"No, we can't be soft. He bit A-Feng! We have to make a clean break!"
"You want to kill A-Feng?! How could you?!"
"Didn't you see that thing? It's much faster than a normal person! And look at the bite mark on A-Feng's neck. Was that made by a human?!"
"Even so, you can't just kill a teammate!"
"Heh, a teammate?! If A-Feng gets up and tries to bite you, should I save you then?"
Peeking through the gaps between the legs of the crowd, Chen Yuan could just barely make out the person speaking. He was an extremely burly man with a resolute face, wearing a combat vest. He was clearly a trained fighter. This must be the leader of the Fenghuo Squad, Chen Yuan thought.
While he couldn't get a clear view of the person arguing with the leader, the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Chen Yuan suppressed his thoughts and continued to observe.
After a fierce argument, the group finally decided to restrain the bitten man. As they wound rope around him, circle by circle, a hoarse groaning sound escaped the man's throat.
He's turning... Chen Yuan muttered to himself, just as he heard one of the squad members shout.
"What's that thing over there? A dog?!"
"Quick, get it! We need food!"
The corner of Chen Yuan's mouth twitched. You can eat that thing?! He made an instant decision, pushing the control stick forward. Tieqiong took off, bolting into the distance. If Tieqiong got caught, it would be a catastrophic loss.
The robot dog was much faster than a human, and its movements were even more stable on the street, where the snow had been packed down into a hard, icy surface. After just a few turns, Chen Yuan had shaken off his pursuers.
It was now deep into the night. On the vast, white streets, a small figure moved forward.
Chen Yuan sat in his warm room, lying on the sofa, and began to survey this new world. He controlled Tieqiong, guiding it along the road, past schools, past hospitals, past every place from his memory. But none of these places looked the way they used to.
He explored for several hours. To his surprise, he didn't encounter a single one of those strange creatures.
"It seems there are fewer of them than I expected..."
Muttering to himself, he maneuvered Tieqiong to the Public Security Bureau. The steel gate was shut tight, and the snow in the front yard was almost chest-high. Tieqiong extended its mechanical arm and began to bat away the soft snow.
Swish... swish... swish...
The sound echoed in the silent night. After a great deal of effort, it finally reached the main gate. Chen Yuan's expression grew serious. In theory, this place should have the weapons he wanted.
He gently nudged the control stick. The metal clamp at the end of the mechanical arm began to break the door.
BANG! BANG! BANG!!!
The metal gate had become exceptionally brittle in the low temperature. In less than half an hour, it was breached. The small body of the drone squeezed through the hole and entered. Its searchlight switched on, illuminating the interior. A quick scan of the surroundings showed the place was a bit of a mess, but still passable.
Tieqiong moved on its four legs, beginning to search. The first floor was a lobby with a few open offices. They mostly contained office supplies, which were of little use to him.
Next, he controlled Tieqiong to the second floor. There were many rooms on this level, some of them locked. After some searching, it finally stopped at the end of the third-floor hallway. Through the shared vision, Chen Yuan saw the sign on the door.
ARMORY.
"This is it!"
A look of delight crossed Chen Yuan's face, and he began to smash the door.
BANG! BANG! BANG!!!
The steel door was far stronger than the main gate outside. Tieqiong hammered at it with all its might for an hour but failed to break through.
"It seems that without the offensive arm, this door isn't opening."
Chen Yuan shook his head in disappointment and began to control Tieqiong to head back. As long as he knew the location, the rest was easy. At worst, he could bring Tiedan on the next trip and see if he had better luck.
Time passed slowly. By the time Tieqiong returned to the residential building, it was the middle of the night. Seeing the wall clock pointing to 2:30 AM, Chen Yuan rubbed his tired brow. He had encountered quite a few things tonight: scouting the building opposite, tracking the mutated thing, and searching for weapons.
He quickly fell asleep on the sofa.
But elsewhere, in the camp of the Fenghuo Squad, nearly a hundred people were having a sleepless night. They took turns standing guard, staring at the man tied to a post. At first, the man had made strange, hoarse sounds, but gradually, he fell silent.
The next day, Chen Yuan slept until he woke up naturally. With Tieqiong watching outside and Tiedan guarding inside, he slept very peacefully. He glanced at the time; it was already 10:30 AM.
After eating a compressed biscuit, he went to the Apocalypse Store. He had already thrown in the car computer that Tieqiong had brought back last night. Now, a brand-new robot dog lay quietly on the production platform.
Tiedan (Iron Egg), Tieqiong (Iron Dome)... what should I call this one?
He pressed the startup button.
「Beep~ Robot dog initial startup. Please assign a name.」
Chen Yuan rubbed his chin. "Tieniu! (Iron Bull!)"
「Name assignment successful.」 「Voiceprint recorded.」
...
Tieqiong was responsible for reconnaissance, Tiedan for his personal protection. The remaining Tieniu would be his utility dog. He swiped through the screen for a while, beginning a targeted upgrade. Since it was a tool for hauling things, the most important attributes were its towing force and load-bearing weight.
Chen Yuan rubbed his chin and began to make his selections.
「Upgrade selection: Towing capacity upgraded from 80kg to 110kg. Load-bearing weight upgraded from 50kg to 80kg.」
Thanks to Tieqiong's image transmission system, he didn't need to waste materials giving Tieniu its own. When these two went out, Tieqiong would be the lead. After finding supplies, he could just have them loaded onto Tieniu. Simple.
So, for that entire day, Chen Yuan didn't go out, instead focusing on upgrading his robot dogs. He spent the whole day on it. A newly reinforced Tieniu, specialized for hauling materials, finally appeared on the platform. In terms of physique, it was even burlier than Tiedan. Its reinforced limbs were exceptionally thick and powerful, and the mounting baskets on its body were much larger. He estimated it could probably carry back an entire tree on its own.
Chen Yuan patted Tieniu's head and laughed. "From now on, you follow Tieqiong and do a good job."
Tieniu shook its feet, as if to say, what's this all about? We're all dogs, why am I a lower class of dog?
Chen Yuan went to the living room and saw that it was already 8 PM. Since no one was pounding on his door, he sent Tieniu out. Tieqiong cleared the path ahead, and Tieniu followed silently behind. His guess was correct; the robot dogs could indeed communicate with each other. He wasn't sure what the mechanism was, but he couldn't be bothered to think too deeply about it.
However, as he was controlling Tieqiong down the main road, the searchlight swept over a human figure.
Chen Yuan was slightly taken aback. He focused the light and a strange expression appeared on his face.
Jiang Nan? What is she doing here?
The figure, feeling the intense light, raised a hand to shield her eyes.
Sorry...
Chen Yuan lowered the light a bit and spoke directly through the drone's speaker. "What are you doing here?"