Genius Mechanic: Chapter 104

Coria Contaminated Zone (Joint Clean-Up Operation)

104. Aftermath

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake

After hearing Ying Chenlin’s words, Qi Sicheng seemed to abruptly understand why KID urgently needed energy canisters. However, the explosion-triggered collapse of the mountain created a strong airflow.

“Everyone retreat first, let’s leave this place!”

Although the two energy canisters had limited energy, when combined with the widely spread condensation agents, the already disturbed mountain couldn’t bear the burden. The collapse caused by the explosion flattened the original mountain pass in just over ten seconds. The sounds of its continued collapse accompanied the spread of dust and debris, and explosion alerts popped up in every mecha cockpit.

In the rest lounge of Coria’s Management Bureau, the people from Dawn Galaxy anxiously guarded the detection system. They hadn’t relaxed since KID set off to rescue Gale. For a while, they couldn’t contact KID and Gale. Later, they didn’t dare contact anyone.

First, they saw the mecha signals of Gale and KID appearing around the second S-level pollution source in the mountains. Then they saw the pollution source disappear, while the mechas lingered… And just now, they received seismic wave reminders centred around Gale and KID’s position. The moods of everyone in the room were like roller coasters.

Everyone knew the situation, it must have been a skirmish, and it wasn’t a minor one. This wave even reached the Management Bureau!

“The Management Bureau is investigating the seismic waves.”

“It seemed a bit lively in the Second Star Domain’s lounge, I just heard that several mechas were damaged.”

Shen Xingtang said in a deep voice, “What about on our side?”

“We’ve also suffered some damage… But for now, it seems like they’re all minor injuries.”

Jiang Simiao quickly checked the damage to their own mechas and found that the most severe damage, surprisingly, was to Huo Yan’s shield.

“It doesn’t seem too serious either.”

At this moment, those of the Dawn Galaxy didn’t care whether they would disrupt their operation or not, the connection transmitted through particularly smoothly.

However, amidst the crackling sound of electricity, only Ji Qingfeng’s voice could be heard, accompanied by Zhao Lejie’s response.

“The explosion probably affected the signal on their side, right? We should be able to contact them soon.”

Ji Qingfeng, who was standing on a peak, answered the call. He looked into the distance.

“Oh, it’s all good. We just went to steal and kill GBK’s pollutant, and it seems like on Qi Sicheng and Chenlin’s side—”

Zhao Lejie stepped on the corpse of the lion pollutant that had been GBK’s and, using his mecha’s long-range vision, looked towards a distant area about 7 kilometres away. Vaguely, it seemed like a corner of the mountain had collapsed.

“Looks like there was an explosion over there, the mountain probably blew up.”

The others from Gale standing next to Zhao Lejie agreed in unison.

Ji Qingfeng added, “They blew it up.”

Dawn Galaxy’s people: “…”

Stealing, killing, and blowing things up???

The environmental report on the detection system confirmed what KID and Gale said on the communication channel. The staff in the lounge watched KID and Gale’s detected movements, as they had begun to move while GBK’s’s mechas remained still.

Recalling Ji Qingfeng’s mention of blowing up a mountain, the staff hesitated to ask, “What about GBK’s mechs?”

The leader of YDS next to them looked at the environmental report calmly and said, “Haven’t you seen this before? It isn’t the first time they’ve buried someone.”

This remark stirred everyone’s memories. During the Qiu Jin incident, an explosion buried two of YDS’s mechas and even summoned a Black Hole.

They all looked at GBK’s mecha signals visible on the detection system, this meant that the mountain was blown up… and GBK was buried underneath.

Zhang Ge asked incredulously, “So we stole GBK’s pollutants and buried them???”

Jiang Simiao, “From the detected information, it doesn’t seem like there are any other candidates.”

Shen Xingtang suddenly remembered, “If i’m recalling correctly, we’ve never obtained an S-level resource on the main planet due to the Second Star Domain.”

Dawn Galaxy’s people looked at each other, each with a different expression. Although they were particularly unhappy about being robbed of resources by the Second Star Domain, this time around, they were prepared for conflict with them. However, none of them had expected things to evolve into the current situation. Originally, the main planet should have been the most fiercely contested area, but now, Dawn Galaxy had actually taken all the S-level resources on the main planet???

Black Crow’s leader spoke, “Wait a minute? Did we have a follow-up plan prepared in our original plan?”

After the joy, this statement was like a bucket of cold water pouring down on them.

The uproar caused by blowing up the mountain was so big? How would their conflict with the Second Star Domain be resolved???

Shen Xingtang said, “We were prepared, but we didn’t anticipate how to handle blowing up the mountain and burying their people.”

The faces of those in the lounge suddenly changed, sweat dripped from the foreheads of the leaders from major base stations, and the Alliance staff were trembling as they prepared to make a call to the Chairman of the Dawn Alliance.

“Don’t panic, don’t panic!”

“…Let’s first prepare a contingency plan. Once the higher-ups or the Second Star Domain come asking for accountability, we need to distance ourselves from having any relation to this. Just follow the original approach, saying that we accidentally clashed with GBK’s people while trying to deal with pollutants.”

Zhang Ge paced back and forth, coordinating with the coaching advisory teams of several major mecha base stations to figure out how to handle the aftermath.

“If we can resolve the situation, let’s not stir up trouble.”

Zhang Ge continued, “For now, let’s report to the Management Bureau.”

Jiang Simiao asked, “Do we need to report to them even when we’re burying someone?”

Zhang Ge quickly fabricated a narrative, “We can say that our mecha squad caused a mountain collapse while clearing pollutants, accidentally causing an explosion. We didn’t realise that GBK’s people were buried underneath.”

At that moment, a staff member knocked on the door, “Hello, our director wants to hold a small meeting in the conference room and needs your representative.”

All eyes in the lounge turned to Zhang Ge.

Zhang Ge, “…”

Inside Coria’s Management Bureau, they received an immediate alert about the drastic environmental changes.

When the staff examined samples from the swamp forest explosion not long ago, the small scanning robot responsible for checking the damage in the swamp forest transmitted the information back. Upon receiving it, all the staff in the Management Bureau fell into silence.

Due to the joint cleanup involving multiple crucial mecha base stations from two major star domains, they were under the Dawn Galaxy, but the Second Star Domain was a powerful force pressing down on them. There were already instructions from to top, stating that in case of minor conflicts or clashes, Coria’s Management Bureau should refrain from intervening unless absolutely necessary to avoid unnecessary trouble.

Both sides’ mecha pilots were also very clever, smoothly toggling their mecha signals off to evade the Management Bureau’s detection system.

Coria’s Management Bureau was already prepared to turn a blind eye. Who knew that turning a blind eye would result in two methane explosions in the swamp forest? The first wave of explosions blasted part of the marshland to pieces, and the second wave directly hit some of the Second Star Domain’s mechas.

Before they could even clarify what happened in the swamp forest, there were already two consecutive explosions in the mountains.

“The damaged areas of the swamp forest can’t be estimated. Over in the mountains, we’ve detected two seismic waves, one small and one large,” said a staff member, looking at the monitoring system.

“Three nearby facility infrastructures have been damaged. Through an analysis of the seismic waves, at least two mountain ridges have been affected, and there is a high likelihood of a major collapse.”

The staff member asked, “Director, given the situation, should we turn a blind eye again?”

Coria’s Director remained silent for a moment before saying, “Which mechas are on-site?”

The staff member replied, “The damaged ones are mostly mechas from the Second Star Domain. Our investigative equipment has already arrived at the scene. The mountain collapsed, and the mechas are probably buried underneath. We’ve also found a large amount of ice on the surface from samples, presumably from a condensation agent.”

“During our inspection before they entered the Contaminated Zone, did GBK have two mechas with ice weapons?” The Coria’s Director nodded slightly as he looked at the detection system.

“Chairman Li was overly worried.”

“Our Dawn mecha pilots are very clever.”

Just then, a staff member hurried over. “Director, the conference room is ready, you can go over now.”

He added, “And there’s one more thing, a message came from the Frontier Army.”

Coria’s Director paused slightly, “What’s wrong?”

The staff member continued, “The Frontier Army has a squad requesting entry into the Contaminated Zone and wants your permission.”

---

Inside the Coria Contaminated Zone, Gale and KID quickly left the “scene” after the incident. Qi Sicheng reported the explosion to the base station. The explosion caused a big commotion, and since GBK wasn’t in the right, they were equally not in the right.

Seeing the report sent by Qi Sicheng, Ying Chenlin explained seriously, “Actually, you don’t need to worry too much. The signals sent to nearby base stations were probably blocked by GBK. There are abundant traces of condensate on-site, and two energy canister leaks that caused the explosion probably won’t be detected. On the contrary, GBK needs to report to Coria’s Management Bureau about their extensive use of condensate.”

You don’t need that much condensate to kill pollutants. Moreover, if GBK was confident enough to lead them here, there might be another means in this place that they haven’t employed.

In the end, this issue boiled down to the intentions of both parties. If it really escalated further, GBK likely wouldn’t dare openly admit this matter.

The condensate content at the scene was much higher than that of the two energy canisters used by Ying Chenlin. The Management Bureau also won’t believe that the mountain can be blown up so easily. Both the condensate and marks left by their combat would be the main basis the Management Bureau will use to reconstruct the scene. Either everything was placed on the table, or GBK would have to swallow their loss.

Qi Sicheng pondered for a moment and finally looked at Ying Chenlin.

“Did you calculate everything accurately?”

Ying Chenlin replied, “Before using the canisters, I deliberately overestimated their output. At most, they would be trapped underneath and unable to come out for a short period of time.”

When they arrived at Ji Qingfeng and Zhao Lejie’s location, several mecha pilots were dealing with the thunder-type pollutant stolen from GBK. The pollutant was a lion, with a thunder-type offensive anomalous crystal, tough to handle due to its thick skin.

Zhao Lejie was handling the materials, and Gale’s nearby mecha pilot watched attentively. Unexpectedly Zhao Lejie was proficient at it, having such skill.

“Deputy Captain, I didn’t expect you to be skilled in handling materials!”

“Yeah, this lion is particularly difficult to deal with. I didn’t expect it to be relatively easy to process.”

Ji Qingfeng, holding the Female Mantis, didn’t get to personally make a move.

“Of course, back in the day when Old Zhao and I were on Tianyu Star—”

Zhao Lejie tossed a scrap resource in front of the Female Mantis.

“…Who went to Tianyu Star with you?”

“It’s better to feed your daughter if you have time to chat. So much nonsense.”

When the Exploding Mountain Seven crew arrived, they could see Zhao Lejie’s mecha crouching down to process materials from a distance, while Ji Qingfeng held the Female Mantis, which was in the process of feeding. Seeing this, Lin Yao sighed, “Da Feng, your daughter even eats S-class pollutants?”

The waste from handling the thunder-type pollutant became food for the King Worm, and it ate it with relish. While Gale and the other members of their team discussed other matters, the pollutants stolen from GBK were handed over to Gale. KID had a fruitful harvest this time, and the thunder-type offensive anomalous crystal was more useful to Gale, so KID willingly gave it to them.

When Qi Sicheng received the anomalous crystal, he was somewhat surprised, “Thanks.”

Huo Yan said, “You’re welcome. Besides, it was already agreed upon. You take the parts from the mountains, and we take the ones from the forest.”

“What’s the next step? Are we going to help Black Crow or YDS?”

On this note, Qi Sicheng opened various communication messages that hadn’t yet been dealt with during the battle, “YDS just sent me a message, saying that they currently don’t need our support. Instead, they mentioned that we need to handle the issue of our mecha damage. We should go back to the base station to reorganize.”

As for the discussion, You Su couldn’t muster any interest and left it to Huo Yan and Gale to negotiate.

Turning his head slightly, You Su saw Ying Chenlin’s mecha stopped at the edge of the mountain peak, seemingly looking at something.

“That’s the Coria Restricted Zone,” Theo reminded, “He’s been staring in that direction!”

“Did this place look like this when you came here before, You Su?”

You Su lowered his eyes halfheartedly, “Did you read that from the database station again?”

“Of course!”

Theo said proudly, flipping through all the data recorded in its mecha.

“Even though I wasn’t born then, the mecha still has all its combat data, okay?”

The Female Mantis was positioned somewhat cleverly, right on the edge of the mountains and the swamp forest. Moreover, from this position, if you looked slightly to the north, you could see a dark forest. The forest bore the marks of burning, covering a vast area. From above, you could only see a charred expanse.

Halfway through, Theo suddenly asked, “Huh? Why is there missing data here?”

Ignoring Theo, You Su was about to take a couple of steps forward when he suddenly noticed a red light beneath his feet.

He paused, swiftly turned around, and looked back at the Female Mantis.

“Ji Qingfeng!”

The others, who were discussing other matters, snapped back to attention at You Su’s shout, turning to look at Ji Qingfeng’s location.

Huo Yan blinked. “Da Feng! mantis!”

“Don’t worry, everything’s fine, I’m holding on tight—” Ji Qingfeng was still talking to the nearby mecha pilot when he lowered his head and noticed the red circle under the King Worm, which was eating. He quickly tightened the restraining lock.

Despite being held even tighter, the Female Mantis continued munching on its meal. Seemingly unaware of why its dinner was interrupted, its red eyes glared at Ji Qingfeng.

Seeing Ji Qingfeng hastily restrain the mantis, Zhao Lejie, halfway through processing materials, remarked, “Can you please control your daughter? The ground is turning red.”

“Daughter,” Ji Qingfeng said, pulling on the restraining lock and watching the area turning increasingly and uncontrollably red. “Let’s not get carried away now. Reign in your red circle.”

You Su’s gaze flickered. “Something’s wrong, it seems to be out of control.”

The other mecha pilots: “???”

Zhao Lejie looked at the ground, his hand on the controls pausing for a moment.

“Is your daughter still digesting after having had a full meal?”

The red circle didn’t stop, and it even expanded several circles outward, instantly covering the surrounding area. A familiar oppressive feeling suddenly hit them. Ji Qingfeng, enduring his dizziness, awkwardly chuckled a couple of times.

“Shall we go out for a walk—”

Before he could finish his sentence, everyone’s vision went completely dark.

Author’s Note:

The King Worm: Eating and then strolling, it’s only natural.

The other mecha pilots: …

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