Red Unicorn

A cunning rabbit has three burrows; this is a mandatory subject for every Mechanical Hunter.

Besides his residence in Gasoline Town, Gao Gong also had his own secret strongholds.

It was a metal scrap recycling station on the outskirts of the city, a place few people knew about anymore.

In a shed built of steel bars at the edge of the recycling station, Gao Gong was fiddling with a surgical table he had "borrowed."

Compared to a regular surgical table, a Prosthetic Doctor's surgical table was more rugged. Its four mechanical surgical arms were covered in saws, pliers, drills, and angle grinders, stained with blood.

A Prosthetic Doctor's surgeries were mostly related to prosthetic modifications, so it could also be used as a high-precision lathe.

Zzzzt Zzzzt Zzzzt

Amidst sparks, Gao Gong, wearing goggles, operated the four mechanical arms with the console, performing a brainwashing procedure. In his other hand, he held a welding torch, soldering something onto the back of the artificial soldier's head.

"Memory bank data deletion in progress, 56%…79%…100%"

"Brainwashing complete."

"Quadrupedal robot template injection in progress."

"Please select a suitable template from the following three quadrupedal creatures: Tibetan Mastiff, Teddy, Husky."

"Ted—no, Husky."

Once the driving templates for the neck and limbs were adjusted, Gao Gong attached connection electrodes to the temples. A chip the size of a fingertip was embedded in the center of each electrode.

"Nod your head."

The artificial soldier's head slowly turned, first left, then right, and with the action of the servo motors, it sped up, as if it had taken drugs.

As expected of the Husky template.

"Stop, stop, stop. Adjust yourself first."

The metal head seemed to understand the command and began to adjust its angle and posture on its own. The quadrupedal simulation became more and more realistic, looking like a real dog.

[First Quadrupedal Robot Production Complete, EXP +200]

Name: Head-Dog

Category: Quadrupedal Robot

Quality: White Board+

Weight: 18kg

Speed: 23km/h

Control System: Low-grade Military Chip (Soldier Edition)

Energy Source: Energy Ore Digestive (Black Market Model)

Attack Module: None

Attached Module: Biological Mode

Remarks: Besides the head, this thing has no technical content.

Gao Gong was unfazed. He patted the "dog's head." The artificial dog's head was indeed obedient. It jumped off the surgical table and frolicked like a dog.

Following suit, soon four "Huskies" were swaying and leaping around the recycling station, looking like they were about to tear the place apart.

However, with human heads on dog bodies, there was a natural uncanny valley effect.

The electronic brain was the CPU, the surgical table provided brainwashing and program implantation, the battery was a miner's edition bought from the flea market, and the remaining parts were all scrap metal from the recycling station.

But even so, a robot that could understand human speech, rather than being an artificial imbecile, was rare.

Only the factory's direct forces were qualified to be equipped with Mechanical Hunter Hounds.

Soon, the Machine Ants were also created. Compared to ants, they were more like the four-wheel drive cars he played with as a child.

[First Machine Ant Production Complete, EXP +50]

Name: Machine Ant

Category: Sensor Robot

Quality: White Board

Weapon System: Low-grade Stomp-Exploder

Remarks: A multi-degree-of-freedom robot driven by a set of servos, mimicking the shape and actions of an ant.

After all, it was only a Level 1 mechanical blueprint. If not for the increased intelligence of those artificial soldier heads, they would have been at the level of artificial imbeciles.

The electronic chips, photodiodes, and ultra-small motors used for the Machine Ants were all bought from the flea market.

These materials were "city garbage," picked up by some local scavengers. They were very cheap, and Gao Gong made thirty Machine Ants.

"Everything is almost ready," Gao Gong muttered to himself. "Only one last item remains."

The flea market was located north of Automobile City, on the outskirts. At the easternmost corner of the flea market was an old friend's gun shop.

Unlike ordinary gun shops, this place sold not only homemade firearms but also melee weapons: hammers, shovels, swords, and electromagnetic steel claws.

As he pushed open the worn-out door curtain, a hoarse voice sounded.

"Young man, what you're asking for this time is not easy to get."

From behind the counter, a hunched old grandmother turned around, smiling like a chrysanthemum. "Fortunately, Aunt Xiang has her ways, otherwise I really couldn't have done it."

Gao Gong unceremoniously sat down on a chair. "Aunt Xiang, where's the item?"

"Easy, easy, you idiot! Bring the item here!"

Soon, the back door opened, and a giant man at least two meters tall emerged, holding a box.

"Idiot, be careful!" Aunt Xiang kicked him in the backside. The strong man just grinned foolishly, scratched his head, and said, "Mom, is there anything to eat?"

"Eat, eat, eat, all you do is eat, you're going to eat our shop into ruin!"

Gao Gong smiled and tossed him a nutrition paste. "Fat Xiang, with your physique, it's a shame you're not a Mechanical Hunter."

Fat Xiang's eyes lit up, and he quickly caught it, not even sparing the wrapper before shoving it into his mouth. He mumbled, "Mom doesn't allow it, I listen to Mom."

Fat Xiang was Aunt Xiang's son. The mother and son depended on each other. Fat Xiang was an abandoned infant native to the desert. It was said he was already extremely obese at birth and was almost cooked and eaten. Fortunately, Aunt Xiang, who was passing by, bought him.

Besides his immense size and brute strength, this individual was also mildly intellectually disabled. When the original owner came to buy things, he often tried to trick him into being his cannon fodder.

"Come, come, customer, try the custom knife you ordered."

Aunt Xiang quickly interrupted their conversation and, with kicks and shoves, sent Fat Xiang back through the door. Gao Gong didn't mind. He opened the knife box, and a crimson long saber appeared inside.

The overall shape of the saber looked particularly heavy. The hilt was longer than that of a typical Japanese sword, more like a Miao Dao. The end of the hilt was threaded for a better grip, as was the tip, which was deliberately made serrated. It looked like a formidable weapon.

"According to your specifications, the blade is made of tungsten iron that can cut alloy steel, and the edge and hilt have been reinforced. This old woman even gave it a layer of wax for free. What do you think?"

Gao Gong smiled and tested the weight with his hand. It was just over ten pounds, like holding a chainsaw.

With a light swing, a small corner of the weapon rack was sliced off, as easily as slicing a cucumber with a kitchen knife.

Aunt Xiang narrowed her eyes. In her memory, only the oldest batch of Mechanical Hunters chose cold weapons. Nowadays, Mechanical Hunters' firepower was getting stronger and their equipment more advanced, but their harvests were getting smaller and smaller. She hadn't heard any news of beasts above B-class being hunted for a long time.

A bunch of cowards!

"What's this saber called?"

"Red Unicorn!"

Name: Red Unicorn Category: Metal Blade Quality: Fine - (Custom Template) Weight: 13.4kg Base Stats: DPS: 70.5 Attack Power: 47 Attack Speed: 1.5 attacks/sec Attack Range: 1.8 meters Additional Stats: Armor Penetration (+10.9% armor penetration damage) Critical Edge (+8.7% critical damage) Socket: None Notes: This is indeed a deadly weapon, but are you sure you want to use it against bio-mechanical beasts?

"Thank you for your patronage. That'll be 831 Mech Coins. Will you pay with cash or card?"

Gao Gong was startled. "Aunt Xiang, an assault rifle is less than 80, and you're charging me 800 for a cold weapon? You're ripping off a regular customer!"

Aunt Xiang rolled her eyes. "There are cheaper options. A spear made of rebar, specifically for scavengers. Want it for 10 coins?"

"That's still too expensive."

"Nonsense. If it weren't for the 200 deposit, I wouldn't have even started the work. Who uses handmade cold weapons these days? How many of those old fools ended up well?"

"How about 300?"

"Ridiculous! Let me ask you this, in the entire Automobile City, who else has the skill to forge knives? It's only because Aunt Xiang's skills haven't dulled yet. In a few more years, even if you want it, I won't be able to make it."

"But Aunt Xiang, think about it. If I kill a high-risk radiation beast with this saber, won't that be indirect advertising for you? It might even trigger a cold weapon hunting craze."

"Heh, hehe, we'll see if you survive first."

The two engaged in a fierce battle of words. In the end, Gao Gong managed to haggle the price down to six hundred, but couldn't go any lower. According to Aunt Xiang, the effort she put into this saber was worth more than six hundred, and she might as well have used it to kill chickens.

"Swipe card!"

Gao Gong reluctantly pulled out a card. It looked like a cafeteria meal card, and indeed it was a factory meal card. In the Iron Sand Desert, the factory's economic system had permeated all aspects of life.

With this purchase, even the original owner's savings were gone. If he didn't get any returns, he'd truly be eating dirt.

Unless he sold his body to a rich woman for a meager living.

Aunt Xiang snatched the card and skillfully produced an old POS machine, her face blooming like a chrysanthemum again.

"Swiping cards is good. Those country bumpkins don't have this treasure. Is it from your little lover again?"

Gao Gong raised an eyebrow and said nothing. Aunt Xiang continued, unbothered, "Those country bumpkins are all so cunning, making me so careful every time I calculate money. People aren't what they used to be, hearts have turned bad."

Gao Gong had come to the Iron Sand Desert to pan for gold at the age of fifteen, and he was an old acquaintance of Aunt Xiang. He put the Red Unicorn back into its box and, after some thought, spoke again.

"Aunt Xiang, you plan to have Xiangzai inherit this shop, right? But with his brain, are you sure he can keep it after you're gone?"

Aunt Xiang's triangular eyes narrowed, and she suddenly began to curse. "Why do you need to worry about what I'm doing, you little brat? Get lost, go to hell! You want my son to be cannon fodder again! Rot your dog heart and lungs! Get lost, get out of here!"

Gao Gong shrugged, slung the knife box over his shoulder, and walked to the door. He turned back at the entrance and said meaningfully, "Aunt Xiang, times don't stand still."

"Get out, get out, get out!" Aunt Xiang grabbed something and threw it. "You trash, take your trash and get lost."

Gao Gong caught the dark shadow and looked down. It was a bottle of blade oil.

After Gao Gong left, Aunt Xiang panted, lost in thought.

"Mom, I think Brother Gao makes sense. If you leave, I'll definitely get scammed," a wronged voice came from behind the door.

"Shut up!!" Aunt Xiang yelled ferociously, looking just like a mother tiger protecting her cub.