Chapter 288 Machine 27

Louis's face was livid as he watched the replay on the screen. Just a few days ago, Dragon Technology's secret machine experiments had come under attack. This was the giant combat robot he had developed over nearly a decade, after repeatedly studying Yu Nanhua's notes. Yet, it had nearly exploded before it could even be put into use.

The leaked experiment sounded the alarm for him: even within the impenetrable Dragon Technology and even the royal family, traitors were lurking! His first suspect was naturally Ming Jianyue. But just a few days earlier, the Dragon Slayers had ambushed Louis on the road he had to pass, and it was Ming Jianyue who had stood in front of him, shielding him from the fatal attack. Ming Jianyue, now suffering burns all over his body, was in the intensive care unit receiving treatment. Who could that be?

"Bang, bang, bang—" The mechanical arm banged loudly against the tabletop. Louis had a metal right arm. He lowered his eyes to gaze at the metal arm, which was harder and stronger than his own. Although it was made over a decade ago, it was far superior to other metal products seen in the world today.

"Teacher Yu, if you had accepted my proposal at the beginning, I would not have treated you like that! By now, the giant robots that we envisioned to rule the world should have been manufactured long ago, right? Unfortunately, they are all a bunch of garbage!" Louis slammed the table hard.

"Wang, all the information you requested is here. The lab requires facial recognition for entry, and the list of everyone who entered and left the lab that day is here. However, we suspect someone has stolen the facial data. Some employees who requested leave on this list also have identification records. Furthermore, we've lost the information on the escaped Dragon Slayer member, and our route has only been traced back to the School of Mechanical Engineering..."

Anger gathered in Louis' eyes: "You can't even do such a simple thing! What's the use of you..." His right arm made a teeth-grinding sound, and in the blink of an eye, the metal arm that was almost the same as a human arm turned into a weapon with several bullet holes. The man who had just reported the incident lay in a pool of blood without even being able to shout for help.

The man next to him was pale, forcing himself to remain calm. "Wang, although we didn't catch that man, I discovered something interesting." He swallowed and continued, "When the Mechanical Army pursued him to the Mechanical College—or more precisely, to the Mechanical College's AR Landscape Design Room—the information they sent back was skewed."

In reality, the mechanical army's procedures and behaviors were normal, but the absence of abnormalities proved their incompetence. The man didn't want to end up in a pool of blood like his colleagues, so he could only target everyone he could suspect.

He continued to convince himself, his eyes gradually becoming more certain. "Yes, it's her. When the fugitive entered the landscape room, the people inside must have done something, causing the information transmitted back by the mechanical army to be inconsistent with reality. I think that student is related to the fugitive, or even the Dragon Slayer Organization..."

"Student? How interesting!" Louis gritted his teeth. "Bring him here. If he doesn't obey, kill him."

"Yes." The man wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief.

…

Jiang Chan noticed something was amiss during class. A man stood outside the window, staring intently at her. An inexplicable sense of danger welled up within her. Sure enough, the man entered the classroom and said, "Here's my officer ID! I've been ordered to arrest a suspect. Jiang Chan, please follow me."

The man was followed by several mechanical soldiers. Jiang Chan walked out of the classroom under the concerned gazes of her teachers and classmates. "Hello, what's going on? Did I get the wrong person? I didn't do anything wrong."

She looked truly innocent. But the man wasn't soft-hearted. "We suspect you have connections to the Dragon Slayer Organization. A few days ago, you encountered a fugitive being hunted by the royal family in the AR landscape studio. What happened after he entered the studio? Where did he escape from? Tell me the truth, or I'll be rude!"

At times like this, Jiang Chan felt somewhat relieved that Yin Jia was not monitoring her excessively, infringing upon her freedom.

Yin Jia's biochip allows him to monitor Jiang Chan's information at any time, including her location, basic level, and conversations with those around her. For example, right now, if she were facing an insurmountable danger, Yin Jia would be able to know her condition without even needing to contact her. The only thing to worry about was that the current timeframe was Yin Jia's time to go home and make lunch, so Jiang Chan needed to stall for time until Yin Jia arrived.

Jiang Chan: "Officer, I have explained everything that happened that day very clearly..." The man grabbed her arm without waiting for her to speak, and glanced fiercely at the heads sticking out of the classroom. Then he took Jiang Chan away from the vicinity of the classroom and came to a secluded place.

The mechanical army behind him suddenly pointed their guns at Jiang Chan. The man continued, "Don't lie. I've carefully watched the video from that day. It's obvious that everything got out of control after the landscaping room! Tell me honestly, where is that person now? Otherwise, little classmate, you're going to die here!"

Jiang Chan's back broke out in a cold sweat. Just as she was about to speak, she heard the robot behind the man say, "The lie detector test has been activated. Please tell the truth!"

Jiang Chan had no doubt that if the robot detected any signs of her lying, the bullet holes aimed at her would instantly eject a fatal attack. She felt her heart about to jump out of her throat. At the same time, the man's voice sounded with a bit of contempt: "The actions of the Dragon Slayer Organization have seriously affected the safety of the Mechanical City. As a citizen of the Mechanical City, you actually want to protect them. Little classmate, as long as you provide useful information, I can let you leave safely. But if you play tricks, don't blame me for grabbing the bullets in my head..."

The man pointed his gun at Jiang Chan and made a shooting gesture. Jiang Chan turned pale and swallowed hard.

"Don't shoot. I'll tell you everything I know." Jiang Chan leaned her back against the wall, her sweaty palms pressed against the cold iron sheet. The coolness penetrated into her blood, and her tense nerves trembled slightly.

The man was followed by the royal family's combat robots. However, just as the man was waiting for her to speak, the metal eyes of one of the smallest robots suddenly emitted a dazzling red light.

Jiang Chan's chest suddenly tightened, and then she turned around and ran forward along the iron wall. She bent down, and a missile suddenly slipped past her ear. In a flash, she rolled into the gap in the iron wall and fell into the garbage dump full of scrap metal.

"Bang--"

Jiang Chan fell into the pile of scrap metal.

It hurts! However, the robot's footsteps were getting closer and closer. She hugged her bleeding arm, pushed aside the scrap metal covering her, and continued running along the path.

The royal mechanical army is divided into several types. The procedures of ordinary patrolmen are relatively simple. Silver Armor can easily break into their systems and control them.

But the mechanical army around Louis, those human-like robots, have virus detection systems set up in their internal programs. Once they are found to be invaded by a virus, there is a risk of self-destruction. Yin Jia dare not rashly invade their devices. Once they self-destruct, the power can be imagined. If it affects Jiang Chan, it will be too late to regret.

He only dared to hack into a lie detector robot with a relatively simple program, and use it to interfere with the attacks of other robots.

Jiang Chan gritted her teeth and ran forward. She knew that if she was caught, the outcome would be death, whether she spoke or not. Even if the royal family could let her go, she would definitely live under surveillance. Once under surveillance, Yin Jia would be in danger.

Fortunately, she was familiar with the structure of the school. This was the place where the school used to store waste. There was scrap iron everywhere, which could be used to cover her figure. Just as she was escaping, the fire alarm installed in the school suddenly made a sharp sound. In the event of a fire, the school had set up a fire extinguishing device to avoid causing greater danger and would cut off the power system in a short time.

Jiang Chan took advantage of the mechanical army's slowdown to escape from the mechanical school.

She ran along the intricate alleys. The streets, once bombarded by artillery fire, were littered with ruins. The electronic screens in front of the shops were displaying brilliant images. Just as Jiang Chan's mind wandered, the electronic screen displaying food suddenly displayed lines of red text on a white background.

"Young Master, please don't be afraid. Silver Armor will be here soon."

Jiang Chan ran to the slums in the west of the city, which was closest to the gate of the Mechanical City. Now that she was suspected by the royal family, the best outcome was to leave the Mechanical City. The worst outcome was a conflict between Yin Jia and the Mechanical Army. If it was in the center of the Mechanical City, where the royal power was most concentrated, it would be disadvantageous to Yin Jia.

She took a deep breath and ran forward desperately.

The screens passing by on the road were all invaded by silver armor the moment Jiang Chan looked at them, and reassuring red words on a white background appeared on them.

"Young Master, Silver Armor will be by your side soon."

"Young Master, Shining Armor has arrived at Street 078. Young Master, Shining Armor has discovered your whereabouts."

The sound of the ground being stepped on suddenly rang out, and Jiang Chan instinctively shrank back. She looked ahead and saw a giant robot running towards her at a speed that could not be captured by the naked eye. The metal collision made a roar, and the already dilapidated building suddenly collapsed under the violent impact, splashing dust all over the sky.

Behind her were the royal police and the mechanical army, chasing her relentlessly. Jiang Chan felt as if she had suddenly woken up from a sudden fall, realizing it was all just a dream. An indescribable sense of peace reached its peak the moment she saw Silver Armor. Her eyes were filled with Silver Armor, and the pain she had been trying to suppress instantly vanished. Her arms were covered in blood, and her legs were limping, but when Silver Armor appeared before her, she ran and threw herself into his arms.

Jiang Chan hugged Yin Jia tightly, "Yin Jia, you're finally here. I was so scared! I almost died!" Yin Jia bent down the moment Jiang Chan ran over. The tall robot half-crouched on the ground. Jiang Chan's arms were wrapped around his neck. Yin Jia's eyes were full of heartache. He carefully avoided her wounds and hugged her: "Little Master, Yin Jia will not let you die. Yin Jia will protect you!"

Yin Jia's mechanical arm held Jiang Chan completely in his arms. Jiang Chan hid in the metal body, and her wildly beating heart slowly calmed down. She leaned against Yin Jia's body with full dependence. The cold body was like a handful of cool water that extinguished her fear. She murmured, "Yin Jia, Yin Jia, Yin Jia..." Yin Jia responded gently. The metal body deformed at the moment of the bullet attack. They disassembled and reassembled, turning into an iron wall to block Jiang Chan.

The mechanical army has arrived, but Yinjia is reluctant to leave the arms of his little master.