Genius Mechanic: Chapter 126

Dawn Galaxy (Warmongering)

126. Bill

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake and An Zheee

Inheritance…? Ying Chenlin had a somewhat stunned expression. Just as he was about to reach out to touch it, Shen Xingtang had already handed him the data board.

As soon as he touched the military data board, it prompted the input of an authorization password. Ying Chenlin looked at the familiar password system, identical to the one he had seen in Base Station C-147.

Shen Xingtang asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Ying Chenlin replied, entering the calculated authorization password. What popped up was a detailed list of an inheritance, with Ying Lingfeng’s name written prominently at the top. He silently pronounced the name, it felt somewhat familiar, as if he had heard his grandfather mention it, yet it also felt distant.

The listed assets in the inheritance belonged to Ying Lingfeng, including all the assets he left in the Frontier Army Bank, as well as some anomalous crystal resources that temporarily couldn’t be exchanged.

Hearing Ying Chenlin pronounce that name, Shen Xingtang paused slightly and explained, “Ying Lingfeng was once the leader of the Dawn Galaxy Frontier Army’s Special Forces. Do you remember the team led by Lieutenant Lu this time? Major General Ying used to be their superior…”

Before she could finish her sentence, a buzzer sounded from the door of the ward. Shen Xingtang walked over to open it.

Ying Chenlin’s gaze followed, and he saw an elderly man as soon as Shen Xingtang opened the door. It wasn’t until the old man spoke that he recognized the familiar voice. “*Lao Xian Shen?”

*old gentleman or old mister

Old Qiu handed what he brought to Shen Xingtang and walked in with a cane. “Child, feeling better?”

“Much better,” Ying Chenlin replied truthfully. “Thank you for your concern.”

Seeing this, Shen Xingtang silently retreated from the ward, leaving the space to Ying Chenlin and Old Qiu. Old Qiu observed the young man’s mental state, confirmed that he was in good spirits, and then walked to the side of his medical cabin. “Can you unlock the data board with its password?”

“Yes, my grandfather taught me.” Ying Chenlin looked at him.

Old Qiu was already very old. When he heard Ying Chenlin say this, he showed a nostalgic expression. “He’s still like this, he liked to teach others what he knew. When we were in the research institute, he always enjoyed teaching others. Sometimes I felt like he’s more suitable for teaching students than I am, but Songshan rarely took on students.”

Ying Chenlin held the data board containing the inheritance. “What’s going on?”

“Ying Songshan is your grandfather,” Old Qiu explained patiently, taking in Ying Chenlin’s bewildered look. “The person named Ying Lingfeng on the list of inheritance is your father, Major General Ying. Your mother’s name is Shi Xuejun, she used to be the Chief Researcher at Base Station C-147. Did your grandfather ever tell you about these things?”

“Perhaps he did, but I don’t remember.” Ying Chenlin looked at the name on the list of inheritance, and felt as if those three words held a faint sense of familiarity.

The young man in the medical cabin lowered his eyes slightly, his gaze fixed on the data board, with a hint of confusion, as if he were looking at something through the data board.

“That’s all the inheritance left behind by your father after his sacrifice in the Frontier Army. It was kept by your father’s former comrades-in-arms Lieutenant General Lin, head of the Special Forces of the First Star Domain’s Army. Originally, it should have been returned to your grandfather, Ying Songshan, but your grandfather left without a word, and so we were never able to return this to him.” Old Qiu asked cautiously, “Do you want to know about what happened 20 years ago?”

“Can you tell me?” Ying Chenlin asked.

“You should be aware.”

Old Qiu looked at Ying Chenlin as he spoke, and from his profile, he vaguely saw a resemblance to the young Ying Lingfeng. However, Ying Chenlin’s features weren’t as sharp as Major General Ying’s; instead, he resembled his mother, Shi Xuejun, especially his eyes, which were identical to Shi Xuejun’s.

Twenty years ago, after the anomaly in the Coria Contaminated Zone, all the researchers inside Base Station C-147 were trapped. The soldiers stationed there struggled for a long time but couldn’t resolve the pollutant, [Fire], that had escaped from the Contaminated Zone. Ying Songshan submitted an emergency report to his superiors. The Dawn Galaxy Frontier Army dispatched the elites of the Special Forces, who took a full two days to kill Fire.

At that time, the base station’s defense system had already suffered damage from multiple attacks by Fire. No one expected that after Fire, there would be a wave of pollutant riots. The riots were fierce and of a large scale, catching everyone off guard, even ambushing the squad of researchers who were preparing to evacuate, leading to the deaths of the researchers evacuating in the first batch.

Under the onslaught of a large number of pollutants, the base station’s internal signals couldn’t transmit to Coria’s Management Bureau. The ground facilities were washed away by the pollutants, missing the opportunity for immediate rescue. It was Major General Ying who fought his way out, paving the way for the evacuation of the station personnel and subsequent support, which gave a glimmer of hope to the situation at the time.

The riots lasted for a full three months, resulting in a large number of casualties. The damage to the base station’s defense system eventually led to the issue of internal vibrations, causing the tissue residues of discarded pollutant weapons to flow into the weapons storage room. This was also one of Ying Songshan’s regrets. If he had dealt with the weapon issue at the beginning of the riot, this fusion weapon wouldn’t have held back the Frontier Army for a full 20 years.

“We know that your grandfather shouldn’t be blamed for that. At the time, as the Station Chief, his priority was to protect all the researchers. He didn’t let the researchers take risks to handle the results, but instead immediately had the researchers move to the special defense rooms inside the base station to wait for subsequent rescue.” Old Qiu recalled the stance Ying Songshan took before everyone at the time. “Because of the incident at the base station, when the Frontier Army contacted him that year, he resigned out of self-blame.”

Ying Chenlin asked, “The base station is…”

“Base Station C-147 was your grandfather’s dedication. He was the original designer, and he was also the one who realized that the fusion weapon couldn’t be evacuated and designed the shielding system.” Old Qiu looked at the data board. “This password algorithm is his algorithm. He liked to use it and used it for many years.”

Ying Chenlin lowered his head, the three characters for Ying Lingfeng glaring at him, and asked, “Did my father not leave Coria back then?”

Old Qiu shook his head, and after some consideration, he solemnly said, “Your father was an admirable soldier. In the end, he also stood guard on the front lines during the riots.”

After Old Qiu finished speaking, Ying Chenlin unusually remained silent.

It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it also felt like just a few minutes had gone by when Ying Chenlin finally asked about Shi Xuejun, “Did my mother also die in the Coria Restricted Zone?”

“After all the researchers evacuated from the base station, your mother, Shi Xuejun, was indirectly infected by the pollutants. It wasn’t until the examination during her treatment that we found out she was already five months pregnant at the time.”

Old Qiu recalled the situation at that time. “In order to save your mother and you, medical personnel made efforts for a long time. Your mother was worried that the indirect infection would affect you and proposed embryo isolation cultivation during the surgery. With her physique that was only at B-level, after undergoing multiple surgeries, she held you when you were born from the cultivation chamber.”

“She died one night a few weeks after you were born, her condition suddenly deteriorating due to an unexpected genetic disease. It caused the breakdown of all the cells in her body. As a researcher of pollutants herself, she knew that such a situation was irreversible. Before she left, she entrusted you to your grandfather, Ying Songshan.”

Old Qiu continued, “After that, your grandfather completed the design of the shielding system and left the Frontier Army with you, disappearing without a trace for several years… Songshan probably didn’t want to see his loved ones sacrifice themselves again and wanted to see you grow up safely.”

For Ying Chenlin, the stories of the three people seemed like they belonged to another lifetime. His memories of his grandfather were only from the brief time they spent together in his childhood during his previous life. Till his grandfather’s departure, he had a brief and happy childhood. His memories of his parents were even fewer, just a few fleeting images from his grandfather’s light brain and old-fashioned photos printed out in the old house… To be honest, Ying Chenlin didn’t remember them at all, he only remembered seeing them, but he didn’t remember what those photos were of.

Just like his grandfather’s sudden departure, it seemed like all his memories were stripped from his brain over time.

And now, he unexpectedly learned about what happened back then during a joint cleanup mission. It felt like after stopping the Black Hole, everything that followed was like a butterfly incited to flutter in a different direction..

Ying Chenlin’s head buzzed, he didn’t even realize when he fell asleep.

Old Qiu adjusted the temperature in the room for him and waited until Ying Chenlin fell asleep before taking the data board from his hand and placing it on the nearby table.

Shen Xingtang had already come in from outside the ward. She nodded slightly at Old Qiu, “I’ll take care of him later. Don’t you have work to do?”

“Let me know if anything comes up.” Old Qiu looked at the sleeping Ying Chenlin. “I’ll come back tomorrow to check on him.”

After Shen Xingtang saw off Old Qiu, she noticed KID and the others who had just finished their physical examination. Considering Ying Chenlin had just fallen asleep, she had to send them away again. After they left, she noticed that You Su hadn’t left yet. He was still standing outside the ward, looking through the special observation glass, observing the furnishings inside the room.

“Someone came to visit, right?” You Su said.

Shen Xingtang replied, “Old Qiu came to see him not long ago and said a few words.”

“He can still talk,” You Su withdrew his gaze. “He seems to be in good spirits.”

Shen Xingtang was already accustomed to You Su’s way of speaking. “Lieutenant General Lin also came yesterday.”

Upon hearing Lieutenant General Lin’s name, You Su’s expression remained unchanged. “The First Star Domain’s General Military isn’t located far from here. It’s not surprising that he would come.”

“Do you have some deep grudge against him? Why do you dislike him so much?” Shen Xingtang didn’t understand You Su’s attitude.

You Su: “There isn’t.”

Shen Xingtang glanced at him. “Do you know what you seem like now? You’re like a stubborn child who hasn’t passed their rebellious phase.”

“Rebellious phase?” You Su chuckled at this description. Suddenly, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and casually remarked, “You should worry about someone else, not me. Some kids are more rebellious than me.”

Shen Xingtang: “…”

---

The room quieted down, leaving only the steady sound of the boy’s breathing.

Ying Chenlin couldn’t distinguish whether it was postoperative fatigue or some other reason, but it seemed like a few recollections appeared in his dreams. He felt like he was being held by warm hands, as if he saw the heroic figure of a mecha slaughtering pollutants amidst a raging fire, his grandfather sitting at their old home’s experimental operating table… Memories mixed and converged, the sounds of bombings and buzzing electricity sounded in the underground space. Finally, he heard the thumping heartbeat from You Su’s chest when he was in the cockpit.

He couldn’t tell if these were dreams or reality, but when he woke up, his initial bout of confusion had disappeared.

The temperature in the ward had been raised, and the data board in his hand had been placed on the nearby table. He wasn’t sure when the old man had left his ward.

Ying Chenlin’s gaze fell on the data board. He didn’t reach out to take it, nor did he feel inclined to scrutinize the contents of the inheritance. He recalled Old Qiu’s words, gradually piecing together a truth he had never known.

This was something he had never been able to learn in his previous life. In his childhood imagination, his parents were a loving couple, outstanding and powerful, who died tragically in an accident when he was at a young age. But the truth weighed heavier than his imagination. The only constant was the righteousness and kindness of his parents. Ying Chenlin suddenly wanted to know more about his parents, to hear more about their past from others.

Ying Chenlin propped himself up and sat up. This time it seemed like he had slept for a long time. Sunlight filtered in from outside the window, and he heard faint muffled voices.

He turned his head to look at the slightly ajar ward door in the distance. Through the crack, he saw KID and the others lingering outside, talking. But just as he sat up, someone’s gaze swept over from outside the door. The man was wearing casual clothes, his expression unchanged as usual. However, when the man’s gaze passed over him, Ying Chenlin inexplicably thought of the thumping heartbeat from his dream.

“There, he’s awake,” You Su said.

Shen Xingtang paused hearing his words, following You Su’s gaze and noticing Ying Chenlin sitting up.

“Why didn’t this child call out when he woke up?” She hurriedly went in.

You Su followed her in, lagging a step behind. From afar, he saw a rebellious-looking kid who seemed to have freshly awakened, his eyes darting around as if searching for someone.

Ji Qingfeng called out, “Who’s awake!?”

Lin Yao leaned closer. “Is Chenlin okay?”

Lively voices reached Ying Chenlin as he woke up once more. After Shen Xingtang and You Su came in, Ji Qingfeng and Lin Yao followed. Behind them was Lu Xi, pushing a wheelchair with Huo Yan sitting in it. When Huo Yan saw Ying Chenlin on the bed, he greeted him warmly, but as he raised his hand, he inadvertently pulled his waist injury, causing him to inhale sharply.

“Huo Ge, the doctor said you shouldn’t raise your hand yet,” Lu Xi whispered.

Huo Yan, “My bad, my bad. Fortunately, it’s alright.”

“With your kind of back injury, if it weren’t for this being the First General Hospital of the Frontier Army, any other doctor would probably have you lying in bed for ten days or more,” Jiang Simiao said as he entered. “Can’t you just lie honestly in bed? Why wander around?”

Huo Yan chuckled. “It’s too stuffy lying in bed ah. Chenlin, why don’t you get a chair too, and come outside with us to bask in the sun?”

Ying Chenlin was slightly taken aback when he saw Huo Yan, thinking of the protective shield that had stood in front of him during that dangerous moment. “Huo Ge, your injury…”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s an old injury of mine.” Huo Yan, seeing Ying Chenlin’s concern, quickly lifted his shirt. There was a medical device fixed around his waist. In addition to this, Ying Chenlin also noticed the mechanical skin underneath the device. Although it was only a small area, it was evident that there was a layer of mechanical skin around his waist.

“If it weren’t for this injury, I wouldn’t have known that old Huo had patched up his waist with machinery.” Ji Qingfeng, who had been with Huo Yan for his treatment the past few days, learned from a doctor familiar to Huo Yan that Huo Yan had come here for treatment years ago. There was a three-centimeter-wide spine on his left side, all patched up with machinery. “I’ve seen old Huo take off his clothes so many times, but I never noticed anything different about his waist.”

“I’m different from Chenlin. The little bit of machinery in my waist doesn’t need regular checks. I just had some artificial skin put on like other people do. You wouldn’t be able to tell anyway.” Huo Yan said with a hint of a smile in his tone. “It’s just a minor injury. This time it was severe because a nerve was severed underneath, causing some problems to arise.”

Listening to everyone chattering away, Ying Chenlin learned that Huo Yan’s waist injury was incurred before he retired. This time, it recurred due to bearing two consecutive huge impacts. “It’s my fault.”

“What fault could you have? Everyone was fine this time.” Huo Yan laughed. “Don’t think too much about it. I’ll just have to sit in a wheelchair for a few days at most.”

“Speaking of which, can’t you guys explain the matter of the energy fuel properly?” Jiang Simiao put a bill on the table in front of KID and the others. “A total of 55 tubes of energy fuel. I didn’t know you guys took out so much energy fuel from the base. I just inspected the mechas yesterday, and there’s none left!?”

“We didn’t take that many. There were more than 15 tubes that Qi Sicheng gave us.” Ji Qingfeng flipped through the bill. “Shouldn’t it be more than 55 tubes? When we blasted the pollutant underground, didn’t Lu Xi and old Huo also use several tubes?”

Lu Xi counted on her fingers, “Altogether, it should be 81 tubes.”

“How did you come up with 81 tubes!? I calculated 55 tubes by searching through the empty tubes based on monitoring data.” Jiang Simiao was dumbfounded, doubting his arithmetic for the first time. “Qi Sicheng gave you more than ten tubes, so where did the remaining energy fuel come from!?”

“We recycled them. Wasn’t it Chenlin who modified the energy repository of the base? We took empty bottles and filled about ten more tubes.” Ji Qingfeng said confidently, “Don’t worry, the base has collapsed; they won’t find out that we stole so much energy. Isn’t the rest for Gale to write off?”

Shen Xingtang silently took the bill from Ji Qingfeng’s hand, looked it over, and then said, “Did you send it to Old Zhang?”

When Old Zhang from Gale’s base was brought up, Jiang Simiao took out the communication records in his light brain. The screen was filled with question marks sent by Old Zhang, covering the entire screen. “He’s coming the day after tomorrow to take those from Gale back. I’ll give him the bill then.” Jiang Simiao silently retrieved his light brain. “Of course, the promises made by Gale won’t be reneged on, but you should at least specify the purpose when you make reimbursements, right?”

KID’s group fell into silence; they had used up all the energy tubes.

If they had to pinpoint exactly where each tube had been used, for a moment, they couldn’t recall.

Shen Xingtang looked at Ying Chenlin, who appeared calm as usual, and seeing his emotions were somewhat unaffected, the previously worried Shen Xingtang felt a bit relieved. “Keep track of how much you used and write down the bills accordingly. It’s already good enough that Boss Zhang can reimburse us. Besides, didn’t you guys eliminate a lot of pollutants in the Contaminated Zone this time? You’ve obtained quite a few anomalous crystals; if worse comes to worst, you can exchange your resources…”

“No… Xingtang, exchanging won’t work.” Jiang Simiao handed another bill to Shen Xingtang. “This time, the damage to every mecha exceeded 60%. If we calculate it, only Lu Xi and You Su’s mechas are relatively well protected among everyone’s, which are only 62% damaged. The damages done to the others are all above 70%. Most importantly, we scrapped three advanced weapons, and four mechas need to be reconstructed with new materials, including the expensive S-class mecha Yuan.”

Shen Xingtang clenched the bill. “?”

Upon hearing this, Ying Chenlin paused for a moment. As someone who had nurtured Yuan, he knew that repairing Yuan would be the most expensive among all the mechas.

Considering his personal small treasury, repairing and restoring Yuan to its original state might require emptying everything in his treasury.

“According to the materials needed to repair the mechas, and the fact that we still need to invest a considerable amount to introduce a Medical mecha,” Jiang Simiao continued, “if we really exchange resources, maybe apart from the S-class resources we obtained, all the gains we’ve made will have to be used to repair the mechas… Compared to our big harvest at Qiu Jin, we can say we made a loss this time.”

He finished with a sigh of relief. “Luckily, the medical expenses are reimbursed by the Frontier Army.”

KID’s group: “?”

Shen Xingtang looked coldly at everyone in KID.

Ji Qingfeng began to ponder with a furrowed brow. “I remember when we were scattering the energy fuel, I was too lazy to go back to the base for recharging, so I sprinkled two extra tubes.”

Lin Yao: “Wasn’t it more than two tubes?”

Lu Xi explained, “When we were underground, I sprinkled all the energy fuel from the storage compartment.”

…

The group racked their brains, trying to work it out. Ying Chenlin lowered his head, calculated, and then confessed, “It seems like it’s more than 81 tubes; I didn’t include the ones I used on that Individual Soldier mecha before.”

Jiang Simiao originally thought it was an exaggeration, but now, hearing that KID had snatched energy fuel from the base, he breathed a sigh of relief. However, watching as this group continued to tally up more and more tubes, he was dumbfounded. “Wait a minute?! Are you telling me you guys took all the energy tubes from the base?! There’s not even one left?!”

KID fell silent.

Seeing the KID team tallying the tubes up, the key around You Su’s neck glimmered, and Theo recalled, “You Su, didn’t you also use a lot of energy tubes when blasting the pollutants underground? How many did we use?”

You Su had never calculated this sort of thing. “I forgot.”

Just as You Su finished answering Theo, he suddenly noticed a glance from the side.

Turning his head, he saw Ying Chenlin looking at him. Thinking about the time they used the energy fuel, the other party was also there.

Ying Chenlin quietly asked him, “How many did you use?”

At that time, when they couldn’t defeat that pollutant, he tried several times. How many tubes did he use?

Meeting the other’s gaze, You Su fell into a brief silence, as if he was conducting a short calculation. “Dozens of tubes.”

Beside them, Jiang Simiao, upon hearing his answer, paused for a moment and exclaimed, “What?! Where did you get dozens of tubes from!”

Author’s Note:

Zhang Ge: You’d better not figure it out.

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