Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 110 109. It’s like fighting with your hands and feet tied up (th update)

Claiming to be a member of the independent mercenary 'Red Crossbow', Seifer quickly struck up a conversation with the green-haired girl. She immediately thought of the mercenary who had added a special melee weapon to her warehouse, and came over enthusiastically.

The first thing to ask is Seifer - do you want to create custom equipment?

It's so funny, how can I customize it when I'm almost penniless?

After asking in detail, I found out that the girl's brother decided to set up base here to assist Abian Company's investigation activities here.

The job content is to adjust the weapons and equipment for the mercenaries, or to identify and repair the devices brought back from the node city.

Some Abian companies will recycle, and those with technical content will be more valuable. Even the money will be deposited into the account in real time without any arrears.

Some can only be thrown away at a low price because they do not contain any value in themselves. Calling them scrap metal is an exaggeration.

"Anyway, my counter is over there. If you need adjustments, weapon refinement, or anything like that, come see me. Because of that special forging blueprint your boss gave me, I'll give you a discount~"

The green-haired girl ran back to the counter with a set of scattered equipment, waved to Seifer, and then pointed to the side, where a man who was not tall and did not even look like a 'craftsman' was looking over here.

The moment their eyes met, the man frowned tightly, but after looking carefully, he suddenly relaxed and nodded in a friendly manner.

What do you mean? You think your sister is safe and won't be kidnapped by some weird mercenary?

Keeping the signal open, Cypher saw many tools and weapons on the regular equipment counter, and even lighter, but more resistant bulletproof armor and so on.

In addition to independent mercenary weapons, they also sell equipment for the machines. The most eye-catching of these is probably the new gadget developed by Abian Company based on the most powerful engine of this era.

The next-generation circulation output engine is one-third lighter than the current generation, with a peak output energy that is twice as high and a stable circulation that is also one-third higher.

Its appearance is also an extremely beautiful X-shape, which can be placed on a standard or even small-sized body - it is beautiful at the price.

In addition, there is the Abian Group's sci-fi-looking lightweight bipedal and alien-legged bodies, and the 3D advertisements are played loudly, as if to prevent the mercenaries from seeing them.

The output of this engine... I did some calculations in my mind.

Laika, who was on the communication line, told him speechlessly, "No, even this one can't fully power the machine you brought out of the vision."

"Perhaps only the Phantom Mist Group's engine can meet the requirements... but their engine is too heavy, which will inevitably increase the burden. Don't rush, explore this node city to earn more money, Red Crossbow."

"If you have money, we can make things easier, whether it's replacing the engine or maintaining your base..."

As Cypher walked towards the entrance of Node City, he said with a smile, "Why are you suddenly so concerned about my cash flow? Have you finally realized that your role should be my secretary?"

"What does a secretary do?"

"Those who work sometimes get fucked."

"Don't make such an unpleasant joke, Red Crossbow."

"Then I apologize."

After a moment, Leica continued calmly, "After entering the node city, don't rush to find a way down. The Desert Reconstruction Agency doesn't want to give up the node city either."

"It's already been fully constructed, and was designed from the beginning to serve as the top level of the command center. It's still in the hands of the reconstruction agency. The information they have might help you achieve more with less effort when exploring below."

Seifer nodded slightly and took the escalator down with the other mercenaries. "--So, they also need mercenaries to help, but most of them have already cooperated with the Abian Company and become thugs?"

"Well, because transformation agencies rarely make wide-ranging announcements, only companies have such a huge network of contacts." As he spoke, Seifer had already passed through the sloping passage. In front of him, everything in this deep underground was partially revealed without reservation.

Just a close glance would reveal that the upper floors of the enormous man-made structure seemed to be connected to the ceiling like steel needles, and the speckled mineral glow on the walls barely illuminated its outline, like natural light.

More artificial light means that people entering the node city can only see the topmost buildings, while the areas below are all buried under solid rock layers and high-strength building materials, and the depth is unknown.

This is the node city where the transformation agency lost control...it doesn't seem so "lost" after all.

Because throughout the 'city', Cypher saw a large number of busy autonomous machines interacting with people, looking happy and harmonious, and no conflicts occurred.

Hasn't he been driven out by the self-regulating machines?

Together with this group of mercenaries, we entered an area that was probably the central hall. The structural style here was different again. Unlike the I/O companies that always made the entire facility bright and neat with windows and tables as if it were new, theirs... was more rugged.

The interior of the building was poorly decorated and painted, with various pipes and mottled rust marks intertwined, and even the lighting seemed thin and sparse.

Various information collection facilities were scattered here and there, and the ground was covered with unattended patches and stains. These things gave Sefer a very subtle feeling.

It feels like the era just after the millennium, with the texture of a mixture of bulky cathode ray tube displays and old metal recycling plants.

The transformation agency is said to have the most advanced technology in the entire desert...

This idea was replaced by the holographic technology floating in the air when entering the huge hall. To be honest, the most valuable thing in this place is probably the huge three-dimensional model.

It is huge and detailed, with a lot of information flowing through it. From time to time, a window will suddenly disappear and other windows will appear.

As Cypher looked at the thing from a distance, a guy dressed more like a priest than an employee came out with a loudspeaker.

"Newcomers! Go to the left and enter the room. Everyone else, go to the right! Those ready to leave, go to the hall and wait for instructions!"

Like a fish squeezed in a can of sardines, Seifer walked into another large room that was equally old and dilapidated, a little dazed.

The new mercenaries were whispering to each other, and they all had some complaints about the arrangements of this place. Some even went to ask the employee guarding the door directly - but that person ignored them completely.

Fortunately, a man who looked like an officer and was even wearing a simple half-body bulletproof suit walked in immediately.

"Forget the politeness of welcome. None of you here are newbies, so let's forget about the brief summary of the battle."

"Everyone must personally enter the intricate webway. After the active efforts of the previous batches of mercenaries, the situation is somewhat better than it was at the beginning—but it's still not enough."

"We can provide you with the necessary weapons and equipment. You can also cooperate with that outside company to use more sophisticated weapons. We have no control over that."

"However, the battle here is different from what you imagine. As mercenaries, your enemies are no longer mercenaries who have accepted another job, but some incomprehensible machines."

"Your base is too large for this node city. Until we take over the Corridor Bridge District, those things cannot enter the node city."

"Similarly, except for the industrial area under construction near the large void, the machine cannot be operated in any area."

Someone suddenly asked, "So you plan to let us fight those monsters with our physical bodies?"

A smile suddenly broke out on the man's weather-beaten face: "It's not that easy to make money, kid."

　(13/22), Today there are no writers
　　
　
(End of this chapter)