Arknights: Mobile City

Hearing Pioneer's words, Texas felt her scalp prickle. She glanced again at the distant swarm and reconfirmed just how vicious these creatures truly were.

Then she looked back at Pioneer, trying once more to read the thoughts behind that unchanging mechanical face.

Clearly, he wasn't joking. He was seriously suggesting that she do this.

"…But how exactly am I supposed to do that?"

Texas couldn't help asking, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"The moment one of those things dies, the rest devour the corpse in less than half a second. If I get too close, they'll attack me too."

"I'm not confident I can get in and grab a body that fast—much less more than one."

These questions had been weighing heavily on her mind. The whole idea just sounded absurd. And yet, judging from Pioneer's tone… it didn't feel like a joke.

The trouble was, with that flat synthetic voice of his, there was never any emotion to read. She couldn't get a fix on his intentions at all.

"Oh, sure. That is the tricky part," Pioneer said blandly. "That's exactly why I called in two Doubts before we left. They should be arriving right about—now."

As he spoke, Texas turned around—just in time to see two Doubts making their way toward them, appearing as if on cue.

"…So you do have a plan?"

"Of course. If you're willing, I'll guide you through it."

Pioneer made the offer without hesitation, and after a brief pause, Texas nodded.

Pioneer gave a wave of his hand, and the two Doubts picked up speed, heading straight toward the insect swarm.

"First, two things you need to know," Pioneer said as they followed from a distance. "One, these bugs will consume some inorganic matter—soil isn't on the menu, but steel definitely is. Two, they don't operate on a hivemind."

"The first means they'll treat the Doubts as food. The second means their instinct as individuals may override any collective strategy when prey is in front of them."

Texas nodded, only partially understanding.

Then Pioneer narrowed his glowing eyes and snapped his fingers.

"Like so."

He spoke with the same calm detachment as always. Texas turned—and saw the two Doubts sprinting back toward them in a panic.

Behind them… came a tide of Fresh Food.

It looked like about fifteen bugs were chasing each Doubt. But what surprised Texas was—no others joined in.

"They're creatures of instinct. That means conserving energy is their top priority. When they're hunting, they'll assess whether the current number of attackers is sufficient. If it is, the rest stay behind to save energy."

Pioneer explained all this matter-of-factly, then gestured toward the distance.

"Let's go. We'll lead them somewhere out of the swarm's line of sight… As long as we don't provoke the Food Chain itself, we'll pick them off like this. Won't put a dent in the whole swarm, but for us? It's plenty."

At that moment, Texas finally understood what Pioneer had meant.

Without hesitation, she drew her weapon and followed him.

From there, it became a simple process.

Lure a small group of bugs away from the main swarm. Make sure no others are close enough to respond. Kill the isolated group. Retrieve the corpses. Repeat. The Doubts acted as bait—low risk, high return.

In just two hours, the two of them had taken down over a hundred of the things.

Eventually, Pioneer stopped and slowly shook his head.

"That's enough. Any more would be a waste. This kind of skirmish doesn't matter to the swarm. Let's head back."

Texas stopped as well, nodding in agreement.

They returned quietly to the safe zone. Pioneer remained as expressionless as ever, but Texas… looked deeply troubled.

For the first time, she'd seen the Food Chain up close.

And because of that encounter, something heavy had begun to settle in her chest.

Against something like that… is victory even possible?

…

In stark contrast to the unreadable Pioneer and the brooding Texas, Obsidian was lying in his wooden cabin—absolutely ecstatic.

"We're rich! We're finally rich! We've got money now!"

He grinned like an idiot, practically radiating joy as he talked to himself, voice brimming with glee. Then he sat bolt upright and punched the air.

Finally! Money!

He'd recovered all the corpses of those hundred-plus Fresh Food insects. By his calculations—and factoring in the bonus for the first kill—he'd racked up enough for at least 700 Lunacy.

No need to push further—the return efficiency would only drop from here.

Still, that's a damn good haul.

Obsidian couldn't help but grin to himself.

Five full pulls. And with his leftover Lunacy, he'd still have a reserve of 60. When was the last time he'd been this flush with currency?

"Let's do a couple rolls. See what we get."

He tossed 206 Lunacy into the Well without hesitation.

The result? Five Threads. And then—another red card.

"Not bad. Seven pulls and I've landed one gold and three reds."

Obsidian muttered, looking down at the card that materialized—and blinked.

[Food Conversion Unit]

From the card's stats, he quickly gathered the gist of how it worked.

[Type: Medium Equipment]

[Effect: With a small energy supply, converts soil and rock into edible organic material].

The moment he saw it, Obsidian's mind began to race.

But when he saw the words "requires energy supply," his excitement visibly deflated.

Right… energy…

No L Corp. No functioning power infrastructure. Where the hell am I supposed to get energy out here?

But wait—

That phrase—small energy supply.

Obsidian paused. Then an image flashed in his mind—Pioneer.

Wait a second. That body has solar panels. It can generate energy on its own, right?

The realization hit like lightning.

Obsidian slapped his thigh and shouted:

"Who says we don't have electricity?!"

"We've got a damn generator!"