Genius Mechanic: Chapter 145

Keze Floating Island Contaminated Zone(Galactic Knockout Competition)

145. Pay-Up

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake

A mecha score of 532??? 

The newcomers were completely bewildered when they saw this situation. Indeed, when KID settled yesterday, they were ranked first, but their mecha score was only 195.

There were a total of 32 tracks in the elimination round, and the situations in other tracks were also very intense. For example, on the track where Gale’s team is located, they eliminated nearly 170 mechas on the first day, which is very close to KID’s performance. However, what netizens didn’t expect was that just one day later when they came to see KID again, KID’s mecha score would have already widened the gap with the first day. How did they manage to climb from 195 points to 532 points in just one day?! And what’s going on with the Signal Tower? Why are so many people running away?

【??? What’s going on?】

【A mecha score of 532, it’s outrageous, but it can’t be that outrageous, right?】

【This is a long story, and we also find it outrageous…】

Netizens couldn’t figure out the situation and could only go back to watch the recorded playback in the live room.

Going back 21 hours, when KID finished resting, they set off from the Old Commercial Center and headed in the direction of the Signal Tower.

As the centerpoint of the Fourth Island, the Signal Tower had a very large footprint. Keze Floating Island was a heavily polluted abandoned area, and the Fourth Island was the central city of the entire floating island area. This landmark tower from the former Keze region was still lit up, and passing mechas could see the building from afar.

A total of 4,159 teams participated in the Keze Floating Island competition, with only 485 teams allocated to the Fourth Island. When mecha pilots entered the registration area, they could see the coordinates of all the leap points on the entire Keze Floating Island.

No team knew which leap point they’d be assigned to.

Leap point distribution was random, but each Contaminated Zone had fixed leap points that could be built.

Ji Qingfeng asked, “Then should we go straight to the Signal Tower for a skirmish?”

Lin Yao, concerned, asked, “Are there really people at the Signal Tower? What if they scatter when our mechas arrive?”

“That won’t happen. The Signal Tower is the centerpoint of Keze Floating Island’s Fourth Island. Judging from the density of the initial leap coordinates, the Signal Tower and the Old Commercial Center have the most transposed mechas in the vicinity.” 

Huo Yan spoke as he looked at the map and said, “Chenlin’s analysis is correct. If we want to engage in combat, we can only head to the Signal Tower. But we don’t know what it’ll be like when we get there. If necessary, we’ll wait until the isolation shields on the other islands close, and then we’ll head over there.” 

Like the Old Commercial Center, the Signal Tower was one of the most fiercely contested areas on the entire Fourth Island. The intensity of its conflicts was even greater than that of the Old Commercial Center, as most of the leap coordinates had the densest intersections around the Signal Tower.

If they’re lucky, they’ll encounter combat on their way over.

If they’re unlucky, everyone might have dispersed by the time they arrive.

“Going straight there isn’t ideal. We’d be at a disadvantage,” Ying Chenlin suddenly said. “We need to take a detour.”

“A detour will only slow us down, won’t it?” Lin Yao asked.

“It’s fine as long as we encounter more people along this route,” Ying Chenlin said, “aren’t we supposed to earn more points in the elimination round?”

Ji Qingfeng became interested. “Taking a detour can earn us more points?”

Ying Chenlin marked several coordinates on the map. “Let’s go in this direction.”

The audience in the live broadcast had finally witnessed KID, who had been silent for so long, starting to move. While others were engaged in combat, they, with their excellent record, began to rest, idling for nearly seven hours, causing many viewers to leave the broadcast.

Now that they saw KID heading towards the Signal Tower, netizens felt that KID was finally ready to get to work. With their omniscient view, they could clearly see that the area around the Signal Tower was currently the most intense battleground.

During the period when KID clashed with Fire Beacon before, an unprecedented fierce battle erupted near the Signal Tower. By the end of the first day, the number of teams on the entirety of the Fourth Island had shrunk from the initial 485 to 275, with nearly 120 teams being eliminated around the Signal Tower.

The audience didn’t know what KID had discussed. They only noticed that when KID headed towards the Signal Tower, their route seemed a bit different. Instead of taking a direct route from the Old Commercial Center to the Signal Tower, they took a winding route through multiple locations on the Fourth Island of Keze Floating Island, taking the longest route to reach the Signal Tower.

Are the people from KID stupid? There’s going to be a fight at the Signal Tower, so isn’t it a waste of time to take a detour?

【Why is their route so strange?】

【Isn’t it faster to go straight to the Signal Tower?】

However, this kind of doubt only lasted for half an hour, until they saw KID encounter the first lone mecha, and this mecha crashed into KID’s fully armed encirclement.

【This mecha’s luck is really bad, isn’t it?】

【Escaping from the Signal Tower, and then running into KID?】

However, after the first one, there soon came a second one, and then the netizens suddenly discovered that most of the teams that suffered losses or were defeated over on the Signal Tower side had actually chosen the longer route around that KID had taken.

The commentator, seeing this, exclaimed in surprise, “Is KID calculating their route…?”

Calculating the route is one of the most commonly used tactics in the elimination round.

The elimination round is based on a points system. This doesn’t mean that having a strong fighting force guarantees victory; the most crucial factor is how many mecha points can be obtained.

Unlike the advancement or ranking matches where several teams are squeezed into a Contaminated Zone and can’t find opponents by wandering around, in the elimination round, the probability of encounters between teams increases due to the dense arrangement of teams and the division of areas. Unlike other formats, in the elimination round, in order to win, you have to encounter more mechas and score more points.

Experienced mecha teams calculate their walking routes from the moment they enter. They determine which route will encounter more teams in order to increase their chances of winning. The jump coordinates are calculable, and the specific areas of intense battles can be delineated from the convergence ranges of various coordinates. At this time, strong teams can harvest a wave of points by passing through. Just like in other elimination rounds, where top teams like Gale and YDS use this method to quickly calculate the optimal solution.

It’s just that it’s become a habit to see KID randomly engaging in fights. This is the first time they’ve seen KID actually using their brains to calculate their forward route.

【Can calculating the route include all opponents?】

【How did they calculate it?】

Gale’s head coach reacted when he saw this scene. “No, he’s not simply calculating the route. KID’s command is calculating the route of the teams retreating from the Signal Tower. The direction of their advance is based on the route of retreat.”

A normal route calculation was to calculate the location of the confrontation, but now, KID’s route calculation took an extra step. They were indeed heading towards the Signal Tower, but they were moving forward along the paths other teams were retreating from the Signal Tower. This means that along this route, they can not only reach the Signal Tower but also sweep away the teams that avoided battle due to mecha damage.

“But can this be calculated?” asked the head of Gale.

The head coach immediately pulled up a map of the area and said, “The teams gathered around the Signal Tower are all combat-ready. The goal of the elimination round is to score a higher amount of points. All teams strive to achieve higher scores to improve their rankings while minimizing their losses.”

“If you were one of the retreating teams, which direction would you retreat to? You wouldn’t go to places with a lot of pollutants, places with few obstacles, or places where battles might break out…” The head coach marked off the locations on the map involving this information. “There must be no one going to the east of the Signal Tower because pollutants are rampant there. There are fewer buildings to the north, all unsuitable for hiding. That leaves only the west and south.”

The assistant coach added, “And since Fire Beacon has already passed through that route, it must have been cleared once. Other teams may avoid unknown routes, but KID knows… so the direction they can go is southwest of the Signal Tower.”

After marking all the coordinates, they were amazed to find that this mostly matched with the route KID took, but KID’s route was more detailed.

Gale’s head coach looked at this scene and said, “KID’s command made a great move with this step.”

Not all teams will choose this route for their retreat, but surely some teams will choose the optimal route for retreat. KID’s command is calculating this step, analyzing the psychology of other teams’ route choices during retreat, and then moving forward along the direction they are retreating.

The process of advancing is the process of engagement.

Sure enough, after KID encountered the second and third mechas, viewers in the live broadcast suddenly discovered that the teams retreating from the Signal Tower, as long as they chose to move towards the Old Commercial Center, almost all overlapped with the route chosen by KID.

Teams that had just experienced battle damage encountered KID, who were full of combat power and had rested for 7 hours, and that was undoubtedly like a lamb entering a tiger’s den.

【Sh*t, if it weren’t for the competition system, I’d think they had opened X-ray eyes.】

【They’re just harvesting all the way up there ah!】

The teams in the elimination round come from all over the Dawn Galaxy, with varying levels of readiness. There were more weaker teams, and their mechas had all experienced some level of damage. KID had even defeated teams like Gale, so when they encountered other small teams from the Dawn Galaxy, no one could stop them.

KID’s had gained a lot of weight along the way, engaging in battles with any team they encountered on their path.

For every distance they travel, they collect mecha points along the route. This detour had been quite worthwhile; by the time they reached the Signal Tower, they’d already collected nearly 50 mecha points along the way.

Upon entering the Signal Tower, KID employed the same tactics they used in the Old Commercial Center.

Whether old or new, as long as there were people in Keze Floating Island who hadn’t been through it, this tactic still worked.

The area around the Signal Tower had already experienced several battles, and the mechas on-site had all suffered some level of damage. The stalemate between the teams was barely holding up. KID’s entry directly disrupted this situation, disrupting mutual restraint and confusing everyone on the field about where the gunfire was coming from and which teams were involved.

After the chaos, the entire situation around the Signal Tower completely changed.

But the teams around the Signal Tower weren’t to be trifled with. They’d been stationed there for a long time. While some weaker teams were thrown into chaos by KID, some teams with slightly more power quickly determined the positions of the mechas in the air and tried to flank them from behind.

KID’s cunning strategy of fishing in troubled waters was effective, but the only downside was that all their mechas were too spread out.

Once a mecha’s position is exposed or targeted, it becomes an easy target, susceptible to being flanked by others.

Seeing other teams taking action, viewers in the live broadcast initially thought KID’s banditry would be punished by the other teams. However, when others started to flank KID’s long-range mechas from behind, KID’s mechas seemed to have noticed this problem long before the other teams acted. They had already distanced themselves and began evading attacks using the terrain around the Signal Tower.

Moreover, because KID’s six mechas were all scattered, the responding teams essentially only pursued the nearest KID mecha to engage, so the problem was completely exposed. There were a total of six mecha targets, but the teams on the field who were aware of KID’s tactics were on their own guards. The flames of war were fully dispersed, and just when it seemed like they were about to hit a KID mecha, KID would blink out of sight, hiding in their field of view’s blind spots. The follow-up attacks couldn’t keep up, allowing them to escape directly.

In addition, there were still some teams that hadn’t realized and continued to fire continuously, causing chaos around the Signal Tower. They didn’t lock onto KID for long before they would be disrupted and lost their target to another.

【No, why did they let KID escape?】

【Just now, those six mechas couldn’t even handle Trace?!】

【Yan was detained, but he’s a Tank with shield protection!】

“The difference in strength between the top 16 teams and the regular teams is just too big,” the commentator observed, “In the old League system, the Mecha Alliance didn’t allow the top 16 teams to participate in the elimination rounds, and this is one of the reasons. If the top 16 teams were fully separated into multiple tracks, the gap in quality of mecha piloting between them and the regular teams would be too large, leading to one-sided situations like this.”

The top 16 teams of the Dawn Galaxy, compared to the nearly 100,000 regular mecha teams participating in the elimination rounds, were the cream of the crop.

In a real head-on confrontation, a single top 16 team can hold back several regular teams’ mecha pilots with their superior resources and excellent piloting skills.

The disparity in strength, resources, coaching…Many professional mecha pilots in the League aspire to reach the top positions. The League was one of the paths to higher achievements.

【If Fire Beacon was still here, KID definitely wouldn’t dare to act so recklessly.】

【Stop talking about it, Fire Beacon is gone.】

If it were Fire Beacon leading a flanking maneuver against KID in this situation, it’s evident that KID would hesitate and retreat in the face of Fire Beacon’s strength. But now, there were no stronger teams around the Signal Tower. Originally, it was just a bunch of chickens picking on each other, but now a big demon had entered. Either they joined forces to sanction KID, or they’d just have to lose mechas in KID’s chaotic tactics.

The commentator: “Given the current situation around the Signal Tower, unless these teams completely unite, they won’t be able to sanction KID.”

Will the teams unite? The answer is no.

In such a chaotic environment, everyone was worried about being stabbed in the back, let alone joining forces to sanction a strong team.

【What happens if they don’t sanction?】

Soon, KID demonstrated to others the consequences of not uniting to sanction them.

KID’s Control mecha, Lucy, had a Quicksand Enhancement Cannon with a kind of indirect enhancement. She could help boost the Sniper Cannon shots of their Artillery mecha, and similarly, she could double the effect of the Energy Cannon of their Medical mecha, which originally didn’t have much power.

Although the three long-range mechas were positioned in different directions, Lucy never wasted energy when activating the Enhancement Cannon. She very flexibly followed behind the two long-range mechas. Whenever Trace or Sink was about to fire, she always switched to the Enhancement Cannon in a very timely way to keep up with the rhythm.

This was equivalent to the three mechas being able to shoot projectiles in three different directions. As other mechas pursued KID, KID would change directions more quickly. Only when others control KID’s Control mecha can they barely control their attack rhythm. However, once this control effect passes, if they fail to maintain continuous control, allowing KID’s Control mecha to escape, they will face a mixed barrage of Enhancement Cannon shots from unknown directions.

Highly armored mechas can withstand it, as for fragile Artillery mechas and Stealth mechas…

One shot from the hybrid Sniper Cannon-Enhancement Cannon could increase the damage of the fragile mechas, which were close to 60%, to 80%, directly eliminating them.

The commentator looked a bit surprised: “Lucy’s reaction speed is very fast.”

【She can respond to every shot, isn’t that exceptionally fast?】

【Having such a responsive Control mecha is terrifying. I didn’t realize Lucy’s ability to coordinate was so strong before.】

【I wanted to say earlier in the Old Commercial Center, Lucy’s accuracy with the Enhancement Cannon is too strong.】

Jiang Simiao saw the discussions targeting Lu Xi on the barrage and couldn’t help but feel a bit proud, of course it was only natural.

In the past, Lu Xi’s coordination speed was only half of what it is now, but it depends on which Artillery mecha she was supporting.

You Su’s changes in attack rhythm were currently the fastest among all of KID. He was aggressive and swift, with a fierce playstyle. Lu Xi had been cooperating with You Su for almost a year now, playing in the League and even venturing into Contaminated Zones. As the Control mecha always by You Su’s side, she had long been following You Su’s battle rhythm invisibly.

The girl looked quiet, but her effort was second to none. 

As the battle intensified, more and more mechas were eliminated from the field.

The teams around the Signal Tower finally realized that something was wrong. After finding out they couldn’t control KID, their focus shifted from trying to sanction KID to finding a way to retreat from the Signal Tower. After experiencing the recent battles, the buildings around the Signal Tower were bombarded by the mecha pilots, completely changing the situation.

Wanting to retreat meant facing the gunfire from others and KID while trying to get out. Even so, many clear-headed commanders decisively ordered the Tanks to provide cover and evacuated directly from the Signal Tower amidst the gunfire.

“Sh*t? Why are so many people running away?”

“Don’t run and just get eliminated here by others’ bombardment?”

The first teams to run away left early, but the other teams that didn’t make it faced KID’s pursuit.

For KID, the Signal Tower area was all meat. Mechas with high levels of damage didn’t dare to engage with KID’s mechas head-on, but KID wasn’t afraid. They even braved the gunfire to collect mecha points. While other teams tried to retreat, KID relentlessly chased after them. If they could collect heads, they would, and if they couldn’t, they would try to damage them as much as possible.

The battle around the Signal Tower lasted for more than ten hours. Some teams managed to run away in time, but the ones that didn’t were either eliminated in the melee or in combat with KID. Mechas rushing over from other areas could see several mechas fleeing from afar, with other mechas mercilessly firing at them from behind.

By the time other viewers joined the live broadcast, the battle at the Signal Tower was already nearing its end.

Despite each member of KID sustaining 40% mecha damage, they harvested a large number of mecha points in this skirmish. The key was that KID’s Medical mecha was still operational. After this wave passed, with another round of repairs by the Medical mecha, KID would be as lively as ever.

After watching the replay in the live broadcast, the viewers fell silent. They never expected KID to be so brutal, calculating their route and harvesting along the way, and then going to the Signal Tower and stepping up their game even more. They immediately understood why other mechas fled. This kind of melee was a gift to KID. Who wouldn’t run? 

KID standing in the Signal Tower was like a big boss, and with such a record, unless someone else on the other six islands could harvest like KID, when the other floating islands merged, KID would sit firmly in first place on the Keze Floating Island competition track.

【Even with 40% damage, they dared to charge in and kill?】

【It’s only the second day, and there are only 178 teams left on the Fourth Island…?】

【I thought YDS next door blocking people was already ruthless enough…】

【YDS is still kind-hearted, while KID is ruthless to the extreme.】

In the arena, other teams dispersed in different directions to flee, while the mecha being chased by KID felt like it had fallen into a pit of despair. Just as it was about to escape from the Signal Tower area, it was caught by a Stealth mecha equipped with full thrusters from behind, and was pulled back directly.

【Too tragic.】

【A Tank’s movement speed is too slow, so it’s normal for it to be caught up to.】

【He should have run in the direction of the Little Bear Team. The Tank from the Little Bear Team managed to escape.】

The viewers looked at that mecha being dragged away, feeling a sudden sense of pity.

Ji Qingfeng spoke through the loudspeaker, “We’ve been saying not to run, why did you run?!”

The mecha pilot angrily activated their external loudspeaker and retorted, “Even bandits aren’t as bad as you guys!”

Lin Yao, who was following behind, looked innocent. “Where did we steal? Bandits steal things, but we’re not stealing anything, are we?”

Seeing that their other teammates had all fled and that he couldn’t compete with KID, the mecha pilot decided to *smash the broken jar to pieces: “Eliminating the mechas directly, you might as well rob something!”

*write yourself off as hopeless

【That’s true. Bandits at least let people go after robbing them.】

Lin Yao added, “The key is that you guys aren’t valuable. The most valuable thing about you is the mecha points.”

Ji Qingfeng, feeling tired from chasing, simply held onto the mecha and said, “Don’t say we’re heartless. If you have something more valuable than mecha points, we’ll let you go. Chasing you also wastes energy. Can’t let brothers leave empty-handed, can we?”

The captured mecha pilot was speechless and simply threw an energy tube on the ground, saying, “How much energy can you waste by chasing me? I’ll give you this energy tube, will you let me go? To eliminate is simply to eliminate, stop trying to find so many excuses.”

【Laughing to death, indeed, chasing him won’t waste much energy.】

【Is KID so easy to talk to, would they let him go after he compensates with energy?】

【The little brother understands people. He let it all go to hell and didn’t run.】

The discussion kept going on in the live broadcast room, but the two members of KID suddenly stopped.

They looked at the captured mecha pilot and the energy tube in front of him, then glanced up at the high-mounted image-capturing robot, exchanging a look with each other.

Lin Yao: “You’re trying to bribe us into breaking the rules.”

The mecha pilot retorted: “Bribe? Bullshit. The League only limits the number of energy tubes a mecha can carry before entering the arena. The competition system is broadcasting live. If there were any issues, the League would have stopped it already. Otherwise, how would you trade energy between you and your teammates if there wasn’t enough?”

The staff of the Alliance’s supervision team, who were also monitoring the information in the live broadcast room through the camera, “…?”

Indeed, it was against the rules to carry a large amount of energy before entering the arena or to hide or store a large amount of energy beforehand. However, there were no rules stating that mecha pilots couldn’t use their teammates’ energy when they ran out during the match.

The viewers in the live broadcast room: “?”

Why aren’t they taking action?

Meanwhile, at a distance, several mechas from KID saw Ji Qingfeng and Lin Yao chasing after someone for a long time without returning. They quickly rushed over following their radar positions, only to see a mecha running away from the two of them, suddenly activating its full thrusters.

You Su immediately raised the Sniper Cannon upon seeing this, locking onto the escaping mecha in the distance.

“You Ge, stop!” Ji Qingfeng shouted, “He’s paid up!”

Author’s note:

KID: We’re really easy to talk to.

TN:

Finally my girl Xi Mei is getting the recognition she deserves! I like how each time each member gets their own limelight. God, give me the business acumen KID has🙏. They were worried about not having pollutants to make money from and this pie fell from the sky!

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