Chapter 222: Devouring Missiles

Lin Xian made his way from the upper deck to the engineering room. The hatch was completely damaged, leaving only a small opening less than a person’s height.

He walked straight over, placed his hand on the control panel, and activated his Mechanical Heart. A jolt of electricity surged through, and the automatic door suddenly let out a whining sound from its motor, forcing itself halfway open. Lin Xian immediately squeezed through.

*Click~*

Lin Xian adjusted the light from his flashlight, illuminating the entire dark engine room. In the center was a nuclear-powered turbine processor chamber. He took out his Geiger counter to check; fortunately, there were no leaks. Lin Xian stood above the engine bay. On either side below were two massive levitation power engines, like two industrial behemoths, lying in silent slumber.

“I wonder if this will work.”

Looking at this scene, Lin Xian’s eyes burned with intensity. Scanning a ten-thousand-ton Dragon-class transport ship was unlikely for him. Moreover, the ship’s body was damaged, making it impossible to obtain a complete blueprint. He just didn’t know if the flight engines were damaged.

Without hesitation, Lin Xian descended from the upper level along the mounted ladder to the engine, placed one hand on it, and began to activate his Mechanical Heart.

*Hiss~*

In an instant, he felt a huge amount of his energy being drained away. The coverage of his Mechanical Heart continuously expanded. Lin Xian tried to perceive the entire structure of the levitation power engine, but as his perception extended, he realized he had been too optimistic.

More and more systems were interconnected with the levitation power engine, and the number of subsystems was mind-numbingly large. Moreover, a large portion of them were damaged.

[Scan Progress: 21%]

Twenty minutes passed, and he hadn’t even scanned half of it. Lin Xian was already drenched in sweat.

“Damn it!”

Lin Xian let go, abandoning the scan.

“A man’s heart is never satisfied, like a snake trying to swallow an elephant. It seems I overestimated myself…”

“Scanning is not an option, unless I dismantle the entire engine and devour it slowly.”

Lin Xian sighed. It was easy to say, but dismantling the engine of a ten-thousand-ton aircraft would take a considerable amount of time even in the ship manufacturing workshop of Kehua Heavy Industries, with professional engineers and various mechanical equipment. It was completely impossible for Lin Xian to do it alone.

Immediately, Lin Xian turned his gaze to the nuclear-powered turbine processor chamber. This shipborne nuclear power device was not large, but it was several times larger than the one on the Gemini 11R nuclear-powered electric locomotive.

“Forget it, let’s try this.”

Just as Lin Xian was preparing to have come for nothing, he climbed onto the nuclear-powered turbine processor chamber to scan it and was surprised to find that not only was it not leaking, but it was also intact.

Thirty minutes later.

[Successfully scanned “Night Star 2” Nuclear-Powered Turbine Processor (Blueprint)]

“Phew~”

Seeing the reward on the light screen of his Mechanical Heart, Lin Xian finally let out a long sigh of relief. Although this thing was useless for now, at least he had gained something.

He looked at the time. It was already 15:16 in the afternoon, less than 4 hours until dark. If he were to devour this big guy, he estimated it would take at least 4-6 hours. If the devouring was successful, he might be able to obtain over 500 Mechanical Source Points and over 200 Devouring Proficiency points. In that case, his [Mechanical Devouring] could break through to level 4.

But even if the devouring was completed, it would definitely be dark by then. Rushing back in the night would inevitably cause more trouble.

“Let’s check the weapon systems first.”

Lin Xian didn’t get fixated. Anyway, in Hengshan Pass, besides the locomotive, there were also a large number of cars that could be used for devouring. As long as he had enough time, he could completely slow down the pace of his escape and focus on upgrading.

The Dragon-class transport ship once had the title of “Hercules of the Air” due to its extremely strong carrying capacity. Its defense system was certainly not as powerful as that of gunships and fighters, but it was also equipped with shipborne close-in weapon systems and short-range air-to-air missile counterattack systems. Lin Xian was more looking forward to this.

As he passed through the middle deck to the shipborne weapon station above the center of the ship, Lin Xian suddenly saw a rather familiar face on the list of transport ship officers in a conference hall.

He stopped, shone his light over, and took a look. He immediately chuckled.

“Vice-Captain of the Yunxiang, Hu Lushou…”

“Damn, so this guy was a pilot. No wonder he said he got the supplies from the transport ship. So he was in a favorable position.”

Liao Ming’s rumor was not groundless. It seemed that Hu Lushou was a survivor from the crash of this transport ship. Thinking of it this way, it was understandable that he would have so many Federation standard supplies.

Lin Xian didn’t care. He stayed for a moment, then continued upwards. He soon arrived outside the shipborne weapon station. The door here was severely deformed from the crash. Lin Xian shone his light through the gap and immediately gasped.

Inside the weapon station were two empty missile launch devices, and two of the launch units were still loaded with missiles!

“Holy crap, one Storm Eye F12 supersonic anti-ship missile, two Guardian 86 anti-aircraft missiles…”

As a former military enthusiast, he was very knowledgeable about these Federation weapons. What surprised him at this moment was that these missiles, which he had only seen in pictures and on the internet, seemed so small, but up close, they felt surprisingly large!

“That’s right. The Storm Eye F12 has a length of 6.86m, a diameter of 0.36m, a weight of 850kg, and a warhead of 200kg. The Guardian 86 has a length of 2.5m, a diameter of 0.18m, a weight of 100kg, and a warhead of 30kg…”

“Any one of them is much taller than a person. They’re not small at all.”

Lin Xian’s eyes burned with intensity. He pressed the communicator and said to KIKI, “Little girl, I found some good stuff here. The transport ship’s empty missiles. It might take some more time.”

KIKI heard this and immediately replied, “Missiles? Weren’t they taken by those survivors?”

Lin Xian sneered. “How is that possible? These are missiles, not rocket launchers. Hoisting missiles requires professional equipment. How could those survivors move them by hand? Even if you moved them, how would you use them without a launch device? Carry them on your shoulder and ram them into an Aberration?”

A missile system was not a single-soldier piece of equipment, nor was it something that could be detonated just by having a lot of people. For this kind of thing, the missile body, launch device, search radar, and fire control system were all indispensable, and they also required regular maintenance.

Lin Xian looked at the weapon station. One of the Guardian 86 anti-aircraft missile loading racks was even broken and had rolled onto the ground. He estimated that the survivors would have been scared out of their wits at the sight. It was a miracle that the weapon station hadn’t exploded. How could they have thought of carrying missiles back to their convoy?

On the transport ship, the various cabins had been thoroughly looted. Any useful single-soldier equipment, supplies, and tools had been taken without exception. The missiles in the weapon station had basically all been fired. Fortunately, these three missiles remained. Lin Xian could now put his mechanical Esper ability to use.

“That’s true…” KIKI giggled, unable to contain her excitement. “That’s great! If we get these things on our train, the next time a monster comes, we can just blast it to death from a distance!”

“Moving them is out of the question.”

Lin Xian took a breath and stood outside the weapon station hatch. “We only have two motorcycles, and this must be taken along with the radar system, launch device, and missiles.”

Even with KIKI’s ability, it wouldn’t work. It also involved dismantling the cabin. And having KIKI fly around with a bunch of missiles was a terrifying thought.

Dismantling was unlikely, but scanning blueprints and devouring was feasible.

Lin Xian had KIKI continue to keep watch for him outside, while he prepared to study these missiles carefully.

“Devouring missiles… sounds very exciting.”

Lin Xian swallowed. He was also very nervous at this moment. He was afraid that the things inside would accidentally explode. Then, no matter how fast his reaction was, he wouldn’t be able to escape.

After ensuring that there were no other living people on the transport ship, Lin Xian reached out and created a simple hydraulic press, slowly prying open the deformed hatch.

With suitable small tools readily available, Lin Xian’s ability was very convenient for exploration.

*Screech~ Click, click, click.*

A sound of metal being squeezed rang out. The deformed hatch was pried open. Lin Xian made a support to hold the door open, then walked in. His gaze first fell on the white Guardian 86 anti-aircraft missile that had rolled onto the ground, its body somewhat deformed.

“Brother, listen to me. I’m just going to touch it. Don’t explode.”

Lin Xian hesitated for a moment, then walked straight over, squatted down, and reached out to touch the cold missile.

[Scanning, Progress: 15%]

[Scan Progress: 50%]

After about 20 minutes, Lin Xian finally completed the entire scan.

[Scan complete. Guardian 86 Anti-Aircraft Missile Blueprint obtained.]

There was no unexpected error message. Lin Xian felt a slight sense of relief. It seemed that missiles were very durable.

At this moment, he also felt a bit excited. If he could install the entire missile launch device and radar system on the Infinity, that would be awesome.

He knew that the Storm Eye F12 supersonic anti-ship missile had a range of at least 500 kilometers and used a scramjet engine. Its cruising speed alone could reach Mach 6.

The only problem was that long-range signals and radar were blocked by the dark tide. In this situation, only inertial guidance could be used for long-range targets, and the speed couldn’t be built up at close range.

“Who cares…”

Lin Xian clicked his tongue, thinking to himself that he was overthinking it.

“You don’t need to break through an air defense system to fight an Aberration. Why even consider cruising speed? Just smash it in the face!”

Lin Xian had plenty of time now. He could scan all these missiles and launch racks. So he acted decisively and walked towards the large Storm Eye F12 supersonic anti-ship missile…

[Scan complete. Storm Eye F12 Supersonic Anti-Ship Missile Blueprint obtained.]

[Scan complete. MK-66 Roll-on/Roll-off Cantilever Missile Launcher obtained.]

[Scan complete. T1 Fire Control Radar Blueprint obtained.]

[Scan complete. T1-2 Detection and Search Radar Blueprint obtained.]

[Devouring successful. Mechanical Source Points +100, Devouring Proficiency +40, Speed +5]

[Devouring successful. Mechanical Source Points +120, Devouring Proficiency +50, Strength +6]

“Holy crap!”

Lin Xian looked at the prompts on the light screen of his Mechanical Heart, his face filled with surprise.

He had spent less than an hour on the two missiles, but he had obtained a total of 220 Mechanical Source Points. He hadn’t expected the return rate of missiles to be so high, much higher than that of a locomotive!

“It seems this trip was worth it. It’s just that there are a few too few missiles. If only there were more…”

Lin Xian looked at the remaining, somewhat deformed Guardian 86 anti-aircraft missile, and without much thought, he continued to devour it.

Just as the devouring progress light screen lit up in front of Lin Xian, KIKI’s voice came through the communicator.

“Lin Xian, come out quickly.”

Lin Xian frowned upon hearing this, immediately stopped what he was doing, and rushed outside without hesitation. He quickly rushed out of the upper deck, leaped up, and jumped out from the broken part of the transport ship, landing on the top.

“What’s wrong?”

Lin Xian’s gaze swept around. He saw KIKI flying towards him quickly from a distance, then landing on the deck. She held up her mobile terminal and said to him with wide eyes, “Look, the device I set up is sending a signal. The communicator you installed on that armored car is in our northeast direction!!”

Lin Xian walked over and looked out of the town. In that direction, he could only see a dense forest by the lake.

“Strange. Logically, the communicator is affected by the dark tide, so it should only be effective for a distance of five or six kilometers at most. But there seems to be nothing in that direction?”

“Could it really be under the lake?” KIKI exclaimed. “That’s hidden too deep.”

Lin Xian looked at the mobile terminal in KIKI’s hand and said directly, “Let’s go. Let’s see what kind of monsters this Foundation is.”

KIKI frowned and looked at the transport ship behind her. “Are you done with everything?”

“Pretty much,” Lin Xian clapped his hands. “I’ve already gotten all the useful stuff.”

“Wow, you even got the missiles? You’re so amazing!” KIKI looked at him with admiration. “Then quickly make one for me to play with~”

Lin Xian was speechless. “What’s wrong with playing with other things? You want to play with missiles.”

“Tch~”

KIKI rolled her eyes at him, then said, “Then let’s go. Let’s go see that research institute. Maybe there’s something fun inside.”

Lin Xian looked at the time and decisively set off. He and KIKI got off the transport ship, got on their motorcycles, rushed out of the zombie horde, and headed out of the town.

*Vroom~*

The two drove out of Qingshui Town and headed northeast for a while. The signal capture on KIKI’s mobile terminal became stronger and stronger, indicating that Lin Xian was tracking in the right direction.

“Strange, there’s only a forest ahead. Where’s any research institute?”

“Be careful.” Lin Xian was also a little confused at this moment. His first reaction was that his communicator had been discovered by someone and casually discarded on the roadside. Thinking deeper, the only other possibility was that the research institute was hidden in that forest.

The two slowed down and drove into the forest.

This was a rather primitive old forest. The trees were dense, and their branches blotted out the sun. As soon as they drove in, their vision was obstructed.

As the motorcycles rushed into the forest, a large number of branches instantly hit the front of the bikes, making a clanging sound. The road was rugged and undulating. Lin Xian raised his hand and created a protective iron frame to block the branches, while KIKI directly used her ability and was not affected at all.

Before long, the terrain flattened out.

*Screech~*

Lin Xian rode his motorcycle and was the first to rush out of the forest. But at this moment, his motorcycle suddenly swept to a stop.

Because at this moment, Lin Xian discovered that the sky had actually turned dark!

*Hum*, KIKI followed closely behind and came out. Seeing this scene, she immediately exclaimed.

“Wow, what’s going on? Why is it dark in here?”

Lin Xian didn’t speak. He looked back at the forest he had just passed through and found that it was also pitch black.

“Lin Xian, look quickly.”

At this moment, KIKI suddenly pointed ahead.

Lin Xian’s gaze immediately followed the direction she was pointing. He saw the outline of a small town appearing ahead in the night.

And that small town looked very familiar to Lin Xian.

“This… isn’t this Qingshui Town?” Lin Xian’s face was filled with shock.

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