How long has it been since you were in a desperate situation like today?
A month? One year? ten years?
The sharp and swift sound of breaking through the air struck from above, jerking the first hunter's consciousness back to reality.
A Terra bug had already broken through his defense of blood mist spread three meters away from his body. His blade arm danced, pulling out a tricky arc and slashing towards the vital part of the first hunter's neck.
It's so close that it's obviously too late to distance yourself from him.
Being distracted during the battle put him into an extremely passive situation.
Facing the knife slashed at a tricky angle, the first hunter gave up most of his defenses like crazy. He just leaned his body back as much as possible to avoid being decapitated directly by the blade arm. At the same time, he raised the short meat-sawing knife in his hand and pointed towards it. The insect man, who was clearly outside the range of the dagger attack, launched a futile attack.
The sharp blade easily cut through the first hunter's skin and carotid artery.
Blood spurted out wildly.
Click!
At the same time, the crisp sound of deformation echoed in the room.
The mechanism was triggered, and the folded meat saw instantly bounced away, turning into a long-handled broadsword and swinging down the first hunter's arm, slamming into the insect man's head. The chain saw with a rapidly rotating blade even more Things were twisted into a paste.
The insect man split into two and fell to the ground.
Being distracted on the battlefield is not a good thing. There was a cold and stiff touch on the back, and the chairman's emotionless reminder echoed in his ears. This time it was just the carotid artery, next time it might be the head. Junqu Pavilion
Little things. Even though the first hunter pressed his neck hard, he still couldn't stop the large amount of blood spurting out from his fingers every moment. But even so, he remained very calm. Each hunter has a unique ability to control blood. , for us, let alone cutting open the carotid artery, even moving the head is not a big deal.
The skeleton man's artificial eyes turned slightly, glanced at him and said: It might be more convincing if the blood didn't spray out when you said this.
Do not believe? He released the hand holding the wound on his neck and moved his palm away. The narrow wound on his neck looked scary, but it was no longer bleeding out like a fountain like before, and if you looked carefully, you could still find him. The wound on the neck has scabbed over and is mostly healed.
If I wanted to, I wouldn't spit out a drop of blood. I would just add some usable blood to the battlefield.
The first hunter explained.
Blood control is a basic skill for hunters. Any hunter who can graduate from the academy knows how to control blood to form thrombi, and then act as an adhesive to cover the wound. The most sophisticated blood control method can not only replace limbs with blood, but also In a state where 80% of body functions are shut down, he still relies on blood control methods to survive.
The chairman thought about his words carefully: Although I know that you hunters have special physiques and are difficult to kill easily, I always feel that you are still lying to me.
No. The first hunter manipulated the weapon manifested by the blood mist weapon to tear an insect man into pieces. A rare smile appeared on his face, but the smile looked both forced and frightened. My master is very capable of this kind of blood control method. People, obviously sitting in a wheelchair pretending to be normal, look sick all day long. But when it comes to fighting me and my senior brother, my hands and feet are smarter than anyone else.
Surrounded by powerful enemies, they were on guard against the surrounding insectoids who were no longer actively attacking. They chatted with each other, looking very relaxed and content. However, only they themselves knew their true state.
The first hunter's face was as pale as paper due to excessive blood loss, and his body was covered with large and small wounds. The long and high-intensity battle drained the last of his physical strength. Without the support of the chairman behind him, his shaky body might have fallen into disrepair. He will collapse to the ground in seconds.
The chairman who was facing him back-to-back was in no better condition. His right arm was torn off from the body by the insect man alive. Clusters of short-circuited sparks emerged from the jagged tear at the shoulder joint and broke. Oil and coolant slowly seeped out of the pipes, and only half of the shoulder cannon remained.
Two fists are no match for four hands.
Faced with an overwhelming advantage of numbers and mental integration, any individual can represent
The collective Terran bugs, their tacit cooperation did not eliminate much of the gap in combat effectiveness. It would be better to say that the two of them could persevere until now. It was an incredible miracle that they were still alive when there was a thick layer of insect corpses lying on the floor between the commanders.
Huh... Huh... The first hunter hurriedly grabbed oxygen and seized the precious breathing space to regain his strength. At the same time, he looked around and said, Old Wang, have you noticed that the speed of these guys pouring into the room seems to have changed? slow?
Because the number of bugs guarding the corridor has been decreasing since more than ten minutes ago. Most of them have flowed into the Night City through the spaceship passages that extend in all directions. The bugs that are still standing outside to surround us are probably not even ten percent of the original number. None of them are here. The chairman said unconcernedly.
First Hunter: Real or fake? ! How do you know so clearly?
This kind of thing has slowed down the pace of their attack from the beginning. Coupled with the speed of the bugs pouring into the room and the average density of the bug swarm, it can be calculated. Isn't this kind of thing obvious? The chairman pondered for a moment. Besides, I can see the surveillance inside the spacecraft.
As for the reason for their sudden retreat, I'm afraid something happened in the city that restricted their fighting power, right?
Upon hearing the news, the first hunter immediately had a guess in his mind: A stranger?
Insufficient information for analysis. The skeleton man shook his head. The electronic prosthetic eyes were always on guard against the besieging bugs around him. However, since they were eager to evacuate the bugs here and transfer them to the city, it meant that they were under great pressure on the battlefield over there. As long as they persisted for a while, Yes, they should give up for the time being as we are a tough nut to crack.
He didn't know exactly what was going on outside, but these changes in the insect man obviously had a positive effect on the current situation.
And change means vitality.
If his analysis is correct, the insects have been tied up in a large amount of combat power on the battlefield in the city, and there is an urgent need to mobilize the insects in the energy tower to support the frontline battlefield.
Then the conclusion is obvious, as long as they survive this round, they will be safe.
After all, there are not many real rewards and benefits for the bugs to kill him and the first hunter. The only thing that can be called a positive benefit is probably to take back control of the throne of dominance and take over again. It has been in disrepair and most of the modules are inoperable. Use a spaceship with a bunch of illegal buildings attached.
And if the two of them are determined to die together with these bugs, then the price the other party will have to pay may be greater, and more troops will be tied up. This is an absolutely unacceptable loss for the bugs who are eager to support the other side of the battlefield.
The flesh-sawing sword and the sickle blade collided heavily.
The dazzling sword lights collided with each other.
Sparks fly.
The clear and melodious sound of forging iron echoed for a long time.
That's easy to say.
The first hunter caught a flaw in the insect man's body, raised his knife and pushed down the opponent's knife from the side of his arm. Then he raised the knife and raised it. The chain saw attached to the blade made a dull roar, and easily cut the insect man into pieces. Two paragraphs.
What if they don't give up?
impossible. The chairman twisted his body to avoid the incoming insect man. He ran forward with purple lightning in his right hand, raised his hand and struck the insect man squarely on the chest, electrocuting him to the ground.
The previous battles made me realize that they are not mindless beasts. These bugs can create gaps and opportunities for their companions to attack regardless of life and death. This means that there must be a smart and rational hive consciousness behind them composed of countless individuals. Make decisions on their behalf, carefully considering the benefits that every move and every insect can generate.
I know very well what decisions they will make and how they will act.
The Skeleton Man stared indifferently at the only insect man left in the room. He had already begun to build a model of the next battle in his mind, calculating what actions the opponent would take, and listed countermeasures and cracking methods one by one in the calculation core.
After all, like them, I am also a guy who puts interests first.
Soon, as he expected, when the last insect man was chopped down by the first hunter, his broken body fell down weakly.
On the mountain of corpses, the room fell completely silent.
There was no longer the noisy trembling of elytra outside the room, no rustling and friction sounds when the bug-men moved, and no more bug-men penetrated through the cracks outside the door.
finally
The first hunter collapsed and sat on the ground, leaning against the mountain of corpses and let out a long sigh.
This has got to be the hardest battle I've had in decades.
He was already in an overloaded state, relying on squeezing his own life potential to support himself until now. But now that the powerful enemy has been eliminated, the last string he was tightening has also relaxed, so he collapsed on the ground without any strength. .
Why did you fall down? The chairman broke off the blade arm of an insect man, looked for the insect men who were not dead yet among the corpses on the ground, and pierced their brains one by one with the blade arm to re-inflict wounds. He quickly got up to help re-inflict wounds. The battle was not over yet. Don't be careless.
I don't have a tireless body of steel like you. The first hunter waved his hands feebly and said, "Let me take a break. I'll help you after I recover a little."
However, at this moment, a sudden change occurred.
The pile of corpses piled up into a hill suddenly exploded, and fragments of the insect-man corpses were flying in the sky. At the same time, a swift black shadow flashed out from the dizzying falling corpse fragments, heading towards the first hunter with lightning speed. Go!
Hisssssss&ash;&ash;
The sound of the elytra vibrating echoed in the room, and an insect-man opened its teeth and claws, waving its only remaining blade arm aggressively, and stabbed the first hunter in the chest.
The first hunter was shocked but not confused. He put his left hand on the ground and used both legs to turn over at the same time. He twisted his body and hips to skillfully and accurately avoid the blade arm that was stabbing him. At the same time, he stepped heavily on the stabbing blade arm.
see through!
With one step, the blade arm stabbed to the ground, but the power of inertia would not disappear. The insect-man who was charging menacingly continued to impact due to inertia, and the fragile body balance was also broken. The insect-man's posture was completely broken. His body staggered and fell uncontrollably towards the first hunter.
But the insect man would not give the first hunter a chance to fight back. Without a single hit, the three-petal mouth had quietly opened, and a black shadow shot out of the mouth like lightning!
The distance between the two sides was extremely close, and all this happened too quickly, but the first hunter had already understood the various methods of the insect men in the battle and was prepared for it, so he avoided this sudden attack with a slight deviation of his head. , the sharp and long tongue rubbed across his cheek, leaving a trail of blood.
Blood Fighting Technique - Fog!
The blood flowing from his cheeks turned into blood mist with a bang, blended into the air and turned into ubiquitous aerosol particles. Riding on the ubiquitous airflow disturbance, it silently followed the cracks and wounds on the insect man's carapace and entered his body fluids. loop, then
Bang!
It turned into countless sharp blades and broke out of the body.
The first hunter also squeezed out the last bit of his strength and collapsed to the ground, unable to raise any strength anymore.
In the mountain of corpses, the bugmen, who had been waiting for an opportunity since the beginning of the battle, finally seized the opportunity for a successful sniper attack.
Hostile reaction detected.
The enemy radar alarmed wildly. The chairman was keenly aware of the enemy's position. He released the lock on his upper body and suddenly twisted it 180 degrees. His arms were fully extended across the arc to gain more inertia and kinetic energy, and then he followed the calculation. The trajectory will throw the blade arm in the direction of the sniper!
The blade arm carried huge kinetic energy and rotated at high speed, cutting the air and bursting out with a harsh noise, and penetrated the insect man's brain accurately.
However it was still a step too late.
Even if the brain was damaged, the ganglia spread all over the insect's body still faithfully passed on his last instructions.
Trigger pulled.
The cavity filled with strong muscles contracts violently, squeezing the fat maggots as projectiles, and pushing them out of the cavity at subsonic speeds!
The first hunter, who was completely out of strength, had lost his fighting power and could only watch as fat maggots flew into the sky and expanded rapidly.
Bang!
The highly toxic acid exploded in the air, turning into a curtain of rain and covering the entire area.
A hunter covers it.
There was no way to dodge, because it was extremely difficult for him to even move his fingers.
There is no way to defend, because the blood mist just now has been consumed in the battle.
The first hunter leaned on the pile of corpses, quietly watching the corrosive raindrops falling slowly, and calmly waiting for death to come.
But before the rain curtain fell, the chairman had already turned into a black shadow and flashed past, and then a strong wind hit him. Then he felt a tightness in his chest, as if a huge force like a truck hit his chest, and his strong body It flew out uncontrollably.
This collision actually knocked him out of the range covered by acid rain.
But the chairman who saved his life was not so lucky.
The highly corrosive liquid was poured on the Skeleton Man's back. Even though he had a corrosion-resistant and high-temperature-resistant alloy body, he could not resist the strong corrosiveness of the venom. In the blink of an eye, the alloy quickly decayed under the corrosion of the venom, and with the continuous evaporation of the thick White mist, and large pieces of rusty metal shavings shook off the body.
Lao Wang!
The power that came from nowhere drove the first hunter to struggle up from the ground. Wounds of various sizes on his body burst open inch by inch. He roared and turned into a bloody man, and the blood instantly turned into a diffuse blood mist.
And he crawled up from the ground, stumbled and rushed over to help his friend who was about to fall to the ground.
Hold on! I'll use blood therapy to cleanse the acid from your body!
The blood mist that spread around him gradually shrank, and he carefully controlled the blood mist that was still surrounding him to cover the skeleton man's still steaming body.
Hunters are extraordinary creatures that can engrave their unique extraordinary spells in their blood and use their own blood to fight. Every drop of blood is both a weapon and an extension of their body for them. Hunting spells that have a killing effect can also be reversed into healing spells that have a healing effect.
But carrying out such high-precision work is also a challenge for the first hunter.
The blood was dispersed by his backhand, floating evenly in the air and combining with the air under his control. Cloud-like aerosols covered the skeleton man's alloy body, following the tiny holes and microscopic holes that were continuously corroded by the alloy. The cracks continue to penetrate deeper, chasing the acid ahead that continues to penetrate and corrode the alloy structure.
Encapsulate venom, purify corrosion, and neutralize toxicity
A drop of acid requires several clusters of blood aerosol particles to wrap, control and purify, and there is so much acid seeping into a human body. If you want to prevent the acid from further expanding the disaster, you must have the ability to multi-task and pay close attention to the blood. precise control while manipulating an almost astronomical number of aerosol particles to accurately intercept venom. To achieve these
The effort involved is unimaginable.
Sweat slid down his forehead, and his temples were throbbing. The first hunter's eyes widened and he burst out with unprecedented concentration. He concentrated on manipulating the blood to soak into the alloy body to remove the acid. After a while, he saw large swaths of green mist coming out of the alloy. It separated from the body, and was scattered on the pile of corpses around him with his hand. The ablation phenomenon on the skeleton body gradually subsided.
At this time, he breathed a sigh of relief and said: This should be fine.
Before he finished speaking, a series of short-circuited electric sparks burst out from the skeleton man's body again.
Damn it! Has acid seeped into it? The first hunter's expression changed and he immediately understood the problem. Just when he was about to tear open the wound on his neck to control more blood and treat it, he was grabbed by the skeleton man.
It's useless, this is a fatal injury.
The chairman shook his head and pointed at the back of his head where sparks were constantly coming out.
The main circuits, data storage cores, and other precision components were all ablated by strong acid at that moment. You can remove the acid on the surface, but you cannot remove the acid that has penetrated into the body.
There is always a way, do you have replacement parts ready? The first hunter struggled to carry the chairman on his back, but the two almost fell to the ground together. He could only hold him up with one hand and tell me where he is! I'll take you over to replace the parts now!
There is no such place
Don't you always have a countermeasure? The first hunter was stunned. He was holding on to the Skeleton Man's alloy frame tightly. The joints between his fingers were a little white due to excessive force. During the great escape, when we were chased by the insect swarm, there was no time when we didn't rely on you to be over-prepared. Character that weathered the storm? ! When you had to set up a fort position even when dozens of bugs blocked the road, wouldn't you have any follow-up methods to deal with it?
Well, because from the beginning, I never considered repairing my own back road.
Perhaps due to damage to important electronic components, the Skeleton Man's voice seemed a little distorted.
The first hunter froze: Why?
Well, because the manufacturing of Skeleton Man parts requires a high level of technology.
As if he was thinking, or as if he was paused due to damage to the circuit board, the red light in the skeleton man's eyes dimmed for a moment, then lit up again after a few seconds and continued.
If it is just for my own safety, I ask them to develop the manufacturing technology and production line of precision components from scratch. It is too difficult and the benefits are too low... Can you accept this answer?
Your number one hunter looked at his former friend in disbelief with a complicated expression.
I don't have much time. The skeleton man met the other person's gaze. Although his voice was distorted and distorted, his tone was still as calm and calm as usual. Finally, let's find a quieter place to sit down for a while, right?
Electric sparks burst out, accompanied by the harsh sound of metal friction. One of the Skeleton Man's arms completely collapsed due to corrosion of the internal structure and fell to the ground, with rusty metal shards shaking off.
The first hunter looked deeply at the chairman, then nodded.
good
He supported the skeleton man's heavy alloy body and walked out of the control room. The two limped and supported each other as they walked in the winding passage, and soon found a secluded corner.
There should be no one to disturb me here. The first hunter panted and put the skeleton man whose hands and feet had rusted off. He also found a place next to him and sat side by side.
My friend, do you still remember? During the Cataclysm, the fleeing team was hit by a wandering swarm of insects. The two of us fought against the endless insects like today, and then fought our way out.
Um? The first hunter responded. That time, in order to cover the team that had not yet evacuated, you and I stayed behind and were surrounded by insects. We were completely trapped in the sea of insects, and we almost died in it.
But the situation now is completely opposite to that then. The Skeleton Man said slowly, I was the one who dragged you, who was seriously injured, to find the supporting team, and then you saved your life.
You really put me on the ground to drag me, why don't you make a tow truck? You actually dragged me for more than ten kilometers. At least half of my life was lost because of you.
The first hunter sighed, paused briefly and then asked.
Why did you suddenly bring up this terrible thing?
It's nothing, I just remembered that something similar had happened before
The skeleton man shook his head. He leaned against the wall of the corridor, the red light in his eyes flashing.
In your words, it was just a casual chat on a whim.
Your number one hunter glanced at your friend unexpectedly. He felt a little surprised. Was he chatting for no reason?
Well, why not chat with old friends about some non-nutritious topics at the end?
The first hunter choked, then his eyes flashed and he chuckled.
Oh, actually there was no need for you to save me at that time. That kind of injury couldn’t kill me. You could have left me there. You could go back and find the response team first and then come back to find me.
Damn duck, you have a tough mouth. At that time, you had two holes stabbed in your chest, and blood was leaking out. When I come back, your body will be cold.
I’ve said it before, we hunters don’t die that easily.
I really miss the time the Bone Man spent with you as he looked up into the void.
yes
While talking and laughing, the two of them seemed to have returned to decades ago. When everyone joined hands to fight side by side, the past time quietly emerged in front of their eyes.
as a 'tyrant'
;rsquo;The decades of ruling Night City day and night.
Those nameless people who were crushed by the tide of the times because of his decisions.
The smiles on people’s faces and the light in their eyes when they decided to settle in the Power Tower decades ago.
The days when he, the First Hunter, and other companions led refugees through the wilderness.
Charge into battle with your friends and kill the memory of the insect swarms.
The time when he was trapped in a tight siege and faced the enemy back to back with the first hunter.
The past of wandering aimlessly alone in the wilderness.
The skeleton army's last charge against the swarm
Scenes of images appeared in front of his eyes. He regarded every person and everything in the past as the most precious treasure, and recorded it in his memory core in every detail.
Now, these precious records are gradually distorted and damaged under the influence of acid, turning into unreadable garbled files and snowflake-dot videos.
The acidic substance quietly penetrated and spread in the body as if it were alive. Some of it even penetrated into his data storage core, burning out large areas of bad sectors inside. More and more memories were turning into unreadable garbled data. .
More and more memories are being lost.
Those flashback memory files were finally fixed in an empty room.
It was a place that looked like a research room.
Surrounded by simple and solid alloy walls, several people in white coats looked at him excitedly and nervously, and then cheered excitedly.
The test machine started successfully!
There is a way to electronically encode the soul!
The next step is to overcome the difficulties of mass manufacturing and network construction!
Now humanity can be saved!
This is what he saw when he turned on the visual sensor for the first time in this world.
Among the many researchers, a gentle young man wearing black-rimmed glasses came out, came to him and stretched out his hand.
Welcome back, the experiment was successful and your soul has been perfectly translated into electronic coding. Congratulations. From now on, you can continue to fight for your ideals and make the world a better place.
Although it was congratulations, the gentle young man frowned and his tone sounded a little down, as if he was worried about something.
ideal?
His nascent electronic consciousness hesitated for a moment, and the word echoed repeatedly in his data processor. Soon the storage core accepted the request for associated access, and a large section of memories that were both familiar and unfamiliar appeared in front of him.
He remembered.
In the past, when I was still a 'human', I had sincere and innocent thoughts in my heart.
Hope for world peace.
Hope everyone can be happy.
Want to make this world a better place.
But after his soul was translated into electronic code and placed in a cold, dead body made of steel, he could no longer understand the joyful and surging emotions he felt when he was still a 'human' with these ideals.
And today, it has been decades since this consciousness was born.
He seems to be somewhat able to understand the emotions he carried in his heart when he was still a human being.
However, it seems a bit late.
Sorry, I'm not capable enough. I can't save you.
Guilt.
if i could do better
remorse.
If Alex had done this, he would have done a much better job than me.
Snowflake noise gradually covered the field of vision, and then Yihei completely turned off the visual sensor, and the final vision was deprived, leaving only the auditory sensor still working hard.
Finally, he heard his friend's voice.
Thank you for your hard work, take a good rest, brother.
"The Ancient God of Luck"
The error-free chapters of "The Firm" will continue to be updated.
