The gunfire ceased.
Deep within the ruins, R-01 stood motionless like a mountain — a charred war god's skeleton forged from fire and steel.
Lin Yeheng jumped down from the machine, his right arm dislocated, the front of his uniform burned through over his chest. Blood and smoke mixed together, and sweat ran down his face, dripping onto the scorched earth.
Baita rushed over, grabbing him by the collar and shouting:
> "If you push yourself like that one more time, you'll really die, do you understand?!"
Lin Yeheng's breath was heavy.
> "...But I'm not dead yet, am I?"
She stared at his ghost-like appearance, clenched her teeth, and then silently dragged over her repair tools.
---
[1] Mecha Repair · Roar Core Awakens
Baita quickly climbed into R-01's spinal compartment.
> "...Your cockpit's neural bridge is still using first-gen bone conduction? That's like using a femur to drive faster-than-light."
> "This thing isn't even a 'mecha'... it's a man-made lunatic."
Her mouth kept cursing, but her hands moved rapidly —
reconnecting severed neural cables,
restructuring the exoskeletal pressure balancers,
inserting her custom-designed energy core guide needle.
However, when she opened the main chest energy chamber, a deep, resonant vibration surged from within.
Boom—
The black cooling conduits lit up with deep crimson lines, like some ancient beast opening its eyes in its slumber.
In that instant, the mech's heartbeat — heavy and searing — merged with the one in Lin Yeheng's chest, their rhythms perfectly aligned, as if they shared the same heart.
Baita froze.
> "...This isn't a military-grade reactor."
> "This is — a self-compression Roar Core."
> "You actually... awakened its rage."
---
[2] System Evolution · Mode Activation
R-01's system panel displayed new data:
> [Hidden module analysis in progress…]
[Module: Roar Core → First-stage synchronization complete]
[New ability unlocked: Burst Mode · Twin-Shoulder Roar Plasma Cannons]
Lin Yeheng muttered under his breath:
> "I... never installed that."
Baita glared at him.
> "That's the terrifying thing about R-01 — it evolves on its own."
She swiped open the console and projected the structural diagram.
> "You're not repairing it."
> "You're feeding it — with your blood and your will."
She pointed to the energy furnace in its chest.
> "A Roar Core doesn't run on fuel — it runs on rage."
---
[3] Birth of the 'Scrap-Iron Squad'
Outside, urgent footsteps echoed.
Dozens of scavengers gathered around R-01, carrying ragged packs, clad in armor patched together from scrap metal, holding crude weapons.
Each one wore on their wrist a makeshift band of scrap copper and motorcycle chain — the mark of the "Scrap-Iron Squad," a sign that they came from the lowest level of the wasteland, yet could still recognize each other and fight side by side.
At their head stood a middle-aged man — Soldburn, missing three fingers, his arm replaced with a chain prosthetic.
He removed his mask, looking up at Lin Yeheng.
> "You don't know us, but we've all seen you."
> "You took down Silver Fang. You dismantled the Ripper on your own. You proved that even we 'scrap-iron' can bite back at that rotting sky."
He paused, then dropped to one knee.
> "We're not looking to be heroes.
We just want to live like people who can fight back."
> "Wherever you go, we go."
The people behind him knelt in unison.
Baita's eyes widened.
> "Wh— when did you become some kind of cult leader?!"
Lin Yeheng rubbed his forehead.
> "...I'd like to know that too."
---
[4] Skystrike Assassination · Kill Order Executed
Meanwhile, in the central command of the Dome Legion—
> "Faith is starting to sprout in the lower sectors."
> "Lin Yeheng must be silenced — without a single word left behind."
The general waved his hand.
> "Deploy S-99 Ground-Kill Sniper Unit."
---
From a rift in the high-altitude orbital layer hung a long, black, ground-assault sniper mech — the "Night Viper."
Its barrel precisely locked onto Lin Yeheng's position.
> [Target locked]
[Ammo type: Heavy Ion Armor-Piercing Round]
[Velocity: Mach 4.3]
[Penetration: Six layers of armor]
The Night Viper's control AI declared coldly:
> "Target confirmed: R-01 Core Pilot."
> "Executing order: One-shot kill."
BOOM—!!!
The air split apart —
a blood-red sniper round screamed downward like a meteor!
CRACK—!!
Lin Yeheng grabbed Baita and rolled away with all his strength!
The sniper round tore through one side of the ruins, blasting a crater a hundred meters wide!
> [Auto-lock adjustment activated]
[Second shot: Charging]
The crowd panicked. Soldburn roared:
> "We have no anti-air weapons! What the hell is that thing?!"
---
[5] The First Roar!
Baita slammed the console.
> "Roar Core is lit! You can fire now!"
Lin Yeheng dove back into the cockpit, connected the cable, and roared:
> "If you want to fight — then show me your fury!"
R-01's joints thundered as it transformed, growling like a beast.
Shoulder armor split apart —
the twin-shoulder Roar Cannons extended, plasma swirling inside them, red light spinning into dual vortices.
> [Target locked: Night Viper]
Lin Yeheng roared:
> "Shatter that dead eye in the sky!!"
BOOM—!!!
Both Roar Cannons fired at once, forming a red X that split the heavens!
The Night Viper couldn't evade in time,
and was pierced midair — erupting into a fireball in the sky!
Its wreckage trailed a long tail of flame, falling into the wasteland like a shot-down eye in the heavens, crashing with symbolic weight.
Everyone looked up —
in the clouds, a massive ring of fire bloomed, hanging above like a burning wreath.
The enemy — had been struck down once more!
---
[6] Aftermath and Resolve
The explosion lit up the entire wasteland.
Inside the cockpit, Lin Yeheng slumped into his seat, his breathing ragged, sweat dripping, but his eyes cold and unwavering.
Baita's voice burst through the comms:
> "You lunatic! Do you even know what you just hit?! That was the orbital layer!"
He replied in a low voice:
> "From today onward—
even those above the sky will have to look down."