This Saturday is my brother's wedding day. Sponsored chapters will be TRIPLED.
Translated by: LaPhong
Edited by: vbguy2011
Book 4 Chapter 39: Fruitage
The battle was over.
The originally desolate Rodeo Drive had become even more dilapidated because of the last battle, and there were buildings in ruins everywhere.
Walking on that pile of rubble, the soldiers of the 2nd Paratrooper Battalion were still looking for any robot that might still have survived.
As long as there was a slightest movement, it would attract a series of bullets.
Shen Yi was dismantling the Energy Core of the Harvester he had killed - only adventurers who killed a robot could dismantle its Energy Core. After dismantling two Energy Cores, he had a total of three Harvester Energy Cores, one of which was a duplicate model.
Not far away, Zhou Yiyu threw an Energy Core and cried, "You can have it."
Shen Yi took it, then, somewhat surprised, discovered that was the third model. He said, "Thank you, why don't you keep it?"
"It's just a piece. I don't want to use it. You just have to remember to give me some benefits after collecting the four models."
"I will." Shen Yi left the last Harvester not to be dismantled and it was the most complete one. Looking at the Harvester, he pondered.
"I hope you won't disappoint me." Zhou Yiyu leaned on the motorcycle and raised his hand toward Jin Gang. "Hey, I haven't thanked you for saving me."
"You can use BP instead of giving a verbal thank you." Jin Gang shouted back.
"Ha, don't dream in broad daylight." Zhou Yiyu took out a cigarette, looked around for a moment, and then asked Shen Yi: "What's going on here? The car is gone."
The SUV had blown up, so they currently had no means of transport, and it would become impossible to escape from the next chase like before. Although they had already eliminated this round of pursuit, according to the setting of the Survival mode, it would not be long before the third round of Skynet robot would start chasing anew.
Maybe it would be the more powerful terrible Hunter-Killers next.
Shen Yi thought for a minute and said to Zhou Yiyu, "Remember that Marcus and Kyle found a buggy in the original story?"
Zhou Yiyu's eyes brightened. "You mean…"
Shen Yi nodded. "Kyle knows where to find a car."
Not far away, Marcus was looking around with Kyle. Kyle kept shouting: "Star! Star!"
Kyle was hoping to find Star, but on the other hand he was also afraid to find her: the possibility of her survival would not be high if the little girl was found here.
Shen Yi beckoned to Kyle, "Hey, Kyle, can you come over, please?"
Kyle looked at him and reluctantly went over. His eyes were red revealing that he had cried.
Shen Yi said, "Kyle, we need your help. Do you know where we can find a car to drive?"
Kyle looked at him, and he suddenly shouted: "You bastard! You could have saved Star, but you watched her get taken away by those robots!"
He saw with his own eyes how they got rid of those chasing robots. The power of these people was far greater than what he knew and he was shocked.
But it was precisely because of that, that the little boy formed the anger against them.
It was because they had come across those robots but did not want to fight back, and just wanted to escape.
People in different positions naturally considered different issues. He certainly would not understand what the Survival mode meant for adventurers; he would not understand that if they could kill more Terminators, their fate would still result in them being hunted; he would not understand that for adventurers, that world would only exist for two days; he would not understand that even if the world suffered even more hardships, the adventurers were just a group of passers-by.
However, Shen Yi was fully able to understand Kyle's mood.
He sighed softly, and he patted his shoulder: "First of all I want to admit one thing to you. All I said before was a lie."
Marcus replied with a calm tone: "I can see it, but I think I can understand why you lied… if something cannot be explained, there is no need to explain it."
"Thank you, and what I want to say is that I also feel sorry for Star."
"What we need is not regrets but action!" little Kyle shouted in a heroic manner.
"Then you should understand better that only the living can save people, as the dead can't do anything."
Shen Yi's words left Kyle stunned. "You mean … we still can save Star?"
Shen Yi nodded seriously. "Yes, Star is not dead. She was just captured by the robot and brought to Skynet Headquarters. Didn't you want to meet John Connor? Only he could rescue Star from Skynet's headquarters. We must live to meet John Connor, and only after receiving his help can we rescue Star."
"Are you really sure?"
"You can choose not to believe, and then save her yourself if you think you can do it, or you give me some time."
Kyle looked down, thought, and finally nodded. "Well, if you can't take me to save Star by tomorrow morning, I'll save her myself. As for now, I'll only believe you for the time being."
"Then do you know where we can find a car?"
"Of course, but not it's in good condition."
"It's okay. I'm the best repairman. You and Marcus go pick up the car. I'll give you a few more soldiers. Try to bring as many cars as you can."
Kyle turned around and departed.
As they watched them leave, Zhou Yiyu approached Shen Yi. "Are you really planning to bring them to see John Connor, then go to Skynet Headquarters to save a little girl?"
Shen Yi faintly answered, "I lied to them."
This Hidden Quest was especially strict. Shen Yi and others could not take any coercive measures against the protected figures. Previously he had just hit Kyle with a punch, but that resulted in him losing 300 BP.
If he did not agree with Kyle's request, it was likely that he would be compelled to use force.
If Bloody City intended to give them hardship: as long as Kyle would wake up from time to time, they would be forced to knock him out against his wishes, but there was no way they would have enough BP to pay up the penalty.
Therefore, some necessary lies played a key role in that situation.
Moreover, they needed cars now.
"Then what do we do next?" Jin Gang also came to ask Shen Yi. He did not know why, but his heart was beating particularly fast.
Shen Yi's eyes rested on Jin Gang, making Jin Gang feel uneasy in his heart, but then he looked away like nothing happened. "Hong Lang's group is approaching, you can contact them. As for now, there is still another thing I need to do … something that might almost not work."
After saying that, Shen Yi walked toward Xi Xiaofan.
He grabbed Xi Xiaofan's hand and pulled him in front of the last Harvester in spite of his panic. He handed the PDA to Xi Xiaofan's hand and said, "I need the Harvester's control. You know what to do."
Xi Xiaofan showed dull expression, and did not respond. He did not seem to know what Shen Yi was saying, and just stared blankly at the Harvester. After a moment, he suddenly sat down and docked the PDA at the Harvester's control center and began to input instructions.
After a while, Xi Xiaofan stood up and returned the PDA to Shen Yi.
Shen Yi stood beside the Harvester, took a long breath and used Activation.
"C-400 Harvester, 36% damaged, technology evaluation: Rank C, AP 0/1500. It can be repaired, and it needs 800 energy for complete repairs. You can choose to control the energy output to determine the integrity of the repair, but the smaller your repair value, the higher the degree of technological recovery goals, the higher the quality, and the higher the proportion of energy consumed. Your current energy limit is 100 points, and you can only complete 6 percent armor or 3 percent damage. Choose to repair? Yes/No."
"Convert 240 HP into energy."
"Each two points of HP can be converted into 1 point of Psychic Energy."
"Accept conversion. Repair 6% AP value and 7% damage."
After Shen Yi made his choice, the Harvester on the ground slowly sat up.
At the same time, all people aimed their muzzles at the Harvester, but he waved his left hand to stop them. "Don't attack, it is ours now!"
Everyone put down their gun.
The tall Harvester slowly sat up, but did not attack anyone.
Zhou Yiyu looked at the big machine with a sly look and said: "I remember you said that you would have to pay me a robot that is better than T-600. Is that still true?"
The C-400 Harvester only recovered 6% of AP, which was 90 points. That amount was even less than AP value of a Terminator T-600. In fact, it could not even afford to take a few hits. Instead, the same energy consumption used would have been sufficient to indulge the full repair of three T-600 Terminators. If it only viewed from the current gains and losses, repairing a Harvester was extremely cost-ineffective.
However, its behaviour of standing upright was ostentatious, and anyone who saw it would not think that it was actually just an empty shell. Another 7% of the damage was repaired, so that the Harvester's originally damaged heavy artillery finally recovered and could be used normally.
The capture of the Harvester during the execution of the mission was something that had never happened before in the entire Difficulty Level 1. To acquire and use a temporary Harvester required at least two basic prerequisites: a computer genius and machine repairer. The former required specialized talents, while the latter required specific capabilities, both of which could not be easily accomplished.
Moreover, Xi Xiaofan was a special case, and there were special restrictions on Psychic Energy. Even if the Activation ability reached level 2, it would not be able to repair such a large machine.
Fortunately, Shen Yi's Innate Talent was Delicacy, which allowed him to control the energy input accurately, and carry out partial repairs, which greatly increased the dexterity of Activation. At the same time, he also has Despicable Healing Art that could restore HP with only a little consumption of mana, so he could support the conversion of his own life to energy. In this way, things became much easier to handle.
For Shen Yi, 240 HP actually was just 4 use of healing skills, representing a cost of 8 MP.
Each of those skills might not appear useful on their own, but once they were applied in a clever combination, they could exert their true synergetic potential.
It was under these preconditions that Shen Yi succeeded in allowing the Harvester to stand up.
However, Shen Yi's face did not show joy; he looked at that big machine but seemed to be thinking about something.
After thinking about it, he said to Zhou Yiyu, "Are you sure you want this guy?"
"Of course." Zhou Yiyu answered very seriously.
"Reduce my debts by 1000 BP, and I will give it to you."
"I don't want to consider it. We can't bring this thing back to Bloody City. If you are renting, 1000 BP is too expensive, since the remaining time is only 35 hours."
"I'll reduce by half, how about 500 BP?"
"No."
"You have paid 500 BP for a T-600."
"That was because at that time I had no choice. This time is different."
"…300, just 300 BP, then this guy is yours. You can use it as you want, I won't question it."
"…Deal. I think I still suffer a bit of loss. I used it to fight and yet you are enjoying the benefits."
"Then why are you agreeing?"
"Because I like it, and using it to fight can also improve my own harvest."
"So you won't regret it?"
"As long as you don't trick me."
Zhou Yiyu did not care about revising the contract with Shen Yi, but just after the adjustments took effect, his face suddenly turned ugly. He looked at Shen Yi, and asked in a shivering tone: "Wait, you haven't completely repaired this big guy, have you?"
Shen Yi shrugged his shoulders. "Did you just realize?"