Wild metal rock blared from the off-road vehicle.
If there had been a map of the Iron-Sand Desert, one would have found that the "oases" were scattered across the lands beyond the Fifth Ring of the old city—what people commonly called the suburbs.
The names of the oases were likewise closely related to the suburban industries. For example, Automobile City Oasis, where Gao Gong was based, had once been an automobile industrial park.
The city nearest Automobile City was called Scavenger City.
"Boom!"
An off-road vehicle roared wildly along the cracked asphalt road, charging past one abandoned toll station after another.
"A riot of radiation beasts?"
Gao Gong was multitasking. One hand gripped the steering wheel while the other skimmed through the Hunter Daily at a glance.
The Hunter Daily was one of the industries owned by Wang Tian, a former factory director who had since become a desert tycoon.
The headline read: "Urban Riots—Multiple Oases Attacked by Beast Tides."
Of course, news reports naturally exaggerated things. Still, ever since the balance between humans and radiation beasts had shifted, it had indeed been several years since any oasis had been attacked.
But the clear photographs of beasts devouring people proved that—at least this time, the beast attacks were not fake news.
"There are two possibilities." Gao Gong lightly tapped the steering wheel with his finger. "The first is that a new Beast King has been born in one of the cities. Once a Beast King is born, it has to expand its genetic territory to sustain its life system."
As an experienced mechanical hunter, Gao Gong naturally understood that an S-rank Beast King was not merely a radiation monster, but an entire radiation ecosystem. Unless that ecological crisis was resolved, an S-rank Beast King could not be killed.
"The other possibility is that this is a precursor to the Hydra Campaign."
According to his memories from his previous life, during the expansion pack's Vanguard War: Hydra Destruction Campaign, more than a dozen Beast Kings had appeared. They seemed to emerge out of nowhere, then proceeded to destroy the factory ecosystem with overwhelming force and bring the City of No Night to ruin. Although they suffered heavy casualties and ultimately vanished into the darkness after being bombarded by the mother city's orbital weapons during the final siege,
they became the catalyst for a series of subsequent plot events.
"Nowadays, all the wild Beast Kings in the Iron-Sand Desert have been heavily targeted by the factory. Even if any remain, they've stopped showing themselves. The latter possibility is more likely."
To Gao Gong, an Iron-Sand Desert without war was the best leveling ground imaginable. He could never give it up. As for the Knight Order, which kept stirring up trouble, it was an enemy standing in his way.
"Cooperation with the factory is possible, but I still need to find the right opportunity. After all, words alone prove nothing."
"My primary class has to reach at least Level 20, putting me on the same level as a senior combatant of the Knight Order. Only then will I have the power to protect myself."
"Given the path I've chosen, as long as I can reach Level 20 smoothly, I should at least have the combat strength of a max-level first-tier fighter. Even against one of the Knight Order's core knights, I won't be without a chance."
Gao Gong's eyes shifted slightly. He suddenly wrenched the steering wheel to the right. A large barricade made of shabby wooden planks blocked the road ahead of the toll station, with countless figures moving behind it.
"Radiation corpses. Old acquaintances."
Ten years ago, Scavenger City had not yet been called Scavenger City. It had been called Hope City, and large numbers of refugees had lived there while countless mechanical hunters defended the city.
Then the beast tide began. The refugees were transformed into a type of radiation creature known as "radiation corpses," which spread throughout the outskirts of the city.
These radiation corpses possessed a certain degree of intelligence. Each one was a small radiation source, and the more of them there were, the stronger their radiation became. Once their numbers reached a certain point, their radiation would link together. Not only would the strength and speed of ordinary radiation corpses increase, but special variants such as Flame Radiation Corpses, Weapon Radiation Corpses, Trackers, and Frenzied Dancers would even emerge.
Sure enough, just as the off-road vehicle left the main road and entered the muddy terrain, a mass of radiation corpses surged over and blocked its path.
Apart from their flushed faces and bloodshot eyes, these radiation corpses were no different from living people. The power of radiation allowed them to retain unusual physical vitality.
They were not some kind of biochemical monstrosity.
Gao Gong slammed the accelerator to the floor and charged without hesitation. The vehicle's front bumper, reinforced with thick steel plates, bowled through them like a game of bowling—four or five at a time, four or five at a time.
After undergoing a Level 3 mechanical modification, the vehicle's body was even more savage and better suited to surviving in the desert.
Several radiation corpses tried to grab the tires, but the moment their hands latched on, the wheels—fitted with solid-steel tracks—ground them into minced meat.
You have killed a Radiation Zombie. Experience +1 You have killed a Radiation Zombie. Experience +1 You have killed a Radiation Zombie. Experience +1
A string of +1s flooded the system panel.
Gao Gong's expression remained calm. In the original owner's memories, this was nothing more than child's play, and in the memories of his previous life, it was even less worth mentioning.
As soon as he entered the Fifth Ring of Scavenger City, Gao Gong immediately found a place to hide the vehicle.
Charging in openly and killing his way through like the drone squad would be tantamount to suicide.
Gao Gong parked the vehicle in a safe place outside the Fifth Ring. It was not that he feared the smell of blood attracting beasts. What attracted them was the off-road vehicle itself.
Radiation beasts were divided into two major categories: radiation beasts and mechanical bio-beasts. The former fed on energy, while the latter ate metal and electronic components.
After more than a decade of hunting, the beasts still able to occupy a corner of the urban region were undoubtedly tough customers.
To deal with such tough customers, mechanical hunters nowadays would first call in the factory's bombers to carpet-bomb the area, then deploy artillery, tanks, and heavy machine guns to surround it layer by layer and advance step by step.
That method was certainly safe, but there was no longer anything that could be called "hunting."
The classical mechanical hunters of more than a decade ago used only cold weapons. Some had not even implanted anything into their bodies.
Without emitting electronic signals, they naturally had no need to worry about being discovered by those mechanical monsters. They could lurk in the shadows and kill with a single strike.
There was only one problem with that method: the mortality rate was too high. As a result, classical mechanical hunters gradually withdrew from the stage of history.
What Gao Gong was doing now was a variation of the classical hunting style.
He set down the large pack on his back. Without him having to do anything, four heads poked out of it, looked left and right, and began barking, "Woof! Woof! Woof!"
"Quiet!!"
Gao Gong shot them a warning look. The head-dogs immediately let out a mournful "Awoo," their faces full of grievance.
"You remember what I told you before, right?"
"Awoo, awoo!"
Gao Gong shook the pack again, sending the mechanical ants tumbling out as well.
These ants had already been set to "tracking mode." Their sensor modules were linked to the head-dogs, so wherever the head-dogs went, the ants followed.
"Then go."
At Gao Gong's command, the four head-dogs charged into the concrete jungle like huskies let loose.
Gao Gong took out a tablet computer from the old civilization era and switched it on. On the map, four yellow dots drifted unpredictably in four different directions.
"Activate biological mode."
"Biological mode activated."
A cold electronic voice rang out.
At the base of each of the four head-dogs' tails, a cone-shaped object slowly began to spin. Under its influence, the sensory components, neural diversion components, and chemical catalysts mounted on the cones all entered a connected state.
Opening a biological implant device in the concrete jungle was like entering a dazzling, debauched district where a group of special people called out, "Big brother, come have some fun!" or "Sir, which number would you like?"
Generally speaking, that led to rather stimulating consequences.
Gao Gong pressed the Enter key again, and the "radiation detectors" on the four head-dogs lit up.
A string of numbers rapidly changed around the yellow dots representing the head-dogs.
Radiation beasts generally used radiation levels to determine their danger ratings. There were seven grades: F, E, D, C, B, A, and S. It was said that even higher-level Beast Kings existed above S-rank, but none had ever appeared.
The baseline for F-rank was 10 radiation points, E-rank was 100, and D-rank was 1,000, continuing upward in the same pattern.
The radiation corpses he had smashed into a field of minced meat earlier were the lowest F-rank.
According to the players' classification, F-rank was a minion, E-rank an elite monster, D-rank a small boss, and C-rank a progression boss...
The highest-ranked monster the original owner had killed was a C-rank Reaper. It looked like a heavily armored blade warrior standing two people tall. Its pair of scythes could easily slice through the shell of a heavy tank, and the speed of its swings approached Mach one.
After killing it, the original owner had spent a full month bedridden.
It was also the highest-ranked mechanical bio-beast the original owner had killed in more than a decade as a mechanical hunter.
Gao Gong had come here only to level up. He had no intention of fighting a C-rank beast.
If he really ran into a boss of that level, what else could he do—
Naturally, he would give it a dog's life.
Before long, one of the head-dogs began turning around and sprinting back.
The number behind it settled at 141.
It was an E-rank beast. Its species was unknown, but its rank was just right.
Perfect for testing his blade.
Gao Gong shut the computer and slowly drew Red Unicorn from its case.
The red blade did not see blood. Once it did, it became true crimson.
Before you continue