Chapter 832 - 111: Raise the Shield!

"Machine Soul is pleased!"

The deranged cyber-psycho was violently swinging the mechanical control lever on the console, anyone who didn’t know better would think he was playing an old-school arcade game!

Red-hot flying steel sliced and smashed through the partitions between workshops at an ultra-high speed, a massive chunk of steel twisting in mid-air hit the machinery next to Elliot...

Boom—

The production line exploded under the impact with huge electric sparks, and the semi-finished products waiting to be forged scattered everywhere!

The close-range impact woke Elliot up instantly, and before he could rejoice for surviving, he watched wide-eyed as the half-finished product, like a cannonball, flew out and brutally smashed into a coworker’s head!

This coworker had no clue what happened: Before this massive metal piece hit him, he was smart like Elliot, smart enough to hear the words "cyber-psycho" and immediately start running...

But clearly, his luck wasn’t as good as Elliot’s.

The metal piece, like a cannonball, easily wiped out his head; it suddenly struck Elliot that it was like an eraser erasing mistakes on paper.

An eraser sweeps over white paper, and the black letters disappear as if they were never written; the metal pieces fly by, and the coworker’s head seemed never to have been attached to his neck.

Splat!

Blood sprayed wildly!

Yet the production line hit by the flying steel hadn’t stopped: the operating conveyor belt emitted black smoke, and high voltage currents even flickered within the smoke, making Elliot, who was observing closely, shiver—

The factory surely had safety designs, but clearly, these designs had failed!

A factory out of control under the destruction of flying steel can only cause a series of chain reactions—power, conveyor belt, materials waiting to be processed, semi-finished products, and even the mechanical arms used for processing parts... all will go out of control!

Metal screeched, people screamed, just as Elliot thought about this, the suspended conveyor in the air was directly smashed by a mechanical arm, and the cascading collapse swallowed the workers escaping on the second floor into the collapsing production line.

"It’s over, it’s over..."

Bang!

The loud noise behind was like a stimulant injected into Elliot, his weak legs instantly became nimble, but just as he was about to rush out of the door, the door slammed shut!

[Factory Broadcast: A malignant violent incident has been detected in the factory. To ensure damage cessation, the workshop doors are now closed.]

[Factory Broadcast: Please all employees be aware of your own safety, wait for the local police to arrive to handle the cyber-psycho.]

[Factory Broadcast: Please protect equipment safety as much as possible. Equipment disconnection has been detected, protecting company property is everyone’s responsibility...]

Elliot slammed into the door along with other coworkers from the same workshop, the latter letting out a mix of anger and grief:

"Responsibility my ass!"

"It’s over, over, why the hell can’t they shut down the production line too?!"

It seemed that the production line was either not programmed to stop or was malfunctioning due to the flying steel, and the continuous error operation still proceeded—

Which means, indeed the whole workshop initiated safety protection measures, isolating each workshop, but the production line hadn’t stopped...

But now what’s most threatening to people are those out-of-control machines and flying steel, if the production line can’t be stopped, what good is door closure?!

Bang!

Metal struck the metal door like a whip, directly smashing a semi-translucent crack on the door, Elliot’s mind went blank—

[Johnny: Stop fucking spacing out, remember you’ve got three badass grandpas in your head, go shut down the production line!]

Elliot felt as if someone yanked his collar, leaning against the wall he stood up with a friction sound, his prosthetic eye immediately marked the production line control panel in this workshop:

[Lille: If no one manages the out-of-control equipment, people here will be mostly dead before the police arrive, we need to find the panel and connect.]

[Lille: Figure out what the cyber-psycho did to the equipment, then...]

The backup direct control panel is directly connected to the machinery, to connect to the control panel you’d have to rush to the malfunctioning production line machine...

Thinking about rushing to the production line spewing metal pieces, Elliot recalled the coworker who had his head smashed, involuntarily swapping the coworker’s blurred face with his own...

Elliot shouted anxiously: "Are you nuts?! Going to the panel now?! I don’t want to be minced by steel bars!"

[Lille: You’re not...]

Lille hadn’t even finished speaking when he suddenly found "fear" was severely impacting the prosthetics in Elliot’s head...

"Freaking out" wasn’t a metaphor, this chubby kid was genuinely on the verge of a freakout! So much so that he couldn’t hear what Lille was saying!

But once again, a silver arm suddenly appeared in front of Elliot, slamming hard into his head:

[Johnny: Idiot! You think the crap in that damn machine will whine like you before coming over for a kiss?!]

"I don’t want to die!!!"

[Johnny: "I don’t want to die" — Elliot Grave’s last words before death, every second you stay here is gambling with your life!]

[Johnny: If anyone here can stop that turret, it’s only you! Think of your coworkers, haven’t you been whining a lifetime about this factory screwing the workers over, go save them!]

[Johnny: You damn slaughterhouse-standing pig!]

"I’m not a pig!!"

Johnny’s words somehow moved him, Elliot stood up with red eyes: "Tell me where the damned panel is?!"

"I know!"

Elliot and the three big guys in his head paused as they saw a tall and strong guy raise his hand high: "I know!"

Whoosh—Bang!

A big chunk of metal slammed hard into the wall behind them, embedding deep!

The guy and Elliot jumped in surprise, simultaneously taking two steps back hugging each other.

The guy looked at the component embedded in the wall, quickly said: "I know where the panel is, why do you ask?"

Elliot cursed under his breath for encountering an idiot, but quickly replied: "We need to connect to the panel and shut down the production line, or everyone in the factory will die!"

"Then what are you waiting for—"

The guy squat down reaching for the massive fallen iron plate on the ground.

His hands attracted the iron plate instantly generating a strong magnetic force, only then did Elliot realize this guy wasn’t just strong, but had an industrial battery on his back, his arms were enhanced exoskeleton, a magnetic suction transport device!

The iron plate was shield-like carried on his back: "Charge!"

Elliot suddenly felt all fear disappear: flying steel, metal parts, debris, and sparks constantly zooming across the factory felt like battlefield bombardment, black smoke felt like gunpowder, burning fumes smelled like explosives...

This is a battlefield indeed!

Thinking of this, he suddenly felt an extreme sense of pride, as if he truly walked on the paths he imagined...

On this path, he fearlessly battled, forged ahead with his comrades, overcame difficulties, and marched towards a great tomorrow!

"Raise the shield!"