"Hey, hey, hey! Why are you still thinking about fighting at a time like this? Didn't we already fight once last time?"
Seeing the figure standing on the top deck of the airship, M16 instantly recognized HK416.
Although she wasn't wearing the same clothes she once wore, she couldn't mistook her face. When she thought of the last time she was beaten by HK416 and forced into a one-sided hangman's fight, M16 couldn't help but feel a bit scared.
Dolls transformed by Renault were simply no longer the same species as tactical dolls like them. The sturdiness of the other party's body might be on the verge of catching up with an armored car or a tank. Even those elite dolls of Sangvis Ferri didn't have such an outrageous performance.
However, after the last fight with HK416, she was also aware of the only current shortcoming of Renault's dolls.
The energy core's power was insufficient.
Even if Renault used the strengthened military version energy cores, the energy inside was not enough to support those modified dolls to maintain the highest power state for 24 hours a day. The maximum power state could only be maintained for about half an hour. If the time extended longer, these dolls would shut down due to lack of energy.
So M16 thought if she had to fight HK416 again, she just needed to slowly drag the time, delaying until after the thirty minutes were up. Then, it would be easy to take care of the opponent.
But M16 was too optimistic.
For the dolls under Renault's command, the need to use maximum power in a fight had rarely arisen, and when it did, the battle was resolved within a few minutes. Moreover, with skillful application, the dolls could precisely control how much power they used, conserving energy effectively.
Watching M16 dilly-dally, with no intention of confronting HK416, AR15 shrugged.
She was just helping to convey a message; whether to go or not depended on M16's own will.
M16 even subconsciously tilted her head, avoiding looking at HK416 above. She wasn't foolish enough to volunteer for a fight unless she had a problem with her mind.
However, what M16 didn't expect was that just after she decided not to think about HK416, a strong smell of alcohol wafted over.
Looking around, the only people nearby were the AR team.
Besides herself, only AR15 could drink a little.
Did she bring her own wine? What a thoughtful thing to do!
Thinking of this, M16 looked towards AR15 with hopeful eyes, but AR15 just shrugged helplessly.
RO635, however, suddenly reached out and poked M16, pointing to the top deck of the airship.
There, the original standing figure of HK416 had sat at the edge of the deck, with a whole box of liquor beside her.
Just as they were talking, HK416 had already unscrewed a few bottles, letting the smell drift downwind to M16's side.
Gulp!
Seeing this, M16 immediately hesitated.
A whole box of wine, with a very strong smell.
All good stuff!
...
Just as M16 was about to rush over to HK416, Gager who had stepped out from Sangvis Ferri's base for patrol noticed the huge airship landing nearby.
"Tsk, why are those guys here again?"
She didn't expect Renault to really bring people over. Letting Architect dabble in the meal simply had no benefit at all. This girl never did things according to common sense.
Although she couldn't figure it out, she still had to do her job. She hadn't yet seen that crashed Griffin transport aircraft.
With the Dragoon's seat, Gager led a group of dolls to the crash site. The fire from the crash had long been extinguished, leaving only the blackened wreckage. She ordered her men to look for clues, while she surveyed the surroundings.
Despite covering their tracks, the snow on the ground still made it hard to cover up tracks, especially in a hurried situation. But the footprints she saw were divided into two groups, one with three people heading towards the forest. The other heading in a direction she was more familiar with, one foot in a strange bird claw style.
"Since when did Griffin have strangely shaped dolls?"
Gager thought Griffin's dolls wouldn't replace their limbs with strange shapes, given their civilian and security contractor roles. The 'affinity' of those tactical dolls was important to the average person.
"The memory module and neural core have been removed." The Dragoon brought the remains of a doll in pilot's clothing to Gager.
Four people? A squad? Without any Dummies?
Were they really here to probe the Jupiter Cannon's status?
Thinking of this, Gager decided to find the single doll first, as they were heading towards the Sangvis Ferri Base. If she didn't hurry, it would be bad if this person checked out the base's defense arrangement.
Meanwhile, Architect wasn't idle. She still had to put on an appearance, instructing the Sangvis dolls to start patrolling.
Seeing Renault's airship landing in the distance, she thought.
"As long as we go there, we'll be able to get a meal! The dolls on Renault's side wouldn't mind this little thing. A big meal! I'm coming!"