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[Previously On]
Lin Yeheng, a scavenger, piloted the scrapped war machine R-01 and defeated the formal military "Silver Fang Mecha Squad," becoming a wanted target across the entire city.
That battle beneath the skydome shocked everyone at the bottom.
But the real killing game… had only just begun.
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[1]Bounty Notice
"Warrant Number S-0147 — Target: Lin Yeheng."
"Activated forbidden weapon R-01. Destroyed five high-grade military mechas."
"Current bounty: 30 million energy credits."
"Authorized bounty claimants: Open to all professions. Limited-time operation. Funds prioritized upon confirmed target kill."
The bounty order spread through the floating web. In just one hour, the reward skyrocketed fivefold.
Everyone had their eyes on that name:
> "A worthless scavenger took down the military…"
> "This bounty's enough to get us a whole new armor set!"
> "Let's do it!"
And the first to respond—
Was the underground mercenary group Armor-Splitters.
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[2]The Armor-Splitters Mercenary Group
The Armor-Splitters were a private armed force specialized in hunting rogue mechs, independent from the military.
They followed no rules, no protocols, no oversight.
Their only belief:
> "Destroy every steel monster that doesn't belong to order."
This time, they deployed a five-man squad.
But each of these five had once dismantled A-Class battle suits. Each could wipe out an entire outpost solo.
They called themselves: Steel-Hound Killers.
Their leader's codename was Wall-Cleaver, a man with one blade —
specializing in cutting mech joints.
His machine: Blood Serpent V9, a hyper-reactive close-combat mech.
Speed: four times faster than R-01.
Specialty: slicing through metal neural bundles.
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[3]Lin Yeheng's Crisis: An Unrepairable R-01
At this moment, Lin Yeheng was hiding in a deep pit within the Fourteenth Scrap Zone.
R-01 was severely damaged:
Right shoulder exoskeleton shattered
Thruster pack disabled
3/7 transmission shafts broken
Left arm actuator offline
Neural response delay: 0.8 seconds
Even the cockpit was shaking violently.
Lin Yeheng forced himself to pry open a venting module, attempting to manually repair the internal cooling system. Sparks exploded out — burning his left hand instantly.
"Hiss…"
His expression didn't change. He continued reconnecting the torn copper wires, one by one.
Ten years ago, he had learned how to take things apart.
But he never learned how to fix them.
Just as he was completely at a loss, an electronic hum sounded behind him.
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[4]The Girl Appears: Mechanic "Baita"
"…Are you trying to fix it, or murder it?"
Lin Yeheng spun around, startled — and saw a girl in a brown dust cloak sitting behind him, holding a round auxiliary repair drone.
She looked around sixteen or seventeen. Short hair, a bit of oil on her face. Right eye — a blue cybernetic implant. Left arm — a mechanical prosthetic.
She looked at R-01, her eyes complicated.
"My dad was the deputy chief architect of the R Project core engineering team."
"When I was ten, he died under R-01's construction platform. The machine wasn't faulty — the military… forced him to shut it down."
She paused.
"Now, I want to fix this monster — for him."
Lin Yeheng frowned. "Why are you here?"
She smirked. "To upgrade it for you, idiot."
> Her name is: Baita.
An exile from the sky city. A fugitive mechanic.
In the underground circles of the refuge planet's engineering world, she was known as the "Mad Girl Techie."
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[5]Armor-Splitters Attack: The Steel Hounds Strike
Just as Baita finished connecting a part of R-01's data interface, thunder roared across the sky.
BOOM—!
Five crimson shadows descended from above, striking the ground with shockwaves of shattered stone, heading straight for Lin Yeheng's pit.
The five Armor-Splitters stood atop a high ledge, gleaming coldly.
"Target confirmed. S-class wanted: Lin Yeheng."
"Preparing S-class annihilation protocol."
Wall-Cleaver raised his war blade and slashed into the air—
the rock wall fifty meters away split instantly.
Baita screamed: "Run! You're no match for them right now!"
But Lin Yeheng didn't move.
He slowly stepped onto R-01's chest hatch, looking down at the half-repaired machine.
Baita's eyes widened: "Are you crazy?! The thrusters are down! The left arm's dead! You can't even jump!!"
He took a deep breath, his voice soft:
> "But I can still fight."
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[6]Battle Commences! Armor-Splitters vs. the Broken R-01
[Combat Start!]
Round One —
Armor-Splitters strike first. Blood Serpent V9 surged forward with teleport-like thrust, blade aiming straight for R-01's abdomen!
Lin Yeheng gripped the controls tightly, force-locked the left-side center of gravity in advance, making the mech slide sideways to avoid the vital point — and countered with a reverse-arm swing!
Boom!
The massive alloy fist slammed into Blood Serpent's chest plate. It didn't pierce through, but sent the mech flying dozens of meters!
Round Two —
The other four attacked simultaneously with a coordinated strike, crossfire overwhelming the field!
Lin Yeheng raised both arms to shield his head, bracing himself.
The left arm exploded, cockpit filled with arcs of electricity, sirens blaring!
> [Remaining Mech Durability: 15%]
From afar, Baita's eyes turned red:
"He'll die in there if this keeps up!"
But Lin Yeheng didn't retreat.
He forced open the energy limit valve.
> "You call it a monster?"
> "I say—
It's someone's last wish.
And I won't let it fall."
— Round Three begins!
R-01's broken frame ignited, roaring like a beast as it charged into the four hounds!
Arms locked around an enemy mech — head slammed forward —
fists pounding weapon arms to pieces — feet smashing thrusters into shards!
Only one remained: Wall-Cleaver.
He charged in — blade slashing!
R-01 couldn't block it — the left shoulder exploded!
Lin Yeheng almost lost balance, but he gritted his teeth and slammed the control lever down!
With the last drop of energy — he launched a right hook!
BOOM—!!!
Direct hit. Wall-Cleaver's head module shattered. Core—obliterated.
Wall-Cleaver: eliminated.
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[7]Aftermath · Faith and Choice
The battle was over.
Lin Yeheng jumped down from the cockpit, covered in burns, blood, and grease.
Baita rushed over, grabbing him in a hug, shouting and sobbing:
"You're crazy you're crazy you're crazy you're CRAZY — do you even know your whole body is cracked open?!"
He smiled faintly: "As long as it's fixable."
At that moment, from a crevice in the distance, a group of scavengers peeked out.
Wearing gas masks, wrapped in ragged armor.
They stared at the R-01 still standing after battle and whispered:
> "He is our… god of scavengers."
> "We'll follow him too."