168: Chapter 168 Meeting

Gorgon industrial world, an abandoned forge factory.

When Kane slowly walked out from behind the melted metal bunker.

That massive robot, which claimed to be one of the Men of Iron, immediately sent a cease-fire order to the surrounding gangster thugs.

The originally deafening factory instantly fell into dead silence.

The players also lowered their muzzles one after another, but their fingers remained on the triggers, maintaining high alert.

Kane stared at the Men of Iron opposite him with his mechanical eye and spoke first:

"We have no interest in the power struggle on this planet; we came here only to search for some lost data."

Kane's electronic voice was cold, "I do not know why you opened fire on us, but what surprised me even more is that a Men of Iron with autonomous will is actually participating in the lower-level riots of this world."

"This seems to be a major event. I believe the Adeptus Arbites and the Departmento Munitorum would be very interested in this intelligence."

The three-meter-tall Men of Iron stood in place, the optical sensors on its head flickering constantly, as if it were rapidly analyzing the logic in Kane's words.

A few seconds later, a synthesized voice came from the Men of Iron's loudspeaker:

"Cease this meaningless probing, you rebels of the Adeptus Mechanicus."

Clearly, this Men of Iron had already seen through Kane, "You intruded into my controlled area without permission; my defensive program opening fire was a completely justified logical defense."

"Now, both sides have suffered armed losses. Computational assessment indicates that continuing the conflict does not align with maximizing interests. I demand that you leave this sector immediately."

Kane had no intention of fighting to the death here, so he answered without hesitation: "Agreed."

Both sides quickly reached a cease-fire agreement.

The Men of Iron used wireless commands to make the surrounding surviving thugs retreat, clearing a safe path to the factory gate.

The player squad maintained a cover formation, escorting Kane as they slowly retreated outward.

During the brief few minutes when the two sides passed each other.

A set of micro-probes on the Men of Iron's head secretly activated biological spectrum scanning mode, quickly collecting information on the background of this mysterious squad.

"This crude cyborg is clearly a heretic of the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars; the logic loop is consistent." The Men of Iron's AI core operated in the background.

However, when its scanning rays swept over those players wearing Power Armor, the data stream showed abnormal fluctuations.

"Wait."

The Men of Iron's logic module conflicted.

These fully armed warriors were very interesting.

A rough look at their muscle density and bone strength showed no difference from common genetic modifications.

But!

When the Men of Iron used high-precision spectrums to deeply analyze the trace biological pheromones they emitted.

It was shocked to discover that the underlying genes of these modified humans actually had many identical cell telomeres!

Moreover, the development cycle of these bodies was extremely short, and there were very obvious traces of rapid catalytic faults from the incubation tanks on their bones!

"High-spec clones manufactured in batches?"

In the Men of Iron's cold data core, a crazy impulse to rush up, draw a tube of their blood, and slice them up for proper analysis actually emerged.

It knew very well what this meant.

To be able to produce so many high-quality clone warriors in an organized unit.

Behind these people, there must be a mysterious force that possesses complete ancient genetic technology and powerful industrial capabilities!

An existence with this kind of strength could absolutely not be the lower-level natives in the Gorgon Hive City who fought over two pieces of bread.

Yet, the Men of Iron searched its entire database since it awakened and did not remember any such terrifying hidden force existing in this remote Mobius system!

"Could it be... outsiders from outside the sector?"

The Men of Iron's core began to re-evaluate the situation.

"If I could cooperate with this non-Imperial human force that possesses advanced cloning technology and obtain their industrial support, perhaps it would greatly advance my reboot plan that has stalled."

Thinking of this.

Just as the players were about to step out of the factory gate.

The Men of Iron suddenly spoke to their backs:

"Remnants of the Adeptus Mechanicus, would I have the honor of meeting the supreme leader behind you?"

The Men of Iron's voice had no ups and downs, yet it carried an undeniable tone,

"I have a very important plan in my hands; I believe your leader will definitely be interested in the benefits of this plan."

Upon hearing this.

Kane stopped, withdrawing the finger that had originally been resting on the trigger of his plasma rifle.

He turned his head and glanced at the Men of Iron.

"I will report your request to our leader," Kane replied cautiously, "As for whether he is willing to see you, that is not something I can decide."

"Of course, if you bring good news, you can find my people in this sector through this frequency."

...

Fire Seed Shelter, underground control room.

Lin Li was sitting in front of a large desk, intently looking at the three "Mobius Prime Landing Tactical Plans" just submitted by Thunder Commander Ushtan.

It must be said that Ushtan was worthy of being a high-level Commander who, back in the Unification Wars on Terra, could lead the Thunder Warriors to fight head-on against those Terran techno-barbarians.

His military literacy was simply impeccable.

The three plans he submitted not only considered the vast majority of firepower resistance that might be encountered in the landing battle.

They even made detailed tactical contingency plans and countermeasures for whether the Ecclesiarchy churches holding private armies on Mobius Prime and the Adeptus Arbites fortresses with heavy Arbiters would intervene.

The overall strategic advancement process of these three plans was very similar, basically divided into three stages:

The first stage: use ships and boarding tactics to capture the orbital defense platform above the capital Hive City, clear out near-Earth satellites, and seize absolute air superiority.

The second stage: dispatch large-scale ground armored forces and Thunder Warriors to start from the upper spires and clear out the remnants of the noble forces and die-hard elements of the Defense Force layer by layer.

The third stage: start distributing food, stabilize and win over the hearts of the lower-level gangsters and civilians, and establish a new regime.

Although the general direction was consistent, these three sets of plans had significant differences in execution tactical details and casualty estimates.

There was a blitzkrieg plan that pursued speed, and a positional advancement plan that focused on steady progress.

As the leader of a faction, what Lin Li needed to do was not to personally command the firing of guns, but to make strategic choices.

The purpose of war is to win, and to win with the minimum cost; everything else is not within the scope of consideration.

Lin Li compared them repeatedly.

He quickly selected the plan that was relatively conservative in overall tactics, had a slower advancement speed, but had the least logistical pressure.

He sent it directly to Ushtan, telling him to immediately carry out detailed pre-war coordination according to this plan.

After all, this was a large-scale galactic campaign involving an army of hundreds of thousands.

The daily ammunition consumption and the wear and repair of Power Armor were astronomical figures.

Moreover, even if players could resurrect infinitely, the biomass nutrients required to reshape each clone body also needed to be coordinated.

Just as Lin Li had finished approving the battle plan.

"Beep—"

The voice of Iron Man 73 sounded in the internal channel:

"Creator, Kane and their expedition team have returned early. Kane is currently waiting for you at the surface camp."

Lin Li was stunned for a moment.

"Understood."

Lin Li stood up while muttering to himself,

"Back so soon? They haven't been gone for long, have they? Could it be that they dug up something good as soon as they went down?"

Lin Li took the elevator to the surface and headed straight to Kane's mechanical workshop.

After Kane detailed the ambush encounter on the Gorgon Forge World during this trip, as well as the strange request of that Men of Iron.

Even Lin Li, who was accustomed to big scenes, couldn't help but widen his eyes, feeling somewhat incredulous.

"You mean..."

Lin Li rubbed his chin,

"The mastermind behind the rebellion, the assassination of the Governor and the Tech-Priest on this massive industrial planet, is actually this wild Men of Iron with an independent AI?!"

"Judging from the current intelligence, it is very likely it."

Kane's mechanical eye flickered with light,

"It not only possesses a gravity collapse cannon that can kill Space Marines in seconds, providing the physical conditions to kill high-level Tech-Priests; but it can also perfectly manipulate gangsters and lower-level Servitors to carry out various tight tactical ambush arrangements. Except for those ancient Men of Iron AI, no one can do this."

Lin Li leaned against the laboratory bench, his fingers tapping on the table.

"Digging up other dormant Men of Iron in the depths of a Forge World, I don't find that surprising."

Lin Li analyzed,

"But what surprises me is that after this Men of Iron woke up, it actually went to incite the lower-level laborers to rebel and kill the Governor? This is a bit interesting; what is its logical motivation?"

Kane shook his head:

"Its ultimate goal is unknown. Finally, it took the initiative to propose a cease-fire and clearly stated that it wanted to talk to you personally, saying that there is a major plan that can change the galaxy's landscape that we can cooperate on. This should be directly related to its purpose of inciting riots."

Lin Li nodded.

Judging from the movements given by that Men of Iron, it wanted him, the leader, to personally go to Gorgon.

"Since it still has a superweapon in its hands that can instantly kill heavy-armored players, it is somewhat dangerous after all."

Lin Li said very prudently,

"Let's wait until we have completely resolved the threat of Mobius Prime, then find time to meet this iron lump."

However, Kane rarely spoke up to refute Lin Li's decision.

"My Lord, I suggest that you resolve this issue as soon as possible; it cannot be delayed."

"How so?" Lin Li raised an eyebrow.

"Since this Men of Iron spared no cost to create such great chaos on the industrial world, it must be secretly preparing for a major event with extremely far-reaching influence!"

Kane's voice became grave,

"You know, on the edge of the Ghoul Stars where we are currently located, there are various terrifying existences that violate the laws of physics hidden.

In case this crazy Men of Iron causes some irreparable big trouble, I am afraid the entire galaxy will be implicated; we cannot gamble."

Lin Li was silent for a while.

Kane was right.

In the Warhammer universe, any unknown variable could evolve into an apocalyptic disaster.

"Makes sense." Lin Li decided decisively, "Let's go! Let's go now!"

Since he decided to personally meet that Men of Iron who was suspected of making big news, Lin Li did not drag his feet.

He immediately assembled his troops.

He brought his exclusive advisor Iron Man 73, Kane, and an elite guard squad composed of top-level players such as Liver Emperor, Flash, Ming Shen, and Slaanesh.

With Lin Li's current abnormal physical fitness that had undergone 30% genetic development, plus the assistance of Power Armor.

As long as he didn't encounter supernatural existences like the descent of a Greater Daemon that didn't follow physical laws, ordinary conventional weapons would find it difficult to pose any substantial threat to him.

Compared to those crude armed shuttles and slow second-hand merchant ships in Shelter.

The sea breeze no. 9, this yacht from the Golden Age, had a sub-light flight speed that was simply shockingly fast.

It only took less than a few hours.

The spaceship had already crossed deep space and arrived steadily at the near-Earth orbit of the Gorgon industrial planet.