From cannon fodder to sweeping across thousands of stars.

Chapter 422 Escape from the tiger’s mouth
To Van Fleet, what was happening before his eyes seemed like a movie plot.

The betrayal of the adjutant, the family being held hostage, the villain who wants to capture the person alive, and the sudden appearance of a third party.

When the leader of the armed men was crushed by the figure that fell from the sky, several more figures that fell from the sky took care of several armed men nearby in an instant.

These units, which looked like another kind of combat puppets, relied on their own weight and the acceleration of gravity when jumping from great heights to directly trample the armed personnel they targeted, including their exoskeletons, into a twisted mass of unidentified objects.

The armed man who was controlling his wife and daughter didn't even have time to react before a sharp blade shot out from the arm of a combat puppet that had landed and pierced his neck.

After reacting, another armed man nearby subconsciously prepared to shoot at Van Fleet's wife and daughter, but the combat puppet that landed directly protected them with its body, and at the same time, cut off the trajectory of the opponent's electromagnetic rifle at a speed beyond human reaction.

In a flash, more than a dozen armed men were knocked down, including the driver of the vehicle behind them. The remote-controlled weapon station on the roof was also dismantled into parts.

Van Vleet was stunned for a moment by the scene in front of him. When he saw his wife and daughter escaped, he jumped out of the car without saying a word and rushed over to hug his family.

After confirming that his wife and daughter were not seriously injured, Van Fleet raised his head and was about to say something, but he saw that these combat puppets piled up the bodies of the armed men on the ground and began to pick up their weapons.

It was only at this moment that he finally took the time to carefully examine these combat machines that suddenly appeared.

The humanoid robot Van Fleet that appears later is actually familiar. It is a combat puppet for private use, usually serving as a bodyguard for the wealthy class.

Because of this, although this thing is called a 'combat puppet', it is actually a civilian product. There is nothing special about its materials and technology, so it is easy to get among the people.

The only different 'humanoid machine' looks a bit larger than the ordinary combat puppet, and many of its parts have been strengthened and modified.

Although it still looked like a civilian product-level modification, Van Fleet could see a sense of "actual combat style", which was obviously completely different from some flashy civilian defense products.

But these were not the reasons that attracted Van Fleet's attention. What really made him feel different was that this humanoid machine gave him a feeling of "this is a real person".

In some small movements and behaviors, there is no sense of robotic awkwardness at all, but it is as vivid and smooth as a real person.

"Excuse me."

"Stay here." The cold mechanical voice interrupted Van Vliet's question, but it made him more convinced that there must be a real person controlling this steel body.

"Remote control through virtual reality? But it seems that there is no delay or awkwardness at all. Can such a high synchronization rate be achieved now?"

Van Fleet guessed silently in his heart, and then watched the robot and the combat puppet rushing towards a certain direction with the weapons discarded by the armed men.

Soon, there was a burst of gunfire and a loud noise of heavy objects hitting the wall from a building in the distance. It was obvious that a battle was taking place inside the building.

Van Fleet guessed that these mysterious mechanical units were fighting with the "reserve troops" of the military-industrial complex, which also proved that the forces behind the mechanical units were fully aware of everything that happened today.
Not long after, the robots and combat puppets returned to Van Fleet's position, except that there was one less combat puppet than before. At the same time, the remaining combat puppets, including the robots, all showed many traces of battle.

"I know what you want to ask." The cold mechanical voice sounded again. "But now is not the time to ask these questions. You will understand everything when you are safe. If you believe us, then get in the car and leave."

The robot raised his hand and pointed in a certain direction. Van Fleet looked in the direction of his finger and saw an ordinary-looking black hovercraft coming towards them.

After the vehicle came to a complete stop and the door was opened, Van Vleet discovered that there was no one in the driver's seat - like the taxis in the capital, this was an unmanned vehicle, which also meant that the other party obviously did not want to have direct contact with him at this time.

"If you trust us, get in the car. We will protect you and your family, but the prerequisite is to leave the capital system."

At this point, Van Vleet knew that he had no choice. Although he didn't know why the military-industrial complex wanted to capture him alive, he knew it was definitely not a good thing, and the option before him seemed to be slightly better.

After getting into the car with his family, Van Vliet took another look at the robot standing outside. The other party had no intention of leaving. He wanted to ask something again, but the closing door and the quickly driving away vehicle interrupted his questions again.

"What should we do next?" Looking at the vehicle going away, Baninger asked in the virtual space.

"Attract the attention of the pursuers. The louder the better. As for Van Fleet, I will make arrangements."

"I didn't expect that the first mission after coming back to life would be another suicide battle." Baninger said with some emotion.

"But this time, you have immortality, don't you?"
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"Where's the footage? Why hasn't it been restored yet? Has the communication with the field team also been interrupted?!"

"Sir, we have been disturbed by an abnormal situation. At the same time, the temporary command network has also been attacked. We are currently handling the situation urgently."

The technician's words made the commander of this 'round-up' operation break out in a cold sweat. The current situation had completely exceeded the predictions before the operation began, and the direction of the entire operation was running wildly on an unknown path.

The on-site commander shuddered at the thought of the anger he would face if the operation failed.

"Speed ​​up the repair! If anything goes wrong, you know the consequences!"

"Wait! There's a picture!" a technician shouted excitedly.

"Let it out quickly!"

The next second, a picture from a street surveillance camera appeared on the screen of the command vehicle. This was a picture taken by a surveillance camera located at a street corner after the lens was zoomed in to the limit.

The sight of bodies piled up together with burning vehicles and a military jeep moving away made the on-site commander's face turn pale. Soon after, the communicator reported that the reserve troops deployed nearby had also lost contact. The commander held his forehead in pain.

The worst-case scenario he anticipated finally happened.

"Activate the backup plan and report that we need more support."

(End of this chapter)