Apocalyptic Mechanist Section 4

"The locals are too polite. Hosting a deathmatch for tens of thousands of prisoners? How embarrassing."

Suddenly, a dazzling pillar of light shot up from the nearby ruins.

The device in his pocket vibrated slightly.

#First supply airdrop has arrived#

Without hesitation, Jiang Xiao immediately sprinted towards the light pillar.

Meanwhile—

In Sin City, the sole metropolis on KL-21 Prison Star.

A massive, punk-themed city pulsed with holographic projections. On the central screen, a desolate scene of the old capital was playing. The next moment, a lizardman with brightly colored hair leaped out.

He burst into laughter as he appeared.

"Wooohoo~ You scum of Sin City, you weaklings of the Starport! They've sent a new batch of trash! Tell me, what does this mean?"

"That's right! It's the old capital deathmatch show again, for who knows what number time!!"

"Though I know very well that even the bravest warriors in the deathmatch can't give you pathetic losers even a shred of courage or strength... after all, I'm still standing here!"

In an instant, Sin City erupted.

Not because the deathmatch show had arrived, but because...

"Damn it, this bastard lizardman is still alive!!"

"Holy crap, who said Kliffen was dead?! Grab your guns and follow me, let's go to the central TV tower and kill this piece of crap!"

Immediately after, seven or eight scattered anti-tank rockets launched from various corners of the city, heading straight for a hundred-meter-tall building.

However, they were all blocked by a blue barrier of light.

Following that, several aircraft flashing red and blue lights rushed towards the direction of the rocket launches.

The entire outskirts of the city descended into chaos.

The simple, honest folk were showing their true colors.

On top of a certain skyscraper, an alien resembling an octopus, draped in a long robe, watched the big screen indifferently.

"I wonder if there will be any excellent fresh blood this time."

Knock, knock!

The knocking sound drew the octopus-like alien's gaze back.

"Enter."

A tall, slender figure drifted in.

"Speaker, the new batch of Pan-Human food products has been released into the Sin City market. We anticipate the Pan-Human rats will make a move within ten days."

The Speaker said calmly, "Have the Viper Gang keep an eye on them next."

"Speaker, there's one more thing. We've pinpointed the suspected hiding area of that Pan-Human hunter, who is believed to be a peak second-order psionic. What should we do?" the figure asked.

"Frontier Prison Star has no living legends."

"Understood."

Chapter 4: Starfield Zerg

Frontier Prison Star, Old Capital Ruins.

Having advanced to the first order, Jiang Xiao's stamina and speed had greatly increased. In just a moment, he saw the source of the light pillar.

A silver cubic box, about one cubic meter in size.

"No one's here to grab it?"

As if sensing Jiang Xiao's approach, the supply drop box automatically opened. The pillar of light shooting straight into the sky became even more conspicuous.

There were only three items inside.

Two dagger blades, each half a meter long, and a small metal chip.

[XT Molecular Source Energy Battle Blade: A sharp blade crafted from Deep Space D-grade alloy, capable of slicing through conventional mechs of nascent civilizations like tofu, provided you possess Source Energy. Otherwise, it's just a hard, ordinary weapon.]

[D-12 Personal Terminal: A military-grade specialized terminal. Its core functions are recording maps, detecting Source Energy, and biological signals.]

Jiang Xiao's eyes lit up. Coincidentally, the Doran had similar equipment, and he knew how to use it.

With a few taps on the metal chip, it immediately contracted and transformed, finally taking the shape of a closed goggle that covered the upper half of his face.

Bzzzzz!!

[Detected three biological signals approaching]

Before he could delve deeper into studying these items, a dull roar of engines and a terminal warning sounded successively. The ground trembled, and a rugged, modified jeep, kicking up dust, sped towards the airdrop box from a distance.

Perfect timing!

Jiang Xiao's heart filled with excitement. Gripping two blades, one in each hand, he immediately darted into a nearby dilapidated building.

The three insectoid aliens in the modified jeep not far away had already noticed Jiang Xiao's figure. Confirming he was just an ordinary human, the driver let out a hearty laugh.

"Hahahaha, there's only one ordinary human competing with us for the intermediate airdrop box. The items inside will fetch a good price back in Sin City!"

"Hunt down that human and hang his skull from the front of the vehicle!"

The modified jeep charged relentlessly into the ruined buildings. The moment the jeep slowed down, a dark shadow leaped from the third floor to the side, smashing onto the hood!

The sturdy metal hood immediately caved in. A face with a sinister grin, revealing only its lower half, appeared in the windshield's view.

The sudden situation stunned the three aliens.

The next instant, two cold lights flashed.

The jeep's windshield and metal frame were instantly sliced apart. The heads of the aliens in the driver's and passenger's seats were smoothly severed, splattering dark green blood.

The entire process took less than two seconds!

Successful in his strike, Jiang Xiao leaped from the jeep, which was about to lose control, letting it flip and crash into the wall!

[Killed Black Armor Tribe Prisoner - Gained 78 Experience Points (20% Alien Experience Bonus)]

[Killed Black Armor Tribe Prisoner - Gained 68 Experience Points (20% Alien Experience Bonus)]

Jiang Xiao didn't even look, directly pouring all the experience into Source Energy Intensity, as it was the only stat that currently required experience points to upgrade.

[Source Energy Intensity: 13 (5/100) (Evolution Progress: 7.5%)]

A surge of heat coursed through him, completely restoring the 30% of Source Energy consumed by his full-power strike, and significantly improving its quality along with his Source Energy Intensity!

A tingling sensation spread through his flesh and bones.

"Cough, cough..."

The mangled jeep sputtered with sparks, and the last Black Armor Tribe prisoner painfully crawled out from the back seat, clearly not having grasped what had happened.

Until a pair of unremarkable sneakers appeared in his vision.

With half his body still inside the vehicle, the Black Armor Tribe prisoner struggled to lift his head to look at the newcomer, disbelief etched on his face: "Source Energy... Warrior..."

"Cough, I, cough, I'm a member of the Blade Armor Gang, spare me..."

Deep green blood splattered.

"I have to deal with people with courtesy outside, and you expect courtesy on Frontier Prison Star? Then I came here for nothing?"

Casually searching around the jeep, he found no firearms. Jiang Xiao wasted no more time, grabbed some rations, and headed straight into the buildings near the airdrop box.

The airdrop's light pillar was too conspicuous; it would likely attract other prisoners.

He was unfamiliar with Frontier Prison Star, so waiting for prey was the easiest option!

By now, Jiang Xiao had completely lost the nervousness he felt before arriving at Frontier Prison Star, especially after learning that prisoners could provide experience points!

Battle Royale, you run, I kill!

Not long after, his personal terminal issued another warning.

No Source Energy detection warning triggered, so not a warrior. It seemed like this would just be another pack of low-level mobs for experience.

Jiang Xiao opened his eyes, only to see a faint red light flashing around the edge of his goggles. Red dots representing biological signals on the radar map were converging from all directions, over twenty of them!

A jolt of surprise went through him. Was this too many?

"Gaa!!"

Suddenly, an extremely sharp screeching sound erupted all around, filled with ferocity and savagery.

Not intelligent beings!

Jiang Xiao's expression shifted, and he quickly moved through the ruins. Using the radar map on his goggles, he soon found a lone, unidentified creature.

There were too many of them; caution was paramount.

Crawling on the roof of a ruined building, Jiang Xiao cautiously peeked his head out.

A monster, comparable in size to a lion, with a body covered in ferocious, dark brown carapace, entered his field of vision.

"Not one of us? Starfield Zerg?!" Jiang Xiao was utterly shocked.

Why were Starfield Zerg on Frontier Prison Star?! Shouldn't these things be clashing head-on with the main forces of intermediate and advanced civilizations on the Silent Battlefield beyond the Star River?

[Basic Zergling]

[Level: None]

[Source Energy Intensity: 5]

[Description: The most basic Zerg unit. Even with a Source Energy Intensity of only 5, do not underestimate it. Its claws are capable of tearing through machine alloy.]

[Note: Physical means are most effective against Starfield Zerg.]

They really were Starfield Zerg!

Could it be that Frontier Prison Star had a Zerg hive?!

Jiang Xiao didn't believe the starport outside the prison star lacked real-time monitoring of this battle royale. Therefore, it was obvious that the Alliance Starport had long known about the Starfield Zerg here.