Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 112 111. The task that sounds reasonable may not be actually done
In the slowly descending elevator, Seifer was checking his guns and ammunition, and temporarily lent his frontal one-way personal shield to Tien to increase her chances of survival.

In addition, Cypher also had a strange dagger, or short knife in his hand. This was a good thing that Dr. Mei had carefully adjusted and packaged, allowing him to "physically connect" various devices.

How far the physical connection can be made depends on the actual situation. Anyway, Dr. Mei will update it at any time... as long as she is in the mood.

There were only four people in the elevator: Cypher, Tien, and two new recruits standing together, carefully studying the 'next-generation weapons' in their hands: an electromagnetic submachine gun and a rail assault rifle.

They were lucky, and so was Sefer. The former needed battle results to obtain his own independent mercenary title, and the latter needed teammates to gather enough people to start... a group.

The shaking elevator didn't just go down, it would occasionally suddenly change direction and move sideways - in order to quickly blend into this environment, Seifer didn't immediately choose to rush to the front line.

Instead, he chose a 'map surveying' related task, which required him to go to the upper three floors and pass through the partition door to find the location of the command node.

After finding the node, you can consider a strong attack or return immediately. The rewards for the two are different. This is the task given by the transformation agency.

You can earn money by completing tasks, collect possible products along the way, and earn a kind of 'points' unique to the transformation agency.

"These points can increase your authority at the counter of the transformation agency. The higher your authority, the better the things you are eligible to buy. Look familiar?"

That seems so familiar, the mercenary system also works like this, and why can't these companies get discounts or something when they upgrade their permissions?

"How can they make money if they give you a discount? Unless... you have connections with some wealthy and powerful person, who might be in a good mood and give it to you for free?"

As they were chatting and laughing, the elevator slowly slowed down. One of the two young men, Shaogu, came over cautiously to remind them. However, the moment the door opened, Sefer and Tien, who had just been chatting and laughing, were already leaning against the door with their guns at hand.

The two of them finally woke up as if from a dream and quickly hid in the limited space on both sides of the door, not daring to make a sound.

A threat scanned Cypher's eyes, and a faint red light projected from his skinned eyes before retracting.

"It's safe now, just follow me."

The silent corridor was quite bright, as if the autonomous machines had programmed these buildings with commands to provide ample lighting.

A distant, complex, low hum could be heard outside the passage, which was the sound from other areas being transmitted.

Other than that, there was only the sound of my own breathing.

Laika's voice was clear and audible over the comms, "Red Crossbow, the elevator is arriving at a suppressed sector interconnection."

"You will need to go through the maintenance tunnel and explore the unknown area behind the partition door... Also, regarding the issue of autonomous machinery."

While she was communicating, Seifer had already waved to the three to follow him. The group quickly passed through the intricate 'maintenance passage' and jumped out of the opened underground window.

"All autonomous machines are controlled using a 'distributed node control method' to prevent individual units from being captured and potentially contaminating the entire autonomous network."

Simply put, if a portion of the autonomous machines sensed an intruder, only these would be used to repel the intruder, rather than attracting everything in the entire node city.

The premise is, don't make things too serious.

After crossing the passage, the four of them jumped down the corridor of the maintenance passage. The moment they landed, the two young men exclaimed "Wow".

What unfolded before the four of them was a three-dimensional and ever-changing "city." Or rather, a section of the interior of a metal-enclosed corridor-like structure, with multiple bridges and walkways running down each level.

There are even artificial rivers and holographic landscapes here to embellish life. The convenient living facilities and shop gates along the road are all well-designed... but you have to know that all the people here have been driven away.

Only some humanoid autonomous units are patrolling day after day, ready to "peacefully eliminate" some short-sighted people at any time. How to eliminate them specifically... As soon as Cypher showed his head, those autonomous machines looked over instantly, raised their weapons after emitting a sharp alarm, and what burst out from the muzzle... was not a rubber bullet.

It's live ammunition!
The clanging light of fire covered the bunker. Seifer immediately looked at Tien, who was also half leaning against the bunker. The two newcomers shrank their necks like quails, and they had no idea that they would be suppressed by the enemy right from the start.

Isn't that what it's like when flesh and blood fight machines, the first time?
Seifer assessed the situation, raised his adjusted weapon, locked onto the patrol team through the UI, and immediately opened fire. The clanging covering firepower was instantly reduced by half.

Among the autonomous machines that came towards them while firing, the first one had its head smashed by the powerful kinetic energy and fell down on the spot. The second one had some joints damaged, and its posture became unstable, so it knocked down its companion behind it, and they both fell to the ground and exploded.

The two of them envied the gun very much - but it was really just because they were too comfortable using it to change it.

While the attention of those things was drawn to Cypher, Tien immediately probed forward and fired laser beams in succession, melting through the shell of the autonomous machine and key pipelines.

The sound of the enemy falling inspired the two novices, and they followed suit, shooting while minimizing their body exposure.

The electromagnetic weapons from Abian Corporation are quieter than expected.

But the power was revealed in the explosion of compressed air. The armor plates that were only made of paper to protect the fragile internal structure were generally shattered, and anything that hit would definitely penetrate it.

Amidst the sounds of "ding ding ding ding ding", the last two autonomous machines were torn into pieces by this rather novel weapon.

After falling to the ground, a series of small explosions were emitted, making the destroyed thing completely worthless.

...The downside is that there's very little you can salvage after defeating the enemy.

The elimination of the first round of enemies announced the beginning of the mission. There could be no respite in a battle of this magnitude, especially for the two newcomers, whose ability to protect themselves could only be described as tragic.

Whether it was avoiding patrols, finding ways to bypass them, or not alerting the stationed teams, their behavior made it difficult for people to even think of 'forming a team again'.

Fortunately, they were just small groups of enemies.

This mission is just an area prepared to help new mercenaries understand the mission process.

Even if the number of enemies is unknown, complex algorithms can be used to calculate how many units of these autonomous machines are distributed in this area based on their behavioral logic.

——But there are always exceptions. It’s like when you are clearing mines. Even if you know that there are two mines in the eight surrounding squares, what if there are only three unclicked minefields and the surrounding areas are all blank?
Guess.

Sefer didn't know what the people who issued the mission were thinking, but as round after round of patrols appeared on the road that needed to be passed quickly, he finally couldn't help it.

"Is the person giving me the information an Allied intelligence officer? These bunches of enemies are almost exhausting my ammunition reserves... Is this really just a reconnaissance mission?"

Tien took out the communication equipment he brought and took a look: "Yeah, what else could it be?"

"So, do you think the patrols on reconnaissance missions will show up with those... uh, autonomous units with armor-piercing guns that can penetrate bunkers?"

He casually pointed at the patrol team that had just passed by. The thing in the front had armor that was completely different from the thin iron shell and was holding a very long gun. It looked like it was not something to be messed with.

Tien shrugged: "So let's go back now?"

That would be such a loss.

(End of this chapter)