Chapter 639
The Abandoned Land
Chapter 639 The Abandoned Land
A modified "fairy" shuttle with weapons flew out from a nearby abandoned building, which was just part of the ambush.
Soon, two more swift black figures appeared between the ancient buildings that formed the high walls. Their jet-black paint and distinctive twin-mounted rapid-fire cannons made Luo frown—they were heavy attack drones manufactured by the Black Dot Group.
But Old Joe didn't like these kinds of drones... He didn't really trust fully automated systems that were completely detached from the "human-in-the-loop" system.
In the blink of an eye, the two heavy attack drones began unleashing their firepower. The twin-mounted rapid-fire cannons emitted a sharp whistle, and high-energy particles enveloped in force fields cleaved through the air in scorching trajectories, lashing the shuttle's shields like whips. Immediately afterward, the "Fairy" shuttle diagonally above opened its belly pylons—the original cargo space was forcibly crammed with a launch system, and two lightweight "Hyena" missiles detached from their racks, spewing propellant flames as they rapidly approached.
The cockpit was filled with alarms of incoming missiles, damaged shields, and interference from various systems. Flashing red lights illuminated Luo's eyes, but just as the captain of the guard next to her began to tense up, she suddenly laughed.
She even laughed out loud—and amidst the increasingly loud laughter, she slammed her fist directly onto the control panel.
Part of the control panel shattered, and flames and smoke billowed from the panel. Luo leaned forward—as if hunting—and gleaming silver mechanical limbs extended from her back, two of them piercing directly into the hole in the main control panel.
Living metal melted in the smoke, seeping into the shuttle's control lines. Sparks flickered on the surface of the mechanical limbs, and the various devices around the pilot's seat suddenly began to howl as if they had gone mad. Then all the alarms disappeared—they no longer futilely polluted people's ears, but roared directly in Luo's mind. The latter felt the heat of the engine, the sting of the shield, and the slight dizziness of being locked on by the radar, and slowly pulled a smile.
The engines roared as the shuttle maneuvered violently in the air, far exceeding its design limits. Two air-to-air missiles collided mid-air, followed by powerful interference around the shuttle. Two heavy attack drones tailing behind it visibly veered off course during their flight.
One of the drones wobbled as it approached. Luo suddenly looked up at the black war machine—her eyes gleamed with an unusual light, and the mechanical limbs behind her were almost bathed in a fine electric light. The shuttle's antenna system began to transmit her "thoughts" to the surroundings. Almost instantly, all the lights on the surface of the heavy drone went out. It fell to the ground as if dead, then suddenly restarted during its fall. It then turned sharply and rushed towards the "fairy" in the sky, which was preparing to launch its second round of missiles.
Luo heard the "Fairy" making calls outwards; the pilot's voice sounded terrified: "Drone compromised! Repeat, drone compromised... Someone has hacked my life support system... I can't breathe! I can't breathe—"
A dazzling burst of fire erupted in the air as the "fairy" was hit repeatedly by its own drone. High-energy particle clusters fired from the rapid-fire cannon tore apart its shields and armor. However, amidst the spreading fire and smoke, a second and a third armed shuttle appeared in the shadow of the giant wall.
Luo felt a slight tingling sensation in her mind. She sensed signals from more light assault units, more drones, and various noises from weapon systems activating in the nearby ruins of the high walls.
She began to plunge into the endless abyss beneath the Iron Nest. The shuttle's power core emitted a strained shriek, and a series of high-energy beams shot down from above swept across the thin, lightweight shield. Violent flashes of light rippled through the porthole—the sensation of the shield being burned transformed into a searing pain in Luo's mind, yet she became increasingly excited, even revealing an even brighter smile.
"Yes, yes, that's how much it hurts... I can't be complacent, or I'll die... That's right, that's right, everyone's back... Old Joe! Everyone's back! Old Joe—this is the Old Joe I know!!"
She laughed heartily, clapping her hands on the now-unusable control panel, like a child who had suddenly received a gift, like that silly girl who had just signed a job contract and thought she would soon be able to pay off her student loans—she shouted on every channel she could find, constantly projecting her mind onto every signal source that responded, desperately hacking into every electronic system she could find, whether it was a shuttle, a drone, the life support system of some unfortunate pilot, or simply some ancient camera in some corner of the nearby ruins.
The artificial spine sent a burning pain through him, the living metal undulated beneath his skin, the electronic brain was filled with sharp noise, and his mind and reason spread through the signal network, constantly disintegrating into various non-human things, only to be forcibly collapsed back into the shape of a "human".
She hasn't been like this in a long time.
In a fleeting feedback signal, she even felt as if she saw the steel monster's face filled with a moment of astonishment.
She heard a hoarse noise, a voice churning in her brain: "You'll die here today! Everything will be cleaned up!"
Luo grinned and gave the middle finger to the illusion in his mind: "I'm going to resurrect your mother and then launch her into the Usopp hive."
A camera, whose location was unknown, was angrily crushed. The shuttle Luo was riding in was also hit by an air-to-air missile that came from a tricky angle. The already shaky shield was instantly extinguished, and one of the engines was engulfed by a fireball. The machine shook violently, and then, billowing thick smoke, it spun and fell into the dark "abyss" below the giant wall.
The pursuing fire from behind was like a storm, constantly tearing apart the armor plates on the shuttle and piercing through the shield system that had been futilely restarted.
The sound of the explosion was as if it were right next to my ears.
Luo's hands had long since left the control stick, with only two mechanical limbs still embedded in the control panel. She spread her arms, leaned back, and cheerfully announced over the intercom, "Guys—hold on tight, we're about to make an emergency landing!"
“I’m never going to ride in the same shuttle as you again,” the captain of the guard said, shaking his head as he pulled a personal protective frame from under the chair and put it on Luo. “The last time you led us on an emergency landing in Kanlock, it wasn’t this thrilling.”
A fireball billowing smoke pierced through the dust and fog of the city's lower levels, bringing a terrifying howl among the ancient, mysterious, and gloomy buildings submerged in water. Some deformed creatures dwelling near the wastewater river at the bottom were startled and ran wildly among the ancient ruins. Two cleaner robots that had somehow fallen from the upper floors emerged from the cave and fired a series of warning lights in the direction the fireball had fallen—before being blown to pieces by several missiles that missed their mark.
The fireball, however, miraculously slowed down as it veered across the ruins—instead of crashing directly into the rubble, it used its last bit of momentum to adjust its posture before making a dramatic landing and sliding several hundred meters across a dry, flat area.
As soon as it came to a stop, the shuttle’s cockpit and crew compartment unlocked automatically, the emergency escape system activated and detonated the release bolts on the hatch, and several deformed armor plates flew into the air with a bang.
"Hurry! Find cover, find cover, get a good position—don't dawdle!"
A blonde figure in a long silver-white dress leaped out of the shuttle, her excitement unusual. She rushed into the troop compartment and dragged the still somewhat disoriented guards out, shouting as she did so. Just as everyone had escaped the shuttle, which seemed poised to explode at any moment, and had gained their footing near the ruins, an unsettling sound of mechanical footsteps shattered the tranquility beneath the city.
Several black-painted tactical walking machines equipped with automatic firepower emerged from nearby ancient buildings. Their red lights flashed, and they began to relentlessly unleash a barrage of ammunition in Luo's direction.
This was within Luo's expectations.
That's right, Old Joe is a cautious man. The outcome of "plane crash" without seeing any bodies is not enough to put his mind at ease.
It's just a matter of how many men he can muster for this hastily arranged ambush.
The guards reacted a moment before the walking machines appeared. The instant the enemy showed themselves, they began to return fire with their weapons. After a brief exchange of fire, the soldiers, led by their captain, covered their boss's retreat into the depths of the ruins. Luo was incredibly excited, but not to the point of gaining 8000 attack and defense points with a single laugh after turning evil like in the movies. She knew she couldn't beat Old Joe's men head-on, so she slipped away quickly, disappearing into the chaotic ancient building complex at the bottom of the city in the blink of an eye.
But the tactical walking machines equipped with advanced detection devices quickly locked onto the small team, and they opened fire and rushed into the flooded and collapsed old streets.
Then, a large number of Black Dot Group soldiers dressed in black combat uniforms emerged from all directions and began to block all the entrances and exits of the ruins.
Thick clouds of dust and fog shrouded the streets, and towering buildings formed a "giant wall" that stood like a sheer cliff on the ruins. The weak sunlight was powerless to penetrate the dust and fog, and at the foot of this giant wall, it seemed as if an eternal night was shrouded.
More than a dozen black dot tactical squads, centered around walking machines, cautiously moved through the flooded ancient streets. They turned on their lights and activated all their detectors at full power, vigilantly watching for any movement in this land abandoned by civilization.
The orders from above are to pursue the traitor of a corporation called "Lo," capture him alive if possible, and kill him if he resists fiercely.
The target was isolated and outnumbered, with only five soldiers by his side. Although they were all elite, they posed little threat.
This dark, abandoned city itself is even more dangerous than those few poor wretches.
"This is the third squad. We've entered Area A... The target's signal just disappeared. That's strange... Something's off about the atmosphere."
"The walkie-talkie just detected a fast-moving target! Wait, the target has disappeared..."
"Everyone be on high alert... something's not right here."
A black dot tactical squad suddenly stopped deep in the block, and the squad leader raised his hand in a defensive posture.
A figure appeared in the darkness. The lights focused on it, and the soldiers looked at the target with confusion.
A girl wearing a white nightgown, with slightly curly hair, who looked no more than fifteen or sixteen years old, stood in the open space in front.
The girl was carrying a slightly worn rabbit doll, and looked tired, her brows furrowed in the light.
She yawned widely, her face showing a tired look as if she could never wake up.
The squad leader immediately raised his gun and his finger was on the trigger—without asking questions, without approaching rashly, and without needing any pre-fire confirmation. They were clone soldiers trained by the Black Dot Group, and eliminating any potentially threatening targets was their code of conduct during missions. Moreover, in this dangerous abandoned land, a girl holding a toy rabbit standing in the abandoned neighborhood was a huge danger signal in itself.
Cloned soldiers don't carry candy and toys in their pockets.
However, just as the soldiers were about to have the thought of firing, a strong and irresistible weariness surged into their hearts.
They even felt as if they had never slept in their entire lives—and at this very moment, closing their eyes and drifting into dreams became the only thing everyone wanted to do.
The squad leader struggled twice, seemingly trying to press a button on the communicator, but his alarm shout into the microphone quickly turned into a long breath, followed by a soft snore.
A rustling sound came from the combat uniforms of the Black Dot soldiers. They stood silently in place, the seams of their uniforms being stretched open from the inside, and vibrant thorns sprouted from their masks, cuffs, and seams, quickly covering their entire bodies and blooming into countless bright flowers—even the walking machine next to them lowered its gun muzzle, and with the crew inside asleep, thorns and oil-stained flowers slowly grew from the armor of this war machine, eventually joining the dozen or so Black Dot soldiers on the scene to form a rose bush.
(End of this chapter)