Boiler Elephant

Scrap City was still the same Scrap City, but perhaps because his perception had improved, Gao Gong could clearly sense that this urban circle had become even more dangerous.

It was as if this place had originally been merely a beast's nest, but had now become a giant beast with a bloody maw.

This isn't good. Normally, only the birth of an A-rank Beast God General would produce such a powerful biological will.

At this level, it's already approaching the future Armed Beast Nest. But if this really is an Armed Beast Nest, how did the Security Corps win this battle?

According to normal history, right up until the Hydra Campaign, the Iron Sand Desert had always been within the Mechanical City's sphere of influence. It was only after that battle ended that the Iron Sand Desert truly became a paradise for monsters.

At this thought, a famous saying suddenly popped into Gao Gong's mind.

Eliminate a hundred million enemies, then redeploy a thousand miles. Secure the southeast, and cast a commanding gaze over the Central Plains.

The corner of Gao Gong's mouth twitched.

No way. It's one thing for me to throw a fixed match, but you're doing it too? You're the regular army, and you even have licenses!

A rustling sound suddenly came from the grass in the distance. Gao Gong whipped around and shouted, "Who's there?!"

"It's me, it's me, Mr. Gao. You still remember me, right?"

The pockmarked man crawled awkwardly out of the grass. With him were two fierce-looking natives holding steel rebars.

"Oh, you're here." Gao Gong's expression eased slightly as he glanced at the bonfire not far away.

"Yes, Mr. Gao. You called us over this time—was there something you needed? Um, hehe, did you happen to bring supplies this time?"

Gao Gong frowned. "Of course I brought supplies, but why is it you again? Where's my good friend Huang Yuanli?"

"She really had something to deal with. Oh, right, she also asked me to bring you a token."

The pockmarked man pulled a small butterfly hair clip from his pocket. It was indeed Huang Yuanli's treasured possession.

Gao Gong's expression remained calm, but a chill flashed through his eyes. This showed that the little married woman's situation was even worse than he had imagined.

He said coldly, "I'm helping you out of obligation because of my friend. If Huang Yuanli isn't here, or if she's run into some trouble, then there's no way I'll give you these supplies."

The pockmarked man wore an expression halfway between laughter and tears. "Mr. Gao, don't misunderstand. We're all friends. Sister Yuanli has no problems at the tribe. She really just couldn't get away. Otherwise, why would she have asked me to bring this little clip? She was worried you might misunderstand."

Gao Gong hesitated and remained silent. The pockmarked man kept shooting the other two warning glances, signaling them not to act rashly.

But one of them eventually lost patience. He suddenly pulled a pistol from his pocket and pointed its dark muzzle straight at Gao Gong.

He snarled, "The tribe has been out of food for nearly three days. To hell with the consequences—let's grab the food first!"

The pockmarked man's expression finally changed. He said urgently, "We can't do this! Mr. Gao is a friend of our tribe. Have you forgotten who rescued our expedition team?"

"Whoever wants to save them can save them! I'd be happier if those lunatics all died. Without them, we'd be living just fine!"

"It must have been those scientific lunatics who brought down divine punishment on us. That's why our tribe ended up like this!"

"We should sell them into slavery. That's the only way to protect the tribe!"

Incited by the man, the other one made up his mind as well. Gripping his steel rebar in both hands, he approached with a vicious expression.

Seeing this, Gao Gong said calmly, "The goods are in the rear compartment. But once I deliver them this time, don't expect there to be a next time."

"A next time? Hmph. By next time, our tribe will have left already!"

The gunman sneered. He kept the gun pointed at Gao Gong as he walked to the back of the off-road vehicle and opened the rear compartment with his other hand.

There was no food inside, only some things that looked highly technological. They seemed somewhat like the equipment in Professor Han's laboratory.

"You—"

In the instant the man froze in astonishment, the human-headed dog that had been sprawled in the back seat suddenly sprang up. Steel needles shot from its forelegs and pierced both of his shoulder blades. At the same time, its metal head slammed viciously into him. Even after knocking him to the ground, it continued ramming its head into him without stopping.

It looked like the human-headed dog was performing an intense kissing scene.

The other two human-headed dogs leaped from the vehicle at the first opportunity as well. They pounced on the other man from both sides. He smashed one away with his steel rebar, only to be bitten in the crotch by the other. He let out a pained scream, making the scene even less suitable for children.

Cold sweat poured down the pockmarked man's face as he watched Gao Gong pick up the pistol from the ground and walk over at a leisurely pace.

Recalling what had happened to Professor Han and the others in the tribe, he felt that he was completely screwed.

"Can you give me an explanation?" Gao Gong asked unhurriedly. Not far away, the two men were already breathing out but not in—one with his face covered in blood, the other with blood all over his crotch. The latter seemed to be in much worse shape than the former.

All kinds of thoughts raced through the pockmarked man's mind, but the moment Gao Gong pulled back the pistol's bolt, he immediately became honest. "Professor Han and Sister Yuanli have been locked up. Professor Han was arrested as soon as he returned to the tribe, and Sister Yuanli was placed under restriction. Right after you delivered the food last time, Sister Yuanli started a riot and was suppressed by the Grand Elder. She was locked up just like Professor Han."

"She started a riot? What did you do to anger this little married woman?" Gao Gong asked in astonishment.

The pockmarked man said, somewhat ashamed, "According to the Grand Elder, the plan was to sell half the tribe's members to outsiders, then exchange them for the other half to join the Flame Apostles."

"What are the Flame Apostles?" For some reason, Gao Gong found the title inexplicably familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

"The Flame Apostles are the followers of the God of Radiation and Gunpowder, and his most loyal subordinates. The Grand Elder told us that as long as we joined the Flame Apostles, our Cable Tribe would be saved!"

The God of Radiation and Gunpowder—that name was familiar too. He was the native warlord two continents away, west of Automobile City.

Gao Gong sneered. "You made it sound so obscure. I was wondering what you were planning. It turns out you're engaging in the slave trade."

In the Iron Sand Desert, scavengers occupied the very bottom of the power pyramid.

But there were people even worse off than them: the slaves of native warlords. Most of those slaves were scavengers captured by the warlords.

These slaves had another name: meat people. Just as the name suggested, they were livestock raised for meat.

"Mr. Gao, I advise you not to go in. You're alone, while our tribe has at least a hundred Neurobeasts. You're no match for them."

Half an hour later, Gao Gong and the pockmarked man were crouching in a patch of grass. Gao Gong kept his left eye closed while his cybernetic eye swept across the area ahead like a scope.

Two sentries in the open, and two hidden sentries.

There were also more than a dozen scattered mechanical bio-beasts.

Gao Gong had never expected the Cable Tribe to choose such a bold location, positioned right between two mechanical beast swarms.

Moreover, both beast swarms were D-rank.

Back during the expedition, if Gao Gong had not displayed overwhelming power, those people would almost certainly have been wiped out.

And that had only been a small beast swarm.

Gao Gong abandoned the idea of a frontal assault and turned to the pockmarked man.

"Can you get me inside?"

The pockmarked man shook his head bitterly. "Forget taking someone in—even I can't get inside. The two people you killed were both trusted men of the Grand Elder. Three people went out and only one came back. The Grand Elder will skin me alive."

Gao Gong thought for a moment, then casually beckoned. A human-headed dog poked its head out of the grass.

He then reached into the luggage pack on his back and pulled out something resembling a "square-dancing speaker."

"What's that?" the pockmarked man asked blankly.

Gao Gong ignored him and turned the frequency dial on the "speaker." He was adjusting the noise frequency of the Neural Disruptor, making sure he would not aggro too many monsters.

Finally, Gao Gong pressed the power button.

With a thought, the human-headed dog shot away like an arrow released from its bow, carrying the "speaker" in its jaws.

The next moment, Gao Gong fled the area just as frantically.

The pockmarked man blinked. What was going on? The man was gone, the dog was gone, and he was the only captive left behind.

He was utterly bewildered.

But in the next instant, he was no longer bewildered.

The two mechanical dogs at the tribe's entrance suddenly began roaring at empty air, as if some invisible intruder had broken in.

Moments later, the two dogs became furious, broke free of their chains, and pounced toward the pockmarked man.

The pockmarked man nearly jumped out of his skin. Without even thinking, he lunged in the direction Gao Gong had fled.

The next moment, birds took flight from the forest. A flock of metal sparrows flew out of the tribe, heading in the same direction as the mechanical dogs.

Then, mechanical beasts filled the sky, crawled across the ground, and climbed through the trees, surging past the place where the two had just been.

If the pockmarked man had been even half a step slower, he would have been trampled to death by the beast tide.

"What—what exactly did you do?"

The pockmarked man rolled and crawled to Gao Gong's side, asking in terror.

But Gao Gong looked just as blank.

"You—"

The pockmarked man was about to say something else when boom, boom, boom! A sound like a huge forging machine hammering red-hot metal suddenly rang out, its volume immense as it spread in every direction.

A giant leg thicker than a tree that would take several people to encircle—and just as tall as one—descended from the sky and slammed into the metal vines, crushing them flat.

The leg did not look mechanical. It looked more like a prosthetic limb, its surface smooth and gleaming except around the joints.

"Boiler Elephant! Why did it come out?!"

This cybernetic elephant was a C+-rank mechanical bio-beast that had settled next to the Cable Tribe. It fed on metal bark and metal leaves, and it had always possessed a mild temper.

Hoooo—

As its trunk let out a sound resembling a train whistle, high-temperature steam rose across an area several miles wide, swallowing swathes of forest.

Fortunately, Gao Gong's desert skin could withstand high temperatures. The pockmarked man, however, was in terrible shape. It was as if he had just entered a bathhouse, been stripped naked, and thrown into the hottest pool.

His skin reddened at a visible speed, and the pockmarks covering his face became as red as pomegranates.

The pockmarked man clenched his teeth, barely managing not to scream.

Gao Gong's expression suddenly changed. He abruptly sensed a powerful threat coming from above. Looking up, he saw the shadow of a giant bird as large as a bomber flash across the sky above the mist.

He vaguely heard the sound of an airborne missile being launched.

About ten seconds later, a blazing pillar of fire shot into the sky from the direction in which the human-headed dog had fled.

Gao Gong remained silent for a moment, then sent the human-headed dog one final command—

Die as far away as possible. Don't come back.