Lín Yǔ's Heavy Assault Ship flew close to the outer hull of Alpha Space Station, its body painted with a temporary camouflage coating that blended in with the color of the meteorites surrounding the abandoned mining tunnel. This was the Simple Camouflage Coating he had exchanged for 20 units of resources before departing, just enough to evade the station's routine scans.
Inside the cockpit, the Radar Screen displayed images transmitted by the mechanical bee swarm: the entrance to the abandoned mining tunnel was hidden behind a massive meteorite, guarded by two automatic Energy Cannons, with two three-meter-tall Heavy Mechanical Puppets standing nearby. Their silver bodies, energy cannon barrels as thickened arms, and red core lights embedded in their chests indicated they were far more advanced than the puppet he had subdued.
"Scan results: Ironbone Station Entrance Defense – 2 Automatic Energy Cannons (medium power), 2 Heavy Mechanical Puppets (core: 'Primary Mechanical Core', counter-control possible), 5 patrolling cultists," the system prompt sounded simultaneously.
Lín Yǔ lightly tapped the Console with his fingertips, bringing up the panel for controlling the bee swarm. "Clear the perimeter first."
Thirty mechanical bees flew out from a hidden exit beneath the spaceship's hull, like a swarm of silver mosquitoes, gliding along the meteorite's surface towards the tunnel entrance. The patrolling cultists were leaning nearby, smoking next to the puppets, unaware of the "killing intent" above. The bees silently landed on the circuit interfaces of the automatic Energy Cannons, and a mini-detonator exploded gently, instantly disabling the cannons.
"Who did that?!" one cultist reacted, about to draw his gun when three bees suddenly lunged at his face. Their sharp metallic limbs directly pierced his communicator – a "sizzling" electric current sounded, and the cultist instantly convulsed and fell to the ground.
The remaining four cultists panicked. Just as they were about to flee into the tunnel, Lín Yǔ's spaceship suddenly accelerated, its bow smashing through the debris blocking the way, and stopped before the entrance. The hatch exploded open, and his mechanical puppet rushed out, carrying a Double-barrel Armor-piercing Gun, and pulled the trigger at the cultists – "Bang! Bang!" Four armor-piercing bullets left no chance for them to resist.
The two Heavy Mechanical Puppets at the entrance finally reacted, their red core lights illuminating, and the energy cannon barrels on their arms aimed at the spaceship, about to fire – Lín Yǔ's gaze sharpened, and he pressed down hard on the control panel with his fingertip: "Lock onto Heavy Mechanical Puppet cores! Consume 100 units of mechanical core, forced counter-control!"
A faint blue system signal, following the circuits attached by the bees, instantly infiltrated the puppets' cores – the barrels of the two Heavy Mechanical Puppets paused, their red core lights flickered wildly, and after a few seconds, they completely turned pale blue.
"Done," Lín Yǔ breathed a sigh of relief, jumped out of the spaceship, and patted the body of one of the puppets – the metal shell was cold, but he could clearly feel the operation of the power core inside. "Let's go in."
With the two Heavy Mechanical Puppets leading the way and his mechanical puppet covering the rear, Lín Yǔ walked in the middle, holding the Double-barrel Armor-piercing Gun, and delved into the mining tunnel step by step. The inner walls of the tunnel were covered in rust, with a dim yellow emergency light every ten meters. Mechanical parts and dried blood were scattered on the ground – it was clear that the cultists here had engaged in a lot of plundering.
After walking about fifty meters, the sound of "clack-clack" mechanical operations mixed with the curses and laughter of cultists came from ahead. Lín Yǔ raised his hand, signaling his puppets to stop, and released five bees to scout – the image transmitted back: deep within the tunnel was a spacious cave where over twenty cultists were busy around several dismantling machines. Three unassembled Heavy Mechanical Puppets were parked in the middle. On the highest platform at the very back, a bald man with a metal prosthetic eye embedded in his face was yelling into a communicator. He was the station chief of Ironbone Station.
"Ironbone Station Chief (Mechanicus Cult mid-level, possesses 'Modified Mechanical Prosthetic Limb' with built-in energy blade), 23 cultists, 3 inactive Heavy Mechanical Puppets."
Lín Yǔ's lips curled into a cold smile – quite a few people, and even more resources. He didn't rush in but first had the two controlled Heavy Mechanical Puppets walk to the cave entrance, deliberately making heavy footsteps.
"What's going on outside? Where are the patrol guards?" the bald station chief turned his head and frowned upon seeing his own puppets. "Who let you in? Get out there and stand guard!"
The puppets didn't move. Instead, they walked step by step towards the center of the cave – the cultists finally sensed something was wrong, stopped their work, and drew their guns, aiming at the puppets. "Stop! Move again and we'll shoot!"
"Shoot? Do you dare?" Lín Yǔ's voice came from behind the puppets. He slowly emerged from the shadows, his Double-barrel Armor-piercing Gun aimed at the bald station chief on the high platform. "People of Ironbone Station, how many merchants have you robbed, how many people have you killed? Today, the account must be settled."
"It's you! The scoundrel who destroyed my Swarm Mothership!" The bald station chief recognized Lín Yǔ's face, his eyes instantly turned red, and he suddenly raised his hand – a beam of energy shot out from his metal prosthetic eye, heading straight for Lín Yǔ's chest!
Lín Yǔ was prepared. He dodged to the side and simultaneously shouted to the puppets behind him, "Attack!"
The energy cannon barrels of the two Heavy Mechanical Puppets instantly aimed at the cultists. "Boom! Boom!" Two energy beams shot out, directly blowing away the first three cultists. The remaining cultists panicked; some fired back, while others ran deeper into the cave – but their bullets left only white marks on the outer shells of the Heavy Mechanical Puppets, completely ineffective.
Lín Yǔ's mechanical puppet also charged forward, its alloy arm sweeping horizontally, breaking the arms of two cultists. Lín Yǔ, however, kept his eyes on the bald station chief on the high platform, approaching step by step – the station chief's metal prosthetic limb suddenly transformed into a two-meter-long Modified Energy Blade, slashing down at Lín Yǔ.
"Is that all you've got?" Lín Yǔ sneered. While dodging to the side, he aimed his Double-barrel Armor-piercing Gun at the joint of the prosthetic limb and pulled the trigger – "Bang!" The armor-piercing bullet directly pierced the connecting part of the prosthetic limb, and the energy blade instantly extinguished.
The bald station chief let out a scream and fell from the high platform. Just as he was about to get up, Lín Yǔ stomped on his chest. "How many other strongholds does the Mechanicus Cult have in the Frontier Star Domain?"
"I don't know! I only manage Ironbone Station!" The station chief tried to be defiant, but Lín Yǔ suddenly applied more force with his foot – with a "crack," two of his ribs broke.
"Are you going to talk or not?" Lín Yǔ's gun was pressed against his temple, his eyes devoid of any warmth.
The station chief, sweating profusely from the pain, finally got scared. "There... there's 'Gear City'! Deep in the chaotic star domain! It's the main stronghold of the Mechanicus Cult in the Frontier!"
Lín Yǔ asked no more. Knowing the main stronghold was enough; he would settle the rest later. He raised his gun and fired, ending the station chief's life.
The battle in the cave was over; all over twenty cultists had been dealt with by the puppets. Lín Yǔ walked to the three unassembled Heavy Mechanical Puppets. The Scan Module indicated "Inactive Heavy Mechanical Puppets (contain 30 units of mechanical core each, recoverable/assemblable)."
"Assemble them all," Lín Yǔ ordered. The two controlled puppets immediately stepped forward and began assembling them using the equipment in the tunnel – half an hour later, three brand-new Heavy Mechanical Puppets stood in the cave, their core lights emitting a pale blue glow.
Lín Yǔ didn't linger. He had the puppets load all the mechanical parts and dismantling equipment from the cave onto the spaceship, and he recovered all the cultists' bodies and weapons – the mechanical core on the panel instantly increased to 580 units, available resources exceeded 2000 units, and he acquired a batch of "Modified Energy Blades" (salable in the shop).
"Withdraw," Lín Yǔ boarded the spaceship. Watching the entrance of the mining tunnel recede, a smile etched onto his lips.
With Ironbone Station cleared, the Mechanicus Cult's outer forces in the Frontier Star Domain were practically wiped out. Next, he could open his shop at Alpha Space Station with peace of mind, and after accumulating enough resources, he would go to the chaotic star domain to settle the score with that "Gear City."
As the spaceship flew back to the docking area of Alpha Space Station, Lín Yǔ had just unloaded the puppets and supplies into the shop's warehouse when his terminal suddenly received a new intergalactic order – the sender was the "Alpha Space Station Security Department," and the message contained only one line: "Urgent need for 20 Intermediate Energy Repair Agents, 10 simple mechanical puppets. Reward doubled, deliver to the Security Center within half an hour."
Lín Yǔ raised an eyebrow – the station's security department? It seemed that this Alpha Space Station was not as peaceful as it appeared on the surface.