Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 182 181. Are emergencies as easy to encounter as eating and drinking?

It felt like there was nothing wrong, or rather, after connecting to the machine, the range of threat scanning and situation awareness were greatly improved, allowing Seifer to see things that theoretically shouldn't be seen.

He didn't feel anything when he entered the passage, but as another scan failed, Cypher raised his eyebrows - ever since he got this mask, he liked to make some expressions.

This makes it look more human.

I just scanned something, but now it's gone. If it were another mercenary, they would definitely think it was an illusion during the mission.

But Seifer didn't think so. He switched the short-barreled shotgun shell to a particle beam long sword, walked a short distance in the passage, and suddenly lit up the light blade!
The particle beam gushing out from the strangely shaped hilt illuminated the space that looked like a pile of ruins. As Cypher swung his sword and sprinted, the "thing" that had been hiding in the shadows could no longer hide.

It suddenly appeared in the ripples of the air, as embarrassed as a fish caught from the water, dodging the sword light while suddenly jumping up.

Only then did Sefer see that this guy actually had a pair of reverse-jointed feet, like a praying mantis.

It had a strange, arc-shaped body and a bowl-like head. It didn't communicate or say anything. After dodging the attack, it suddenly swung out its electrified whip.

Dodging quickly, Cypher replaced his sword with a shotgun shell. The two machines exchanged several rounds of blows. The opponent's slow gunfire was completely unable to hit him, but Cypher's shotgun shells hit him continuously, and soon the surface of the opponent's machine was full of pits.

Seeing that this set was useless, the opponent suddenly jumped up and switched his weapons to two strange things like sonic emitters - the light emitted was also slow and spread like a wave.

Not intending to take the attack head-on, Seifer kept his distance and quickly adjusted his angle as the opponent continued to spread these "waves".

The attacks that hit the wall were swift and merciless, penetrating the walls and structures... They were very powerful.

Despite the momentary emotion, the machine's movements did not slow down at all. After dodging the opponent's attacks several times, Seifer immediately sprinted forward while the opponent was switching weapons.

For a ten-meter-long machine, the speed of a full-speed charge at this distance is almost calculated in milliseconds to reach the opponent's face. The moment it finally touches the face, the opponent also quickly retreats.

But it doesn't make sense anymore.

The shotgun shell fired, followed by a loud bang, but not from the gunpowder being expelled, but from an explosion inside the weapon.

The 'Spike' performed its duty again, smashing fiercely into the opponent's cockpit. The melted metal fragments flew everywhere, but Cypher kicked hard.

Because when the cockpit was penetrated, this guy was able to swing out an electric whip!
Not wanting to pamper it, Seifer took advantage of the imbalance of the machine's movements and went all out. He switched to the launcher on the spot and fired a heavy grenade at it, which had limited ammunition to begin with!
Explosions and roars echoed in this underground space. This time, the thing finally flew backwards, dragging burning flames and a surging, lava-like energy flow.

As it hit the ground, it began to fall apart, and finally exploded suddenly, without leaving any meaningful information.

From life to death... very quietly, quieter than any mercenary.

So why is this thing here? Judging from its behavior, it doesn't seem like they came down together, but more like something that has been lying in ambush here for a long time.

And it's definitely not a human.

How could anyone fight back after their cockpit was penetrated? The power of those spikes was such that they could easily penetrate even special steel.

Although there will be some wear and tear on the head, it doesn't matter. The key point is that after penetrating the cockpit, it can still move.

...Maybe, I should try to smash its head directly. It's a pity that I thought this thing should be operated by humans at the beginning.

It clearly avoided the engine! What a shame, this thing could have been salvaged and sold for scrap. Who could have sent this thing?... Unmanned, autonomous, most likely a modified mechanism.

But that shouldn't be the case. If the transformation agency wanted to know what was going on below, why would they go to such great lengths to send down a drone? Couldn't they just use their authority to check the camera?

So that’s… Abian Company’s thing?

They boast of being "next-generation" and advanced, so they should have some special gadgets. Moreover, this company has been eyeing the technology in this node city from the beginning, and was also the first to follow up and infiltrate this area.

So, it is most likely this company.

Hey, that's not surprising - when you keep an eye on other companies' technology all day long, outsiders don't know how much money they invested and how much they got back in the end.

Returning to the previous passage, Seifer confirmed that there was enough ammunition left, so he adjusted his weapon slightly and entered the transport passage!

Consistent with the intelligence, there were more mid-level autonomous machines stationed here, and their firepower was also stronger. However, in terms of upgrades, these things were obviously inferior to the mercenaries.

Because the improvement that the machine brings to the mercenary is not as simple as one plus one equals two.

Thick armor and the ability to perform insane maneuvers, even equipped with a fire launcher, capable of entering various passages and agile movement...

When facing those small, medium, and even medium to large autonomous organisms, Cypher is not at all inferior.

The small ones were knocked down with a single spray, and the big ones were thrown with a grenade, blowing the road into pieces along with it.

As for those that should be quite strong, you can either rush up and kick it, then cut it open with the blade, or wait for an opportunity and use the long spikes.

To be honest, the more he cleaned up the enemies like this, the more Cypher felt... that this was indeed very cost-effective. After all, it only cost the replenishment funds for grenades and shotgun shells, plus some damage control costs for the units.

Melee weapons actually suffer very little wear and tear. At least the 'Spike' has been inspected several times and there are no major problems with it.

It feels great to have such a huge momentum without consuming any ammunition.

Rushing into the factory with explosions and roars, here, the molten metal is flowing quietly, being transported to the designated place for recasting.

Occasionally, you can hear some clattering noises on the upper floor. That is the sound of recycled and sorted metal parts entering the conveying pipeline.

The entire foundry looks well-organized, and once recovered, they can immediately begin working according to the needs of the transformation organization... No wonder they say it cannot be destroyed.

Quickly passing through the periphery, being careful not to run into the patrolling machines, Cypher was about to conclude the deal with some ease and pleasure when he discovered that there were people at the target location.

Strictly speaking, there were traces of human activity in the control unit, and there were only humans, no organisms.

The moment the two sides met, the team inside made an unexpected move.

They…threw their weapons to the ground and waved their flags in surrender, faster than Sefer could pull the trigger.

Tsk, I can’t fire now.

(End of this chapter)