Full health is the kill threshold, no matter if you're a god or a demon!

"Everyone has their own thoughts and pursuits; we shouldn't always think from our own perspective."

"Being close to Parliament doesn't necessarily mean he agrees with its ways. He has his own ideas and plans," Wu Zhan said. "Wang Mian is quite clear-headed when it comes to matters of principle. If he could get into the upper echelons of Parliament, it would be a good thing for us, at least it wouldn't be worse than it is now... After all, we can't put all our eggs in one basket. Besides," Wu Zhan paused and said, "if he's unreliable, isn't there still Feng Ming?"

"That's true!" Sun Yao's eyes lit up.

Back then, Feng Ming was Wu Zhan's right-hand man. Although his strength was greatly reduced after his death in battle, he was still a very experienced old man.

Wang Mian probably kept this person by his side with the intention of maintaining a good relationship with Wu Zhan.

"Take cover!" Wu Zhan suddenly shouted, and the three of them quickly hid behind a huge rock.

Not far away, several small figures slowly emerged from a clump of grass.

They were about 1.2 meters tall, wearing leather overalls stained with oil, exaggerated goggles, and sparse beards braided into small braids.

He is a dwarf!

After they emerged from the bushes, they immediately began setting up two portable wooden tracks on the ground. Then, more dwarfs emerged and started pulling on the ropes behind them.

[Engineering Dwarf LV.9]

"See them?" Wu Zhan lowered his voice. "They're not just ordinary monsters; they're neutral units. The indicator above their heads is yellow. That means there's a possibility of negotiation."

Sun Yao's eyes lit up: "If we could form an alliance with them, or even hire them, it would be a huge help to our city's development! Their engineering capabilities..."

"That's right." Wu Zhan nodded. "Although taking down their elite units will yield some building blueprint fragments, it's inefficient and will completely alienate them. But if we learn or buy complete blueprints directly from them through favorability quests or alliances, we can even get their workshops to work for us! This is obviously much more profitable!"

"It just takes a lot of time..." Sun Yao said.

"Of course! To put it bluntly, it's just about doing quests and grinding reputation with them!" Wu Zhan said. "They're enemies with the ratmen, and we're enemies with the ratmen too, so the enemy of my enemy can naturally become an ally. Isn't that killing two birds with one stone for us?"

Just then, the group of dwarfs finally pulled something out of the tall grass behind them.

"Tanks?" Liu Nian asked, puzzled.

"It's not a tank..." Wu Zhan said in a deep voice.

What emerged from behind the tall grass by the group of dwarfs was not a tank in the traditional sense, but a steel object with an extremely... unique shape.

It has a round, brass-colored body that looks like an inverted pot. Instead of tracks, it moves forward by six constantly rotating metal wheels, making a "creaking" noise.

A short, thick cannon barrel emitting wisps of steam protrudes from the top of the pot lid, with a mechanical arm on each side that can swing flexibly. One arm ends in a drill bit, while the other is a huge wrench.

G-27 General-Purpose Self-Propelled Assault Platform

"This...this thing can be used to fight?" Sun Yao stared in disbelief.

As if to answer his question, the "big pot" suddenly emitted a "whoosh" sound of steam, the short cannon on top shook violently, and a black iron cannonball with sparks flew out and accurately hit a huge rock in the distance that was being used as a target!

boom!

The boulder shattered instantly!

"It's quite powerful!" Wu Zhan's eyes narrowed. "Don't be fooled by its comical appearance; you can't judge a book by its cover."

Besides this "assault platform," there were four self-propelled gear guards, about half a person's height, shaped like spiders, and driven by clockwork and gears, patrolling around with a clattering sound. Their compound eyes flashed red, and their metal chelicerae at the front gleamed coldly.

Just then, seven or eight sneaky rat-man scouts suddenly sprang out from the bushes on the flank! They were armed with poisoned daggers and wanted to ambush the dwarf engineer who was setting up equipment!

"Enemy attack!" a dwarf cried out in a high-pitched voice.

Instantly, the two [Automatic Rotating Blade Towers] positioned at the edge of the camp were activated! The blades at the top of the towers, like fan blades, spun at high speed, emitting a teeth-grinding buzz, forming two death whirlwinds that instantly shredded the two ratmen at the forefront into pieces!

At the same time, the G-27 assault platform quickly turned its guns around, and "whoosh—boom!" another shot blasted away a ratman who was trying to flank from the side!

Meanwhile, four self-propelled gear guards rushed forward, clattering and clattering as they engaged the ratmen in combat with their sharp pincers. Although the individual damage was not high, their excellent teamwork and swift movements quickly took down two more ratmen.

Seeing that their ambush had failed and they had suffered heavy losses, the remaining ratmen let out a series of terrified squeaks and fled back into the bushes without looking back.

"Well done! Drive these filthy rats back to their stinking ditch!" shouted a dwarf engineer, who seemed to be the leader and was wearing taller goggles, waving his small fist.

But soon, another dwarf ran over, anxiously reporting, "Chief Engineer Jinli! Something's wrong! A distress signal has come from Mine No. 3! A large number of ratmen have arrived! They're stealing the 'Shock Ore' we just mined!"

"What?! Those filthy thieves!" The dwarf chief engineer, Gimli, was so angry his mustache stood on end. "Everyone! Get on the G-27s and walkers immediately! Take all the movable gear guards! We must protect those ore! They are our hope for rebuilding Gnomeregan!"

The dwarfs immediately sprang into action, gathering in a chaotic yet highly efficient manner.

"The opportunity has come!" Wu Zhan whispered. "Follow them!"

Using the terrain as cover, the three men hung far behind the dwarf rescue team.

After crossing a wasteland littered with metal fragments, a huge open-pit mine appeared before them, as if a piece had been scooped away by a giant with a spoon.

This mine has a very dwarf-like style: the walls are not simply mud, but are reinforced by layers of metal supports and crisscrossing pipes. Huge gear sets and piston systems operate constantly, emitting a regular roar, pumping out the water accumulated deep in the mine.

The wellhead is surrounded by giant steam-powered cranes, buzzing crushers, and conveyor belts for screening ore.

The air was thick with the smell of ozone, metallic powder, and sulfur from deep underground.

At this moment, chaos reigned at the bottom of the mine!

A sizable group of ratmen, urged on by the roar of a burly ratman overseer wielding a long, thorny whip, were frantically pushing several carts loaded with dark blue ore that shimmered with unstable energy toward an opening in the mine wall that appeared to have been dug by the ratmen themselves.

"It's 'Shock Ore'! Those bandits!" Ginley screamed from inside the G-27. "Fire! Stop them! We can't let them smuggle the ore into their sewers!"