Apocalyptic Mechanist Section 8

Seven martial artists of the same tier, the leader being the captain of the Black Mech Gang's action team, heavily modified with high-level machinery. Even a peak Tier 1 would have to think twice. This human martial artist might be strong among Tier 1s, but he definitely won't survive."

"..."

The figure under the black robe beside him remained silent, finally letting out a helpless sigh.

"How is Sister Xi Guang?"

"The Sin City Council has sealed off that block. No one can get in or out. If even Xi Guang can't break through, sending us in won't help." The middle-aged man's expression was grim. He sighed again and looked back at the television.

Under the night sky of the Old Capital, a dull roar rapidly approached.

Jiang Xiao raised his sniper rifle and fired several shots, disrupting the routes of the three vehicles. He then picked up his sniper rifle and left the rooftop, entering the complex building.

The surveillance satellite immediately lost visual.

This didn't stop Sin City and the Alliance military Starport from knowing the final outcome; they just needed to see who walked out of the building.

Three armored jeeps crashed roughly into the lobby. Seven alien martial artists quickly disembarked. Three were melee specialists, and four held large-caliber rifles, advancing in coordination!

An alien in a trench coat, dual-wielding shotguns, took the lead, rushing into the building.

Somewhere on a mid-level corner, Jiang Xiao observed the radar map. He found that the seven red markers were advancing rapidly toward his location without hesitation, and he immediately understood.

"It seems they have similar personal terminals."

Jiang Xiao wasn't flustered at all. Besides its incredible data-digitization function, Origin Data also had a powerful effect on mechanical creations, both enhancing and interfering with them!

For example, he could temporarily boost the performance of his Source Energy Battle Blades by twofold!

He could also greatly enhance the electromagnetic generator of his sniper rifle, indirectly increasing its kinetic kill power. Even at peak Tier 1, Jiang Xiao was confident he could contend.

Moreover, the Source Energy signal scanned by the personal terminals was still within the Tier 1 range.

Stealth was apparently useless, so it was time for a proactive strike!

Jiang Xiao, holding his sniper rifle, darted out, moving rapidly toward the seven red markers while loading a bullet into his rifle!

The advancing martial artist squad immediately detected the situation. The burly alien's eyes narrowed.

"He still dares to attack? Push forward! Open fire with everything you've got as soon as he shows himself!"

"Yes!"

Four rifles were firmly aimed at the corridor ahead, and the seven martial artists quickly slowed their pace.

The burly alien watched the approaching red marker on the radar map and immediately signaled for an attack.

However, the red marker stopped at a distance of at least three walls away.

Before it could figure out what was happening, a piercing hum echoed. The concrete wall to its upper right shattered, and a streak of light, glowing as it cut through the air, arrived in an instant!

One-third of the torso of a martial artist holding a rifle vanished.

"???"

What was that? Was that the X-21 Sniper Rifle?!

This was a joke! Even the X-22 wasn't this powerful!

The burly alien was horrified and immediately roared, "Open fire! Suppressing fire! Attack the breach in the wall!"

Da da da!

Three tongues of flame erupted, shooting into the opening created by the sniper rifle at the end of the corridor.

The burly alien and the other two melee martial artists rushed toward the breach from the sides. The burly alien punched through the two-inch-thick wall like it was nothing, charging forward like a walking tank!

Even reinforced concrete walls were like tofu in front of it.

Jiang Xiao, in the adjacent corridor, widened his eyes. "Three reinforced concrete walls can't stop it for five seconds? Are you serious, man? Even a peak Tier 1 isn't this fierce!"

Sensing that something was wrong, Jiang Xiao raised his sniper rifle, aiming at the direction of the vibration. The Spirit Energy, already a quarter depleted, reignited. Origin Data surged into the weapon, and the dim sniper rifle suddenly lit up, emitting wisps of electricity.

A bullet whizzed out just as the last wall crumbled!

A four-armed humanoid creature, over two meters tall, stepped out. The lethal bullet entered its waist as expected, but instead of flesh and blood splattering, it sparked and flew out from its back, hitting the wall with all its momentum lost.

"?"

The burly alien looked at the human martial artist's astonished expression, grinned, and took off his trench coat, revealing his unusual body.

Except for one arm and his head, his entire body was composed of rough mechanical parts. One could even see indicator lights flashing beneath the outer armor!

Three mechanical arms released faint red steam. The armor around the burly alien's waist twisted and shattered, but the sniper bullet had not affected it significantly.

The burly alien took heavy steps, gradually accelerating toward Jiang Xiao, who seemed to be frozen in place.

It spoke menacingly.

"Although my Source Energy strength is only that of a Tier 1 Ordinary martial artist, my defense and power are enough to contend with a Tier 2 martial artist!

Human! This is the strength I've earned through countless life-and-death struggles, the power of 85% mechanical modification!!"

It threw a punch, a terrifying iron fist accompanied by a gust of wind, heading straight for Jiang Xiao's crotch!

It hadn't forgotten the order to capture him alive. Even if a Tier 1 martial artist lost their lower body, as long as the bleeding was stopped, they could last for two or three days.

Just as its iron fist was about to land, a sharp burning pain suddenly shot through its brain. The mechanical body's temperature rose rapidly, and then it seized up and froze.

A cold glint flashed, and the burly alien's consciousness plunged into darkness.

Wiping the blood from his battle blades without looking at the headless body crashing down behind him, Jiang Xiao shook his head.

"I understand the logic, so why does your cybernetic processor only have a few personal civilian data firewalls from a primitive civilization?"

Under the invasion of Origin Data, Jiang Xiao could clearly 'see' the control system data within the opponent's mechanical body.

[Killed Black Mech Gang Tier 2 Mech Warrior · Gained 1510 Experience Points]

He decisively increased his Spirit Energy to 10 points. In an instant, a clear and cool sensation, distinct from Source Energy enhancement, surged into his brain. Whether it was an illusion or not, Jiang Xiao immediately felt his thoughts become much sharper.

The environment, which had seemed slightly blurry in the night just moments ago, now appeared as clear as day.

Most importantly, the Origin Data flow.

While its intensity had greatly increased, its volume was at least five times greater!

He glanced at his status panel, pondered for a moment, and then poured the remaining experience points into Source Energy.

Given the current environment, the priority was to improve hard power. Without mechanical constructs, the Origin Data's utility was hard to manifest; it was just luck this time.

10 points of Spirit Energy was enough for him to enhance his firearms and battle blades multiple times.

[Source Energy: 36 (116/200)]
[Spirit Energy: 10 (0/300)]
[Research Slot (1/1): FT Alloy Shuriken Bullet, Research Progress: 1.11% (Estimated 17 days)]
[...]

Upon advancing to Tier 1 Esper, he had gained an extra item slot. The fusion and research slots remained at one each.

Jiang Xiao casually tossed the headless mechanical corpse into his item slot and raised his sniper rifle again, aiming in the direction of the gunshots.

A short while later—

Jiang Xiao stood in the dilapidated corridor, searching for anything useful.

"Huh? Sin City Network Terminal? What's this?"

Chapter 9: The True Hunt Begins

Picking up an item that resembled a mobile phone, Jiang Xiao's eyes narrowed slightly.

[Sin City Network Terminal: An item for virtual network communication via an incomplete quantum base station network. Only useful within Sin City or areas covered by stratospheric base stations.]
[Current Status: Out of Network Range (Origin Data can enhance its signal reception strength)]

It really was a phone.

Stuffing it into his pocket, Jiang Xiao continued his work, quickly stripping the mechanical items from the alien martial artist's body. He took the intact and useful ones, dismantling the rest into parts, only keeping precise components like circuit boards.

Excluding the burly alien's mechanical body, the most valuable item was the drone.

It was palm-sized, flew almost silently, and was incredibly fast. Its camera additionally featured infrared thermal imaging, life signal scanning, and Source Energy signal scanning.

Judging by its crude exterior and the mismatched internal parts, Jiang Xiao suspected it was a drone modified from a single-soldier tactical terminal.

He returned to the rooftop and set up his sniper rifle again.

Since the electromagnetic rifle's bullets had no casings, they could be reused as long as they were recovered intact. He still had fifteen rounds.

He released the drone to scout the vicinity. After confirming there was no danger nearby, Jiang Xiao took out the Sin City Network Terminal and began to play with it.

[Please enter password]

His expression remained unchanged. Origin Data invaded, and the intangible data streams appeared in his mind like a tangible three-dimensional structure.

Several data streams led directly to the screen interface. Jiang Xiao easily spotted a line of numbers within one of the streams.

He entered it, and it opened.

Jiang Xiao clicked his tongue. The data technology of the equipment crudely made on Frontier Prison Star was so simple that it allowed for this. If the password had been encrypted and there were tens of millions of data streams, he wouldn't have been able to crack it in ten thousand years.

After all, he didn't actually know data technology. The reason he could paralyze the alien's cybernetic body earlier was simply because the opponent's data was too crude, allowing him to see the control code of the core power supply data at a glance.

Origin Data could trigger the code with just a casual touch.

The network terminal lit up, and Jiang Xiao eagerly looked at it.

Instead of multiple software applications as he had imagined, it opened to an interface resembling a forum homepage. It was divided into a few simple sections, which he roughly identified as 'Communication,' 'Bounties,' 'Trading,' and 'News.'

The top three messages on the homepage were pinned.

[Starport May Relax Restrictions on Intelligent Technology for Frontier Prison Star, Does This Indicate the Imminent Arrival of a New Swarm Attack?]

[Black Mech Gang Launches New Defensive Hand Cannon - Firefang Type Grenade Launcher, Capable of Killing Tier 1 Elite Martial Artists, Each Bullet Costs Only 200 Sin Coins!]