Factory Peril

In the Iron Sand Desert, an E-rank beast horde did not necessarily have a D-rank leader, but every D-rank beast horde was ruled by a C-rank radiation beast.

The higher the radiation beast's rank, the more likely it was to form a genetic territory.

They needed their own kind to share the backlash from the high-temperature radiation.

For the Marauder Squad to hunt a D-rank beast horde, one could only say their ambition was considerable.

Amid Director Zhou's excitement, he was soon saddled with another problem.

Someone had died in Gas Town!

The victim was a mechanical hunter. His chest had been torn open, and some of the mechanical components inside his body had been eaten clean.

It was not murder. A wild beast had snuck in and eaten someone.

And it was no ordinary beast. According to the surveillance footage, there was no trace of the "killer" appearing along any route that could have passed by the victim's residence.

This meant the "killer" was an invisible beast. The only question was whether it used biological invisibility or electromagnetic interference. The former could still be detected through infrared vision, much like a chameleon. The latter was more troublesome—it could not only turn invisible but also destroy electronic equipment.

Gas Town was the rear base. If something could sneak in here, it could naturally sneak into the Security Corps' station as well.

Director Zhou gritted his teeth.

"Double the defensive forces. Important locations must have not only robots but also living people standing guard!"

"And notify those old slickers. Tell them to get moving. Otherwise, I'll recall them to guard the headquarters."

The communications officer quickly relayed the message to the front line.

"Heh, it's about time he got anxious."

Wilson tossed aside the walkie-talkie and twisted his thick neck.

"Boys, get ready. We're heading out tonight!"

Meanwhile, at the communications station, Huang Wen calmly watched the screen.

A line of text flashed repeatedly across it.

'Radiation value has reached its peak'

'Radiation value has reached its peak'

"Don't worry. We'll make our move soon."

Daisila switched off the communicator and rose to her feet. She removed the electromagnetic riot shield from her left hand, raised two electromagnetic storm rifles in her right hand, and shouted at her subordinates.

"The day we return in glory is the day the knights ride out!!"

Southern Front, desolate no-man's-land

An armored vehicle stopped before a vast field of rubble. Gao Gong, wearing sunglasses and carrying a long blade, knocked on the vehicle's door and woke Ironhide from his nap.

"Let's go. It's time for us to make our move too."

"We're finally moving?" Ironhide said somewhat dazedly. The past two days had been far too peaceful, making it impossible for him to connect his current situation with war.

Fatty Xiang was still snoring away in the back seat.

"Yeah. Let's go."

Gao Gong had waited three days not only for the radiation zone to take shape but also to scout the area and determine the beasts' movements and the locations of settlements.

In the end, he had decided to make the south his main battlefield instead of the familiar western front.

This area was near another oasis and was likewise on the outskirts of another metropolitan region.

The difference was that its industry was not an automobile park but a large number of abandoned factories.

The oasis here had been built inside an industrial park.

Vast factory districts inevitably held enormous quantities of abandoned metal materials, making them a natural supply point for the advancing mechanical biobeasts.

Meanwhile, the complex factory layout, with its varying elevations, was an ideal battlefield for his assassination tactics.

Gao Gong glanced at the battle recorder. The rankings automatically appeared on the screen. Looking at the newcomers who had begun to make a name for themselves, he smiled dismissively.

The newcomers might be bouncing around happily now, but he was certain that after this hunting war, at least half of them would die unnatural deaths.

Attacking radiation beasts before the radiation zone had taken shape was practically suicide.

Entering the "radiation food chain" was not a good thing. It meant that in the eyes of a certain type of radiation beast, you had already been labeled as "food."

As long as you remained in the desert, and as long as that type of radiation beast had not gone extinct, it could mark you again and again and hunt you down.

Until you died.

In his previous life, Gao Gong had seen too many powerful mechanical augmenters die miserably in this radiation zone for one reason or another.

Were they not strong enough?

Or were they not vigilant enough?

Neither.

They had been arrogant and conceited.

The sky was darkening, but the abandoned steel factory remained "brightly lit." After the radiation zone took shape, the factory's electrical system began operating on its own. Some mutated seeds took root and sprouted along the cables, growing all the way to the electrical boxes. Numerous metallic vines also began covering the factory's surface, while some astringent fruits lit up like bulbs.

If this continued for another ten years, who could say this place would not form another metropolitan region?

The armored vehicle stopped a hundred meters from an abandoned factory.

Ironhide looked excited, rubbing his hands repeatedly over the steering wheel.

After so many years, he once again felt the thrill of delivering goods for a "gang."

"Brother Gao, don't you need my help?" Fatty Xiang asked blankly.

"No need. Today, we'll just test the waters."

If he had to name one gain from the past few days, it was that he had determined Fatty Xiang's attributes.

Name: Fatty Xiang

Race: Carbon-Based Mutant

Health: 530/530

Stamina: 400/400

Bioenergy: 195

Personal Attributes: Strength 27 Agility 8 Endurance 31 Intelligence 3 Perception 6 Luck 17

Skills: Heavy Object Throwing Lv5, Firearm Repair Lv8, Staff Mastery Lv3 (Advanced), Mutation Lv2 (Elite)

If the original owner had possessed the template of a "dual-flower red staff," then Fatty Xiang was clearly in tank mode!

No wonder Aunt Xiang had felt comfortable letting him out. With that health and stamina, plenty of people would believe he was a D-rank elite monster template.

It was just his intelligence that needed more training.

Gao Gong thought for a moment, then took out a basket of grenade fruits purchased from his old friend's gun shop.

"Fatty Xiang, once Ironhide opens the roof, you just throw the fruits. Throw them wherever there are the most monsters!"

Fatty Xiang nodded hard.

"Don't worry, Brother Gao. I'm very accurate. When Mom used to starve me, I would sneak outside to knock down fruit for food. Every throw hit the mark."

Gao Gong smiled and nodded.

"Get used to the atmosphere first. Once you're accustomed to it, I'll need you to tank the boss."

"Boss, can we go? I feel like some cops have already started watching us."

Ironhide looked excited, even blurting out gangster slang in his agitation.

"Let's go. Remember, the bigger the commotion, the better. But if things look bad, run immediately."

"Don't worry, Boss. I've delivered goods for so many years and never been caught once."

Gao Gong smiled. He had no doubts. Ironhide's only advantage was the driving skill he had honed delivering goods through the Nightless City at night.

If it were measured, that guy's driving skill had to be at least Lv8.

"Set off!"

With a roar, the armored vehicle smashed the factory gate into pieces. Before the several small mechanical beasts blocking the way could react, they were swept beneath the armor and crushed into pieces under the twenty-ton weight, without even having time to scream.

Though Gao Gong had not installed any ferocious weapons on the armored vehicle due to a lack of time and funds, the armored vehicle itself was already a truly vicious beast. Ordinary mechanical biobeasts were no match for it. Even the Reaper Overlord from back then would have suffered severe injuries in a head-on collision.

Gao Gong pulled the vehicle door open a crack, and three dog-headed men furtively jumped down through it.

In the view of Gao Gong's right eye, three small red dots rapidly moved in three different directions.

These dog-headed men had undergone another round of improvements. With the lowest-grade desert skin implanted across their bodies, they were already barely distinguishable from the small mechanical biobeasts.

The purpose of the "skin" was not actually to cut off electronic signals. Rather, it adjusted the biological magnetic field and "digested" the electronic signals in another manner.

Therefore, even in this environment, Gao Gong did not have to worry about being discovered for using electronic equipment.

On the other side, Fatty Xiang was like a human bomb launcher. He grinned foolishly while his hands never stopped moving. Explosions nearly merged into one continuous roar. Wherever there were more radiation beasts, grenade fruits would inevitably appear. Within five hundred meters, he hit wherever he aimed, with accuracy comparable to a sniper's.

"We struck gold. He's perfect tank material," Gao Gong muttered. He lightly flicked his wrist, and the next moment, his skin began blending with the surrounding light. Like a human-shaped pane of glass, the monomolecular wire suddenly drew taut, and Gao Gong silently vanished from inside the vehicle.

There was more than one abandoned factory—there were several. And when the armored vehicle charged through them in the most brutal manner possible, it naturally drew an encirclement by the beast horde.

"Fatty Xiang, get your head back in!"

Ironhide roared while frantically turning the steering wheel.

"Oh!"

Almost the instant Fatty Xiang pulled his head back, a burst of bullets rained onto the bulletproof glass.

This was not an enemy attack, but a "gun beast" among the mechanical biobeasts.

As its name suggested, this type of mechanical beast could fuse with human weapons and used bullets as food.

Some high-level "gun beasts" had firepower and calibers entirely comparable to those of mechanical hunters.

As the armored vehicle rounded a corner, it suddenly lurched and nearly tipped over.

Fortunately, Ironhide's years of driving illegal taxis had not been wasted. At the critical moment, his superb driving skills were displayed to the fullest. Fatty Xiang, meanwhile, seemed completely unaware that he was in danger. He opened his mouth wide with a "Whoa!" as a huge metal scale scraped against the vehicle, and a massive black shadow came within a hair's breadth of wrapping around the entire armored vehicle.

What a huge snake!

They had barely escaped the snake's jaws when the roof above the driver's seat shook violently again. A clearly visible dent appeared directly above Ironhide's head.

Ironhide shuddered in fright and instinctively activated the roof camera. On the screen, a gigantic metal scorpion had climbed onto the armored vehicle. Its two pincers were at least three times larger than a gorilla's arms, and the air vents on them were clearly jet-propulsion devices.

"Holy crap, this is way more exciting than making deliveries!"

Cold sweat poured down Ironhide's face. He hurriedly stomped on the accelerator and sped wildly through the various factory corridors. In the end, he smashed through a lifting platform, sending steel crashing down from above and finally knocking the scorpion back.

Before Ironhide could catch his breath, a pack of mechanical wolves pounced over. Ordinary wolves would have been one thing, but more importantly, every wolf had a half-metal, half-bone machine gun strapped around its waist.

A rain of metal bullets swept toward them.

This was an entire nest of gun beasts!