Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 1 1. Life is not easy, looking at the sand and sighing

"What's this called..."

The sound that was somewhere between a synthesized speaker sound and a bit of humanity came from a thin, slightly worn humanoid machine.

It sat in a very humane manner on the third deck of a huge transport vehicle that had been paralyzed on the surface of the desert. A huge penetrating wound was torn in the broken and twisted metal walls and floors, allowing it to open two new observation windows.

This was the result of being penetrated by some kind of kinetic weapon. How this was done is still unclear, because when the humanoid machine opened its eyes, the battle on the car was already over.

The armed caravan was vulnerable, and when the desert bandits were searching the car for spoils, the robot's eyes suddenly lit up red, and with lightning speed, it punched the bandit closest to it through.

If luck allowed these bandits to find an easy target to exploit, then it was also luck that the boss was killed by a punch from a monster on the easy target!

All the bandits wanted to take revenge immediately, but when they found that the bullets made by the workshop's hands had no effect on the robot except for scratching sparks, they immediately fled in all directions without even a moment's hesitation.

The robot did not pursue. It staggered hesitantly to the site of the penetrating wound and sat down. It looked down at the dark desert and the tire tracks that glowed blue due to the retreating tires. It felt a headache.

Theoretically, this body shouldn't have a headache, but it's obvious that the appearance of a machine is just an appearance. In essence, it... is still a human being, it should be.

The bandits had said during the heist that they had to leave before daybreak. As luck would have it, the boss was killed with a single blow just as the deadline was approaching. The gang decided that instead of avenging the dead, they should return and re-divide the score.

Because once the sun rises, the sun's rays will indiscriminately scorch the entire desert, and even looters will have to stay in their cars, otherwise they will become a burnt sausage.

This desert is so ruthless, but newcomers don’t have such a deep understanding of it.

To him and it, the slowly burning car body in front of them, the yellow sand all over the ground, the pitch-black sky, and the world that seemed even more empty amid the flames and explosions of the car body were very unfamiliar.

After all, just a dozen minutes ago, he was still staying up all night preparing to launch the equipment he designed for testing tomorrow. He didn't expect to take a nap, and when he opened his eyes again, he saw a figure swaying, and then he saw a punch swiftly following the combat procedures...

Only now did he realize that he had probably worked too hard and drank too many energy drinks, which led to his sudden death.

The UI and threat indicator that appeared in front of him quieted down, and the rotating concentric circles and crosshairs slowly moved, reminding him that there was no threat at the focus of his vision for the time being.

So what is the situation now? Are there any kind novice guides or dungeon navigators who can explain it to us?

The only clue is that this cargo transport vehicle is closely related to him and must not be touched by anyone else - this is what the text in the upper left corner of the UI says.

This iron body contained a considerable amount of combat programming. As long as he thought about it, he could do it smoothly, such as how to use his fists to maximize force, how to obtain weapons, how to deliver a fatal blow...

It is more of an instinct than a procedure. Moreover, the situation is critical. The first thing to do is to sort out the current situation, and then sit down and slowly sort out the current situation.

After thinking about it, he decided to search the corpse first, get some scraps and throw them off the deck - it was a bit strange to call it that, but for such a large piece of transport equipment, it was no problem to call it a 'ship in the desert'.

Under the corpse that hit the ground like a flour bag, the sand, which was impacted and weighed down, was emitting beautiful, light blue light, like ripples in the water.

Those guys who drove away before actually left such traces, which will slowly dissipate over time... It's quite amazing.

Anyway, let's sort out the information first. First of all, I was in a transport vehicle that had been paralyzed by artillery fire, and theoretically all the people in the vehicle were dead.

The good news is that with my current iron body, I shouldn't need to eat or sleep much, and I don't have to worry about running out of supplies and having to store them here.

All I can say is that flesh and blood are weak.

And there's nothing particularly uncomfortable about it. When I think back to my work experience in the first half of my life, I feel a surge of pride, and then a sense of loss because I suddenly came here... Well, my emotions are normal.

And the name was... He thought he could remember these easily, but when he recalled carefully, it was obviously a name that did not belong to him and a code name.

They were the name of a man named 'Observer Cypher' and the number T59. These two pieces of information, along with the battle procedures, were engraved in the steel body, looking very abrupt.

It's like someone calls out a name to you on the street. You are not familiar with that name, but the fact that they are calling you makes you feel strange and surprised. There is a sense of dislocation.

Looking down at the metal arm that could easily break metal pipes and kill a well-equipped person with a single punch, the robot...T59, realizing that he was probably this 'Cypher', pondered for a long time before coming to a conclusion.

Things like numbers are easy to deal with, and you can even consider changing them at any time. But this name doesn't look like that of a serious person, so in theory it can't be exposed easily!
So Cypher couldn't tell anyone else... he needed a legitimate identity beyond this.

And the way those little brothers looked at the robot was filled with fear. Perhaps this identity was also dangerous. And then there was also——

All thoughts were paused when the gradually whitening light on the horizon became dazzling, and the sunlight that completely dispelled the shadows of the sand dunes poured in from the gap in the big hole.

The world in front of him was instantly dazzling. As he stared directly at the existence of the glow, T59's eyes went dark without any perception, and the eyes he used to observe were overloaded and burned!

This is just the beginning.

In the pitch-black field of vision, the UI font appeared clearer, and displayed directly above the "field of vision" was a line of bold red text.

==《Warning: The outside temperature is about to exceed the critical value!》==
The warning was followed by a temperature number. Judging from the number, this place should use the same design, and the temperature was obviously going straight to 180 degrees.

The sun just rose this morning and it's already so hot?!
Subconsciously recalling the structure he had just memorized from glancing at the structure of the collapsed vehicle, the robot... that is, Cypher immediately ran backwards and without looking back, entered the relatively intact area of the front half of the vehicle.

The metal door behind him was closed with great force. Cypher's dark vision suddenly flickered a few times, and the backup external observation device was activated.

The blurred outlines against the dark red background looked as chaotic as a noisy CRT dynamic image. It took some time for Seifer to adapt before he realized that this area was different from the truck area.

It looks like it has thicker and more regular panels and body frames. Even though the rear transport compartment is completely paralyzed, there are still some indicator lights on here?

No wonder the program emphasizes that this thing is inseparable from oneself...

You start with a car, and you have to fight for equipment. You eliminate other forces along the way to arm yourself, and finally you can train a mutant Kun... Wrong, the latest trend should be to transform mutant and evolved babies?

The temperature is still rising. Even without direct sunlight, the temperature in the car still easily exceeds the last critical point. If someone else came here, they would probably be almost baked by the high temperature.

No, I can't stay here. Even if I have a body of steel, I'm afraid I'll die if the temperature continues to rise!

The body's reaction could not keep up with the mind. Before Seifer decided to go deeper, the body lying in the aisle because it was about to be scrapped had reached the critical point. Even the UI in front of him flickered blurrily and collapsed.

"This broken body is too fragile..."

Suddenly opening his eyes, Seifer felt his feet touch the ground. The metal door in front of him opened in the middle and closed up and down. The red indicator light flashed, guiding him forward.

"…Is it true? Huh?"

Looking back, I saw that the groove was empty and just big enough to store the humanoid machine.

——So the hint "This car is closely related to me" means that my respawn point is in the car?!

This time you only have one car at the beginning, and the rest depends on fighting.

(End of this chapter)