Apocalyptic Mechanist Part 3

He crushed the man's skull.

The entire process was incredibly fast. By the time the Viper's corpse hit the ground, the other prisoners had just snapped back to reality, their faces filled with terror as they looked at Jiang Xiao.

"Since you don't want intelligence that badly, I'll just remove your brain for you."

Jiang Xiao said calmly. In the past year aboard the Doran, he had learned more than just knowledge; he had also learned how to kill alien races without hesitation!

He, Jiang Xiao, was an extreme xenophobe!

He glanced around, then raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

Three security mechs, approaching rapidly, saw this and lowered their weapons. They immediately subdued Jiang Xiao and escorted him away.

As long as he didn't 'assault a police officer,' prisoners killing each other was at most considered a violent altercation and wouldn't lead to an increased sentence. Besides, the Frontier Prison Star was already equivalent to a death sentence; further punishment was unlikely.

Before leaving, Jiang Xiao looked at the more than a dozen silent alien prisoners and grinned.

"See you around on the Frontier Prison Star."

Once back in his cell, as the door closed, Jiang Xiao's cold expression immediately fell apart.

He bared his teeth and shook his hand.

"Damn it, why are bones so hard? That hurt like hell."

Then, he broke into a smile and excitedly opened his status panel.

[Killed Ordinary Viper Thug - Gained 50 Experience Points (20% Alien Kill Experience Bonus)]

He hadn't expected the most 'idealistic' monster-slaying and leveling function to be completely intact. What a pleasant surprise!

And killing aliens gave a 20% experience boost? That was practically a freebie!

Jiang Xiao grew increasingly excited.

"Frontier Prison Star, hmph hmph hahahaha, get ready to welcome the arrival of a gaming god!"

An Azure Security Soldier passing by the door shivered.

What a healthy laugh.

Chapter 3: Battle Royale Drop

Eight Interstellar Days. In cosmic terms, it was like the blink of an eye.

The transport ship exited the Star Gate of the Alliance Starport and quickly docked at a reception platform.

The massive cargo bay door opened, and Jiang Xiao, looking bewildered, walked down the stairs. He was free of any restraints or shackles, having simply left the transport ship.

"?"

Staring at the vast, empty platform area, Jiang Xiao felt a bit lost. He turned his head and saw an enormous, earth-yellow planet looming before him!

KL-21 Frontier Prison, with a diameter of 30,188 kilometers. It had no oceans, only a vast amount of underground water resources.

"Its surface area is about 5 times that of Earth, and the gravity is about double. Ordinary humans would probably have trouble moving here," Jiang Xiao recalled the information from the internet, sighing inwardly.

Of course, aside from him, a 'breathing offender,' any ordinary humans who managed to get here through 'normal channels' were probably not ordinary at all.

Double gravity shouldn't be a problem, especially since this was—

The Frontier Prison Star!

A special exile planet established by the Interstellar Alliance on the frontier of the Galaxy. It was usually transformed from large rocky planets or secondary life-bearing planets, housing sinners, thugs, and political prisoners from all corners of the Galaxy!

Only criminals who had violated the most severe laws of primary and secondary civilizations were qualified to be imprisoned on the Frontier Prison Star.

They symbolized more than just a prison!

#Warning! Criminals lingering in the Level 1 platform area, immediately follow the red marker guidance to the drop zone. Continued loitering will result in immediate termination!#

A shrill mechanical voice echoed in the vast area. Jiang Xiao felt a pang of confusion and followed the instructions.

Strange, shouldn't I be staying in the starport's prison sector for a few days, waiting for 30,000 prisoners to be dropped together? Was I just in the last batch?

Following the guidance, Jiang Xiao entered a massive elevator platform area. Besides him, there were over a hundred other prisoners.

The huge platform descended rapidly, and an oppressive aura washed over him!

As the platform's descent slowed, Jiang Xiao's eyes narrowed.

Immediately, a dark, vast platform, at least several thousand meters in diameter, came into view. Countless figures writhed and surged.

The stuffy air, mixed with countless odors, hit him, causing Jiang Xiao to frown slightly.

The curses and roars in his ears were like a chaotic symphony, echoing throughout the drop zone—frenzied, enraged, ferocious, indifferent... It was as if all the negative emotions in the Galaxy had converged here, chaotic and twisted.

For some reason, Jiang Xiao felt inexplicably excited.

This is great, they're all moving experience packs!

Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to cause trouble here. With so many aliens, one wrong move and he'd become Jiang Xiao-chan~

He had just crouched in a corner when, before he could observe secretly, the shrill mechanical voice sounded again, instantly drowning out all other noise.

#Immediately enter the red circle. One prisoner per red circle. Violators will be terminated on the spot! Immediately enter the red circle. Violators will be terminated on the spot!#

#...#

As the mechanical voice roared, dense red circles appeared on the ground.

Without hesitation, Jiang Xiao decisively stepped into a nearby red circle.

The tens of thousands of other prisoners did the same. Even when two prisoners vied for one red circle, no conflict erupted. Those who were left behind decisively searched for other red circles.

The criminals weren't idiots. They knew perfectly well whether the starport of this prison star would kill them.

Or rather, if they weren't more valuable on the prison star, they would have died long ago.

Only after all the prisoners had entered the red circles did a voice emerge.

It was no longer a mechanical voice, but a hoarse voice filled with fanaticism.

"Everyone! Welcome to Frontier · Prison Star!! A playground for bastards, a home for thugs, the highest quality garbage dump in the galaxy!!

I believe you will all love it here!

However, to enter, you must first undergo a trial, which I call - Ad Time!

You scum will be transported to the ruins of the old capital of the prison star, where the 'natives' will hunt you down with the individual equipment of small and medium-sized military and weapons enterprises.

Of course, you will also have weapons, which will be randomly dropped in the ruins of the old capital in the form of airdrop pods!

Only by surviving for ten days or walking out of the old capital will you pass the test!"

"Hahaha! That's right, this is a weapon advertisement event sponsored by the prison star's benefactors!!

A total of over 46,000 prisoners are to be airdropped, and there are over 12,000 local hunters. Under our control, the proportion of their Source Energy users is similar to yours."

"Friendly reminder, besides the hunters, there are also local monsters and rampaging machines. Also, the weapons and individual strength are only up to Tier 2 Elite~

So, let's begin Ad Time!!"

Before the tens of thousands of prisoners could react, the red circles beneath their feet suddenly turned blue. A semi-transparent material like glass rapidly emerged.

Jiang Xiao's vision was obscured, and then a feeling of weightlessness suddenly struck him!

He was falling at extreme speed!

"Holy crap?!"

The intense feeling of weightlessness lasted for about five minutes. As a thin membrane resembling a parachute deployed, the speed of the capsule-like landing pod drastically decreased.

The landing pod crashed heavily onto the ground, and its semi-transparent outer shell quickly dissolved. In the end, only a small, phone-like device remained.

"Damn it, no preparation time?"

Jiang Xiao moved his numb legs and casually picked up the small device.

[Handheld Terminal: A basic product that can only receive information unilaterally and has a certain radar function]

Seeing no danger notification, Jiang Xiao stuffed it into his pocket.

He looked around.

It was desolate and dilapidated, with ruins and a few precarious buildings everywhere. The most striking feature was the claw marks, tens of meters long, on the buildings, leaving one to wonder what could have made them.

After a moment of contemplation, Jiang Xiao shifted his gaze.

"Personal panel."

[Player: Jiang Xiao]

[Level: Tier 1 Ordinary (Evolution: 2.5%)]

[Talent/Ability: None]

[Source Energy Affinity: Extremely Weak (AFK Cultivation Speed: 1/h per experience)]

[Source Energy Strength: 11 (59/100)]

[Spirit Energy Strength: 1 (No ability, locked)]

Eight days had passed. Coupled with the 50 experience points gained from killing Viper Race members, his Source Energy Strength had successfully surpassed 10 points, entering the Tier 1 category.

Even relying solely on strength and bone hardness, he was more than capable of wrestling an elephant!

If he were to use Source Energy to temporarily enhance his physical functions...

Jiang Xiao felt the faint warm current within him, his eyes narrowed, and he clenched his fist, gathering the warm current.

He threw a straight punch!

Looking at the cracked reinforced concrete wall, he marveled.

"In a fantasy martial arts world, Source Energy Strength of 1-10 would probably be divided into two early stages, like Skin Tempering and Bone Forging..."

He glanced at it. The other functions of the Endless Starry Sky system were still loading, so Jiang Xiao closed the panel.

He already had a plan in mind.