Chapter Sixteen: Gasoline Town Unrest

Gasoline Town was undoubtedly the heart of Automobile City, though today Gasoline Town had undergone a few minor changes.

Several Security Brigade inspectors were now present at the usually empty entrance.

They were inspecting the prey of Mechanical Hunters.

The factory's military supply warehouse had reopened, with some precious military supplies available for sale. In exchange, every Mechanical Hunter was required to bring back the corpse of an E-class Radiation Beast each day.

If you had no spoils, then unfortunately, you wouldn't be allowed into Gasoline Town.

In this irradiated wasteland, the consequence of lacking supplies was only one thing: death.

"Look again, look carefully! This is the tail stinger of a Self-Detonating Scorpion, a standard E-class beast corpse."

"And what about the rest of its body?" the inspector asked coldly. Both of his arms had been replaced with mechanical ones, and he was repeatedly examining the prey.

"The blood of a Self-Detonating Scorpion is all flammable chemical liquid. I'm lucky to have saved just one tail stinger before it exploded," said a Mechanical Hunter with a metallic skull, his eyes wide.

The inspector pondered.

"Let me see." A figure approached.

"Yes, team leader."

The inspector moved aside, yielding his spot to a young man dressed in military uniform. This individual had a high degree of mechanization; even his exposed neck had been converted into a mechanical component.

Zhao Xie merely glanced at it and then sneered, "The tail stinger of a Self-Detonating Scorpion is equivalent to a detonator. You're telling me that the Self-Detonating Scorpion you killed exploded, yet there's no trace of an explosion on this stinger."

Just as the metallic skull was about to argue, two heavy robots guarding the gate flanked him, dragged him out of the gate, and threw him out.

The metallic skull roared in anger, shouting, "You begged us to hunt Radiation Beasts! Without us, could you people live in peace?"

Bang!

Without a word, Zhao Xie drew his pistol and fired a shot at the man's head.

The metallic skull's head snapped back violently, and he fell to the ground, lifeless.

The surrounding Mechanical Hunters' expressions changed, their hands instinctively moving to their weapons.

Zhao Xie calmly stated, "It is the duty of Mechanical Hunters to clear out beast hordes. In the military supply warehouse, hunted beast corpses can even be directly exchanged for supplies."

"With such generous treatment, if you still don't put your lives on the line, then you don't deserve to live in this Oasis."

Zhao Xie swept his gaze across the crowd, his eyes cold. No one dared to meet his gaze.

"Remember, Mechanical Hunters are a bunch of shameless scum. From now on, any hunters bringing in unverified prey will not be allowed passage!"

"Yes, team leader!"

Not long after Zhao Xie left, a battered off-road vehicle pulled up to the entrance of Gasoline Town. Seeing the other vehicles queuing obediently, the driver paused for a moment and clicked his tongue, saying, "They're so well-behaved, how strange."

Soon, the inspectors reached Gao Gong.

"The prey is in the back, go check it yourself."

As one inspector was about to perform the check, another stopped him, saying, "No need for this one, let him pass."

Gao Gong grinned, brought his index and middle fingers together, gave a slight wave to the inspector, and stepped on the accelerator, driving away.

"Why, didn't Team Leader Zhao just say—"

"This person is different. He's a veteran hunter."

"So what?" the first inspector asked, sounding unconvinced.

The other shook his head and said, "Putting aside everything else, just this week alone, this person hunted 30 E-class beasts. Do you think he wouldn't have any spoils today?"

"Thirty, that many, and just him alone!?"

The inspector was very surprised. After all, even an armed squad from the Security Brigade might not have that many spoils in a week.

"He's a lone wolf, no partner, always goes solo. Experts like him are different from those rookies; they are the ones we want to win over."

The other person paused and added, "Soon, small beast hordes will start migrating here, and he'll be very useful."

The inspector nodded thoughtfully.

Gao Gong drove his somewhat dilapidated off-road vehicle around Gasoline Town.

Gasoline Town was visibly declining.

After all, a large portion of the consumer base was still out in the wilds.

He drove all the way to the Rose Gasoline Bar, only to find its doors tightly shut. He honked his horn at Little Finger, who was squatting on the doorstep, smoking dejectedly.

Little Finger glanced at him and, without getting out, climbed into the passenger seat.

"Bars aren't allowed to operate during wartime," Little Finger sighed, flicking his cigarette butt out the window.

"Understandable."

"But the military supply warehouse is offering liquor service."

"Looks like they have connections," Gao Gong said, pulling out a cigarette pack and offering one to Little Finger.

"They can't keep it closed for long!" Little Finger scoffed. "Our local business isn't something a couple of outsiders can easily disrupt."

"And what about you? With the war starting, isn't this a great opportunity for a prosthetic doctor like you to get rich?"

"Ugh, don't even mention it," Little Finger said, pulling out a medal with an energized metal head etched on it, his face full of gloom.

"A Security Brigade medal? So you've been conscripted? Congratulations," Gao Gong said, gloating. "Looks like you'll be on the front lines soon."

"Not only is there no profit, but I have to risk my life too!" Little Finger said, his face a mask of grief and indignation. "If I'd known it would come to this, I never should have left Free Shore!"

"Free Shore? You're not from Sleepless City?"

Realizing he'd let slip a detail, Little Finger's expression stiffened, and he quickly changed the subject. "What are you doing at the bar?"

Gao Gong smiled, not pressing the issue. "This car isn't holding up well. I was hoping to ask Sister Rose if she knows anyone who can get me a military armored vehicle."

"Sister Rose isn't here, and military armored vehicles are incredibly expensive. You can't even think about one without six figures in Mech Coins. Do you have that kind of money?"

"I don't need a new one, a used one would be fine."

"I'm talking about the price for a used one."

"Tsk."

Seeing Gao Gong looking at him strangely, Little Finger's expression changed. "Don't look at me like that. I don't have a car, and I won't lend you money."

"I'm not looking to borrow money, I want to talk about a business deal."

Ultimately, Gao Gong's "new surgical plan" won over Little Finger.

Although he didn't believe the other party could produce a second surgical plan in such a short time, Little Finger, thinking it was better than doing nothing and wanting to see what Gao Gong was up to, brought him to his back-alley clinic.

"Doctor Finger."

"Get lost!"

Little Finger, his face dark, shoved aside the soldier at the door and walked in with a grim expression.

The two Security Brigade soldiers exchanged glances and shrugged.

Prosthetic doctors were high-tech talents, after all, and didn't receive the same treatment as common thugs like Mechanical Hunters.

"Excuse me, let us through."

Gao Gong followed closely behind, a indescribable stench emanating from the sack in his hands.

Just as the soldier was about to speak, Gao Gong pushed the door open and locked it from the inside.

"What do we do?"

"Just turn a blind eye."

Gao Gong scanned the room. Besides the surgical table he had returned, there were at least a dozen other high-tech surgical devices. He nodded in satisfaction.

"I need a Protein Extractor and a Cell Wall Separation Machine."

The former is responsible for extracting special proteins from the worm glands, and the latter is responsible for transferring metal antibodies from the proteins.

The operation isn't complicated—if you know the formula.

"What are you standing around for? Come give me a hand."

"You want me to help you?" Little Finger pointed at himself, disbelief etched on his face.

"Yeah, and bring me a stool while you're at it."

"If you can't produce anything, I'll have someone kill you!" Little Finger gritted his teeth.

Half an hour later—

"Impossible, it's impossible! How did you do it? You actually managed to intercept it!"

Little Finger observed the cell changes under the microscope. When the radio waves scanned the cells, antibodies were clearly being produced.

Gao Gong's part was much simpler.

The system panel explained everything.

[A biological injectable with an effect similar to an electromagnetic shielding coating.]

"Do you know what this means?" Little Finger suddenly turned, his eyes fixed on Gao Gong.

"It means Mechanical Hunters won't have to worry about being grabbed in close combat."

"It means the classic style of mechanical hunting will rise again."

"It means, to a certain extent, we'll change the course of desert warfare."

"And it means I'm going to get rich."

Gao Gong shrugged. "At least I'll have enough money to buy a car."

Little Finger's face turned red, and he paced back and forth, muttering incessantly, though his words were unintelligible.

Gao Gong couldn't help but interrupt him. "I advise you not to overthink it."

"What do you mean! Are you planning to keep it all for yourself?" Little Finger exclaimed angrily. "Do you want me to beg you?"

"Uh, no need, no need."

Gao Gong rubbed his nose. "The biggest problem is that the raw materials are hard to find. A Desert Worm only has one gland, and one gland can yield at most one dose of the serum."

"In other words, this thing can't be mass-produced in the short term."

"Desert Worms, Desert Worms! We need to immediately notify the people below to catch the worms, catch all the worms! If we're late, they'll be gone!"

"However, even though it can't be mass-produced, the top experts among the Mechanical Hunters will definitely understand its value and won't hesitate to pay a hefty price for one to save their lives."

"That's right. While these experts are willing to curry favor with me, it's incredibly difficult to get them to wholeheartedly work for us."

Little Finger slammed the table, excitedly saying, "With this item, these people will be at our mercy!"

As long as these experts shine in the upcoming hunting missions, it will naturally drive the revival of the classic school of Mechanical Hunters.

Gao Gong once said he wanted to stir up a craze for cold weapon hunting, and he wasn't just saying it.