On the second day, the do above the Steel Forest finally disengaged, and light finally revealed the broken Steel Forest. The guards stationed along the wall surveyed the scene and saw that everything lay in ruins.
The position of all the steel trees had changed. The paths that they had scouted, and even the terrain itself had changed.
As the guards worried that the hunters would have to remap the entire area, one of them noticed an empty space deep within the forest. He stared in disbelief and had to rub his eyes before shouting, “Look! Soone survived there!”
The others rushed over and followed his pointing finger. They saw an entire area within the Steel Forest that was devoid of steel trees. They raised pairs of chanical binoculars to get a closer look.
Through the lenses, they confird the presence of survivors, along with a massive pile of Energy Parts beside them. One of them was a female chanic, clearly assembling an automaton. The construct was roughly the size of an aquarium, and because it was completely made from Energy Parts, its fra was crystalline and transparent, more like a work of art than a machine.
As the woman set the final part, the automaton flashed brightly and started to change, shrinking until it reached the size of a human head.
Han Wu watched the shrunken automaton curiously. After being activated, the automaton whirred to life and gave instructions. “Please bind your biotrics, including fingerprints, blood, and genes.”
Han Wu knew that the X-rated BD-04 Luxun was a success.
“Han Wu, quickly bind your biotrics,” Kerry urged.
Han Wu nodded and placed his finger into a tiny insertion slot on the automaton. A brief sting followed as BD-04 Luxun collected his fingerprint and blood sample. With that step complete, the automaton officially activated.
Han Wu inspected it, and a data interface appeared before him.
[BD-04 Luxun]
[Rating: X]
[Function: Energy Gathering]
[Additional Functions: Multi-chips (0/20. Can equip chips up to Level 10)]
“Energy gathering?” Han Wu was confused. He wasn’t sure how useful it was. To test it, he issued the command to activate Energy Gathering.
The display on BD-04 Luxun showed a recharging icon as it absorbed the energy in the air and stored it inside its fra.
Kerry watched the process intently and grew increasingly excited by the function. As a chanic, her biggest concern was not preparing enough energy sources. An automaton without power was nothing more than scrap. Moreover, many places lacked dedicated energy charging stations, especially in the wilderness.
An automaton that could automatically gather energy from its surroundings was very valuable. The automatons on the market could only gather energy under certain conditions, and their efficiency was low. Even then, it wasn’t guaranteed that they could function in different environnts.
However, Luxun was different. It ignored the environntal paraters and continued absorbing energy. That alone justified its X rating. Even so, as an X-rated automaton, it had its shortcomings too. It didn’t have any attacking thods. Thankfully, this weakness could be addressed through the installation of additional chips.
Kerry took out a chip from her pocket. She had made it herself, a high-quality Level 7 chip. It contained an attack program called Laser Blast. After equipping it, an automaton could consu energy to unleash a huge barrage of laser bullets. The chip ca with a prerequisite. The automaton needed sufficient capacity to equip it in the first place.
Kerry decided to test it, so she handed it to Han Wu and asked him to equip it onto Luxun. The program loaded successfully, and Han Wu saw the Multi-chip count change to 7/20.
After confirming the result, Han Wu ordered it to attack. Luxun’s form changed as a dense array of barrels appeared in front of it, followed by a wild spray of laser bullets. The barrage hamred into the steel trees, carving dents up to a centiter deep.
The bullets’ raw power was average, but it was not just a physical attack. The laser bullets were infused with lightning, and they could paralyze anyone they struck. This was Laser Blast’s true value.
Han Wu nodded with satisfaction. Based on its strength and firing speed, he judged that Laser Blast could easily kill a Heroic life form. It could even defend against a Lord life form.
After confirming that the chip had loaded successfully, Kerry took out several complentary chips.
[Level 1 Chip: Accelerate. Consu energy to amplify bullet speed by 20%.]
[Level 3 Chip: Overload. Consu energy to amplify lightning attribute x3.]
[Level 4 Chip: Multishot. Consu energy to multiply bullet count x4.]
[Level 5 Chip: Tracker. Consu energy to grant bullets target-tracking capability.]
Han Wu equipped the chips onto Luxun, and the automaton’s performance rose sharply. He was confident that it could take down even King life forms now. However, it would still function as a supporting automaton against Earthsunder or Heavenrender life forms. Even then, it was still a powerful automaton.
By the ti they finished modifying it, they had used up half of the surrounding Energy Parts. They decided to split the rest so everyone would carry so. The Black Rose Squad and Luxun would carry most of the Energy Parts out of this place.
Just as they prepared to leave, a group of guards descended from above in flying vessels. More than thirty gun barrels were locked on them.
The leader shouted, “Leave behind those Energy Parts and the automaton that you’ve just assembled. Hand over the blueprint too, and I might let you leave this place alive. If not, you will end up like that steel tree.”
They fired at the steel tree he indicated. A hail of bullets tore through it, and the steel trunk, roughly one ter in diater, shattered into pieces!
Han Wu watched them with a cold smile. He had to admit that he loved the unspoken rule in the Lawless Civilization, where anyone could plunder or steal whatever they fancied.
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