Starting as a Mechanical Hunter

Chapter 28: Chapter 22: Chain Quest

The warehouse is in the public cargo hold of Automobile City, located in the middle region of Oasis.

The people living here are called cargo people, many of whom have smuggled themselves from various places.

The other end of the cargo hold is the dock, which lies by the Sulfuric Acid River. Common freighters cannot move through the acid, only factory-specific cross-river conveyor belts can transport the goods here.

When Gao Gong drove the car to the dock, the sky was already darkening.

The off-road vehicle automatically slowed down.

However, a loud, piercing horn suddenly blared. Not far away, a large forklift rampaged through the warehouse, causing much annoyance along the way. Many people, already asleep, were startled awake, climbing out of the containers to curse loudly.

”Damn Iron Hide! Is there a funeral at your house today?”

”Screw you! Can’t a person get some sleep around here?”

”I think that guy Zhao needs a bullet to the brain!”

Even though the forklift’s actions drew curses, it didn’t hit any of the cargo boxes in the scattered, maze-like public cargo hold. The driving skill was truly remarkable.

Fat Xiang stared dumbfounded at the metal head on the car’s hood and suddenly said, ”Isn’t this guy supposed to be dead?”

”What do you mean?” Gao Gong asked.

”I saw it with my own eyes. That day, my mom sent me to collect water at the outskirts of Petrol Town, and at the gate, this guy had a conflict with the guard, got shot in the head.”

Gao Gong quickly blinked his right eyelid three times, switching to night vision. The dim scene was immediately replaced by a faint white vision.

A metallic head hung on the car hood’s surface, with a noticeable dent on the forehead. Below the neck were various-sized connecting wires plugged into different interfaces of the forklift, truly achieving ’man-machine unity.’

’Human modification started with the head? That’s rare. It suggests the neural system transformation rate is at least above 10 points. The desert doesn’t have this level of modification technology.’

As the forklift and the off-road vehicle crossed paths, Gao Gong’s gaze caught sight of a broken-down mechanical body.

’But the rest is pretty questionable.’

This quality is even worse than that of a cloned body of artificial soldiers.

”The Security Corps is coming; life will be tough! The Security Corps is coming; the Oasis is done for!”

”If you don’t let us sleep, you’re gonna have a bad time right now!”

Someone shot a burst of bullets into the sky, and the head on the forklift immediately shrank, letting out an awkward laugh.

”Just kidding, just kidding. It’s because the town is inaccessible, and I need a channel for my goods.”

”Here, here, everyone gets a stick of nutrition paste, all fresh fruit-flavored, only three months expired.”

A hole opened at the back of the forklift, and nutrition paste scattered everywhere with a ’plop,’ stopping the curses immediately. Countless silhouettes emerged from all directions, frantically grabbing the supplies.

Just as Gao Gong parked the car, Fat Xiang came over, offering the grabbed nutrition paste like a treasure.

”Brother Gao, here’s one for you.”

”Don’t eat this stuff mindlessly. Aren’t you afraid of getting diarrhea?”

”No way, I’ve never had diarrhea,” Fat Xiang puffed out his belly with pride.

”Aren’t you afraid of your mom’s beating?”

Fat Xiang thought for a moment and hid the expired nutrition paste away, muttering, ”Getting beaten is scary.”

Gao Gong glanced at the self-destructive metallic skull still racing around the area.

”A car racing gang from Nightless City? Interesting.”

Entering the gun store’s warehouse, Gao Gong pulled the switch, and instantly, a retro yet fierce entity appeared before him.

This entity resembled a combination of an ancient bed crossbow and the Zhuge Crossbow, also like a DIY version of a multi-tube rocket launcher.

The ammunition for this rapid-fire weapon was long, harpoon-like weaponry, with arm-thick shafts exuding a cold gleam.

From the front to the back, this ancient rapid-fire equipment didn’t use any electronic parts, and its internal structure was extremely complex. Hundreds of mechanical components shifted constantly with the weapon being loaded.

Name: Beast Hunting Device: Iron Rain

Category: Multi-shot Launching Device

Quality: Fine+ (Custom Template)

Weight: 23.5kg

Basic Attributes: DPS: 717.5, Attack Power: 287, Attack Speed: 2.5 attacks/second, Initial Velocity: 85 meters/second, Range: 800~1200 meters

Additional Attributes: Beast Split (+54.9% Armor-Piercing Damage), Iron Rain (+23.7% Critical Strike Damage), Hunting Mechanism (-16% Recoil)

Plugin Slot: Nine-tailed Clamp (reduces target movement speed by 17%)

Burst Mode: Single shot, three-round burst, five-round burst, twenty-round burst, adjustable by manual mode

Note: A large beast-hunting weapon crafted with mutated materials and extraordinary craftsmanship.

Gao Gong picked up a black spear on the table. The spear was about 1.6 meters long, with a tip resembling two sharp blades stuck together with two blood grooves. The spear’s end had a copper ring with nine large rope hooks hanging from it. These hooks would tighten through the ’Nine-tailed Clamp’ mechanism, rotating at high speed when launched. Upon hitting the target, the clawed hooks would spread out like a spinning iron umbrella, gripping onto the ground, tree trunks, and other obstacles.

Name: Black Spear

Category: Throwing Weapon

Quality: Whiteboard

Weight: 2.1kg

Attack Power: 18

Note: Although it looks like a hardened weapon, it’s actually a special black mahogany spear.

The back door of the warehouse swung open and Aunt Xiang walked in with a disheveled old man.

”Yo, here you are, this is the large beast hunting device you wanted, what do you think?”

”Very nice,” Gao Gong nodded in satisfaction. If he had this thing back then, the Reaper Commander would have been nailed by him, and not have his kill stolen by the Mother Reaper.

It’s no wonder I invested over ten thousand Mechanical Coins in this.

”So, you’re the kid who ordered the custom beast hunting device?” The old man walked over arrogantly, sizing up Gao Gong. ”You don’t look like much.”

Aunt Xiang sighed helplessly, ”Let me introduce, Old Sun, Sunx Bingtian, my assistant.”

”You were an Old Hunter?” Gao Gong asked with curiosity.

”Don’t change the subject, I’m asking you, now that this thing is made for you, what do you plan to do with it?”

”Of course, I’ll use it to hunt beasts.”

”This thing is for at least C-level beasts, are you up for it?”

Aunt Xiang couldn’t help but interject, ”Why do you care if he can handle it or not? What, if he can’t, are you planning to refund the money?”

”Nonsense, of course, once the money is in hand, you can act grand. Without the money, you can only act like a nobody.”

Old Sun lifted his chin, his face showing an arrogance unbecoming of the elderly, like a group elder sizing up a newcomer or an old lustful person sizing up a newbie.

Gao Gong raised his eyebrows. Unexpectedly, the old man’s provocation triggered a chain task.

[Task First Ring: Old Sun Not Sun]

Difficulty: Easy

Mission Brief: A taunt from a retired old man. As the founder of the New Classical Stream Mechanical Hunters, you must retaliate with hard facts.

Mission Objective: Gain Old Sun’s recognition

Mission Reward: 100 Experience Points

’A chain task, huh? This is the first time in this life. But what is this founder? Some kind of ancient immortal from a xianxia stream? I haven’t even grown a long beard.’

Although the rewards for chain tasks are quite superstitious, and you might end up only earning the favor of special NPCs, triggering a task is still quite exciting.

Gao Gong did not refute, and merely said softly, ”Fat Xiang, help me bring the stuff from the car’s backseat.”

”Got it!”

Fat Xiang panted and hoisted out a large object wrapped in coarse burlap, slamming it onto the table with a heavy thud.

When the burlap was unveiled, Fat Xiang stared in astonishment, ”Wow, what a big head!”

This water-tank-sized object, covered in a metal shell, was the head of the Reaper Commander.

Gao Gong had intended to hand this head to the Military Supply Warehouse for contributions, but it didn’t prevent him from using it for showing off now.

Old Sun was dumbfounded. He certainly recognized this thing. In fact, among all the C-level Mechanical Bio-Beasts, the Reaper was considered one of the most difficult to deal with, covered in heavy iron armor, its close-combat ability was terrifyingly strong. More importantly, it could even fly and control.

Even those old friends from back then, being able to hunt it was something worth bragging about.

And now, this Reaper head was simply placed in front of him, with a faint rusty bloody smell clearly present.

”This was, your doing?”

Old Sun was stunned, and after a long while, he spoke incredulously.

”Does the black market now sell Reaper heads?” Gao Gong retorted.

”Oh, Brother Gao, there are four smaller ones in the car as well, should I bring them over too?” Lad Xiang asked in a daze.

Even Aunt Xiang was alarmed. She wasted no words, directly drawing the Red Unicorn.

The blade made of tungsten iron was already pockmarked, especially between the tip and the midsection, full of breaks.

This was the result of repeated slashing. In fact, Gao Gong sought out Aunt Xiang to have her assist him in finishing off beasts.

The marks on the blade were more convincing than the Reaper head. These two old folks were very aware that these scars could only be made after slaying at least double-digit radiation beasts.

The two elders looked at each other in silence.

[Task completed, reward 100 Experience Points]

Although Old Sun had internally acknowledged Gao Gong’s achievement, he was still stubbornly reluctant to yield, exclaiming, ”Obviously, you weren’t the only one who killed it! A Reaper’s speed is so fast, there’s no way you could have gotten the chance to hack at its neck.”

”Old Sun, did you drink gunpowder?” Aunt Xiang asked in astonishment. Even at this age, why are you still so stubborn, aren’t you afraid of not having any drinks left?”

”Indeed, someone helped me,” Gao Gong admitted calmly.

”Alright, since you admit it, I’ll give you another chance. Take this big guy, and you alone, remember, alone, go hunt a C-level radiation beast, dare you?”

Looking at Old Sun, who was flushed with rage, Aunt Xiang suddenly had a thought and fell silent.

And Gao Gong received the second ring task—

[Task Second Ring: Shadow Hunter]

Difficulty: Difficult

Mission Brief: The dying spark still emits a faint heat. Old Sun seems to want to do something, but before doing so, he wants to see if you are worthy.

Mission Objective: A corpse of a C-level radiation beast

Mission Reward: Legacy of the Classical Stream Mechanical Hunter