Apocalypse: Hero of Potato Fields

Tilian Planet Fragment.

Lin Yi and everyone else turned on the lights on their helmets and pressed the button.

The door creaked open and slid into the wall.

On the other side, virus-infected robots roared and charged at them.

There were no mutants here, so these robots would be eliminated soon.

Lin Yi found himself inside another large building, but it was filled with zombies.

He wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to earn some rewards, so he led the group from room to room, destroying all the zombies detected by the scanner.

Just as they were nearing the exit, a scout reported.

"There's a battle up ahead, boss!"

"Anything interesting?"

"There are mutants, and quite a lot of them. They're fighting with a team of mechs, but the number of mutants far exceeds the mechs."

"Great! Hopefully, there are some rewards with food... Piero, Joe, it's your turn."

"Yes, boss!"

On the battlefield, there were about a dozen armored trucks driving on a newly made road, followed by eight mechs fending off attacks from robot zombies.

Lin Yi saw two damaged mechs in the distance.

Their pilots had climbed out of the mechs and were fending off attacks from the minions.

"Let's intercept them. When the zombies come into attack range, create a Fire Wall and add some wind. Understand?"

Lin Yi laughed heartily.

The armored convoy was being chased by a considerable number of robot zombies, which meant a good amount of loot!

"Yes, boss!"

"Don't roast the survivors; we want them alive... to get useful information..."

The road circled around the hill where the team was, so intercepting the convoy was a breeze.

As soon as the trucks and survivors crossed the line Lin Yi mentioned, an eight-meter-high Fire Wall appeared behind them.

The Fire Wall wasn't particularly long, only twenty meters, but it was enough to surround the entire enemy group.

Then, a strong wind blew, spreading the flames to fifty feet long, engulfing the pursuing robot zombies in a blazing sea of fire.

The mages staggered a bit but remained standing; their Magic Power hadn't run out.

"Open fire! Take them down, don't let anyone steal our reward!"

Lin Yi jumped off the hill and took out the Anti-Gian Cannon.

[Special Anti-Gian Cannon, Level 4]

A weapon specially designed to counter mechanical aliens known as "Gian."

It guarantees the burning of any electronic device, ignoring all defenses.

Note: One shot will completely deplete a Level 2 Energy Core.

Maximum effective range: 1000 feet.

[Charging takes ten seconds]

Lin Yi fired at a Third Level mutant.

A stream of energy hit the massive machine, six meters tall, with six mechanical legs, knocking it sideways to the ground.

The robot's limbs twitched a few times and then stopped moving; its electronic system was destroyed.

Meanwhile, a fireball flew through the air, eliminating two giant mutants.

Then the other members of the team joined the battle, destroying the robot zombies that hadn't been burned by the flames.

"Zack and Lira, go for those cores; everyone else, collect the rewards and coins."

As Lin Yi ordered, he walked towards the area of machine wreckage.

The place was filled with burnt, melted metal, along with sizzling hot wires.

There wasn't much smoke, but what little there was, was thick and pitch-black.

The soldiers' protective suits could withstand high temperatures, but not for long, so they had to get the loot quickly.

"Boss! The survivors are coming this way,"

"Oh, really? I thought they'd want to leave here quickly, but it doesn't matter. Be careful; you never know what tricks they might pull."

"Yes, boss!"

Lin Yi approached the oncoming vehicles.

Some of the vehicles moved to support their companions who, despite the attacks, had successfully repelled the zombies, while the rest headed towards their lifesavers.

Three mechs stopped in front of the team.

Unlike the virus-infected robots, these mechs were track-based, not legged.

All the mechs were about four meters high and two meters wide.

They had no long-range weapons, and their melee weapons varied.

There was a chainsaw sword, blade, axe glowing blue, a giant Long Spear, and two ordinary swords; this was only from the weapons of three mechs.

The mech hatches opened, and two men and a young woman stepped out.

They were all wearing tight-fitting suits and helmets.

The man took off his helmet; his face was rough, and his eyes were mechanical.

"Hello, I'm Sharan, and these are my assistants Gute and Cassandra. Thanks for your help."

"I'm Lin Yi, we're out hunting."

"Hunting? To be honest, I'm not sure if the rewards you get are worth the energy you spend, especially with that Fire Wall... can't imagine how much energy it consumed, but its... effectiveness was surprisingly good!"

"Sometimes," Lin Yi shrugged, "the reward doesn't represent the purpose of action."

"You're quite right... By the way, I'd like to buy these wrecks from you."

"Feel free."

Lin Yi nodded and pointed to the burning wreckage, "In return... give us a ride, we want to go to Grate Fortress."

"But if we are attacked again, will you help defend us?"

The man spoke as he walked toward Lin Yi and extended his hand.

Lin Yi shook it.

"As long as you don't mind us keeping the rewards we get from killing enemies."

After Zack and his wife collected the energy cores, Sharan's men started dismantling the damaged machines, loading the best parts onto the truck.

They completely dismantled the Third Level modified machine zombie, moving it piece by piece.

The whole process took about half an hour.

Sharan personally oversaw the task intently, deciding which parts should be removed and which to leave behind.

Before long, the convoy set off.

Lin Yi and his squad were arranged to sit in one of the armored trucks.

These enormous vehicles were essentially fortresses on wheels, equipped with sturdy armor and powerful engines.

They were double-decker, fitted with multiple turrets, one to three on the top, and one at the rear.

These turrets used gas-like substances to launch steel spears, with a range of about thirty meters, which was more than sufficient for defense.

Though simplistic, they were practical and got the job done.

Besides Lin Yi and his team, there were also refugees on the truck.

Sharan said they encountered these refugees on the road, and once back at the fortress, someone would pay for each refugee they brought.

The refugees seemed to have gone through hellish ordeals; many were injured, revealing their half-machine nature.

Despite their appearance, the refugees seemed filled with hope, chatting excitedly and imagining what awaited them at the fortress.

As they traveled, Lin Yi looked out the window, seeing endless wasteland.

Occasionally he spotted ruins and small hills, but overall, the scenery was eerily monotonous.

But at least they were leaving the desert...

Lin Yi spoke via radio, "Alright, everyone, report your rewards."

"I have a purple reward!"

"I have four green ones."

"Two blue ones..."

The squad obtained a total of seven white rewards, eighteen green rewards, four blue rewards, one purple reward, and 324 Coins.

They really hoped to get some food... otherwise they'd face hunger.

To keep Piero in line, Lin Yi occasionally reminded him that, if necessary, they'd eat him without hesitation.

At this point, a soldier suddenly asked.

"Boss... I was thinking, if the zombie infection here is a computer virus, it means it's digital, so it can't infect living creatures, right?"

"Hmm... sounds reasonable. So what?"

"That might mean there are no mutant animals here. Can't gain Experience Points from them..."

"You're right, this explains a lot... Our main task right now is intelligence gathering, understanding the situation here, and finding technology useful for the Shelter.

Obviously, the most important thing here is the mecha! We need to figure out if we can pilot them."

"It would be so cool to be a Mecha Pilot!"

Others agreed with this statement.

Who wouldn't want to pilot a giant robot?

Time passed quickly, and soon they arrived at what was called the fortress.

The first thing Lin Yi saw was a seemingly endless wall, its scale unbelievable.

The wall was at least forty-five meters high, with a variety of defense installations on top.

Besides turrets, a large group of mecha guarded, including two that were at least eight meters tall.

The convoy was stopped at the entrance, questioned and inspected, then allowed through.

This city was truly a metropolis!

Factories continuously emitted smoke into the sky, vehicles flowed endlessly on the streets, people were everywhere, the city buzzing with life and vitality.

Refugees cheered seeing all this.

Some even started "crying," though half-mechanical people had no real tears.

The convoy soon arrived at a walled-off special area, guarded by guards.

"Attention passengers, we have arrived at Grate Fortress, now at the customs checkpoint. All refugees and visitors, please disembark for customs registration."

A pleasant female voice sounded through speakers.

People stood up immediately, preparing to leave the truck.

At this moment, Sharan ran over to Lin Yi.

With a smile on his face, he subtly extended goodwill.

"Lin Yi! I'll help you process the paperwork, then... invite you to our headquarters. I think... we have many areas for cooperation!"

"Of course."

Lin Yi calmly accepted his card.

Grateful, Sharan nodded and ran toward a building, ordering their half-mechanical people to unload cargo and scavenged machine parts.

Lin Yi turned to the couple before him.

"Zack, we're in the city. Are you ready to meet the person in charge here?"

"Yes!"

Zack nodded, then showed Lin Yi a metal item resembling a thick access card.

"I have a letter from our leader. I'll talk to the locals, they should lead us to meet him."

"Understood, then we'll go together, and you tell them we're mercenaries. If they're willing to pay a high reward, we can solve the problem."

"Great! Can we hire you too?"

Zack, knowing Lin Yi's squad's strength, immediately brightened upon hearing this.

"Of course."

"Alright, I'll go find them now."...