Genius Mechanic: Chapter 182

Agaman Sea Star Contaminated Zone (Galactic Ranking Competition)

182. Fishing Experts KID

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake and An Zheee 

“The flag point is still moving. Its distance from KID has changed from 40.2 kilometers to 43 kilometers. It seems to be moving in a strange manner, continuing to move into Agaman’s deep sea.” The commentator’s voice in the livestream turned excited, “It’s the fifth day, and there are still new changes in the competition! The organizers have actually introduced a moving flag point, which raises the difficulty of the stronghold competition to a whole new level!”

【A moving flag point!】

【I didn’t expect that! The Management Bureau sure knows how to play!】

【Sh*t how exciting! Doesn’t that mean they have to chase the flag point while fighting? This is getting interesting!】

In the competition area, Ying Chenlin, who was observing the flag point information, saw the relevant distance data on the mecha’s program table. The flag point position fluctuated from far to near and then back to far. He looked at the other KID mechas, “We need to chase the flag point.”

While the livestream was buzzing with excitement over the sudden introduction of the moving flag point, the Management Bureau had descended into chaos.

“A sinking flag point!?” The leader of the Agaman Sea Star Management Bureau hurried to the control panel upon hearing this. The flag point system displayed a bizarre situation. In this competition, the flag points were set using special position markers in various base station facilities within this Contaminated Zone, firmly and stably anchored to the seabed. There should be no possibility of the markers detaching or moving.

“Quickly investigate the cause,” the director’s face turned grim. With the competition being broadcast live on StarNet, any issue with the flag points would be seen as a failure of the Management Bureau. “First, fix the position, then use the system to extract images from that area—”

Before the director could finish speaking, another staff member responsible for pollution monitoring and management looked over with a shocked expression. “Director, we’ve detected an S-Level pollution source in the sea!”

The director was momentarily stunned. “What!? In the same area?”

“How come we didn’t get a report about the pollution source beforehand?”

At that moment, the real-time footage of the flag point’s foundation was pulled up. The entire screen was shaking violently, and the images around the foundation were moving rapidly, not stationary, as if something was carrying it away!

A staff member said in horror, “Director, the flag point’s location overlaps with the pollution source’s location! The pollution source report is 6800, exceeding Agaman’s basic pollution level!”

The flag point’s overlapping with the pollution source!? That meant the culprit taking the flag point away was the pollutant!?

The person responsible for extracting the footage quickly switched to other underwater cameras. In a critical moment, they captured a horrifying scene: in the depths of the sea, a massive creature, its face obscured, was moving rapidly. The instant imaging system caught a fleeting glimpse of it. The whole scene was slowed down, and the staff quickly restored the appearance of this massive creature from the video information.

The creature’s body was covered in seabed rocks, with a rough, uneven surface for a back, like rolling hills. Not only that, but it also had a fish-like tail at its end, long, thin fins on either side, and a gaping mouth full of jagged teeth… The most important thing was that the flag point, specially set in the Agaman Contaminated Zone, was on this monster.

“What kind of pollutant is this!?” the director asked in astonishment.

“We’ve identified it, director… This is the S-Level pollutant ‘Sea Rock Giant Fish,’ last recorded in the Agaman Sea Star Contaminated Zone 40 years ago.” The staff pulled up the relevant information from the database. “The records state that it disappeared into the deep sea 40 years ago, and Agaman hasn’t received any reports of it since.”

40 years ago, it disappeared into the deep sea. So what’s the deal with the base station now stuck to the Sea Rock Giant Fish? Did the pollution detection system malfunction? How could such a large pollutant only be detected now?

“We didn’t detect any energy reaction earlier. It’s likely that its pollution reaction dropped to a freezing point. The Sea Rock Giant Fish can enter a state of suspended animation during its dormant period.” The staff hesitated, piecing together the clues. “This pollutant looks very similar to the seabed rocks. It might have been that when it went into hibernation, the workers from before accidentally built the foundation on its back…?”

As for why the Sea Rock Giant Fish, which had been pretending to be dead, was awakened from its dormant state, there’s no need to guess. Not long ago, submarine landslides occurred over a hundred kilometers from this location.

The director: “…”

And now they’ve refreshed the flag point right on the foundation built on its back?

“Prepare to switch the flag point and change its location, and warn the mecha pilots about the S-Level pollutant’s presence.” The director immediately decided on a solution. Since it was only the fifth day of the flag point refresh, there was still time to change it.

The S-Level pollutant was a challenge, but it hadn’t yet disrupted the competition to an unmanageable degree. A little intervention could still handle it.

Just as he finished speaking, the staff member looked at him hesitantly. “Director, it might not be easy to change the point.”

The director’s gaze fell into the distance, seeing the flag point moving outward. “It hasn’t approached any other teams, has it?”

“It didn’t before.” The staff switched to another screen, showing several red and white mechas moving swiftly. “But just now, KID noticed the flag point moving, and they’re chasing after it.”

“Not only are they chasing it…” the staff added, “but the live stream viewers think the moving flag point is part of the rules, and it’s spreading rapidly.”

The director: “???”

In the live stream, the moving flag point was indeed a novel sight, capturing everyone’s attention. However, the footage near the flag point was too blurry. All they could see were high-speed movements, making it difficult to discern the exact situation around the flag point.

“The direction of the flag point’s movement seems to be variable,” the commentator continued. “And the flag point’s speed is quite fast, greatly increasing the difficulty of pinpointing its location. Each team will need to consider their tactical arrangements…”

Faced with such a bizarre flag point, the other three teams did not immediately head towards it. In this competition zone, only one team moved in the direction opposite of the others. Instead of assessing the situation, they charged towards the flag point as soon as they spotted it!

“KID is on the move. They’re the first ones heading for the flag point.”

【F*ck, KID is really reckless!】

【Not exactly reckless, they’re just the closest to it.】

In the competition zone, the commanders of the four teams immediately locked onto the strange flag point when they saw the situation. Wen Yi noticed the flag point’s repeated movements and led the Black Crow team towards another flag point.

YDS’s Ke Lin did the same. An oddly moving flag point posed too high a combat difficulty, making it impossible to ensure a successful operation.

Hu Luobu, for some reason, thought of KID when he saw the flag point. “Could this be KID’s doing?”

“Impossible,” Ke Lin denied. “The flag point just refreshed; they couldn’t have acted that fast.”

“Aren’t we going over there?” Hu Luobu asked. “If everyone thinks like us, then no one will go for that flag point.”

None of the teams had time to investigate the flag point’s situation thoroughly. The flag point’s movements were unpredictable, and during the chase, it was highly likely that someone else could occupy it. While going against the flow could work, Ke Lin didn’t take risks without observing first.

“That flag point’s position is difficult to secure.” Ke Lin focused on the flag point. “Judging by its landmark changes in the last minute, its movement speed almost exceeds the upper limit of a mecha’s high-speed movement. Going for that flag point is a gamble on luck.”

Either you’re very lucky and successfully capture it, or you are highly likely to be toyed with to death by this flag point. After all, securing a flag point requires 10 minutes, and the flag point won’t just stay put waiting for you.

At this moment, the competition committee updated the flag point information within the mecha system, adding a pollutant marker to the moving flag point.

[Attention, Flag Point C is located on the body of an S-Level pollutant, [Sea Rock Giant Fish]. Relevant information about the Sea Rock Giant Fish has been shared with your mission systems.]

“An S-Level pollutant!?” Hu Luobu paused, “Is this flag point really that difficult?”

Outside the competition, the Alliance’s management team leaders held an emergency meeting for ten minutes. After thorough deliberation, the competition committee decided to keep the flag point’s validity, while ensuring all League rescue teams were ready for immediate action.

Li Jingyan returned to the main stage, looking particularly serious as he watched the live broadcast of the competition. Agaman Sea Star Contaminated Zone inherently had unpredictable factors. Unless a super S-Level pollutant like at Black Hole level appeared, the League would not call off the match. The appearance of an S-Level pollutant was already within the competition rules for the Agaman Contaminated Zone, merely increasing the difficulty of the fifth day’s competition.

The Alliance couldn’t call off the match because of this.

This was still within a Contaminated Zone in the Dawn Galaxy. If it extended to the First Star Domain or even other parts of the Star Alliance, higher-Level competitions never limited S-Level pollutants, let alone changed the competition rules for one pollutant. Anything could happen, and the purpose of the Mecha League was to test the elite combat capabilities of various mecha teams.

Mecha pilots must be capable of handling non-super S-Level unexpected situations.

Meanwhile, on StarNet and in the live broadcast room, the audience was stunned by the official announcement.

This flag point wasn’t controlled by the officials but was actually on a pollutant?

【F*ck, so capturing this flag point means snatching it from the S-Level pollutant!?】

【Not only do they have to fight against other teams, but they also have to face an S-Level pollutant. The Dawn Mecha Alliance is not messing around!】

The audience knew that the Agaman Contaminated Zone had a pollution level of 6000, but the Dawn Galaxy’s competition rules were typically conservative. To see such a rule in the ranking matches was a huge surprise, significantly increasing the difficulty!

Soon, information about the [Sea Rock Giant Fish] was published on StarNet.

Everyone saw a few key points about this pollutant: immense strength, extremely fast movement speed, and unknown abilities.

【This movement speed??? Do they really have to chase it down!?】

【It’s so difficult to combat, the Dawn Alliance is serious about this.】

In the competition area, Gale, Black Crow, and YDS did not risk going after this flag point. Its movement speed was too fast, and if multiple teams competed for it, they might end up wasting time fighting instead. In the same situation, it was more practical for them to secure the other two fixed flag points, where at least they wouldn’t have to worry about the flag point running away during a fight.

Among all the teams, only KID was heading in the opposite direction.

Instead of fighting, they were rushing straight towards the flag point.

【Is it my illusion, or does it seem like they’re running faster after seeing the pollutant announcement?】

【…It’s not an illusion; they really are running faster.】

In the KID communication channel, when they noticed the flag point, they charged ahead without a second thought.

After all, it was all about capturing points. With three points to choose from, and this one being the closest to KID, if they didn’t go for this one, they wouldn’t catch up with the others.

The KID mechas flew over the sea while the giant fish swam quickly underwater.

When Ying Chenlin noticed the moving flag point, he realized there was a problem. Initially thinking it was a change in Alliance’s rules, he was surprised to find it was a pollutant. As he followed the others, he quickly scanned through the limited information on the Sea Rock Giant Fish. Being an S-Level pollutant, it was already a rare species, and having been dormant in the Contaminated Zone for so long, the data available was only from 40 years ago.

“Damn, it’s accelerating,” Ji Qingfeng, the fastest among them, shouted as he dashed forward, “With this kind of movement speed, could it have a speed boost? A water-attribute speed boost?”

Huo Yan, who was moving the slowest, commented, “Speed boosts like that are really useful. We should consider having one for escaping in the future.”

Lu Xi asked a little anxiously, “Can we catch up?”

A mecha’s movement speed is limited, and Ji Qingfeng was the fastest among them, especially with his Hook Claw. Although the pollutant was fast, it didn’t move in a completely straight line. Its movements show a tendency to meander, so they could still reduce the distance between them and the pollutant for now.

“Do we have detailed information on the Sea Rock Giant Fish?” You Su asked.

Ying Chenlin replied after searching through the data, “There’s very little information. It only mentions that this type of fish has strong offensive capabilities, and the details are extremely scarce.”

Even its preferred food wasn’t clearly specified. This giant fish seemed to be a pollutant that amalgamated multiple biological traits. From the images, it features characteristics of various deep-sea creatures: its massive back resembles a turtle shell, its teeth are shark-like, its tail resembles a fast-moving fish, and its body is adorned with various fins, seemingly designed to aid its swimming.

It lacks the streamlined body of a high-speed aquatic pollutant but possesses an extraordinary movement speed.

“Maybe we should have Huo Ge deploy the shield underwater?” Lin Yao suggested.

Ji Qingfeng: “…I’m afraid that if we do that, other pollutants might attack us before this big fish even arrives.”

Ying Chenlin lowered his gaze slightly. While they could catch up horizontally on the water surface, the pollutant wasn’t just moving laterally; its depth was also changing. This meant that even if they caught up, they would have to enter the water to reach the flag point.

You Su looked into the distance and saw that Ji Qingfeng had already created a significant gap. “Pollutants awakening from dormancy gradually regain their desires. This one is moving through the areas dense with pollutants we’ve previously encountered. Also, I noticed from the data that this pollutant has a very large stomach.”

With this point noted, the others quickly understood.

“Fishing? Does the data say what it likes to eat?” Huo Yan asked.

Lu Xi: “But it shouldn’t be lacking food, right? S-Level pollutants have the ability to command lower-Level pollutants and could easily gather other pollutants for consumption.”

Just relying on surface pursuit might not be enough; they needed to devise a specific strategy.

Ying Chenlin also researched its lineage and found that this giant fish’s lineage contained many traits from ancient species. Determining its preferences from the data seemed challenging. For pollutants of such ancient age, there usually aren’t specific dietary restrictions…

What does it like to eat…? Areas dense with pollutants?

Initially, it seemed like the pollutant was shifting slightly towards their direction before changing course. The area around their small island had relatively few pollutants, making the Sea Rock Giant Fish’s movement path somewhat peculiar.

Ying Chenlin suddenly thought of something, “There’s a very primitive method, but I’m not sure how sensitive this pollutant’s sense of smell is.”

In the live broadcast, while KID was chasing the S-Level pollutant, battles had already erupted at the other two flag points. YDS and Gale had arrived at the remaining two flag points, and Black Crow, who arrived later, clashed with YDS, who had already occupied one of the flag points. With only three flag points on the field, competition was inevitable. It was surprising to see Black Crow opting to fight YDS.

“Black Crow isn’t suited for a direct confrontation with Gale. Wen Yi probably considered this and chose to divert to compete with YDS for a flag point,” Gale’s head coach said with a slight frown. “Ideally, we would engage with KID, but KID isn’t involved in the fixed point contention and is instead going for the moving flag point.”

Black Crow and Gale were tough opponents. To put it simply, it’s crucial to maintain the best combat readiness before the final day.

Choosing YDS, who they have a higher chance of winning against, is a more strategic move. Gale’s combat readiness is excellent, and engaging in a tough fight at this moment would only increase the difficulty of the competition.

“YDS is in a tough spot. If their Stealth’s status were better, they could delay Black Crow,” the assistant coach said. “But now their Stealth has been severely damaged by KID’s recent attacks. With their Stealth compromised, it’s five against six, and Black Crow still primarily uses ice-type weapons.”

Black Crow’s ice-attribute Artillery counters Ke Lin’s close-combat Conduction Chain Spheres.

If these two teams clash, they’ll both have weapons that counter each other, leading to a fierce battle.

Black Crow’s team isn’t aware of YDS’s combat readiness, but the audience knew that YDS’s Stealth’s damage level was quite high.

【It looks like a winner will be decided soon.】

【YDS will have to give it their all; if they don’t stabilize this situation, they won’t last through the day.】

【Thinking about it, I realize how strong KID is. They managed to wear down one of YDS’s main mechas despite their weapon disadvantages.】

【Why isn’t Black Crow competing with KID for the flag point? KID hasn’t even secured a point yet!】

【??? Is that moving flag point so easy to capture? They still haven’t caught up.】

Chasing a pollutant in the sea? It’s not a simple task, especially when the pollutant is faster underwater than a mecha. KID started chasing as soon as the flag point was refreshed. After three hours of chasing it, KID was only barely keeping pace with the pollutant.

The official livestream had just shifted from the intense Black Crow vs. YDS battle, and when the focus moved to KID, it showed them speeding across the surface of the sea. The commentator noted, “It’s been 3 hours since the flag point was refreshed. We see that KID has matched the pollutant’s speed horizontally. They still have 21 hours. Can they capture the flag point before the countdown ends?”

On the screen, a group of red and white mechas raced across the sea surface, with KID’s Qingf leading the way.

Commentator B: “This scene is reminiscent of the ancient Chinese story of Kua Fu chasing the sun ¹.”

【It’s like Kua Fu chasing the sun? No, this is KID chasing fish.】

【What freaking chasing fish? Isn’t this just an upgraded version of the tortoise and hare race? K-Fish Race.】

【How did a flag capture race turn into this?】

“Qingf’s speed seems to be slowing down. What is he holding?” As the official livestream was about to switch away from this rather dull race, they suddenly saw Qingf holding something, “Wait? Is that a pollutant he’s holding???”

【??? Can pollutants attract other pollutants?】

【There’s such a thing as big eat small ², but with KID’s little pollutant, trying to lure a pollutant seems a bit far-fetched.】

【The pollutant is on the seabed 3000 meters deep from them ah!】

In the competition area, KID not only used pollutants to lure the Sea Rock Giant Fish but also changed the bait frequently.

The KID pilots, who were racing against the strong winds on the sea surface, tried different pollutants to see if any would be effective. After one failed attempt, they switched to another pollutant.

【Could they be trying to use food as bait?】

【Changing the bait might indeed help find what the Sea Rock Giant Fish prefers.】

【Are you guys foolish!? The Sea Rock Giant Fish is surrounded by a bunch of pollutants at the bottom of the sea, and it’s supposed to bite KID’s bait?】

In the Management Bureau, the staff who remained vigilant about the Sea Rock Giant Fish kept a close watch on the situation. Honestly, they also thought the moving flag point posed too high a challenge. However, since the Dawn Alliance insisted on keeping the rules unchanged, they could only monitor the situation.

“Aren’t they underestimating the S-Level pollutant too much? For such a small pollutant to attract the attention of a giant pollutant three thousand meters below, even if the Sea Rock Giant Fish has shark-like blood and a keen sense of smell, the S-Level pollutant isn’t lacking in food…” As the staff member was speaking, they suddenly detected a change in coordinates. The Sea Rock Giant Fish had changed direction and was rising from the seabed. “What the f*ck???”

At the same time, the commentators in the live broadcast room suddenly noticed that the Sea Rock Giant Fish, located three thousand meters deep in the ocean, seemed to have noticed something. They stared in amazement, “Wait? Did KID actually catch a fish??”

The scene caused many mecha bases outside the arena to come to a standstill, as everyone stared intently at the coordinates of the Sea Rock Giant Fish.

The change in coordinates was real—the pollutant in KID’s hands had indeed attracted the Sea Rock Giant Fish, causing it to swim upwards!

In the KID rest area, even Jiang Simiao was stunned by the scene, “How the hell did they manage to catch it?!”

“What kind of pollutant is that in his hand?”

“An A-Level mutant Dragonfish.”

“The Sea Rock Giant Fish likes to eat that?”

“How would I know? I’m not a pollutant!”

Experts from the Management Bureau who studied pollutants also arrived, and upon seeing this, they were momentarily stunned. “They’re using the blood or fluids of the dead pollutants as bait.”

The staff member replied, “But the pollutant’s blood is already drained. Can such a faint scent really attract an S-Level pollutant?”

“Qingf has switched again; this time, it’s an A-Level mutated Ribbonfish,” said the staff member next to them.

In the live broadcast room, KID’s pilot had replaced the Dragonfish with the Ribbonfish, but the pilot did not stop. Instead, he dipped the Ribbonfish in seawater and wrung it out as if wringing out a towel, right in front of the live audience and the Management Bureau.

The audience: “……?”

The Management Bureau staff: “?”

“They’re quite clever. The blood on the pollutant is sediment.” The Management Bureau’s pollutant research expert pondered, then remarked with admiration, “Draining it isn’t a problem. Dipping it in water and wringing it out still works.”

TN:

The Green Armor Beast: Hey, they woke you up from hibernation too? 

The Sea Rock Giant Fish: Heh, they fished in the wrong waters!

The Green Armor Beast: Tsk. That’s what they all say. See you on the other side~ [Floats away to join the hundreds of other pollutants assaulted, mutilated and k*lled by KID]

Pollutants: Aiya! You should have just continued pretending to be dead. 

The Sea Rock Giant Fish: ……

Welcome to the Pollutant Nightmare Live, our newest cannon fodder!

If you're enjoying the story don't forget to support the author! You can also support me on KOFI for site maintenance, raws purchase or as an energy boost~ 

 

AFFILIATE AD

Want to develop your career or work on a new hobby but don't have the financial resources? Check out these courses encompassing all aspects and topics. Want to build your own website or app, but don't even know what <!DOCTYPE> is, how about these IT Courses. Don't want to keep waiting for slow translators to update? 别担心！中文课程来拯救你了! Did you just become a Teacher and have NO idea what the f*ck you're doing? Early Childhood Education For Dummies 101 is in session! Lied on your CV that you can work under pressure but are now hiding in the bathroom playing ostrich? You still have to come up for air anyways so how about taking a Self Development course to manage stress and improve mental health. Whatever you're interested in, at the click of a button. And the best thing it's all for free! And...you can get an accredited certificate! START LEARNING BEFORE YOU'RE TOO OLD TO RETAIN ANYTHING OR GET FIRED FROM YOUR JOB! Or if you are fired, Build A New Resume to reel in the next one~

 

 

Translator Notes

1. Figurative: to be willing to overcome all obstacles to reach one’s goal. Derogatory: to not know one’s limitations; to overestimate one’s abilities[↩]
2. From this proverb 大魚吃小魚，小魚吃蝦米(Literally: “The big fish eat the little fish, and the little fish eat small shrimps”) -The weak are the prey of the strong; might makes right[↩]