Chapter 218 - 175: Drone Swarm, Activate

Chu Bamboo slowly opened his eyes. Blinding sunlight streamed in, and he frowned, scanning his surroundings. This was the entrance to the Police Chief Bureau.

’Wait, did the reset happen at this time? If I remember correctly...’ Chu Bamboo pulled out his phone and glanced at it. It was a little after eight o’clock.

His first reaction was to call Madam Xue, but he quickly dismissed that instinct.

’According to Lu Jin, at this time, Madam Xue and Lu Muxue should already be in their sports car. They’re on their way to the teahouse in the Third District right now! And the killer is already lying in wait in the car’s trunk.’

If he called now and provoked the killer... Chu Bamboo would have no choice but to reset again.

’What should I do then? Call Lu Jin... No, that’s no different from calling Madam Xue.’

’What could Lu Jin even do right now? Aside from calling Madam Xue, he’d probably just gather police... uh, or Transcendents, without notifying her. And then try to rescue them without being discovered by the killer, who is a suspected Transcendent?’

But the key problem was... whether they could even accurately locate a speeding sports car in the city within twenty minutes was a question in itself.

Chu Bamboo pondered for a moment. He suddenly looked at a patrol officer in the distance operating a drone, and his gaze sharpened. ’Wait, if that’s the case! It seems...’

His expression shifting, Chu Bamboo made a decision and turned back into the Police Chief Bureau.

"Nuwa No. 17, I command you now: Immediately launch all patrol drones in the Third District. Head to the vicinity of Nanyang Bridge!"

Chu Bamboo organized his words. "Then, have the sole attack drone lie in wait in a concealed position, ready to attack the hostile target."

’It’s a long shot, but it’s the only one I’ve got!’ Chu Bamboo sighed softly. ’Let’s see just how badass this legacy my good brother left behind really is.’

’As for what to do if the gamble fails and they get killed... Just reset. What else can I do?’

"Right, let me ask one more thing!" Chu Bamboo suddenly remembered something and asked cautiously, "How’s your targeting? Can you accurately hit an assailant in a full-speed sports car... without harming the ordinary citizen driving it?"

Nuwa No. 17 began to process. Three seconds later: "While controlling fewer than one hundred drones, this unit can perform millimeter-level micro-adjustments. Within effective range, the margin of error for hitting the final target does not exceed zero-point-one millimeters!"

"HISS!" Chu Bamboo sucked in a sharp breath. ’Even the most badass sniper in the Real World wouldn’t dare make a claim like that, right? "Within effective range"... As expected, when it comes to this kind of precision work, humans can never compare to artificial intelligence!’

"Then let’s do it!"

Immediately, Nuwa No. 17 spoke again: "Permission check passed! Commencing instruction execution."

At that moment.

Inside a warehouse in the Police Chief Bureau’s backyard.

A dozen or so drones slowly rose into the air. Mechanical arms automatically extended, spinning lightly on the warehouse door—

The warehouse door slid open automatically, and the drones flew out in silence.

Bringing up the rear was an exceptionally large drone.

Its entire body was iridescent, its colors even shimmering and changing. At the very center of its chassis was a gun barrel that could move freely.

’...My God!’ Chu Bamboo was stunned.

At this point, the silvery-white wall automatically split to reveal a dozen or so screens. All of them showed scenes filmed by the drones—and the final attack drone naturally appeared in these video feeds.

Right now, Chu Bamboo’s eyes were filled with shock and awe at the mechanical beauty.

Compared to the drones Chu Bamboo was used to, these were especially unique.

As the patrol drones floated in mid-air, their colors actually changed automatically, like chameleons, synchronizing with their surroundings. Even when filmed by other nearby drones, it was easy to overlook them if you weren’t careful.

Only the attack drone remained relatively conspicuous, even with added camouflage.

’I was totally fooled by the drones those patrol officers at the entrance were operating!’ Chu Bamboo clicked his tongue. The drones he saw at the entrance looked similar to the Great River drones popular in the Real World.

But these drones... they gave off a cold sense of mechanical slaughter.

Yes, as if they were natural-born killing machines!

’No, I should say, these are drones that have actually seen battle!’ Chu Bamboo finally realized. ’They were probably pulled from the battlefields of the Black Continent.’

No wonder they had mechanical arms and small gun ports... Hm? Small gun ports?!

"Nuwa No. 17," Chu Bamboo said, his face full of confusion, "let me ask, besides the attack drone, do the other reconnaissance drones also have offensive capabilities?"

’The attack drone’s muzzle is very obvious; it’s huge! The barrel can even move freely to aim... But the recon drones seem to have a small opening in the same spot... What’s that for? It can’t possibly be for charging, can it?!’

"The reconnaissance drones do not possess significant damage capabilities... They have a self-destruct function and can fire bullets equivalent to those from a small-caliber handgun. The magazine capacity is only nine rounds! Their lethality is extremely weak! It is difficult for them to inflict fatal damage on other drones or mechanical dogs," Nuwa No. 17’s voice was calm.

"..."

’Right, right, right... So your subtext is that you pointedly did *not* say they couldn’t inflict fatal damage on humans?’

’So that’s how we’re playing this, huh...’

"Let me ask again, can this attack drone really only fire forty-some rounds?" Chu Bamboo asked expressionlessly. He felt like he might have had a slight misunderstanding of the war machines developed by C Company.

’Given the terrifying size of this attack drone, it must weigh over a hundred pounds. And you’re telling me a drone that heavy can only fire forty-some bullets? Are you kidding me?’

’If you’d told him it could carry a heavy machine gun and tens of thousands of rounds, he would’ve believed it!’

"Attack Model C-18 drone! Primary function: battlefield bombardment! Can carry up to three hundred kilograms of TNT explosives! Also possesses limited close-range bullet-firing capabilities. Capable of self-destruct attacks! Without wireless charging support, it has an autonomous flight range of two hundred kilometers!"

Chu Bamboo: "Right, right, right, right, right!"

’So this attack drone is basically a bomber?!’

...

「On the street.」

Madam Xue floored the electric accelerator, and the cream-colored electric convertible shot off like a bolt of yellow lightning.

"Mom! Slow down." Lu Muxue’s face was pale. She really didn’t like riding in Madam Xue’s car; it didn’t feel safe. Compared to electric cars, she still preferred the automobiles salvaged from the Ancient Ruins.

Unfortunately, automobiles seemed to require a special liquid substance to burn. And that substance... could also only be salvaged from the Ancient Ruins!

Compared to electric cars, which could automatically recover Energy just by being in the city, the cost of maintaining an automobile was unimaginably high. Even for a family like theirs, they only had three cars in Jinghai City, and they barely used them.

"Don’t worry!" Madam Xue said, full of confidence and bravado. "I specially asked a master mechanic from the Moisture Teaching about it. This sports car of mine is a high-end brand! Even after eons, its brain still retains the wisdom it was forged with by the ancient sages."

"If it’s really about to hit someone, it will stop automatically! I’ve run into that situation before."

Lu Muxue: "?"

’That just made her even more worried! What do you mean, you’ve "run into that situation before"...’

Then, a phone suddenly started ringing.

Lu Muxue glanced over curiously, a note of pleasant surprise in her voice, "It’s Chu Bamboo! No, wait, why is he calling all of a sudden? Could he have arrived already?"

For a moment, a hint of embarrassment crept into Lu Muxue’s voice. She had specifically urged her mother to leave early, but were they still late? She immediately whispered, "We should have finished our morning tea faster..."

"Child, acting like this... is no way to land a prize husband!" Madam Xue shot Lu Muxue a sidelong glance, sighing and shaking her head. "Love is a mutual give-and-take! First, you need to let the other person put in some effort for you, and then you give back in return. It’s a back-and-forth... You’re just over here tying yourself in knots, preparing a bunch of things you want to give him but then worrying he won’t accept them, so in the end, you just hold onto it all yourself. That’s useless... I remember..."

Madam Xue’s words suddenly stopped. Cold sweat beaded on her forehead.

A dagger was pressed against her neck. A somewhat hoarse voice spoke up, "You, the woman over there—throw your phone where I can see it! If you dare answer that call, I’ll put a gash on her face."

Lu Muxue was dumbstruck, her mind a complete blank. For a moment, she didn’t even process what was happening.

Not until she saw the dagger actually lift and move toward Madam Xue’s face did she let go in terror. The phone clattered to the floor below.

Madam Xue’s expression was grave. Even as she felt a sting on her cheek and a warm liquid trickle down, realizing her face must have been cut—not too deeply—she acted as if nothing had happened at all. Her grip on the steering wheel didn’t even twitch.

"Ma’am, drive toward the Fourth District! Then, head for Celestial Capital. Don’t speak! Don’t make any other unnecessary movements... I know this electric car of yours only receives the grace of thunder inside the city, but even outside of it, the accumulated Thunder Power is enough to drive for several hundred kilometers." The cold voice once again pressed the dagger against Madam Xue’s neck.

"I understand!" Madam Xue’s voice was perfectly steady. "What else do you need? Money? I don’t have much cash on me! Or perhaps Ancient Relics... On the way to Celestial Capital, we happen to pass a Xue Family warehouse. There’s a batch of phones in there... I can arrange for an extra batch for you..."

"No, no, no, I don’t need any of that!"

"..." Madam Xue’s brow twitched. ’To be honest, if he had just made some exorbitant demand, she would have actually been relieved. But he doesn’t want anything... What does he want?’

’Is this person targeting her, or maybe even her husband?!’

After realizing this, Madam Xue’s thoughts began to race.

She drove calmly, but the more she thought, the more nervous and agitated she felt. The wind whipped across her face. She looked at the bridge gradually approaching in the distance, and an idea began to form...

"BANG!"

A bullet grazed Madam Xue’s cheek, and a bit of foul-smelling blood splattered onto her white cloak.

Madam Xue: "???"

’What the hell happened?’