Love and passion, cutting up the wasteland

After the anti-slavery fighters finished their rest and prepared to set off again, Mr. Gray shook his head and shook off the doubts.

This time, although he and the Red King were cooperating, he could guess that the other party had many secrets, some of which could not be revealed.

That was not what he needed to worry about.

Not to mention, if there were any secrets.

The same was true for him.

As the team moved forward, the sky darkened, and heavy snow slowly floated in the air.

Someone reached out to catch it, and the "snowflakes" fell into his hands, immediately shattered, and turned into bits of gravel and grass ash - this snowfall from the south was not ice water, but large pieces of solidified dust.

Ashes all over the sky.

The gray snow fell and choked people. The anti-slavery fighters pulled up their scarves and masks, but they were at ease in their hearts, which meant that the distance was not far.

Adventure in Stober.

Such an environment is still normal.

If we explore further, it is said that the land there is covered with thick ash, depositing the remnants of civilization that have burned out for thousands of years, layer upon layer.

At this time, a strong wind blew.

Dust was blown up.

If this was ordinary dust, it would not matter. With the strength of the people present, there would be no inconvenience or impact, but large pieces of dust hit the human body and disintegrated, and the inside was as hot as roasted charcoal.

It made people's skin tight.

Even dust that had just burned and had not cooled would not be like this. It can only mean that it contains some corrosive chemical elements, which stimulated the human body and made the nerves feel burned.

The anti-slavery leader who led the way narrowed his eyes. Just as he blocked the dust with the back of his hand, his pupils suddenly lit up and he shouted in surprise: "Tin..."

The robe fluttered, covering his voice. The dust was dancing, and a human figure in a robe stood in it, with a neat tie around his waist, and a high canvas collar flapped his neck like weeds in the wind.

This person is like a wanderer on a journey. In such a dangerous place, even ordinary anti-slavery people have to wrap themselves up like Mr. Gray, but the man is bare-armed and bare-legged, exposed.

From this point of view, he looks like a monk who is practicing asceticism.

However, no one present was surprised, or rather, they felt that it was natural... because the other party's hands were iron-gray.

A powerful bearing turned, and the skeleton brushed off the dust covering the camera and waved to them.

"Tin Fist." The bee prince walked out and continued his companion's words.

The first on the United City's wanted list, the brutal metal man, the ruthless killing machine, has been at large for so long that people began to doubt whether this criminal really exists, and is not just an official fabrication. On the other hand, the Empire tried its best to erase his existence and did not want ordinary civilians to know his relationship with the group of anti-laborists...

But he is also the real leader of the anti-slavery movement.

Tin Fist.

At this moment, seeing the anti-slavers, the face of the skeleton was as stiff as iron. It should have no expression, but when he waved, he felt that the machine was laughing.

Mr. Gray did chuckle, and then he was about to step forward, but unexpectedly, a gust of wind came from behind, and the anti-slavers had taken the lead, knocked away the dust in front of them, and gathered around Tin Fist.

Compared with Gray, they were more unrestrained.

The bee prince was stunned, shook his head, stopped, and met the skeleton's eyes.

"Thank you for your hard work." He heard the other party say.

With this greeting, the joy of the anti-slavers who had gathered together suddenly cooled down by more than half, and they all seemed to have remembered something.

"Boss Tin Fist." After a pause of several seconds, someone spoke, "Marian..."

"I already know." The skeleton said, "I haven't received any more signals from him... He's silent."

Marian, like Tin Fist, is a skeleton and one of the first members to follow him to create the Anti-Slavers.

The signal transmission device on their bodies has not been disconnected. Even if they can no longer communicate in real time, they can still feel each other's presence intermittently after encryption.

"So, I'm in a hurry to come back." Tin Fist's voice is an ordinary mechanical sound, without ups and downs and emotions, making people feel as if he is just broadcasting, "At this time, the Anti-Slavers need me the most, right?"

The second half of his sentence was asked to Gray who was standing on the outermost layer.

"That's right." The Bee Prince came forward, and the crowd separated into two sides. "Otherwise, if the United City takes advantage of the victory to pursue, I really don't know what to do."

"But they didn't ask for anything, right?" Tin Fist asked.

"Yes." Gray nodded slightly after being reminded of something by his words.

"You've always been like this." Tin Fist paused and said, "I knew it was right to hand it over to you."

Although everyone in the anti-slavery movement knew that their boss trusted Mr. Gray, it was precisely because they were too familiar with each other that Tin Fist would not praise Mr. Gray every time something happened. If he really did that, the speaker would be worn out and oiled, and there would be too much to say.

It is relatively rare to express it so bluntly in front of everyone, like this meeting.

It shows how much he values ​​it.

Unexpectedly, the anti-slavery movement was slightly agitated when they heard this, and seemed to be hesitant to speak. Gray knew why, and coughed lightly and said, "This time... it's not my credit."

The skeleton man tilted his head and glanced around, feeling a little confused.

Of course he knew how to complete a task. Although he was the designated person, there were many strong anti-slavery fighters who were responsible for the division of labor and cooperation. The so-called credit was not something that could be done by one person.

But giving rewards based on merit is Mr. Gray's own job, so there is no need for him to mention it and point it out deliberately.

This surprised him.

"Remember the young man you asked me to meet?" Hui smiled.

"he?"

Even without saying anything, Xiquan understood.

"Yes, if I hadn't known that you have been in the south these days, I would have thought that you had met him in advance... You are still so accurate in judging people." Hui said, "I can only say that it is better than expected. surprise."

"Let's talk about what exactly happened when we go back."

"Is that so..." Xiquan pondered for a moment before whispering slowly.

After staying with these "human" brothers for a long time, he is obviously a machine, but he has also developed the habit of deliberately speaking out some fragments of logic - this has no meaning, but it can make himself appear more friendly. .

He knew who the person Hui was talking about was.

——The unknown person travels north.

As a skeleton man, throughout history, he has witnessed the ups and downs. If it is not the ultimate suffering or glory, there are very few things that can catch his eye. To a certain extent, this is what he warned himself that he needs to correct or at least change. It seems to have been corrected a bit.

This is also the teaching from that master.

When you stand too tall.

It is possible to turn a blind eye to the mortal world.

So, by chance, he noticed the unknown person who was quite young in terms of both the age of the skeleton and the lifespan of a human being... Perhaps in human society, he was already famous. He can be regarded as a strong man who can control a city and an army... But Xiquan is familiar with the meaning of ancient proverbs, and the Skeleton Man's thinking will always be disturbed by the strange title of "Unknown One", not to mention that these achievements are indeed nothing to him. , following the other person’s claim is considered respect.

However, just because the seedlings are small, it does not mean that they cannot become towering trees in the future. He also adhered to his master's teachings and specifically entrusted Prince Hui, the Bee Man, to take care of and remind him when he was free.

It is never a good thing to be associated with anti-slavery people... The fate of his once loyal servant, that service machine... the current Ronin mentor Marian is an example of this.

However, listen to what Hui means.

That journey to the north not only received his approval and approval, but even helped them a great favor in turn... Both of these things were somewhat surprising.

Tin Fist knew the vision and abilities of his bee prince.

"Okay." He nodded, knowing that Hui's subtext was for them to hurry back to the base after reuniting. This was not the place to talk.

However, to Hui's surprise, Xiquan stopped what he was saying, but had no intention of leaving immediately. Instead, he put his hand into the inner sleeve of his coat and robe.

His mechanical frame is tall, and this dust-proof coat is also specially customized. He was standing here like this before, with the strong wind blowing, and no one noticed that there was something hidden inside.

What is so important?

Can't wait a moment.

Hui was a little surprised, but when he saw Xiquan's robot hand protruding from his robe, his pupils half-covered by the bandage suddenly widened - it was a blue sphere with interface synapses covering its surface.

Intelligent core.

"Have you returned to the Land of Ashes?" Beeman reacted and took a step forward. However, he did not look at the scientific research props and relic crystals that should have been quite precious... but quickly looked at Xiquan's whole body, with a look in his eyes. A hint of worry.

The land of ashes, the true forbidden zone of life.

It is undoubtedly related to ancient civilization.

Even the technology hunters who claimed to have explored it, actually only wandered around and looked around from a distance. Even so, they found drawings and records about the "old world" long-range weapons, and after they came back, they helped the mechanics successfully develop them. Old World Crossbow.

He won the Iyo Prize that year.

The strange thing is that although the mechanic at World's End issued a commendation, he later warned his subordinates and Black Scratch through internal channels, asking them to reduce or even stop their exploration of the Land of Ashes, or at least not to go any further.

Tin Fist's original route was to the Gray Continent and the Dark Sky, but when he came back, he had an intelligent core in his hand. Hui immediately judged that he had gone to the true end of the continent, the Land of Ashes.

Even though Tin Fist had been invincible for a hundred years, he was alone after all... Sure enough, after Hui checked, he found some scratches on the back of the opponent's coat, but the previous anti-slavery people were too excited and did not notice it. .

During ordinary long-distance rafting trips, it is normal for clothes to be damaged, but this dust-proof coat looks ordinary but is actually a masterpiece of woven armor. It can't be hurt by even a sharp knife, and the person wearing it is a tin fist. Logically speaking, as long as He thought that no one in the world could even touch him, and now there was damage... Hui suddenly became nervous.

But just when the bee-man was about to open his clothes for inspection, he was stopped by an iron hand.

Xiquan opened his sleeves with a slight embarrassment: "Don't be too nervous, it's just a few scratches... I'm fine."

Although there were some rust stains on the exposed steel body of the Skeleton Man, there were really no injuries under the coat.

"Ahem." Mr. Gray realized his own gaffe, took a step back in the eyes of everyone, and was relieved secretly. His eyes finally focused on the intelligent core in the hand of Tin Fist.

Undoubtedly, this was what he originally wanted to see.

Indeed, for the world, the intelligent core is indeed a treasure, but for the anti-slavers, the tin fist holding it is much more important.

"What series is it?" Gray asked.

With the living history of Tin Fist and the learning ability of the bee prince, the anti-slavers' understanding of the intelligent core is not inferior at all.

"Universal type." Tin Fist said, "It can be connected in parallel to help speed up the simulation interpretation speed of other intelligent cores, and it can also operate independently, covering most scientific research fields... Of course, the interpretation speed of a single field is extremely slow."

At present, the anti-slavers do not have other intelligent cores, so the first function is basically useless. However, for them who live in seclusion in the mountains, the universal artificial intelligence core is more useful, which is of great benefit to the independent development of the base and can greatly reduce dependence on the outside world.

Self-sufficiency.

Under the face covered by the cover, Hui showed a smile. This was indeed a happy event.

But then, his expression froze.

Because he noticed that Tin Fist had just introduced the first two functions of the universal intelligent core, but missed the last one.

And according to the previous communication between Tin Fist and him, Hui knew that this last function was the most important ability of the universal intelligent core in the past few thousand years.

That is why the universal intelligent core does not exist in any ancient ruins and cannot be found through archaeological excavations-because their carriers are movable.

And this function is:

Greatly enhance the combat, calculation, memory, simulation... and other abilities of mechanical life that people can think of and can't think of.

To take effect, it needs to be installed in the body.

Just like human warriors love precious swords and precious armor, the universal intelligent core has long been occupied and used by the strong among the skeletons.

In the past, all of them were heroes in the Second Empire.

Sensing Gray's gaze, Xiquan's hand holding the intelligence core paused, and then nodded: "He was one of my comrades...in the past."

"This time, I saw him for the last time."