Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 104 103. So who can gather such a clue? (Sixth update)

A group of unlucky souls with bruised faces and noses squatted neatly in the corner of the messy bar, while the bartender was settling the losses with the "civilized people" who were also seriously injured.

In addition to the losses in the store, there were also losses due to business issues, etc. This considerable expense was like adding insult to injury for the mercenaries who were already not well-off.

After all, third-rate mercenaries have countless places to spend money, and the little money they earn with great difficulty is invested in maintenance and wages, and is instantly sucked dry.

After the money was paid, the civilized man's face was blue, purple and red, and he looked like a soy sauce shop owner.

Then Tien kicked the one-eyed man who was still lying on the ground: "Next time, be more careful when you see someone. Our captain has never lost a single fight and has never backed down in a group fight!"

"Yes Yes Yes Yes……"

That is, a person knocked down more than ten people without changing his expression or blinking, and everyone either had a minor fracture or was sleeping like a baby.

It's impossible to say that this cold-faced girl didn't hold back her strength... She just easily bent the solid supporting steel column with one punch!

After a friendly negotiation, the two sides sat down and Sefer glanced down.

"How long are you going to step on him? Do you like it?"

Tien raised an eyebrow. "Maybe he likes it. In the past, the guys under me were not good at their work, but I kicked them a few times and they became more efficient."

The one-eyed man immediately retorted, "Stop talking nonsense! I can't win and I don't dare to leave! How can I possibly like this shoe with such a hard sole!"

Regardless of what he said, his eyes kept roaming over Tien's long legs, which were wrapped in a tight-fitting outfit, and were well-proportioned, slender, and powerful at first glance.

Then Tien stepped on his face.

Seifer naturally took the bottle of wine that the bartender had placed on the table, which had miraculously not been broken, and poured it into the glass calmly: "Although the process was a bit tortuous, now that you have someone to pay for it and your sales volume has reached the target, tell me about it."

"You two are talking about 'that node city', right?"

The bartender brought a new glass with ice cubes. Seifer didn't even look at it and raised the glass to his mouth.

The liquid in the cup was actually decreasing. Tien even suspected that this guy had modified his stomach so that he could drink!

"Yes, go on."

"Most of the mercenaries in the Crucible node city know...or rather, the mercenaries in the surrounding node cities also know what's going on."

Seeing that the mercenaries around him were quite quiet and only laughing at the guy who was knocked over, the bartender continued:
"'That' node city is actually near the Forge Node City. Its structure is complex and its layers are extremely deep. But for a node city, it's normal."

"But you can see that everyone is coming to live in Furnace Node City now. It's not because it's a mine, nor because it's easier to connect to more remote frontier areas."

"Anyway... thanks to the Desert Climate Modification Agency's extensive efforts, that node city is now completely unsuitable for human habitation. Recently, a new trend has emerged, with some companies receiving intel claiming they possess technology that even the Modification Agency cannot replicate."

The bartender paused and took the empty bottle back. "The information that follows is beyond my control. The money you gave me for the drinks is only enough for this."

After saying that, he went to serve other customers, while Cypher thought for a moment and looked at Tien.

The latter kicked the old blind man at his feet and said, "What do you know? Tell me!"

The one-eyed man who had been secretly happy just now immediately stopped smiling and pretended to be serious: "Know, know what? I'm just here to recruit people, I don't know anything."

"Brother, another bottle."

"Wait a minute! I'm telling you, if you don't order, I won't get paid!"

The one-eyed man quickly shook his head and said, "There are a lot of small strongholds around that node city. The transformation agency has never given up on that node city!"

Seifer was a little confused: "Isn't that a city they built themselves? Why did they abandon it... was it occupied?" "It was indeed occupied, but they... Hahahaha, no, I'm dying of laughter. They tinkered with it themselves, took it out of the vision... What was that thing?"

The one-eyed man scratched his head and tried to consult the 'civilized man', but the latter sat on the ground in frustration, in great pain but not daring to leave, and didn't want to pay any attention to him.

"Oh, I remember now! The unmanned automatic operation system was driven out of the city. After running for a few years, it no longer requires any manpower!"

Then the automatic machine eliminated all the troublesome people and unnecessary links... Such a familiar script.

"This sounds like a scenario of an automated machine going haywire, an AI rebellion. Why does it sound familiar?"

Tien shrugged. "Rebellion is too much. They say it's not a rebellion—it's normal procedure. And it's easy to understand, isn't it?"

She gestured on the table: "If you want to eat, then if the entire process from preparing the food to cutting, washing, frying, plating, and serving it to your table can be done by machines, then humans are unnecessary."

"And if we start with the planting and material preparation part, then the people in the previous link won't be needed, right?"

"If we apply this to the things used in the renovation of the organization, and eliminate all parts that require human intervention, including maintenance, then the error rate will most likely approach zero."

Seifer looked at Tien calmly as always, as if he was looking at a stranger, which made her puzzled.

"I never thought you could come up with such a coherent analysis."

"You are the commander, you have the final say."

Tien had a lot of experience in this field, so he accepted it with a smile.

The one-eyed man felt the pressure on his back disappear. He immediately used his hands and feet to crawl out of the danger area and shouted, "That's all I know. What else do you want?"

Sefer: "The problem is that you were the one who started the fight. You won't get beaten if you talk nicely. Now that I've said the words and paid the money, I won't hold a grudge, okay?"

"No... uh, okay, fine. I'll talk to you about it when our boss gets here!"

He ran very fast, after all, it was Tien who did it, so he was not as 'hard' as Cypher.

So what were we doing in the bar? Wasn't it to gather intelligence? Why did we end up in a fight for no apparent reason?
The good news is that the fight is over and they have been defeated. After being physically defeated, these people were truly convinced and even dared to be humble when they were given simple treatment for their injuries.

Cypher was helpless: "So we beat the guy up, and now what?"

Tien: "Isn't that perfect? Now you've become famous in the bar, right? With your fame and your status as an independent mercenary, you can get anything you want."

Setting an example, she glanced around the bar with her empty glass in hand. Wherever her eyes fell, the mercenaries immediately looked away and sat in their own small circles to chat.

"See, this is the power of oppression. In an environment where you can't resort to weapons, being able to fight is just a stepping stone."

This is no longer a stepping stone, it's a brick hitting someone on the head.

When the scene was a bit awkward, someone finally came to break the deadlock - an independent mercenary with the name of "Flying Fish" hurried over. After seeing the wounded all over the ground, he was angry at first, and then suddenly took out his terminal to read something.

After looking at Seifer for a few seconds, the man kicked over the "civilized person" who was about to complain to him.

"Where's your head? That guy is a lunatic who can fly that thing around the city. He's an advanced surgeon. Beating you up is like playing!"

Then he ran over in three or two steps and sat down at the edge of the counter without any hesitation - the bulletproof vest that seemed to be always on him hit the table with a dull thud, which sounded very heavy.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Red Crossbow. I'm Flying Fish. How about I buy you a drink?"

　So it’s (9/22)!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)