Chapter 26: The Black Scorpion's Fangs, the Mechanical Hounds, and Sister Ai Li's Su Xing

The roar of the water purifier became the hollow's new background music, the clear stream flowing like a movement of life, washing away the wounds left by battle. Xiang Lingna carefully tended to Sister Ai Li's injuries; the black salve Wrench had improvised seemed to work true wonders, and combined with the purifier's moisture, Sister Ai Li's high fever had broken and her breathing steadied, though she remained unconscious.

Lin Mo, meanwhile, led Xiang Lingna and the overenergetic Wrench in beginning the grueling reconstruction. Using the system-unlocked 【Basic Wooden Fence (Reinforced)】 blueprint, they chopped down and gathered the relatively tough mutant shrubs from the nearby ruins, and with the tools Wrench provided (there really were good things hidden in that guy's "junk") they shaved and polished them, beginning to build a sturdier, more orderly wooden fence on the site of the old thorn barricade that had been blown apart. Wrench, ever inventive, wedged sharp metal shards into the gaps of the fence, prettily calling it "tenderness with thorns."

The 【Simple Watchtower Blueprint】 was also put on the agenda by Lin Mo. He chose a taller concrete base on the hollow's edge and began construction with steel beams and thick planks he had found. Wrench contributed several high-strength bolts he had been hoarding and volunteered to take charge of the "top defense system"—a rotating boom fitted with sharpened wooden stakes, which in his words was "stab their ass if they dare climb up."

The potato field had survived the blast, and because it had absorbed the radiation dust kicked up by the explosion (?) and the purifier's steady irrigation, it was actually thriving more than ever, its lush green leaves standing out vividly against the wasteland's gray gloom. Xiang Lingna spent most of each day by the field, a long-absent, childlike smile on her face. The two mysterious seedlings that had exhausted their strength were still withered, but Xiang Lingna insisted on carefully watering them with the cleanest purifier water, and the faint purple veins on their leaves seemed… to truly be recovering a faint sheen, ever so slowly?

The territory resource panel displayed clearly:

**Food: Radiation-Resistant Potato (Growing) Stockpile: Low (Dependent on Output)**

**Water Source: Stable Output (Water Purifier) Stockpile: Medium**

**Building Materials: Wood (Low), Metal Scraps (Medium)**

**Special: Unknown Seedlings (Faint Activity Recovering)**

Everything seemed to be moving in a good direction.

Yet the shadow of the Black Scorpion, like a circling vulture, had never truly left.

That evening, Wrench, who was on watch atop the newly built watchtower (only half-finished), suddenly let out a terrified shriek: "Something! East! Moving fast! Not human!"

Lin Mo and Xiang Lingna were instantly on guard! Lin Mo snatched up the crossbow and hunting rifle and climbed the watchtower base.

From the shadows of the eastern ruins, three low, swift metal silhouettes were streaking toward the hollow as silently as cheetahs! Shaped like oversized mechanical wolfhounds, their metal frames were sheathed in dark-gray composite armor, joints flickering with ghostly blue energy light, heads fitted with glowing red electronic eyes, and alloy fangs glinting coldly from their jaws!

"Mechanical hounds! The Black Scorpion's trackers!" Wrench's voice was laced with terror. "They can sniff out energy and life signs! We're done for! Once they lock onto you, running to the ends of the earth won't help!"

The three mechanical hounds were terrifyingly fast, reaching the outside of the wooden fence in the blink of an eye! They did not pause for an instant; the red light of their electronic eyes locked onto the fence, and the energy joints in their hind legs exploded with power!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!" The three metal silhouettes leapt high into the air like cannonballs, easily clearing the three-meter-tall wooden fence! Their movements were fluid and lethal!

"Fire!" Lin Mo roared, raising the hunting rifle and squeezing the trigger at a black shadow diving toward him through the air!

"Boom!" The buckshot sprayed out, striking the mechanical hound's armor and sending up a shower of sparks! The hound was knocked askew in midair and crashed heavily to the ground, but after rolling once, it rose again as if nothing had happened, only a few dents left on its armor! Its defense was terrifying!

The other two hounds had already landed, their electronic eyes instantly locking onto Lin Mo and Wrench! A low, electric-motor-like hum rose from their throats, their alloy fangs spread wide, hind legs coiling with power, about to pounce!

"Xiang Lingna! Hide!" Lin Mo raised the crossbow in desperation, but facing three blade-and-bullet-proof mechanical monsters, the crossbow's power seemed laughably inadequate!

At that critical, hairsbreadth moment!

"Pheew—!"

A streak of ghostly blue light, like a lightning bolt tearing the night sky, carrying a killing intent that chilled to the bone, shot with perfect precision from the direction of the shack, instantly piercing the head and electronic eye of one mechanical hound that was lunging at Lin Mo!

"Pshhh! Bzzt-bzzt-bzzt!" The electronic eye burst apart, electric sparks flying in all directions! That hound, as if its spine had been ripped out, instantly collapsed to the ground, limbs twitching!

Sister Ai Li!

Lin Mo spun around in wild joy! There, at the shack's entrance, Sister Ai Li had woken up at some unknown moment! Her face was still pale, her left hand hanging limply, but with only her right hand she held that lethal crossbow perfectly steady! Her gaze was cold and sharp, like an awakened she-leopard!

She did not pause for an instant; the ghostly blue patterns on the crossbow's arms seemed to glow even brighter! String, nock, aim, fire! The motions flowed in one unbroken sequence, swift as a phantom!

"Pheew!" The second bolt shot precisely into the gap between the alloy fangs of another hound, burying itself deep into its vulnerable internal throat structure!

"Screech… boom!" A short-circuit-like explosion rang out from within that hound; black smoke poured out, it staggered a few steps, and collapsed as well!

The last remaining mechanical hound seemed shaken by the instant "death" of its companions; its electronic eyes flickered wildly, it let out a sharp electronic shriek, and actually retreated two steps, not attacking immediately!

"G-goodness… so powerful!" Wrench gaped, dumbfounded.

Sister Ai Li's third bolt was already nocked, the cold arrowhead locked onto the final hound. Her breathing was somewhat rapid—clearly the rapid-fire shots had pulled at the wound on her back, and fresh blood was once again seeping through the bandages. But the hand holding the crossbow was steady as a rock.

The mechanical hound's electronic eyes swept back and forth between Sister Ai Li and itself, as if assessing the threat level. In the end, it let out a reluctant low whine, spun sharply around, the energy joints in its limbs flaring blue, and like an arrow loosed from the bow, vanished into the eastern ruins in a few bounds, moving even faster than when it had come!

The crisis was temporarily lifted. But of the three mechanical hounds, two were dead and one had escaped. The Black Scorpion's tracking, like a maggot in the bone, had locked on for good! The "Doctor" behind them would absolutely not let this rest!

Sister Ai Li slowly lowered the crossbow, her body swayed, and she was caught by Lin Mo as he rushed over. Her face was even paler, and the bandages on her back were already stained red with blood.

"How… are you feeling?" Lin Mo's voice was full of worry.

Sister Ai Li shook her head, her cold gaze still fixed dead-steady on the direction the mechanical hound had vanished, her voice hoarse yet carrying an iron-edged killing intent:

"The Black Scorpion… must die."

The awakened she-leopard had bared even sharper fangs. And the Black Scorpion's shadow had already taken form as real, steel claws and teeth, closing in step by step. The brief peace of Hope Outpost had been thoroughly shattered.