Above the Blood Moon

As soon as he finished speaking, the mechanical dog started moving.

Its movements were so fast they seemed mechanical; with all four anti-joint legs exerting force simultaneously, its body shot towards Dekiri like a cannonball.

In mid-air, its right front leg module switched, the rubber pad retracted, and a 30-centimeter-long vibrating blade popped out, the blade gleaming coldly in the dim light.

Daikiri reacted quickly as well.

He leaned back, the vibrating blade grazing his chest and leaving a deep scratch on his jacket, revealing the silver-gray bulletproof lining underneath.

At the same time, Dekiri raised his left hand, the five fingers of the mechanical arm contracted, and the palm opened, revealing a dark gun muzzle.

laugh--

A beam of blue energy shot out.

The mechanical dog twisted in mid-air, and an energy beam grazed its shell, burning a fist-sized hole in the wall, the edges of which were still smoking.

Jockley immediately sprang into action.

He raised the Silver Wolf mechanical arm connected to his exoskeleton, its five metal fingers clenched into fists. He didn't fire, because it was pointless; at this distance and speed, he had no chance of hitting it.

So he chose a more direct approach; he charged forward.

Jockley exerted all his strength, the hydraulic system of the robotic arm's elbow joint humming as it provided additional thrust, and his body slammed into the side of the robotic dog with a thud.

The impact was powerful; Jockley felt like he had hit an iron wall, and a sharp pain shot through his shoulder, possibly dislocated. The mechanical dog was also thrown off balance and crashed heavily onto the carpet.

Dekiri seized the opportunity, got up, pulled the laser cutter from his waist, and aimed it at the observation window on the mechanical dog's head.

But the robotic dog reacted incredibly quickly. The moment it landed, it adjusted its posture, tilted its head, and the laser beam only burned off a piece of the outer shell at the location of its left ear, revealing the complex circuit board underneath.

Then the rotary machine gun under its head finally finished warming up, and the six barrels began to rotate at high speed.

Da da da da

Bullets rained down like a storm. Jockley and Dekiri lunged to either side at the same time, bullets chasing their figures and leaving a dense row of bullet holes in the carpet, raising a cloud of dust and fiber fragments.

Jockley rolled behind a table made of some kind of unidentified wood. The table was very heavy, and when bullets hit it, wood chips flew everywhere, but it temporarily stopped the bullets.

He looked at Daikiri, panting, who was hiding behind a display cabinet on the other side of the corridor. The cabinet was riddled with holes, and shards of porcelain were scattered all over the floor.

"Damn it!" Daikiri roared, "This thing has way too much firepower!"

The robotic dog stopped firing, stood up, and its three optical sensors scanned the corridor, seemingly assessing the situation. Then it did something that caught both of them off guard.

It turned around and rushed towards the stairs.

It's going to the third floor, to Walker's room, to interfere with Art and the priest!

"Stop it!" Jockley roared.

He rushed out.

This time, instead of using the robotic arm to strike, he used a more risky method: he lunged at the robotic dog's hind legs.

The robotic dog is climbing stairs, its hind legs raised, revealing hydraulic rods and wires at the joints.

Chokley extended his mechanical arm, his five fingers spread wide, gripping the mechanical dog's right hind leg joint like a pair of pliers.

Then he twisted it hard.

Click.

He twisted the mechanical dog's right hind leg joint at a 30-degree angle, and hydraulic oil sprayed out from the broken seal, splashing all over his face.

The mechanical dog let out a synthesized roar, turned around, and the vibrating blade sprang out again, stabbing towards Jockley's chest.

Jockley tried to dodge, but it was too late, so he had to use his left hand to block, and the blade pierced his left arm.

A sharp pain shot through me.

It felt like a red-hot iron rod was being stabbed into flesh and then stirred, causing blood to gush out and stain the sleeves of his trench coat red, but Jockley didn't let go.

He gritted his teeth and used all his strength to hold onto the mechanical dog's leg tightly, preventing it from going upstairs.

"Daikiri!" he roared.

Daikiri rushed over from a distance.

He held the laser cutter in his hand and aimed it at the mechanical dog's spine, where the main control chip and energy core were located.

As the laser beam was fired, it hit its target precisely, and the mechanical dog's body instantly stiffened.

Its optical sensors flickered wildly, like the final spasms of a dying person.

The mechanical dog tried to turn around and aim the gun barrel in its mouth at Jockley, but Jockley held onto its leg tightly, so it couldn't turn around and had to try to stab again with the vibrating blade.

Jockley used his robotic arm to block, the blade scraping against the metal arm with a piercing sound and sparks flying.

Finally, the mechanical dog stopped moving, the red light from its optical sensor went out completely, and its body collapsed on the stairs.

Jockley released his grip and collapsed to the ground. The wound on his left arm was still bleeding, and waves of excruciating pain washed over him, making his vision go black and his ears ring.

Daikiri walked over, panting heavily. He glanced at the mechanical dog, then at Chokri's wound.

"You were shot?" he asked.

Jockley shook his head.

"It's just a knife wound," he said hoarsely.

Daikiri crouched down and examined the wound.

"Fortunately, no arteries were damaged, but it still needs to be treated as soon as possible."

As he spoke, he pulled a roll of hemostatic bandage from his backpack and haphazardly wrapped it around Jockley's arm.

"Stop the bleeding first. When we get back, let Ate stitch up your wound. We're lucky. We stopped this dog before it could even warm up for war mode. Otherwise, several of us wouldn't have been enough to defeat it."

Jockley nodded and forced himself to sit up despite the pain, but just then a huge explosion came from above.

boom!

The entire villa was shaking.

Dust fell from the ceiling, the chandelier swayed violently, and the glass lampshades collided with each other, making a crisp "clinking" sound.

Then, the roof collapsed.

Concrete blocks and steel bars cascaded down like a waterfall, smashing through the floor and crashing heavily onto the ground floor, raising a cloud of dust that blotted out the sky.

Two figures fell from the dust; it was At and the priest.

They adjusted their posture in mid-air and rolled to dissipate the force upon landing. Although they looked disheveled, they did not appear to be seriously injured.

Ate got up, dusted himself off, and for the first time, an angry expression appeared on his face.

"Damn it! That bastard's room was full of solid bombs and malware! He activated his self-destruct program as soon as we went in! We almost got blown up!"

Before the words were finished, another noise came from upstairs—the sound of metal claws stepping on the rubble.

Click, click, click...

Five mechanical dogs jumped down from the hole on the third floor, each with a red triangle panel on its back and carrying the extremely dangerous weapon that Daikiri had just mentioned.

Exactly the same as the previous one, five of them, a full five!

After they landed, they quickly dispersed, forming a fan shape that surrounded the five people.

"We must evacuate. There's no chance of winning if we fight head-on. This thing is a product of a big company, and they just finished loading all the weapon modules. Once it's fully preheated, its power is terrifying."

Art pulled out a gun from somewhere and looked at the mechanical dogs with a serious expression.

Jockley gritted his teeth and got up from the ground.

His left arm wound was still bleeding, and the bandage was stained red. He felt a little dizzy, possibly from blood loss or a concussion from the impact.

But he cannot accept mission failure, absolutely not!

If he doesn't get those 50 Star Alliance coins, he won't be able to repay Daikiri's debt or Huang Shuangyan's mortgage.

A week later, his organs will be dismantled, his body will be sold, and he will become a pile of parts, packed in jars, and placed on shelves, like those second-hand prosthetics, waiting for the next buyer.

He had to get the hard drive, he had to get the money, he had to survive.

Jockley then closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and cleared his mind.

Supernatural vision activated.

A pale golden halo flowed beneath his skin, and the world transformed into the outline of energy in his eyes as he scanned the entire villa—the first floor, the second floor, the third floor, and the basement.

Finally, he sensed a heat source underground, very deep, and that heat source was moving.

"Underground," Jockley said hoarsely, his voice trembling with pain.

"There's a heat source underground. If Walker is really here, and if he really wants to escape, that's the only place he could be."

Art glanced at the five mechanical dogs that were approaching, their weapon systems fully activated and ready to fire at any moment. He then glanced at Jockley.

Jockley was pale, his left arm wrapped in a blood-soaked bandage, but his eyes were resolute.

Art gritted his teeth.

"Go ahead, a few of us can hold off these mechanical dogs for two minutes at most. If that time is up, we'll have to retreat."

Jockley nodded.

"it is good."

Without further hesitation, Art raised his right hand, and sharp metal claws sprang from the tips of his five fingers. Then the claws retracted into his palm, revealing a rocket launcher, which he aimed at the doors at the end of the first-floor corridor.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three rockets were launched, hitting the three doors precisely. The door panels were blown to pieces, revealing the space behind them. Daikiri also moved, raising his laser cutter and aiming it at an iron door on the other side of the corridor.

The iron gate was cut open like butter, revealing a downward staircase behind it.

"Hurry!" Art shouted, as he began engaging the mechanical dog in combat.

Rockets exploded, machine guns fired, energy beams flew, metal clashed, electronic alarms blared—all the sounds mingled together, like a mini-war.

Without further hesitation, Jockley rushed towards the stairwell and stepped inside; darkness instantly engulfed him.

The stairs were steep and the steps were narrow; he was practically jumping down, leaping over three or four steps with each step.

His knees took a huge hit when he landed, but he didn't care. The exoskeleton system on his back was fully activated, and the mechanical arm provided extra support to prevent him from falling.

Big Yellow's voice echoed in my mind.

"Master, environmental scans show that the depth below is about thirty meters, the air composition is complex, and high concentrations of carbon dioxide and small amounts of toxic gases have been detected. I suggest turning on the filtration system."

Jockley didn't respond; he just kept rushing down.

ten seconds.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

Finally, we've reached the bottom.

He stepped onto solid ground, staggered for a moment, and then steadied himself.

This is an underground space with rough concrete walls and a simple cement slab floor. In the center of the space, there is an old-fashioned computer on a table, and the screen displays surveillance footage, which is real-time video of each floor of the villa.

A man was standing next to the table.

He was about fifty years old, bald and obese, wearing expensive silk pajamas, and his limbs were all prosthetics that looked very high-end, with the Yadea Technology logo on the surface. His left eye was a mechanical prosthetic eye, with a red optical sensor that flashed in the dark.

It was Walker, the owner of this illegal mine.

He saw that Jockley first paused, then gave a strange look, like a cat seeing a mouse.

"Oh, there are guests here too. I didn't expect you to follow me all the way here, but..."

He looked Jockley up and down, then chuckled.

"Are the requirements for hiring mercenaries this low these days?"

Walker raised his right arm, his mechanical fingers opening and closing with a clicking metallic clanging sound.

Jockley didn't say anything; he just stared at Walker, his mind racing.

They were about ten meters apart. Walker didn't have a gun, but his mechanical arm was a weapon in itself. He had lost too much blood from his injured left arm, was dizzy and lightheaded, and didn't know how much energy his exoskeleton had left, or how long the Silver Wolf mechanical arm could continue to work.

He has no chance of winning by fighting head-on, but he must win, so he can only resort to some tricks.

Jockley retreated back into the shadows of the stairwell, trying to buy as much time as possible. So he deliberately spoke to Walker in a hoarse voice, which, after being processed by the nervous system, sounded somewhat unintelligible.

"Hand over the hard drive, and we can have a proper talk."

"Hard drive? What hard drive? I don't know what you're talking about."

Walker was also stalling for time. Jockley didn't know what Walker was waiting for: whether the mechanical dogs above would deal with At and the others, or whether there were other escape routes underground.

Whatever he's waiting for, he has to get rid of him as soon as possible.

When Jockley felt the lightness on his back, he immediately raised his rifle and fired repeatedly at Walker's chest.

Walker reacted quickly, dodging the bullet by sidestepping it. At the same time, the mechanical fingers on his right arm ejected vibrating blades, and he closed in rapidly, a speed that was completely out of character for his bulky physique.

Jockley tried to dodge, but the wound on his left arm affected his balance, slowing his movements by half a beat.

A blade pierced his abdomen, the excruciating pain causing his vision to go black and him to almost faint, but the surge of adrenaline forced him to suppress the agony.

He gritted his teeth and tried to grab Walker's right arm with his left hand. Walker sneered, raised his left arm, opened his palm, and aimed the energy beam nozzle at Jockley's face.

"Bye now."

The energy beam began to charge, emitting a sharp buzzing sound. Jockley knew he couldn't dodge it; his injured body couldn't react in time.

However, Walker did not fire the energy beam directly. Instead, he reached out his left hand, grabbed the hood of his trench coat, and yanked it open.

As the hood was pulled down, revealing Chokley's full face, Walker seemed to want to see the poor guy's expression as he was about to die.

To his surprise, although his face was pale, haggard, and covered in cold sweat, Jockley was laughing, laughing unrestrainedly, as if he, not Walker, had won.

"You..." Walker murmured, "You don't have any prosthetics? Not even a neural interface? You're a pure human?"

"A mere human dares to kill me? Dares to steal my things? Do you know who I am? Do you know how many purebreds like you I've killed?"

He raised his right arm, but instead of using the laser, the vibrating blade popped out again, aimed at Jockley's forehead.

"I'll sell you for a good price and tell your employer that what's mine is, and nobody can take it away from me!"

The blade pierced down, but the expected excruciating pain did not come. Jockley heard a muffled thud, like something heavy hitting the ground.

Jockley opened his eyes when Walker screamed in agony.

Walker was lying on the ground, his right mechanical arm locked and pressed to the ground by two silver-gray metal arms.

His vibrating blades had been retracted, and the energy beam nozzle had been blocked.

Walker had two mechanical arms wrapped around his neck, with the other end of each arm attached to the ceiling.

Jockley looked up.

Big Yellow was hanging upside down on the ventilation duct in the ceiling, its four slender mechanical legs gripping the edge of the duct like a spider, its whole body suspended in mid-air.

Its head was lowered, and the visual sensor band emitted a cold, golden light, staring intently at Walker.

Meanwhile, Big Yellow's right robotic arm was holding a gun, the muzzle pressed against Walker's temple.

现在

Remove your filthy claws from my master!