For scavengers, there was nothing more despair-inducing than falling into the hands of the mechanical legions.
At this moment, the man curled up in the corner stared blankly at the cell door in front of him, motionless. The room was cramped and filthy, even filled with a foul stench. But no one cared about such trivial matters. They simply trembled as they huddled in place, waiting for the arrival of their fated death.
These people were all scavengers. Not everyone had the courage to join the Resistance. Many simply wanted to survive, so they hid among the ruins, living off trash and food scavenged from the wreckage. Of course, once such people were discovered by the mechanical legions, their fate was grim. Being killed on the spot by the robots was considered the better outcome. Even more terrifying was the fact that many were captured by these machines and sent to prison cells inside their bases.
No one knew what the robots wanted to do with them. They only knew that those who were taken away… never came back.
And now, they felt like pigs waiting to be slaughtered, able only to wait in despair for death to arrive. Perhaps the next time their cell door opened would be the moment of their execution.
"Boom!!"
But just as these people were despairingly awaiting death, suddenly a violent explosion sounded from above. Hearing this, the people who had been sitting in the cage were instantly startled, widening their eyes as they looked at each other.
"What's going on?"
"Could it be the Resistance coming to save us?"
Someone spoke up hopefully, but was immediately shot down by another.
"Don't even think about it. How could that be possible? This is the territory of those damn robots!"
"But…"
"Boom!!"
Just as the prisoners were arguing, another series of explosions rang out above them, accompanied by BIUBIUBIU gunfire. Hearing these sounds, the prisoners were instantly energized.
"It really is the Resistance! They're fighting!!"
Although reason told them this was unlikely—after all, the bases where they were held were deep in the rear, places the Resistance normally couldn't infiltrate—but the sounds of battle above were real. Robots didn't have training exercises as a hobby, so this could only mean that a battle was actually happening here.
"Boom boom boom boom boom!!!"
Along with a string of explosions, the entire room suddenly went dark. Immediately after, the tightly sealed cell doors automatically opened.
"Quick, get out!!"
Seeing the doors open, the prisoners were overjoyed and rushed out. They didn't know what was happening outside, but at this moment, their intense desire to survive overwhelmed everything else. They staggered down the dim corridor, screams and shouts occasionally ringing out, but no one paid them any attention anymore. All they wanted was to escape this terrifying hell as fast as possible.
"Up ahead, that's the exit!!"
A scavenger running at the very front burst through the corridor and saw the light at the end. At that moment, he was almost moved to tears. He quickened his pace again, stumbling toward the end of the hallway.
However, just as the scavenger rushed out of the corridor, a massive hand gripping a mechanical soldier's head suddenly roared past his nose. The next instant, a Terminator was slammed hard into the wall, smashed into a pile of fragments.
"..."
Seeing this, the smile on the scavenger's face instantly froze. Trembling, he raised his head and finally noticed the terrifying, towering figure standing outside the door. It was as tall as two people, clad head to toe in pitch-black armor. White skull insignias were embedded in its pauldrons and chest. Not only that, the helmet it wore looked like a vicious, ferocious skull, and from the eye sockets emanated a crimson glow.
"..."
The moment he was stared at, the scavenger's vision went black, and he collapsed directly to the ground.
"Heh, another one down."
Duanmu Huai withdrew his hand, looked at the scavenger convulsing on the ground, and spoke.
At this moment, Anne and Lorena also walked over.
"Honestly, Sir Knight, we already told you not to come out and scare people."
"What does it matter? If you went instead, these guys would just push their luck. Don't think that just because they were caught by robots they're pitiable. Even pitiable people have hateful sides."
Duanmu Huai snorted coldly and looked again at the prisoners frozen stiff in the corridor, neither daring to come out nor to retreat.
"All of you, get the hell out here and line up properly! Move it! Or I'll smash you into meat paste!"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's vicious roar, the prisoners shuddered all over. Still, under his tiger-like glare, they obediently walked out.
Seeing this, Eclair was speechless, but she could understand why Duanmu Huai did this. In fact, this was no longer the first Skynet base they had destroyed. Along the way, they had taken down several Skynet bases, each holding many captured prisoners.
At the very beginning, the girls had indeed felt these prisoners were pitiful. But what they hadn't expected was that after being rescued, some of these prisoners actually attacked them!
Naturally, Duanmu Huai didn't indulge such people. A few hammer swings smashed them into meat paste, and then he chased off the other prisoners.
"These people are already despairing of this world. Their continued existence is nothing more than pure instinct. In fact, for many of them, so-called morality and order have long since completely collapsed. Right now, they only want to find some amusement before total destruction arrives."
Faced with Duanmu Huai's explanation, the girls could only listen obediently.
Thus, afterward, whenever they destroyed a Skynet base, they generally let Duanmu Huai play the villain, frightening the prisoners into obedience, while the other girls played the good cops, working together before sending the prisoners away.
Just like now.
"All of you, get out here and line up!"
Under Duanmu Huai's furious shouts, the prisoners trembled as they exited the passage and came outside. Looking around, they were shocked to discover that this massive mechanical fortress, once sealed off by towering steel walls, was now in utter ruin. Thick steel walls were completely shattered. Everywhere lay the wreckage of mechanical soldiers and drones. Even the giant machines guarding the fortress had been reduced to fragments amid raging flames and billowing smoke.
What on earth had happened here?
The crowd nervously scanned their surroundings, not daring to breathe too loudly. Yet no one dared disobey. They stood obediently where the steel giant ordered them to.
Then Duanmu Huai raised his head, stared at these people, and stretched out his hand.
"You can go. And you. You. You…"
As he spoke, Duanmu Huai pointed at the prisoners one by one. The ones being pointed at stood there dumbfounded, not knowing what to do.
"What? Do you want me to kick you flying myself?"
"N-no…!"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's voice, the prisoners who were called out hurriedly fled the formation. Soon, large groups of prisoners left. Some didn't look back at all, charging straight through gaps in the walls. Others didn't leave, instead standing at the openings, anxiously looking around, seemingly waiting for their relatives and companions.
And at that moment, suddenly, an accident occurred.
"Mom…! Mom…!!"
Just as most of the prisoners had already left, a little girl seemed no longer able to endure her fear and cried as she ran toward her mother. However, seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in Duanmu Huai's eyes. He abruptly extended his right hand toward the girl. In the next instant, the running girl was crushed to the ground as if pinned by a thousand-pound boulder. Duanmu Huai then strode over and grabbed the girl, lifting her up.
"My child! My child! Give my child back to me!!"
At this moment, a woman standing at the breach rushed over like a madwoman, desperately pounding on Duanmu Huai's armor. Naturally, her attacks were meaningless to him. He didn't even look at her, only staring at the girl in his hand. Then Duanmu Huai lowered his head and looked at the woman.
"She's not your child."
As the words fell, Duanmu Huai grabbed the little girl's upper body and legs, and with a violent pull, tore her cleanly in half at the waist!
Seeing this, the prisoners were completely stunned!
However, just as they were in shock, Duanmu Huai flicked his arm and threw the remains of the girl onto the ground.
At this moment, everyone looked closely and was shocked to discover that inside the girl's body, there was nothing but operating machinery!
"Mom… mom… mom…"
In fact, even after being torn in half by Duanmu Huai, the girl was still waving her hands, desperately crawling toward the woman. Seeing this scene, the woman stood there dumbfounded, mouth agape, unable to utter a word. Not only her—every other prisoner who saw this was completely stunned.
They had never imagined that this little girl would actually be a robot!
"Skynet's getting more and more capable."
Looking at the robot still trying to move despite being torn in half, Duanmu Huai's gaze turned cold. He then lifted his foot and stomped down hard—crushing it directly into fragments.
Moments later, the prisoners had all vanished from sight, and only then did the other girls gather around, their expressions complex as they looked at the remains.
"I never thought these damn robots would actually do something like this…"
Eclair gripped her chainsaw gun tightly, staring at the wreckage and speaking in a low voice. This kind of infiltrator robot was not the first time they had encountered it. They mingled among prisoners, almost impossible to detect. However, Duanmu Huai and Bambi were clearly exceptions, able to easily identify infiltrators hidden among humans.
Moreover, they had also learned from the base how these infiltrators were manufactured… in short, it was definitely not a process that made anyone feel comfortable.
"Logically speaking, it's very normal. Children are more likely to lower people's guard and are also less likely to be discovered. If sent in as spies, even if discovered, it's hard for anyone to bring themselves to kill a child—even if she is essentially nothing more than a cold machine."
Duanmu Huai picked up his warhammer and stared at the scene before him.
"Right now, I suddenly feel that letting Skynet die too easily might not be a good thing."
(End of Chapter)