"The oath breaker of the Academy..."
Mikhail Irenfono slowly crossed the intersection of the shadows, and his angular face, like a sculpture, looked down at Angela condescendingly.
The Iron Lord's gaze was like the cold wind of Thebite, making Angela unable to look directly at him for a moment, but she frowned fiercely, as if she had made up her mind:
"Please try [X] now. I want to see... I want to see if you are really as god-like as the people of Thebit say..."
Mikhail's black pupils drooped as he looked at the thin woman in front of him. He suddenly raised his head and laughed:
"Hahahaha...Dr. Angela, even after staying in Wanren Mountain for so long, you still can't get rid of the federal people's habit of beating around the bush?"
The Iron Lord looked at Angela as if he were looking at some kind of cute pet:
"I will avenge him. I will avenge Aleph Stro, your husband. The federal people will never trample on the land of Wanren Mountain again. If you don't trust me, you can just turn around and leave..."
"I trust you... Ever since Angel and Iron Fist saved me from the Blade of Babel, I have always trusted you..."
Angela walked up to Mikhail eagerly and carefully placed one hand on the armor on his abdomen:
"I believe you can..."
"That's enough, Dr. Angela."
Mikhail said coldly, then walked away from Angela and slowly walked towards the huge curtain at the other end of the room:
"Beyond unity, everything in the world is empty, and so are your expectations. (Thebit)"
Before the curtain, Mikhail slowly turned his head, a rare smile showing on his sculpture-like face:
"What are you waiting for? Don't you want to witness the majesty of God?"
Under Angela's blank gaze, Mikhail opened the curtain——
"Come on, come on—"
In the huge shadow behind the curtain, a set of giant armor as majestic as a mountain was revealed. The dark armor was lightly covered with a thin film of blue light from the elemental energy, emitting an ominous glow in the darkness.
"Let me feel the power of Prototype-X [Frontier]..."
Wanren Mountain was still swept by the wind and snow, and in the cacophony of the wind and snow, a roar of steel slowly sounded -
"For the sake of unity (Thebite)..."
......
Volume 1 is finished.
Ahhh...I suddenly realized...volume 1 has ended without me noticing...
To be honest, I have learned a lot from this serialization experience. Although I cannot make money due to various reasons, the feeling of writing with all my heart and soul and not for money is something I haven't felt for a long time. Ah... I am enjoying it very much, hey~
Oh! I'm a little curious about what everyone thinks of Volume 1... If you have some free time, why not write a review for me in the [Book Review Area]? I look forward to all kinds of people giving different opinions. If you are willing to take the time to do so, I'll be very grateful~
Then... As an author with a more traditional creative thinking, this serialization experience has made me realize the drawbacks of online literature serialization: Although I basically revise the first draft 1-2 times before publishing it, even so, if I want to get full attendance or maintain the update frequency, I can't make every chapter I publish reach the level of my utmost satisfaction... It seems that I still need to think about how to maintain the quality...
Ahem, I've gone off topic. Anyway, Volume 1 has just ended so briefly. As a stubborn person who has extremely high requirements for the quality of books, Volume 2 will probably take some time to polish the outline and write some of the text before it can be serialized. Before that, I will revise the chapters of Volume 1, polish the outline of Volume 2, and update some short stories + extras as a supplement to the world view/plot. The extras are probably half serious plot/half light daily life, all of which are relatively fragmented things. I hope you like them.
If you have read this far, I am really grateful~ I know that what I write is very selfish, without considering readers' or market's preferences at all, but I can say confidently... If you can read this far, it means that you have a good vision, hahahahaha...
I have to say that being praised as a "treasure" or "clear stream" by many readers really makes me happy. As a student, I can already earn a lot of money in the field of writing by commissioning articles, but I can sincerely say that getting your recognition or writing articles that make me extremely happy is much more important to me than money, fame and fortune.
Thank you for reading my book. As long as there is still someone reading it seriously, what I insist on will still have meaning.
Salute! Okay, I have to go to bed... I'm dying from staying up late every day...
Volume 2 "Beyond the Edge of the Cage" is on the way, see you soon√
(Part 1) "The price"
"One blade, thousands of troops are defeated."
——Selected Works of Wilkin's Fairy Tales
......
"That...that's..."
The wind and sand turned into ominous chords, constantly floating past my ears, and like some kind of whirlpool, sweeping around, weaving together with the tinnitus a strange music, playing on this endless gravel hill.
In this atmosphere dotted with eerie music, Woodpecker Grace Wallace raised his head and gazed at the dim yellow sky, just like the countless scavengers around him who were looking up at the sky.
At this moment, he was on the deck of an armored vehicle. Around him, a large number of armored vehicles were parked on the gravel hill. The roar of the engine gradually became smaller, and everyone raised their heads silently and looked up at the sky. Those pairs of turbid black pupils reflected a little red light, which lit up their pupils and reflected the color of fear.
Gazing at the strange image in the sky, Grace murmured softly:
"...【Blade of Babel】..."
Right above the vast Grau Yad Wasteland, a scarlet meteor was dragging a long tail of flame, slowly falling in the constantly flickering red lightning.
Everyone looked up at the meteor hanging in the sky. The armored vehicle's engine was still running slightly, embellishing the deadly silence. Pride? Arrogance? All these things that once belonged to the scavengers were ruthlessly washed away by the dots of red light in the dim sky, like dirt on the edge of a bowl.
And high in the sky, the "sizzling" sound emitted by the strong factor energy seemed to be foreshadowing something, and it became clearer and clearer in Grace's ears.
.....
“That day, I saw the gods with my own eyes.”
"Just as the legend says, I saw her figure."
"The Wilkins say 'One blade can destroy a thousand troops', which is a joke that the scavengers sneer at..."
"Until that day..."
"That day, we paid a heavy price..."
......
an hour ago.
Gravel Mound - Ruins of the Kingdom of Grau Yad
"Rumble..."
The wind from the wasteland blew across the gravel hills, rolling up gusts of yellow sand in this barren land, gently washing the battlefield of the [College War] at that time.
In this land baptized by the huge beam of light from the Tower of Babel, traces of life have become a thing of the past.
This is the remains of the Kingdom of Grau Yad: a desolate, silent wasteland.
The sky here is dim yellow, perhaps because of the yellow sand stirred up when the World Alliance was destroyed by the Tower of Babel more than a decade ago, or perhaps because an unknown demon bound all the dead souls to this land, but it doesn't matter anymore. The sound of yellow sand blowing over weathered rocks has long become the main theme of this silent wasteland. Apart from that, everything is silent.
However, at this moment, in this barren wasteland, a large number of outsiders are passing by——
"Boom——"
The wheels connected by tracks rolled over the sand and stones on the gravel hills and moved slowly forward on the wasteland. On the crudely made armored plate, a man who looked like a thief was sticking his upper body out of the armored vehicle, walking forward against the wind and sand with a smug look on his face.
[Scavengers], that’s what outsiders call them.
As looters in the desert, these mercenaries never care about money, fame, or anything else. Some of them are former citizens of Grau Yad, while others are exiles from neighboring countries. Although they have different identities, they all have one thing in common: the civilized world has long abandoned them. What drives them to walk in the desert is not the desire for survival or the pursuit of property, but the deep black hatred flowing in their blood.
They are willing to pay any price as long as they can take revenge on those who have pushed them into a desperate situation.
"Ah... I found you."
In an armored vehicle slightly to the back, Woodpecker Grace Wallace was staring at the three monitors in front of him. The lollipop he was chewing exuded a sweetness that made him extremely happy. He gently pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose and said:
"【Woodpecker】calling 【Bull】, the caravan has come into sight, please be prepared to encounter the enemy."
"I understand. Damn, the Federation's stuff is so useful. It's so convenient!"
Grace smiled silently, looking at the huge armored convoy galloping around him, a sense of satisfaction was born in his heart.
A few months ago, scavengers accidentally robbed a federal convoy. They originally just wanted to seize some supplies, but unexpectedly found a strange prototype in the convoy.
As one of the few scavengers from the Academi Federation who were stranded in the wilderness, Grace naturally took over the prototype. After a brief study, he was surprised to find that it was actually some kind of high-efficiency factor conversion engine.
So, Grace studied and copied the engine. Soon after, the scavengers used the Vo1d crystals looted from the E-Tran caravan and the scraps collected from the wasteland to create this armored convoy capable of firing 30mm caliber cannons.
SA-01 "Wild Wolf" tracked armored vehicle.
Initially, the number of armored vehicles was not large, but as the looting efficiency provided by the "Wild Wolf" became higher and higher, the speed of obtaining raw materials and supplies became faster and faster. Eventually, their convoy became larger and larger, large enough to compete with Wilkin's armed convoy.
Grice gave their scavenger tribe a cool name: The Wolfpack.
The artillery array of the [Wolf Pack] can flood a large area of trade routes at an extremely short speed. Most of the merchants passing by are so scared that they can't take care of themselves after seeing the artillery all over the sky, which makes their looting work easier and easier.
But the consequence was that fewer and fewer caravans passed through the gravel hills. Later, the I-Tran military began to regularly sweep the trade routes in this area. Although they could barely compete with them, the [Wolf Pack] could not compete with the army of a country for a long time.
As a result, the [wolf pack] began to plunder the trade routes in the direction of Akademi. As they obtained more and more resources, their team became more and more unstoppable.
"Get ready for an artillery assault! Little Arm cubs!" The voice of the Bull roared over the radio, exciting and wild, "Come on, let these I-Tlan people feel the power of the Wolf Pack!"
"Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-"
Bursts of fire gradually erupted on the wasteland, and countless artillery fired shells at the sky like a torrential rain. The merchants traveling on the distant trade road had never seen such a scene before, and their steering wheels were so frightened that their cars almost flipped over.
"Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-"
Fire rained down around them, causing explosions one after another, and the merchants could only huddle helplessly in the cockpit, praying for safety.
After the first round of threatening bombing was over, the leading businessman staggered from the driver's seat to the ground. He saw the drone in the sky and immediately knelt down on the ground with his hands raised.
Looking at the images transmitted back from the drone, Grace smiled in ecstasy:
"Hey, [Bull], they surrendered, go collect the goods, don't waste time."
“Damn, so fast, hahahahaha,” [Bull] laughed roughly, “Alright! Little arm guys! Go up and collect the tribute!”
......
(Part 2) "The price"
Grace lay comfortably in the chair in the cabin, staring at the federal-made screen in front of him showing the images from the drone's perspective, feeling extremely comfortable.
The one they robbed this time was a large caravan of I-Tran. With a few more waves of such resources, the Wolf Pack might even have the chance to sneak into Lavis from the edge of the Federal Iron Curtain and carry out even more grand looting.
"Is there a chance for me to return to the Federation..." Grace chewed the lollipop slowly in his mouth. Unconsciously, he recalled his experience of working in the bottom laboratory of the Federation [College].
When he had just graduated from the National Research University, he was still a young man full of vigor and vitality, and his mind was full of thoughts about going to the [College], joining those top graduate students, and studying those highest-level things.
He worked hard and was admitted to the College with the highest grades. At the graduation ceremony surrounded by flowers, Grace was invited to speak as a representative of the graduates. For the first time, under the spotlight, he felt the admiration of countless people below him and felt the true meaning of being "high above".
At that moment, he thought his life would reach its peak, a position that no one else could reach.
However, when he actually started working in the laboratory, he found that he could only handle some extremely small projects. The high-level scientific research projects planned by the upper echelons of the [College] were still out of reach for him as before.
It was only then that he realized that he was the one in the audience. Facing those old guys on the Tower of Babel, he could only look up at them.
"..."
"Kacha——"
The lollipop in his mouth suddenly broke apart, turning into countless sharp-edged fragments that irritated Grace's mouth. He raised his eyes slightly and sat up in front of the screen again.
"Damn the Federals..."
Grice muttered, reconnecting to the public channel.
"...Vo1d has a lot of ore! Enough for supplies. As for food, take it back here and don't leave any for them..."
The excited voice of [Bull] came from the channel. As the commando leader of [Wolf Pack], he has always been so unrestrained, wild and merciless.
"...Okay, now that everything has been confirmed, let's kill these bastards and go."
“No...no!” The businessman’s voice was panicked and helpless. “Please...please wait a moment, I can——”
"boom--"
"Hey, [Woodpecker], we've finished counting the things, what's the situation around here?" [Bull]'s voice was extremely calm, as if nothing had happened in the robbery just now.
"Everyone is safe and sound, please go back." Grace said nonchalantly, boringly controlling the drone's view to turn around. "I'm hungry, it's time to set up camp and cook."
"Okay! Brothers! Let's go back!"
“Wuhu!!”
The cheers of the [Wolf Pack] filled the area around the gravel hills, and countless armored vehicles rumbled toward the west, leaving behind blood and corpses on the trade route.
"By the way, do we still want to go west?" The voice of [Bull] came from the channel, "Are you sure the federals won't use [Tower of Babel] to crush all of us?"
"Babel Tower is not for casual use... It costs a lot of money to launch it once. The people of the Federation are not that generous..."
