Malfunctioning Utopia

Chapter 73: Life or Death

The massive hover vehicle floated in front of Sun Jack. Clearly damaged from its skirmish with Unit 3, its steel plating was torn open, sparks crackling from exposed wiring. Even hovering a mere three to four meters above the ground seemed a struggle, with the vehicle tilting precariously.

The left side of the vehicle was so badly damaged that Sun Jack could see the two operators inside.

Despite its state, the hover vehicle exuded an oppressive presence, especially as three drones emerged from a gaping hole in its body.

“Hilda! What’s this piece of junk’s weak point?” Sun Jack shouted to his companion.

“I don’t know! I’ve never seen this thing before!” Meanwhile, the anti-aircraft gun beneath the hover vehicle began to fire, sweeping across the area like a wall of light.

Dodging the onslaught, Sun Jack’s mind raced for a solution. Suddenly, an old but effective tactic came to him. “Hey! Unit 3, I’d like to file a report!”

But this time, his enemies had anticipated him. Before he could act, they jammed all communications, cutting him off entirely from the network.

As the drones’ guns began to spin up, Sun Jack knew that if they started firing, everyone here would die.

Clenching his teeth, Sun Jack pulled out a syringe of painkillers and jabbed it into his neck. He understood he had to go all in.

Without hesitation, he used his blade to cut into his own abdomen, reaching inside to extract a nuclear reactor. A small red light on it blinked steadily.

Holding the reactor aloft, Sun Jack shouted at the hover vehicle, “Come on! Shoot me! This is a godd**n nuke! Let’s all die together!”

The gunfire stopped. Every eye turned to the object in Sun Jack’s hand. The reactor’s surface, which should have glowed blue, was covered in an ugly makeshift casing.

“Wait, wait, wait! I need to explain something,” AA interjected, waving her hands. “Technically speaking, this isn’t a nuclear bomb. Boss didn’t give me enough time, so I used the sealed zirconium casing to make a high-yield dirty bomb.”

“Seriously?! Now’s the time for a science lesson?!” Sun Jack glared at AA but then asked in a lower voice, “Will it work?”

AA leaned close and whispered in his ear, “Oh, it’ll work. If this thing blows, the high-purity nuclear material inside will scatter as shards and dust, contaminating the entire area with lethal radiation. Flesh, electronics—nothing can withstand it. We’ll all die.”

“Fantastic!” Sun Jack’s expression twisted into a savage grin as he glared at the hover vehicle. Raising the reactor high, he roared, “Come on! Let’s all go to hell together!”

The hover vehicle hesitated, remaining stationary.

“Alright, Xiao Ting%, since neither of us can do anything to the other right now, how about we strike a deal?” Sun Jack shouted.

In truth, mutual destruction was the last thing Sun Jack wanted. This was a bluff—a final resort to ensure everyone’s survival.

“What do you want to negotiate?” A man’s voice emerged from the hover vehicle’s loudspeakers.

“I want to discuss—” Sun Jack began, but before he could finish, a flash of white light flickered from inside the vehicle.

A sneak attack!

Tapai’s radar picked up the danger instantly, but someone was faster—“Hilda.”

“Hilda” moved to shield Sun Jack, using their mechanical body to block the bullet meant for his head.

The projectile tore through “Hilda’s” metal frame, and though it was slowed, it still struck Sun Jack in the left collarbone, creating a cone-shaped wound.

The pain caused Sun Jack to drop the reactor, which splashed heavily into the water below.

Yet Sun Jack didn’t care about the reactor. His gaze was fixed on the fragments scattering in the air and the cracked black screen. In his mind, an image of cobalt-blue scales sinking into a gray ocean flashed vividly.

As the fragments hit the water, a blinding laser beam shot toward Sun Jack. He twisted his neck just in time to avoid a fatal strike.

Then, he moved.

Despite his blood-soaked body, Sun Jack darted through the storm of bullets and lasers with inhuman precision. It was as if he could predict every attack, evading all but a few glancing hits.

In mere seconds, Sun Jack reached the hover vehicle. The last drone dove at him, but he used it as a springboard, launching himself high into the air. Through the vehicle’s breach, he saw the terrified faces of two Xiao Ting%s inside.

In the next instant, Sun Jack emptied his belt of grenades, hurling them into the breach.

A deafening explosion followed, flinging Sun Jack into the muddy rainwater below. He tumbled, eventually coming to a stop with his head submerged, motionless like a corpse.

Lying in the pooling rain, Sun Jack stared numbly at the falling drops, barely registering Tapai and AA’s frantic attempts to treat his wounds.

This time, perhaps due to the shorter duration, his body didn’t collapse.

Yet his heart ached unbearably, as if it were being torn apart. He still didn’t know who the dead “Hilda” was, but the overwhelming sorrow nearly consumed his sanity.

“Do you even know her? You just met her and now you’re crying?” Tapai asked while using sensory lines to stitch Sun Jack’s wound. “Keep your emotions in check.”

“I… I can’t!” Sun Jack’s tears flowed uncontrollably. “This feeling is too much! Damn it! What happened to me during those five years?!”

“Hilda” was dead. Even in her final moments, Sun Jack hadn’t recognized her. Yet his heart felt like it was being pierced by knives.

He hated this feeling—it was as if his consciousness had been placed in someone else’s body. Whenever Hilda was involved, his rationality and even his physical instincts felt overridden by overwhelming muscle memory.

“Boss! Look! The robot’s head still has power!” AA’s exclamation jolted Sun Jack upright.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!