Chapter 630 The Remaining Mechanical Echo
The grassland was very cold at night. The three of them walked quickly under the starry sky. Sura was in front, with an oil lamp hanging on his waist and the necessary tools on his back. Tilan was also carrying the iron box for the sword on his back. Guy was behind, walking and keeping an eye on the surroundings.
Because they were worried, Sura and Guy didn't talk much along the way. They just hurried on in the night, occasionally telling Tilan a few important landmarks along the way to remember the direction.
"The two trees next to each other, with the right angle between the trees pointing south, is our settlement. Remember it when you go in and out in the future."
"I remember it." Tilan nodded.
After that, they saw a big rock on the road again. Sura told Tilan that this was an important landmark. If you walk northeast along the big rock, there will be another settlement there.
"There lives a group of leaf-rot species there. Their habits are relatively primitive, but the elders in the settlement are quite reasonable. If you have any problems, you can try to talk to their elders." Sura told Tilan.
After that, the three of them walked for another half an hour, and they were very close to the place where they needed help.
"Be careful. If you hear any noise, try to lie down first to avoid being shot." Sura told Tilan.
"If there are fewer machines, you can try to fight back. If there are a large group, then we have to find a way to escape." Tilan also became a little nervous. After all, she had never seen the war machines recorded in history.
Just like that, when Tilan began to spread her perception, a short burst of gunfire sounded in the distance. Then the three of them focused their eyes on the distance in the night. The faint muzzle fire was seen by Guy and Tilan, while Sura only heard the general direction of the sound.
"Over there." Guy spoke, asking the two to squat slightly, then threw down the packages they were carrying and went into battle lightly.
This was the first time Tilan saw Guy fight. He used an unknown secret method to make his body extremely light and his footsteps silent. Then he ran on the grass at a very fast speed.
No wonder he was able to escape from the pursuit of the war machines that year. This speed is indeed impossible for ordinary people to catch up. Perhaps this is also the reason why he was able to survive the melee that day.
Following the direction of the gunshots and the fire, Tilan looked at the distance with great concentration, and gradually saw the scene in the distance.
In the night, a sturdy man in a windbreaker held a pistol in his hand and kept moving around a hill in the wilderness, avoiding shooting and occasionally firing back with a pistol. He shot very sparingly, probably because he didn't have many bullets, and his opponent...
a mechanical mantis with three pairs of legs, holding sharp double knives, jumping between the mountains, attacking in a straight line at a very fast speed, but the turning speed was not flexible, so it didn't hit the man.
A mechanical armadillo fired from a distance, with armor plates overlapping and staggered on its body, and two dark red muzzles on its head, firing from time to time in the dark night.
A detection-type mechanical meerkat, it stood next to the mechanical armadillo, stood up, opened its head, and rotated a dim red light inside, constantly scanning and observing the surrounding situation, and passing the man's position coordinates to the mechanical armadillo next to it.
For the man in the black windbreaker, the combined long-range attack of the mechanical armadillo and the mechanical meerkat is strong, but not fast. With his skills, he can run away even if he takes one or two shots. But it is different with the mantis. This mantis is not only fast in a straight line, but also has a pair of sharp knives that are dangerous. So he is trapped here and keeps using the terrain to try to use up the ammunition of the mechanical armadillo before escaping.
"I'll help you!" Guy approached quickly, and then shot an arrow at the mechanical meerkat standing in the distance. The arrow hit the fragile observation device and brought a few sparks.
After that, the shooting accuracy of the mechanical armadillo really became worse, which gave the exhausted man hope and cheered up immediately.
"Thank you." He turned over and jumped up. When the mantis also chased and approached, he held the gun with both hands. A burst of blue light appeared at the muzzle. A slightly dull special gunshot sounded, and the bullet shot this time actually penetrated the armor on the mantis's head.
In the sparks, the mantis continued to approach. The two knives crossed and brushed the man's body. Although they did not cut him in half, a straight cut was cut in his windbreaker, which was particularly dangerous.
After rolling to avoid the pursuit, the man jumped up again, temporarily distanced himself, and then raised his gun and aimed at it with full concentration.
"Bang--" The bullet shot in from the gap that had just been penetrated, penetrated the head of the mechanical mantis, and fragments burst out from the back.
After the head was penetrated, the mantis's steps and attacks became obviously messy, as if it was blind, and the man in the windbreaker avoided the chaotic attacks several times.
Sura and Tilan began to approach at this time, but when Tilan was about to take off the iron box on her back, she was stopped by Sura.
"It's not necessary to use it today, let me do it." As she said, she raised the gun in her hand, aimed at the mantis in the distance, began to calm down, and then shot the mantis in the abdomen, and black oil began to flow out of it.
"It won't live long now." Sura breathed a sigh of relief and then fired again, but the hit rate of the next few shots was not very good.
Perhaps knowing that it was about to stop moving, the mechanical mantis's attack became more crazy.
[ρThe sub-terminal autonomous unit of the Mechanical Council-'Mantis-5 type, is executing the purge order. It has reached the shutdown critical value at this moment, and the self-destruction program has begun...]
A series of data and information flowed through its AI core, and a burst of mechanical synthesized sound sounded inside.
Amid the buzzing sound, a fierce fire broke out from the inside of the mechanical mantis, and the ejected armor slices cut the man in black. After that, the fire dissipated, leaving only burnt debris at the scene.
"What a pity, if it didn't self-destruct, the parts inside could be dismantled and sold for a lot of money." Sura put away the gun.
Tilan stood still on the side, blankly recalling the last mechanical synthesized sound she had just heard.
"That sound just now..."
"Oh, you mean that, it's just a boring whine. The old humans have died long ago, and the legacy of these mechanical councils is just a dying struggle." She answered nonchalantly.
"I don't know why some people always miss the past. If we really want to go back to the past, let's all be monkeys in the trees together." She shook her head and then ran to Guy.
Another battlefield was also about to end. Without the observation and lock of the mechanical meerkat and the enemy of the mechanical mantis, the remaining lone mechanical armadillo had very poor melee ability. The flexible Guy kept circling around and attacking it. Finally, he pulled out the short knife he carried with him, inserted it into the gap of the mechanical armor, cut off the connection line, and stopped it from running.
"Huh, although it was a bit thrilling, this time it was a good harvest." Looking at the relatively intact mechanical armadillo, Guy seemed particularly proud and satisfied.
The battle was over. The three packed up their things and walked towards the black-clad man who was bandaging his wounds. Only then did they see his appearance
clearly. "Younger than expected." Guy touched his chin, perhaps a little unhappy that the other was more handsome.
Judging from his appearance, he seemed to be in his early 20s, with short silver-gray hair and a very fair face. It was just that his experienced skills and marksmanship made the three mistakenly think that he should be an older soldier.
"Thank you." He bandaged his wounds and barely stood up.
With a black windbreaker, black leather pants, and a slightly technological pistol on his waist, he looked like a man from a distant civilized world.
"My name is Faran, I come from the Slami Association in the south, and I am currently traveling around to carry out investigation missions." He briefly introduced his origins.
"The Slami Association is really far away. I heard it's on the other side of the sea."
"Yes, there are many scholars there. The current chief has issued an investigation plan and sent us to various places to collect data." He took out the necklace from his neck, on which hung a precisely cut nameplate with Faran's name and number.
"If I die, you can take this nameplate and the investigation report to find someone from the Slami Association at random, and you can get valuable rewards."
"But if I'm alive, I can be your middleman guarantor and buy some things from the Slami Association that are not available on the market, such as precious antibiotics, weapons, protective windbreakers, and even power armor."
"Hey, don't lie to children with big words. The power armor you mentioned is also an extremely precious thing in the Slami Association. Outsiders can't buy it." Sura said that he was not a rookie who had just come out to mix.
"Haha, it's not impossible, right?" He smiled, and then turned his eyes to the other two, especially to Tilan, who stayed for a long time.
"Who are these two?"
"I'm Guy, a companion of Sura from the same settlement, and this is Heshia, our friend." Guy took the initiative to introduce himself, probably because he was afraid that Tilan would say too much and reveal some unnecessary information.
"I see." He nodded, then turned his head to look at the broken machine lying on the ground.
"I'm injured now and may not be able to travel. Can I stay in your settlement for a few days? I know a good piece of information and can tell you in return."
"That depends on what the information is." Sura bargained.
"It's a relic I found. There should be an underground laboratory left over from the past. The reason why I was chased by the war machine is probably because they found traces when I came out."
"Such important information, you are willing to use it just to exchange for a few days of stay?" Sura was a little unconvinced.
"Well, the relic looks a bit broken, and it may have been turned over by someone. After all, it's been so long." The other party sighed.
"Are you sure you didn't lie to me? Are there any other features and important information there?" Sura was very interested in the relic, but he was also worried that it would be a waste of time.
"I won't lie to you about this. You should know that the members of our Slami Association value reputation." The other party explained.
"This..." Sura hesitated.
Obviously, this is a very cost-effective deal, but there are only six people in the settlement now, and three of them are still unable to fight, namely the moose boss, Marula and Orles. If Fran finds out about this and has any rebellious thoughts, it's hard to say.
But as he said, the things of the Slami Association are very expensive, and their reputation has always been good. After all, they don't have to turn against each other for such a small profit.
"Okay, I promise to let you live in our settlement for a while, but these days, you have to help with the work, because some people in our settlement have gone out to trade, and we are short of manpower, so it is impossible to take care of you." Sura explained.
"Uh, work... okay." He answered with some difficulty, and it seems that he really doesn't like to work.
Then Sura used local materials to make a simple trailer, put the relatively intact mechanical armadillo on it and dragged it back.
The four of them walked and talked along the way. It can be seen that Fran has indeed been to many places and his views are very objective and broad.
"When I came here, I took the association's big ship. The strange sea beasts along the way didn't do anything to us, but when we were about to reach the end, we encountered an extremely terrible storm. The waves directly overturned the big ship. After that, my companions and I drifted for several days before reaching the shore." He said with some regret and nostalgia.
"Fortunately, there is also a base of our association's advance team here. After a certain degree of supply, we started to act, but because of the storm, we lost a lot of people. The original three-person team, now there is only me."
"Then your luck is really good, which allows you to survive, and this time too." Sura complained.
"Haha, I think so too." After saying that, he looked at Tilan with a little curiosity. After all, among the three, this girl is really too special, and she doesn't look like someone who lives in this chaotic land at all.
"I came from a very far place, and my companions and I fell from the vehicle and got lost here." Tilan thought about it and could only explain it this way.
"Where exactly is it?" Fran was obviously very curious. Where on earth is there a civilization that is more advanced than the Association, or has reached the same level.
"That's rude, Mr. Fran." Sura interrupted Fran's curiosity.
"Heshia saved my life and is my good friend. I don't allow you to pry into her privacy endlessly like this."
"Okay, okay, after all, everyone has some secrets." Fran did not continue to ask.
In this way, the four of them walked at a not-so-tense pace and returned to the col where the settlement was located.
"The terrain here is pretty good, no wonder you settled here." Outside the col, Fran took a vague look at the surrounding environment in the night and commented.
"Let's go in. Everyone is asleep now. I'll arrange a room for you later. Go and get some rest."
"Yes, yes, yes." Fran teased, and then followed the others into the col.
After tapping the locked cave door, Guy woke up Marula who was guarding behind the door and asked him to open the door. Then the four of them walked in and briefly introduced the situation. Then they arranged a bedroom for Fran. Fran slept inside and Marula slept outside. If he went out in the middle of the night, he would definitely wake up Marula who was sleeping.
Indeed, Marula would definitely not be able to beat Fran, but anyone with normal IQ would not take the unknown risk of attacking in an unfamiliar environment on the first night, especially when he really needed to recover from his injuries.
Those who can survive in this chaotic land are not simple-minded.
After settling down, there was no conversation that night, and they spent it peacefully. However, Tilan slept late and was still thinking about the last mechanical synthesized sound she heard at that time.
[ρThe sub-end self-discipline unit of the Mechanical Council-'Mantis'-5 type, is executing the purge order. At this moment, it has reached the shutdown critical value and the self-destruction program has begun... Long live human civilization! ]
Perhaps in this world, the real members of the Mechanical Council have long since died, leaving only these war machines that follow the set procedures, constantly replicate themselves, and still execute orders.
(End of this chapter)
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