

Why?

As he pondered, Jiang Xiao unconsciously glanced at the wilderness to his left.

He saw a rolling small sandstorm rapidly approaching from afar. His brow furrowed as he controlled his goggles to zoom in.

His expression froze on the spot.

"Not good!!"

In the image, the so-called sandstorm was actually the dust trail kicked up by a group of high-speed moving objects!

That was—

A swarm!!

Chapter 15: I Want Your Lives

Alright, now he knew the reason.

"Playing this game, huh?!"

Jiang Xiao cursed under his breath, abruptly shifting the Armored Jeep into its highest gear. Origin Data surged wildly into the power module, the engine roaring like a beast, and the speed rocketed to two hundred kilometers per hour in seconds!

In the distance, a black-brown swarm surged like a tide from the right front.

Worse still, another swarm of tens of thousands charged out from the left front. Two dust storms rapidly converged, intent on cutting off the path ahead.

Staring at the two dust storms trying to merge ahead, Jiang Xiao narrowed his eyes, the Jeep's speed continuing to climb!

The roar of the power module was deafening, the speed still rising.

The swarm drew closer and closer—he could even make out their hideous carapaces and claws gleaming coldly in the setting sun.

Only a hundred meters remained between the two swarms!

He could make it through!

With Origin Data boosting it, the speed needle had long hit the gauge's limit, yet even so, the speed kept climbing.

Vroom!!

The Jeep shot like an arrow into the gap between the swarms, time seeming to freeze in that moment.

The vehicle shook violently over the rough terrain, the power module's roar mingling with the rustling of the swarm like surging tides. The pitch-black bugs on both sides churned like boiling asphalt, crashing in.

"Gaa!!!"

The two swarms slammed into each other, dozens of Raptor Bugs instantly torn to pieces.

The Armored Jeep escaped by a hair's breadth.

In the rearview mirror, the swarm gradually shrank into black dots, eventually scattering into the wilderness.

"Hahahaha!"

Jiang Xiao gripped the steering wheel tightly, laughing uncontrollably—this was a thrill he had never experienced before!

Once he was sure he had completely shaken off the swarm, Jiang Xiao immediately slowed down, maintaining a steady speed of one hundred and twenty kilometers per hour. Then he took out the Sin City Network Terminal to search for nearby camps or settlements.

The straight-line distance between the Old Capital and the Sin Capital was over two thousand kilometers—there was no way he'd arrive within two or three days.

He wasn't worried about replacement parts or energy for the armored jeep; he'd scavenged plenty of spares in the Old Capital over the past few days, and the jeep's batteries totaled eleven whole units!

But water and food urgently needed replenishment—his current stock only lasted one day.

A Tier 2 source energy martial artist had an extremely high demand for energy. Outside the prison star, a single Tier 2 energy bar could cover a day's needs. Here, he could only maintain his state by eating large amounts.

"Found it—Rosaka Small Settlement, multi-race mixed residence."

Locking onto the target, Jiang Xiao turned and drove toward it.

He had to arrive before dark.

At night, the prison star saw many monsters emerge—not swarms, but true mutated monsters. He wasn't afraid himself, but the jeep might not hold up.

The Sin Capital network said they were failed products from gene pharmaceutical company experiments. The interstellar corporations couldn't be bothered to clean them up and couldn't violate interstellar law, so they just dumped them on the frontier prison star for periodic monitoring and supplementary research data.

Jiang Xiao's assessment: normal.

The Doran's logs even recorded some more unscrupulous gene pharmaceutical companies dumping failures on surface civilization planets, causing biochemical crises to observe virus evolution.

It wasn't until a representative universal conglomerate in the industry was sanctioned by an advanced civilization that revered naturalism that this trend was suppressed.

The armored jeep sped along, slight bumps and the distant dusk gradually calming Jiang Xiao's mind and emptying his thoughts.

Under the setting sun, the jeep swept past withered yellow bushes.

Jiang Xiao's thoughts drifted far away—too much had happened this month. Only now did he have leisure time to reflect. Whether it was the sudden destruction of the Doran or the inexplicable life sentence, it all felt somewhat unreal to Jiang Xiao.

Not out of sentimentality—simply that things had been too sudden, leaving him with no real sense of it.

If pressed on whether the 'home' he'd lived in for a year being destroyed had any emotional impact, the answer was no, because Jiang Xiao always felt the Doran was still there, that captain full of nonsense still alive.

No evidence, just a gut feeling.

"Forget it, take it one step at a time. For now, the main objective is to get off the prison star first."

Jiang Xiao withdrew his thoughts and slightly increased the speed.

About an hour later, idly scrolling through the Sin Capital network, Jiang Xiao spotted faint lights ahead and his spirits lifted.

Finally arrived.

Jiang Xiao chose not to drive the jeep in. He found a patch of bushes to park, picked up a robe to cover his body and head, wrapped several rifles in rags, tucked a large-caliber pistol at his waist, and walked straight toward the settlement.

About a hundred meters from the rough wooden gate, a bullet suddenly struck the ground in front of Jiang Xiao.

Seeing this, Jiang Xiao raised the rifle wrapped in rags, exposing the stock, signaling he wanted to trade weapons for supplies.

This was common knowledge he'd picked up from the Sin Capital network.

After about ten seconds of waiting, the worn gate slowly opened.

Jiang Xiao entered the settlement smoothly.

Calling it a settlement was generous—it was more like a camp outpost. Inside, the first thing that met his eyes was a mess of dilapidated shelters.

Several sheds belched black smoke, with faint mechanical sounds coming from within.

Beside the gate were three groups of jeeps in different paint schemes, a total of over a dozen vehicles, apparently from different factions.

The camp wasn't large, about five or six hundred meters in diameter—visible end to end at a glance.

Plenty of fierce-looking alien races moved between the sheds or gathered in front of the smoke-belching ones, shouting loudly, curses and insults audible everywhere.

Glancing at the radar map, there were over three hundred red markers, only seventeen source energy signatures—seemingly no Tier 2 martial artists.

"Outsider, if you want to trade weapons for stuff, go to Old Gear's shop—that shed with the red roof. Don't wander off, or else, heh."

A sharp voice came from the side.

Jiang Xiao looked over—an insectoid alien, its appearance similar to the three he'd killed back in the Old Capital.

Blade Armor Gang or Armor Blade Gang?

Jiang Xiao couldn't be bothered to respond and walked straight toward the red-roofed shed. He had no choice—his in-depth knowledge of the Sin Capital was lacking; the Sin Capital network only circulated basic common sense.

The relationships, distribution, actual strength levels of the major gangs, even how to enter the Sin Capital—none of this was clear.

Being cautious never hurt, which was also why he hadn't acted directly.

Getting into the Sin Capital as soon as possible and finding a way off the prison star was the real priority.

Arriving at Old Gear's hut, he took a look. The walls inside were hung with rough guns, and the black-cloth iron cage by the counter was especially eye-catching.

"What do you want to trade?"

The hoarse, sharp high pitch made Jiang Xiao frown. Watching the green-shelled cockroach alien stand up from behind the counter, a subconscious disgust rose in him.

"Some high-energy food and water, and—"

Suddenly, Old Gear paused, ignoring Jiang Xiao as he hurried to one side: "Lord Kazi, you've finally come. The goods arrived long ago. I paid a heavy price for this item, you see..."

"Spare me the act. I'll add money. Let me see the goods."

Jiang Xiao suppressed his impatience, glancing at the newcomer from the corner of his eye.