As the chanical bees mapped the sewers, Kerry projected the map for everyone to see. The display appeared as a three-dinsional model rather than a flat schematic.
“I’ve programd the bees to send an alert the mont they encounter a living life form,” Kerry explained.
Han Wu gave her a thumbs-up in appreciation of her thoroughness.
The map continued to fill in, but several paths stopped updating. As minutes passed, more paths remained incomplete. In less than five minutes, every chanical bee lost its signal.
Kerry frowned and ran several diagnostic codes through the beehive to review the bees’ last footage. The recordings showed chanical mice, roughly thirty centiters long, charging at them to tear them apart or strike them with their chanical tails before destroying them. The footage confird that the chanical mice were the culprits.
“It seems that we’ll have to explore ourselves,” Han Wu said.
To improve their efficiency, they split into four teams. Han Wu tead up with Luxun, Kerry took two automatons from her Black Rose Squad, Akanzor paired with one automaton, and Bart led another.
Kerry also gave each team a chanical beehive. They could receive signals from the chanical bees and display the map of the areas they had explored. After everything was set in place, the four teams moved out.
Han Wu and Luxun chose a path and soon heard the sound of chanical mice. He used his senses and detected a chanical mouse about twenty centiters long, with a tail stretching nearly two ters. Its trajectory left no doubt that it was heading straight for him.
The distance slowly closed from a hundred ters to ten ters before the mouse finally ca into view. It was baring its steel front teeth and charging at Han Wu.
Han Wu raised his left arm and activated Cable Form. His five fingers transford into thick cables that snapped through the air. He then activated Lightning Whip. A surge of electricity flooded his arm, and the five electrified cables lashed about with violent force.
The chanical mouse shattered under the assault and exploded into different parts. One Energy Part and one chip drifted free from its ruined body.
Han Wu waved his hand, and both items floated toward him. He stored the Energy Part in Luxun and checked the chip.
[Level 1 chip: Whip]
After appraising it, he realized that it had an 85% compatibility rating with his left arm. He equipped it and finally understood the EX rating’s importance. Machines or automatons with the EX rating could equip compatible chips without restriction on number or level.
Han Wu delved deeper and discovered more chanical mice. At first there had only been one, but now he faced fifty. Still, he didn’t retreat. Lightning Whip consud too much energy, so he relied on Whip instead. Even though it was slower and had a smaller radius, it conserved energy and could easily handle large groups of chanical mice at the sa ti.
He wasn’t alone either. His supporting automaton, Luxun, fought alongside him. It fired Laser Blasts and eliminated many chanical mice on its own.
Their progress was smooth. As they destroyed more chanical mice, they accumulated increasing numbers of Energy Parts and chips. Luxun could store large amounts of energy but not items. Han Wu had to rge those items to increase their quality and reduce the strain on Luxun.
Unexpectedly, Luxun showed interest in the rged Energy Parts and autonomously sent a request to Han Wu. “Discovered new Energy Parts that can be replaced. Replace?”
Han Wu considered the request. Since Luxun was his own machine, replacing its parts would strengthen his own power too. Hence, he agreed.
After replacing those parts, Luxun showed no visible changes. Han Wu didn’t mind and assud the effects would not appear imdiately. He then focused on rging the other chips into three basic forms: Whip, Bite, and Rapid Walk.
Only Whip was compatible with the Machine God’s left arm. After rging them, Whip had advanced from Level 1 to Level 4. While the movent speed hadn't changed much, its power and speed had increased rapidly.
Satisfied, Han Wu decided to gather more Whip chips and raise its level even higher. He looked forward to seeing just how destructive it could beco.
He continued advancing and reached another fork in the road. He expanded his senses, but sothing dampened them, much like in the Steel Forest. He could only extend his senses up to a hundred-ter radius.
The sewers were three-dinsional, which allowed Han Wu to sense activity fifty ters above and below his position. It also helped him in locating Ji Zhongyi faster.
As he ventured deeper, the true terror of the place beca clear. Unlike the Steel Forest, which teed with machines and steel trees that actively attacked him, this area contained only chanical mice with simple attacking patterns. Nonetheless, this was still a restricted zone. The chanical mice were weak, but their numbers were overwhelming.
Han Wu felt a huge swarm surging through the tunnels below him. chanical mice covered every inch of the passage. Anyone with trypophobia would have died on the spot. Even for Han Wu, this scene ranked among the most disturbing he had encountered.
Another problem followed imdiately. Just a hundred ters away, he sensed a massive ball composed of tens of thousands of chanical mice barreling toward him. The force driving it down the path was no joke. Getting struck by it would be like being hit by a solid steel ball.
Han Wu knew he could not handle it head-on, and he quickly chose to run away. Soone else could deal with it, but not him. He ran backward, searching for a fork in the path that would let him avoid the oncoming mass.
As he moved, he checked the beehive’s map and soon found a path where he could hide. He slipped inside, and the rolling mass passed by monts later without causing any damage.
Han Wu let out a breath of relief. He had barely stepped back onto the path when he heard voices coming from the fork ahead. He assud that they were hunters and decided to eavesdrop on them.
“That idiot really stole the chmouse King. If he follows the map the bishop gave him, he should reach the core in half a day.”
“As long as his chmouse King attacks the core, it will awaken the guardian. Then we will have a good show to watch.”
Han Wu’s expression turned serious. He had heard of the chmouse King before. It shared the sa na as the machine that Ji Dezhu’s son had stolen.
It seems that things have beco interesting, Han Wu thought.
User Comments
0 comments from readers