Live Combat Test

Australia's southwestern coast boasts the world's longest and most complete sea cliffs, making the continent appear as if it were suddenly ripped from the ocean. This was where Australia separated from Antarctica. In the arid interior, the climate 50,000 years ago meant it wasn't yet a desert.

Billions of years of rain and hot winds have rendered much of Australia barren. In the red interior, rain is unpredictable, and the infertile land and unforgiving weather challenge all living things. After ten Honkai events, Australia looked even more like a silent hell.

Due to its rich mineral resources, Fire Moth never gave up on Australia, even after ten Honkai events. However, the drastic population decrease left Fire Moth unable to expend manpower and resources outside of the rich mining areas. This created an opportunity for Qin Su, and the vast no-man's-land would become the first testing ground for the T-1 and Hunter Drones.

The T-1 tanks and Hunter Drones moved from Esperance in the southwest along the coastal highway for 2,000 kilometers to the Radium Ore Mountain uranium mine in South Australia, passing through towns and mountains along the way. Additionally, transport drones would carry the T-800 and T-1000, and the T-1 and Hunter Drones would engage in joint land-air combat with them.

The Flame Law-Ruler's flames had burned all of Australia, yet humanity, with its tenacious will, had rebuilt the continent. However, the subsequent Law-Rulers had clearly exhausted humanity's energy, leaving them with no desire to maintain unimportant infrastructure.

Proceeding from Esperance along the main highway towards Radium Ore Mountain, most of Australia's transportation infrastructure was in disrepair. Many roads had collapsed or were on the verge of collapse, but the T-1 could transform into a quadrupedal state and leap out of collapsed pits.

The T-1's chassis featured a four-track structure, not just two parallel tracks on each side. It was as if dual tracks were split in half to form four tracks, a design intended to facilitate chassis transformation. When the T-1 transitioned from track mode to walking mode, the tracks and road wheels retracted inward, and then the support claws climbed onto high ground inaccessible to the tracks, or resumed normal driving status when overturned. In conventional warfare, the fragile connection points could not withstand enemy attacks, but the Honkai Beasts clearly wouldn't consider such things, and the Law-Rulers wouldn't care about their weaknesses either.

The T-1 and Hunter Drones traveled along the road together. Compared to the noisy engines of the Hunter Drones, the T-1 was much quieter, with only the vibration of its tracks on the ground.

They passed many road construction communities, and without exception, there were no signs of human life. After 40 minutes of travel, the first transportation hub that appeared in their sights was the southern town of Norseman.

Qin Su controlled the Hunter Drone and accelerated towards Norseman. The Hunter Drone had a built-in life sign detector; if there were any survivors, it would sniff out their location like a keen hound.

The exhaust from the engines disturbed discarded paper and dust on the streets, causing the Mortals in the city to stir. Australian buildings were generally low-rise, a characteristic particularly evident in the towns. In most towns, the tallest buildings in the center were hotels, while the district government and police stations were only single-story structures. In less developed towns, the proportion of survivors was much higher than in cities. Honkai disasters typically occurred in large cities, and Honkai Beasts would unconsciously wander towards cities with a strong "civilized" aura, making remote towns potentially safer.

The Hunter Drone flew past building after building, its engine roar making the Mortals on the ground increasingly agitated. Whoosh! The sound of an arrow cutting through the air whizzed by, but the Ranger Mortal's attack failed to penetrate the Hunter Drone's armor. Instead, it drew a deadly counterattack from the 30mm electromagnetic cannon. The cannon first targeted the first Ranger Mortal, and subsequent bursts of fire shredded the Mortal's companions on the street.

Half a minute later, the high-speed rotating cannon slowly came to a halt. There were no longer any Mortals wandering the streets. The Hunter Drone retracted its fangs and continued searching for Mortals in the town.

At this moment, a group of survivors, waving their hands and cheering excitedly, appeared on the street without warning.

"Hey!~" they shouted into the sky, drawing out the sound.

While it was called a group, there were actually only six people: two young women and four children. One of the young women, judging by her weapon, was a warrior from Fire Moth. The Honkai energy detector quickly made a rough assessment: around a C-Class Valkyrie. This was likely why they had managed to survive.

The prototype undergoing live combat testing did not have transport capabilities and could not speak. The design schematics for the Hunter Drone did not include a speaker; its life and Honkai energy detectors were purely for combat purposes.

The Hunter Drone hovered in the air towards them, its dark cannon barrel aimed at them, making them feel a bit fearful. The Hunter Drone then began patrolling around the town, the roar of its cannon and explosions occurring intermittently.

The group was somewhat bewildered. The children tugged at the Valkyrie's hand, "Sister, what is it doing?"

The Valkyrie was also a bit confused. She thought for a moment and slowly said, "It's probably protecting us?" She wasn't entirely sure, as there were no Fire Moth markings on the aircraft. But after only a few seconds of thought, she came up with an explanation. She thought, Only Fire Moth would have this capability now, right?

A few minutes later, the transport drone that had originally carried the T-800 arrived at Norseman. It landed on a grassy area, and the downdraft from its rotors rustled the green grass, making it tremble slightly.

"Please board in an orderly fashion," the transport drone's broadcast reached their ears. The two young women, holding the children's hands, entered the drone's interior. They didn't see any strange robots; the T-800 that had been carried was now external armor for the T-1.

They found seats and buckled their seatbelts, which automatically fastened behind them. However, the iron seats and aluminum seatbelts made their bones ache.

"I wonder if the designer has ever ridden in their own helicopter?" the Valkyrie muttered softly. The transport designed for robots had not given much consideration to the human-machine relationship.

A little girl beside her comforted her in a childish voice, "Sister Lia, don't be angry. We've been saved."

Lia smiled gently and patted the little girl's head, "My cute Anna is the best at comforting people~"

The transport plane carried them north, and the silhouette of the Hunter Drone accompanied the transport plane as it gradually disappeared over the horizon.