Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Chapter 51: Chapter 45: Blade Parry

This was an unexpected battle.

No Nekomata, no brass knuckle, not even the beast-hunting device, which was a killing weapon against the boss, was left on the war car.

The only weapon in Gao Gong’s hand was a fine-level medium-sized knife.

However, he understood one thing—that was how the enemy found them.

Pheromone tracking.

During the previous battle, the opponent must have marked some people’s pheromones.

Then a new Reaper Clan found them.

Gao Gong took a deep breath and once again immersed himself in the ’Night Warrior’ mental state.

At the same time, he lightly pinched his collar.

That was the button for ’Open Virtual Projection.’

”How can you carry a knife on a rainy night without water?”

The next moment, the surrounding scenery produced a lot of mosaic, and with each mosaic passing, the surrounding scene changed subtly.

Seemingly real yet fake, seemingly fake yet real, it was like watching an immersive 3D movie.

The difference was, they were the protagonists of the movie.

Dreary rain fell from the sky, and the rain curtain divided layer after layer between one person and one beast.

The Reaper Queen instinctively shook her body, wanting to fling away the ’rain,’ but was puzzled by the lack of rainfall’s tactile feel?

The intelligence of a C-Level Radiation Beast was no less than that of an adult.

But there are indeed many middle-aged and elderly people who can’t operate a phone.

It’s not a lack of intelligence, but it contradicts their behavioral patterns.

Gao Gong held a red knife, micro motors crackled within his knees.

The Reaper Queen suddenly went berserk, her figure like a tracking missile, diving toward Gao Gong almost instantly.

”Thunder!”

The sky thundered with a loud rumble, lightning made the world as bright as day, pure white electric light descended from the sky toward the Reaper Queen.

Although her instincts told her the incoming lightning was ’fake,’ she still instinctively turned, revealing the blade wings on her abdomen.

After Gao Gong’s strike, the knife light of the Red Unicorn and the descending white lightning formed an X shape.

[You caused 35 damage to the Reaper Queen]

[You applied the bleeding effect to the enemy, increasing attack power by 5% (one layer)]

A gaping wound appeared on her abdomen.

A blade wing on the Queen’s back suddenly shot out nearly half its blade, like an ancient general wielding a Cyan Dragon Crescent Blade, slashing down diagonally and fiercely.

”Fire!”

In the ’rain,’ Gao Gong’s entire body was like a fuel tank set ablaze, orange flames burst from him.

’Steel Slash’ was instinctively halted.

The Reaper Queen fell into skill usage failure rigidity.

Being yanked hard, Gao Gong slid and dropped, standing the blade vertically, slicing through between the enemy’s legs, where the female beast’s reproductive organs are, a crucial vulnerability indeed.

[You caused 46 damage to the Reaper Queen]

[You inflicted a critical hit on the enemy, damage * 2]

[You applied the bleeding effect to the enemy, stacking 10% attack power (two layers)]

With a flick of the blade, Gao Gong’s wrist shook, the single-molecule line claw nailed ahead bounced back, amidst the violent rain sounds, Gao Gong sprang upright, his upper body twisting nearly 180% in mid-air, the blade slashing diagonally at the back of the enemy’s neck.

There was also no armor here.

[You caused 54 damage to the Reaper Queen]

[You applied the bleeding effect to the enemy, stacking 15% attack power (three layers)]

The Reaper Queen let out a sharp, poignant scream.

Gao Gong had no thoughts of greedy strikes, flinging his right hand, using the hook claw’s drag force to defy the rules of physics, moving horizontally three meters.

Almost immediately, a fierce wind attacked from behind, the six blade wings on the Reaper Queen’s back all ejected, her form spun violently in mid-air, forming a three-meter radius blade storm, wherever it went, nothing could stand, countless hug-thick iron hide trees were sliced in half, the cross-sections were smooth as mirrors.

The storm’s aftermath tore and broke trees and branches within tens of meters around, blade marks appeared everywhere.

Six-Wheel Slash lv4: Reaper Empress’s six blades transform into a blade storm, causing 300*6 damage within 3*3 meters and 10*6 splash damage within 10*10 meters.

If Gao Gong had been greedy for the blade earlier, he’d be done for now.

”Play some bgm.”

The next moment, amidst ’Gale,’ a cyberpunk music piece Gao Gong had heard in his previous life played.

In the wind and rain, the knife was like a shadow, a large and small silhouette intertwined and fought in mid-air.

Using the single-molecule line claw, Gao Gong was like a nimble flea, touching and going, slashing and hiding, in ’Rainy Night Knife Mode,’ the body could perform various anti-physical rule actions.

And after the ’Special Effects Generator’ transformation, Gao Gong sometimes became a ’snake’ moving on a tree, sometimes split into three or four silhouettes, the blade light also becoming unpredictable, each slash either extending several meters or exploding, forming an electronic mist.

[You applied the bleeding effect to the enemy, stacking 20% attack power (four layers)]

[You applied the bleeding effect to the enemy, stacking 25% attack power (five layers)]

[You applied the bleeding effect to the enemy, stacking 30% attack power (six layers)]

...

The Reaper Queen let out an agitated scream; the opponent was like an indestructible fly, clearly one hit was enough to kill it.

Moreover, it could obviously feel the opponent’s threat increasing.

Her gaze darted around and finally found the figure that irritated her so much. The hook claw was hurled directly, transforming into over a dozen segments, each carrying a significant electromagnetic radiance, spanning dozens of meters, directly grabbing the figure hiding behind the tree.

Amidst the claw shadows, a magnetic storm erupted.

However, the peculiar sensation made her feel something was off. In her palm, a ’small loudspeaker’ exploded directly.

’Manual Nerve Disruptor,’ colloquially known as Monster-Opening Divine Artifact.

The next moment, Gao Gong emerged from behind, the flash of his blade cutting almost without hesitation at the previous wound.

[You dealt 76 damage to the Reaper Queen]

[Your attack caused a tearing effect]

[Your attack reduced the opponent’s movement speed]

Gao Gong was like a skilled chef, never clashing head-on, but dissecting methodically like cutting along the grain.

A light tune was gently hummed to the psychedelic electronic music.

’Who is the living fodder in the world’s feeding machine.’

’Who uses their marrow to lubricate the joints of the machine.’

Gao Gong entered a peculiar state, the battle seemingly entered a rhythm of its own, no matter how the opponent attacked, regardless of how lethal or expansive their skills were, he could always avoid danger in advance.

The rain grew heavier, with the ’Special Effects Device’ cranked to max, gradually starting to distort, raindrops turning into snowflake streams falling from the sky, landing on tree trunks, branches, and people.

In the real interactive concrete jungle, the predator and prey simulacrums performed their assigned tasks.

’And who, uses their flesh to feed the machine.’

’Beautiful neural lines separating from the skull.’

’Data rage, electronics hunger!’

The Reaper Queen suddenly opened its mouth, a violent spiritual shock swept through all directions, wiping out all electronic illusions.

Gao Gong stood not far from it.

The Reaper Queen’s limb surged with power, and in an instant, a small pit exploded on the ground, the sound burst echoing simultaneously.

From the tail of the blade limb, a long streak of white vapor trailed out.

The edge of the blade limb was stuck three centimeters from the hilt of the Red Unicorn, penetrating three units deep.

Gao Gong aptly positioned the blade, as if the opponent was chopping the blade, not him.

[You comprehended the close combat skill: Bounce-Back Blade]

Bounce-Back Blade lv1: Close Combat Weapon Blocking Techniques, when the opponent’s attack is blocked by one’s weapon, there is a 17% chance of causing a stagger, and a 9% chance of causing shock damage.

For a heavyweight opponent like the Reaper Queen, the chances of either effect occurring were minimal.

Having finally caught this little insect, how could it easily let the opponent go, pressing the limb blade forward.

Gao Gong’s ankle sank into the ground, his knee emitting continuous engine roars, the Red Unicorn creaking incessantly.

Yet the pressure on the Reaper Queen also increased, its strength nearly three times Gao Gong’s, yet in an invisible area, a fine single-molecule line was caught on a large stone behind, growing tighter.

In the moment of opponent’s weakening, Gao Gong suddenly exerted force with both arms, using the ’Bounce-Back Blade’ technique, the opponent’s limb blade was raised high, simultaneously, Gao Gong’s bloodstained blade tip landed.

[You applied a bleeding effect on the enemy, stacking 60% attack power (12 layers max)]

Status maximized!

The same blade, weapon damage +25% Night Warrior bonus +60% Drinking Frenzy.

Basic Attack definitely over a hundred.

This also meant, Gao Gong’s current damage was far beyond mere trimming.

...

Gao Gong’s state improved, but the Cable Tribe’s situation was not so good.

Earlier, the Little Woman controlled three juvenile Reapers, preventing the situation from worsening further.

However, the Little Woman’s spiritual control was only elementary, and ’Mechanical Possession’ lasted less than five minutes before she was about to lose it.

The controlled juvenile Reapers, amidst manipulation, occasionally turned their heads, casting covetous glances at the Little Woman.

”Old thing, do something! If you don’t help, I’ll throw you out!”

Watching one tribe member after another being taken away, Huang Yuanli was anxious, yet Professor Han could only smile bitterly.

After failing to integrate with the Brain-in-a-Vat, his ’Spiritual Manipulation’ was 90% wasted; forget the Reapers, he couldn’t even control the Metal Sparrow.

”Try sensing that thing,” Professor Han suggested an unconstructive solution.

”What thing?” Huang Yuanli paused, ”Didn’t that thing run away?”

”You can’t sense it, but it can sense you, you’re after all... a container.”

”Damn it, getting more useless with age!”

Gritting her teeth, Huang Yuanli could only desperately recall the sensation of being treated as a brain can.

It seemed like a long time had passed, or maybe not long at all, just as Huang Yuanli was about to despair and give up, her vision suddenly changed.

Her body seemed particularly large.

Large enough that some large Mechanical Bio-Beasts appeared like tiny beans.

A massive tribe of thousands was migrating.

She seemed to have become a colossal entity!?