Pioneering Rights

Behind Gasoline Town, the Intercontinental Auto Exhibition Center.

The Auto Exhibition Center was its old name; it now had a new one: the War Center.

Early in the morning, battle vehicles streamed into the main hall one after another. Mechanical Hunters emerged from the vehicles, their eyes darting around fiercely, radiating aggression. Wherever they went, they were met with disdain, and only their captains could step forward to receive their missions in Hall One.

The remaining Mechanical Hunters waited in the hall, smoking and scanning their peers with eyes that held an unknown, dangerous intent.

The caliber of the weapons in their hands seemed to increase with each person. Some of their gun barrels rotated with a "creak, creak" sound, responding to changes in their neural sensors.

This former Auto Exhibition Center seemed to have transformed into a weapons exhibition center.

When the armored vehicles, like fortresses of steel, drove into the hall, they immediately attracted countless gazes.

Although Automobile City was famous for its modified vehicles, a local specialty industry, these clearly weren't modified vehicles. They were genuine armored combat vehicles. It went without saying that such military vehicles must have been smuggled in. To drive them so brazenly in front of Security Brigade officials—how arrogant!

"Creeeak—"

The heavy vehicle door opened, accompanied by a strong jetting sound, the sound of the air pump pushing the door open.

Experienced Hunters could almost calculate the horsepower of this armored vehicle based on this detail alone.

Comparing it to their own, they thought, Damn, this is too over the top.

Gao Gong stepped out of the passenger seat first.

"It's him!"

"Who is it? Oh, no wonder."

"The top subordinate of that big sister."

"So it's the young wolf cub."

"No, this one is at least a giant mastiff."

A Mechanical Hunter's fame was often directly proportional to the number of Radiation Beasts he hunted. In the past month, Gao Gong had hunted an astonishing number of beasts, surpassing even regular armed hunting teams.

Gao Gong scanned the crowd and saw many familiar faces. Matsushima Keiko, perched on the roof of the vehicle, gave him a sweet smile, though her hands rested on the hilt of her katana in a way that was hard to interpret.

"Guard the vehicle, I'm going to register."

If no one would question Gao Gong being the owner of this vehicle, then the two who followed him out left everyone else utterly bewildered.

One was a cyborg whose modification level was trash.

The other was a fat man who only knew how to grin foolishly and eat.

Just those two?

The Hunters who had failed their applications felt a surge of intense displeasure. I could do that too!

Gao Gong, naturally, paid no mind to what others thought and walked directly into Hall One. The Security Brigade official responsible for reception glanced at the armored vehicle with a complex expression and pointed towards a conference room.

"What do you mean?"

"Ordinary teams receive their missions outside. For some elites, there are dedicated personnel to receive them."

Gao Gong smiled and pushed the door open without another word.

Instantly, a barrage of gazes, each carrying an unknown meaning, swept over him.

"So many familiar faces."

Wilson the Fire Thief

Huang Wen the Mechanic

Miyamoto Sanzang the Master Assassin

Three-Handed Daisy

The Crawler

Adrian the Gray-Eyed

The captains of the six strongest hunting teams in Automobile City, some standing, some sitting, all in various postures.

And while Daisy smiled at Gao Gong, the expressions of the others were far from friendly.

Lone wolf Hunters were elusive and unburdened, often inspiring fear.

Among Mechanical Hunters of the same caliber, captains often felt a peculiar sense of superiority over lone wolves.

"Little Gao, you're here," the middle-aged man behind the conference table stood up proactively, patting Gao Gong on the shoulder with a smile.

"Supervisor Zhou."

This Supervisor Zhou was the logistics supervisor of the Security Brigade. He was the one who had received Gao Gong when he delivered the Reaper's head.

Supervisor Zhou's attitude towards Gao Gong was clearly different from his attitude towards others, which caused the expressions of several captains to shift subtly.

When they had entered, the supervisor's demeanor hadn't been nearly this amiable.

"Sit, everyone sit down."

Once everyone was seated, Supervisor Zhou pressed a remote control, and a holographic projection appeared from the camera.

This is a topographic map of the area near Automobile City. To the east is Scavenger City, to the west are the Blood Ore Hills, to the south is another Oasis, and to the north is the Sulfuric Acid River.

Supervisor Zhou pressed the remote control again, and instantly, the green area was covered by hundreds of red arrows.

"So many!?"

"This is close to the intensity of a Beast Tide."

"What about the front-line legions!"

Even these well-informed captains' expressions changed. With this intensity, hadn't the Beast Tide already been blocked to the east? Judging by this, it seemed the eastern front had completely fallen.

Supervisor Zhou said with a heavy expression, "Everyone, the Security Brigade's warriors are fighting bravely on the front lines, but there are still many beast remnants slipping through the gaps in the front line. Our objective is to eliminate them."

Huang Wen narrowed his eyes and said, "How can the Security Brigade's mechanical defense line have so many gaps? According to my calculations, with the manpower and weapons you've invested, the defense value should reach three million points. Even a regular Mechanical Legion attack wouldn't be able to do this much damage in such a short time."

"I'm not sure either, but I can assure you that the front-line legions have not been broken. It's just that some very specific problems are troubling the generals on the front line. Once the problem is solved, the defense line will be repaired immediately."

"Are there any Beast Kings?" Wilson the Fire Thief asked with a serious expression.

"No, definitely not!" Supervisor Zhou stated emphatically.

"With just the strength of us hunters, even if we all spread out, we won't be able to stop so many Radiation Beasts," Three-Handed Daisy said, crossing her arms.

"You don't need to worry about the defense. Our diplomats have secured the support of some local forces. They will help share our pressure from the flanks."

Local forces meant warlords. The expressions of the hunter captains present became less pleasant.

The relationship between local warlords and Mechanical Hunters was, if not outright hostile, at least mutually disdainful. The former viewed the latter as a source of chaos, while the latter considered the former to be beast-men.

Seeing the heavy atmosphere, Supervisor Zhou thought for a moment and decided to offer a carrot: "To ensure everyone can fight on the front lines without worries, the Security Brigade has decided to offer one hundred thousand contribution points as a reward for this hunt."

One hundred thousand points!

Gao Gong could clearly feel the breathing around him suddenly become heavier.

Supervisor Zhou added fuel to the fire, saying, "Also, to commend everyone's contributions, the Security Brigade has decided to open up the administrative rights of the Central Oasis and the development rights of the New Oasis."

"As long as everyone ranks in the top ten in this large-scale hunt, they can serve in official positions in the Central Oasis, such as the mayor of Gasoline Town."

"And if any of you achieve first place, you will gain the development rights of the New Oasis. Not only will you have the factory's machinery for construction, but you will also be able to negotiate directly with large corporations. As long as you can successfully develop it, you will be the absolute ruler of the new territory. At that time, perhaps even I will have to beg for scraps from you."

Supervisor Zhou made a joke.

The breathing became heavier once again.

As a monopolistic armed group, the Security Brigade had earned an immense fortune in Mech Coins over the years in the desert. Now, they had the opportunity to become part of the interest group.

And if they could successfully develop an oasis, they might even be able to rule alongside the Security Brigade!

Everyone knew this was a big pie, but this pie was simply too delicious.

So delicious that even just a whiff of it made one intoxicated by the deliciousness of power.

The only one whose expression remained unchanged was Gao Gong.

It wasn't that Gao Gong was aloof. It was that in normal history, all the people in the Iron Sand Desert had died.

If there were no people, what use would a delicious pie be?

More importantly, the system mission hadn't been triggered, so Gao Gong looked indifferent and uninspired.

This expression fell into Supervisor Zhou's eyes, and a hint of surprise flashed across his face. He thought, This person has such a strong mentality. He doesn't even flinch when Mount Tai collapses before him.

"Everyone, due to energy interference in the radiation zone, our monitoring systems often malfunction. The beasts appearing around Automobile City are certainly not few in number."

"I have distributed the data of all visible beasts to your battlefield communicators, including their numbers and weaknesses."

"But I believe that with everyone's efforts, we will definitely win this war!"

While Supervisor Zhou was pumping everyone up inside, other members of the Security Brigade were doing the same in the hall for the other Mechanical Hunters.

Although it was unclear what exactly was said, the release of one hundred thousand contribution points, the administrative rights of the Central Oasis, and the development rights of the New Oasis caused everyone to erupt!

"Crush the Radiation Beasts!"

"When I become the leader of the oasis, the first law I will enact is the reinstatement of the right of the first night!"

"The opportunity has finally come!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Fat Xiang stared blankly at the scene. After a long while, he turned to the calm-looking Tin Can and asked:

"What are they saying?"

Tin Can snorted coldly, holding his electronic cigarette, and looked dismissive.

"Does it matter?"

"Doesn't it matter?" Fat Xiang scratched his head.

"Of course it matters," Tin Can sighed. "The problem is my hearing aid suddenly malfunctioned, and I didn't hear what they were saying either."

"Oh."

Engine sounds roared one after another. Various modified cars madly rushed out of the Auto Exhibition Center. The frenzied laughter and the flames spewing from the modified exhaust pipes perfectly matched the desert's temperament.

It seemed as if the Radiation Beasts were easily captured whenever they made a move.

"Let's get in the car too. Gao Gong should be coming out soon."

"Wait!"

Just then, a figure suddenly appeared, blocking the path of the two.

Zhao Xie looked coldly at Iron Skin, his gaze quite unfriendly.

"You're not dead? How did you end up here?!"

"None of your damn business!"

When enemies meet, their eyes burn with hatred. Iron Skin's anger surged directly to his CPU. He thought to himself, Thank goodness I didn't complete my full bionic conversion. Otherwise, that kid would have really killed me with one shot at the entrance back then.

Zhao Xie's gaze shifted from Iron Skin to the armored vehicle, and his brow furrowed once more.

"How dare you steal a vehicle from the Security Brigade!"

"Bullshit, that's our captain's car!"

Zhao Xie's eyes moved, and two robots, one on his left and one on his right, walked over to drag away Fat Xiang, who was standing at the car door, and confiscate the vehicle.

However, to Zhao Xie's surprise, the two robots, working together, couldn't move the fat man in front of them.

"What are you guys doing?" Fat Xiang asked foolishly. Beneath his clothes, thick, snake-like muscles bulged.