This was an Iron Knight off-road vehicle manufactured by the Alliance Propulsion Group. It was designed to carry up to seven people, had an imposing appearance, excellent performance, and a sturdy, durable build, with plenty of room for upgrades. It was undoubtedly one of the finest all-terrain vehicles around. Still, nobody had ever heard of one that could climb.
It really had climbed in. Somehow, hydraulic mechanical arms like those on an all-terrain combat vehicle had sprouted from the chassis, which had been perfectly normal a moment ago. Now it clanked its way into view at the end of the passage. At first glance, it looked as if a giant hermit crab had turned the vehicle into its mobile home.
The whole thing was more than a little bizarre. Yaxiu and Taina exchanged bewildered looks, then instinctively took another step back.
"This... actually isn't so bad! At least we don't have to go out and make another trip ourselves," Yaxiu said.
"Y-yeah, exactly! There's still fighting going on outside. If we go looking for a drone, we might get caught up in the battle, and that would be serious," Taina added.
"R-right?"
The ranger and the reporter exchanged glances and gave a few awkward laughs. In each other's reflections, they could see their own stiff, embarrassed expressions, which only made things more awkward. There was nothing they could do. The story had taken a turn so far beyond their expectations that, for the moment, they had no idea what expression to make.
"B-by the way, can Iron Knights actually do that?"
"I don't know! I'm a reporter, not a mechanical engineer."
"D-don't you have a degree in engineering and an engineering license?"
"I said people who want to inherit the family business get those. I studied classical literature and communications