SS-Class Starter Artifact: The Shield Robot

The deal went smoothly.

Afterward, Su Yi and Cole exchanged contact information. Then Su Yi picked up a fist-sized lump of iron with peeling paint from Cole's stall. "Mind if I take this home to play with?"

He weighed it casually in his hand.

Remembering the feel of the brand-new gun, Cole grinned. "That junk's just there for show. It's yours."

"Thanks!" Su Yi said with a smile.

He immediately left the mobile market with his three men.

The four of them had come and gone in a flash.

On their way out, they practically sprinted.

When they reached the safety of an underground conduit, they leaned against the wall, gasping for breath.

Rijia muttered excitedly, "In one day, five hundred became 940, and 940 became 1,270! My God!"

Alton was a little calmer. Still panting, he said, "Boss, we need to be careful next time. When we left, at least three groups were following us from different directions."

Mota startled. "No wonder the boss told us to run."

Su Yi was unsurprised. "Don't worry. By the time we come back, we'll be able to protect ourselves."

He hid the hefty sum of 1,250 Void Abyss Coins, setting twenty aside in his coat pocket.

As they walked back, Su Yi toyed with the lump of iron.

The Hound Gang hadn't recognized it, but Su Yi, who had lived through what was to come, certainly did.

Future discoveries would reveal that Lal City had once been home to a civilian technology factory.

It had later been destroyed in a war.

The ruins beneath it held a wealth of precious items from lost ancient technology.

That was also why Lal City had risen so quickly.

And this dusty iron ball's original name was the Autonomous Shield Robot.

It was technology from the era of the Ancient Human Alliance.

Its overall rating was SS-class: an incredible piece of early-game equipment.

Once deployed, it could turn invisible and follow its user.

When attacked, it released a repulsive magnetic field that flung away physical attacks, including bullets, shells, and blades.

At maximum deployment, it formed a cube two meters on each side.

Its miniature antimatter battery could keep it running steadily for at least 150 years!

In the future, it would be standard protective equipment for nearly every high-end player. Depending on the planet and region, it cost anywhere from 2,000 to 5,000 Void Abyss Coins.

After a short rest and some water, the four hurried back to Rootvine District through Su Yi's secret passage.

By the time they returned, dawn was breaking.

Despite being up all night, all four were brimming with energy, their faces bright with excitement.

"Get your expressions under control. Don't let anyone notice anything," Su Yi said sternly.

The other three promptly composed themselves. "Got it, boss!"

Just then, two patrol officers in police exoskeletons strode toward them. "What are you doing?"

"Get on the ground. Now!"

The four went rigid with fear and raised their hands.

Patrol officers in this area had the authority to shoot whenever they liked.

The two officers strode over and shoved all four roughly to the ground.

"Talk! What were you sneaking around for this early in the morning?"

"Or you're coming straight to the station with us!"

Alton and the others looked grim. They knew these officers' usual trick: arrest people first, then demand money.

Su Yi knew exactly what they were like. He held up the battered iron ball. "Officers, we went scavenging, but we got there too late. This lousy iron ball was all we found!"

The tall officer on the left snorted. "You think we believe that? You're coming with us!"

He took out a pair of electronic handcuffs and reached for Su Yi.

"Officers! Sirs!" Su Yi called.

"I've got a little scrap paper in my pocket. Have a look. We're law-abiding citizens, honest!"

The thin officer's mouth curled upward. He reached into Su Yi's pocket and pulled out two ten-Void Abyss Coin notes.

The officers exchanged a glance. Then they put away the handcuffs, and one kicked Su Yi. "Get up!"

The four climbed to their feet. Su Yi smiled. "Thanks for your hard work on patrol, officers."

"It's just a little scrap. Hope it gets your day off to a good start."

The tall officer nodded slightly. "Go on, then. Be more careful next time!"

After leaving the officers, Alton and the others breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good thing those police dogs didn't search us," Mota said.

Rijia stared at Su Yi in admiration. "Boss, you're brilliant! You set aside that twenty just to deal with those police dogs!"

After everything that had happened, the three felt their boss could foresee anything. His cleverness seemed almost godlike.

Su Yi smiled. "Learn from it. That's experience talking."

The three nodded repeatedly, committing the lesson to memory.

"Three hours until check-in. Go home and get some sleep while you can. We've got important work today."

"Yes, boss!"

Su Yi returned home and locked the door. After a quick wash, he eagerly cleaned the iron ball.

"Ancient technology is terrifying. After thousands of years, this thing still looks new!"

Once the grime was gone, blue-and-white paint appeared beneath it, along with an oak-leaf emblem. It was probably the original factory's trademark.

Following the sequence he remembered, Su Yi pressed four fingers against the points above, below, left, and right of the oak leaf.

"Without a trajectory ability, who could ever figure out an activation method designed to prevent accidental triggers?"

Even Winter hadn't uncovered its secret until he used his trajectory skill in version 0.6 of the closed beta.

After his fingers had remained in place for a full thirty seconds...

Ding!

A crisp chime rang out. Dreamlike light shimmered across the ball, and the projection of a woman appeared above it.

"Welcome to Oak Group's autonomous protective device. After the prompt, please follow the instructions to record your biometric samples!"

"First, ensure that you are wearing no wig or clothing."

"Next..."

Su Yi had done this before. He followed the instructions with practiced ease, recording his fingerprints, irises, palm prints, voice, body measurements, facial features, DNA, and bioelectric signature.

Half an hour later, the recording was complete.

Once activation finished, Su Yi could finally see its detailed attributes.

[Name: Autonomous Shield Robot]

[Category: Mounted Protective Gear]

[Quality: SS-class]

[Requirement: Activate and bind]

[Effect: Blocks all physical impacts from metallic materials. Maximum energy withstood per second: 1,000 entropy.]

(It was originally developed to help farmers fend off the metal-eating, bone-boring beetles native to a certain planet.)

Energy level was a general unit in the game measuring the ability to reduce ordered matter and energy to a chaotic state.

On a weapon, it represented overall destructive power.

On protective gear, it represented overall defensive strength.

One entropy of destructive power was roughly equivalent to a single gunshot on Kedi Star.

"Ding! Binding successful. You may now control the device by voice."

Su Yi nodded. "Deploy personal protection."

Hum!

Blue light flashed. Su Yi could just make out an almost transparent shield surrounding him completely.

"Deploy area protection!"

Hum!

The shield expanded into a cube two meters on each side.

Its repulsive force sent every scrap of metal and piece of junk on the ground flying.

"Activate stealth follow mode."

The iron ball's mechanism rapidly unfolded into a clover-like shape. With a flash of light, it vanished.

"Assess power reserves."

"Estimated remaining operating time: 152 years, 21 hours, 5 minutes, 41 seconds."

Once he had checked everything, Su Yi leaped off the ground in delight.

"Now I finally have a way to protect myself!"

He checked the time. It was already four.

"Two hours until my traffic resets to zero."

He used his talent twice more to heal the two festering burns on his back.

Then he set an alarm and slept for two hours. When he got up, his eyes were bloodshot.

He grabbed a handful of nutrition beans, washed his face, and ran to the company.

On the way, he received a message from Winter.

"We're ready here. Can you lure the target over today?"

Winter sent him a location.

Su Yi glanced at it and replied, "Yes. What time?"

Winter: "Between ten and eleven this morning."

Su Yi: "Got it. I'll be there on time."

After ending the exchange, Su Yi arrived at the company.

Everyone was holding the morning meeting and receiving their assignments for the day.

When the meeting ended, the boss, Aolong, left with a dark expression.

The underlings began filing out after him.

Su Yi and the other three were about to leave when Mad Dog called them back.

The other underlings knew Mad Dog was about to fly into another rage and hurried out of the company.

Mad Dog looked down at Su Yi. "What were the four of you sneaking around doing last night?"

"Were you taking private jobs?"

Su Yi froze for a moment.

Then it occurred to him that Mad Dog might have spotted them by chance the night before.

The neighborhood wasn't that big, after all.

The other three looked alarmed.

Su Yi reacted quickly and lowered his voice. "Mad Dog, after we saw the boss chew you out yesterday, we couldn't let it go."

"So last night, we investigated those people who killed Rag."

The three men who had been panicking inwardly cheered, The boss is incredible!

Sure enough, Mad Dog's attention shifted at once.

He grabbed Su Yi by the collar. "What did you find?"

"We've got a lead," Su Yi said quietly. "We found one of their outposts near the border."

Mad Dog shot to his feet, eyes bloodshot. "Where? Take me there now!"

"I'm not completely sure yet. Shouldn't we—"

Mad Dog yanked Su Yi closer by the collar and cut him off. "Are you fucking deaf? Take me there now!"

Su Yi looked at him and sneered inwardly. Death summoned you for midnight, and you're showing up at eleven.

Trying to make a good impression?

Su Yi went along with it and gave Mad Dog the coordinates Winter had sent him.

Mad Dog's face twisted into a vicious grin. "Good! Those damned rats. I'll show them what it means to suffer!"

He returned to the storeroom and put on the company's only suit of KG-S1001 exoskeleton armor. Then he picked up a terrifying spiked club that weighed a hundred pounds.

"Grab your weapons and follow me. We're going to crush those rats!"