Genius Mechanic: Chapter 147

Keze Floating Island Contaminated Zone(Galactic Knockout Competition)

147. Island Merging and Lock Up

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake

Upon hearing the staff member’s description of KID, the director of the supervision team felt his blood pressure skyrocket. What do you mean by ‘more active robbing’?! This is a competition, not a scene for bandits to plunder! Isn’t there anyone to manage and sanction KID’s behavior? Are they just allowed to do as they please here at the Signal Tower?

Just as he was about to say a few more words, he blinked and saw a collapsed building in the live broadcast. The words he was about to utter were pushed back down. “When did the Signal Tower become like this?”

The staff hesitated to speak, then said, “Reports have been submitted several times about the Signal Tower.”

“Even the authorities can’t do anything about it… That’s still considered good. The Signal Tower hasn’t collapsed yet. You haven’t seen what’s happened over at the Old Commercial Center…”

The director of the supervision team was astonished. “The authorities aren’t doing anything?”

“Compared to Qiu Jin, our situation here is relatively better. They say the venue can still be used for the next season.”

The director of the supervision team: “…”

This lawlessness is out of control!

Not only the members of the supervision team began to feel headaches, but also the audience in the live broadcast. Seeing KID’s behavior, fans who followed them from the previous season were familiar with their style. KID used to handle things on their own, so now turning to robbery didn’t seem like a big deal. Besides, these materials obtained through robbery would likely end up in KID’s online shop, so it’s like they’re pre-inspecting the goods.

However, the impressions of new fans were different. They had never seen such shameless behavior in battles before. Not only was their fighting style reckless and aggressive, but they even resorted to robbery in the arena. In live broadcast room 4122, fans of Sink had the most complex emotions. They used to care about Sink’s performance in battles, as well as his adaptation from solo to team battles.

Many people supported Sink on StarNet, but there were also many criticisms. The business anchors or commentators who previously discussed Sink to ride the trend had decreased, but the discussions on StarNet hadn’t completely stopped. With the news of KID’s robbery spreading on StarNet, many fans who were originally lurking outside KID’s official account became even more concerned.

Why would an Individual Soldier suddenly switch to a seemingly hopeless team battle? You should know that in the Star Alliance matches, there’s virtually no mention of team battles from Dawn Galaxy. People outside the Dawn Galaxy might not even recognize Dawn’s team battle teams. It’s better to continue shining brightly as an Individual Soldier than to stay with a team that has no future.

But upon observing this KID, they discovered that despite their recklessness, their compatibility with Sink seemed quite high.

The recent footage of Sink and Yan’s Medical-Tank cooperation has caused quite a stir on StarNet. Sink’s outstanding solo ability and the efficient cooperation between him and Yan had attracted attention. Fans who were originally worried about him playing support in the role of Medical couldn’t contain their excitement when they saw Sink’s solo kills. However, along with the excitement, various doubts also emerged.

The biggest point of contention was Sink’s arm.

A mechanical arm like that could affect a mecha pilot’s operation, and even their career.

【What’s wrong with Sink’s right arm? I’ve been watching the live broadcast for a long time and haven’t noticed any issues.】

【So, what was the reason for his retirement two years ago? Is it related to his arm?】

【I also want to ask. I can’t see any problems with his right arm during team battles…】

【KID just released a promotional image. Isn’t there any other response?】

When the voices of doubt reached Shen Xingtang through the official account, she had just ended a cordial conversation with Keze Floating Island’s Management Bureau. Upon hearing that the director in the monitoring room was infuriated but still couldn’t do anything about KID, she was already accustomed to it.

“Shouldn’t we respond to the news about Lin Ge on StarNet?” Gu Xiaotian asked. “Many people are discussing his hand, and fans seem very anxious.”

“You can tell a mecha pilot’s physical condition from their operations.”

Shen Xingtang hung up the communication call. “You respond to one question, and they’ll have even more questions.”

Jiang Simiao: “Chenlin’s popularity is really high. It seems like more than half of our fans in the live broadcast were originally fans of Individual Soldiers, right? I also saw many people asking about the rules of team matches in the live broadcast.”

Gu Xiaotian opened the audience seats on-site. “I heard that there are also many professional Individual Mecha Pilots coming to Keze Floating Island. There were even photos circulating on StarNet just now, saying that many professional mecha pilots were seen in the audience seats.”

“No wonder the director of the supervision team was stomping his feet in anger.”

Shen Xingtang: “…Now the whole Dawn Alliance knows about this embarrassment.”

The news of Sink’s return shocked not only the Team Battle Mecha League but also the Individual Soldier groups.

So many Individual Soldiers were paying attention to this match, which meant that many people witnessed KID’s banditry. Now, it wasn’t just a disgrace within the Team Battle Mecha League; even the Individual Soldier League knows about KID’s shameless banditry.

While StarNet was discussing its topics, the attention within live broadcast 4122 shifted to the group of KID mechas on the field.

KID was still blocking people around the entrance of the Signal Tower. While working together, KID’s robbery seemed to be more blatant after the “active competition” reminder from the supervision team. Any mecha team passing by the Signal Tower, if intercepted by KID, would either regretfully be eliminated or have a layer of skin peeled off by KID.

Among all of KID’s mechas, the Medical mecha, which attracted much attention, stayed on the side. During his spare time, he used the Medical mecha to repair the damage to KID’s team, reducing the damage from 40% to around 16%. At other times, he stayed on the other side.

Through the mecha’s outer shell, the people in the live broadcast couldn’t see the condition of the person inside. But they could see Sink finish repairing the mecha and then find a high place to wait, with the mecha shut down for rest and gunfire in the distance, yet paying no attention to it, as if he were just catching fish ¹ on the battlefield.

【Is Sink slacking off??】

【F*ck, he looks exactly like me when I’m at work.】

【Does he realize that all the fans on the net are watching him while he’s slacking off?】

【I didn’t expect this situation before squatting in the live broadcast.】

Sink’s presence in Individual Soldier battle footage was rare; fans had never seen him resting or slacking off on the battlefield. In high-intensity individual combat, Individual Soldier mecha pilots couldn’t afford to let their guard down in the wilderness. One slight lapse in attention could result in being eliminated by a mecha sneaking up from behind. Every Individual Soldier pilot approached the entire match with intense focus and tension. Considering that Sink had rested for seven hours prior to this team battle, his time spent slacking off in this team battle exceeded all the time he had accumulated in previous battles.

He seemed unresponsive to the gunfire and commotion above, quietly staying on the ruins unless called by his teammates.

Ying Chenlin was oblivious to the discussions trending online, including #KIDBanditry# and #SinkSlackingOff#.

For him, when it was time to rest, he naturally rested.

During his rest, he didn’t forget to administer the injections provided by Dr. Eric. He received one injection per day, administered intravenously.

Compared to the other KID mecha pilots, his physical and mental stamina were significantly inferior. While KID could remain lively after a day and a half of continuous combat, he couldn’t. The deficiencies in his physique made him more prone to feeling drained of energy.

Once he had rested enough, he helped with processing some materials. When there were no materials to work on, he studied maps of other islands, calculating future routes.

Up high, You Su, having finished his mecha’s bombardment, disengaged the Sniper Cannon. He controlled the consumption of the mecha’s weapons perfectly, ensuring there was no extra energy wasted. After closing the weapon energy gate with a slight tilt of his head, he noticed the mecha below waiting obediently.

The smoke drifted eastward with the wind, causing the dust and debris on the ground to scatter.

Aside from the noisy gunfire and lively conversations among teammates, the mecha below was comparatively quiet.

A mecha descended with a hum, its steps on the ruins emitting a faint collapsing sound.

“Ying Chenlin,” You Su asked as his mecha came to a halt, “Are you asleep?”

Ying Chenlin snapped out of his thoughts, noticing You Su’s mecha parked next to him. “No, I’m checking the route.”

The adjacent mecha stopped moving, and the Artillery mecha powered down.

The cannon weapon still gleamed conspicuously on the mecha’s right hand. While Ying Chenlin was halfway through checking the route, he caught sight of the motionless mecha beside him in his peripheral vision. For some reason, his attention tended to drift to the side, especially when there was another mecha nearby; he couldn’t help but glance over.

The two mechas stood side by side on the ruins, and after You Su’s mecha powered down, there were no other sounds.

After a few minutes, Ying Chenlin couldn’t help but speak up, “You Ge, are you sleeping?”

You Su didn’t immediately respond to him. After a while, he said, “Take a look at your route.”

Ying Chenlin nodded in acknowledgment and continued to study the map route.

He had already calculated the route for the Fourth Island. What he wanted to calculate was the possibility of the merging islands. According to the rules of the elimination round, every five days for the first fifteen days, the barriers between islands would be opened. By then, the map would expand, and mecha teams from multiple islands would mix together. It would be more challenging to gain achievements by competing against teams from multiple islands than from a single one. Wasting energy searching for opponents on the way would be the most inefficient.

Ying Chenlin didn’t want to waste energy, so the route needed to be calculated.

The team ranked second was nearly 230 mecha points behind them. They had a significant advantage in their record. Rather than wasting time looking for opponents, it was better to calculate a route that maximized profit.

—

KID and the others stayed around the Signal Tower for several days. In the beginning, there were still other mecha teams passing by. However, by the next two days, all the mecha teams avoided the Signal Tower, afraid of accidentally stumbling into KID’s encirclement. After all, these pirates only recognized materials, not mechas. Even if they had exchanged materials once, if they passed by the Signal Tower a second time, they would still be intercepted.

Meanwhile, people from other floating islands were unaware of the situation on the Fourth Island. They only noticed that the League’s reminders had been frequent in recent days. For example, reminders like “Please actively participate in the competition!” and “Please pay attention to the duration of your stay!” seemed to make sense.

Mecha pilots discussed:

“Is the Alliance supervision team too idle?”

“How many teams are not actively participating in the competition? Staying in one place?”

“The quality of mecha pilots in the teams this year isn’t great; they don’t have any competitive spirit.”

Because of these reminders from the League, many teams became more active, and fights between teams on various islands became fiercer.

By the fifth day of the knock-out round on the Keze Floating Island, there was a change in the barrier system between the seven islands of the Keze Floating Island’s Contaminated Zone.

With numerous mecha teams in Keze Floating Island, after the consumption during the first five days of elimination, there were not many mecha teams left on each island. The elimination round entered the first round of islands merging.

The purple light barrier lingering between the special floating islands above the land and sea gradually dispersed, as the seven islands began to merge with each other, reopening a new barrier system. Mecha teams from various floating islands now had a broader operational space.

The merging of pairs of islands meant that they were about to enter another round of fierce competition. The location of the merging islands would become the new battlefield. Although each track only had one slot to advance to the Round of 32, for mecha teams participating in the elimination, the longer they stayed in the elimination round, the higher the achievements they could strive for.

High achievements meant more exposure, and higher potential for the team, attracting more investors or attention from the Contaminated Zones. This could lead to more resources being obtained, playing a crucial role in the subsequent development of a mecha base.

Mecha teams that could survive the first round of island merging were not simple. After five days of combat, all mecha pilots entered the rhythm of the competition. The new island merging also meant new opportunities to earn achievements.

The island merging with the Fourth Island was the Third Island. The moment the barrier system closed, the mecha teams on the Third Island immediately locked onto the direction of the Fourth Island.

However, as the mecha pilots from the Third Island rushed towards the Fourth Island, they could see from afar a large group of mechas surging on the floating island of the Fourth Island. Each mecha pilot’s thrusters were pushed to the maximum, without any tentative confrontation. Every team kept a safe distance from each other, and the only sound left was the roaring of thrusters, as if there were raging beasts behind them.

“What’s happening on the Fourth Island!?”

“So many mecha pilots are flying out!?”

“Let’s hold off on taking action and see the situation first.”

The pressure of the large number of mecha pilots flying out was still palpable. The mecha pilots from the Third Island, originally prepared to ambush the Fourth Island, did not dare to risk entering the encirclement of the Fourth Island’s mecha pilots when they saw so many teams coming out together. Seeing various teams flying in different directions, the mecha pilots from the Third Island hesitated even to open fire. What was happening?

Among the mecha teams at the rear of the Fourth Island were several red and white mechas flying side by side.

Ji Qingfeng: “Damn, how are these people running so fast?”

Lin Yao: “Maybe they want to compete with us for the resources of the Third Island? The Third Island has more forests and more pollutant materials.”

When KID heard this, they were immediately uncertain. After spending five days on the pollutant-poor Fourth Island, they hadn’t collected as much pollutant material as a single trip to a regular Contaminated Zone. Finally escaping from the big city, they could finally go to the wilderness for harvesting. How could they let others get ahead!

“F*ck, KID is accelerating.”

“These bandits, we can’t let them surpass us.”

KID accelerated, and seeing this, the mecha pilots ahead pushed their thrusters to the max.

The mecha team from the Third Island looked bewildered. They didn’t even dare to set up an ambush, only able to watch as the mecha pilots from the Fourth Island crossed the border. Afterwards, each group of mecha pilots flew off in different directions. A situation where islands opened up and battles ensued, didn’t happen at all. It looked more like a group of mechas fleeing to their Third Island for refuge.

The merging of islands left the mecha pilots of both islands completely confused.

【Polite advice: Run fast!】

【Are we finally changing islands? I’ve been watching robbery for three days.】

The audience in the live broadcast couldn’t be happier. Anyone who had been watching KID’s robbery drama for three days would have become numb. While other live broadcasts were bustling with action, KID’s broadcast showcased all kinds of robbery techniques, handling materials in 108 different ways… After three days, the people in Room 4122 were more familiar with handling pollutant materials than the mecha pilots in the arena.

Not to mention the people from the League’s surveillance team; their eyes were red after watching KID for three days. Considering the impact on the competition atmosphere, who knows how much negative news they suppressed on StarNet over the past few days. They were worried that the news about the Dawn team reaching the First Star Domain wouldn’t be positive news about the competition atmosphere.

Seeing KID finally leave, the League’s surveillance team breathed a sigh of relief.

But just when they thought KID would engage in intense combat after entering the Third Island, KID’s group didn’t head towards the area densely packed with the Third Island’s teams. Instead, they circled around the periphery of the Third Island. They weren’t eliminating mechas anymore.

The robbery had come to a temporary halt, but the unfortunate part was the pollutant resources of the Third Island.

While the mechas from the Third and Fourth Islands were battling, KID was fishing and harvesting trees in the forests of the Third Island, far from the battlefield.

On the second day of the battle between the Third and Fourth Islands, KID finished cutting trees and began moving towards the center of the Third Island’s conflict, harvesting the mechas retreating from the vicinity. They had indeed shifted from stationary robbery to robbing along the way.

【Damn, how did they plan their route?】

【What’s going on? Are they here for a competition or something else?】

【Haven’t seen KID compete? I suggest watching recordings of the Fiarge and Qiu Jin matches.】

【Just get used to it. At this time, you can think about what materials you need. After the competition, you can buy them from KID’s online store [Online Store Address].】

The members of the Competition Committee together with the Alliance’s supervision team fell silent: “…”

How could there be a team like KID? Can’t they just calm down for a bit?

The coaches from various mecha teams came specifically to observe KID, and they were utterly baffled. They watched for however long KID robbed mechas.

While others observed their opponents’ matches, diligently looking for loopholes and taking notes, KID had notes to jot down as well. But after the first two days, the only note worth taking was how many mechas KID had snatched.

They thought that with the islands opening up, KID would finally get down to business.

Little did they know that instead of charging into the battlefield, KID started roaming around the periphery.

Without engaging in intense team battles, they harvested the pollutant materials on the Third Island and blocked the mecha pilots fleeing from the center of the conflict.

The coaching staff of Gale’s team analyzed the route taken by KID, and after scrutinizing the winding path for a while, the head coach finally understood how KID navigated.

“This route isn’t difficult to guess… KID’s command is strong. It seems like they change routes based on the fluctuations in the leaderboard. When the battles are intense, they take Route A, and when they’re not, they take Route B along the perimeter.”

The head coach continued, “According to the distribution map of pollutant materials on the Third Island, Route A is the optimal route for mecha teams to avoid battles, while Route B passes through valuable areas of the Third Island.”

After reviewing all the analyses, the assistant coach remarked, “It seems like KID doesn’t lose out on any route they take.”

Cutting trees? They were cutting down the unique Louverri trees on the Third Island, Grade A materials, starting at a market price of 60,000.

Killing pollutants? They were eliminating the Grade A pollutants on the Third Island, earning at least 70,000 each.

Eliminating mechas? They were blocking the fleeing and isolated mechas, either robbing them or easily taking them out.

…

Crucially, KID stuck to this route throughout. They maintained the highest ranking across all of Keze Floating Island, finishing one island and moving on to the next. By the time the shields between the seven islands were all down, KID had dropped to second place in terms of rankings. The only thing that had increased was their stock of pollutant materials. After so many days, their virtual warehouse was nearly full.

Other teams fought during the island transition, while they used the transition to switch islands and loot.

By the 15th day of the competition, the audience in Room 4122 had dwindled from being packed to now just over half left.

In the first 15 days, Keze Floating Island gradually merged all the islands together, and as a result, the total number of mecha teams across the seven islands decreased from the original 4159 to 357. This was just after the conclusion of the second phase of the elimination round.

Now, it was time for the third phase of the elimination round – the Island Closing phase.

After communicating with all the mecha teams following the merging of the islands in the second phase, Keze Floating Island began closing off the islands every two days starting from the 16th day. This gathered the remaining mecha teams together, eventually closing down to just one island, where the remaining teams would battle it out to determine the sole victor.

By the time the competition reached its third phase, the strength of the teams that remained had increased by a level.

The teams at the top of the leaderboard were accumulating richer records. However, there was still a discontinuity in the number of mechas eliminated between the top two teams. One of them, the Ghost team, which was also one of the 16 finalists, rose to the top after 15 days of combat, while the other was the KID team, which had just dropped to second place after roaming and looting.

【And this outcome doesn’t surprise me at all.】

【They were supposed to be focusing on collecting pollutants. How did they end up in second place?】

【This scene feels familiar. I feel like I’ve seen it before.】

But that wasn’t the end of it. As the first island began to shrink inward, other mecha teams had already started moving inward.

At this stage of the elimination round, it was no longer just about strength; tactical necessity also played a significant role in securing victory. Both the Ghost and KID teams, which were two of the old-format’s 16 finalists, were being targeted by other teams that still had decent records. Some teams, familiar with each other, joined forces and began targeting the Ghost and KID teams as part of the island merging process. In the latest round of merging, Ghost, KID, and the joint squad cleverly arrived on the same island.

【Is KID going to be finished here?】

【The joint squad and Ghost are still here.】

The island is Keze Floating Island’s second island and also the smallest in terms of area among the seven major floating islands, with a comparatively diverse terrain.

In a situation like this, it was clear that KID couldn’t replicate their initial bombing and mecha acquisition tactics.

In the other elimination tracks, two tracks had already determined their winners. The Gale mecha base from Dawn Galaxy concluded its competition on the 22nd day, securing its place with a first-place finish, firmly defending its dominant position within the Dawn League.

After the competition, Qi Sicheng didn’t immediately go to interview the scene, but instead went to Room 4122 and saw the lively discussions inside.

He learned about the entire situation of KID’s competition from Gale’s staff, showing no visible emotion. He hesitated for a moment upon hearing about KID’s strange actions before finally saying, “Did you compare the remaining energy reserves of all the teams?”

The staff immediately pulled up the situation in Keze Floating Island’s Contaminated Zone. When they hesitated while pulling up the data, Qi Sicheng asked, “Is there a problem?”

Qi Sicheng continued, “Compare KID’s remaining energy situation with that of Ghost’s team.”

Upon hearing Captain Qi’s words, the staff finally compared the energy reserves of KID and Ghost’s teams. It was then discovered that despite KID’s fierce actions, such as bombarding and besieging other mechas, as well as wasting energy on roaming and collecting pollutants, their energy reserves were actually higher than those of Ghost’s team, and this didn’t even include the energy they initially looted.

With no other sources of looted energy and no Energy Guns carried by their Medical mecha, KID’s current energy storage was unexpectedly the highest in the entire field.

“But I remember their energy consumption was quite high,” the staff said in surprise.

Qi Sicheng pointed to one of the Medical mechas, “Their command wasn’t reckless; instead, it was about obtaining the maximum benefit with the minimum energy consumption… Their command took all of this into account.”

Zhao Lejie was also surprised that KID had been so meticulous in their energy usage. “But why were their energy expenditures so high in Coria initially?”

Qi Sicheng handed the data board to the staff. “They are very shrewd. Besides, the situation is different when someone’s in charge and when no one is.”

“Someone’s going to interview them,” Zhang Ge, who happened to be passing by, said, “What were you just talking about regarding expenditures?”

Zhao Lejie hesitated, “…”

“It’s nothing,” Qi Sicheng looked at Zhang Ge calmly, “Have the coaching staff keep an eye on them. KID’s next move might be significant.”

Inside the Contaminated Zone, the radar in front of Ying Chenlin was extremely quiet, with no red signals indicating hostile mechas. However, on the shared page of KID’s mecha channel, the entire map of the Second Island had been meticulously marked, as if they knew everything happening inside the arena.

“Then let’s proceed with the plan,” Ying Chenlin pointed to several locations on the map and said calmly, “Let’s not engage in direct confrontation with Ghost. We’ll eliminate the other mechas first.”

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Translator Notes

1. to loaf off on the job/slack off[↩]