---
The gunfire ceased. In the heart of the ruins, R-01 stood silently, like the scorched skeleton of a war god forged by fire.
Lin Yeheng jumped down from the machine. His right arm was dislocated, the uniform on his chest burned through. Blood and smoke mingled, and sweat dripped from his cheeks onto the scorched ground.
Baita ran over, grabbed his collar, and yelled,
> "If you go all-out one more time, you'll really die, you know that?!"
His breath was ragged.
> "...Still not dead, am I?"
She looked at his ghost-like state, gritting her teeth—then wordlessly began dragging over repair tools.
---
[1]Mech Repairs · The Roaring Core Awakens
Baita quickly crawled into R-01's internal spinal compartment.
> "...You're still using a first-gen bone conduction bridge for the cockpit link? That's like punching hyperspeed with a femur."
> "This thing isn't a 'mecha'… it's a man-made lunatic."
She cursed as her hands flew:
Reconnecting severed neural conduits
Reassembling exoskeleton pressure balancers
Inserting her own custom-built energy core guidance pins
But when she opened the main chest power chamber, a deep vibration suddenly surged from within the mech.
BOOM—
Black coolant tubes lit up with deep red patterns, like some ancient beast awakening from slumber.
Baita froze.
> "...This isn't a military-grade reactor core."
> "This is a—Self-Compression Roaring Core."
> "You actually… awakened its fury."
---
[2]System Evolution · Activated Form
R-01's system panel popped up with new lines of data:
> [Hidden Module Parsing…]
[Module: Roaring Core → First Stage Sync Achieved]
[New Ability Unlocked: Burst Mode · Twin-Shoulder Roaring Plasma Cannons]
Lin Yeheng muttered,
> "I... never installed that."
Baita glared at him.
> "That's what makes R-01 terrifying—it evolves on its own."
She swiped across the console, displaying a structural map—
> "You didn't repair this mech."
> "You just fed it back to life—with your blood and will."
She pointed to the chest power reactor:
> "This Roaring Core doesn't need energy—it needs rage."
---
[3]The "Scrap Iron Squad" Is Born
A flurry of footsteps echoed outside.
Dozens of scavengers gathered around R-01, carrying tattered backpacks, wearing armor made of scrap metal, gripping makeshift weapons.
Leading them was a middle-aged man named Solderburn, missing three fingers and wearing a motorcycle chain prosthetic on his arm.
He removed his mask, looked up, and said:
> "You don't know us, but we've all seen you."
> "You took down Silver Fang and dismantled the Armor-Splitters alone. You proved that us 'scrap iron' folks... can bite back at the rotting heavens."
He paused, then knelt down.
> "We're not asking to be heroes.
We just want to live like people who can strike back."
> "Where you go, we follow."
Behind him, the crowd knelt in unison.
Baita was dumbfounded.
> "Wha—When did you become a cult leader?!"
Lin Yeheng rubbed his forehead.
> "...I'd like to know that too."
---
[4]Aerial Assassin Incoming · Lethal Order Authorized
Meanwhile, in the Skydome Legion's central command:
> "Faith is sprouting among the lower class."
> "Lin Yeheng must be silenced. Not a word more."
A general gave the order with a wave of his hand:
> "Deploy S-99: Ground-Kill Sniper Unit."
---
High above the wasteland, within a rift in the orbital layer, floated a long, black-painted, ground-attack sniper mech: "Night Viper."
Its barrel was locked precisely onto Lin Yeheng's location.
> [Target Locked]
[Ammo: Heavy Ion Penetrator Shell]
[Velocity: Mach 4.3]
[Armor Piercing: Six Layers]
The Night Viper's control AI coldly declared:
> "Target confirmed: R-01 core pilot."
> "Executing command: One-Shot Kill."
BOOM!!!
Air tore apart—
A blood-red sniper shell screamed downward like a meteor!
CRASH—!!
Lin Yeheng grabbed Baita and rolled away with full strength!
The sniper round pierced through the side of the ruins, creating a crater a hundred meters wide!
> [Auto-Lock Adjustment Engaged]
[Second Shot: Charging]
Panic broke out. Solderburn roared:
> "We've got no anti-air!
What the hell is that thing?!"
---
[5]The First Roar!
Baita slammed the console:
> "The Roaring Core is lit! You can fire now!"
Lin Yeheng dashed into the cockpit, jamming the link cables in, shouting:
> "If you really want to fight—show me how furious you are!"
R-01's body began transforming, joints clanking, bellowing like a beast.
Its shoulder armor panels split open—
Twin Roaring Cannons emerged, plasma pulses roaring within, red light spinning like twin vortexes.
> [Target Locked: Night Viper]
Lin Yeheng shouted:
> "Blow out that damned eye in the sky!!"
BOOM—!!!
Both Roaring Cannons fired at once, forming a crisscrossing red X that slashed through the heavens!
Far above, Night Viper failed to evade.
It was speared straight through and exploded into a fireball across the sky!
All eyes turned upward—
In the clouds, a giant ring of flame bloomed, like a burning wreath in the heavens.
The enemy—was shot down again.
---
[6]Aftershock and Awakening
The blast lit up the entire wasteland.
Inside the cockpit, Lin Yeheng leaned back, panting heavily, sweat dripping from his chin—but his expression was cold, resolute.
Baita's voice buzzed through the comm:
> "You maniac! Do you even know what you just hit?! That was the orbital layer!"
He replied in a low voice:
> "From today on—
those in the sky will have to look down."