Chapter 1 Heading to the Gray Iron Wastes

Traveling from First Sanctuary to the Gray Iron Wastes took four or five days across the wilderness, so the convoy had to camp in the open.

This was the first day of departure, at dusk.

At Han Xiao's direction, the convoy found safe terrain in the wild and rested on the spot. Traveling after dark was dangerous, as many wild beasts were active at night.

Dark Net soldiers patrolled the camp in shifts. Han Xiao gathered the important members of the team for a meeting: his assistant Huang Yu, the engineering supervisor Conifer, and the guard captain Liu Chao.

The blueprint for the Gray Iron Wastes renovation plan was spread out on the table, and Conifer spoke eloquently.

"The initial renovation of the entire city was originally scheduled for three months: clearing weeds, driving away beasts, clearing ruins, and then completing the infrastructure of the sanctuary, laying power grids, water systems, and so on. But this is a plan based on a standard of 30,000 workers. We only have 1,000 people in the first month. We can't do anything, not even clear the ruins," Conifer said helplessly.

Han Xiao nodded noncommittally and looked at Huang Yu. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Huang Yu said perfunctorily, "No."

Noticing Huang Yu's indifferent attitude, Han Xiao roughly guessed Huang Yu's thoughts; he was unwilling to be his assistant. Han Xiao didn't care. He didn't need an assistant in the first place. He turned his head and said, "Manpower is not a problem. I plan to complete the blueprint construction in one month."

Conifer was stunned. "That would require at least 100,000 people. Even First Sanctuary doesn't have that many workers."

"I have a way," Han Xiao said vaguely.

Huang Yu watched coldly. The hiring fee for 100,000 workers was astronomical, and even if you had money, you might not be able to hire so many people. He didn't know where Han Xiao's confidence came from.

Liu Chao suddenly pressed his headset and said urgently, "Black Phantom, there's an aircraft approaching!"

"Let's go out and see."

Walking out of the tent, the team's guards were vigilantly looking at the sky. In the dark night sky, a large aircraft with flashing signal lights was approaching. It was unclear whether it was friend or foe.

"It's nothing, that's an airdrop I called in," Han Xiao said with a smile.

The plane passed overhead and dropped several huge material boxes tied together, with parachutes, landing not far from the camp. The boxes were emblazoned with the Farian logo.

Han Xiao used his connections to have Farian send a plane to airdrop a large number of mechanical parts. Naturally, it cost money, but he was now wealthy and didn't care about this expense.

It was a false alarm, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Huang Yu was secretly shocked. To be able to casually call in an airdrop from the old arms group Farian, Black Phantom's connections were wider than he had imagined.

These parts were worth millions. Han Xiao had people move them to the logistics vehicle and began to manufacture machinery on a large scale. Now that he had abundant assets, he could freely manufacture various combat machines to protect the team.

The most famous combat method of a mechanic was a sea of machines.

For the next two days of the journey, Han Xiao was holed up in the engineering vehicle working.

…

The convoy arrived in a desert. The scorching sun made the sand as hot as an iron, and the surface air distorted the view.

The convoy stopped under a Barbera tree. This tree was a unique plant in the Aquamarine Star desert, also known as the "Umbrella of Life." The shade of the tree was like a small island, isolating the heat, and the sap was sweet and could be drunk directly to quench thirst.

Everyone's mouths were dry, and the soldiers patrolled, each sweating profusely.

Rumble—

In the distance, the desert suddenly surged like a wave, and densely packed giant beetles broke out of the ground. Each one was more than half a meter long, with a shiny brown shell, a hideous appearance, six pairs of chelated feet, and two shell pliers. The rustling sound of their movement was like the tide, and the swarm surged towards the Barbera tree.

"Beast tide!"

The alarm was sounded, and 300 soldiers hurriedly raised their guns to take their positions. They found that swarms of insects were pouring in from all directions, like an ocean of beetles, with no escape. They all looked terrified, and their hands holding the guns trembled slightly.

Desert Bloodshell Chelae, social creatures inhabiting the desert, powerful desert predators, leaving no grass in their wake. There were at least ten thousand of them here.

"Get in the cars, get in the cars, plow a path!" Huang Yu shouted anxiously, and then he jumped into the helicopter in three steps and urged the pilot to take off quickly.

Faced with so many insects, no one could muster the will to fight. Hearing Huang Yu's order, they were about to get into the car and escape, when Han Xiao walked out of the engineering vehicle and said, "Don't panic, everyone take your positions, prepare to meet the enemy."

Captain Liu Chao said anxiously, "There are too many insects, we can't defend all directions. Once we engage, there's a high probability of heavy losses..."

Huang Yu shouted, "Black Phantom, get on the plane quickly!"

Han Xiao waved his hand.

Huang Yu cursed secretly. Seeing the insect swarm getting closer and closer, he ignored Han Xiao and ordered the pilot to take off immediately. The pilot was also afraid, so he immediately obeyed the order to start the plane. The rotor started, and the helicopter left the ground.

The ground troops dared not disobey Han Xiao's orders, and watched nervously as the insect swarm quickly approached.

At this time, Han Xiao took out a tablet and pressed it a few times.

Buzz—

Twelve combat-type Rangers drove out of several logistics vehicles. The triangular tracks rotated, and the speed was no less than that of a car. Everyone looked in astonishment as these Ranger robots quickly dispersed in all directions, like steel guards. The cold metallic luster reflected the mottled sunlight through the shade of the trees, as if growing golden scales.

These Rangers were the latest improved version 2.5. Han Xiao had upgraded the blueprints by several levels. He was different now. The basic attributes of the machines he made had increased greatly, and the quality had reached blue.

The 2.5 Combat Rangers were all equipped with automatic fire control systems, which strengthened firepower and magazine endurance. The height was also similar to that of humans, and the track movement could overcome many harsh terrains, and the power was more powerful.

When the mission prompt appeared, Han Xiao guessed that the road would not be peaceful, so he called for an airdrop and manufactured a large number of machines in these two days.

Han Xiao's manufacturing speed had become very fast. The Ranger robots that used to take him several days to manufacture at level 20 could now be completed in just a few tens of minutes.

When a mechanic's manufacturing speed exceeds a critical point, they can perform temporary manufacturing on the battlefield. As long as there are materials, weapons are endless. This is an ability that only advanced mechanics have. They need to learn [Millisecond Assembly], which is also an important reason for the rise of the 3.0 Mechanic class.

"Go, move all the metal disks from the car and deploy them in all directions."

The Dark Net soldiers now obeyed him, and hurriedly did as they were told. There were a total of twenty metal disks. After placing them on the ground, Han Xiao started the program and began to unfold and transform them. The base was inserted into the sand to fix it, and the folded modules were assembled into gun barrels. The entire unfolding process only took four or five seconds.

These were folding small turrets, and Han Xiao had also upgraded the blueprints and automated intelligent fire control.

Looking at the thick and dark coupled gun barrels, the soldiers felt a little relieved.

When the insect swarm approached within 400 meters, the 2.5 generation Rangers and small turrets opened fire at the same time. With the camp under the Barbera tree as the center, a steel rain bloomed in all directions.

The rain of bullets covered the sky, and the sound of guns was uniform!

Da da da da—

In an instant, countless green slurry bloomed in the insect swarm. In the face of the killing weapons manufactured by humans, the Desert Bloodshell Chelae's proud shells were as fragile as eggs. Steel and fire pierced through the giant beetles.

The area within 400 meters outside the camp became a moat, leaving countless insect corpses. The insect swarm could not advance an inch, and the desert was soaked with their blood. After a round of salvo, the insect swarm was at least one-third smaller.

Several Rangers drove out of the camp, equipped with solar worm flamethrowers. The cone-shaped flames swept the insect swarm, burning them with squeaks, while the Desert Bloodshell Chelae's pliers could not break through the Ranger's Tiberium alloy armor at all.

The fierce firepower was a completely one-sided massacre.

This was the violence of a mechanic!

Group battles were the advantage of the Mechanic class. Esper abilities and martial artists may be able to fight well, but their physical strength was limited.

Of course, the limitation of the Mechanic class was money. This batch of mechanical creations was worth millions. Even a level 1.0 full-level player would find it difficult to afford, and the ammunition costs were enough to bankrupt any player's wallet, with thousands of rounds of steel-core armor-piercing bullets fired every second.

Funding was a long-term problem for the Mechanic class. Building a mechanical legion was a more powerful combat style for the Mechanic class, but it also cost the most money. When faced with enemies whose average strength became stronger, it required a legion composed of machines with higher technical levels, and the cost would increase exponentially. It was generally difficult for Mechanic class players to play the legion style well. Even if they sold everything to build a legion, the losses in battle would be unbearable for the user. The legion style was generally used as a trump card. Han Xiao didn't worry about funding, after all, he had his own way of making money. However, he didn't want to go the legion route for the time being, he just planned to build a simple guard group to have enough firepower when necessary.

Liu Chao had been holding a submachine gun, ready to open fire when the insect swarm entered the 300-meter range, but the insect swarm was always blocked by the steel rain of bullets 400 meters away.

His arms were sore from holding it up, but he couldn't find an opportunity to fire.

"This firepower is too fierce."

Liu Chao glanced at the turret next to him, spitting bullets, the automatically pushing and pulling bolt was like a piston cylinder, and the bullet casings were ejected to the ground with a crackling sound, and a few even hit his face.

Swallowing his saliva, Liu Chao found that he had nothing to do. Black Phantom's mechanical creations took care of all the enemies. The guards equipped by Dark Net were of no use at all. They were completely unnecessary.