Samsara Space: They're all begging me to heal them one more time.

A temporary outpost for military technology.

The place is heavily guarded, and the style of the painting is extremely bizarre.

Traditional military technology involves soldiers wearing tactical vests, meticulously patrolling and guarding the perimeter.

In the core area, several extravagantly designed drones are responsible for security.

They have mechanical feet with reverse joints, and their surfaces are covered with a dark blue energy shield. The weapons they hold are not machine guns, but whirring Gauss rifles.

This is a technological creation brought by the Blue Team Reincarnators—the [Autonomous Sentinel Hunter Type].

"Is this what you call an exercise?" Johnny Silverhand appeared beside V, looking at the mechs, his eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses.

"Are these bastards testing a new toy? Looks like this trip to the Badlands is going to be more exciting than I expected."

"Shh!"

V crouched low, lying behind a sand dune. "Panan, can you see your car?"

"It's inside! That's my Thunder!" Panan exclaimed excitedly, pointing to the center of the camp.

"Only three mechs and a dozen or so ordinary soldiers," V calculated the strength. "We have a good chance. I'll hack the surveillance cameras later, and then you..."

Just as V was formulating his tactics...

Om-!

A chilling roar of engines suddenly came from the hangar deep inside the camp.

The earth began to tremble.

A heavy bipedal mech, as tall as a three-story building and painted in jet black, slowly emerged from the shadows.

Its hands are a pair of charged particle cannons that gleam with a cold light, and on its back is a huge energy amplifier that flashes red light.

【Raging Mech - Prototype】

This is a war monster created by the Blue Team by utilizing the "infinite firepower" feature of the [Original Sin Chip - Wrath] and combining it with the military-technological "Demon Lizard" chassis.

"Intruder detected."

The mech's head turned, and its single-eye-like red sensor instantly locked onto V and Panan, a kilometer away.

"Damn it! We've been discovered!"

Panan was shocked. "So far?! Do they have radar?!"

"It's not radar, it's thermal imaging combined with a soul scan!"

Johnny yelled, "Run! V! That thing's got a particle cannon!"

boom!!!

A thick red beam of light instantly traversed a distance of one kilometer.

The sand dunes where V and Parnam were located were completely evaporated!

The two tumbled down the hillside in a disheveled state, covered in dust and dirt.

"What the hell is this firepower?!" V stared at the still-smoking crater, cold sweat pouring down his face.

This power is even stronger than the cannon of the legendary mercenary Adam Hammer!

"Intruder elimination mode fully charged."

The black mech took heavy steps, its thrusters spewing blue flames as it charged toward the two at a speed completely disproportionate to its size.

The six-barreled rotating particle cannon in its hand began to heat up, its red light like the eyes of death.

"There's no escape!" Panan desperately raised his sniper rifle [Watch] and fired a shot at the mech.

Ding.

The large-caliber kinetic bullets hit the mech's energy shield without even creating a ripple.

"Is this... the absolute difference?"

V gripped the gun tightly; the Relic malfunction in his retina flared up again, and his vision began to blur.

He touched his pocket, where there was only a cold, black business card.

Could it be... that I will die here today?

Just as the mech's particle cannons were about to unleash a second salvo, blasting the two of them to smithereens...

"This is the 'Heavenly Armed Forces' Badlands Branch, number 007."

A rough, static-sounding broadcast suddenly rang out over the wasteland.

"Hey you, you bastard driving that Gundam up ahead, you've crossed the line."

Rat-a-tat ...

In the sky, a heavy armed transport plane painted in white gold (modified from Arasaka's "Manticore") broke through the clouds.

The hatch opened.

A figure wearing heavy armor and carrying a Gatling gun that emitted a faint blue light jumped down from a height of 100 meters.

[Superhero-style landing!]

boom!

Ah Qiang slammed heavily between V and the mecha, leaving spiderweb-like cracks in the ground.

His [Heavy Armor Thug Modified] was flowing with Arasaka's highest-grade hydraulic oil, and his [M-134 Smart Storm] was already warmed up.

Hey, V.

Ah Qiang turned around, grinned at the dumbfounded V, revealing a set of big white teeth:

"The boss said that as a potential VIP customer, you have a chance to 'experience' the security service for free."

"But next time you call me, you'll have to pay."

After saying that, A-Qiang turned his head and looked at the huge mech rushing towards him, his eyes burning with fighting spirit.

"Come on, tin can!"

"Let me show you what 'Depleted Uranium Grenade - Metal Storm' really means!"

Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!

Countless intelligent bullets, empowered by Zhang Yuan's divine magic and trailing blue flames, swarmed towards the invincible war machine like a bee.

If the mecha's particle cannon is a precise scalpel, then Ah Qiang's Gatling gun is an unreasonable mudslide.

Guided by the military-grade [Smart Link] plugin, each depleted uranium armor-piercing round precisely locked onto the same frequency node of the mech's shield.

Ding ding ding ding—Boom!

Just three seconds.

The energy shield, which was strong enough to withstand a sniper rifle, burst like a soap bubble under the saturation attack of 6000 divine bullets per minute.

"Warning! Shield overload! Armor damaged!"

A piercing alarm sounded from inside the mech. The pilot was horrified to discover that after the bullets pierced the shield, they were still automatically correcting their trajectory, specifically targeting the gaps in the joints and the weakest points in the mech's defenses!

Boom! Boom!

With two loud bangs, the once invincible black mech was brought to its knees, its leg joints completely broken.

"It's already collapsed? I haven't even warmed up yet!"

Ah Qiang stopped firing; the barrel of his gun was red-hot. He gave a thumbs-up to the V sign.

"Since we're acquaintances, I'll give you the wreckage of this mech. The batteries inside should be enough for you to repair your car."

After saying that, the transport plane lowered the rope ladder.

Ah-Qiang grabbed the rope ladder and made a dashing exit amidst the roar.

V and Panan were left bewildered in the wind.

……

Meanwhile, at the Blue Team's secret base.

"Signal interrupted. Prototype mech...damage confirmed."

The colonel looked at the static-filled image on the holographic screen, but he didn't fly into a rage like he had last time.

Instead, his voice, processed by the tactical helmet, became unusually calm, even carrying a hint of unsettling rationality:

"Interesting. The Red Team's individual firepower is already capable of threatening heavy mechs. That kind of firepower... is depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds with intelligent modules that correct ballistics, and it also has an extremely powerful divine magic buff."

"Sir, should we activate 'Project Demon Lizard'? Should we send out that final weapon that's still being tested?" the adjutant asked anxiously.

"No."

The colonel raised his hand, stopping the adjutant's suggestion.

He pointed to the badlands area on the map, his eyes darkening:

"The synchronization rate of the [War Fortress] and [Rage] chips is still only 58%. If we send them out now, we will not only fail to kill the Red Team's main force, but we will also expose our trump cards."

"The wanderer named Nash that Panan mentioned has been reselling 'holy water' lately. The presence of the Red Team here indicates they are trying to establish smuggling routes through the Badlands."

"They are developing a downline."

"The Red Team wants to use the homeless to sell the medicine throughout the city, and even wants to turn Badlands into their logistical base! And that battle just now was a demonstration against us—telling us that their hand has reached out."

"We can't let them succeed."

The colonel stood up, drew a circle on the map encompassing the entire Badlands, and issued new orders:

"To deal with rats, you need to use rat poison."

"Activate the 'Dust Storm Protocol'."

"Release all the drones, blockade the airspace. Cut off the water supply, blow up the roads. I want to turn this entire Badlands into a death trap."

"Let those homeless people know that buying 'Heavenly Armed Forces' medicine makes them enemies of military technology."

"Since the Red Team wants to develop its downstream network in the Badlands, then I'll let them die of thirst and starvation on the wasteland."

The colonel turned around, looking at the massive machine undergoing final adjustments deep within the hangar behind him, a cruel smile curving his lips:

"When they are exhausted... that's when the hunt will begin."