episode_0027

The first of Harmon’s experimental robots to be deployed, Pepperoni MK. 1, appeared not in the town but rather in a circle behind the wandering group, making it seem as if it had emerged from the wilderness.

‘Let’s test the basic performance first.’

Basic performance. Of course, it is a test of the robot’s output.

Pepperoni swings his fist at the drifter.

Kuung!

Pepperoni’s fist slammed into the drifter’s face, and the drifter fell to the ground like a fly swatter.

‘Not bad. I think I can deal with the average wanderer with just the robot.’

OMG.

Kiriririk!

The gears in Pepperoni’s energized joints turn furiously.

Pepperoni, once again in position, raised his fist to follow up on the tramp who was pinned to the ground, and the other tramp who saw this rushed at Pepperoni.

Kaaang!

Pepperoni’s body staggers as the wanderer swings a hammer-like weapon.

‘Hmm. It’s just a little scratched.’

However, Harmon, who confirmed that the hammer couldn’t even penetrate a single powered suit, didn’t care and used Pepperoni to finish off the trapped drifter first.

Kkwaduk!

Pepperoni’s fist smashed the drifter’s head into the ground, and a loud noise rang out, and for a moment the surroundings became quiet.

Kiiing!

Kiriririk!

In that quiet space, only the sound of the gears turning vigorously inside the pepperoni resonates quietly.

Taang!

And then, as the heated gears of his entire body began to move organically, Pepperoni began to run wild in earnest.

Bam! Crunch!

In an instant, the surrounding vagabonds are struck down and fall.

At the same time, drones emerge from behind Pepperoni and automatically attack the drifters according to the commands entered by Harmon.

Drones designed to test durability simply charged forward and slammed into drifters, while drones designed to conduct energy conversion experiments shocked people with electricity generated by running an oil-powered generator.

In an attempt to conserve energy while increasing its effectiveness as a weapon, the experimental drone attacked by digging into the ground, extracting a boulder, spinning its body around and throwing the boulder at the drifter.

“Kkaaaak!”

“Kyaarrr!”

The drifters announced Pepperoni’s appearance by screaming, and the drifters fighting the Guldari Guild also turned their heads.

Naturally, the Guldari guild members also turned their heads and looked at Pepperoni.

A drifter that flies tens of meters into the air with one kick.

A wanderer who turns to blood with one punch.

Moreover, Pepperoni, who initially fought with only his arms and legs, began to actively use various weapons to fight midway through.

‘The AI’s learning ability isn’t bad either. Well, it’s just something I made by taking whatever I had.’

At first, Harmon had to control and handle Pepperoni one by one, but after a while, Pepperoni learned and started moving on his own.

From then on, Harmon let go and observed the battlefield while recording Pepperoni’s combat information.

‘The wandering leader is truly a problem. That guy is on a different level.’

Before he knew it, not only Isaiah and Candy, but also Flora and another Guldari Guild official were fighting against the wandering leader.

However, the wandering leader showed no signs of being pushed back, and rather, as he became accustomed to Candy and Isaiah, he skillfully pressured and pushed back the enemies.

“Undine.”

“Yes, Master.”

“Are you seeing the screen I sent you?”

“Yes. I’m watching.”

“Can you win if pepperoni gets in there?”

Undine, who had already been calculating, said:

“The winning percentage is 54%.”

“I made a weapon, and five people including the designer, robot, and humanoid are attached to it, so it’s 54%. Does that make sense?”

“If you look at the ‘Night’ characteristic of metal cells, that mutant has lived for 340 years. And metal cells have the characteristic of becoming stronger over time.”

“Indeed.”

If that’s true, it’s strong.

No, rather, considering that it took 340 years for it to become that strong, you could say it wasn’t that strong.

“Plus, pepperoni has a structural flaw.”

“I know that too. Tell me more about metal cells.”

“Metal cells are originally intended to create a perfect organism, and strength is an additional element.”

“Then what is the purpose?”

“Illness-free longevity and immortality. This technology was developed for rich people who hate being sick, hate getting hurt, and want to live long.”

“… … I see.”

“Are you interested?”

Harmon nodded.

“Because I want to rule the world I created for a long time.”

“Then I will search for a facility that can perform metal cell treatment. If you want, I will search the whole world.”

Harmon chuckled at Undine’s words.

“Okay. I hope it’s found by some miracle, but if not, then that’s okay.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. If I were to have metal cells, I would naturally seek out the facility you mentioned.”

Harmon looked at his hands.

“As if I had a chance.”

“Is it fatalism?”

“What is that?”

“The perspective that everything in the world is already set and flows as it is.”

Harmon snickered.

“If I thought like that, would I work that hard every day?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Yeah. I just want to invest my time and effort in something more valuable. Rather than something that may or may not work out.”

While Harmon and Undine were talking, the wandering captain was killing one of the Guldari Guild leaders and threatening Flora.

“Oh no, that won’t work.”

Harmon, who saw that, took back control of the drone that was being automatically piloted and began operating it.

A drone controlled by Harmon flies in quickly and attacks the wandering leader who is attacking Flora.

Boom!

The body of the wandering captain shook as he was hit directly by the drone’s charge, and Isaiah, who found the opening, quickly threw prosciutto at the wandering captain.

Wow!

As the lasers covered his body, the wandering leader started to waver even more. Candy, who saw this, flew up and dropped a kick, and Flora took the laser sword… … .

Kuung!

The wandering captain swung his long arms to perform a dropkick and caught the falling candy, then swung the candy like a stick to destroy the drone and stand up straight again.

“Krrr.”

Blood flowing from all over the body.

Melted skin because of prosciutto.

Scars from being cut by a laser sword.

Nevertheless, the wandering leader stood tall and growled at his prey.

“The fuel tank is empty.”

As Isaiah spoke, he was about to put a cover over Prosciutto’s gun, turning it into a blunt weapon, when Flora threw him her fuel can.

“Use.”

“Thank you.”

“Ah, I’m tired. I’m hungry.”

Flora, a commoner, couldn’t stand the fierce battle with the wandering leader.

After only a few minutes of collision, a heavy fatigue settles over my whole body.

As I was holding a laser sword that was emitting hot air, sweat poured down my entire body and my clothes were soaked.

“Master, please step back.”

“I wonder? I want to. But I can’t do that because I’m the guild leader.”

“Then stay right behind me.”

Candy stood in front of Flora and took a stance to protect her, but her artificial skin was torn here and there, as if her body was also damaged in various places.

The only thing that was okay was the pepperoni that was added at the very end.

Even the wandering leader was unable to move as he was wary of Pepperoni who suddenly barged in.

A human wearing a powered suit covering his entire body, similar to the one worn by the wandering leader.

In addition, he operates various types of combat drones and is dealing damage to the battlefield even while standing still.

The weapon he possessed was also extraordinary.

A small laser gun on the shoulder that occasionally shoots a laser.

On the back of his right hand, a vibrating blade cuts through the wanderer’s tough skin, muscles, and hard bones without hesitation.

In his left hand, he holds a metal whip that creates a strong shockwave and electric shock when striking an enemy.

There it is.

“Meteor group.”

As Pepperoni spoke in his own voice, the blade growing on the back of his right hand detached and began to rise on its own.

A weapon imitating Undine’s Undine 05, the Meteorite.

The long, blade-like blade splits into six segments, forming six meteors that begin to float around the pepperoni.

As Pepperoni snapped his fingers, the six meteors split into their own separate locations across the battlefield and began slaughtering the wanderers.

Even though he wears a powered suit, he has overwhelming combat performance, being able to destroy wanderers with his bare hands.

An armament of weapons with capabilities and numbers beyond those of the wanderers who constantly wander the wilderness.

The Pepperoni MK.1, a culmination of 30 years of Harmon’s expertise, is clearly the best here.

The Guild’s winning percentage is 54%.

That’s a figure that doesn’t change even if you include Pepperoni, which means that even if Pepperoni kills all the other wanderers and concentrates the Guldari Guild’s power on the Wandering Leader, the Wandering Leader’s win rate is still 46%.

And that’s the story of when the wandering captain chose battle.

“Kuaaah!!”

The wandering leader turned away from Pepperoni with a harsh roar and ran towards Candy.

The person most restricted in movement in this place right now is Candy, who is trying to protect her tired owner.

The wandering leader noticed this and quickly pounced on Candy, crushed her, and threw her at Isaiah.

“Ouch!”

Isaiah, swept away by Candy, rolled around, and as soon as a gap appeared in the encirclement, the wandering leader jumped into the gap and escaped.

Living in the wilderness for 340 years.

The biggest reason why the wandering leader was able to survive for so long was because he had the brains to run away when there was danger.

“Oh! Candy! Isaiah!”

While Flora ran to see the broken humanoid and her injured friend, Pepperoni quietly looked in the direction the wandering leader had fled.

and.

* * *

“Hello.”

When the wandering leader who chose to run away got somewhat farther away from Guldari Village.

A woman with an expressionless face, dressed in a neat maid outfit, with all sorts of machine parts wrapped around her body, greeted the wandering leader.

“Opportunity comes when it comes, and once it appears before my eyes, I have no intention of missing it. That is what the master said.”

With those words, the maid sprinkled water.

The water, which at first glance appears ordinary, is transformed into a bullet under the control of the steel wings sprouting from the maid’s back.

Wood crunch!

The water bullets fired shattered the bones of the limbs of the wandering captain, who had only suffered superficial wounds to his skin from all kinds of attacks, and subdued him as if his metal cells were nothing more than a wound to his skin.

“I will serve you to the master.”

Immediately after seeing that, Undine said that.

“Eww!”

The wandering leader’s body seemed to split open, and a slender figure emerged from the crack.

“… … It was a female body.”

Hair that was so long that it reached the feet and dragged on the ground.

A mouth full of fangs.

A small and slender body of 155cm.

Thin limbs to match, with unidentifiable body tissue sprouting from the ends, connected to a wandering leader.

“Wow!”

The wandering leader, whose identity was revealed, tried to escape from Undine after tearing off the tissue connected to the fake body, but Undine wrapped her body in a liquid with enormous weight and viscosity.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

The wandering captain tried to fight off the water that was engulfing him, but was instantly subdued.

“Gulp.”

Undine was quietly watching the wandering captain who was completely trapped in the water.

“First, I’ll take you.”

They secretly moved the wandering leader to the basement, avoiding people’s eyes.