At sunrise, Zhang Xiaowen's convoy arrived at the fork to find a black armored police vehicle and a van in tow. The Cube, transformed into a battered toy car with solar panels splayed open on the roof, basked weakly in the dawn light. Its energy reserves were critically low—even the hood flipped up to expose more collection panels. Inside the armored truck, a feverish girl slumped in the passenger seat, an IV drip hanging beside her.
"Whoa! This rig's a beast! And why's she hooked to fluids?" Feng Zhiwen gawked, while his husky, Xiao Er, marked the tires territorially. Xiaowen climbed onto the truck's running board, spotting the Cube's fresh scars.
"What happened?"
"Energy drain. Sunlight's recharging me. Check the cargo." The Cube transmitted footage of its mutated rat battle. Xiaowen grimaced at the monster's size.
Opening the rear hatch, her breath caught. The compartment overflowed with sleek black firearms: Type 92 pistols, QCW-05 submachine guns—enough to arm Longshan Camp's defenders twice over. "Security never felt so real," she murmured.
Feng peered inside. "Did Sleeping Beauty here rob an armory?"
"Police surplus," Xiaowen corrected. "Wang Nan, you're driving the van. Feng, *don't touch anything*."
As the convoy rolled toward camp, the Cube's solar panels hummed, energy bars refilling from red to green. Damaged joints shimmered blue as nanites rewired its frame, scratches vanishing like magic.
"Ahhh… full power! Glorious!"
Mid-journey, Xiaowen's radio crackled. "Zhang Jie! Ten hostiles breached camp! They took two guns and hurt Gao Dong! Threatening the girls—"
"*Dammit!*" Xiaowen slammed the wheel. "Why didn't they shoot?!" "Stay calm. I'll handle it." The Cube retracted its panels. With a screech of tires, the toy car launched off the truck, transforming mid-air into a helicopter. Rotors whipped fallen leaves into cyclones as it streaked toward Longshan.
Feng watched it vanish. "That little dude's *metal*."
***
**Longshan Camp**
The Cube descended like a vengeance drone. Below, a gang of thugs jeered at cowering students. Their leader waved a stolen pistol. "Next girl who resists gets—"
*Whirrr-CLANG!*
A machete-bladed rotor arm sheared the gun barrel in half. The Cube landed between the invaders and survivors, voice modulator crackling: "Surrender. Or become scrap."