All of us gaped at the Exo-Knights that were stomping their way towards us.

There was a pause as everyone had to take a moment to register what was happening in front of us as we weren't totally sure if what we were witnessing was actually happening or not.

When it became clear that there were indeed Exo-Knights currently matching their way towards us, everyone started to run.

Thankfully, the Exo-Knights didn't seem that concerned about the people that they were walking over and concentrated on the box that held all three new generation Exo-Knights.

With such a blatantly obvious goal, I figured out that they were definitely after the new generation Exo-knights.

Who the hell is trying to do this? They're really just piloting the Exo-Knights to try and steal the new Exo-Knights or something? Why would they even try and do something like this?

I mean… Even if you somehow manage to steal them… How are you going to get out of here?

If I'm not wrong, all of these Exo-Knights were brought here by some special methods of transport instead of just walking in. So how were these thieves planning to take those Exo-Knights out of here?

And even if they managed to get them out of the convention hall… They would most definitely be facing the station's entire police force and they would most likely be caught pretty easily.

I mean… The only way they could escape this place with the Exo-Knights is that they somehow manage to sneak it through the hangar bay to get it out of the station which would be impossible to sneak through.

I guess… They would need to have another place within the station that they could smuggle them out or something.

Anyway, now isn't the time to wonder how they were planning to complete their heist here. There's several Exo-Knights now marching over towards us like… Eh?

I thought it was a little weird earlier but… These Exo-Knights are moving quite robotically…

I've already piloted them before so I know what it's like for them to move them but… These Exo-Knights' movements look very deliberate.

You know how you might see those old robots trying to walk where their movements were all precise and clunky as compared to how a normal human might move?

Yeah, I'm getting that vibes coming from these Exo-Knights right now…

It's almost like they weren't piloted by people?

Wait… No way… Don't tell me they were being piloted by AIs?!

Did that tech from Ruger Heavy Dynamics get leaked somehow?

I turned to Ries and it looked like she had also come to the same conclusion with how she also turned to look at me.

I then started looking around, "Where's the security? You'd think they'd be rushing here to deal with this right now."

"Well… I don't think they were prepared for the Exo-Knights coming to life and going around attacking people… Their security team probably isn't equipped to handle a runaway Exo-Knight…" Ries pointed out.

"Should we run?" I asked.

Ries turned back to look at the new Exo-Knights that were still stuck inside the box, "Boss… I might have a crazy idea…"

I looked in the direction of the stage as well before turning back to Ries, "You're not serious, are you?"

Ries grinned, "Why not? They're just sitting there! And this is obviously a crisis right now so we would be doing everyone a favour by dealing with it!"

"I'm not even sure that the Exo-Knights can be used right now… Don't they have security measures in place to prevent random people from using them?"

Ries grinned and wiggled her eyebrows at me.

Ah… She wants me to hack into the Exo-Knights using my Codex.

But…

"Do we even need to get involved in this anyway? We can just run away and leave all this stuff for the organisers to deal with, right?"

Ries continued to grin at me, "Boss… If this problem isn't solved, the Exo-Knights industry might take a hit and it might also delay the release of the new Exo-Knights! Not only that, it might even be more difficult for people to buy Exo-Knights after this too! And if we were the ones to solve this situation… We might even get a big reward out of it!"

Ugh… I guess Ries does have a point… I didn't want to come all the way here just to waste my time after all…

I turned towards the stage where the three Exo-Knights were kept.

Right now, no one was near there and most of the crowd had already evacuated from the area.

I'm actually quite surprised that a crowd as big as that could disperse that quickly so I guess this building did take into account the possibility of an emergency and allowed large crowds to disperse pretty effectively.

I shook my head, now wasn't the time to admire the building's safety codes…

I ran towards the stage and climbed up onto it, pulling Ries up after me before I considered how to get inside the box.

It looks like glass… Or rather like plastic… But when I knocked my knuckles against it, it felt as solid as a steel wall.

Looking along the length of the box itself, I did not see a door or anything that might allow me to get inside where the Exo-Knights are being kept.

No doubt when those AI controlled Exo-Knights reached the stage, they would just simply tear the box open instead of trying to unlock it.

Maybe they might even be trying to destroy these Exo-Knights and aren't worried about keeping them intact anyway.

"What now?" I asked, looking at Ries.

"Err… We can try breaking the wall?"

I rapped my knuckles against the box again, "Do you hear how solid this thing sounds? I don't think we can easily break this thing with what we have here…"

"Yeah… These things are designed to withstand even a bomb going off… We'd need to drill through it I guess… Or use an Exo-Knight to punch through it…"

"You're not suggesting we go out to the exhibition hall and get one of the older generation Exo-Knights just to break open this box so that we can take one of the newer Exo-Knights right?"

"Ugh… I get it Boss… My plan was already doomed to fail from the start…"

And this was not considering the fact that the AI controlled Exo-Knights were already in the same hall as us and were still lumbering their way towards the stage as we speak.

We're just lucky that they weren't running and just slowly walking towards us instead.

I was just about to suggest that we should get out of here when I felt a tug on my arm.

I looked down to see that Renata had created a tentacle to latch itself onto the side of the box and she expanded herself to the size of a door while sticking herself to the box.

That was the sound of her swallowing something before she detached herself from said box, revealing a hole exactly at where she had been earlier.

"There you go, Daddy! I made a way in for you! Ehehehe~" Renata giggled.

Well… Alright then… I honestly didn't know she could eat through that.

I quickly ran into the box with Ries before looking up at the three Exo-Knights that were inside with me.

One was the black knight, the second was the floating triangles and the third was the heavy artillery platform.

I suddenly had a weird sense of nostalgia like I was picking a starter creature in a laboratory to accompany me on a journey inside a ball that fits in my pocket.

Which one should I choose to deal with this situation?

If I were to just look at each of their designs, I could basically guess that the black knight Exo-Knight probably specialises in being a vanguard where it would dive into the thick of a fight and maintain its presence there.

The triangular one feels like it would be something that moves really quickly but doesn't have as much defence and attack power as the black knight. Those triangular floating thingies around it could possibly be attack drones that you could use to attack your targets while you fly around the space and disorientate your enemies.

The last one looks to be the most straight forward where it's definitely the one with the highest firepower and defence but that would definitely slow it down in terms of speed.

Honestly… If this was up to me, I might have picked the last one because I want those big cannons and rockets… But I think using that in such an enclosed space might be a pretty bad idea since it might blow up the entire district.

The triangular one wouldn't be a good choice in this enclosed space either so…

I guess the black knight Exo-Knight it is!

Now… How do I board this thing?

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