Apocalypse: Hero of Potato Fields

Tilian Planet Fragment.

Lin Yi looked at the document and frowned.

"This is about some... failed experiments attempting to create sentient robots."

"Sentient robots? I've never heard of that before," Lira also leaned in.

Lin Yi quickly browsed through the documents, only looking at the parts that interested him.

"Of course, you haven't heard of it. It says here the final experiment failed and was sealed."

The team spent about an hour carefully searching this room and three others nearby.

They opened and checked everything that might contain information, including various important documents.

Afterwards, the group continued forward.

They encountered several collapses and dead ends, and got lost in the underground maze several times.

But when they ran into zombies again...

Looking at the time, it was almost night.

Before sleeping, the team managed to find another laboratory, but this lab was more like a small workshop.

Due to corrosion and the passage of time, it could no longer operate normally, but they found some items that were still quite well preserved.

These included some quadruped robots about the size of large dogs, and small robots of unknown function.

These robots didn't have any weapons.

From the records found, it seemed this room was designed for creating robotic pets or guard robots.

These robots could mimic animal intelligence and protect their owners when in danger.

Lin Yi silently cursed the World Heart Snake.

If he could still use the functions of the Shelter, he could strip every nut and bolt here for people to study this technology.

Advanced robotics technology could open up so many new possibilities for them!

After collecting all valuable items, the team left the laboratory.

They were preparing to find a place to camp for the night.

Although there were no zombies here, Lin Yi didn't want to take any chances.

Finally, he chose a room with a sturdy door. With nutrition bars, they wouldn't be hungry all day, so they went straight to sleep.

...

The next day, early morning

The team wandered the endless corridors, feeling extremely weary, and the nutrition bars were almost gone.

Lin Yi decided to temporarily stop searching the facilities and focus on finding a way out.

Because this underground complex was so vast that even if it didn't take months, it would take weeks to search completely.

The group reached an intersection.

A soldier, who had been scouting the area, ran over to report.

"Boss! I found something that looks like a reactor, and I think it still works! Maybe getting the computer running will lead us to a map."

"Last time I activated a reactor in some strange lab, it released a bunch of terrifying creatures... hopefully that won't happen again,"

Lin Yi led the group to the reactor and said as he prepared to activate it.

He pulled the lever.

At first... nothing happened, but soon a buzzing sound emerged.

The sound grew louder, then... the whole building began to shake!

Dust, plaster, and some wood chips fell from the walls and ceiling.

The lights came on quickly, but many bulbs overheated, with some even exploding.

As soon as the computer was fully operational, an emotionless male voice echoed throughout the room.

"Alert! Fuel level critical! Repeat, fuel level critical!"

"Alert! Air quality low, initiating purification process. Alert! External filters nonfunctional. Initiating internal filters. Alert! 37% of internal filters nonfunctional. Air purification time will be extended by 48%. Purification will take approximately: three hours, sixteen minutes, and twenty-one seconds."

Zack, as though listening to an incomprehensible language, asked, "Do you understand what the computer is saying?"

"It says there's not much fuel left and that it's started purifying the air," Lin Yi replied while fiddling with one of the computers, "Help me find a map of this complex and an evacuation route."

"Oh, okay..."

Half an hour later, they found nothing on the computer, but in a pile of files, they discovered a paper evacuation map, although it was very simple.

It didn't even show the entire complex, only a route leading to an exit.

But from the map, it was clear that the complex was as big as a city.

However, most routes led to collapsed areas or required access keys.

Even their laser rifles couldn't cut through the sturdy doors and obstacles...

After running around for three hours, the team finally found a fairly good route.

They had to go deeper into the complex, and the sight they saw was not ideal.

A battle had occurred here in the past, with remains scattered everywhere and rusted robots.

Most notably, there were new clothes scattered about, at least they looked new.

Piero looked at a skeleton in a jumpsuit, thought for a moment, then turned to his boss.

"Boss... can I assume this means their clothing quality was better than the robots they researched?"

Lin Yi looked over, the jumpsuit on the skeleton was still intact, except for the hole in the chest.

That should have been this person's fatal wound.

"You're right, now, stay alert! There could still be operational and combat-capable robots here!

"However, these people were all killed by metal claws and teeth, the enemy didn't have any long-range weapons."

"So that's what people used to look like..."

Lira muttered to herself as she examined one of the victims' mummified bodies.

The skeleton before her seemed to have died painfully after being splashed with some kind of liquid, which also mummified him.

There are many well-preserved skeletons here, being among them feels just like being in a graveyard!

"Stay alert! Move quickly!"

The further the squad went, the more terrifying the scenes they saw.

They finally encountered some machines that awoke from their dormant state as soon as the sensors detected strangers approaching.

However, for them, even moving was difficult, not to mention fighting,

It seems that time hasn't been kind to these robots either.

But to be safe, Lin Yi immediately ordered the robots to be destroyed completely.

He didn't want to encounter any robots with self-destruct devices.

The squad continued to move quickly and soon arrived at an evacuation passage, but...

The passage was severely blocked by a solid metal obstacle.

"We don't have time to find another route... We're going to cut our way through!" Lin Yi shouted angrily, and all eight of them drew their knives.

The half-mechanical people watched from afar, astonished by the soldiers' movements, so coordinated and harmonious.

It seemed as though they executed the leader's words perfectly without needing them to be repeated.

Suddenly, Lira heard a rumbling sound coming from the corridor behind them.

She immediately shouted, "There's something behind us!"

Then, a muzzle of a robotic creature appeared in the darkness...

And then a second one, and a third...

"Half of you shoot, the other half cut! Now!"

Lin Yi swiftly fired, taking down two robots at once, but soon more robots filled in...

More and more machines poured out from the darkness.

Fortunately, the obstacle was just a piece of rusty scrap metal; the soldiers took about ten minutes to hack through a hole big enough for the squad to pass.

The group slipped through the hole, and after pursuing for a few more minutes, the robots retreated.

This evacuation passage is two meters wide, three meters high, its bare concrete walls, floor and ceiling had only some LED lights emitting a faint glow.

"The person who built this passage must have been an idiot! We've been running underneath for two hours now. When will it end?!?"

Piero complained, and except for the half-mechanical couple, the others felt the same...

After another hour, they were still running...

"Stop! Let's take a break."

"Finally, we can rest." Piero grumbled, plopping down on the ground.

The half-mechanical couple was also glad for a break, sitting down and chewing on some crystals.

The corridor was too narrow for their tents, so everyone was sitting on the ground.

At this time, Lira hesitated and carefully asked.

"Uh... sorry to ask, why do you never talk to each other yet execute so seamlessly?"

"We communicate via a remote communication system built into our suits."

A soldier, after getting permission from the boss, said.

Lira's eyes suddenly widened in disbelief.

"What? Remote communication?! How is that possible? Aren't you afraid of the infected intercepting your data stream and then transmitting a virus to you!"

"Virus? So you're talking about a computer virus, not a biological virus... Fascinating! Hans, gather more information from them, but be cautious."

"Yes, boss!" Hans replied, then activated his external speaker, "We don't use digital communication, just radio waves and simulation devices."

"Simulation devices? What are those?"

"They're a form of outdated technology."

"I see..."

Zack also joined the conversation, chuckling lightly.

"When the apocalypse began, many were infected through communication devices. Once we lost remote communication abilities, the entire social structure collapsed. Everyone had to survive on their own...

But the result was, all we needed to do was look back at history, quite ironic, isn't it?"

"Enough chit-chat. Let's keep moving." Lin Yi said, then began to walk forward again.

The squad members quickly stood up and hurriedly followed behind their captain.

Five minutes later, they finally reached the exit.

They spent another five minutes climbing a flight of stairs and then stood in front of an armored door.

To their surprise, the door still worked, at least the 'open' button was lit.

The soldier holding the scanner scanned for a moment and reported, "There are about a dozen zombies on the other side of the door."

"There are enemies ahead, so don't rush out, stay alert. They might be mutants."

"Mutants? What's that?"

"Enhancement Humans."

"Right, sorry... I've never heard that term before." Lira said somewhat embarrassed.

Lin Yi frowned; if the word "mutant" didn't exist in their language, then the translator wouldn't be able to translate it...