Star Iron: The Past and Present Life of the Gender-Swapped Dragon Lord

“Seele of ‘Earthfire’… Your resistance is futile. The calculations are crystal clear: remaining in the lower zones is the best survival strategy.”

Faced with Seele's questioning, Schwarz's mechanical voice slowly came through.

But Seele wasn't buying it at all, her words full of disdain.

"Here we go again—what calculation results, what survival strategies, I don't have time for your long-winded ramblings. Get your underlings out of here right now, or don't blame me for being impolite."

Seele's sharp words did not anger Schwarz, or rather, Schwarz's mechanical brain and mechanical voice module were simply not enough to make him feel anger. Instead, Schwarz looked down at Clara, ignoring Seele's words.

“You see, Clara, even in the most extreme living conditions, humanity cannot avoid division and conflict.”

Schwarzko's voice was completely flat, making Clara hesitate to speak.

“But Mr. Schwarz…”

Dan Heng knew that another battle was inevitable, just from hearing Schwarz's speech, which MOSS would surely find profound meaning in.

However, without the intervention of the anonymous guest, Schwarzroth's calculations might actually have been somewhat accurate.

After all, Cocolia above has already been fooled by the Star Core and is busy tinkering with her so-called "new world" all day long.

"Humans attempting to overturn the calculation results pose a significant threat to the survival strategy of the lower zones. The calculations are complete, and the conclusion is clear: using force to subjugate 'Earthfire' and its gang is the most efficient solution."

Upon hearing this, Seele conjured a gleaming scythe in her hand.

"Oh no, what about the little girl in the red dress? The big robot is going to take her away."

March 7th looked at Clara, whose size was vastly different from Schwarz's, and felt somewhat worried.

This shout also made Schwarz re-examine the train crew behind Seele, and the red-glowing probe paused when it scanned Danheng.

“Let’s go, Clara. We’ve received outside support again. The calculations have restarted, and the core nexus needs to be guarded.”

"Okay..." Seeing how determined Schwarz was, Clara couldn't say anything more and could only speak to a grizzly bear robot next to Schwarz.

"...Mills, please, don't go too far."

The robot Clara called Mills moved its mechanical arm, making a metallic scraping sound.

"Hey, you're tired of the small fry, now for a real treat—I'll play with you properly!"

Seele twisted her neck, knowing she couldn't stop Schwarz, and raised her scythe to slash at the giant robot in front of her.

Upon detecting the enemy's approach, the automaton Grizzly swung its hammers with both hands, preparing to deliver a crushing blow to the crowd.

But as if remembering Clara's words, the grizzly bear's jumping posture was forcibly suppressed, and it was replaced by a straight punch.

"Chong-"

The steel scythe collided with the mechanical body of the automaton grizzly bear, sparks flying and a piercing sound emanating from the friction.

Seeing more and more mechs suddenly appearing and surrounding Seele's position, Bronya immediately drew her gun and said urgently, "Let's go help!"

The group exchanged glances, then drew their weapons and eliminated the mechs one by one.

In the end, all the mechs were wiped out by the combined attack of the group.

"Hmph...that's impressive. How many of these big guys does Schwarzro have under his command?"

On March 7th, he put away his compound bow, exhaled, and fanned himself with his hand, using it as a fan to blow air into his collar.

"There are many reasons why 'Earthfire' can't deal with him. Swaro's power is immense; we simply can't shake him with our manpower alone."

Seele was helpless; the people of "Earthfire" still needed to eat and sleep, but the robots of Schwarzrod didn't.

"What about that little girl?" Qiong thought of the cute girl following behind Schwarz and was a little worried about her safety.

"You mean Clara? Don't worry about her. That girl seems to be on good terms with Schwarzro; she's always following him around. Schwarzro won't hurt her."

Seele gave a knowing look, "I didn't understand it the first time I saw it either, but now I'm used to it. Let's go find the leader."

"—Don't bother looking for me."

As soon as Seele finished speaking, a strong, middle-aged male voice came from behind her, sounding to be in a good mood.

Seele turned around in surprise and saw a tall, strong man slowly walk out, followed by many "Earthfire" members who also had red cloths tied around their left arms.

"Well done, Seele. We're being attacked from both sides by a bunch of robots that came out of nowhere. We thought it was going to be a long battle, hahaha!"

"Chief! Is everyone alright? Are any of you injured?"

Oleg waved his hand dismissively in response to Seele's concern.

"It's alright, I'm used to it. The troublesome ragtag robot army has been driven back, so the mining area should be quiet for a while now."

"Who are your companions...?"

Noticing March 7 and the others standing to the side, Oleg asked.

"Ah, them? They're 'outsiders' that Sambo brought from somewhere, whom he encountered by chance... I remember you were looking for 'Earthfire,' right?"

"You are the leader? We've been waiting for you for so long."

Qiong, for some unknown reason, suddenly changed her tone and uttered an extremely arrogant statement.

This made Oleg laugh, and he pointed at the dome with a big laugh.

"Hahaha! This guy is so arrogant on our first meeting, I'll remember that."

March 7 quickly covered Sora's mouth, who was about to say something, and apologized with an embarrassed smile.

"Don't take it personally with a child. He's just joking around, hehe."

“My name is March 7th, his name is Qiong, these two are Dan Heng and Dan Heng, and this is Bronya.”

On March 7th, he introduced each member of the team to the others in an attempt to ease the awkwardness.

Oleg heard the familiar name and thought about it carefully for a while.

“Danheng… Oh, I remember now! That girl Antonina told me about this name.”

"Oh dear, I also have to thank... Miss Danheng for helping to resolve a conflict."

"I never expected that Miss Danheng, who looks so slender, would be such a good fighter. Haha, you really can't judge a book by its cover."

Dan Heng, who was still lost in thought when he was suddenly called out, didn't expect to have a role to play, and quickly replied.

“Antonina and the others also took good care of me; it was just a small favor.”

Oleg smiled and stopped beating around the bush. "So, you've gone to all this trouble to find 'Earthfire,' what do you want our help with?"

After thinking for a moment, Danheng told Oleg and Seele everything that had happened and his desire to find the "Star Core".

The two looked surprised after hearing this.

"Ha, I didn't expect you guys to put on such a show on the ground. It was truly spectacular."

"Wow, 'Earthfire' is already overwhelmed underground, and yet someone still comes to ask us for help. That's quite something."

The train crew and Oleg exchanged information, while Bronya listened to the snippets of information about the Upper District from Earthfire, lost in thought.