The Restorer

Soon, the newcomer was blindfolded and boarded the Titanic in a small yacht.

The yacht was driven by a gloomy middle-aged man. He simply nodded when he saw the senior engineer. The senior engineer did not know his name, but he always felt that there was a special kind of sinister aura about the man.

Moreover, the choice of the person in charge of the negotiations was also strange, at least beyond what the senior engineer had expected.

Wow, you look completely different now!

Upon seeing the senior engineer, Xiao Huang rubbed his eyes in disbelief and exclaimed in surprise.

"Your level of mutation reminds me of biological test subjects used by large corporations."

Before the senior engineer could speak, Daisy coldly said, "You'd better think carefully before you speak. Do you want to be eaten?"

Looking at the increasingly alluring, yet spider-like, modified woman, Xiao Huang swallowed hard and gave an awkward smile.

"Sit."

The senior engineer pointed to the chair opposite him, "Let's see what we'd like to drink."

Xiao Huang's eyes lit up. "You actually have fresh orange juice here! Quick, give me a glass! I'm so sick of drinking artificial coloring lately!"

Soon, the waiter brought over a glass of chilled orange juice, which Xiao Huang drank in one gulp, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Another cup, please!"

The senior engineer tilted his head and sized up the other person. He could be considered a familiar face. On the night of "Operation Amputation," it was he who piloted the aircraft. In his memory, he was a young man who liked to swear.

Moreover, his surname is Xiao.

"What is your relationship with Major General Xiao Tong of the Central Desert?"

Xiao Huang wiped his mouth. "He's my cousin. My mom is a genetic clone of her, so from a genetic point of view, he's still my biological brother."

The senior engineer grunted in response. He knew that old families that had come from the civilized era had always had chaotic relationships. The Xiao family was considered better, at least most of them were born from birth, while some families were even entirely self-replicating.

Ethical confusion is also a standard feature of the cyber proving ground.

Many civilizations experience similar chaos after upgrading, but their chaos is only temporary and they quickly recover. However, the Cyber Test Site remains in constant chaos, with self-cloning, inbreeding, personality replication, and synthetic life forms—the possibilities are endless.

"I thought it would be Kemp who came to negotiate."

The battle between him and Demon Mountain was so intense that outsiders couldn't participate at all. By the time they were able to get involved, the battle was already over, and the senior engineer's side had won an overwhelming victory.

The two colonists were powerless to reverse the situation and could only slink away.

"He can't come. That old bastard Gram almost skinned him alive. If it weren't for the special circumstances of the beast tide, he would have been thrown into a military prison long ago. Oh, by the way, do you know Gram? He's the leader of the Blue Desert. He dug the Demon Mountain out of the Mother City. He was so angry he almost died."

Xiao Huang is a very straightforward guy, and he doesn't seem to have any intention of hiding anything.

However, the other party is from the Xiao family and has the qualifications. As a scion of a prominent family in the mother city, they are second only to the nobles of Yunduan, a standard special class.

In the senior engineer's understanding, this group of people loves to drive high-speed cars on dozens of stories high buildings, and they are the ones who organize many high-speed car races.

In these high-altitude bumper car races, the consequences of being hit can be quite serious.

However, for players who prefer a more experienced approach, this is also a good place to obtain high-quality car parts.

"What my brother means is that you replace Demon Mountain and take charge of the fight against the beast tide."

As a second-generation rich kid, Xiao Huang has a strong personality and went straight to the point without any probing.

"Oh? That Major General Gram isn't seeking revenge against me anymore?"

"What revenge is there?" Xiao Huang curled his lip. "There are plenty of guys like that in the mother city. If one dies, just recruit another. What's so special about mass-produced goods?"

Since the other party is a member of the Xiao family, this attitude is quite normal, after all, their family has mastered the "Complete Body Technology", which is the core technology of "Corpse Technology".

If they wanted to, creating another Demon Mountain wouldn't be particularly difficult.

"What benefits do I get?" the senior engineer asked bluntly.

Xiao Huang's eyes widened. "Big brother, I felt I was arrogant enough, but I didn't expect you to be even more arrogant than me. You killed a general of the Mechanical Legion! It's already good enough that you're being allowed to redeem yourself. What, you want a reward?"

"Mount Demon died at my hands? Are you kidding me?" Senior Engineer said righteously, "Didn't General Mount Demon die at the hands of those two A-level monsters? As his loyal subordinate, I naturally have the duty to avenge him."

"But those two A-rank monsters are indeed too strong. Without a powerful enough weapon, how can I fight them?"

"So what do you want?"

The senior engineer held up three fingers.

"Three sets of bio-armor. If you give them to us, we'll work; if you don't, we'll run away."

Xiao Huang took a deep breath, looked at him strangely, and said, "I need to make a phone call."

"It's on the ship."

After Xiao Huang left, Du Zhaodi, who had been silent all along, asked with a worried look, "Will he agree to our conditions?"

The senior engineer shrugged. "Who knows? Anyway, there's no harm in trying."

He lowered his voice again.

"If we can get three sets of the bio-engineered armor as experimental materials, our chances of successfully replicating it will be much greater."

A short while later, Xiao Huang arrived and said decisively, "Okay, my brother agrees."

Huh?

Now it was Gao Gong's turn to be surprised. He knew the security force would suffer losses, after all, they were stabbing him in the back and dropping a nuclear bomb on his head while he was fighting the beast tide to the death.

But such a straightforward approach is a bit suspicious; aren't they afraid of arousing suspicion?

Xiao Huang had no idea what the other person was thinking. He glanced around and suddenly said, "Now that we've finished discussing the important matters, shall we talk about something else?"

When the senior engineer didn't understand, Xiao Huang started to dodge the question, talking about the distribution of the seven continents in the civilized era, the history of the major countries, and the customs and development of these civilized countries. For example, the Guanzhong Plateau 9-3 beneath them was originally a vassal island nation, where mixed bathing was said to be very popular.

The senior engineer became increasingly confused as he listened. He gave Du Zhaodi a look, and the girl with the ponytail understood, leading the others to leave first.

When only the two of them remained, Xiao Huang's expression turned serious, a rare occurrence for him. "Did you inherit the legacy of the restorers?"

Where did you get this idea from?

In my memory, the Restorers were indeed a branch of the rebels, and even the Knights were a branch of the rebels.

Broadly speaking, any resistance force outside the Mechanical City system can be considered a member of the resistance, including older androids, anti-mechanical warriors, terrorists, black market corporations, the Turing Church, space colonists, and unlicensed AIs.

Those who survived the fall of their kingdoms were naturally among them.

If there is any difference, it is that the restorers are more idealistic. Their goal is to rebuild the nations of the civilized era and restore the order of the old era.

But what does this have to do with me?

Seeing the senior engineer remain silent in thought, Xiao Huang bowed slightly and said somewhat urgently, "Stop pretending! Without inheriting the technological legacy of ancient countries, how could you have acquired so much new equipment, and those biological modifications? How did you solve your biological rejection problem?"

The senior engineer understood somewhat: his identity as an inheritor of the old generation of hunters was enough to fool the country bumpkins in the desert, but it wouldn't be very effective with city dwellers.

At least on the issue of biomodification, there's hardly any justifiable reason to argue against it. What the older generation of hunters couldn't solve in decades, you solved in three months?

Moreover, the senior engineer gave the other person a strange look.

The Xiao family, isn't that a family of traitors? What, do you want to eliminate them completely?

"There are so many rebel forces, how can you be so sure I am a restorer of the nation?" The senior engineer carefully chose his words.

Xiao Huang's spirits lifted; he believed the other party had relented.

"We investigated you. You have connections with the rebels. That woman called Black Rose is an important member of the android resistance."

"But you can't be one of them. Those androids have a bloodline purity complex and would never allow a native to join them."

"Besides, you've fought against the Knights before, so you can't possibly be an extreme terrorist."

"You've taken the melee-focused modification route, which is very similar to the Empire's mechanical martial arts."

"Also, your subordinate, that old man Han, we investigated him. He used to be a scientific research investigator for the Empire. So, he found the bloodline of the Empire, which is you. With his help, you inherited part of the Empire's legacy, and under the influence of that woman Black Rose, you became a member of the resistance."

"And your killing of Demon Mountain is your pledge of allegiance to the resistance!"

"No one would be foolish enough to kill a top military commander during a beast tide, unless there's an absolutely necessary reason!"

"Well--"

The senior engineer was silent for a moment, then suddenly realized that it made perfect sense.

If one is the restorer of a nation, then everything makes sense.

The problem is, I'm really not one of them!

"This has nothing to do with our cooperation."

"How can it not be related!" Xiao Huang slapped his thigh. "If you really were a restorer of the nation, we would never let them launch the 'Scorched Earth Project'. Do you know the 'Scorched Earth Project'? It's about dropping nuclear bombs on the heads of radiation beasts."

He even brought up the "scorched earth plan," this guy really doesn't consider himself an outsider.

The senior engineer let out a breath, slowly leaned back in his chair, and a strange smile appeared on his lips.

"Members of a traitorous family, do you think I'd believe your words?"

In his haste, Xiao Huang blurted out, "You don't know the inside story. Back then, if we hadn't done those things, the empire would have truly perished. After all, the old emperor was possessed by aliens. As a Level 2 civilization, how could we possibly withstand an attack of interstellar war level?"

They even know about civilization levels. So, they've already made contact with alien forces during the civilized era? If that's the case, my guess was right. The mechanical war is indeed intertwined with the struggle between alien forces.

The senior engineer is considering whether or not to acknowledge the identity of this "restorer of the nation".

"I don't know which imperial family you belong to, but believe me, we are definitely not your enemies! I will do everything in my power to help you!"

Is this for real?!

The senior engineer crossed his arms, slightly raised his chin, and had a cold expression.

"Then it depends on your performance."

I'm not pretending anymore, I am a descendant of the empire.