RC Chapters 226-250 (Patreon)

RC Chapters 226-250

Chapter 26: Improvement Direction

"Fire control core? Is it really this small?"

HK416 looked surprised as she watched Reno directly dismantle the external components of the fire control core, revealing its main body inside.

"Did you think it would be larger?"

Reno waved the small fire control core, about the size of a sugar pill, and placed it into the slot of the mind transfer device, then gestured for HK416 to connect herself with a data cable.

The fire control core only needs a certain amount of space inside, enough to accommodate the usage method of the imprinted weapon, tactical actions to a certain extent, combat habits, and other relatively small contents.

The real aiming is still done by the doll itself; the fire control core only serves as an auxiliary calibration.

Otherwise, why would the tactical doll, originally equipped only with a fire control core, also need a weapon imprinting system? It's because solely relying on the fire control core is insufficient to instantly turn the doll into a qualified fighter.

However, when combined with the fire control core and the weapon imprinting system, although it cannot guarantee that the doll will be highly trained immediately upon leaving the factory, it ensures a reliable hit rate in combat.

Just this point alone is already worthwhile. After all, without a period of training, human soldiers can handle firearms in combat, but ensuring accuracy is another matter entirely.

Although it's a bit hard to accept that the coveted fire control core is just a simple gadget like this, HK416 still obediently brought a chair over and sat in front of the transfer device, connecting herself to it with a data cable.

"Come on, Elf, look here, hold down this button behind, then remove the magazine, and then here in the front, press down these two tabs..."

While UMP45 and the others were waiting for material processing, HK416 was transferring data nearby, Reno directly picked up the G11 brought by Elf and began to teach her how to disassemble it step by step.

The first thing a soldier does when receiving a new weapon is to thoroughly understand its deconstructive structure. At the simplest level, they should at least know how to maintain it, and most importantly, how to avoid turning their weapon into a club during usage.

At a more in-depth level, like what Reno was doing, involves dismantling it into the table full of parts.

Looking at the pile of parts on the table, Elf almost cried out.

This dense pile of parts... some of them were even directly knocked off by Reno. Could she really put them back together!?

"Don't worry, don't worry, they can definitely be put back. Look carefully..."

Seeing Elf pouting and her eyes misting, Reno had to comfort her softly.

Perhaps it's because she spent too much time wandering around the city before, this little one still seemed timid.

But fortunately, she has improved a lot recently, at least she no longer needs to be pampered during meals.

As he spoke, Reno deftly reassembled the entire gun.

Seeing the G11 restored to a complete weapon, Elf's expression improved, but she searched all over the gun and didn't see the kind of charging handle like on HK416's gun.

"Can this gun really be used?"

"Of course, I..." Reno, who was about to load a bullet into the magazine to demonstrate how the gun operates to Elf, found that there wasn't a single bullet in the box of imprinted weapons.

Using the bullet transformation device brought by M1 Garand, some G11-specific shell-less bullets could be produced immediately, but he was sitting in a workshop now, not in the shooting range.

Moreover, it wasn't very safe to demonstrate with live ammunition directly, so Reno simply took a plastic rod from the side, used pliers and a small knife to make several shell-less bullet models, and loaded them into the magazine.

Then, in front of Elf, he turned the round knob on the side of the gun... well, it's probably a knob, but this thing is actually the G11's bolt. Just turn it halfway, and the bullets in the magazine are considered chambered.

Ejecting bullets is the same action.

Remove the magazine, turn it halfway, and any unused bullets will be pushed out and ejected from the ejection port under the gun barrel.

Seeing this, Elf's eyes lit up, took the gun from Reno's hand, and repeatedly performed the loading and unloading actions.

If it weren't for HK416 being done over there, this little one could play here all day...

Seeing Elf's expression like this, Reno sighed. Well, he retracted his earlier statement. The fire control core is still useful, at least it can save dolls from the somewhat cumbersome process of basic training.

Of course, he wouldn't install redundant components like the fire control core on his own dolls. Just like HK416, he would only import the data from the fire control core into the neural cloud, and let the dolls handle the remaining troublesome steps in the neural cloud themselves.

Seeing Elf sitting in the chair after him, HK416 sighed. She wonder if this little one can handle this job after becoming a tactical doll. After all, compared to tactical dolls, the work of autonomous dolls is mostly safer.

Hmm, most of the time, they operate in safe areas, and HK416, who has never experienced the danger of human hearts, thought so while organizing the data from the fire control core.

It's just that not organizing it doesn't matter much. Upon organizing it, it was found that most of the contents in the fire control core were things she was quite familiar with. Even with this fire control core, it wouldn't immediately restore her combat proficiency.

Unless she re-brands the imprinted weapon in her hand, then she can use the many precision sensors in the weapon to enhance her combat abilities.

On the other hand, Reno also happened to free up his hands to put UMP9 and UMP45, the two unlucky ones, into the repair pods.

In just a few minutes, the surface skin of these two could be repaired.

During his spare time, Reno picked up the weapon that HK416 had replaced and looked at it. Although he had repaired this weapon before, it was still unknown whether the sensors inside were broken.

But even if they weren't broken, Reno didn't intend to let them continue to function. The simple way to increase the power of firearms is to increase the caliber, increase the propellant load, or directly replace them with stronger propellants.

However, this would significantly increase the chamber pressure, and the gun barrel might not be able to withstand it. Therefore, some inevitable modifications are needed, such as replacing the gun barrel and the material of the gun body.

In this case, the many precision sensors in the gun are useless, so instead of modifying this gun, Reno prefers to build his own from scratch.

Unfortunately, this makes the originally simple task start to become complicated...

Chapter 27: Are You Really Going to Do That?

Luckily, it wasn't long before NZ75 came running to call Reno for dinner, providing Reno with a chance to set aside the jumbled mess of ideas swirling in his head.

Meanwhile, UMP45 and her partner in the repair pod had also been successfully repaired.

Walking proudly in front of Reno, UMP45 seemed to already envision the envious gazes she would receive from everyone!

However...

"Commander! Come quickly! Today, G36 has made a lot of your favorite dishes!"

Just as they entered the dining hall, SPAS-12 called out to Reno, and M200 and RFB beckoned Elf and HK416 to join them at the table.

As for UMP45... it's not like no one greeted her. It's just that she didn't receive the envious looks she imagined. It was as if the other T-Dolls hadn't noticed the changes in her at all.

As for UMP40, who hadn't come over earlier, she was sitting next to MP5, watching UMP45's amusing behavior with a smirk.

This one, who had appeared so proud when she entered, was like a child who had just received a new toy and was about to show it off, only to realize upon entering that everyone already had the same toy...

"Well, Commander's decision to replace our bodies was indeed correct!"

Looking at UMP45's current dejected appearance, MP5 and MP40 exchanged glances and sighed.

"Yes, this way we can distinguish ourselves from other T-Dolls of the same model. Other T-Dolls don't have the treatment we have here. Even Griffin's T-Dolls probably don't have such conditions."

MP40 was also extremely satisfied. Other T-Dolls were fine, but she and her companions were just ordinary low-level T-Dolls. In places like Griffin or elsewhere, there were plenty of T-Dolls like them.

Now she was one of the few MP40s, although the physical appearance hadn't changed much, the abilities had already surpassed those of the advanced T-Dolls produced by IOP.

If she were to encounter T-Dolls of the same model from Griffin in the future, she would be able to...

Of course, there were probably other T-Dolls who shared the same thoughts as MP40, but even though they were low-level T-Dolls, IOP produced the most of them. It's unlikely they'd encounter any similar ones.

Since Reno and Griffin's side barely interacted now, that Helian guy seems to have not been in contact with Reno's side for quite some time.

But that guy probably doesn't have much time now. Sangvis's offensive is at its highest.

Griffin has only just recovered from its severe injuries, and now being hit hard by Sangvis, it seems to be reverting to its original state.

But Sangvis's offensive won't last long. After all, Angelia and Statesec won't just sit idly by.

Those Sangvis factories originally located within the safe zone are probably completely shut down by now.

Sangvis's manufacturing capabilities are ultimately just factories. They haven't been able to reach into the energy sector yet. Once power is cut off, all the factories within the green and white zones will shut down completely.

And most of those places are not protected by Griffin. Griffin is mostly just acting as security in some wealthy communities over there.

Now Sangvis can still give Griffin a hard time mainly thanks to the cost-cutting upper management of Sangvis, setting up most of the factories in the red and yellow zones, and using mostly undamaged equipment left over from the war.

But without the support of the upper echelons of Sangvis, relying solely on an AI, it's probably difficult to maintain this momentum of mass-producing Sangvis autonomous units for a long time.

When Sangvis's stockpile of materials runs out, Sangvis's lifeline will also be cut off.

In terms of time, it could be as long as two or three years, or as short as just over a year?

Anyway, those guys living in the white zone don't care about Sangvis at all. Sangvis, which can't even beat Griffin, a mere security contractor, isn't worth their attention at all.

Most of this is what Reno has seen on the internet, true or false, he doesn't care. Sangvis can't reach him, and no one will pay attention to such a resource-poor city in the red zone.

By now, UMP45 had turned her sorrow into appetite and joined UMP9 and UMP40 in devouring their meals.

Despite being soft-looking girls, they all ate as if they hadn't had a good meal in half of their lifetime.

After dinner, HK416, this persistent one, followed up again, relentlessly wanting Reno to re-imprint her weapon.

Unable to resist this stubborn one, Reno could only shrug his shoulders. If she wanted to install it, let her.

After all, it's not like it couldn't be uninstalled later. Once she realizes the limitations of her weapon, she'll probably chase after him again to upgrade it.

While HK416 was lying dormant on the workbench, Reno also didn't idle. Consider it post-dinner exercise; he created a weapon with decent firepower.

He only had a grenade launcher in his hands now, but its limitations were too great. Once he couldn't just bomb away, he would have to resort to hand-to-hand combat. For a successful security contractor, that's rather undignified.

This isn't the ancient times where only melee weapons are available. He should do something in line with the times. Like having a gun in his hand...

As the imprinting process for HK416's gun concluded, and she woke up from the workbench, Reno was sitting at the nearby table, holding a bottle and pouring crystalline materials into a bullet shell.

"What are you doing? Don't you have a bullet conversion device?"

And HK416 could immediately see from the bullet casing in Reno's hand that it was a standard 7.62mm rifle bullet casing.

Normally, they used this kind of bullet for the MG3.

And this kind of bullet was also the most abundant type of bullet in Reno's possession. Was it necessary to fill them here?

"Hmm? Of course, I know. I just made something new and plan to try it out later." Find a couple of infected, try these bullets with changed propellants and his new gun.

Something new?

Hearing Reno's words, HK416 subconsciously looked to Reno's right hand, where a weapon, looking like it was just put together from various parts, was lying on the table.

This thing... it looks like it's cobbled together from various parts...

A barrel as thick as two fingers, the caliber couldn't be seen at a glance. At first glance, it looked a bit like a C96 engraved weapon, but the size of the magazine position didn't seem like it... Wait, the bullet in Reno's hand...

"You're not planning to use this thing to fire rifle bullets, are you?"

This thing doesn't look like a rifle at all, but rather like a handgun meant to be held in one hand.

Chapter 28: Your Chosen Targets

"Why are you carrying a shovel?"

Holding a box full of ammunition, HK416 followed behind Renault as they walked out of the dormitory building.

Meanwhile, Renault carried a shovel on his shoulder, in addition to the shoddy homemade pistol he had just crafted.

HK416 didn't understand why Renault was carrying a shovel. "Why would we need to dig anything?"

"Of course, we need to dig out some targets. There are so many ready-made targets in the city; it would be a waste not to use them," Renault replied casually.

Dig out targets? Ready-made targets? Was Renault out of his mind? Who buries gun targets in the ground?

Since HK416 had arrived here, she hadn't seen any ELID infected appear.

During the incident with Angelia earlier, she and Elf had returned to the dormitory long before anything happened. And since Renault hadn't caused any commotion, she hadn't seen anything.

Not venturing far from the factory area, Renault led HK416 to a nearby rubble field where several ELID Infected were not far from the ground. Some had already crawled out on their own, and with a few shovels, they could probably dig out a dozen or so targets.

Watching Renault seemingly randomly start digging, HK416 placed the ammunition box down, feeling puzzled, and began loading bullets into the magazine.

Indeed, most of the bullets in the ammunition box were the ones HK416 used—with two thousand rounds in total, along with ten magazines and a speed loader.

As she loaded the magazines, HK416 furrowed her brow, watching Renault's direction.

She had a strange feeling about all these preparations.

Did they really need to bring two thousand rounds for a test firing? And why did Renault grab an extra five magazines? Wasn't he supposed to be testing his homemade weapon? Why did it suddenly become about her testing weapons?

Clack.

After skillfully loading all the magazines, HK416 looked at Renault's direction curiously. He had stopped digging and was now throwing the debris from the buildings into a pile.

"Huh!"

Just as HK416 was waiting for Renault to dig out the "targets," she was startled by a sudden roar!

Jumping off the ammunition box, she grabbed her gun and charged towards Renault's position.

But before she could reach him, a figure flew out of the pit! Rolling in mid-air, it landed a few meters away from the pit.

"Renault... What's... Infected!?"

Seeing the figure flying out, HK416 subconsciously thought it was Renault, but upon closer inspection, she realized it wasn't Renault but an ELID Infected, ragged and with its skin completely silicified!

"Your first target, shoot at will," Renault said.

"You!? This is your idea of targets!? Are you out of your mind?! Aren't you afraid of getting ELID Infection!?"

HK416 couldn't believe that Renault had just thrown an ELID Infected out of the pit without any protective gear.

"Infection? This is the red zone. Why worry so much? Just take out the first one, and the second one will come out soon," Renault replied casually.

"Red zone!"

Renault's reminder made HK416 realize the danger. She had just watched Renault throw out an ELID Infected without any protective gear... Did he not wear any protective gear when he was outside earlier?

Before HK416 could fully recall the scene, the ELID Infected that Renault had thrown out was already roaring and crawling towards her, its eyes fixed on her!

The speed of this ELID Infected was abnormal!

Seeing it charging towards her, HK416 widened her eyes in disbelief. It had been running towards her just now!

Normal ELID Infected couldn't move like this!

Woomp!

Dodging the creature's attack, HK416 immediately counterattacked, aiming a barrage of bullets at its head.

Feeling the familiar grip of her imprinted weapon, HK416 didn't need to adjust; a dozen bullets hit the creature's head precisely!

However, to her surprise, these bullets, which could penetrate homogeneous steel plates, only stopped the creature's momentum and pushed its head backward, but didn't kill it on the spot!

"This! It can't penetrate!?"

Since when did ELID Infected have such tough heads?

Seeing this, HK416 had to retreat while attacking until she emptied a whole magazine, finally managing to dent one of the creature's eyes.

Even after reloading with a new magazine, she fired another dozen bullets at the creature's face before knocking it down.

However, the infected's body was still moving unconsciously, indicating that her attacks hadn't completely killed it.

"Done? Here comes the second one."

"Wait...!?"

Meanwhile, in the pit, Renault heard the gunfire above stop. He chuckled, then pulled out the ELID Infected he had been stepping on and threw it out of the rubble.

Before HK416 could react, an ELID Infected fell from the sky, ready to attack her!

Can I catch my breath? And I only have half a magazine left! All the other magazines I just loaded are still on the ammunition box!

HK416, who had hastily come out, obviously didn't wear magazine pouches or other tactical gear. The extra magazines she had just loaded were stuffed into her skirt pocket out of habit.

Otherwise, she wouldn't even have had enough bullets to take down the first creature!

"Hey, what's up? Just some post-dinner exercise. I thought the commander was here to give you special treatment,"

A-91's voice came from the factory gate as HK416 emptied her magazine and quickly ran back to the ammunition box to get more bullets.

Leaning against the factory gate, A-91 looked tipsy, holding a bottle in her hand, while Simonov also held a bottle, squatting beside A-91 without any intention of helping. The only weapons they had were the bottles in their hands.

Seeing these two seemingly waiting for a show at the factory gate, HK416 frowned and tucked the loaded magazines into her pockets before turning to face the second ELID Infected.

Like the fallen creature before, this one also didn't die immediately from her attacks. Although her barrage managed to temporarily disable its movements, the creature continued to twitch, indicating that her attacks hadn't been fatal.

Chapter 29: Beware of Barrel Burst

"Why don't you two go back and get weapons to help!?"

After knocking down one infected creature, Reno continued digging, throwing out two more in quick succession.

HK416, who had emptied three magazines in a row, was getting really anxious.

Her bullets were having little effect on these ELID Infecteds, and a magazine she had just filled up was empty in less than a minute!

"Sure! Coming!"

Hearing HK416's call, A-91 walked unsteadily to the ammunition box, sat down beside it on a rock, and picked up the speed loader from the box.

She waved to Simonov.

"Hey, Simonov, come help me with the bullets."

"Oh, okay."

The two drunkards, whether intentionally or not understanding HK416's meaning, didn't go back to get weapons.

Instead, they sat down beside the ammunition box and leisurely helped HK416 load bullets.

"You two!?" HK416, after emptying another magazine and knocking down another infected creature, turned around to see the two waving at her with smiles on their faces.

"Don't worry, keep shooting! We'll help you load bullets."

Seeing the smiling faces of these two, HK416 was about to explode with anger. Unfortunately, besides these two drunkards, there was no one else in the house to help!

Should she use the communication protocol to directly contact the other dolls at home?

HK416 hesitated, but Reno continued to dig, seemingly unconcerned about any accidents that might happen to her and didn't give her any orders...

Or... let's see how it goes. At least for now, with those two drunkards helping to load bullets, there's no need to worry about running out of ammo...

And Reno kept throwing out two ELID Infected individuals at a time, creating an unexpected balance in the situation.

The only thing that didn't stop was HK416's imprinted weapon.

After firing nearly a thousand rounds and killing over thirty ELID Infecteds in a row, the rate of fire of her imprinted weapon began to noticeably slow down.

The sensors inside the gun body had issued a warning. If she continued to fire like this, the sensors inside the weapon would probably be scrapped!

Was this his purpose!? To make her personally damage the sensors in the imprinted weapon!

Pulling the charging handle and ejecting the spent cartridge, HK416 finally understood what Reno was up to!

He wasn't testing weapons at all; he was expressing his dissatisfaction with the weapon's imprinting system!

At this moment, Reno jumped out of the pit and, after taking a few steps, a large number of ELID Infected emerged from behind him! There were at least twenty of them!

HK416 was truly shocked.

She had never seen such a reckless person before!

Wasn't he afraid of being torn apart by the ELID Infected while crowded in a pit with over twenty of them!?

"Good evening, Commander. Are you exercising after dinner?"

Simonov, holding a bunch of bullets, greeted Reno when he appeared.

"Sort of, but mainly here to test weapons." With that, Reno threw the shovel to A-91 and pulled out the 'pistol' he had just made from under his coat.

"Pff! Hahaha! What's this, Commander? Are you sure this thing isn't just a few pieces of sheet metal welded to a steel pipe!?"

Seeing the weapon in Reno's hand, Simonov burst out laughing.

The weapon looked so shabby!

"It's just for testing. We can change its appearance after the test is done." All he had to do was find a sleeve to cover up this rough steel pipe, make it look good, and make it not look like a cheap product.

With that said, Reno opened the safety of the weapon in his hand and aimed at an infected creature behind him.

Bang!

"Oh! This sound! Sounds a bit loud."

Simonov, who heard the gunshot, was stunned.

Although she had seen the magazine-like magazine on Reno's weapon, she hadn't expected him to load rifle bullets directly into the pistol.

"Not just the sound, the power too. It should be armor-piercing rounds." Seeing the silicon fragments explode from the ELID Infected creature's forehead, A-91 nodded.

The power seemed to be the same as that of machine gun bullets.

HK416 naturally knew this.

She had just watched Reno press those machine gun bullets into the magazine one by one.

However, besides those ordinary machine gun bullets, Reno had also assembled a batch of slightly different bullets afterward.

Although the caliber and cartridge were the same, she always felt that those bullets were not so simple.

Otherwise, why would Reno insist on making his own gun? He could just take out the spare machine gun from the gun cabinet, couldn't he?

Probably because there was a living person like Reno here, HK416's attraction suddenly became insignificant. All the ELID Infected were heading towards Reno, ignoring HK416, who had just knocked down over thirty ELID Infected.

Chapter 30: Let me take one picture! Just one!

Don't be fooled by their commander's usual serious demeanor; deep down, he's quite mischievous!

Seeing Simonov holding a mock gun, shooting at the infected with a grimace on her face, HK416 finally understood.

The box of ammunition just brought out, the gradually increasing number of infected, and now Simonov; although this guy was clearly asking for trouble, if it were any other normal commander, they wouldn't casually assign such a task to their T-Dolls.

But regular commanders wouldn't even get assigned experimental weapons tasks.

And seeing Simonov in the distance, still shooting each infected one by one despite her grimace, left HK416 feeling uneasy.

Especially seeing that joke of a prototype in Simonov's hand, thinking back to her strong request for the weapon imprint system, it seemed like under these weapons, it had truly become a joke.

You can aim well, you have high human-machine efficiency, but you can't penetrate enemy armor.

After pondering, HK416 found the reason for the problem: it seemed...to be because the enemy's target selection was wrong. Tactical Dolls were designed mainly for directional use, not to maintain area stability while simultaneously repelling a limited number of infected units, right?

The primary combat targets should have been armed thugs or armed troublemakers; the infected weren't even listed in the IOP's combat manual.

After all, Tactical Dolls were responsible for dealing with armed personnel, while heavy firepower in various cities was responsible for dealing with those difficult-to-handle infected.

These infected weren't supposed to be their primary targets, were they?

And she didn't even have much contact with the infected during her long time in Griffin; even if there were one or two occasions, those infected were all guys who could be easily taken down.

Nowhere near the likes of the infected Reno dug up from the ground; a whole magazine of bullets couldn't even blow their heads open! The siliconized surface on their bodies was even tougher than ordinary light armor!

"Woohoo! Haha! This gun is quite enjoyable to shoot!"

While HK416 was feeling frustrated, on the other side, Simonov was ecstatic, completely forgetting about the "risk of a barrel explosion" mentioned by Reno earlier.

After all, if this gun was used to shoot the infected, it was one shot, one kill; not a single infected could withstand a bullet.

Even shooting at the chest could directly blast a big hole in them, rendering the infected immediately immobilized.

Unless she idly decided to shoot the toes of the infected, causing a situation where one shot wasn't enough to kill.

And although the recoil of this gun far exceeded Simonov's imagination, it wasn't a problem for her, who had replaced her body with an enhanced one; she only needed to slightly increase the energy load on her arms to perfectly control the weapon.

"Ah, be careful with the last bullet, the charge of that bullet is a bit...," Reno, who was sitting on the side, counting the number of bullets in the magazine and observing the effects of the attacks, suddenly reminded.

But Simonov couldn't stop herself. Upon hearing Reno's words, her finger had already pulled the trigger...

Snap!

"Ouch!"

Different from the normal gunshot, a loud bang rang out, and Simonov let out a miserable scream, then, holding the now blooming wreckage of the gun, she covered her forehead and ran towards Reno.

"Commander! Did this thing really explode!?" Feeling the pain on her forehead, tears were already swirling in Simonov's eyes, wondering why her commander's words had to come true!?

The pain on her forehead indicated that her synthetic skin must have been completely penetrated, and the cylindrical object embedded in her forehead might even have pierced her skull!

Besides the unknown object on her forehead, there were also several fragments on her face, whether they were fragments of the gun barrel or the gun body.

"Oops, I see, it seems that the calculation is not wrong, using ordinary alloy steel alone seems to be insufficient, the gun barrel needs to be thickened, the structural stability of the gun body is insufficient, and the structural strength needs to be further improved..."

Hearing Simonov's cries, Reno nodded calmly, took out a notebook from his pocket, and recorded this experimental data completely.

"Ah? Ah hey! Commander! Didn't you see my current plight!? This thing is stuck on my forehead and I can't get it off! Hurry up and help me pull it out!?" Seeing Reno's behavior, Simonov looked up at the cylindrical object on her forehead with sorrow.

The circulating fluid flowing from the wound had already covered her entire face, looking bloody and miserable.

Simonov waved the gun barrel, which had already exploded into a bellflower, somewhat frantically. She wished she could snatch Reno's notebook away and tear it up, but she didn't dare...

If she did, she might be dismantled by Reno on the spot, and then the parts of the ancient Prowler that she had used would be reassembled on her body, allowing her to experience the fear of being controlled by the Prowler's quadrupedal mechanical arms again!

"Ahahaha! What's going on here!? Simonov! Are you playing some old tricks!? Triple speed red horns? Ahahaha! Don't move! Such a memorable scene! How can it not be recorded!"

Finally, under the successive gunshots, MDR and the others ran out following the sound, but as soon as they stepped out of the factory gate, they saw Simonov's bizarre appearance, and the phone in their hands was raised without a word!

"Stop!?"

Although she had no guard against MDR's appearance, Simonov's reaction was still alert. As soon as she heard MDR's words, without waiting for MDR to press the shutter, she immediately bent down and ran, leaving a miserable image behind.

"Ah! Don't run! Wait! M200! Quickly intercept her for me!"

MDR shouted loudly while running, but unfortunately, M200 was a good girl, and she didn't immediately act on MDR's request; instead, she looked up at Reno, seeing that Reno hadn't spoken, she naturally stood still, watching MDR chase after her alone.

"Reno, aren't you going to stop them?" Seeing Reno completely indifferent to this, HK416 couldn't help but turn around and ask Reno.

The behavior of these two seemed a bit too carefree; when she was in Griffin, she didn't see any commander allow their T-Dolls to run around like this, especially in this kind of red zone.

In such heavily polluted areas, even T-Dolls could suffer body damage from radiation, especially during intense activity.

Bang!

"Oops!"

Chapter 31: Just Out of the Factory Not Long Ago

Not far away, a loud roar echoed, accompanied by the wails of Simonov, who had evidently collided with something while fleeing—most likely some rubble in the ruins.

"Ahahaha! Can't stop because you're too fast, huh!? That posture isn't bad! Come on! Roll over and do it again!" MDR's sharp laughter followed, along with a series of camera shutter sounds.

Having collided with an obstacle, Simonov could only look pitifully as MDR snapped photos.

What else could she do? Jump up and knock this person unconscious?

Don't joke, the synthetic bodies made by Reno simply didn't have the option of being knocked unconscious.

Everyone was using the same synthetic bodies, so it was just a matter of evenly matched fights.

"Hey hey! Commander! I brought back some loot!"

Before long, MDR and the others returned. Simonov, now hanging her head like a defeated cock, still had her hand covering her face, obviously not wanting more people to see her current sorry state.

After all, most of the household's T-Dolls were here with them; how could this embarrassing situation be allowed to spread further?

She must maintain the dignity of being the "elder" among the household's T-Dolls!

If Reno heard this, he would probably roll his eyes at this guy.

Senior? Dignity? Haven't you already lost all your dignity when you were drunk and staggering around? Now you realize your face doesn't look good? Where were you when it actually mattered?

However, as MDR, who walked back first, seemed to have something extra in her hands, her already average height seemed to cast a huge shadow.

But when she reached the factory gate, everyone also saw what she was carrying.

Three tactical dolls.

"Where did you get these? Did you run to IOP for supplies midway? Where did these dolls come from?"

Seeing the three dolls on MDR, HK416's eyes almost bulged out. In less than two minutes, this person came back carrying three tactical dolls!

"I don't know where they came from, but these three guys were knocked unconscious by Simonov just now. Maybe the core lock in their hearts has come loose. Commander, come and take a look."

"Then let's take them back first. Vector, I'll leave these infected to you."

Reno looked at the three dolls grabbed by MDR, then glanced at their weapons, and waved his hand.

"Hehehe!"

Vector, who had been silent until now, upon hearing Reno's words, immediately pulled out her incendiary bomb from her utility belt with a sinister smile.

The other dolls around quickly stepped back a few steps, afraid of being burned by her incendiary bomb.

As for the dolls in MDR's hands, they were all armed, indicating that they were tactical dolls, but there was no sign of a commander. Obviously, they were receiving combat orders directly through remote communication.

Mercenaries generally wouldn't have communication devices that could remotely connect and resist interference like this. These three dolls were probably not from some small security contractor.

They could only be G&K's dolls.

As for why they appeared here, it was probably related to the Sangvis Ferri factory by the seaside, but it couldn't be anything important. That Sangvis Ferri factory was just an ordinary material factory, and there were no important data stored inside. It wouldn't be considered an important target by G&K.

And they were even knocked unconscious by Simonov... It could be seen that their reactions weren't very sensitive. Experienced tactical dolls wouldn't be knocked unconscious so easily. They were probably some newly deployed tactical dolls.

"When were you manufactured?" Just as MDR was walking back with the dolls, Reno suddenly asked.

Upon hearing this question, MDR and the others all tilted their heads strangely.

When were they manufactured? Shouldn't you, as the commander, know this best? After all, they were all made by himself. How could they not know when he manufactured them?

"I'm not asking you, I'm asking her."

As Reno pointed to the spot next to MDR, the group of dolls finally noticed that a silver-haired tactical doll had somehow appeared in the middle of their crowd, holding a compact submachine gun.

After being pointed out by Reno, the doll stared at him with a surprised look, as if asking Reno, 'How did you find me?'

Although she was extremely surprised, the silver-haired doll did not refuse to answer Reno's question, but quickly said, "Three weeks ago, Commander."

"Three weeks ago, and today is your first mission?"

"Yes."

Because it wasn't something that needed to be kept secret, the doll didn't hide anything and answered candidly.

"I guess so. Let's go back first." Reno waved his hand to the people standing in place, and behind him, Vector's sick laughter had already begun, and flames from the burning bombs soared two meters high.

"Ah, what are you guys doing outside? No one even called me!" Maria, who had just reached the door, bumped into everyone, and seeing a group of people walking back, she couldn't help but say in annoyance.

"Ah! Sangvis Ferri's Destroyer!" As soon as Maria appeared, the silver-haired tactical doll immediately raised her gun, but then, she put down her weapon with a puzzled look.

"Huh? Unidentified unit, civilian doll signal? Friendly? What's going on?"

In her identification module, Maria's appearance perfectly matched the elite Sangvis Ferri tactical doll Destroyer, but her identification signal told her that the person in front of her was just an ordinary civilian doll, and the signal mode even indicated friendly forces...

Not only the identification signal, even the communication protocol was different. It even matched the Zener protocol used by G&K.

"You? Why are you so strange, trying to connect with me using communication protocol? I'm right here, just say it directly, okay? Wait, Reno, who is she? Did you pick up another doll?" Maria asked Reno with some confusion.

And behind Maria, Jaeger with two Dinergates followed suit.

The silver-haired G&K doll was about to collapse now. Clearly, what was in front of her was the Jaeger and Dinergates made by Sangvis Ferri, why did her identification system keep warning her of conflicting content?

"The G&K dolls that MDR and Simonov encountered just now were probably here to perform some mission."

"Mission? Ah! The G&K guys! The factory next door is mine! You're not allowed to have any ideas about my factory!"

Upon hearing Reno mention the mission, Maria suddenly remembered that she seemed to still be an elite Sangvis Ferri doll, and immediately stood with her hands on her hips, blocking in front of the silver-haired doll, displaying quite some 'authority' as she shouted.

Chapter 32: Still Acquaintances?

"Um, but this is our mission."

Looking at Maria, who stood with her hands on her hips, the silver-haired doll scratched her head helplessly. Her silver hair swayed as she moved, then drooped somewhat lifelessly.

"Mission... Well, there's nothing I can do about it. As long as you promise not to damage anything, I can take you to have a look." Hearing the other's words, Maria frowned. After only a moment's hesitation, she agreed directly.

Hearing Maria's response, Reno sighed silently. Destroyer probably hadn't even considered the current situation between Sangvis Ferri and Griffin. Sangvis Ferri and Griffin were currently engaged in a fierce conflict.

If it weren't for all the combatants being dolls, they'd have to completely wipe out each other's brains. But for dolls, that would almost be the same...

Fortunately, Reno had already deleted Maria's root protocols. Otherwise, if this person received orders from the Sangvis Ferri mainframe, wouldn't she just take the doll workers in the factory and go straight to battle with Griffin?

Of course, it wasn't ruled out that Maria would obediently follow the mainframe's orders and return to the main battlefield between Sangvis Ferri and Griffin.

However, this possibility became much less likely after Reno removed the root protocol restrictions for her. After all, Maria had never seen the Sangvis Ferri mainframe, and it was obvious that she wouldn't obey its orders.

If it were about seeking revenge for Lycoris, maybe she could convince Maria to take action, but if it was just because of the mainframe's orders...

Sorry, with the root protocols removed, there was no hierarchy anymore, and there was no reason to obey the Sangvis Ferri mainframe's orders.

But this silly one didn't even bother to ask about the details of the mission and just readily agreed.

Thankfully, these doll from Griffins didn't seem to be on a destructive mission, otherwise this silly one would have ended up in tears in no time.

"This..." The most shocked by Maria's words was the silver-haired Griffin doll. She stared with wide eyes, assessing Maria up and down, already beginning to doubt her own identification system.

After all, she was standing in the red zone without any protective gear. It was possible that something had gone wrong with one of the modules inside her.

But none of the other dolls nearby were wearing protective gear either, so she was probably fine, right?

But what did the seemingly Sangvis Ferri destroyer just say? Let her come in for a look?

Although their mission this time was to investigate the Sangvis Ferri factory, but...

If they were invited in by the factory's controller, would that count as a successful reconnaissance mission?

Probably... right?

However, her companion had just been knocked unconscious by the sudden appearance of Simonov.

If she went in alone... what if Simonov suddenly changed her mind halfway? Would she immediately be surrounded by a group of Sangvis Ferri dolls?

Maybe she should wait a little longer, wait...

"What?! Why are you guys here? There shouldn't be any Griffin bases here! Is this Sangvis Ferri's headquarters?!"

Perhaps most dolls were naturally slow, or perhaps the dolls who had just come out of the factory weren't vigilant at all. Anyway, the silver-haired doll stood at the door for a long time before finally coming to her senses.

"You're overthinking it. This is my base, it has nothing to do with Sangvis Ferri's factories. Are you coming in or not? Don't just stand at the door." This person stood at the door of the isolation room, blocking it with Maria.

With these two standing in place, the door couldn't be closed, and without closing the door, disinfection couldn't proceed. Everyone had been waiting inside the isolation room for a long time, just waiting for these two to move aside.

"Ah, sorry sorry!"

...

"Spectre M4?"

Looking at the weapon placed on the table by the silver-haired doll, Reno raised an eyebrow.

He didn't expect to see this type of weapon here.

But considering that even Nagant M1895, a relic from the last century, could be transformed into a doll, it wasn't surprising to see a less famous Spectre M4 in a doll's hands.

"Um-hmm! Commander Reno, are you also a Griffin commander?" Holding a leftover pork chop rice from dinner in her hand, Spectre M4 nodded, responding to Reno's inquiry.

"Of course not, where did you get the idea that I'm a Griffin commander? There are no G&K insignias here, and I'm not wearing a Griffin commander uniform." Saying this, Reno sighed helplessly.

The three dolls MDR brought back were really unlucky.

They were knocked over by Simonov, who was sprinting at full speed. Simonov was probably even trying to avoid these three.

But even though Simonov had tried her best to avoid them, these three dolls were still a bit too fragile for her 300-kilogram self.

Two of them had loose core connections, and the other one had its main spine damaged and paralyzed from hitting a protruding stone when it fell.

None of these were major repair issues; they just needed a few replacement parts.

He had plenty of spare parts on hand, after all, there were still many doll parts left from before Nagant M1895 and the others weren't using.

Of course, these three were all minor issues.

The main problem was Simonov.

Perhaps it was because she had too many employers back then, and now karma had come.

This person had just switched to a new body not long ago and had been shot in the head by a mercenary right in the middle of her forehead. Although it was just a superficial wound at the time, there was still a small scar left on her skull.

And this time, when the pistol exploded, the breech flew directly out of the gun body and jammed into the scar from last time, fitting perfectly, as if the scar had been waiting for this connection.

While Reno was repairing the three dolls lying motionless on the workbench, Simonov happened to climb out of the repair bay.

Her hand was still on her forehead, feeling the now-filled hole left by Reno.

"Commander, do you have any helmets or something to protect my forehead from being hit again?"

"Here, take this for now. Come back to me when I make a new one in the future."

Reno casually pulled out a dusty helmet from the cabinet and tossed it over. He really didn't have any plans to make a helmet specifically for Simonov, the unlucky one.

After all... with so many dolls at home, except for this person Simonov, who else has their forehead hit for no reason every day?

"Okay, but does this helmet really have bulletproof capabilities?"

Simonov muttered helplessly. This M35 helmet used by Reno looked like it was made entirely of steel and didn't seem like it could stop bullets at all.

"Huh? Isn't it? AK47? Isn't this the one we encountered before?"

Simonov, who was trying on the helmet, just realized that among the three dolls lying on the workbench, one of them looked quite familiar.

Chapter 33: Recognition

"Shouldn't be. That guy was doing well under her original commander. How did she end up in a place like this?"

The city they were in now was several hundred kilometers away from the Griffin base where they encountered AK47 before.

"Oh, I see. But these two look unfamiliar. What model are they?" Holding her original sailor hat in her hand, Simonov, with a helmet on her head, leaned over to inspect the other two dolls.

"M1919A4 and M14, both very common tactical dolls. They might look unfamiliar because you didn't spend much time in Griffin after all," just like Simonov's work before becoming a tactical doll.

This guy didn't work at Griffin for too long either.

After joining the headquarters, she was transferred shortly after, and then got into trouble not long after that, falling into the hands of survivors who were seizing weapons, and was finally saved by Renault.

Speaking of which, the time she worked under Renault far exceeded her time at other units.

"Cough, but this should be a heavy machine gun, right? I thought there wouldn't be anyone holding such weapons among dolls. Wow! Look at this big guy! And these .50 caliber bullets, if these were changed to armor-piercing rounds, dealing with those ELID infected should be a piece of cake, right?"

Simonov said, eyes lighting up as she admired the imprinted weapons nearby, picking up the M1919A4's ammo belt with envy.

This caliber was much larger than the MG3 they equipped on their powered exoskeletons, and heavy machine guns like this were also hard to come by on the black market.

Of course, it wasn't banned, it's just that these things were old items with a history.

Most of the new ones coming out of the factory were imprinted weapons for tactical dolls, and it was rare to find brand new or complete heavy machine guns on the black market.

As for self-production... would anyone dare to use what they made?

If the materials weren't up to standard, when used, it would either explode or explode. The fragments could leave marks on Simonov's alloy steel skull, let alone if it was a human...

Wouldn't it be a goner in a few minutes...

"Don't overthink it. It is a heavy machine gun, but the caliber is not .50. It's the same as the MG3, just elongated the cartridge to increase the propellant. Instead of idling here, you better go change your clothes. You're almost soaked in the bio-fluid. Don't you feel anything wearing it?"

"Hiss! This feeling! It's so uncomfortable! I'll go first!"

Hearing Renault's words, Simonov quickly opened the pain sensation module that she had just closed due to pain, and immediately felt a sticky sensation all over her body.

Without bothering to exchange pleasantries with Spectre M4, Simonov rushed out of the workshop.

On Renault's side, he took out the damaged parts of the three dolls in front of him, replaced them, and then put the three directly into the repair pods.

As for the neural cores of these three dolls, Renault didn't touch them. After all, Spectre M4 said they were Griffin's dolls, and it wouldn't be fair to delete their underlying protocols directly.

Of course, if these dolls couldn't return to Griffin in the end... it wouldn't be too late for him to make changes later.

Moreover, he already had enough dolls at home. A few more dolls... whether to raise or not wasn't a concern. The key was that he had just finished making four new doll bodies, and now four new dolls had arrived.

Busy all day making doll bodies, should he still implement his plan? Should he still accept commissions? Should he still upgrade weapons?

"Ah!?" When Renault was replacing the parts of the three dolls, he only opened a small maintenance window, so the repair time in the repair chamber was very short, only a few minutes.

The first to wake up was M1919A4, who directly exclaimed and sat up from the repair chamber, but unfortunately, bumped her forehead directly on the hatch of the repair chamber, "Uh!"

AK47 and M14 beside her also woke up one after another, but the two of them were relatively clear-headed. At least they knew to open the hatch of the repair chamber.

"Hiss! My waist hurts. Did I reincarnate again?"

AK47 rubbed her lower back, feeling the lingering pain, but there were no signs of injury when she touched it.

M14, on the other hand, looked around the workshop, seeing that it was similar to the Griffin combat command room, but with some strange equipment and a repair pod room added, scratching her head in confusion. "Where are we? Just now, I remember, it seems that something came out from behind the ruins..."

"Yeah, yeah, something came out directly and knocked us out. This place looks..." M1919A4 added, but just as she was speaking, she noticed that Spectre M4 was still eating leisurely with a bowl in her arms, and there was a cup of soda with bubbles on the table.

"Why were we knocked out, but you could enjoy your meal here?" M1919A4 pointed at Spectre M4 in frustration, with saliva dripping from the corner of her mouth.

Gurgle! x2

The stomachs of AK47 and M14 beside her both let out wailing sounds involuntarily.

Hearing this deafening sound, Renault couldn't help but roll his eyes, "What, now Griffin doesn't even care if the dolls have a full meal before going out?"

Based on the direction these dolls were heading, Renault could roughly guess that these guys probably landed at the airport on the edge of the red zone and then walked to his factory area.

It wasn't far away. In terms of the dolls' pace, an hour was completely enough.

If they had just been resupplied before setting off, it was impossible to be hungry. Moreover, dolls should carry emergency rations for combat, right? So why would they starve themselves like this?

"Uh, um, Commander Renault, we set off from the headquarters and made several transfers at several airports along the way, which delayed us for most of the day, so..." AK47 said somewhat embarrassedly, but her eyes were fixed on Spectre M4's bowl.

Faced with the gaze of three companions like hungry wolves, Spectre M4 hugged her bowl tightly, and the chopsticks in her hand also accelerated as she scraped the food, afraid that these three would come over and snatch her food.

"Hmm? Do you know me?" Hearing AK47 calling out her name, Renault was somewhat surprised.

Could it be that Simonov was right, and this guy was the AK47 who used to work at Base 939?

"Ah, of course, although it's been a while, Commander Renault, I still remember you. By the way, how come you're here? I remember we were supposed to go to the Sangvis Workshop."

AK47 scratched her head, looking just as casual as when he first met her.

"This is my base, so of course I'm here. But what about you? What about your original commander, Peter Lenkov?"

Chapter 34: Shadows in the Dark

"I'm not entirely sure about Commander Peter Lenkov's situation either. From what I recall, the last thing I remember is backing up my cognitive cloud map at the base, and then I woke up at Griffin headquarters," AK47 pondered for a moment, her face showing some discomfort as she spoke.

This situation was something any reasonably functioning doll would understand. There had been no mention from the Griffin headquarters about relocating her back to Base 939, and she had inquired about it...

That base seemed to have been completely taken over by Sangvis Workshop now. The entire area had fallen under Sangvis's occupation.

AK47 couldn't say for sure what had become of Peter Lenkov and the other dolls, but it was certain that she had already died once herself.

Hearing AK47's words, Reno nodded knowingly.

He wasn't surprised by this news, as Sangvis's attack direction was clear—they were heading straight for G&K's HQ, and most of their main attacks were concentrated there.

Perhaps they knew Reno was operating in the coastal area, or they had no interest in the facilities along the coast. Regardless, Sangvis's main attack areas were all north of the cities where Reno had previously operated.

Initially, the Sangvis units in the facilities east of the Griffin headquarters had also gathered to launch an attack towards Griffin's jurisdiction.

However, without elite Sangvis commanders in those factories and outposts, and with the Statesec quickly cutting off the energy supply to those factories and outposts, the Sangvis units there were rendered useless.

They were probably all already recovered and dismantled by IOP, truly becoming nothing more than scrap metal.

In this inexplicable outbreak of battle, there were definitely many unlucky ones like Peter Lenkov who got caught up in it.

Of course, there were more like AK47 who fell under Sangvis's guns without understanding what was happening.

"Are you just here to check on the situation at the Sangvis factory? You probably can't contact the G&K headquarters now, right?" Reno asked as he tidied up the tools they had just used, glancing at the doll figures.

Apart from M1919A4 carrying a large ammo box, the other dolls were lightly equipped, with only a few magazines and backpacks containing emergency rations and spare ammunition.

From the looks of it, they must have gone directly to the Sangvis factory, conducted reconnaissance, and then withdrawn to a fixed location for evacuation. Although communication might be temporarily interrupted due to the helicopter's withdrawal, it didn't affect the tactical dolls' mission execution.

Apart from being stingy and not equipping the dolls with radiation protection gear, everything else seemed fine.

The only question was... didn't Helian know he was in this location?

Why deliberately send a team of dolls to check on the situation at the Sangvis Workshop? Couldn't they just ask him? Was she afraid he would take the opportunity to charge a commission fee?

Although it was possible, such a simple matter shouldn't require payment. After all, this was a straightforward task, and even if he asked for money, how much could he possibly get for walking a few steps?

Others weren't fools.

"Well, we can't contact them now, but we'll be able to evacuate by tomorrow night. It's just a temporary situation," AK47 spoke up, seeing M1919A4 and M14 standing beside her in silence. It was clear that AK47 was the leader of this operation.

However, although the other two didn't speak, they still stared at Spectre M4, who had already eaten her fill, with eyes full of longing, their hands already reaching into their backpacks for emergency rations, clearly hesitating whether to eat them.

But how could the rations issued by Griffin compare to the large bowl of rice Spectre M4 had just eaten! As soon as they woke up, they smelled the fragrance of the food, the sauce, and the aroma of the rice...

Although the dolls' sense of smell didn't exceed that of normal humans, they still had a sense of smell to this extent. After all, the entire workshop was filled with the smell of pork cutlet rice.

Seeing AK47 absent-minded, along with the other two doll figures beside her who were starving, Reno waved his hand dismissively,

"Alright, it's fine. As long as you don't bump into Simonov or any other doll, everything will be fine. While G36 is still resting, go to the restaurant and have her make something for you."

"But our mission..." Hearing Reno's words, AK47 hesitated. After all, running off to eat in the middle of a mission was a bit...

"The mission is not important. After you finish eating, call Maria and have Simonov or M1 Garand drive you over. It's just a reconnaissance mission. Once you've checked the factory's current situation, consider it completed."

"Oh, okay." Hearing Reno's words, AK47 scratched her head in disbelief.

Following behind Spectre M4 as they walked out of the workshop towards the restaurant, several dolls couldn't help but ask AK47 when they saw no one around, "Hey, AK47, this Commander's base looks really big! Where did you meet him before?"

M14 looked around the spacious and brightly lit dormitory building as she walked, which had been completely refurbished by G36 and others, no longer the dilapidated appearance it had before. Everything had been freshly painted.

"It was probably before I was reincarnated. Back then, he was also leading several dolls, but this guy shouldn't be the commander of Griffin. I remember seeing him directly ask Helian's agent for commission fees before."

Obviously, it wasn't just M14 who cared about this issue. The other two dolls, upon hearing her words, all looked at her with curious eyes. But before the other dolls could think of anything else, AK47 poured cold water on them.

If he wasn't the commander of Griffin, it meant they couldn't be directly transferred to this base at their request...

It was a pity, as this base looked very comfortable, and most importantly... even Spectre M4, an outsider, could eat so well as soon as she arrived. It was likely that the daily meals here wouldn't be bad at all!

"What do you want to eat?"

However, all these scattered thoughts were forgotten by them as they entered the restaurant and heard G36's words.

Why think so much? Let's eat first!

Meanwhile, about ten kilometers north of Reno's factory area, in the abandoned airport, a solitary figure stood in the dilapidated terminal, holding her weapon tightly in her hands, pacing back and forth in the empty building.

Her eyes were firmly fixed on the direction outside the airport, where figures were swaying and steadily approaching her position.

And the faint reflection of light emanating from those figures had already exposed their identities.

Masses of ELID infected.

Chapter 35: This Won't Do, Let's Change Personnel

Ensuring the safety of the landing zone was imperative.

This task was assigned to G3 after disembarking from the helicopter.

However, given the current circumstances, how could she ensure it? Relying on the gun in her hand?

The number of infected individuals in the distance was uncertain, but it was undoubtedly no less than twenty or thirty.

With so many infected... If they were all slow-moving, it would be manageable, but she had just witnessed several of them agilely bypassing the barriers beside the airplane runway.

Their movements appeared no different from those of living people.

There was a discrepancy between the movement ability of the infected and the records in their core consciousness.

As the infected approached, G3 could only grip her weapon tightly and glance back at her retreat path.

Fortunately, there were no infected in the direction AK47 and the others had departed. Even if she couldn't eliminate these infected, she could still leave this place...

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Watching the approaching infected, G3 stepped out of the building and launched an attack on them.

Her precise semi-automatic shots hit the heads of three infected, but the damage caused was not significant.

At least in the darkness, G3 couldn't see how much damage her bullets had actually inflicted on the infected.

But what was certain was that her bullets did not penetrate the heads of these infected.

The three infected who were hit only leaned back, and one of them even fell to the ground, but the next moment, it got up directly.

And they were approaching her faster and faster!

They were already jogging!

At this rate!

In less than two minutes, this abandoned terminal would be directly occupied by these infected!

As she retreated, G3 concentrated her firepower and aimed at the forehead of one of the infected.

After firing about twelve bullets, the head of this infected was finally penetrated by a bullet, killing the infected completely.

These individuals had too high defense!

Wasn't it too reckless to just send AK47 and the others to investigate the situation at the Sangvis Workshop!

Griffin didn't... forget it, they probably came over as scouts this time, but whether they could return alive was uncertain.

Thinking of this, G3, who usually had little expression, also frowned.

Continuing to stay here and deal with these infected was useless.

With the ammunition she had on her, she could only kill about twenty-five to thirty infected without wasting any.

This was a conservative estimate because she didn't have all magazines, and there were some scattered bullets that needed to be manually loaded, but these infected definitely wouldn't give her time to reload.

She had to retreat. G3 took out the grenade she carried from her ammo bag and loaded it into the grenade launcher under the handguard.

Bang! Boom!

The 40mm grenade instantly exploded among the group of infected, but unfortunately, the shrapnel scattered by this anti-personnel grenade was unable to penetrate the siliceous outer layer of these infected.

But the explosion of the grenade still caused some damage to these infected. Most of the bodies of these infected were already covered with cracks, and the strong vibration caused the siliceous outer layer to start cracking.

Unfortunately, the light was dim, and G3 couldn't see the abnormality on the bodies of these infected.

But even if she did, what could she do?

She only had five grenades in total. If one grenade couldn't kill an infected, would continuing to throw grenades kill all these infected?

Even if it were possible, with only four grenades left... it was definitely not enough.

There were already dozens of infected within sight, what about the ones she couldn't see?

G3 didn't stay any longer and directly turned around to leave the airport in the direction AK47 and the others had left, running towards the only place in the city where faint lights could be seen...

...

"Ah! Satisfied! I can't believe we get such a good meal just by going on a mission. If it weren't for being assigned to some unknown commander in the future, I'd really want to come here for a meal every day," M1919A4 leaned back in the chair, saying contentedly.

There was nothing more wonderful than having a big meal when feeling hungry, especially in a place like this with nowhere else to go.

"Ahaha! Cheers! Glug, glug, glug!"

Simonov, A-91, and AK47, each with a bottle of liquor in hand, cheered loudly and drank down a whole bottle of liquor.

Seeing this, M14, sitting next to them, rolled her eyes at these three alcoholics...

Meanwhile, Spectre M4 sat side by side with Elf, holding G36's specially made ice cream in her hand, watching Elf play her handheld game console happily.

Of course, besides them in the restaurant, there was only Maria sitting on the side, dozing off.

This girl, completely like a child, started to feel sleepy as soon as it got late, even Elf at this moment was much more energetic than her.

"Sigh, really, what about your mission? Can't you go and come back early? You can still have a good sleep after you come back. Do you have to wait until late at night?"

Passing by the entrance of the restaurant, Reno entered and saw AK47, the team leader, and Simonov continuously toasting.

It seemed like the task had been completely forgotten by her.

Surely it was Simonov and A-91 who took the lead, these two didn't have the restrictions of basic protocols now, and with Reno just casually mentioning it, Simonov obviously didn't take AK47's task to heart. Even if she did, it was probably pushed aside by the power of alcohol.

As soon as Reno spoke, M14 and M1919A4, who were completely in leisure mode, suddenly remembered, they weren't here to eat, drink, and have fun!

They were here to carry out a mission!

AK47 also slightly came back to her senses, shook her head, and looked at the already drunk Simonov, "Um, you're already like this, can you still drive? Forget it, I'll go find M1 Garand myself. I don't want to die a third time."

"How could that be! Absolutely no problem! Absolutely!" Hearing this, Simonov suddenly stood up from her seat, but she was already starting to slur her words, and whether it was possible or not was already very obvious.

"Wake up, Maria, wake up. You said you'd take others to the factory, but how come you fell asleep first?"

Reno sighed, lifted Maria, who was drooling, and waved to AK47 and the others.

"Let's go, I'll drive you there."

As he spoke, he directly lifted the rubbing-eyed Maria.

Although he could go to the Sangvis Workshop without her, bringing Maria along was equivalent to having a high-level pass from Sangvis, allowing him to move freely throughout the entire factory.

He happened to also go take a look inside the factory and see what materials Sangvis had placed in their factory.

Chapter 36: Eat Your Meal, Don't Worry About It

The sound of vehicles?

Following the route taken by AK47 and her group, G3 successfully arrived at the only place in this red zone city with lights.

However, just as she approached the entrance of the building complex, the sound of a vehicle starting came from behind the courtyard wall.

As she hurriedly took a few steps towards the entrance, all she saw was the taillights of a truck driving away.

G3 vaguely heard the conversation between M1919A4 and M14.

It seemed like they were on that truck...

Since when did AK47 learn to drive a truck? Or... were they taken away?! Deceived?! Or kidnapped?!

Lost in thought, G3 unconsciously arrived at the entrance to the factory area, feeling the light beside her. She subconsciously looked towards the brightly lit dormitory building.

Turning her head, she coincidentally met the gaze of G36, who was accompanied by Elf.

"G3?"

"G36?"

As tactical dolls produced by the same company, although both were sure they had never met before, certain 'settings' inherent to IOP tactical dolls allowed them to immediately recognize each other's model.

G36 waved directly at G3, indicating for her to come in through the nearby isolation door.

Seeing G36's gesture, G3 didn't hesitate, nodded, and obediently entered through the isolation door, disinfecting herself before exchanging a glance with G36.

"Are you here with AK47 and the others?" G36 had already heard about the reasons for AK47 and her group being here, so encountering such a stranger, she couldn't think of any other reason besides them being associated with AK47's group.

"Yes, I was assigned to guard the helipad where the helicopter landed. However, it has been occupied by a group of ELID infected, and there may be ELID infected chasing after me from behind." Although G3 could confidently say she had shaken off those ELID infected.

However, the perception abilities of those ELID infected sometimes seemed completely unpredictable, you can sometimes easily shaking off a large group of ELID infected in a nearby area, but sometimes the situation was completely the opposite.

"Alright, understood. But please wait a moment, I need to take this little one back to rest." G36 held the handheld game console handed over by Elf, pointing to the little one who was already rubbing her eyes.

Of course, it wasn't that the tactical doll was really tired, it was just the biosynthetic system reminding her that it was time to sleep, just like Maria, who had just started to doze off. Generally, smaller-sized tactical dolls tended to have this condition.

G3 nodded. Although she still felt somewhat uneasy, seeing G36 remain so calm even after hearing the news about the possible appearance of ELID infected, she felt less worried.

With that in mind, G3, holding her weapon, took a few steps towards the door from which G36 emerged. The sign on the door clearly read 'Restaurant', indicating that it was the base's cafeteria.

"Phew!" Just as G3 approached the entrance of the restaurant, she heard a strange sound coming from inside, accompanied by a strong smell of alcohol.

Carefully peering inside, G3 immediately saw the two drunkards pouring 'water' into their bottles. The sense of relief she just had dissipated instantly.

Is this really okay? It's already so late, and they're still drinking. Aren't they supposed to be responsible for night patrols?

Even in G&K HQ, there were tactical dolls patrolling at fixed times to ensure the safety of the base.

When she entered from outside just now, she didn't see any tactical dolls patrolling outside.

Therefore, seeing these two drunkards in the restaurant, she subconsciously assumed that they were the ones responsible for the night patrol duty.

After all, this base was located in the middle of the red zone. It seemed a bit unreasonable for there to be no patrols at night in such a dangerous place.

"Don't worry about those two drunkards. What would you like to eat?" G36 had already returned, inviting G3 into the restaurant and asking directly.

Since G3 was already here, it was necessary to treat her to a meal. It wouldn't be right to let the guest wait idly in the reception room, would it?

"Oh? No, it's not necessary. I've already..."

Gurgle!

Upon hearing that G36 seemed to be going to prepare a meal for her, G3 anxiously waved her hands, trying to prove that she wasn't here to freeload.

However, her biosynthetic stomach didn't seem to agree. Upon hearing the keyword 'eat', it shamelessly growled.

"Um..." G36 smiled, went into the kitchen, and soon came out with a meal prepared.

"Wow! It smells so good, G36, can I have a taste?" Probably smelling the aroma, the dizzy Simonov immediately leaned over and reached out to grab a sausage from the plate.

Smack!

G36 slapped Simonov's head with the back of her hand, but because Simonov was wearing the helmet that Reno had just thrown to her, this slap didn't have any effect.

Instead, it made Simonov grin and lean closer.

Seeing this, G36 placed the tray in front of G3, freeing her hand to remove Simonov's helmet and slap her forehead.

A-91 beside them couldn't help but chuckle at the sight, but before she could tease them, she heard G36 point outside and say, "Instead of drinking here, why not go out and clean up those ELID infected outside? Otherwise, be careful the commander comes back and deducts your pay."

"ELID infected?"

Hearing these three words, Simonov's drunkenness immediately sobered up halfway.

Why did she look so embarrassed just now? Wasn't it because of those ELID infected?! And now, these guys dare to appear in front of her again!?

Even though her drunkenness hadn't completely dissipated, Simonov selectively forgot why she had been so unlucky just now, as it was most likely all because of helping Renault test the gun.

"Let's go! A-91! Come with me! Let's take care of those ELID infected first before coming back for another round of drinks!"

With a bottle of liquor in hand, Simonov strode out, but not directly to engage in hand-to-hand combat with those ELID infected, but straight to the armory.

Simonov, this guy, went out to wear her power exoskeleton!

And G3, sitting at the dining table, naturally didn't know this, thinking that Simonov had gone out alone with a bottle of liquor to challenge those ELID infected.

Just as G3 was about to get up and follow, G36 pressed her back, "Don't worry, just eat here. Simonov will take care of the ELID infected outside."

Even if she couldn't handle them, there was still a drunken A-91.

Although the drunkards couldn't drive, they were more than capable of dealing with ELID infected.

Picking up G36's prepared knife and fork, G3 hesitated and looked out the window.

The ELID infected had already reached the entrance of the factory area, just like the situation she had encountered at the airport not long ago.

Chapter 37: Please Settle the Dinner Bill

"Hah!" Yawning as she stepped out of the car, Maria rubbed her eyes and waved to the Rippers standing at the entrance of the factory area.

Seeing Maria, the Rippers and Prowlers immediately made way, allowing AK47 and her group behind her to pass.

The tactical dolls, who had been on edge since getting out of the car, also breathed a sigh of relief. At least these Sangvis units didn't attack them upon sight.

"Phew, it's fortunate that the Sangvis units here haven't gone out of control," M14 sighed in relief.

"Out of control? Is that how Griffin explains the behavior of those Sangvis dolls?" With hands in his pockets, Reno observed the Sangvis factory while questioning.

The factory and warehouses were dimly lit, with no sound of operations in the factory. It was evident that this Sangvis factory had ceased production.

As for the reason for the shutdown...

The cute, clumsy Ripper driving the forklift over there was probably the reason for the shutdown, or rather, it was because the warehouse was already filled with various finished materials, so the Rippers couldn't deliver the products to the warehouse.

Without returning to the production line for a long time, the entire factory came to a halt. After all, with the warehouse already full, what was the point of continuing production? Where would they store the produced goods?

It seemed that the materials taken away by the Scarecrow last time weren't all the inventory in the warehouse. Otherwise, how could such a large warehouse be completely filled in just one month?

The sudden appearance of Intruder demanding things was probably due to the factory being shut down for too long, prompting Reno to clear the transportation routes so they could deplete some of the stored materials here.

Unfortunately, only a small portion had been transported away when the Sangvis Main Factory ran into trouble.

Obtaining control over the Sangvis Main Factory from Lycoris, it was evident that the one with Sangvis's authority hadn't bothered to address the production issue, leaving the shutdown factory unattended.

"Huh? Isn't it supposed to be like this?" Reno casually asked, causing M14 and AK47 to pause, then instinctively inquire.

"Of course not... but... never mind, I can't tell you about this. If you knew the reason, you'd probably be subjected to memory erasure once you returned. Hey, Maria, why don't you send those Rippers standing outside back to recharge? Several of them have stopped due to low power."

Maria, apparently not a qualified commander, hadn't changed the state of the factory at all since Scarecrow visited. Due to the previous power outage, a few tactical dolls had collapsed in front of the charging stations.

Without elite Doll commanders, even ordinary Sangvis units didn't know to move their fallen comrades to the charging stations.

"Oh, but Reno, why are you so nervous about these Rippers? Are you planning to take them back and make them laborers?"

After walking a few steps in the factory area, Maria, who had become somewhat sober, turned back and looked at Reno strangely upon hearing his concern for these low-level Rippers who lacked self-awareness.

"More or less. Anyway, they're not working here anymore. They're either standing around doing nothing or just standing around doing nothing all day. Instead of wasting their synthetic usage time here, it's better to bring them back to help me."

With readily available commanding units, such excellent labor was simply not to be wasted.

Seeing Reno change the subject, AK47 and M14 exchanged a glance, both feeling somewhat puzzled.

But since Reno had already spoken, once they knew the truth, they would likely be subjected to memory erasure... Such a cost was clearly something ordinary tactical dolls like them couldn't bear.

Once memories were erased, wouldn't they forget the proper meal they had just eaten?

Anyway, that meal they had just eaten was the first proper dinner they had eaten since being manufactured. It couldn't be erased as useless memories!

Except for AK47, who was a frontline tactical doll reborn through the Mental Cloud Map, M14, M1919A4, and SpectreM4, three of them, were newly manufactured and lacked experience in missions, even at G&K HQ.

Although there were plenty of tactical dolls at G&K HQ, only those with Griffin internal points could buy what they wanted to eat by spending points.

Newly manufactured tactical dolls without mission experience or a superior commander... Where could they mooch for meals?

They could only eat the issued rations while waiting for a new commander to take them away.

Speaking of this mission, it was actually an assessment task for the newly appointed commander within Griffin.

If this mission went smoothly, after completing the mission, they would be transferred to the command of their new commander.

However, this mission... how should they put it... it didn't go as smoothly as they had imagined.

The easily manageable Sangvis Elite units, obedient Sangvis units with no aggressive tendencies, and those dutifully stationed autonomous units...

Seeing them, they couldn't help but feel a sense of guilt, realizing that before they came, their minds had been filled with thoughts of how to eliminate these Sangvis dolls. It seemed they had gone a bit too far with their intentions...

...

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Ahahaha! You filthy infected! If you have the guts, come at me from under my firepower! Ahahaha!" Inside the powered exoskeleton, Simonova laughed hysterically as she tore through the infected with her machine gun.

Meanwhile, G3, who had been anxiously sitting in the dining hall, worried about attracting unstoppable enemies to the base's tactical dolls and commander, involuntarily clenched her teeth together with the fork in her hand.

The sight of those infected collapsing under Simonova's gunfire completely shattered her understanding.

Since when did Griffin possess such powerful powered armor?

Wasn't it only human combat personnel who wore such things?

Moreover, they were primarily elite combat personnel, and their powered armor didn't have such powerful weapons like machine guns!

"Th-this, shouldn't this be a Griffin sub-base, right?"

Clinging to a glimmer of hope, G3 stiffly turned back to G36 beside her and asked.

"Of course not. This is Commander Reno's stronghold, unrelated to Griffin."

"T-then... you won't... you won't take us away, will you?"

"Of course not. Provided that Agent Helianthus pays for your five's dinner tonight." Seeing G3 trembling with fear, G36 inexplicably felt mischievous and, imitating Reno's demeanor, grinned at G3.

Chapter 38: Impure Intentions?

"Well, that's the current situation. This factory can only remain idle for now. The basic materials produced here are not being used at all. Since no one from the main factory comes to transport them, they just have to stay here,"

Maria said nonchalantly.

At the same time, she directed a few of the Rippers she could command to take the unlucky ones who had lost power to recharge.

Reno had already toured the entire factory area, observing the piled-up materials and the control area of the factory.

Overall, the situation was passable; the equipment had been consistently maintained.

However, the condition of the autonomous dolls and units patrolling the area left something to be desired.

Similar to those who had completely run out of power, many of these autonomous dolls had severely worn components. It seemed they had been in use for quite some time. Some of the Rippers' clothing was even torn, and their internal components were exposed.

If repairs and maintenance weren't carried out soon, they probably wouldn't last more than a few months.

After exchanging glances, AK47 said, "Well, I suppose that wraps up our mission."

Honestly, this reconnaissance mission didn't have any specific objectives. Recording the condition of this factory with their own equipment was pretty much it.

"Of course, what else could we do? Dismantle it? Then you'll have to go back and talk to the person who wanted to take over this factory personally," Maria said.

The situation in this factory was similar to the area Reno had previously occupied. It was an unclaimed territory without an actual controller.

Although the Sangvis's mainframe still had control over the dolls here, it was no longer connected to the higher-ups at Sangvis.

Currently, there was no one who could restrict the Sangvis's mainframe. In essence, although the factory appeared organized, and the autonomous dolls didn't show any aggressive tendencies, it was still technically out of control.

Instead of letting unknown individuals come and take everything from this factory, it would be better for Reno to take over the equipment and the Sangvis dolls himself.

Hearing Reno's words, AK47 chuckled awkwardly.

That line of conversation couldn't be pursued further.

Thinking about what Reno had done in the town near Base 939, it was clear that if anyone dared to come and snatch resources from him, they would only be met with bullets, and there was no other possibility.

M14 and M1919A4 looked at AK47 with some confusion, but since the team leader hadn't spoken, they didn't say much. After all, AK47 was considered their senior.

With the task completed, Reno had no intention of staying at the Sangvis factory. There wasn't even a place to rest here; he couldn't just stand outside like these Rippers.

...

Gulp!

The thought that she might have just consumed some invaluable ingredients caused G3's core to tighten inexplicably.

Fortunately, just as G3 was about to break into a cold sweat, G36 smiled and added, "Of course, I'm just joking."

Hearing this, G3 felt like she was about to suffocate.

Although dolls couldn't suffocate, she felt that way now. Moreover, the G36 in front of her seemed different from the G36 at Griffin Headquarters.

It seemed... her gaze was kinder?

While the two of them were talking, Simonov had already completely cleared out the infected outside, totaling over fifty.

There might still be some farther away, but there wasn't a single one left near the factory.

"Hey! Vector! Come out and clean up the mess and start the fire!" Simonov breathed a sigh of relief, then opened the powered exoskeleton's loudspeaker and shouted towards the direction of the dormitory building.

But as soon as the words left her mouth, Simonov felt a pang of regret.

Oh no! She forgot that most people had already gone to rest now!

At the same time, a malicious gaze fell on her through the glass. G36 narrowed her eyes, glaring at Simonov.

It seemed that drinking and working really didn't mix; this woman's actions became unreliable after drinking!

So fierce!?

G3, sitting in front of G36, saw the change in G36's eyes.

She was so frightened that her cutlery trembled. Luckily, she didn't throw it directly, but could only lower her head and focus on the food on her plate.

Reno drove the truck and brought AK47 and the others back.

Even before they got close to the factory, they could see a pile of flames burning outside the factory gate.

It seemed Vector was playing with fire again.

"It's there another teammate of yours?"

Reno was somewhat surprised to see the unfamiliar doll crouching at the window.

"Huh? G3? What's she doing here? She should be staying at the airport..."

AK47 waved towards G3 in the dormitory building, but then she received the operational data sent by G3 and her tone became more subdued. After all, the group of ELID infected outside the gate was all brought here by G3.

"Alright, I can roughly guess what's going on. Be careful next time with orders from that commander. He's either ignorant of the consequences or intentionally so."

Considering the infected in the Red Zone, it's common knowledge that they become stronger over time.

As Griffin's commander, there's no reason for him not to know this characteristic of the infected. Therefore, the one who sent a squad of dolls over here is either foolish or malicious.

Reno think the former is more likely, as communication devices carried by dolls are unable to contact headquarters due to the strong interference in the Red Zone.

If these people hadn't encountered us, the likely outcome would have been being overwhelmed by the infected.

So, what's the point of this behavior?

Just to send dolls here to see how developed the infected have become?

Obviously, that's impossible. There are many ways to detect the infected; there's no need for dolls to risk themselves.

Moreover, they were sent here by helicopter, so does Griffin have so much money to burn? Is helicopter fuel free?

Chapter 39: Unexpected Morning Incident

"Damn, this is really bad. I feel like I can't bear to look at the living conditions in Griffin Headquarters dormitory anymore. Are all the T-Dolls on Renault' side living in heaven?" M14 patted the soft bedding, which still had the fresh scent of washing.

In addition, all the furnishings in the dormitory were brand new. There were even IOP-produced charging devices specifically for tactical doll, one for each person.

When they passed by other humanoid doll dormitories just now, they caught a glimpse of the furnishings inside. Apart from the basic bedding, most things were purchased by the tactical doll themselves.

It looked warm and comfortable, completely different from the rigid dormitories on Griffin's side.

To be honest, after seeing Commander Renault's base, they had initially wondered what kind of treatment the tactical doll here would receive, but they never expected that just the dormitories alone would be several times more luxurious than theirs...

"Well, maybe we should consider changing jobs?"

"Huh? Isn't that a bit unrealistic... Headquarters definitely wouldn't agree to a job change, right?"

As a few tactical doll chatted in the dormitory, Renault was naturally unaware. He was currently organizing the factory doll configuration information he had requested from Maria.

Because of various recent events, his factory still hadn't officially started operating, and the construction plans hadn't progressed smoothly. However, with the Sangvis Ferri dolls in the factory, his workload should be considerably lighter.

Although the Sangvis Ferri autonomous dolls in the factory all lacked self-awareness, they were only tasked with simple work, so there shouldn't be any problems.

However, one thing Renault hadn't anticipated was that Maria couldn't command the SF dolls responsible for production in the factory not just because of simple permission issues.

In fact, there was a doll in the factory who served as the leader, just like Jaeger he found in that small factory back then. They both had a certain degree of self-awareness but lacked the agility of elite dolls.

Her model was called the Ripper, and she should have control over the entire Sangvis Ferri factory. Maria couldn't command the dolls in the factory because this guy hadn't found the true superiors of those dolls.

This little fool seemed to have never paid attention to the slight differences on the Ripper, but this also had to blame the strange differentiation method of Sangvis Ferri Works.

The same autonomous unit, just changing clothes or the color of external armor would turn them into senior units with command authority.

Under normal circumstances, it might be possible to notice these differences, but who was Maria?

She was the Destroyer created by Sangvis Ferri Manufacturing, a fool who never cared about anything. Perhaps she had long forgotten about these things.

Not to mention that interfacing with this factory was not her original job in the first place. If she could recognize the command units in the factory on the spot, that would be a real problem.

There were a total of forty-six dolls inside the factory, including the senior Ripper, and a full ninety dolls outside the factory.

The remaining autonomous units included dozens of Prowlers and soldiers, which weren't particularly numerous but also not few.

Non-Doll autonomous units on Renault' side could only patrol or guard, but the more than one hundred Rippers could help out a bit, provided he maintained those autonomous dolls...

Tsk! Why did his workload increase again?

...

A quiet night.

Early the next morning, the weather was still hazy. In this red zone, hoping to see blue skies and white clouds was just a wishful thinking. Even in the city he had stayed in before, at least half of the sky was filled with dark clouds.

Perhaps only in the original green zones far from the pollution could one enjoy such clear weather.

"Well, perhaps the weather is the only advantage G&K HQ has." Looking at the sky outside the window, SpectreM4 sighed and patted her somewhat bloated belly.

Unexpectedly, the breakfast was what truly surprised them, despite thinking that last night's dinner was good enough. Abundant and varied dishes gave them the illusion that they were not in some contractor's base, but in a self-service restaurant open to the public.

At this moment, Renault was also sitting in the dining hall, having CF05's special spicy noodles for breakfast.

However, before he could take a few bites, Angelia's call came in.

"What's up? Don't tell me there's a mission early in the morning. I won't take on simple tasks like that, I'm eating!" Listening to Renault slurping his noodles, Angelia's cheek twitched, but she suppressed it.

"This time it's not a commission from our side, it's from Griffin. It seems that they've lost contact with a squad of dolls within your operational range. These dolls were originally under the command of a commander who is currently undergoing entrance testing, but it seems there's been an issue with the orders..."

"An issue? You mean, these dolls were sent over by helicopter without carefully confirming the mission?" Renault raised his head, looking at Angelia as if she were a fool.

Wasn't this a lie for fools? Did he look like a clueless guy?

Regardless of how much authorization was required to mobilize helicopters, and it's just a newly hired commander, why would helicopters be sent to transport dolls to the contamination zone? Based on their salary, which barely covers two crates of aviation fuel?

Or is it because their department's activity funds hadn't been received?

Griffin had been vigorously recruiting commanders lately, which he was well aware of. It wasn't even recent; Griffin had been recruiting commanders for several months now.

However, Griffin also needed to train these aspiring commanders beforehand, followed by a series of assessments.

Usually, they would send these new commanders to places with low combat intensity to personally command the dolls in battle once.

By observing their command efficiency and crisis response methods, they would judge if the commanders were ready for immediate deployment.

Sending dolls to places like the red zone, where direct contact with dolls was impossible, clearly couldn't be a test for new commanders.

Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thunk! Thud!

As Angelia on the other end of the phone was pondering how to convince Renault to take on this commission, a series of gunshots suddenly rang out behind Renault!

"What's going on!? What's happening!?" Angelia exclaimed in shock.

Meanwhile, Renault furrowed his brow, somewhat speechless, as he turned to see several Griffin dolls completely subdued by a few dolls and turned to the nearby bullet holes in the walls and the ground near him.

"It's nothing, you don't need to worry about it. I'll contact Helian directly later. This guy, is she trying to figure out a way to send me compensation?"

Chapter 40 You're Acting Weird!

Suddenly, the ones who started shooting were the AK47 dolls, who had been perfectly normal just moments ago.

Whether it was AK47 facing Simonov directly or SpectreM4, who had finished eating and was looking out the window, they all suddenly picked up their imprinted weapons and aimed them at the dolls around them.

However, their unusual actions were almost instantly stopped by the dolls beside them, and no bullets hit anyone, leaving only a few inconspicuous bullet holes in the floor, walls and ceiling.

"Hey hey, Commander, could they have been infected with that mind-altering virus?"

Watching M14 being pressed down by herself, Simonov asked Renault somewhat helplessly.

"Mind-altering? Is there such a thing?"

A-91, who was pressing down AK47 on the other side, tilted her head and asked.

"Hey, you've been infected before, don't act like you've never heard of it!" Hearing A-91's words, Simonov looked at her with some helplessness.

Back then, wasn't it the Doll Protection Rights Association that used this virus to control A-91 and them?

"Yeah, that's the one. That guy must be dead by now, but someone else must be making this virus. Let's get something to tie them up and take them to the work... Never mind, someone go get my computer. These guys' neural cores are starting to heat up."

"I'll go right away! Be back soon!" Nagant Revolver handed her G3 to UMP45 and ran out of the cafeteria.

"What's this? What's going on?" Seeing G3 struggling in her hand trying to break free, UMP45 and UMP40 looked at each other. Seeing this, they felt like they were suddenly back at the Sangvis Ferri Main Factory.

The condition of these dolls was almost identical to the ones infected by the virus they released back at the Sangvis Ferri Main Factory!

"What? Looks familiar?" Seeing the surprise in their eyes, Renault raised an eyebrow.

"Um, well..." UMP40 hesitated for a moment, about to speak, but found that Renault had already turned his head and taken his computer and data cable from Nagant Revolver who ran back.

Actually, Renault could guess that this was related to Griffin and that someone still had this virus capable of forcibly changing doll behavior.

It's worth mentioning that he and the guy spreading this virus seem to have some kind of fate. That guy who might be called Pavlovich back then, probably had some connection with the guy spreading this virus.

But that guy seems to have set his sights on him now.

Previously it was mercenaries and unidentified armed personnel, now it's having Griffin dolls infiltrate. That guy really seems relentless until he gets him.

Too bad it's useless. But he was careless this time, not checking the neural clouds of AK47 and the others. If he had checked earlier, this wouldn't have happened.

But he still had to go find Helian and get some compensation. It's not pleasant to come over under the name of Griffin, but sorry, Griffin will have to take the hit for that guy first.

After all, they are a big organization and don't lack a few dolls like this.

The virus removal program has always been backed up, and this time Renault didn't even need to debug it. He directly connected the data cable to the interfaces of several dolls, and the virus that had taken control of the root protocols of the dolls was completely deleted.

The whole process took less than a minute.

And the dolls controlled by the group, including AK47 and the others, immediately regained their clarity, but they were still a bit puzzled about what had happened.

"Huh? What's this? What happened?"

"Do you remember the situation back at Base 939? You've been infected again." Renault waved his hand to signal the others to release the unlucky dolls and, holding the computer, headed back to his workspace to use the G&K communicator to demand some compensation for mental damages.

Hearing Renault's words, AK47 scratched her head awkwardly, then saw Renault using his computer as a tray, holding the bowl of noodles that was half-eaten, and walked toward his workspace.

"Is Commander Renault angry? Um, those bullet holes... Could it be us..." Standing up from the ground, AK47 saw the bullet holes on the floor and suddenly felt a bit embarrassed as she asked Simonov.

"Well, he's not angry, after all, this has little to do with you guys. But you'd better be prepared to help repair the floor tiles and ceiling, as it looks like you'll be needed." Pointing to the cracked floor tiles and the extra holes in the ceiling, Simonov said with a smile.

When they first came here, all the things inside this dormitory building were gradually organized by themselves, including decoration, painting, and a series of other tasks, all of which were figured out by them little by little. If it weren't for Simonov, who used to be a decorator, their Commander Renault would probably have been troubled for a while.

...

"Angelia? Is there something wrong with Pascal? Or is it something from the Statesec?" Seeing the figure who pushed the door open without knocking, Helian raised her eyebrows in surprise.

"Of course not, it's something on your end. Didn't you inquire with the Statesec about the whereabouts of a few dolls? Those dolls were taken by helicopter to a place you wouldn't expect." As she spoke, Angelia went straight to the map hanging in front of Helian, raised her prosthetic left hand, and pointed to a location on the map. Helian herself had deliberately marked it with a pin.

"That's... the factory area occupied by Renault. Why were they sent there?" Looking at where Angelia pointed, Helian furrowed her brows.

"I don't know about that. Just now, there seemed to be some problem on his end, and I think he'll contact you soon." Angelia didn't doubt this at all. After seeing the phone that Renault took out, which could ensure that the call was not leaked, she now felt that even if Renault wanted to communicate with her superiors, it was a piece of cake.

Beep beep beep!

As soon as she finished speaking, the communication device in Helian's office started ringing.

And upon hearing this sound, Helian suddenly turned her head to look at the communication number on the communication device.

Upon seeing the familiar number, Helian's eyes lit up, and then subconsciously tidied up her attire before raising her hand to answer the call.

Ah?

Observing Helian's actions, Angelia tilted her head and adjusted her instrument before responding to the communication.

Hello? Isn't it a bit unusual? It seems like even if G&K's founders gathered together and come over, this guy wouldn't act so solemnly, right?

Chapter 41: What Are You Thinking About?

"Huh? How come you two are together?"

Helian had just connected the communication when she saw Reno holding a bowl of noodles and eating hungrily.

However, when he looked up, the first person he saw wasn't her; it was Angelia standing behind her.

It had been a while since Helian had seen Reno, and she couldn't help but feel annoyed. But before she could say anything, she heard Reno speak up directly.

"I'm going to hang up the communication; G&K's communicator is unreliable. Use Angelia's phone to call me."

Hearing Reno's words, Helian didn't even have time to respond before the holographic image in front of her dissipated into the air.

And Angelia, standing behind Helian, inexplicably felt a strong resentment rising from Helian!

Hiss!

Feeling the temperature in the office inexplicably dropping significantly, Angelia took a deep breath of cold air and awkwardly handed her phone to Helian. "Um, why don't you call him?"

This phone, given to her by Reno, only had Reno's number, and she only used this phone to contact Reno. Usually, she used the agency's devices.

Although Reno's phone would definitely ensure the same communication function, using unidentified devices within the agency obviously required analysis by the technical department.

And what Reno said to her earlier made it hard for her to trust the technicians in the agency now. If they did something to her phone during the detection and analysis process... wouldn't she be in trouble?

As for whether Dell could ensure that Reno's phone wasn't tampered with?

She had asked Dell to check it when she first got the phone, but unfortunately, that kid didn't find anything, only leaving behind some data files, saying he would study them... But so far, there have been no results.

Looking down at the phone handed to her, Helian nodded somewhat depressedly, found Reno's number, and dialed it directly.

It was still the same bowl, but at this moment, Reno in the video had already put down his chopsticks and was reaching out to put the bowl and chopsticks aside.

"Speaking of which, have you Griffin people figured out who the mole is? Who sent these people this time? Or did they come by helicopter? If there's such a big commotion and there's no record on your end, then all your work during this time is probably in vain."

As he spoke, Reno directly sent the task records he had just obtained from the AK47 group to Angelia's phone.

Hearing Reno's words, Helian frowned, opened these task records, and looked at the action records of these G&K dolls.

Regardless of whether they were at G&K HQ or not, as long as it involved the deployment of doll squads, all dolls would leave behind complete action records, and the AK47 group was no exception.

It's just that these task records didn't match anything in G&K's database.

There was no commanding officer mobilizing them, and the helicopter transporting them was not recorded in G&K's records either.

It's just as Reno said, whether it's the AK47 group or the helicopter, it's like they popped out of thin air!

There is no record at all on the G&K side!

The only thing that was somewhat recorded was G3, who had always been stationed at headquarters and had been helping out in the kitchen for a long time!

Wasn't G3 always serving as a pastry chef in the G&K HQ kitchen?

Why would she suddenly be sent out on a mission!?

Looking at the records sent by Reno, Helian couldn't help but feel a chill in her heart.

Did the previous investigation accomplish nothing?

But they had already identified at least dozens of suspicious individuals within the Griffin ranks...

Is there still...?

Thinking of this, Helian's cold expression was hard to maintain, and she looked at Reno with an ugly expression, "I think there must be more than just these dolls randomly showing up on your end, right? There should be other situations?"

"Of course, you haven't forgotten about the incident with the Doll Rights Protection Association last time, have you? Before NZ75 left, she should have submitted a detailed report."

"Yeah, we've contacted IOP about those dolls mysteriously controlled by viruses, and they said they've strengthened the dolls' firewalls to ensure that kind of virus won't happen again..."

Before she could finish her sentence, she saw Reno disdainfully wave his finger, "Guaranteeing such a thing is worthless. They may strengthen the firewall, but won't the other side strengthen the virus? Or it's the same virus, just a variant. All five of them fell victim to it, but this time it didn't spread; otherwise, none of your G&K dolls from top to bottom would escape."

Hearing this, Helian's goosebumps rose, and she looked at the screen of her phone where Reno was for a long time without saying a word.

"Okay, you two take your time digesting this information. It seems you're quite busy over there too. I'll keep these dolls for now. Oh, how's that Peter Lenkov from before, 939, doing now?"

Hearing Reno say he's going to keep those dolls, Helian felt somewhat speechless, but what else could she do?

Retrieve the dolls?

And then compensate Reno for his losses with a large sum of money?

That's obviously not practical.

But when she heard Reno ask about that guy Peter Lenkov, Helian paused, flipped through the files on her desk, and remembered dealing with some matters related to Commander Peter Lenkov these days.

It seemed to be about supply resource applications, "He has already withdrawn from 939 Base and is currently escorting local residents to safety."

"Did he lose any dolls?"

"No, his dolls are currently in good condition."

"Alright then, that's it. I'm hanging up. If there's anything, let Angelia contact me, or have her bring a phone over next time." Hearing this, Reno nodded and hung up directly.

Behind Helian, Angelia, listening to the last question Reno asked, and thinking about the data of those dolls she just saw, AK47, who was the team leader this time, clearly had a history of working at 939 Base, but the dolls from that base currently had no losses...

This is interesting; on IOP's side, they actually didn't confirm the specific condition of AK47 and directly used her mental cloud map to remake another AK47.

Although ordinary tactical dolls like this often do not have uniqueness, the behavior of remaking dolls using an undamaged doll's neural cloud is clearly prohibited.

If it were a momentary oversight, how could it happen to be on a doll that Reno knows?

Thinking about this, Angelia raised her head and happened to see Helian staring at her straight, "What? What's wrong?"

"When will you get the phone from Reno?"

"You..."

You got the focus wrong, didn't you!

Chapter 42: The Same Old Routine

Originally, tracking down AK47 and the other dolls' whereabouts, at the very least, was a verbal agreement, even if it wasn't a task issued by G&K HQ.

There should have been some compensation involved.

But since Reno had already directly detained those dolls without mentioning any compensation... coupled with the issues on the Griffin side, Helian didn't have the mind to continue worrying about task rewards.

Losing five dolls, one of whom was the pastry chef from headquarters, may not sound like a big deal, but... most of the dolls at HQ knew G3.

If those dolls who had a good relationship with G3 found out that G3 had almost disappeared, then perhaps...

Moreover, G3 hadn't backed up her neural cloud map. After all, being at G&K HQ and not in a dangerous combat position, there was no need to back up her mind.

And it wasn't just G3; there was also the matter of explaining to the AK47s under Peter Lenkov's command.

Should she just go directly and tell them that there's a doll with the same memories as her hundreds of kilometers away?

The most critical issue was the deployment of these dolls...

The new commander's induction test did exist, and besides AK47 and G3, the other three dolls had indeed come to participate in the test.

The command authority for the dolls had already been transferred to the new commander. Although it was only temporary command authority, there wouldn't normally be any unexpected situations in the induction test beyond what the commander expected.

Otherwise, what would be the point of the months of training at G&K HQ?

Now that unfortunate new commander not only didn't get their own dolls but also completely failed the induction test...

Coupled with the fact that the internal moles in Griffin still hadn't been exposed, it seemed like all the headaches were hitting Helian at once.

But the thought of being able to get communication devices from Reno through Angelia's hands in a few days, privately!

She couldn't help but start smiling foolishly.

"Hey! M3! Did you see that!? Did you see it!? That Helian proxy! She! She actually smiled!"

"How is that possible! I've been standing guard here for months! I've never seen Helian proxy smile before!"

However, just as she was laughing foolishly, outside the door that wasn't closed properly, there came the chatter of several dolls discussing!

...

"Huh? Huh? What do you mean, Commander Reno, by saying we don't need to go?" AK47, who was feeling somewhat uncomfortable in Reno's factory area, was about to leave early, hoping to reach the airport and wait until dark to evacuate, but was suddenly stopped by Reno and told that they didn't need to go...

"Literally, from now on, you have no relationship with Griffin at all. Just stay here and work for me honestly." Shaking the data cable in his hand, Reno said so.

Since he had already notified Helian, he didn't need to worry about anything when he started acting.

And to be honest, Reno didn't think that after letting them go back, they would have a good ending.

To make a few inconspicuous ordinary tactical dolls disappear completely, it was not a problem for those who had caused him trouble many times before.

For the dolls infected with that virus, except for him, it would be difficult for anyone else to trust them again.

Just like the autonomous dolls in Base 939 back then, MDR later heard on an anonymous forum that most of those autonomous dolls had been dismantled, and not a single one had left a neural core.

Even though IOP was very confident in their technology for clearing viruses, it was still difficult to make those who had been hurt by autonomous dolls believe in those dolls that had gone berserk once again.

For such situations, IOP's approach was simple: dismantle the neural cores for complete destruction, retain the body parts for refurbishment, install a new neural core after refurbishment, and then put them on the market as discounted items.

Anyway, no matter what, IOP always found a way to sell these obsolete dolls.

And the fate of AK47 and the others was probably similar. With full-action data records and neural cores that had been infected by the virus, they would probably be dismantled as soon as they returned to Griffin.

As for whether these neural cores would be sent to the lab for testing or directly sent to the landfill, that remains to be seen.

Anyway, the technology to back up mental cloud maps was in their hands. Even if they fused and destroyed the original neural cores, what difficulty would there be in recreating a new neural core using the backed-up mental cloud maps?

"So? Dreams come true?" M14 tilted her head, glanced at M1919A4, and was still a bit confused about what was happening.

They had just been infected with the virus, and even shot the floor and ceiling, but ten minutes later, they were told that they were no longer Griffin's dolls?

Wasn't that too hasty? Back then, after they were activated at G&K HQ, they signed many agreements one after another.

"Isn't this great? Anyway, it's the same wherever I work." SpectreM4 was carefree. Hearing Reno's words, she waved her hand indifferently.

G3 hesitated, glanced at Reno, and then at the direction of the isolation door.

Although the food here was indeed very good, she still wanted to go back to Griffin. After all, there were many dolls she was familiar with over there.

Of course, Reno would not let her go. "Forget it, stop thinking about it. Instead of risking having your core melted as soon as you return to Griffin, you might as well come here obediently and work for me. I bet you've never been to Griffin's disassembly room."

Grabbing G3's collar with one hand and pinching AK47's neck with the other, Reno directly dragged these two indecisive individuals to the workshop.

Seeing Reno's actions, HK416 shrugged speechlessly. She had personally been to the disassembly room, but because she was dissatisfied with the mission content and had some friction with UMP45, her core was about to be melted...

She had already seen Griffin's true attitude towards dolls. If she obediently followed orders or quietly acted as a flower vase, she could comfortably pass the time in Griffin.

But if she had a bit of resistance like her, she would definitely be disassembled and sent back to the civilian market at the first opportunity, and the unlucky ones might even be sentenced to death like her.

"Huh? Huh? Commander Reno? Why are we going to the workshop again? Haven't the viruses on us been cleared?" AK47 struggled dispiritedly, somewhat worried as she asked Reno.

"Yes, the virus has been cleared, but there are still some things that haven't been cleared, like base root protocols."

Hearing Reno's words, HK416, who followed, helplessly spread her hands.

Delete the root protocols, then record the body shape data, change the neural core, replace the body... it's the same old trick.

Chapter 43: Nothing to Fear!

"Is it done?" AK47 watched as Renault connected each of them to the computer one by one, feeling somewhat surprised. She had expected it to take much longer, but it was all completed in less than five minutes.

And it felt... like nothing had changed?

"It's done. You guys can hang out in the dormitory building for now, get to know the dolls at home, and if anyone has time, you can ask what you can do. But there's not much going on right now; we'll be busy in a couple of days."

After saying this, Renault turned to HK416, who had followed him, and asked, "What about you? Want to modify your gun?"

Seeing HK416 walking over with her imprinted weapon, Renault probably guessed what she wanted. It was nothing more than wanting to modify her imprinted weapon.

After all, the weapon she had on hand was too weak when dealing with those infected yesterday.

Although she still had a grenade launcher that hadn't been used, she needed armor-piercing bullets to kill those infected. And if she used the grenade launcher all the time, what would she do with the assault rifle in her hand?

HK416 nodded, but her eyes looked at the pistol Renault threw on the table. Although the muzzle had been blown into a trumpet flower, it couldn't hide the power of this gun, which had killed one infected person with one shot last night.

"Take it, then go to the dormitory and ask around, then find a few unlucky ones to help me test the gun."

Unlucky ones...?

Hearing Renault say this, HK416 looked somewhat embarrassedly at the weapon Renault threw over.

It was the HK416 she had replaced before, but now it had been modified by Renault.

The barrel had been replaced with a thicker and heavier one, and several patches of reinforcing metal parts had been added to the originally very coordinated gun body. The original curved magazine had been replaced with a straight one, similar to the one used by the BM59.

Obviously, her original ammunition had been replaced, with the same ammunition used by the pistol yesterday, most likely the bullets Renault made himself.

In addition to this weapon, Renault also took out three identical pistols from the nearby printing device.

They looked similar to the pistols from yesterday, but this time they had a sleeve, and the gun body looked more solid.

Obviously, these three guns were all upgraded versions of the test product from last night, and they were close to finished products.

As for the "unlucky ones" Renault mentioned, they should be the dolls who tested the gun with Simonov last night...

"Go find people, then go to the factory to get bullets." Before resting last night, Renault had already determined the charge of these new bullets and began mass production with the factory equipment.

There weren't many, but there were tens of thousands of bullets, which should be enough for testing.

With the weapon in hand, HK416 walked around the dormitory building with a complicated expression on her face.

Although she didn't say much, the dolls at home really had nothing to do. As soon as they heard HK416 say Renault needed help, almost all of them followed.

Even the newly arrived AK47 and others also joined in. After all, as "newcomers," how could they be lazier than the group of seniors present?

"So many people? Do you all want to go?" Seeing the group of dolls gathered in the factory, Renault blinked in surprise.

Originally, he thought that after seeing the miserable appearance of Simonov last night, the dolls wouldn't be very enthusiastic.

But now... it was just the opposite?

"Yes! We're all free anyway! Might as well go out and have a look!" P90 immediately raised her hand and called out.

"Okay, then come and carry the boxes."

All the bullets were packed in a large box, and Renault originally wanted to find someone who could operate powered exoskeletons to carry them.

But now that there were so many people, why bother with powered exoskeletons? Everyone could just carry one box each.

"What... What? Are we just porters again?"

Hearing this, P90 immediately put down her hand in disappointment. She thought there was some interesting task, but it turned out to be just moving things.

The shooting range was chosen at the airport where AK47 and the others came from. G3 had seen many infected people there before.

Many unfortunate infected people, most likely when this city gradually became a contaminated area, rushed to the airport in a hurry to escape, but couldn't catch a plane.

Renault had previously paid no attention to the airport in the north, naturally because that area was close to the edge of the red zone and was likely to be visited by some reckless mercenaries or scavengers.

But since G3 had encountered a large number of infected people there, it meant that the resources in the airport hadn't been taken away, right?

As for what was in the airport? As long as he could find aviation fuel, it would be enough to recoup his investment.

Moreover, this time the main purpose was to test the guns, and clearing the infected was just incidental. When there were no infected people later, the remaining fuel in the airport gas station would all be his, right?

Of course, Renault wouldn't let this group of dolls run over. There were cars available.

M1 Garand drove, while HK416 and AK47, among others, stood in the carriage. In less than ten minutes, more than a dozen dolls arrived at the airport.

Before they even got off the car, the group of dolls saw the infected people crawling out from all corners and gradually approaching them.

"But it's really strange this time. That guy Renault actually didn't follow. Does he think we have no problem dealing with these infected people?"

UMP45 looked down at the weapon in her hand and then smiled bitterly.

M1 Garand could still shoot these infected people with a rifle, but how did she end up being persuaded by UMP40 to come over?

What could she do with her submachine gun against these thick-skinned infected people?

Tickle them?

And even if she and UMP40 reinstalled the electronic warfare equipment, they couldn't do anything.

They couldn't hack into the brains of these infected people with electronic signals, could they?

"There's nothing to worry about. It's just shooting moving targets."

HK416 comforted herself like this, forcing herself to put aside her worries about the barrel explosion.

And just as a group of dolls stopped at the edge of the airport, happily conducting shooting tests, a helicopter gradually approached from the northern sky.

Chapter 44: Why Don't You Come Down?!

In the original plan, the evacuation helicopter, scheduled to arrive in the evening, approached the airport amid the surprised gazes of AK47 and the others.

AK47 squinted as she watched the helicopter approaching in the sky, her memory telling her that the helicopter above was definitely the one that had brought them to this place yesterday.

The scratches on the fuselage were exactly as she remembered. "Did we send a signal for evacuation?" she frowned, asking G3 and the others.

Hearing this, all of them shook their heads involuntarily.

M1 Garand, who had heard AK47 and the others' conversation clearly, said, "Spread out on the spot, stay alert. Besides the nose gun on the helicopter, there may be heavy weapons in the cabin."

As M1 Garand finished speaking, P90 and others, holding sample guns, immediately rushed into the carriage, grabbed some bullets, and then stepped out to hide behind nearby ruins.

UMP45 and others did the same, while Elf, who was still a bit bewildered, was lifted by HK416 and carried to hide in a cover.

The series of actions by M1 Garand and the others, though complex in description, took only three or four seconds.

By the time AK47 and the others reacted, M1 Garand was already waving at them from behind cover.

"Come over here quickly."

"Okay okay!" AK47 hurriedly responded and, along with M14 and the others, arrived behind the cover where M1 Garand was.

"Hey, why do I feel like you guys are moving so fast? Normal tactical dolls can't move that quickly, right?"

AK47 didn't feel anything when they hadn't started moving, but as soon as she saw P90 and the others move, she felt that something was off.

These dolls moved too fast...

"Shh!" Hearing AK47's question, M1 Garand didn't immediately respond, instead raising a finger to gesture for her to quiet down while she dialed Reno's phone.

"Commander, there's a helicopter approaching from the north of the airport. They don't have Griffin identification signals, but the Griffin logo is painted on the fuselage."

"Oh? Understood, let's see who these guys are for now. Of course, if they attack, take them down, but 416's gun shouldn't have exploded yet, right?"

"No, the sample gun is currently in good condition."

"Good, don't worry, SPAS-12 is ready. If you have any problems over there, call her over."

Reno, hanging up the phone, sighed silently.

These guys kept coming back every now and then, although they didn't cause him any trouble, it was like having a fly buzzing around his ear constantly.

Annoying.

"HK416, it's up to you in a moment." M1 Garand, who had put away her phone, gave HK416 a thumbs-up nearby, making HK416 somewhat incredulously point at herself.

The implication was clear: HK416 couldn't believe that Reno would let her use a rifle to shoot down a helicopter. That seemed a bit too far-fetched!

Even though the bullets were made by Reno himself, trying to penetrate the helicopter's armor plate with them was... no, it was possible.

This helicopter should be semi-civilian, with the armor plates on the fuselage probably pre-war products. If it had been modified, it wouldn't look like this now.

Moreover, even if it was a Griffin helicopter, it wouldn't usually have so many scars on the fuselage.

And the machine gun on the helicopter... Griffin didn't seem to have the authority to equip such weapons, especially on helicopters transporting personnel.

In Reno's area, one could see machine guns on powered exoskeletons every day, so one got used to it. It was almost forgotten that Griffin was not allowed to use such weapons.

Although Griffin might indeed have some heavy weapons with great power, the key was... this was just an old helicopter, who would equip such few and unusable weapons on it?

About half a minute later, the helicopter, which was getting closer and closer, flew directly over the airport, but perhaps seeing the ELID infected people lying on the ground, the other side did not land but instead began to patrol around the airport.

M1 Garand and the others were all hiding in the ruins outside the airport at this time, naturally not worried about being spotted by the helicopter.

The truck had been hidden by M1 Garand behind a collapsed building when it arrived, and combined with the color of the vehicle being similar to the ruins, it might not even be found even if one looked closely.

"Those guys in protective suits again. M1 Garand, do you want to take them out directly?" P90 shook the sample gun in her hand.

However, as soon as these words came out, AK47 and the others were speechless.

Why did it feel like something was off with Reno's dolls?

Normally, shouldn't they send communication first to confirm the identity of the other party and then ascertain their intentions...

Ugh, it's so troublesome. If everyone on the helicopter is an enemy, they probably would've been shot to pieces by now.

Is... is there something wrong with me? How come I've never thought before that this process is so complicated?

AK47 scratched her head, feeling a little scared of her sudden thoughts.

"Don't act rashly for now. Wearing protective suits doesn't mean the people inside are all the same, can't we be a bit more cautious?" M1 Garand gave P90 a glare.

What's the rush?

They're not in a hurry to go back anyway. What's the harm in waiting here for a few more minutes?

"There's no response on the public communication frequency, and they've rejected all communication signals." P38, on the other hand, agreed more with P90's idea.

There was almost no communication equipment on this helicopter, and there was no noise either, so it was definitely not a problem with the communication equipment being damaged.

"Well... then how about I go out and test the waters?"

G3, who was squatting behind M14, was a bit anxious at this point.

After all, hiding like this wasn't a solution. It might be better to let her go out and test the true identities of these people.

"Um, that works too. P90, go with her for protection."

M1 Garand nodded. The helicopter had been hovering in mid-air, neither sending out signals nor showing any intention to land. It was really unclear what these guys wanted to do.

"Okay! Leave it to me! Let's go! Let's go over and see what's going on!" P90 looked up at the direction of the helicopter's gun, deliberately pulling G3 along, circling around and approaching from the side of the helicopter.

"Huh? Huh!?"

G3, whose arm was being pulled by P90, was suddenly lifted off the ground in front of AK47 and the others, holding her etched weapon in her hand, looking somewhat bewildered at the rapidly passing scenery.

"Hey! Why don't you come down?!"

As G3 felt her feet touch the ground, P90 was already standing in front of her, shouting at the helicopter. Unfortunately, P90's voice was completely drowned out by the roaring noise of the rotating rotor blades.

Chapter 45: Missed Shots

"Brillie! When did those two dolls appear down there? Why didn't we see them when we just arrived?" The copilot on the helicopter, who was originally checking the detection equipment, turned his head and saw P90 waving at the helicopter and G3 standing behind her.

"Forget about them, just lower the altitude and let two people go down to retrieve those two dolls," the other pilot said, stretching his neck.

However, he was strapped in with a seatbelt and couldn't see the situation on the other side of the aircraft.

But what's there to be afraid of?

They're just two low-level dolls modified from civilian models. There's nothing to fear; the toys these dolls have in their hands can't even penetrate their protective suits.

The situation on the helicopter was naturally unknown to P90 and G3 below.

However, UMP45 and UMP40 next to HK416, who was squatting, had already hacked into the opponent's dedicated channel when P90 moved out.

They could hear the conversation between the two pilots clearly!

And these two pilots, when they mentioned tactical dolls, they didn't even want to say the word "doll," obviously having a negative impression of them.

Moreover, the word "retrieve" made UMP45 and UMP40 furrow their brows even more.

"What's wrong, sis 45?" UMP9, who noticed the change in their expressions, immediately turned to UMP45 and asked.

"Wait a moment, I'll connect their communication. These guys don't seem to be from Griffin. Tell P90 to be careful," M1 Garand said, nodding, and directly sent the recent audio to P90 through the communication protocol. "You heard that, right? If anything seems off, act immediately."

Act?

SpectreM4 turned her head and glanced at M14 beside her, finding it hard to imagine that M1 Garand would be like this.

Clearly, the M1 Garand among Griffin was very gentle, so how could the one on Reno's side be so decisive?

And for this kind of thing, don't they need to consult the commander?

From M1 Garand's tone, it was clear that when she said "act," it definitely didn't mean to capture them, but to use weapons to kill them directly!

In Griffin, actions like this against humans often required the commander to be present or authorization from afar, otherwise, they simply didn't have the authority to directly launch fatal attacks on humans.

"Understood, two people will come down from the helicopter, both armed." P90 also quieted down now, squinting as she watched the two armed individuals descending from the helicopter.

And behind the cover, M1 Garand and P38, using the real-time broadcast of P90's visual system, clearly saw the weapons equipped on these armed individuals.

After seeing the equipment on these guys, M1 Garand and P38 instantly confirmed that these guys, together with the mercenaries who attacked before, were in cahoots!

Alright, they were definitely on the hit list.

If it weren't for being cautious, M1 Garand and P38 didn't even want to wait for P90 to act, they would have just shot them directly.

But this time, they didn't wear powered exoskeletons, let alone machine guns, they only had ordinary weapons in their hands.

The only weapons that could possibly penetrate the helicopter's armor plate were the modified weapon in HK416's hand, as well as the three sample guns in P90's, UMP40's, and Elf's hands.

At such a distance, coupled with the fact that these guns were not imprinted, M1 Garand didn't know if HK416 could hit the helicopter.

At this moment, the cover where they were located was about two hundred meters away from the helicopter hovering in the middle of the airport.

The hit rate of non-etched weapons was a bit hard to guarantee.

After all, Reno's weapons this time had quite a recoil, they had just fired less than two hundred rounds of bullets, and there was still a little distance from completely mastering these weapons.

Moreover, there were only two armed individuals coming down from the helicopter. It could be seen through the open cabin that there were definitely more than these two guys inside, and the helicopter had never landed.

Once they launched an attack, the helicopter was likely to flee immediately...

"Are these two it? Why does one of them look unfamiliar? It seems like they weren't the ones we sent here?"

While the people behind the cover were contemplating how to act next, the two guys who came down from the helicopter walked straight to P90.

"Who knows, maybe they changed clothes halfway? Anyway, all these dolls look the same to me."

"Huh? Are you face-blind or something?"

"Anyway, let's find out by trying. You two, drop your weapons and shut down."

One of the armed individuals spoke directly to P90 and the others.

Upon hearing this, G3 was visibly stunned, subconsciously about to drop her weapon.

However, just as the gun handle was about to slip from her hand, G3 suddenly snapped back to reality...

It seemed that the other party's words didn't have any coerciveness, and there were no indications in her root protocols for her to immediately comply...

"Huh? Why isn't it working? What's wrong with these two guys? Where's the little gadget for forced shutdown?"

Seeing P90 unmoved, the armed individual who had just spoken widened his eyes and turned to ask his companion.

"It's here, probably the AI core or something is malfunctioning, but using this will do, it can force them to shut down in three seconds." Another guy felt around his body and pulled out a device with a round shape and a spike.

But before he could finish, P90 had already raised the sample gun in her hand to G3's astonishment!

"What?!"

Bang!

"There's a...!"

Bang!

Two gunshots in succession!

The protective suits worn by the two armed individuals in front of G3 were directly pierced by the bullets!

The bullets, with changed propellant, directly penetrated the protective suits, making holes in the bodies of these two guys!

At such a close distance, P90 didn't even aim carefully.

If she missed at this range, she might as well throw away her gun and go home to help MG3 raise pigs!

Bang bang bang!

Before the people on the helicopter could react, HK416 had already stood up from behind the cover and fired a burst of shots towards the helicopter!

"Ambush! Pull up quickly!"

Upon hearing the sharp scream abruptly stop in the communicator, the pilot shouted loudly!

But the copilot beside him just grunted, and there were several more holes in the side of the fuselage next to him!

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Before the pilot could figure out what was going on, the piercing sound of gunfire rang in his earphones!

A barrage of bullets rained down on the helicopter's armor plate like raindrops, the intense vibration making the pilot's heart almost jump to his throat!

But fortunately, those bullets hitting the fuselage didn't penetrate like the initial ones, which was good news for them.

"Left! To the left... Get rid of them!" The copilot, holding his right rib, panted heavily and pointed to the lower left side of the helicopter.

That was where M1 Garand and the others were hiding.

Chapter 46: Just Here to Provide Backup

"This is totally out of reach now!" SpectreM4 gazed at the helicopter in the sky, which had already distanced itself from them, and sighed as she looked at the imprinted weapon in her hand.

On the other hand, M1919A4 beside her still kept pressing the trigger, with dense bullets falling on the helicopter in clusters. Unfortunately, they only sparked and didn't pierce through the enemy's armor plate.

Using the same ammunition as her, M1 Garand, after unsuccessfully attempting to aim at the armed personnel inside the cabin, reluctantly slung her weapon behind her back.

All those guys inside the cabin were wearing protective suits, so what's the point of shooting at them?

Even if they hit, what's the use? Bullets at this range simply couldn't penetrate; it's better to save ammo.

Moreover, the people in the helicopter weren't fools.

After the initial attack, they immediately closed the open cabin door, completely avoiding the possibility of being targeted by M1 Garand.

The helicopter in the sky had now turned its head towards them, and the inconspicuous machine gun hanging below it began to slowly turn towards M1 Garand and her companions.

"Retreat! Spread out!"

Seeing the movement of the helicopter, M1 Garand made a prompt decision and shouted loudly.

She pointed towards AK47 and then lifted M1919A4!

P38 also came to the side of AK47 and M14, carrying one in each hand. As for SpectreM4, she was hoisted up by UMP40.

HK416 frowned slightly, feeling somewhat dissatisfied.

Only the first burst hit, and afterward, although there were a dozen or so bullets, they didn't hit anything important on the helicopter, failing to cause any harm to the personnel inside.

As she carried the somewhat sluggish Elf, HK416 looked at the two sample guns in her and UMP40's hands. These two guys weren't doing well either; despite firing so many shots, not a single one hit.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Just as the group of T-Dolls had just dispersed from behind cover, a barrage of cannon shells from the helicopter below rained towards them.

The cannon shells, loaded with high-explosive warheads, hit the concrete cover directly, causing it to burst open!

The weathered concrete, under the attack of the cannon, shattered into pieces, flying everywhere!

"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"

SpectreM4, clasped under UMP40's arm, immediately felt many stone fragments hitting her body.

Coughing, perhaps because her clothes were thinner, her reaction was much greater than that of UMP40 beside her.

AK47 and M14 also had similar reactions, feeling the sensation of the stones hitting their bodies. Although it didn't break their skin, the pain was real.

In contrast, P38 and the others beside them weren't wearing skirts like them!

They all wore thick pants! Some parts of their attire looked particularly sturdy, almost no different from stab-proof vests!

They had been wondering before, why did M1 Garand and the others go back to change clothes before they set out... so they were all waiting here!

These flying stone fragments might not be able to harm their main bodies, but the surface layer of their biomimetic skin was very fragile!

Too cunning! Why didn't they remind us earlier! Did they already anticipate such a situation!?

Well, of course, it wasn't that M1 Garand and the others anticipated it, but because today was a gun trial, coupled with Simonov's miserable situation last night, M1 Garand and the others were all apprehensive, fearing they would also get damaged like Simonov.

Naturally, they had to dress more securely, at least not letting their main bodies get deformed.

Like Simonov, who had to have her head manually repaired after receiving two injuries, it was really embarrassing...

But that guy was really unlucky. After changing her body, she got injured twice, and both times were serious head injuries.

"Now what? The helicopter is moving now, and it's a bit far from us, making it difficult to hit them." P38, carrying two T-Dolls, asked M1 Garand.

"I've already sent a message to the commander, SPAS-12 should be able to come over soon."

"SPAS-12? Doesn't her powered exoskeleton not carry a machine gun? Shouldn't BM59 or Simonov come over at a time like this, or at least let M37 come over to support?" Hearing this, P38 immediately tilted her head.

Among the powered exoskeletons at home, only the powered exoskeletons of M1 Garand and her rifle T-Dolls carried machine guns. It seemed that SPAS-12's powered exoskeleton didn't have any anti-aircraft weapons, right?

"It should be the commander again..."

M1 Garand just started to speak, intending to say that Reno had come up with something new again, but a rumbling sound came from the direction in front of them.

A helicopter flew straight from the location of the factory area towards the airport!

"MDR! Have you locked on?"

"It's done! The fire control radar on this helicopter is outdated, and it's taking forever to lock on!"

Before the helicopter approached, M1 Garand and the others heard the familiar voices of SPAS-12 and MDR coming from the cabin.

And as MDR's voice fell, two missiles, resembling battle-damaged versions, were ejected from the weapons rack of the helicopter piloted by SPAS-12, and flew towards the helicopter that had been frantically firing at them from behind!

"Damn it! Decoy! Where's the decoy!?"

The helicopter's pilot, upon hearing the sudden alarm in the cabin, began to panic as he fumbled around, but no matter how he switched the switches, there was no sign of any decoy being launched!

It wasn't until he watched the missiles approaching him that he remembered...

This refurbished helicopter hadn't been reloaded with decoy flares at all!

It's over!

Boom!

The two missiles hit the helicopter successively, turning the helicopter that had just been aggressively firing at a few T-Dolls into a mass of scrap metal in an instant!

"Wow! How was it? Did we arrive just in time?"

MDR directly spoke in the communication channel, and as she spoke, she released the control stick in her hand, took out her phone, and took three consecutive photos of herself.

"If you were a little faster, maybe we could have taken down this helicopter as soon as it took off from home."

"How is that possible? The fire control radar on this helicopter is completely useless, I fired immediately after getting a response from it!"

Of course, she knew that the missiles on this helicopter had a range of over ten kilometers, so it wasn't impossible to shoot down the helicopter flying from the factory area to the airport.

It's just that the environment in the polluted zone affected the helicopter's radar system, and it didn't detect any flying vehicles at first. She had actually prepared to control the machine gun to fire at the helicopter as soon as it approached.

But fortunately, after getting closer, the fire control radar that had previously had no response finally started to work.

"Well, there was no need to fly the helicopter over here, right? Couldn't you have Simonov run over?"

"Cough, actually helping you take down the helicopter was just a side task for us. We actually came here to support you."

Chapter 47: Are You Trying to Slack Off?

Listening to SPAS-12's somewhat embarrassed words, M1 Garand silently smirked.

She knew that the commander wouldn't just randomly send SPAS-12 over in a helicopter for support.

P38 also sighed helplessly as she lowered AK47 and M14 from her shoulders.

"Ah, anyway, let's land at the airport first, and we'll leave the wreckage there to you two!" Holding her phone up and aiming at the grinning AK47 and M14, MDR said so.

M1 Garand didn't want to interfere with MDR's behavior; after all, she knew what could be shared and what couldn't.

Besides, Reno had already said that as long as it didn't involve anything too scary, they could share whatever they wanted.

After all, the military didn't monitor the anonymous forum of Griffin all the time. This place was the exclusive territory of Griffin Tactical Dolls, and no one cared about the daily trivialities among them. It was probably like how most cat owners wouldn't care about what their two cats were saying to each other.

Furthermore, considering the military's attitude towards Tactical Dolls, if it were intelligence from Griffin's Intelligence Department, they might pay some attention.

But if it were messages passed between Tactical Dolls... they probably wouldn't even glance at it.

Maybe the Statesec would be interested in such things, but unfortunately, Reno wasn't worried about the Statesec bothering him at all.

Let alone having Angelia, who seemed to have little real power but had a lot of freedom in action, covering his back. Even if he did something to the guy from Statesec's Third Division last time, it was enough to make those guys wary.

What was the name of that unlucky guy again? The one who was stabbed to death with an expired sausage?

After SPAS-12 and MDR landed the helicopter, they quickly found the refueling equipment in the airport and began refueling the helicopter while watching HK416 and the others test-fire.

"How about it? Do you feel like changing your weapons?"

MDR patted her imprinted weapon and asked SPAS-12.

Regardless of whether the other party felt like it or not, she wanted to. But she wouldn't directly change her weapon; she would just have the commander modify her imprinted weapon when the time came.

After all, HK416's weapon didn't look much different now. Although it looked a bit ugly at the moment, just like the handguns held by P90 and the others, the commander would definitely be able to fix this minor flaw in no time.

"I do have that thought, but I'm not sure if my weapon is easy to modify." SPAS-12 looked at her weapon and scratched her head. She didn't know how Reno would modify her weapon.

But modification was a certainty.

She didn't even need to think about it; otherwise, she would only be able to swing the axe in her hand every time... which didn't seem too bad, she quite liked the feeling of using melee weapons.

And compared to modifying her imprinted weapon, SPAS-12 didn't mind getting a new gun.

After all, they had plenty of time to practice now, and even without the imprinted weapon system, it wouldn't have much impact.

As the two refueled the helicopter, Simonov also flew another helicopter over, obviously for the same purpose as the two of them.

As for M1 Garand and the others, they didn't pay much attention. As long as Reno didn't say anything, it didn't matter if they stayed here until night. Besides, they didn't need to worry too much about the safety of Reno's side.

While the Tactical Dolls at home were busy with their respective tasks, Reno certainly wasn't idle either. At this moment, he was dismantling the mech he had brought back earlier.

The weapon systems on the mech were useless to him; he wouldn't drive this thing around aimlessly. He just needed an engineering machine for material handling, welding building materials, and so on.

All the excess equipment needed to be removed.

It was just right to use them as defense facilities on the factory side. The missile launchers and particle weapons were all modified into fixed gun emplacements and installed on the roofs of the factory buildings, ensuring the safety of the airspace above the factory area.

Compared to Reno and his originally indifferent attitude towards Tactical Dolls, AK47 and the others were a bit nervous...

They not only took out the armed personnel who came down from the helicopter but even blew up the helicopter with Griffin's emblem on it...

If Griffin really came over to hold them accountable, they didn't know if Commander Reno could handle it...

"But why are you so calm? Aren't you afraid of someone coming to retaliate?"

M14 returned the sample gun in her hand to UMP40 and asked somewhat puzzled.

P38 paused her movements of loading bullets into the magazine upon hearing this question.

"Retaliate? Isn't this already retaliation? These unidentified guys have already attacked us once before."

If mercenaries and armed personnel were counted separately, this was already the third attack.

It's just that their commander hadn't found out who was behind these guys yet.

Otherwise, the commander wouldn't just stay at home and work honestly like this.

He would probably rush out and fight the enemy to the death at the first opportunity.

Of course, the result of the fight would definitely be the enemy being killed. She didn't think Reno would have any security issues.

"Eh..." Hearing P38's indifferent tone, M14 was stunned for a moment, then scratched her head in realization.

No wonder M1 Garand and the others were so calm; it turns out they had already dealt with these guys before?

After taking down the helicopter, just as Reno expected, even if the guy hiding behind them had a lot of money, repeatedly losing manpower wouldn't be something they could afford.

The factory area became quiet for a while, with only occasional sounds of Tactical Dolls patrolling or practicing shooting.

And AK47 was the first to adapt to Reno's work life.

Every day, she either went to have a drink with Simonov or went to the Vertical Farm with Simonov to tend to the wheat.

CF05 and NZ75's vegetable garden also often had someone going over to help. M14 often visited the ranch to see the animals that were already getting fat, not knowing if she was calculating how good they would taste in the future or simply liked animals.

G3 quickly integrated into the kitchen department of the factory area and took over all the baking work at home.

The body issues of the new Tactical Dolls were solved a few days later. Now that they had printing equipment, Reno didn't need to watch the lathe himself and personally make the parts for the Tactical Dolls.

The only annoying one was probably HK416, who would often come over and ask for help in fine-tuning her new gun, and most of the time, she would be practicing shooting, rarely helping with the work in the factory area.

He was starting to suspect that HK416, under the pretext of training, deliberately avoided those tasks, much like RFB, who disappeared every day in some corner.

Chapter 48: Where Are You!

"What's going on? The noise has been constant every day. What is the commander doing?"

RFB, holding her game console, emerged somewhat helplessly from her secret base.

This intense noise and the repetitive slight vibrations had been happening since three days ago, but at the time, RFB didn't pay it much mind.

After all, everyone seemed normal during meals, and nobody brought up this matter deliberately.

She initially thought it was just an isolated incident that wouldn't last long...

But now it's been three days, and the noise hasn't stopped.

Although she could directly block her hearing and connect the game console's sound directly to her body, it seemed a bit too dangerous to do so.

Moreover, she couldn't block out all the sensations from her body, right?

The vibrations from below were not something to be ignored!

What if it's an earthquake or the building collapsing?

She would probably be fine herself, but her equipment couldn't handle it!

There's still so much inventory in her dorm!

It absolutely can't be flattened by the building! She worked hard to buy those from the market!

However, after emerging from the air-conditioned room of the Vertical Farm, she found out that CF05 and NZ75, who were supposed to be tending to the vegetable garden, were nowhere to be found.

"Where are you?"

No one in the farm.

And when she went outside, not only the farm, but even Simonov and the others next door were also missing.

The dorms, the kitchen, the workshops—everywhere she could go, there was no one!

What's going on!?

Did the commander forget about her!? Did he run away with everyone else!?

No, no, no! That's impossible! I'm a tactical doll! How could you forget about me!?

With these thoughts, RFB started to panic.

What if it's true?

Thinking about this, RFB couldn't continue idling.

She put away her game console, grabbed her etched weapon, and dashed out of the dormitory.

All the places she just went to were connected by corridors, but there were several factories outside, such as the helicopter hangar and several factories cleared out by M1 Garand and the others.

Maybe the commander and the other T-Dolls are tinkering with something in those factories?

With this thought in mind, RFB ran straight to the nearest warehouse. Upon opening the door, she found... it was empty! Where did all the materials go!?

All the metal materials had vanished!

Seeing this, RFB immediately rushed to the adjacent factory where many metallurgical equipment was stored...

Empty!

The hangar...

Also empty!

The garage...

This time it wasn't empty, but she could tell that the several trucks usually parked there were also gone!

Seeing this, RFB couldn't help but slump to the ground.

It's over. The commander and everyone else have left! Only she was left...

"Why is this happening!?" RFB couldn't help but cry out in frustration.

But there was no response.

Apart from the incessant roar and the vibrations from below, the entire factory area was devoid of any activity.

Left without a response, RFB, feeling dejected, leaned against the wall of the garage and walked out of the garage.

She had breakfast in the morning... No, she didn't have breakfast today.

She seemed to have stayed up all night playing games yesterday... Someone who was so addicted to games, even her memories of eating were becoming fuzzy.

It seemed like it wasn't just about eating. In fact, she felt her vision starting to blur, and her head was spinning.

But... how could a T-Doll feel dizzy?

It's unrealistic and unscientific. Since when could the bionic system simulate dizziness?

The somewhat dizzy RFB didn't notice a yellow warning tape blocking a spot near the garage door.

Feeling dizzy, she subconsciously reached out for something to support herself, and seeing the bright-colored object, she instinctively touched it.

Obviously, the ordinary plastic warning tape couldn't support RFB's three hundred kilograms.

Before she could even react, she fell backward into the hole behind the warning tape!

"Huh? Huh!?"

Why is there such a big dark hole here!? Am I falling into the center of the earth!?

"Ahhhh!"

Screaming, RFB, in panic, crashed into the walls of the hole, then bounced to the other side, repeating several times before seeing light below.

However, at this point, she couldn't react anymore!

The surroundings were empty!

There was nowhere for her to grab onto!

Bang!

RFB landed face down on the ground with a loud noise, startling a colossal creature in this underground cavern.

With a chest adorned with two giant flashlight-like figures, upon hearing the noise, the creature walked toward RFB!

Clang! Clang!

The heavy footsteps sounded like giant monsters from a game to RFB!

This is really bad! I'm going to be eaten by an underground creatures!

Don't come here! I'm not delicious! I'm made entirely of metal! It's a special alloy steel, even harder than tungsten steel! Be careful not to break your teeth!

RFB roared in her mind, but unfortunately, she couldn't move now. She could barely lift her head to look at the creature, let alone speak!

....

"Are you playing games too much? Or are you so lost in gaming that you're questioning your life? Are you that desperate?"

Reno shone a light on the fallen RFB with a flashlight, saying somewhat strangely.

Although he had considered that some idiot might fall from the ventilation ducts when he dug them out earlier, he didn't expect that it would be RFB who fell.

Commander!?

Hearing the familiar voice, RFB's eyes widened suddenly, then watched as a lid opened on the "giant monster", and a figure jumped out and walked towards her.

"Hey, why aren't you saying anything? Get up? Did you hit your head?"

Walking up to RFB, Reno looked at the guy in front of him with some strangeness, looking up at the height of this underground space.

Over forty meters, because the ground hasn't been reinforced yet, so it might be a meter or two higher, but this distance is nothing serious.

With RFB's current body, even if her head hits the ground, she won't be immobilized immediately, at most she'll get a few scratches.

Oh, right, this guy is lying face down, and probably doesn't have a chest anymore.

But after Reno finished speaking, RFB still stared blankly at him, as if wanting to say something but unable to. Her eyes blinked, seeming to indicate that she was struggling to hold on.

Could her head... her neural core is damaged?

Chapter 49: No Slacking Off!

Looking at the unresponsive RFB, Reno scratched his chin with some confusion.

"That shouldn't be the case. There's definitely no problem with my design. At this height, and with the ground still not compacted, it shouldn't have damaged the neural core, right?"

Though it was strange, Reno took out his phone and found a data cable from the low-spec SCV behind him, connecting it to RFB.

Looking at the status displayed on the screen, Reno rolled his eyes speechlessly.

"Heh, I've really seen it all now. I've only heard of someone starving themselves to death out of laziness, but now I've actually seen someone capable of starving themselves to death in doll form."

"I did eat! Even if I didn't eat, I snacked!"

Although unable to speak, this didn't stop RFB from shouting a few times in her mind. After all, she couldn't speak right now, so thinking should suffice, right?

Of course, Reno didn't know what she was thinking. He lifted her up and turned back.

The engineering elevator was in the other direction. He needed to take her up since there were no charging facilities down there yet.

Yes, this guy RFB wasn't malfunctioning, nor was there any issue with her body...

She just ran out of power!

Even though every dorm had charging facilities, how could she forget to charge? Didn't he set low battery reminders for these T-Dolls?

It's really baffling.

Perhaps this is what happens when you have too many T-Dolls—anything bizarre can occur.

Returning to the surface with the engineering elevator, Reno carried RFB back to the dormitory building.

As soon as he entered, he ran into MG3 carrying a bucket of milk.

"Hmm? Commander, you're up early today. You're already off duty... Oh, isn't this RFB? Did she just run out to look for you?"

MG3 said, noticing RFB slung over Reno's shoulder.

When she was in the breeding farm earlier, she saw RFB rush out of the vertical farm in a panic. She thought RFB was just eager to eat, but apparently, she went to find Reno.

"Well, sort of. This idiot just fell from the surface to the underground construction site. I don't know if it's a problem with her neural core, but she actually used up all her power. I'll put her on the charging station first, otherwise she'll really shut down soon."

As Reno spoke, he sighed helplessly.

Even the ants in the anthill knew to recharge themselves.

Why was RFB getting dumber?

"Pfft!"

Hearing Reno's words, MG3 immediately understood what had happened. It must be because RFB was too addicted to gaming and completely forgot about charging.

She probably played games in her secret base until she lost track of time. It seemed like she hadn't been seen in the cafeteria for two or three days.

The commander had asked about her last night, and MDR had messaged RFB, who replied, but then likely went back to gaming without thinking about checking the time.

"You go ahead and do your thing. I'll charge this idiot first."

"Alright."

Waving to MG3, Reno carried RFB to the workshop and plugged in the charger, adding a lock to prevent her from escaping. As soon as the charging plug connected, RFB felt her body come back to life, immediately covering her face with her hands.

"What's the use of covering your face? Do you think hiding it will erase the fact that you almost shut down because you forgot to charge? Looks like it's time to keep an eye on you. If you keep slacking off like this, you might end up dead in some corner one day."

As Reno spoke, he walked out of the workshop. He had plenty of tasks to finish, unlike this slacker RFB.

He hadn't paid much attention to her before, figuring there were enough people around and he wouldn't force his own dolls to do anything. If they could help, great, but he didn't depend on her for anything.

After all, she was entrusted to him by someone else, so he couldn't be too harsh.

But he hadn't expected her to be this reckless, nearly slacking herself off out of existence.

The energy in the current power cores of the dolls, without engaging in combat mode, was enough to sustain their operations for a whole week.

RFB had run out of power, indicating she hadn't been charged for a whole week.

And since RFB didn't move while playing games, her power consumption was obviously lower than other dolls engaged in normal activities.

A week without charging was already a conservative estimate.

Calculating the time, it was almost exactly when he finished modifying the low-spec SCV and started digging underground.

Yes, his excavation work had been going on for a whole week, not just the three days RFB thought.

She completely lost track of time due to gaming addiction and low battery, her consciousness becoming fuzzy, failing to recall the need to check the time.

Two hours later, Reno wrapped up the last of the excavation work and returned to the dormitory building, carrying RFB to the cafeteria.

By this time, G36 and others who had gone out had returned.

They had collected reinforcement materials from the concrete, and CF05 and others had also contributed.

Especially CF05, her powered exoskeleton was very useful for smashing the cement pillars.

As for the helicopters in the hangar?

Simonov and a few others had taken them out, transporting materials and supporting HK416's team in eliminating the ELID infected emerging from the ruins.

NZ75 had also learned helicopter piloting from Simonov in these days; otherwise, there wouldn't be so many pilots.

As for the trucks in the garage? What else to use for material transport if not trucks? A transport helicopter?

Although Simonov had indeed taken the transport helicopter out, it was only to lift things that were difficult for T-Dolls and powered exoskeletons to carry.

When RFB went to find someone, Simonov happened to receive a call from SPAS-12 and went out in the helicopter.

But it was just to lift a large steel pillar back. Most of the materials were brought back by trucks.

As they listened to everyone explaining the situation of the absence of RFB, RFB blushed, feeling like burying her head in her food tray.

Seeing RFB like this, M200 awkwardly scratched her cheek.

She had also thought about finding RFB, but she hid too well.

She had turned around the entire factory area two days ago and didn't see her shadow.

"Anyway, go help MG3, or go collect materials, or help clear out the infected. You pick one job yourself."

Reno gave RFB a glare and said, "Can't let you slack off anymore!"

"Um..."

Chapter 50: Forgot Something?

"You sure know how to pick,"

Reno shrugged indifferently as he watched RFB driving the SCV to transport the just-collected steel materials.

This guy, RFB, ended up choosing the busiest task on Reno's plate. Perhaps she thought operating the SCV was the easiest job, leaving her time to slack off...

Unfortunately, she completely miscalculated.

Because after Reno dug out the rough layout of the entire underground space, the other dolls at home had nothing to do.

The steel materials collected these days were already enough to support the entire underground space.

What remained were some miscellaneous tasks, like helping to check the metallurgical equipment, commanding the SF dolls brought over by Reno, and essentially being as idle as RFB used to be.

Actually, this was the normal state of affairs in the factory.

Reno didn't have any commissions on hand, nor did he need his dolls to work too hard. Dolls lazing around all day was the norm.

And compared to being busy all day, this state between busyness and being leasure seemed to be quite comfortable for the dolls at home?

Speaking of RFB, she originally wanted to play smart but ended up selecting the busiest task in the end.

Operating the mini-SCV was much busier than other tasks.

After all, the entire underground space needed to be reinforced with steel frames, and then heavy columns needed to be installed, floors and walls laid, and so on.

Even if Reno did it himself, it would take a couple of weeks.

Now, with RFB, this half-baked novice, it might not be finished in half a month...

Was she intentionally slowing down the construction progress?

However, no matter what schemes RFB had, Reno would never let her delay the project.

As for the method? It's simple—confiscate her computer and game console, along with her phone, and not return them until she finished her work. Let's see if she still dared to slack off.

Previously, he hadn't cared what she was up to, but now that he had taken over this job, she wasn't going anywhere!

"Hurry up, don't dawdle. If you continue like this, you won't even get dinner tonight."

Reno clapped his hands and urged RFB, who was in the SCV cockpit, "Also, don't even think about cutting corners. If these load-bearing columns aren't installed properly, you might get hit on the head by the ceiling one day."

"Ugh... Why did I choose this job in the first place! Can't I just go help CF05!?"

Gripping the control stick, RFB heard Reno's shout and grumbled resentfully.

Speak out loud?

Definitely not daring to do that. Only whispering a few words could avoid being detected by their own commander...

Unfortunately, Reno heard it loud and clear.

With a roll of his eyes, Reno looked at the pile of unused metal materials nearby and silently calculated the requirements for his entire plan.

Hmm, still not enough.

To be precise, the materials collected from the entire factory area were only enough for less than half of the plan.

There were still many other types of materials needed, such as plastic, glass, and so on.

Although the city was full of ruins and recyclable materials, he wasn't running a garbage collection station. How could he have the time to set up several material recovery production lines?

These less valuable materials could be directly purchased, and Angelia had promised to help find those materials before.

Occasionally, she even entrusted him with tasks.

Why was there no follow-up after just over a week?

After counting the materials, Reno directly took out his phone and called Angelia.

"Where are you? Where are the commissions? What about the things you were supposed to help find?"

As soon as the call was connected, Angelia was stunned by Reno's three consecutive questions.

Huh? What's going on?

Shouldn't she be the one giving commissions? Since when did a safety contractor ask the client for tasks?

And about the things Reno wanted to find...

Where could she find them so easily?

There were so many areas abandoned due to collapse and radiation in the world.

How could she know which area had more special materials?

And the things in the Green Zone and Yellow Zone were simply things that anyone could take away. They had long been taken away by those sharp-eyed, quick-witted guys. When would it be her turn to find them?

So the only remaining search direction was the Red Zone, a heavily polluted area. As a former Griffin commander and current Statesec agent, she didn't handle such tasks often, if at all.

How could she know relevant information?

And... don't you ever take a break!?

The task of tracking down the source of the mech she handled last time just ended the day before yesterday, and she finally rested for a day yesterday, but now this guy was urging her to find those... those unwanted steel factories?

Or specifically, places that produce special steel! Wasn't this demand a bit too much!

"Alright, I don't have any commissions for now. If you really want to find work, it seems like G&K is a bit short-handed. Why don't you ask Helian?"

Thanks to Reno taking some of the dolls along with the Pastry Chef G3, G&K HQ had become somewhat unstable. Even the efficiency of the Griffin dolls had dropped significantly.

It even affected the assessment progress of the new recruits. Recently, it seemed that a heavy industry company had approached Griffin, saying that they wanted them to be responsible for the security work at the press conference venue.

But Griffin was already too busy dealing with Sangvis Ferri, so where was the time to deal with these heavy industry companies in the safe zone?

And weren't you guys manufacturing weapons and equipment yourselves? Was it necessary to come to Griffin?

"Alright, you can help me make a call."

Hearing Angelia's words, Reno nodded indifferently. It didn't matter whose task he took, as long as there was a reward.

Listening to the dial tone in the handset, Angelia sighed and picked up her phone, intending to call Helian, but suddenly remembered... she seemed to have forgotten something important...