Published at 29th of August 2019 10:30 am

Chapter 277: Bonus - Visit to the Unknown - 02 First Contact

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Zaza’s tongue clicked as it attempted to retreat from the combat zone.

Five of its subordinates were no longer detectable, and it was clear that they had been finished off.

The plan had failed.

Zaza had to attempt to return as quickly as possible in order to prevent any further casualties-in other words, its own death.

Zaza was a cyborg.

An important part of the fighting force of the resistance-Light of Dawn- that was able to move on the surface.

The surface world was polluted by poison.

Not only that, but apart from Zaza’s own will, there was a setting that prioritized the command, ‘return alive.’

And as a loyal warrior of the organization, Zaza obeyed the order.

Of course, Zaza also had a fear of death.

However, Zaza knew from experience that there would always be another chance as long as you lived.

“Damned bastards. They used the nuclear missiles without hesitation! I won’t forget that you killed my team. And I will have my revenge!”

Zaza spat before leaving the area.

Battle-no, it was more of a one-sided assault-and Zaza was the only survivor.

They had come all this way. The five subordinates and the Remote Robot.

And yet they had all been so easily destroyed by the nuclear missile the enemy had used.

The Remote Robot had avoided destruction through the use of an electromagnetic pulse, but it was no longer usable after that.

The mission was a failure at that point.

They had lost their method of transportation, and so it was no longer possible to steal resources.

It was hard to even see.

The massive explosion had filled the air with dust.

There was nothing else to do.

Zaza decided to take advantage of the situation and escape while the enemy would have trouble seeing.

Furthermore, Zaza needed to hurry in order to avoid the flames that were closing in.

And so Zaza cautiously stayed away, all the while keeping an eye on the oxygen supply device that was inside of its body.

The device made if possible to extract oxygen from the atmosphere and store it, but on the surface, where radiation and poisonous gasses were thick, there was hardly any oxygen at all.

And so it was necessary for Zaza to return to the closest base before its supply of oxygen depleted.

And if that was not possible, then it would have no choice but to descend into the depth of the underground, where the pollution was relatively lighter.

But the underground world was dangerous. It was filled with strange life forms that had mutated. It was something that Zaza would prefer to avoid.

“Thirteen hours left. That’s enough.”

Zaza was relieved by that.

This mechanical body hardly required any oxygen at all.

It wasn’t just synthetic muscle, but the chemical fibers that connected each part also expanded and retracted though electricity from an internal power reactor.

The only part that required oxygen was the ‘brain,’ which was encased in the head and the only part that was not synthetic.

The oxygen only had to be thinned and sent to the bio-solution storage cylinder.

A little oxygen could keep the brain running for a long time.

Zaza sighed after moving away from the area of the blast.

“Phew. No pursuers then. It seems that I was able to escape…”

Just as Zaza felt relieved…

An alarm went off in its head.

“…!?”

Zaza frantically jumped away.

Immediately after, just by the boulder that Zaza had been hiding behind, a rain of fire came down.

It was a blaster.

No sound. No presence-and yet the killing machine had approached Zaza.

It looked a lot like a doberman. However, it was not very cute. It was a horrifying killing machine.

Along with quick mobility and ability to hide, it had high pursuing ability that came from its multitude of sensors.

It was also known as the—Murder Dog.

It could run three times faster than the speed of sound and could even fly for a short time.

Its main weapon was the blaster, which currently rained down.

The heat rays were created in its throat and then unleashed at a temperature that ranged from thousands of degrees to tens of thousands.

As Zaza was a cyborg with thin armor plating, vaporization would occur instantly.

The best thing to do was to attack it at close range before it could unleash this attack, but that was not always realistic.

Besides, its fangs were also a great threat.

The fangs were a titanium alloy with an electric current running through them. A bite of those fangs would destroy the electromagnetic balance.

As long your body was ruled by electric signals, and your armor could not repel those fangs, there was no real way to deal with this opponent.

The Murder Dog could be said to be the mortal enemy of the Cyborg.

“Damn it! Three Murder Dogs!?”

Zaza’s face twisted in despair.

It had only been by coincidence that the burning flames had made the Murder Dogs hot enough to be detectable by Zaza’s heat sensors, allowing it to dodge the attack. But now that Zaza was surrounded, there was no escaping it.

In the first place, Zaza was not a model specialized for battle.

A fight against a Murder Dog was foolish from the very beginning.

“I’m sorry-it appears that fate would have me die here…”

Zaza gave up trying to escape, and dropped its head weakly.

Zaza said words of regret towards its dead subordinates and to those who waited back at the base. Then Zaza waited to die.

It would not take long for the three Muder Dogs to attack.

◆◆◆

Veldora ran.

Ramiris sat on his shoulder.

Beretta ran beside them.

None of them looked tired as they made their way towards the site of the explosion.

As they moved, Ramiris began to talk in a thoughtless voice.

“Let me just say this! I don’t appear to be able to use any magic, so one of you must protect me!”

Well, it was quite important to her, so maybe calling it thoughtless was too much.

However, a magic user not being able to use magic. She was practically declaring that she was of no use in battle. And yet she acted as if it was no concern of hers. So one could not be blamed for thinking she was thoughtless.

However, there was, of course, a reason that Ramiris brought this up.

Beretta was a guardian and always acted in order to protect her.

She was not worried about that. The problem was with Veldora.

He may attempt to do a wide range, large-scale attack, supposing that Ramiris would use her protection magic.

That would be incredibly dangerous.

And so she had to say it now, or either herself or Beretta would get hurt.

“Hmm. Indeed. I have many methods of attack, but most of them cover a wide area. You really can’t make a barrier, Ramiris?”

“Actually, there is a very weak barrier up right now. But as there is no energy, I am worried about how much it can withstand…”

“You were always a weak one.”

“I’m not weak! It’s just that you and Beretta are strangely tough and way too strong!”

“Kaaa-ahahaha! Well, yes, I am the strongest indeed.”

“Hmm…hmph. I admit that you are amazing, master, but I think there is room for debate as to whether you are the strongest. I am quite impressive myself, when I care to try. If you want, I can show you my forty-seven special moves?”

“Oh? How interesting. Yes, let’s see how useful your power can be!”

That was Veldora’s reaction to Ramiris’s words.

It really wasn’t the time for Ramiris to start boasting, but her dislike of losing did her no favors in this instance, and she said something she shouldn’t have.

In the first place, it didn’t matter how serious she got. Ramiris could never win against Veldora, and there was definitely no room for debate.

Ramiris herself understood this, and her eyes swam over to Beretta for help.

“Lord Ramiris. Your many wonderful skills and secret weapons should be saved for another time.”

Beretta said in a calm voice.

Many wonderful skills—he had said, but the truth was that he had never witnessed anything of the sort.

But Beretta was perceptive enough to leave that out.

“Uh, um, yeah. Yes, yes! It would be a waste to show my special attacks in a place like this!”

Ramiris was simple.

And so she quickly switched gears and nodded at Beretta.

Beretta smiled gently and then turned to Veldora.

“And Lord Veldora, don’t tease her too much.”

“Uh, yes. But, Beretta. Aren’t you too soft on Ramiris? I have a feeling that it’s because you spoil her that she becomes so full of herself…”

“Maybe it’s just your imagination?”

“Yes! Full of myself? I would never be like that!”

I don’t know why, but Beretta is always so cold towards me… Thought Veldora.

However, he didn’t want to argue here, because it would be two against one.

In any case, it was indeed important that they think of safety measures while they were in this unknown world.

As Veldora agreed with this, he nodded and thought for a while before speaking.

“Alright. Alright. Then I will protect Ramiris. As for these special attacks you have, those can be saved for the very end.”

“G-got it. Yes, this attack is quite dangerous, so that would be for the best. Okay, so you can protect me then, master!”

“So Lord Veldora will guard Lord Ramiris and I will focus on attacking them.”

“Hmm. Perhaps it’s because I can’t sense any energy, but my ‘Universal Perception’ is not very sharp. Beretta, don’t let your guard down.”

“Understood.”

When all was said and done, Veldora was also very soft towards Ramiris.

And so in cases like this where there was danger, it usually ended with Veldora protecting her.

And-

Then the three of them encountered the battle.

◆◆◆

I’m dead! Zaza closed its eyes as the fangs of the Murder Dog approached.

However-the moment did not arrive. There was only the sickening sound of hard metal scraping against hard metal.

(Hmm? What had happened?)

Zaza’s eyes opened cautiously. An unfamiliar figure stood there.

(Who is that…? The shape was strange… Was it an Automata or a Machine Doll that was made for combat? Or perhaps…it was also a Cyborg?)

Of course, it was only Beretta.

Though, it was no surprise that Zaza wouldn’t be able to tell what it was.

After all, Beretta was a Chaos Metalloid, which did not exist in this world. But he looked like a doll with spherical joints.

Of course, the body was formed of Adamantite, and Beretta could freely mold it as he willed. It was like a fluid metal that allowed him to look like any other human.

However, Zaza knew none of this, and had no idea if Beretta was a friend or an enemy.

But in the moment, Zaza decided that it was very unlikely that Beretta was hostile.

After all, it had saved Zaza from the fangs of the Murder Dog.

“Hey, I don’t know who you are. But thank you. Those things have fangs with a special magnetic current…”

Zaza said that much before suddenly realizing something strange.

Why, the person who stood in front of him had the Murder Dog’s fangs lodged in his arm.

No.

The fangs were slowly being pushed out now.

Its arm was beautiful, like a work of art as the surface rippled like liquid, slowly pushing the fangs out.

And after it was finished, there wasn’t a single scratch left.

(Is this real!? I have never seen or heard of such a thing? What laboratory invented it!?)

Zaza was in shock.

And it didn’t end there.

Right in front of the Murder Dogs, Beretta began to calmly talk to Zaza.

“…Analysis of language patterns complete. It seems that I can use ‘Thought Transmission’ even without energy, as long as I read your mind waves directly. Also-I believe I detected some unknown electromagnetic wave lengths. It was I who interrupted the fight, now…man or animal. Which one should I aid… I would prefer it if we could stop the fight for now and talk. What do you think?”

Beretta had been saying things that Zaza could not understand, but suddenly, he started to talk very smoothly in his language.

There was a strong will behind it, and Zaza felt that the stranger was more human than robot.

Beretta looked at his own arm to confirm that it was in good order.

The Murder Dog’s fangs had really gone through Beretta’s armor. But that didn’t mean anything.

Beretta had transformed the shape in order weaken the impact, molding it the enemy’s attack.

As for the electromagnetic waves… Beretta wasn’t a precision machine, and so it had no effect at all.

It was a meaningless attack.

“Hey, you! This is no time to be talking like that! That thing is called a Murder Dog, and they are the strongest anti-human murder weapons. You can’t run from its numerous sensors. You have to kill it!!’

Zaza shouted. Beretta raised a hand for silence and then said:

“You must calm down. For now, I shall guarantee your safety. And in exchange, you can tell me what I want to know.”

“Alright. I’ll tell you anything. But we have to run away-what!?”

Once Zaza had agreed to it, Beretta moved before Zaza could even finish.

It was so fast that Zaza could not even follow his movements.

And neither could the Murder Dogs.

The Murder Dogs were not going to wait for Zaza and Beretta to finish their conversation, and they moved to attack any in sight.

However, Beretta acted as if he had predicted this very thing.

And the fang attacks were no use against Beretta.

The Murder Dogs had advanced artificial intelligence, and so they analyzed the reason. But they did not find the answer.

No, before that…

The Murder Dogs weren’t even aware of their situation, because they were destroyed too quickly.

-And that was more than enough for the people monitoring the scene to determine that Beretta was a threat.

◆◆◆

The Murder Dog’s master-Lieutenant Hiragi of the Mechanized Empire of Almsbine’s southern security force, was very shocked by this sudden event.

Recently, or as far as he could remember, even, no surface weapon had been able to go against the Murder Dog.

They were mobile weapons on four legs that moved three times faster than the speed of sound. Even the forty meter Monster Tank: Mammoth, which had once been the strongest weapon, was no match for it.

It had a 200mm Railgun as its main weapon, but it was difficult for it to target the small Murder Dogs, which were 1.5 meters in size.

And while they could have equipped them with the incredibly expensive super computing machines in order to auto-target them, the Murder Dogs were capable of dodging bullets that that moved at mach 7 speed.

All they would see is a rare reaction speed and amazing detection ability.

-But that wasn’t the only reason the Murder Dogs were valuable.

While they could not fight for quite as long as the Monster Tanks, they outstripped them in many other ways.

The Blasters they were equipped with could easily tear through the armor of the Monster Tanks.

Once you allowed them to get close, the Cyborgs that protected the tanks would not be enough to deal with them.

After all, all it took was for their fangs to rip the armor open, and then the internal machinery would go haywire and become inoperable.

The Murder Dogs were not equipped with engines, instead, they were rechargable. That was their one weakness, but it did not affect them much during combat.

They only had an ultra small output amplifier that could run for 72 hours on a single charge-however, not if they went all out during combat.

As resources were currently very valuable, it was the development of weapons that were small yet deadly that became the key to becoming dominant in this new age.

The unbeatable Monster Tank had used a thermonuclear fusion engine which allowed it to move almost forever-but when ten Mammoths were destroyed by just one Murder Dog, the world’s rules of weaponry were overwritten.

The age was now about miniaturization.

And for the last twenty years or so, the Murder Dog had remained the strongest of all.

It wasn’t just against humans, they were known as the strongest weapons on the surface, period.

And yet…

This ‘thing’ had three of these high-performance Murder Dogs in front of him-determined they were hostile-and then ignored them in order to have a calm conversation with their prey.

It was a huge blow to Lieutenant Hiragi’s pride, but there were more important matters to deal with.

“Hey! Do you have the results for the analysis of that fight? Are you sure that the Murder Dog bit into that thing’s arm?”

“Yes. There is no mistaking it! However, we cannot confirm that it had any effect on the enemy…”

“I have completed my analysis as well. No abnormalities have been detected in the Murder Dog’s abilities. The system is normal!”

Ohhh. Lieutenant Hiragi groaned.

If there was nothing wrong with the system, then there was only one answer.

-The enemy had nullified the Wave Blast from the Murder Dog’s fangs.

(Impossible. But, who even…is this person? Could it-what if it is one of those Bionoids, who put a lot of importance in the utilization of life forms? But only a few people even know of that technology. And I have never heard of anyone being successful with it…)

Lieutenant Hiragi was troubled.

If he was correct in his guess, if the enemy really was a Bionoid, it would explain why the Wave Blast was ineffective.

After all, Bionoids involved a modification technology that took the human body and raised the power of the cell to the very limits.

It was a new technology that allowed you to convert all of your cells to be identical and repair any part that had been destroyed.

It would be possible to adapt to any environment, turning you into a new type of human with evolved cells.

As these cells were all given individual roles and could calculate independently, an immense amount of data could be processed at once.

This meant incredible performance.

In spite of having the same capacity as the human brain, it could calculate at the same speed as the super computers on 100 meter battleships. Another way to look at it would be that it usually required a battleship of that size to maintain such a computer.

Aside from the abilities, it also came equipped with the still very secretive space dilation technology. And with the ultra miniaturized thermonuclear fusion reactor, it became a bio-weapon with extreme firepower.

It was like a dream. Like a lie.

-It went without saying, that Bionoids were a top secret within their country.

Lieutenant Hiragi shook his head in order to dismiss this suspicion.

Bionoids were really just a rumor. And there was no way that one would exist right here.

But then, what was that thing-

“Lieutenant Hiragi! The analysis of the enemy is complete! But…”

“What is it? Tell me!”

“Yes sir!! I have detected a change in the enemy’s energy levels. It seems to be quite low usually, but it increased dramatically and at great speed when the Murder Dog attacked it. This is not possible according to what we know of thermonuclear fusion reactors!!”

“A-and how much power are we talking about?”

“From what was measured with the graph, it exceeds 100,000 kilowatts…”

“Impossible!!”

Lieutenant Hiragi said in shock.

That was two-hundred times more than the Murder Dogs-it was unbelieavable.

In the first place, if it was using a thermonuclear fusion reactor to move, then it did not make any sense for the power to change like that.

It didn’t make any sense.

The enemy must be a super weapon that used unknown technology-that was the most plausible.

Lieutenant Hiragi thought as much before giving his subordinates an order.

“Prioritize the study of this mysterious enemy’s abilities. We can kill this rebel scum any time we want. But first, we must capture that thing that has technology even we are not aware of. And steal it for ourselves!”

“Yes, Sir!”

His order was promptly put into action.

And like that, this mysterious enemy-in other words, Beretta, had three Murder Dogs set on him once again.

Even if they did not get their answer this time, just watching the battle should give them a lot of combat data.

And so it had been decided that three Murder Dogs were not too much to lose.

And with that, Beretta and the Murder Dogs entered a true state of battle.

The result of which was that Beretta killed all three of them in the blink of an eye.

◆◆◆

As the three dogs charged at him, Beretta prepared by thrusting both arms outward.

Immediately after, a sharp slab of ore shot out of the ground and pierced the first dog.

Simultaneously, Beretta’s arm stretched out like a tentacle and skewered the other two dogs with its spear-like tip.

It was an attack that used ‘Mineral Manipulation’ from Beretta’s Ultimate Gift, ‘Deus Ex Machina,’ and the Chaos Metalloid favorite, ‘Liquid Metal.’

The Murder Dogs had been feared as the strongest weapons on the surface, but they were no match for Beretta.

And so the first contact on this world which they had visited without invitation, came to a close.

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