I, the undead, save the world with the dolls

After the Old Web disaster caused by Batmos, these Transcendental AIs were also greatly impacted. From the destruction of the Old Web to the present 2077, the intelligence development of these Transcendental AIs has hardly changed at all.

This was also the conclusion Antonina obtained after observation. After communicating with her, Antonina lured the "Duchess" into the central processing unit in the ruins of the city.

This was the most suitable capture location; other possible locations were either too close to Moscow or in the Far East residential area, where they would easily be noticed by the troops stationed nearby.

It would take even longer for the Far East army to reach the vicinity of the ruins.

The humanoid troops and the Iron Blood troops can also rely on the city ruins to resist the Su Shihua artillery attacks and drag the Su Shihua troops into the bloody street fighting they are best at.

***

As the winter wind howled past, a chilling creaking sound emanated from the tall buildings overhead, the buildings that obscured the sky. It was the death groan of the reinforced concrete structures that had stood firm for decades.

Buildings that hadn't been maintained for decades threatened to collapse at any moment. The figures, however, silenced all signals, remaining invisible as they moved forward through the shattered streets.

From a human perspective, this place is just a vast expanse of ruins. But in the humanoids' detectors, the city still seems to be alive.

There are still sporadic transmission signals scattered underground and between buildings. Those are mechanical equipment that are still in operation. They are connected to various monitoring probes that have not been damaged, monitoring every move in the ruins.

In some collapsed caves, one could still see writings left by former scavengers. The drawings and text indicated that the caves were dangerous, with remnants of military technology, such as intelligent mines and automated turrets, operating within.

These intelligent mines and automatic turrets had already been controlled by the Transcendental AI. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, the humanoids chose another path.

There are not many roads leading to the hidden military base, and most of the passages are blocked by landmines. If you try to force your way through, you will inevitably be detected by the AI. And those war weapons that have been trapped underground and have not been activated will awaken again.

AK12 remained patient. After several shifts and dodging patrol robots, the tactical figures finally arrived about a kilometer in front of the military base.

The base was already crushed by the collapsed building. Based on past map records, the humanoids determined that they could approach the base through a nearby drainage ditch.

All it takes is some explosives to break through the trench walls and invade the base. After all, even the most secure base needs ventilation and drainage systems, otherwise just dealing with the breathing and excretion issues of the people inside the base would be a life-threatening situation.

On the edge of the ruined city, the Iron Blood Force had already completed automated puppet production and personality infusion. The Jaegers and Wasps, each possessing basic personalities, awaited orders under the guidance of the Iron Blood Elite. The Iron Guard robots and Jaguars, providing supporting firepower, had also completed their self-inspections.

Various types of drones and mobile production factories are also ready for missions nearby.

[Report. Humanoids assembled, Iron-Blooded puppets assembled. Second echelon is carrying out expansion work 50 kilometers to the east. Blocking positions are expected to be established in 30 minutes.]

In the internal LAN, the nearby tactical humanoids reported the status of each team to AK12.

AK12 breathed a sigh of relief. Not only was she the captain of her own squad, but she was also the commander of the entire First Echelon. She used to follow Anjie's instructions, but now it was just her and the other T-dolls.

"Start the mission." said AK12.

An encrypted signal was transmitted from the AK12, flying along the routes of the humanoid, Sangvishes, and transport plane all the way to Night City.

Seconds later, a deluge of complex signals arrived from the east. Far away in Night City, Antonina had lured the Transcendental AI to a server here, where she activated various pre-prepared Trojan viruses and intrusion programs.

These programs from different worlds and with different effects successfully paralyzed and suppressed the "Duchess". This dull and ignorant transcendental AI could not even understand what was happening. It just clumsily analyzed these strange algorithms and programs in cyberspace in order to escape.

When the Duchess was paralyzed by the attack, some nearby automated equipment was paralyzed, and some combat machines were activated after detecting intrusion activities.

Combat machines range from small automated tracked vehicles to square-headed military combat robots.

They were weapons prepared during the corporate war to counter electronic warfare, and their actions could only be stopped by a special key.

It seems that due to their age, their signal receiving equipment has been damaged to varying degrees. At least the humanoids can only control some of the combat machines that are overloaded and damaged.

But this is enough, the rest depends on real strength.

[Countdown 30 minutes. Attack.] AK-12 removed its camouflage, and the humanoids armed with heavy railguns launched the first attack, launching countless accelerated metal blocks.

Those combat machines that had just crawled out and used cameras to observe the surrounding environment were immediately shattered by rail bombs.

The old combat machines were still able to fight, but their unmaintained armor was clearly not enough for the humanoids who dealt with armored units every day.

The dull city suddenly became restless, and underground bases were awakened one after another. Soon, those dormant old machines would break out from the ground.

[Iron Blood Force, occupy and maintain the evacuation route for at least 30 minutes.] AK12 sends a message to the Iron Blood Force at the edge of the city.

[Roger that, no problem.] Several elite Iron-Blooded T-dolls leading the Iron-Blooded army responded briefly.

As soon as he finished speaking, a precision fire strike arrived from the edge of the city. Jaguars and Iron Guard robots equipped with various mortars, grenade launchers, and rocket launchers fired three salvos at the coordinates designated and planned by the tactical humanoids.

All automated patrol teams within a 20-kilometer radius were subjected to saturation fire. The automated machines that were emerging from underground in neat rows were also reduced to piles of scrap metal by high-explosive grenades, rockets, and mortar shells.

When redesigning these Iron Blood support weapons, Kroch demonstrated his dedication to sustained firepower.

She constantly demands longer-lasting firepower, longer range, and greater firepower coverage. Under this guideline, the upgraded Iron Blood troops can carry out uninterrupted fire strikes.

Wherever non-friendly signals appeared, they would be bombarded with rounds of artillery fire. Each Jaguar could fire 16 rockets per round, and the automatic loading device on it only took tens of seconds to reload the grenades needed for the next round of firing.

The sustained firepower of an artillery unit is usually related to the quality of its gun barrels and the amount of supplies it has. However, the holographic production machines unearthed from the Great Mountain make traditional artillery shell supply doctrine seem like a joke.

With this production machine, the dolls can produce various types of shells on site at any time, just like the artillery in the game with unlimited ammunition can attack the real troops.

As long as the gun barrel is not damaged or overheated, the Iron Blood support troops can carry out fire strikes without stopping.

Along with the firepower strike, hundreds of drones of various types were launched into the air. These drones, under the control of the elite Iron Blood, performed surveillance missions throughout the city.

Some drones carry light firepower and fly to support tactical humanoids, while others provide accurate vision for the supporting firepower units.

The elite Iron Bloods divided up the work among themselves. The judge was responsible for finding a position near the edge that could block the Su Petrochemical Rapid Reaction Force. She also dispatched most of the supporting firepower units.

The remaining elite Iron Bloods led the puppets to clear an evacuation route. As the drones scanned the surrounding terrain, some Jaguar and Iron Guard robots were deployed to the rooftops of tall buildings to gain a better range of fire.

In just a few minutes, the Iron Blood Force successfully bombed all nearby enemy machines. Fighting machines further away were still gathering and on their way.

Deep within the city, AK12 led the tactical figures into the ditch. After calculating the coordinates, they pulled out a piece of special equipment that hadn't been used in a while.

"The concrete composition analysis is complete, and the shock bombs are adjusted." A tactical humanoid in charge of the blasting operation placed several shock bombs on the pipeline. The humanoids fought off the swarming combat machines and quickly evacuated from the pipeline.

Squeak! Squeak! The concussion bomb etched a blast point into the pipe wall using a high-energy laser. A sonic oscillator embedded within released a specially modulated frequency, shattering the entire pipe. This concussion weapon, a synthesis of Atlas and Mountain Range technology, was far more precise and safer than traditional wall-breaking bombs.

With a series of impacts, the inner wall of the ditch shattered under the vibrations of a specific frequency. A hole was easily dug in the concrete wall tens of centimeters thick.

576 Recycling Mission (Part )

More than a dozen drones rushed in from the long-dried ditch, and the scanning devices and cameras they carried quickly scanned the surrounding environment.

In this dark underground base, hundreds of servers are flickering with the faint light of operation, and the screens connected to the operating devices are also lit, with massive amounts of data and software flashing rapidly on the screens.

"That's the mediation program. The Transcendental AI is cracking our encrypted communications and Antonina's offensive." Holding the rail assault rifle, AN94 zoomed in, and with just a quick glance, he understood what the data was saying.

Content written in radiation code can only hinder the Transcendental AI for a few seconds. For a transcendental being that actually has millions of devices as backup power, it is not difficult to crack the algorithm.

What really prevented the Duchess from continuing to crack the system was the psychic encryption communication protocol from XCOM.

In this agreement, those who do not hold a psychic license can only obtain a mess of code.

Only those who actually master psychic powers, or at least have the necessary psychic analysis equipment, have a chance of deciphering it.

There is no shortage of psykers on XCOM's Avenger. After all, humans in the XCOM world are set to have psionic talents, they just need to be developed.

The humanoids were able to use this encrypted communication thanks to the psychic coding technology developed by the people of the XCOM world. Otherwise, even the humanoids couldn't decipher it even with their best efforts.

At least without the help of XCOM technology, the humanoids spent several years unable to find any useful information from the encrypted information covered by psychic power.

The humanoid couldn't do it, and the Duchess certainly couldn't do it. After all, she really didn't have any bullshit psychic decryption devices.

There are very few things with fantasy elements in this world. Things like psychic power, brain telekinesis development, and teleremote sensing are even more unthinkable.

If it really existed, Arasaka would have used it to control his subordinates long ago. There would be no need to spend several years on brainwashing training in a special training camp.

And now, the Transcendental AI Duchess was being suppressed by Antonina in this underground base. The surrounding computers were still frantically processing data, attempting to decipher the psychic encryption protocol and thus reverse-control the surrounding troops through the drone's communication network. Unfortunately, no matter how much computing power they exerted, they could not obtain the correct result.

[Execute the recovery procedure.] The tactical figures following behind dispersed to various servers containing important nodes. They took out a box wrapped in Saturn alloy from behind.

Sun Yang recently bought a box with a foldable space from a mysterious farmer. The humanoids took out various large devices from it and inserted them into the server.

The speed of the surrounding computers was affected, and the recovery speed of the humanoids was also very fast.

[Received a large number of communication requests. It's a DDOS attack.] The tactical doll on the other side suddenly crashed while speaking, and was then restarted by a teammate nearby.

"You idiot! Didn't I tell you to block other communication channels before we came in? Do you think you can eavesdrop on the information?" the teammate shouted angrily.

Even with all the selections, there's still a trickster. AK12 is a bit tired, but it doesn't have much of an impact. The humanoids around the server are still performing recycling tasks.

[AK12, combat machines approaching the outer corridor. Speculation suggests the Transcendental AI may be seeking self-rescue.] Makarov of the Palette Team suddenly reported.

Perhaps there was a fear that combat machines would rush in and damage the servers, so the combat machines in this base were simply deployed in layers in corridors and aisles according to tactical manuals, seeking opportunities for meat grinders and street fighting with the enemy.

But the tactical humanoids did not intend to compete with the opponent in terms of military strength. They directly broke down the wall and came in, catching the transcendental AI off guard.

[I wonder if the machines in this world are equally adept at urban combat...] AK12 immediately assigned personnel, leading the rebellious squad to man the largest entrance. Two machine gunners and a shotgunner set up simple fortifications on the spot, blocking the road.

The Transcendental AI itself intends to rely on the complex terrain to delay the attackers, and then use the massive military reserves here to defeat the enemy.

But now the complex terrain has become its constraint. It must break through the tactical humanoids' defenses before the humanoids finish their work, otherwise it will die soon.

The peripheral reconnaissance drones were destroyed by the machine guns mounted on the combat machines, and the humanoids learned the enemy's attack route. In the dark corridors of the base, only the regular, rapid footsteps of the combat machines could be heard.

Puff puff--! !

The railgun opened fire first, a whirring storm of metal piercing the darkness. At the end of the corridor, countless combat machines rushed out one after another. Some were shot to pieces the moment they emerged, but the following machines, bearing down on the remains of those in front, charged forward with determination.

Dazzling flames flickered from the end of the corridor, the machine guns of the combat machines fired, and the sound of explosions echoed in the corridor. The shields in front of the machine gun dolls were hit by these old weapons and kept shaking.

Under the attack of the railguns, the combat machines fell in droves, but the replacements seemed endless. The machine gun bullets quickly tore through the walls, and the humanoids who were closest to the wall were quickly blasted in the face by dozens of machine gun rounds.

These old machine guns could only barely break the humanoid skin. Beneath the white, broken skin was a body hard enough to receive machine gun bullets.

[AK12, enemy combat vehicles have determined their attack is blocked and are destroying the wall. Our estimated defense line will be expanded fivefold, and we expect to withstand fivefold the firepower.]

The tactical humanoid standing behind sent a situation report. She took out the EMP grenade launcher and repeatedly pulled the trigger at the combat machine pushing the corpse of its companion at the end of the corridor.

More combat machines stopped functioning. However, facing the actual mountain of combat machines, the humanoids' firepower was actually starting to fall short.

After all, this was a defensive line constructed of a large mass of metal. As this defensive line was pushed forward, the humanoids prepared other weapons.

A heavy plasma launcher and a machine gun figure were brought out from behind. This weapon, which had been used in the Fallout era, now had its place.

The plasma jet flashed with dazzling brilliance and hit the moving metal wall in front. The jet melted through the defense line and destroyed the combat machines behind it one after another.

When the technological gap reaches a certain level, numbers no longer determine victory or defeat. These combat machines can absolutely crush the morale and defenses of human troops, but they are no match for humanoids.

[Nodes and data recovered, AK12, mission complete!] After confirming everything was correct, the recovery figure quickly disassembled the various devices and repacked them into boxes.

[Finally.] AK12 ordered the dolls to retreat in an orderly manner, then turned and pointed his gun at the server.

Puff, puff, puff—! The railguns punched countless holes in the server area. Anyone with a little free time was destroying the computers there.

577 Recycling Mission (Complete)

Plasma launchers and railguns reduced the base's networked computers and backup servers to rubble. AN94 had originally preferred not to go through so much trouble and simply cut off the power to the generators.

But after using a drone to scan, she discovered that there were several backup emergency generators under the base's servers. And to destroy the cables, she would have to break the floor.

After thinking for two seconds, AN94 decided to directly contact the server, which would be faster.

As the humanoids wreaked havoc, the nearby combat machines began to behave erratically. The combat machines, which had previously been able to charge in waves and maintain accurate fire, became sluggish, their formations becoming disorganized.

The weapon aiming systems on these combat machines had long since become extremely unreliable due to a lack of maintenance. Previously, the ability to accurately aim was solely due to the Transcendental AI manually fine-tuning and micro-manipulating each combat machine.

If these old guys were allowed to adjust themselves, they would probably be blown up by the heavy firepower of the humanoid soldiers before they could finish adjusting.

After destroying as many servers as possible, the Transcendental AI had significantly fewer resources to mobilize locally. The humanoid in charge of recovery returned the equipment to its magical wooden crate and called for the others to retreat.

"While manually deleting the data on the server would be more thorough, this is also fine." The humanoid in charge of data recovery said, looking at the mess.

"Should we stop trying and completely eliminate this Transcendental AI right here?" Palette Team's AAT52, machine gun in hand, emerged from the damaged trench and pulled the trigger. At the top of the trench, a stealth drone provided her with vision and a firing position, assisting her in destroying the combat machines emerging from the depths.

"It's useless. This type of AI has at least dozens of backup locations. Disposing of it here will only result in a partial data loss, with no impact on the main unit. We're essentially scooping out a portion of self-reproducing butter for our own use." The recovered figure explained, sprinting with the wooden box on his back.

[Forget about the cream. RPK16, send the evacuation signal. Have the Iron Bloods blast their way out.] AK12 gave the order, leading the Rebellious Squad out of the ditch with the drones. A large group of tactical figures followed, surrounding the recovery team to prevent stray bullets from hitting the crates.

[Alright, got it, Captain.] The RPK16 fired a flare into the sky, its crimson glow visible to those far away.

Considering the possibility of signal interference, the humanoids ultimately carried traditional flares to indicate their current situation. After all, it was easier for the Transcendental AI to intercept communication signals than to shoot down flares in mid-air.

More than a dozen kilometers away, at the edge of the city, the Judge spotted the red flares. She passed new orders to the nearby Iron Guard robots and Jaguars, and a new round of firepower followed.

The elite Iron Bloods who had established temporary fire positions in the city also ordered their Iron Blood puppets and fire support units to continue attacking distant combat machines.

As the bombs continued to blast nearby, the tactical figures raced along the previously cleared path. Even the occasional old machines that appeared were no match for the abundant firepower in the hands of the figures.

It doesn't seem to be a problem.

The judge did not find it surprising. If there were problems every time an action was well prepared, it only meant that the preparation was not sufficient.

It's like a hundred trained soldiers with backup, fire support, a prepared battle plan, and assault rifles attacking a medieval manor. After a few rounds of artillery fire, the soldiers rush in to clean up the remaining troops, and then immediately withdraw after the attack. It's a miracle if anything can go wrong.

Just as the judge was considering going back to change his body and eat something, a communication signal came in.

"Judge, the Su Petrochemical air base to the east has responded. The first batch of fighter jets are expected to join the battlefield in 20 minutes. I have new orders." Sun Yang's face appeared on the screen. The judge felt somewhat accustomed to his commander suddenly accessing the communication.