"What the **** kind of gear do they have? Bullets not working is one thing, but how the hell are they shrugging off rockets too?!"
The squad leader casually tossed aside his empty rocket launcher. Looking at the robots that had just been blasted off their feet by a rocket, only to get back up completely unharmed, he had no idea what to do.
He ducked back behind the wall, avoiding the arcing rays that did little damage but had a powerful paralyzing effect.
After some careless teammates had personally tested those attacks, he could confirm that two or three hits were generally enough to leave someone completely motionless. Whether they were alive or dead, he had no idea.
It wasn't as though he hadn't considered surrendering since the fighting began, but after seeing several teammates raise their hands in surrender only to get hit by those arcs anyway, they had given up on the idea.
"Captain! They're only twenty meters away! We need to retreat!"
"Damn it, where's our Brute? Get it up there to hold them off, or we won't be able to pull out! Hurry!"
Upon receiving the order, the robot Brute stopped hiding behind cover and firing lasers. With a mighty leap, he vaulted over the barricade and advanced toward the enemies opposite him...
Bang!!!
Already poorly balanced, Brute took a hurled manhole cover straight to the head and instantly collapsed, losing all robotic consciousness. Watching this, the captain couldn't help pressing a hand to his forehead.
"****, this Brute is scrap metal! He couldn't even last one..."
Before he could finish, the captain felt something hard press against the back of his head. He instinctively turned around and took an arc ray straight to the face at point-blank range.
The captain fell asleep in one second flat and toppled over stiffly. After he fell, his teammates were also taken out one by one by the robots steadily breaking through their defenses.
In the end, the robots captured the Vision Blasting Zone Checkpoint at the cost of minor damage to forty-two units.
Just as the battle ended, the robots' superior arrived. Yellow Three reached the scene with Red One and Blue Two slung over his left and right shoulders.
"Not good. Too late."
Looking at the Iron Guards clearing the battlefield, then at the fake Public Security officers lying unconscious every which way on the ground, Yellow Three spoke uneasily.
Blue Two said, "Damn, in the end... were we still one step too late?"
Red One said, "Ha, hahaha, we're done, we're done! We're completely screwed now! Ahahaha... **** me!"
Red One and Blue Two had been transported by Yellow Three in the state of oversized figurines. They still retained their otherworldly decorative style, but Huojin had remotely locked every joint in their bodies, leaving them frozen in the walking poses they had been in not long ago.
The bodyguard robots, the Iron Guards, had taken complete control of the scene and were gathering all the unconscious prisoners together, binding them one by one.
Yellow Three put the two of them down. Having calmed down, Red One also watched the Iron Guards moving the prisoners before them and asked worriedly:
"Hey, how long do you think the master will punish us this time?"
Blue Two said, "That depends on how far things develop. All I can guess is that the upper limit on our punishment will be very high."
Yellow Three said, "Blue Two. Red One. Need. Optimism."
Red One said, "Hah, optimism my ****! I almost forgot about you! Yellow Three, you heartless traitor! I've always treated you well, and this time you went behind our backs and ratted me out! You ***..."
Yellow Three said, "****. You two. Impatient. Wouldn't listen. Deserved it."
Blue Two said, "Hmph, isn't that because your speech is so fragmented? Sometimes we can't understand you at all."
Red One said, "Exactly! If that ****ing ** speech system of yours weren't impossible to replace, I'd have ****ing forced you to use an old lady's electronic voice ages ago!"
Yellow Three said, "...Red One. Animal."
Red One said, "Oh, Yellow Three, you..."
Before he could get that insult out, a hovering car had already stopped in front of the three of them. It looked like a long, bulky black sedan, with six blue-glowing hover engines where its tires should have been.
As the chassis was about to touch the ground, the six hover engines instantly transformed into tires and landed. Then the driver's door opened automatically, and Butler stepped out of the car.
Butler stood with his hands behind his back, looking at Yellow Three saluting him and Red One and Blue Two, who could do nothing but stare.
Red One, Blue Two, and Yellow Three said, "Welcome, Steward!"
Please no punishment, please no punishment, please no punishment, please no punishment...
Butler nodded, automatically ignoring the unusual appearances of two of them, and said:
"You three, regarding the severity of your punishment in the days ahead, after careful consideration, the master has finalized his arrangements for you."
Please let it be light, please let it be light, please let it be light, please let it be light, please let it be light... The three robots pleaded and yearned, all involuntarily swallowing a mouthful of machine oil as they nervously listened to Butler announce their punishment.
Butler said, "The master has decided that your punishment for this dereliction of duty will be level-three confinement in Bangboo form, lasting one year."
Abba abba abba abba abba ir(□QwifeB0013□0pearl...
The outcome Red One and the other two found most unbearable had arrived. Turning into Bangboo was trivial; they could still fool around outside. But level-three confinement was the hardest part to accept. It meant they wouldn't be able to take a single step outside the house, spending every day bored and growing mold in a home they had long since gotten sick to death of playing in.
Perhaps something had gone wrong with his hardware, because Butler seemed to see three machine spirits slowly rising.
"However, the master has still given you a chance."
The spirits burrowed back in.
Butler said, "There is a mission here for you. As long as you complete it properly, your sentences will be substantially reduced.
"The specific mission details have already been forwarded to your terminals. I still have important business to attend to for the master. Good luck."
"Take care, Steward!!"
Only after Butler had left their sight did the three of them look relieved.
Red One said, "Thank goodness, thank goodness. At least we don't actually have to be locked up for a whole year. Butler even told us in installments just now. He scared me to death!"
Blue Two said, "Don't celebrate yet. If we can't complete the mission, we'll still be locked up for a whole year."
Red One said, "Oh, right. Yellow Three, hurry and check what the mission is."
Yellow Three had already taken out his phone to check while the two were talking. "Target. Hollow. Hunt. Dead End Butcher."
"Yellow Three's chopping up his words as usual, but at least we can make out the mission," Blue Two said, turning to look at the Hollow closest to them, the Dead End Hollow... Wait, he seemed to be able to move now!
Only then did Blue Two and Red One realize they could move again.
Free of his restraints, Red One did a quick warm-up, faced the Hollow, and said, "No time to lose! For the sake of our lives over the next year, let's go!!"
Then the three set off toward the Hollow, only to turn around halfway there and run back. It wasn't because they wanted to escape or anything, but simply because Yellow Three had forgotten their weapons in the car when he carried his two brothers over.