Act.8 The Wanderer: The Homeless Man
Foreword:
When you kiss a beautiful woman, open a bottle of whiskey, never hesitate.
--Ernest Miller Hemingway
[Part 1 - Foster Father]
"And what about yesterday?"
This soul-searching question echoed from various radio stations—
--The smile on Hayabusa's face froze.
What does "yesterday" mean?
His logic and reasoning don't quite allow him to grasp the true meaning of this issue.
Could it be that this guy killed more than forty elite soldiers who Day Patrol and Night Patrol in a single day?
Within a single day?! Within a single day?! Are you kidding me?!
Although Yoguang and Yezhong are not considered top-tier combatants in Shinto City, they at least possess the blood of Hot Wind. No matter how weak their artificial bodies are, they still have light arc radar and various biological detectors, and possess MCFC (molten carbonate fuel cell). Their physical output is insurmountably different from that of ordinary Homo sapiens.
All legal citizens of Shinto City have installed VENOM, enabling them to use electrolyte solvents as a source of energy for survival.
The biggest difference between citizens and violent institutions is the MCFC—this spinal exoskeleton equipped with a fuel cell gives Yoguang and Yezhong superhuman reaction speed and power.
The Hayabusa physical prosthetic and skill modules are more advanced than these two security units, but the basic prosthetic is the same, both built on MCFC. The energy batteries for logistics drones, military drones, and industrial drones are all produced based on MCFC, thanks to a major breakthrough in materials science achieved by Shinto City.
To put it simply, they're all cars, but the Day Patrol and Night Patrol are entry-level sedans with four-cylinder cast iron engines that burn gasoline.
The Hayabusa is not much different from these two cars. The technology of the artificial body comes from the same technology tree and also burns gasoline, but the engine block is more precise and is not made of cast iron. It is probably made of aluminum alloy CNC machined. The crankshaft strength and engine output are greater, making it an expensive sports car.
At this moment, Hayabusa still didn't quite understand the unspoken meaning behind Jiang Xueming's words.
He doesn't have a universal neural interface, isn't subject to the control of the Eternal World, and isn't shackled like the Day Patrol and Night Patrol. The combat records of the security center aren't synchronized into his brain. He is a military general of Shinto City, unlike these soldiers who passively obey orders.
"Yoguang, what is this little mouse saying? I can't understand it."
The Day Patrol knelt on one knee and whispered, "According to my Artificial Intelligence analysis, Hayabusa, this criminal is asking you—how many imaginary enemies did you kill yesterday?"
Hayabusa was enraged, his armor spreading out like bird feathers, revealing the sun pattern on his ribs and latissimus dorsi muscles.
"Yoguang! Don't I understand what that means?! Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I can't understand?!"
"I'm asking about the battle situation! Did he kill more than forty people in twenty-four hours?"
Yoguang: "Yes."
Hayabusa was horrified; his once fair, baby-like skin instantly turned a dark, grimy color—nanomechanical armor had crawled onto his face.
Yoguang did not speak, but transmitted the battle report from the security center.
"Not within 24 hours, but about four hours—if we only consider the duration of the battle, from pre-battle deployment to the actual engagement, it was 28 minutes and 11 seconds. The target killed 36 Nono -Yezhong and 6 Yu- Yoguang."
"The losses of the Kyoraku Special Squad are incalculable; more than 400 soldiers are missing or out of contact in the collapsed and destroyed buildings. The number of dead Angel Infant is far greater than that."
"Hayabusa, be careful."
"An enemy has invaded the Night Patrol Center. Zhong Kui has received a wartime mobilization order to deploy defenses at the Classic Human Education Center."
"And your mission is to kill this criminal."
"What a joke! What nonsense are you spouting!" Hayabusa roared hysterically, smashing Yoguang's head to pieces with a single punch, piercing through the artificial exoskeleton and cutting off communications to the security center.
The headless corpse lay slumped by the roadside. Hayabusa's eyes widened, his heart-shaped pupils trembling violently.
It was clear he was terrified, almost completely consumed by fear.
"Twenty-eight minutes? Twenty-eight minutes and eleven seconds? One thousand six hundred and ninety-one seconds!"
"So, that means Yezhong and Yoguang won't last more than forty seconds against this guy? How did he manage that?"
"I'm so scared! I'm so scared!"
The giant clasped his hands together, curled up into a ball, and his right arm gradually emitted a deep blue light.
Unlike the Hayabusa VENOM mechanism, it uses a blue stone.
One more thing to mention is that Yoguang and Yezhong's VENOM are different; Yoguang's core is a white agate pebbles.
Getting back to the main point, the morale of the temporary Kyoraku Special Squad plummeted almost instantly upon witnessing this scene.
Their leader was trembling, crouching on the riverbank like a baby, his face streaked with glycerin tears.
"Why? Why am I so unlucky?!"
"You'll encounter this kind of opponent in real combat missions!"
"Waaaaaahhhhhhh."
He retrieved a virtual portrait image from the VENOM, a projection of Ms. Matsushima Seiko.
A thick, large tongue emerged from the giant's mouth, attempting to lick the beautiful human figure.
"Ms. Matsushima Seiko, my angel!~~"
"I'm so reluctant to part with you, I'm so reluctant to part with you, I love you."
"But I'm about to die, and I'm so unwilling to accept it."
The officer's bizarre behavior seemed terrifyingly absurd to the soldiers of the Kyoraku Special Squad.
They dared not speak, but simply clutched their guns and involuntarily took a few steps back.
--It wasn't just the sudden mental breakdown, but also the eerie, Inspiration Pressure from the deep blue fuel cell lights emanating from the Hayabusa exoskeleton on the spine.
"Very good."
Vent your anger, feel your fear.
Confront your desires, and regain your peace.
Hayabusa's face was still wet with tears, but his expression had become terrifying. His eyes were slightly open, as if he hadn't woken up properly. His massive jaw muscles twitched unnaturally, revealing a confident smile.
"Very good, Jiang Xueming, very good! You did a great job!"
"They didn't attack when I was in a frenzy; they're a very cautious opponent."
At this moment, Xue Ming, who was observing the enemy from the shadows, was also completely baffled.
--This guy looks to be over three meters tall. William has that physique too. Is he a descendant of the Niflheim giants? Or a bloodline unit?
He was crying and laughing hysterically just now, as if he was venting all his negative emotions, but he has now calmed down.
Xue Ming hid in a leather and fabric factory beside the riverside street, only about fifty meters away from Hayabusa; he didn't go far.
He had Yezhong's right arm, which he could use to unlock the Night Patrol main battle rifle, and he also had industrial electricity, but he dared not set up the gun and fire it.
The railgun requires charging, and the charging time is not short. These electronic androids are very sensitive to electric current and can locate Xue Ming's true identity immediately.
When they were far away, he couldn't hear the enemy's voices or see their movements, so he had to rely on the multimedia center in each part of the factory to access surveillance footage to observe the enemy's situation. He used the severed arm he used for Night Patrol to control the street broadcasts and Hayabusa announcements.
The noise from the leather processing center, along with the temperature of the leather and sawdust, could fool thermal imaging and conceal the human body. He continued to observe the giant in the shadows, trying to pinpoint the location of the Hayabusa Gate of Death.
The armor was entirely grayish-green, and the weapon pouches in the carrying gear were large and heavy; it was unknown how much ammunition was inside, or what type of melee weapon it was.
Hayabusa howled loudly, "Jiang Xueming! I've found you!"
Xue Ming's pupils contracted slightly, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
A sense of crisis instantly enveloped him.
A burst of bright blue lightning erupted from the second floor of the leather factory, and the molten jet of heat pierced through the exterior wall and the fire door.
The leather on the assembly line and the robotic arm were pierced by a plasma cannon, leaving a fist-sized hole, and the fire spread rapidly.
Xue Ming was hiding outside the tool shed on the first floor when he saw a sudden burst of flames from the multimedia center on the second floor.
"Want to know how I found you?" Hayabusa's smile was radiant, his pupils, created by the composite sights, stuck together, turning into two pink hearts.
Thick fingers gripped the trigger of the hot melt gun; the muzzle was already melted, a one-time-use tool for opening doors, breaking through paths, and finding targets.
The energy of VENOM was released in an instant, and the cruel leader calmly grabbed a soldier from the side and brought out an unlucky guy from the Kyoraku Special Squad.
"Because of love! Because I love you so deeply!"
He tore off the back of a member of the Kyoraku Special Squad, broke the spine, and abundant electrolytes seeped into his right arm through his skin to charge the fuel cell, all while providing a passionate explanation.
"Everyone has a magnetic field, and birds in nature can see magnetic field lines that humans cannot. It's like Inspiration."
"You killed so many Angel Infant and still spouted nonsense at me on the radio. You must have a military-grade VENOM with you; it'll help me find you."
"I'm so scared! Jiang Xueming! I'm so scared!"
"But after overcoming that fear, I only felt excited."
Dropping the pyrotechnic gun, Hayabusa grabbed another special operations team's reserve rations and used the same method to replenish power.
I think I've fallen in love with you! Love elevates people, love makes people brave!
"I am the teacher of classical humans, and the adoptive father of Yezhong and Yoguang."
"I want to teach these children how to fight, how to generate hatred—hatred is a great power, hatred makes people strong, hatred creates violence, and violence begets violence."
"I am also part of the cycle of violence; children are both innocent and cruel."
[Part ②: A Childlike Heart Remains]
A raging fire broke out in the factory, and Xue Ming kicked open the side door on the first floor, which was used for logistics drones.
Hayabusa took out a carbon fiber staff from his weapon pouch, from which azure arcs of electricity erupted.
He looked excited as he watched the man casually toss down Yezhong's severed arm. He then examined the enemy's equipment and identified their elemental composition. The HUD in his peach-shaped pupils quickly displayed the elemental composition.
Hayabusa: "Not running away? Instead, you're planning to fight me head-on?"
Jiang Xueming did not respond. Even at thirty years old, he had always been a timid little boy who dared not speak.
Hayabusa: "Kids, teach him a lesson, make him talk."
Immediately, soldiers from the surrounding Kyoraku Special Squad surrounded the target, pointing their guns at it and pulling the triggers without hesitation.
Hundreds of bullets rained down on the nameless soldier, the machine gun and rifle bullets of varying calibers striking the cannon shield like a hammer, sparking intense bursts of fire.
Fragrant Dream took two steps forward, showing no sign of backing down.
--This steel giant cat has a core output of over three tons, and its impact resistance has been tested by the Scar-H, making it virtually invulnerable to blades and bullets.
Hayabusa's expression changed drastically as he saw how powerful the psionicist's soul might was. A 12.7mm machine gun emerged from the thick muscles of his shoulders, its barrel extending and retracting to spew flames, while mini rockets hanging from his arms were launched simultaneously.
His firepower far surpassed that of Yezhong and Yoguang. Under the relentless bombardment, he couldn't believe that this Homo sapiens could survive!
Bullets struck the factory walls, causing them to cave in, and the craters spewed out billowing smoke and dust.
A bright flash of light erupted from the thick fog.
"--It's a stun grenade!" Hayabusa alerted the various combat teams.
Traditional optical sights have failed, and the entire street has turned from night into day.
Hayabusa shouted for all units to cease fire and ordered the soldiers to switch to arc radar to detect the targets' biosignals.
"Still can't see clearly? He escaped? Where did he go?"
The human body's bioelectric response is very weak, but it will be significantly enhanced after installing the VENOM mechanism. The biosignals of psionicists are also very obvious. However, under the interference of sudden strong light and sound, Hayabusa could not catch Jiang Xueming's figure.
After the smoke cleared, Hayabusa gritted his teeth and forced himself to chase after the enemy to the front of the factory, only to find countless stun grenade fragments left behind, as well as human-shaped vacuum zones created by bullet shrapnel.
--This guy is indeed immune to bullets; his Soul Might Spirit Body can withstand 50 kilograms of TNT.
He was injured.
Judging from the fragments of armor remaining on the ground and the charred burn marks, Hayabusa was overjoyed. No matter how powerful Homo sapiens, they would be weak and bleed when facing the warriors of Shinto City.
Moreover, these stun grenades were stolen from Yoguang and Yezhong, and at such close range, it was impossible for Jiang Xueming to be unharmed.
So if we just chase after him, we can kill him!
Without hesitation, Hayabusa followed the drone that was guiding him from the sky.
As he navigated the complex alleyways, he saw a dark figure moving at high speed through the residential area, crossing stairwells and alleyways, climbing onto windowsills, and leaping over iron-framed roof beams.
The longer the Hayabusa chase lasted, the more panicked he became.
Was that really Homo sapiens?
It should be noted that Yezhong's stun grenade has six explosions, while Yoguang's has twelve. The continuous half-minute of intense light and sound created a vacuum zone in the field of fire, and Jiang Xueming was in this environment, completely losing his hearing and sight.
How could a blind and deaf man climb into the stairwell of an industrial building and still maintain such agility?
This is called the Hayabusa, which gives a misleading impression.
It was as if the android with the prosthetic body wasn't him, but the enemy before him!
If that guy doesn't have a secret method to resist stun grenades, there's only one possibility.
Hayabusa guessed, hesitant to make a judgment, but was stunned by the images transmitted from the drone.
The drone could only carry.303 caliber pistol rounds, making its air-to-ground firepower very weak, but it could still interfere with Jiang Xueming by occasionally dropping fragmentation grenades with inertial fuses to hinder him.
But that guy flipped and leaped in the stairwell and bounded across the rooftop without any pause or hesitation.
His body would occasionally flash with gleaming silver Iron Knight, like reactive armor, disappearing after blocking bullet attacks.
Therefore, there is only one answer--
"--Has this guy memorized the entire topographical map of the industrial park?"
The Hayabusa's pace slowed as he tried to catch up, unsure whether to continue— the Kyoraku Special Squad couldn't keep up with him, and they were far from the main road, with only two armored vehicles chasing alongside.
"Where is he going to run to? He..."
When the Hayabusa could clearly see the buildings in front of him, and the shapes of the main projects and project offices, the huge iron towers and waterways resembled a dense network of engineering pipelines like blood vessels.
"It's a fission power plant?!"
He was terrified and nearly tripped over the guardrail. His strong, tall physique and ammunition load gave him a weight of 0.8 tons, which also limited his agility.
Hayabusa gritted his teeth and sprinted forward. About 170 meters ahead, Jiang Xueming repeatedly scaled the dangerous isolation wall.
The high-voltage power grid, sixteen meters long, was shattered into pieces by the iron fist of Fragrant Dream. Just as the electronic sentry detected the intruder and the sentry gun locked on, he charged forward like a whirlwind, braving the firepower. In just a few seconds, he crossed the tens of meters firing range and plunged straight into the auxiliary engineering area of the nuclear power facility.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Don't go any further! Hey!"
Hayabusa scrambled forward and landed in the lead radiation shielding zone, then leaped into the air. It immediately gave chase, but dared not fire a single shot, for firing here would immediately draw fire from the sentry guns!
He didn't have the ability, and the drones in the sky were also hesitant to move forward. These military equipment carrying explosives must not be allowed into the key engineering site.
"Don't go to the reactor! Don't go to the reactor! Don't go to the reactor! Don't go to the reactor!"
He prayed in Hayabusa Barry, chanting scriptures.
It seems the prayers had been effective--
--Upon arriving at the outer road of the affiliated engineering department, Hayabusa saw the corpses of about a dozen security personnel. This place was a holographic chip printing factory, not the energy lifeline of Little Kanto.
He breathed a sigh of relief, as if he had just been released from the execution ground, and a smile returned to his face.
Hehehehehe
As I made my way into the production workshop, the massive, Hayabusa body squeezed into the assembly line, and I saw Jiang Xueming in the optoelectronic equipment area on the third floor, seemingly healing his injuries.
"Hey! Jiang Xueming! Can't run anymore?!"
Xue Ming still didn't reply. He had many injuries; his left arm was burned beyond recognition, he was blind, the Universal Elixir had just been injected into his neck, and the VENOM mechanism had begun to appear in his right arm.
Hayabusa wasn't in a hurry, pondering the enemy's intentions.
"If I'm not mistaken, you want to hide in this industrial area to heal your injuries, but what will you do next?"
"There are sentry guns and drones outside. You might get in, but getting out will be difficult!"
"You have committed a capital offense! There is no place for you in the Shinto City; you are homeless! I will imprison your soul and personally discipline you! I will dismantle you into more than two hundred modules, and you will suffer greatly!~~"
Jiang Xueming: "Come on! Come up and give it a try!"
Hayabusa's face darkened. "You think I wouldn't dare? You little mouse! You think you're funny?"
Jiang Xueming: "Give it a try."
Hayabusa: "The weapon in my hand can release a thousand volts of high-voltage current. In close combat, you are no match for me."
Jiang Xueming: "Give it a try."
"All you do is play tricks." Hayabusa climbed up the crane arm and jumped to the second-floor walkway. The closer he got, the pinker his eyes became—he was focusing, searching for traces of the enemy.
But the next second--
--The giant returned to the Eternal World.
In just a moment, I was back in Extreme Bliss Space, back in the VR training center of classic humanity.
Before he died, Hayabusa witnessed an incomprehensible scene.
In the semiconductor electronic equipment printing area on the third floor, Jiang Xueming squatted in the center of the power station, with exposed conductor wires tangled around him. This old electrician had prepared a surprise for Hayabusa.
To put it another way, let the Hayabusa know what a fucking surprise is: it's Fragrant Dream using printed line jumpers to rearrange and arrange a powerful, explosive exposed wire pulse microwave generator—the terminology is complicated, but the principle is simple.
It turned the industrial electricity in the nuclear power plant's auxiliary processing plant into pulsed currents on the exposed wires of printed circuit boards. When Hayabusa stepped onto the corridor of the third-floor building, the melee weapon in his hand became a lightning rod, and he was instantly turned into a piece of charcoal. No armor was effective; he died on the spot, without even having time to send the combat data back to the security center.
The holographic chip factory shut down immediately, and the surrounding sentry guns exploded with sparks following the powerful EMP impact.
Jiang Xueming tore off his tattered shirt, still examining the VENOM mechanism that had suddenly appeared on his arm—
He couldn't understand what this thing was for, Universal Elixir still worked, healing his injuries.
Faced with a new enemy, Xue Ming took out his journal from his carrying gear, just as he was about to write something, only to find that the journal had been burned to ashes in the fierce fighting.
"The Hayabusa's weakness is EMP—a graphite bomb can cripple it."
"Oh, right, there's another weakness: he talks too much."
"There's another one, just like Brother Ping An. He likes Matsushima Seiko. You could collect posters of this idol, tear them up in front of him, and that should enrage him."
"Should we try close-quarters combat and kill him more efficiently?"
"Try again next time."