The lingering force of the demodulation beam had yet to dissipate in midair, and the pungent smell of dust scorched by high-energy ions filled the air. Yellow dirt billowed everywhere as several frightened black goats scrambled through shriveled thorn bushes.
Boom!
Heavy metal feet slammed into the cracked earth, gouging out pits half a meter wide. The Demon Slayer armor slowly straightened, its two high-pressure cooling vents spraying fine white mist that flattened the withered grass against the ground.
Wearing flip-flops, Chen Xiao finished chewing his last mouthful of stir-fried pork intestines, then casually pulled half a fried dough twist from the Mirror Dimension. He drifted down half a step beside Tony, his eyes half-lidded as he surveyed the desolate village ahead.
Several ramshackle huts plastered together from mud and straw belched black smoke, their peeling walls exposing yellowed reed stalks. A rust-covered "farm tractor" sat crookedly nearby, its single-cylinder diesel engine belt snapped in the mud. Its exhaust pipe sputtered black smoke, yet a faint, eerie blue gleam of superconducting coolant leaked through the gaps in its hood.
Two elderly African men in faded head wraps sat sprawled beside a stone mill, clutching a ewe whose hind leg was bleeding. They bawled at the top of their lungs, howling desperately in dialect-heavy Swahili and smearing tears and snot over the cracked backs of their hands.
"Waaah! Bandits! That damned steel monster trampled my sheep to death!"
"Gods above! They won't even spare poor wretches like us who live on grass roots! Is there no justice left in this world?"
Their wails shook the sky, mingling with the goats' piercing bleats. Their performance made the scene look every bit like the aftermath of a warlord's massacre.
Tony stood inside his nearly three-meter-tall heavy armor. The tactical eyepieces beneath his faceplate