Genius Mechanic: Chapter 137

Keze Floating Island Contaminated Zone(Galactic Knockout Competition)

137. Objective! Keze Floating Island

Proofread by An Zheee and Cloud Chip Cake

“We can’t rely solely on the Contaminated Zone to make money. Participating in matches can earn us more prize money, and we can also get entry tickets to other Contaminated Zones,” Jiang Simiao learned of the KID team’s ambitious goals, but KID’s internal financial situation was worrying, so he had to set goals for them: “You all know about the matter’s relationship with the Black Hole. Mecha bases earn a lot, and the Mecha League earns even more. It’s said that Chairman Li Jingyan wants to use this wave to push up Dawn’s ranking… the prize money is very lucrative.”

As soon as money was mentioned, several of the other mecha pilots glanced over.

“The Grand Slam is a big goal. Let’s set smaller goals first. Our goal this year is to raise our ranking to the top eight,” Jiang Simiao coughed, “And improving our ranking is very helpful for us! Look at what happened recently. The highest-level Contaminated Zone we could go to was Coria. You all know how lucrative Coria was, right? Although many Contaminated Zones in the Dawn Galaxy are said to be seeking help nearby, the high-level and difficult Contaminated Zones only issue mission requests to high-ranking mecha bases.”

Huo Yan nodded, “Indeed, if our ranking is low, many Contaminated Zones won’t have quotas for us.”

Lu Xi whispered, “It’s said that high-ranking mecha bases can even go across star domains to carry out missions, directly responding to the summons from the Star Alliance’s headquarters.”

When it came to matches, of course, money had to be earned.

While everyone was discussing their ambitious plans, Yu Su noticed that Ying Chenlin was chatting with someone. “Friend?”

“Yeah,” Ying Chenlin replied, “I haven’t told him the news yet.”

On the other side, Xun Bao, managing his own shop, was looking at the latest mecha entertainment news and didn’t forget to send a message to Ying Chenlin.

Ying Chenlin replied to his friend, and under the urging of the others, continued training in the virtual battlefield, ignoring the rumors on StarNet.

When the news of Sink’s transfer and KID’s announcement spread, those in charge of other mecha bases in the Dawn Galaxy were directly dumbfounded. KID hadn’t announced any news, and they originally thought KID had dug up another retired mecha pilot to fill the Medical position. Who would have thought they would dig up an unimaginable mecha pilot.

“Sink?! The Individual Soldier Sink!?” The person in charge of Black Crow’s base paced back and forth upon hearing this news. “Is this a mistake?! There’s very little information about Sink on StarNet. Even Li Jingyan may not know where Sink is. Now you’re telling me that KID has dug this person up?”

Chi Lizi looked at the StarNet message, “It seems they did, and they even let him play in the Medical position.”

Black Crow’s boss said, “Shen Xingtang can really keep secrets. Hiding such a card, and it didn’t explode until November. Now, even if we want to target Sink, we have to come up with new strategies, and Sink playing in a Medical position?!”

On the other side, in YDS’ base, Ke Lin looked at the information on StarNet. They had also studied KID during this time, but none of their research included Sink as a variable. Hu Luobu kept flipping through the news, “My relationship with Ji Qingfeng is still okay. With that broken mouth he can still keep secrets so well. To let an Individual Soldier champion play as a Medic? This f*cking Individual Soldier champion is inherently strong in combat. Letting an Individual Soldier champion play as a Medic, how are we supposed to deal with their Medical support when we face KID?!”

Speaking of Individual Soldiers, their strength is balanced, with strong combat capabilities and outstanding individual qualities.

Now, KID had dug up the strongest one among them, Sink, who won the Star Alliance championship at the age of 17. Even if his Individual Soldier combat capability has been unused for two years, in the current Individual Soldier League, other Individual Soldiers may not necessarily be able to surpass him. By putting him into team battles, he’s almost the hardest Medical mecha to deal with in the new season of the Dawn League.

Another mecha pilot said, “When KID went to Coria a few months ago, Sink shouldn’t have joined yet, right?”

After reading the news online, Ke Lin said, “The transition from solo to team battles requires an adaptation period. Sink’s abilities are indeed strong, but we don’t need to panic because of one mecha pilot’s actions. Individual Soldiers are Individual Soldiers, and team battles are team battles. Strong individual abilities do not necessarily mean excellent team battle performance. Everyone, into the training room. Let’s intensify our training.”

Hu Luobu said, “Gale must be working overtime to train. Zhao Lejie, who usually likes to eat melons, hasn’t said a word today!”

Ke Lin didn’t receive a reply to the message he sent to Qi Sicheng. He kept feeling like things weren’t so simple. Gale’s relationship with KID in the Coria Contaminated Zone wasn’t ordinary. Considering the current situation, it’s probable Gale knew about the news earlier than they did.

People from various major mecha bases in the Dawn Alliance began to devise emergency strategies. They directly gave up trying to inquire about the news. The coaching staff rushed to review Sink’s combat footage, while others busied themselves with finding out more about KID. On StarNet, countless netizens were still crowded under KID’s official space, having transitioned from their initial shock to eagerly asking for news about Sink.

Sink achieved the Grand Slam when he came of age, and there’s very little information about him. Originally, fans who followed Individual Soldiers expected to see more news about him after he signed with a mecha base as an adult. Who knew that he would retire as soon as he came of age, with no news at all, only combat videos recorded by netizens on StarNet.

Newly arrived fans—

[I’m from the Individual Soldier side. What’s going on with this KID official account? So little business?] [At least they signed an Individual Soldier Grand Slam champion? And they only posted one update?!] [Where’s the official announcement photo?!]

KID’s old fans—

[If you want to see updates, go to the shop next-door.] [This base’s main business is making money, and competing in Leagues is a side job.] [This official account is half-dead. You’ll get quicker updates if you go next door. Please help me urge them to update the official announcement photos and materials.]

Jiang Yu, from an Individual Soldier team, looked at the news on StarNet, and repeatedly stared at the ID shown for a long time, without even responding to his friend’s calls.

“So, your idol is rejoining the workforce? But it’s strange. With Sink’s skill, why doesn’t he continue in Individual Soldier battles instead of becoming a Medical mecha pilot in team battles?” As his friend spoke, Jiang Yu looked up at him.

Jiang Yu said, “The Team Battle Mecha League has been restructured, and all mecha bases start from the elimination rounds?”

His friend was puzzled. They didn’t know much about team battles. He saw Jiang Yu directly logging into the Mecha Alliance’s team battle channel. “It seems so. Why are you asking about this?”

Jiang Yu replied, “I’m checking the news, seeing which track KID is in for the elimination rounds, so we can buy tickets early.”

This wasn’t just in the Dawn Galaxy, news of Sink joining KID quickly spread, from the First Star Domain to various parts of the Star Alliance.

Many base managers began to inquire about the news from the Dawn Alliance, while Li Jingyan, the head of the Mecha Alliance, was clueless. Whenever asked, he would divert attention to the Mecha League. The only source of information was KID. KID always played it cool. When it was time to make money, they updated their online store. Even when the rules for the elimination rounds were announced, they still didn’t operate it. It was like an impenetrable barrier.

Also because of this, tickets for this year’s Team Battle Mecha League matches sold exceptionally well, both on-site and online.

The elimination rounds of the Team Battle Mecha League used to have low viewership in the Dawn Galaxy, but now a large number of sponsors surged in. Everyone set their sights on the elimination track where KID was located—[Keze Floating Island Contaminated Zone].

In the Dawn Galaxy, there are more than 100,000 mecha teams that meet the League’s requirements and have been approved. These 100,000 mecha teams will compete in a one-month elimination round to determine the top 32 teams, using a special point-based competition system. Therefore, during the elimination rounds, the Dawn League simultaneously activated 32 Contaminated Zones of level 2 or above as tracks.

All mecha teams in the new season need to replay the elimination rounds regardless of their ranking. Therefore, this year’s elimination rounds became particularly intense. The League adopted a free track system for registration, allowing mecha bases to choose one track to register on from the 32 tracks opened by the League.

In simple terms, the rules for the elimination rounds are straightforward:

1. With 32 tracks, only one team can stand out on each track, and the 32 track winners advance.

2. Each track has a different number of participating teams depending on the size and danger level of the Contaminated Zone, and the rules also vary.

3. The competition lasts for one month, and the final winner is decided when the competition ends.

The Keze Floating Island Contaminated Zone is one of the vast level 3 Contaminated Zones in the Dawn Galaxy, with seven floating islands as the main core battlefields. The environment is relatively simple, with no reports of S-level pollutants. A total of 4159 teams signed up for this track, each assigned to different transition areas on the seven floating islands.

On the day the competition began, everyone interested in the matches rushed to their respective elimination tracks.

Due to the sheer number of participating teams, there was no introduction process during the elimination stage like in the qualifiers. Mecha bases had no resting place, and only the accompanying mechanics were allowed into the preparation area. Other mecha base staff had to find their own resting places.

[Damn, are there really this many people in the elimination round?] [It’s hard to find people in the opening stages. We can only wait for the corresponding live perspectives to open later.] [Which perspective is KID’s live stream in?] [Room 4122!] […Could KID have registered by visiting different locations? Room 4122?? Isn’t that quite a late registration?]

The game hadn’t started yet, and the team livestream perspectives within the competition area hadn’t opened. Everyone could only crowd into KID’s livestream room perspective and wait. Although the new season added a team Medic – the Medical mecha, considering the more complex competition format, the mechanism of accompanying mechanics had not been completely abolished.

[The mechanic standby area is open first. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen KID’s mechanic.] [To be honest, before Sink was officially announced, I thought KID would let the mechanic serve as a Medical mecha pilot.] [I thought so too. He can pilot mechas and has excellent mechanical skills, so I thought it would be him.] [His arm seems to have some issues. Maybe that’s why KID found someone else.]

The new fans weren’t quite familiar with the KID mechanic’s situation. There were too many new fans, including fans of Sink’s previous Individual Soldier battles and those who came to join in the fun. The old fans explained who KID’s mechanic was. Since the Battle of Qiu Jin, KID’s mechanic had gained some fans on StarNet. After a brief introduction, everyone knew that there was a young and talented mechanic in KID.

[Stop talking. I’m a fan of the mechanic, but with KID’s business situation, I’m not holding my breath to see a frontal photo of him.] [Laughing to death, Lin Yao’s photo on the official account is still from last year. I wonder if he’s grown taller.]

The mechanics’ entry was a bit faster than the mecha pilots. When the netizens who had been waiting in the livestream perspective saw the light in KID’s live room, they all looked towards the legendary young and talented mechanic. As a result, they saw an old man in a red and white mechanic suit, holding a folding chair in his hand and two thermos flasks around his waist.

[??? Did I enter the wrong live room?] [..Young? Talented?] [Wait a minute? Who is this person?]

The other mecha base managers who were paying attention to KID’s situation were also puzzled.

Wait a minute! Isn’t KID’s mechanic supposed to be Ying Chenlin? Who is this old man???

Meanwhile, at the Keze Floating Island Jump Zone, a mecha pilot in a red and white combat suit crossed over the other teams and walked straight to the registration office of the Jump Zone. The mecha pilots queuing around looked at the team together, especially at the young man at the back of the line.

“Red and white team uniform, these people are—”

“The leader of that team looks familiar.”

“Wait a minute, I think I remember.”

“The last person! With the mechanical arm!”

The young man held his jacket, and the mechanical arm exposed by the special-style combat suit attracted the attention of countless people around him.

The young man’s gaze fell on the virtual screen in the distance, which was currently showing the situation in the maintenance and standby area. All the mechanics from various bases were there. There was no extra expression on his fair face. Slightly slender, he stood next to his towering teammates, appearing fragile and lagging behind others by a few steps.

A man slightly taller than him stood lazily by his side, blocking the glances.

Noticing the man’s movement, the young man raised his eyes slightly and said, “Actually, you don’t need to worry.”

The man lazily replied, “Not worried, it’s just if you keep zoning out, we’ll fall behind.”

The personnel in the Jump Zone spoke up, “Number 4122!”

“Here!”

A hearty voice emerged from the group of people in red and white team uniforms.

Huo Yan stepped forward under the surrounding gazes. “Number 4122, Sirius Mecha Base, KID, everyone assemble!”

TN:

It’s giving Captain America: AVENGERS…assemble.

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