Chapter Nine: I'll Give You a Dog's Life

Wild metal rock music blared from the off-road vehicle.

If one had a map of the Iron Sand Desert, they would discover that "Oases" were scattered everywhere, all located beyond the fifth ring of old cities, commonly known as the suburbs.

The names of these oases were also closely related to suburban industries. For example, the Automotive City Oasis where Gao Gong was located was previously an automotive industrial park.

The closest city to Automotive City was called Scavenger City.

"Boom!"

An off-road vehicle sped wildly on the cracked asphalt road, smashing through abandoned toll stations.

"Radiation Beast riot?"

Gao Gong multitasked, one hand on the steering wheel and the other scanning the "Hunter's Daily" at lightning speed.

The "Hunter's Daily" was one of the industries owned by Wang Tian, a former factory director and now a desert tycoon.

Today's headline was "City Riots, Multiple Oases Attacked by Beast Tide."

Of course, news tended to exaggerate, but it had been several years since the oases were attacked, ever since humans and Radiation Beasts switched roles.

However, the clear photos of beasts devouring people—at least this beast attack wasn't fake news.

"There are two possibilities," Gao Gong tapped his fingers lightly on the steering wheel. "The first is that a new Beast King has been born in a certain city. Once a Beast King is born, it must expand its genetic territory to maintain its life system."

As a veteran Mechanical Hunter, Gao Gong naturally understood that an S-class Beast King was not just a Radiation Monster, but an entire Radiation Ecosystem. Without solving this ecological crisis, an S-class Beast King was unkillable.

"There's another possibility: this is a precursor to the Hydra Campaign."

According to memories from his previous life, in the expansion pack [Frontier War: The Hydra Annihilation], over a dozen Beast Kings appeared. These Beast Kings seemed to emerge suddenly, and then proceeded to destroy the factory ecosystem and conquer Sleepless City with overwhelming force. Although they suffered heavy casualties from orbital bombardment during the final siege battle, they eventually retreated into the darkness.

But this also became the catalyst for a series of subsequent plot events.

"In the current Iron Sand Desert, all wild Beast Kings are heavily targeted by the Factory. Even if there are any, they don't show themselves. The latter possibility is more likely."

Gao Gong viewed the Iron Sand Desert without war as the best leveling ground, and he had no intention of abandoning it. Therefore, the frequently troublesome Knight Order was the enemy blocking his path.

"I can cooperate with the Factory, but how to cooperate still requires finding an opportunity. After all, verbal agreements are not proof."

"My main profession must reach at least level 20, reaching the level of a senior Knight Order combatant, before I can have the strength to protect myself."

"With the path I'm taking, as long as I smoothly reach level 20, I'll have at least Tier 1 max-level combat power. Even facing the core knights of the Knight Order, I'll have a chance to fight."

Gao Gong's eyes flickered slightly, and he sharply turned the steering wheel to the right. Ahead on the road, a roadblock made of a pile of old wooden planks blocked the toll station, with figures lurking behind it.

"Radiation Corpses, old acquaintances."

Ten years ago, Scavenger City was not called Scavenger City, but Hope City. A large number of refugees lived in the city, and countless Mechanical Hunters defended it.

Then, the beast tide began, and the refugees were transformed into a type of Radiation Organism called "Radiation Corpses," distributed around the city's outskirts.

These Radiation Corpses possessed a certain level of intelligence and were themselves small radiation sources. The more there were, the stronger the radiation. Once a certain number was reached, the radiation merged, not only increasing the strength and speed of ordinary Radiation Corpses but also giving rise to special types like Flame Radiation Corpses, Weapon Radiation Corpses, Stalkers, and Frenzied Dancers.

As expected, as soon as the off-road vehicle left the road and entered the muddy area, a horde of Radiation Corpses blocked their path.

These Radiation Corpses, apart from their red faces and bloodshot eyes, were indistinguishable from living people. The power of radiation allowed them to retain special physical vitality.

Instead of a biological mode.

Gao Gong floored the accelerator and crashed into them without hesitation. The vehicle's front bumper, reinforced with thick steel plates, acted like a bowling ball, knocking over four or five at a time.

The vehicle body, modified with Lv3 "Mechanical Augmentation," had even wilder performance and was more suitable for desert survival.

A few Radiation Corpses tried to grab the tires, but as soon as their hands made contact, they were ground into pulp by the wheels equipped with pure steel tracks.

[You have killed Radiation Zombie, EXP+1]

[You have killed Radiation Zombie, EXP+1]

[You have killed Radiation Zombie, EXP+1]

A series of "+1" messages flashed across the system panel.

Gao Gong's expression was calm. In the original owner's memories, this was child's play, and in his previous life's memories, it was even less worth mentioning.

Upon entering the fifth ring of Scavenger City, Gao Gong immediately found a place to hide the vehicle.

Charging in brazenly like a drone squad would be equivalent to seeking death.

Gao Gong parked the car in a safe location outside the fifth ring. It wasn't that he was afraid of the smell of blood attracting beasts; it was the off-road vehicle itself that attracted them.

Radiation Beasts were divided into two major categories: Radiation Beasts and Mechanical-Biological Beasts. The former fed on energy, while the latter consumed metal and electronic components.

After more than ten years of hunting, the beasts that could now occupy a corner of the urban area were undoubtedly tough opponents.

To deal with these tough opponents, the current method for Mechanical Hunters was to first call in the Factory's bombers to carpet-bomb the area, then set up artillery, tanks, and heavy machine guns for layered encirclement and gradual advancement.

This method was safe, but it made "hunting" impossible.

The classic Mechanical Hunters of over a decade ago only used cold weapons, and some didn't even implant anything into their bodies.

Without emitting any electronic signals, they naturally didn't have to worry about being detected by these mechanical monsters. They would lurk in the shadows for a "One-Hit Kill."

This method was good in all aspects, except for one problem: the death rate was too high, which is why the classic Mechanical Hunters gradually exited the historical stage.

What Gao Gong was doing now was a variation of the classic hunting style.

He put down the large bag on his back. Without him needing to operate it, four heads poked out from it, looking around before barking, "Woof woof woof!"

"Silence!"

Gao Gong shot them a warning glance, and the Head-Dogs immediately whimpered, looking wronged.

"You remember what I told you before, right?"

"Woof woof!"

Gao Gong shook his bag again, letting out the mechanical ants as well.

These ants had been set to 'tracking mode' beforehand. Their sensor modules were linked to the Head-Dogs; wherever the Head-Dogs went, the ants followed.

"Then go."

With Gao Gong's command, the four Head-Dogs became like unleashed huskies, plunging into the concrete jungle.

Gao Gong then took out a tablet from the old civilization era and opened it. On the map, four yellow dots were moving erratically in four different directions.

"Activate biological mode."

"Biological mode activated."

A cold electronic voice sounded.

At the tails of the four Head-Dogs, a cone-shaped device slowly began to spin. Influenced by it, the sensing components, nerve shunt components, and chemical catalysts attached to the cone all entered a connected state.

Opening a biological implant in the concrete jungle was like arriving at a dazzling, vibrant special location, where a group of special people would say, "Come play, brother," or "Sir, which number would you like?"

Generally speaking, this would lead to quite stimulating consequences.

Gao Gong hit the enter key again, and the 'radiation detectors' on the four Head-Dogs lit up.

A series of numbers rapidly changed around the yellow dots representing the Head-Dogs.

Radiation Beasts were generally classified by their radiation level, which determined their danger level. There were seven levels: F, E, D, C, B, A, and S. Rumor had it that there were even higher levels beyond S, the Beast Kings, but none had ever appeared.

Among them, the baseline for F-class was 10 radiation units, E-class was 100 units, and D-class was 1000 units, and so on.

The Radiation Corpse he had smashed into a pulp earlier was the lowest F-class.

According to player classifications, F-class were minions, E-class were elite monsters, D-class were mini-bosses, C-class were raid bosses...

The highest level monster the original owner had killed was a C-class Reaper. It looked like a two-meter-tall heavily armored swordsman. Its pair of scythes could easily slice through the hull of a heavy tank, and its swings were close to Mach 1.

After defeating it, the original owner was bedridden for a full month.

This was also the highest-level bio-mechanical beast the original owner had killed in his more than ten years as a Mechanical Hunter.

Gao Gong's current goal was simply to level up; he had no intention of confronting a C-class beast.

If he really encountered a boss of this caliber, what could he do—

Naturally, he'd just give it his dog's life.

Soon, one of the Head-Dogs began to change direction and rush back frantically.

The numbers behind it froze at 141 units.

It was an E-class beast, its type unknown, but its level was just right.

Perfect for sharpening his blade.

Gao Gong closed the computer and slowly drew out the Red Unicorn from its scabbard.

A red blade is unseen until it draws blood; only then is it truly red.