Hao Ren was stunned when he saw the enormous mechanical monsters before him—not because he was shocked by how advanced they were, but because he was shocked that steam civilization had actually managed to unlock this branch of the tech tree! These hulking, complicated things, covered in pressure pipes, valves, and gauges, with every joint constantly venting high-pressure steam, were actually steam-powered!
This thing made no scientific sense, did it?
Still, the thought only flashed through Hao Ren's mind. How many of the demons and monsters standing around him were scientific? Compared with Lily's ability to transform just by wolfing down a mouthful of spicy strips, these things at least obeyed the conservation of mass... Besides, if steam technology wasn't enough, they still had Runes.
In any case, that was how these bizarrely designed steam combat robots had come into existence—and they seemed pretty advanced, too.
After surrounding everyone, the enormous mechanical monsters made no further move. Instead, they opened the shells on their backs one after another, and structures resembling weapons platforms rose from within. Warriors wearing metal armor stood atop each platform, gripping heavy guns and cannons, their faces hidden beneath steel.
"Steam Section Six!" Wendell turned pale when he saw them. "We're in trouble!"
Hao Ren didn't think this looked like much trouble, but he still asked curiously, "What do they do?"
"They're the Twilight City's highest-level combat force," Wendell said hurriedly. "They rarely deploy. They only come out when the entire city faces a tremendous threat—large-scale unrest, for example, or Ancient Monsters occasionally wandering in from the Dark Wilderness. But neither unrest nor dark monsters have appeared for several hundred years... I never expected them to deploy today!"
Lily stared at the steam-wreathed giant robots. She casually pulled a packet of spicy strips from her little