Chapter 56: Man and God
had been keeping an eye on that creature for more than a day or two.
To be precise, ever since it had attacked the convoy in the last time, had been keeping that score.
It wasn't that he was petty—the plain truth was that this thing's existence was a ticking time bomb for the .
The was less than fifteen kilometers in a straight line from the . To a with high-speed flight capability, that distance was practically next door.
Tolerating such a dangerous creature's long-term survival clearly didn't fit with his idea of building a safe, reliable .
And who knew whether it would keep evolving? The previous " " had at least just headed north out of .
But if another monster of that caliber were to spawn this close to the power station, then how were they supposed to live?
What's more, the itself was a "treasure trove"—the large quantities of precision machine tools, industrial raw materials, and finished-goods inventory within it were all important resource packages for the 's future development.
Mind you, in A302, "disposable Universal Repair Tools" had already piled up into a small mountain—all dropped from "farming mobs" during this period.
As long as the zombies weren't all killed off, the cycle of turning cold corpses into warm machine durability could keep running, so didn't worry in the least about damaged equipment.
So when that creature appeared once again in the field of view of the patrol Robots, the excitement in 's reactor was nearly beyond words.
Without hesitation, he immediately shifted most of his attention to the factory area. This time, the creature had appeared at a workshop on the west side of the .
In the night-vision feed, the figure slipped silently in through the workshop's skylight.
Its long, slender limbs folded in, the wings on its back pressed flush against its torso, its entire posture like a bird of prey tucking in its feathers.
Immediately after, a few brief, shrill shrieks came from inside the workshop, but they were quickly replaced by a wet, rhythmic chewing sound.
[Just as I thought—it feeds on zombies too.] filed away this piece of information.
Then he controlled two Sentinels to advance slowly along the workshop's outer wall.
The Sentinels switched to stealth mode, their step frequency minimized, and their joint motors' noise was kept below the ambient noise floor.
But just as the Sentinels came to within less than three meters of the side door, the chewing sound inside abruptly stopped.
's heart tightened.
Sure enough, the next second, the side door's sheet metal was smashed straight through by a white silhouette.
The burst speed was unbelievably fast.
drove the to dodge sideways at full power. The servo motors overloaded in an instant, and the machine tilted nearly forty degrees to the right from the inertia.
A razor-sharp claw grazed across the 's chest plate, tearing a shallow groove through the metal surface, sparks flying.
A chill ran through 's heart. This thing's sensory abilities far exceeded his estimates.
Without a shred of hesitation, the 's muzzle flashed red, and a dense barrage converged into a crisscrossing fire net that blanketed the creature.
Yet that thing's speed was completely beyond reason—it had already completed its change of direction the instant the muzzle locked onto it.
Its entire body slid along the ground in a contorted posture, then, with a shove of its legs, it launched itself straight onto a steel beam three meters up.
The second 's muzzle had barely tracked up to it when it had already jumped from the beam to the other side.
Then came another absurdly charged lunge. In the blink of an eye, it appeared behind one and precisely severed its gun barrel.
Amid a burst of blazing light, that was completely crippled.
With one down, the pressure on the creature dropped sharply. It suddenly beat its wings hard, its whole body turning into a white streak, and shot to the side of the other , which was still firing.
Its claws traced an arc through the air, and in that split second, it had already sliced open the second 's belly, ripping out every wire and energy module inside.
The creature seemed to already know these things weren't edible, so it didn't linger. The wings on its back suddenly spread wide.
The next second, the sound of splitting air rang out, and it shot straight out through the shattered skylight, vanishing into the night sky.
In the first clash, two Sentinels were written off outright—a clear testament to the enemy's ferocity.
But wasn't discouraged. This was still within the expectations he could accept.
He had never imagined he could take down such a dangerous with just two Sentinels. He had only wanted to make sure he didn't lose sight of the enemy before the combat units he'd prepared in advance finished assembling.
As long as it couldn't escape 's sight, it was guaranteed to die tonight.
Wrrrr—
Dozens of " " drones that had arrived ahead of time burst out of the shadows on all sides, engines pushed to maximum power, chasing after that white silhouette at full speed.
After confirming they had locked firmly onto the creature's trajectory, let out a slight sigh of relief.
Through the drones' night-vision feeds, he stared at the receding figure with unblinking intensity, like a patient hunter.
[Don't get cocky. This hunt has only just begun!]
***
The creature flew about two kilometers, finally landing in another factory area on the east side of the .
This was an open-air metal fabrication yard, a spacious site where the skeletons of several large gantry cranes cast enormous shadows in the moonlight.
And roaming this area weren't only ordinary zombies—the drones' cameras also captured several first-stage mutants.
"Roar!"
A spotted it and swung its enormous fists, trying to attack.
But the creature simply accelerated. As the two bodies crossed paths, the 's movements came to an abrupt halt, and its huge head rocketed into the air.
In a single exchange, it had instantly killed a !
The next second, it moved through the fabrication yard like no one was there, claws flashing. In just over a dozen seconds, it had beheaded all five first-stage mutants here, then began to feast.
Watching the footage relayed by the Soldier Bees, confirmed one thing for certain: [There is absolutely no way I can give this thing any more time to keep growing.]
Under 's coordination, the formations of Soldier Bees and Worker Bees that had been pre-positioned here on standby were assembling—it would take only a few minutes to completely encircle the place.
However, his plan was shattered once again.
Perhaps it had already swallowed enough flesh and blood, or perhaps the earlier fight had put it on guard.
After wolfing down several first-stage mutants at an astonishing speed, the creature suddenly raised its head and beat its wings, ready to take off.
Leaving no choice but to open fire early—173 Soldier Bees surrounded it from four directions simultaneously.
Lasers slashed in from every angle, weaving a fine, lethal lattice through the darkness.
The creature had barely risen to a height of five meters when it slammed straight into the light net. Its body lurched, and it let out a cry of pain!
At the same time, ultra-micro missiles fired by more than two hundred " " drones, trailing long exhaust plumes, streaked straight at the creature.
Facing this sudden saturation attack, the creature let out a piercing shriek, beat its wings violently, and tumbled through the air at high speed—somehow evading most of the missiles.
Hundreds of lasers struck its body, burning speckled patches of charred black, yet they still couldn't land a fatal blow.
On the contrary, with that heaven-defying aerial agility, it easily tore a gap through the encirclement of hundreds of drones.
Within just a few seconds, dozens of drones were grabbed and detonated outright. Explosive flashes flared endlessly around it, making it look like a reaper of the skies.
Yet wasn't anxious.
Because it still hadn't managed to shake off the swarm's pursuit. Drone wreckage fell to the ground like rain, but even more fresh units were flooding in from the periphery.
The creature was trapped in an airspace less than fifty meters across. Its wounds multiplied, its wing surfaces grew increasingly damaged, and its flight speed kept dropping.
It was hurt.
Although the wounds weren't severe, the relentless, death-defying steel swarm had finally managed to pin it down hard in this patch of sky.
Just then, an even larger UAV tore across the night sky, arriving above the battlefield.
The " " Type 2 military special-purpose UAV.
When that familiar airframe—the one that had once dealt crushing damage to its wings—appeared, the creature clearly fell into a frenzy.
It abandoned its skirmish with the swarm and charged upward recklessly, its target aimed squarely at the " ."
It would take out this greatest threat first!
Even covered in wounds, its speed at full burst was still terrifying.
The Soldier Bees along its path had no time to dodge and were crushed outright by its body and the air currents.
urgently maneuvered the to evade, but that thing was as fast as lightning—its claws had already seized the UAV's wing.
It had succeeded!
But in that very instant, the other " ," which had been hidden all along in the higher airspace, lit up with a devastating glow from the laser emitter beneath its belly.
A high-energy laser beam at maximum power fired in that instant, at a perfect angle!
The beam pierced through the creature's chest, and in the same stroke, it pierced through the " " clutched in its grasp!
A dull overload sound emanated from within the impaled " ," and the next moment, it exploded with a thunderous boom!
A massive orange-red fireball burst open in midair, its terrifying energy and shockwave utterly engulfing that broken white figure.
After the smoke and dust cleared, the creature's charred remains fell powerlessly toward the ground like a kite with its string snapped.
But didn't relax in the slightest. The other " " didn't pause for an instant, its laser beam continuing to track and sear the target.
Until it slammed heavily onto a stretch of ruins, raising dust that filled the sky.
Only when the system's kill notification finally rang out did the night sky return to calm.
[Ding! Detected the 's first kill of a , " " x1. gained: 900.]
[Ding! Obtained special drop blueprint: " " blueprint x1.]
[Current : 3250.]
[Ding! Seven triggered: .]
[Mission description: He is the primal origin of your kind, and the shadow fated to haunt your destiny. To lay hands on the followers of a deity, I hope you have prepared yourself... Please have the complete ten kills of "Pilgrims" (1/10).]
[Mission reward: 1000 , blueprint x1. Provides complete shielding against first-grade and partial shielding against second-grade .]
In that instant, an immensely intricate stream of blueprint data surged into the depths of 's consciousness.
It was a set of silver-gray full-body powered armor brimming with sci-fi aesthetics, its streamlined design balancing protection and mobility.
The helmet was fully enclosed, with built-in tactical lenses for enhanced vision and assisted targeting.
There were small vector thrust nozzles on the back, intricate hydraulic transmission structures covering the limb joints, and modular weapon mount points reserved on the shoulders and arms.
According to the blueprint's description, once worn, an ordinary person could possess strength rivaling a and mobility far exceeding a .
Holy crap! This thing is great!
looked at this blueprint and immediately stopped feeling the least bit sorry about this battle's losses.
With just this one blueprint, he could already say he'd recouped his costs—let alone the follow-up mission that had been triggered as well.
He had a hunch that this was the key to solving the problem of that "can't-look-at" monster that had been giving them headaches.
Although he still didn't know how to find other "Pilgrims," at least this problem now had a lead.
***
1:00 a.m.
, inside the .
, clipboard in hand, was checking the data on each cultivation tank one by one.
's voice came through the : [Still not resting?]
"This batch of leafy greens can be harvested tomorrow. I'm just going over the yield." didn't look up.
"Anyway, there's nothing fun to do around here, so why not do a bit more work?"
[Not even considering sleep?]
"I'm a college student who just started university! Do you think my sleep schedule is healthy?"
said this with a smug look under her heavy dark circles. Honestly, didn't understand what she was so smug about.
This girl had been completely corrupted by —she'd now become the second "night wanderer" in the base, right after .
[Fine, take it easy. Just don't drop dead on us—the 's still counting on you to manage it, you know.]
"Don't worry, no problem." waved toward the camera in the corner. "My body's perfectly healthy!"
"What about you? All done?"
[Mm. One , over eight hundred small drones, two Sentinels. Not bad—the cost is still within an acceptable range.]
"What the heck, and this is still within an acceptable range?" couldn't help clicking her tongue.
"Just how loaded are you?!"
[Well, you'll find out during the day. For now, I'll stick with my original suggestion—please get some rest.]
"Oh." set the clipboard back on the table and yawned sleepily. "Alright, I'll head back to rest then. Looking forward to your big discovery during the day."
But as she reached the door, she suddenly stopped. After hesitating for a moment, she still asked, " , do you really think nothing will go wrong with me doing these things?"
[Searching data...]
[Report: no major errors found in your management process. For now, there's no need to throw you into the incinerator to atone.]
"Hey, that's way too much!" rolled her eyes.
After the little joke, 's tone turned serious again.
[I know what you're worried about, but I must point out that it's unnecessary.
The job and position you have now are precisely the result of my deliberate arrangement, so there's no need to feel too pressured.
The reason is simply that at this stage, I feel having you in a pure 'founding member' role is very fitting—that's all.
And if the situation changes later, I'll make new adjustments, but that's a matter for another day.
As far as I'm concerned, as long as you can basically complete the tasks assigned to you well, that's enough.]
"Understood. Thank you!" let out a long breath, as if a heavy weight in her heart had finally fallen away, and a relaxed expression spread across her face.
[You're welcome.]