Genius Mechanic: Chapter 198

Slared Contaminated Zone(Star Alliance Mission)

198. Strange Phenomenon

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake and An Zheee 

The moment the two red-and-white mechas disappeared, Gaia’s six mechas were visibly shaken. Gaia’s captain’s Control Cannon shot struck the empty snowfield, and he quickly flew down to it. However, there was no invisibility trick at the original spot; all the pollutants attracted by the pheromones were gone.

“It’s not invisibility… it’s displacement.” Gaia’s captain’s gaze shifted into the distance, his expression changing slightly. “They timed coming over perfectly!”

Gaia’s captain couldn’t help but curse.

There were no restrictions on who could complete the mission. Gaia’s squad had executed Star Alliance missions countless times, but this was the first time they’d encountered someone so brazen, stealing a mission from right under their noses. What on earth was going on?!

Meanwhile, inside the area of Slared’s Snowy Mountains, within the snowy plains:

The spatial displacement had transported KID’s two mechas behind a mountain, further away from Gaia. At this point, a huge crater had appeared on the expansive snowfield, filled with the corpses of pollutants. A wide, earthen yellow space was hovering above the crater.

Ying Chenlin and Huo Yan descended from the sky with a pack of Snow Wolves, crashing down onto the pile of pollutant corpses.

“They’ve arrived?!”

“Goodness, it’s a whole pack of wolves!”

The moment Huo Yan landed, he shouted, “Captain Ke, control them!”

Lin Yao eagerly ran over and set up a new reinforced space. “Wow, this batch looks really hefty.”

As soon as the pollutants appeared, Ke Lin, YDS’ Guardian mecha on high ground, activated his Conduction Chain Spheres, containing all the pollutants within the crater. Nearby, Lin Yao timed it precisely, expanding the space outward to prevent any pollutants outside the control range from escaping.

A pack of wolves fell into the crater, and artillery fire immediately rained down from above. Wen Yi, You Su, and Hu Luobu’s three Artillery mechas, along with Chi Lizi, who carried long-range weapons, guarded all four directions. The Control mecha, Lu Xi with her Enhancement Cannon, was on stand-by to provide the Artillery with support whenever needed. Their powerful firepower wiped out all the gathered pollutants in one sweep.

After setting up the space, Lin Yao shouted, “Lao Zhao, get out of the way!”

Amid the efficient control and output process, at the very center of the pollutants was a Tank mecha with its shield fully deployed. The blue mecha was positioned at the shield’s center, the Tank pilot squatting in the middle, looking grim. When he looked up, he saw the rapidly increasing number of Snow Wolf pollutants around him.

“Get out of the way, my ass!!” Zhao Lejie yelled from inside the pit.

Huo Yan shouted, “Lao Zhao, to your left.”

Zhao Lejie’s thrusters fired, moving him to the right, and forcing him to dodge the pollutants. He had imagined many times how he would play a key output role, but his main role turned out to be sitting at the center with his shield up, acting as bait to attract all the incoming pollutants, making it easy for his teammates above to maximize their output efficiency.

As his teammates’ artillery fire pounded down, Zhao Lejie had to dodge both his teammates and the pollutants’ attacks. “Where did you even get these wolves from?! They’re so fierce!”

“You’re doing great in there!” Lin Yao, busy managing the space, didn’t stop working on the materials. “I’m swamped here, too. I can barely keep up with processing all the materials.”

Zhao Lejie: “…”

Whoever wants this kind of blessing can have it!

His teammates were firing from above; the ground was covered with spider webs. Ke Lin was in charge of thunder control, Lin Yao was responsible for luring the creatures into the circle and collecting the corpses. The processed pollutant bodies were thrown out of the pit and finally stored in a mecha’s storage compartment. It was an entire assembly line of work.

And he was the only one stuck in the pit, performing what should have been an output mission that turned into a punching bag mission.

While controlling the pollutants, Ke Lin noticed something. “These are A-Level pollutants…?”

Ying Chenlin explained, “This is a 35-point mission, we felt we could grab it so we did.”

At the position they initially reached, they were figuring out how to deal with the wolves when they encountered another team also doing this mission. They had already completed most of the nearby missions. Ying Chenlin observed for a while and, seeing an opportunity, brought the pack of Snow Wolves back with them.

Qi Sicheng’s voice came through the communication channel: “They took it from Gaia’s team. We’ll need to avoid them from now on.”

Hu Luobu checked the rankings. “Gaia is ranked 35th.”

Zhao Lejie: “A-Level???”

“Relax, you can handle this,” Ying Chenlin said.

Hu Luobu: “… Have we really reached the point of snatching missions from strong teams now?”

Ying Chenlin wondered, “If they can secure territories, why can’t we snatch missions?”

Star Alliance Special Missions had no restrictions on who executes them; whoever clears the pollutants gets the points.

Strong teams can secure territories and snatch the pollutants, and using weapons to displace and snatch their pollutants was also a strategy.

The entire Contaminated Zone was that large; it’s all about who accumulates more points by completing missions.

Huo Yan laughed a couple of times, “We originally planned to grab a low-level mission nearby. When we saw this one on the way, Chenlin said it was worth more, so we chose this one.”

Ji Qingfeng: “Of course, it should be worth more. If you’re doing the same work, why not go for the more valuable one?”

Hu Luobu looked into the pit. It seemed like the ones they had snatched were indeed the valuable ones.

Moreover, they had come to the Snowy Mountains initially because the pollutants here were valuable!

Wen Yi and Ke Lin, the two commanders, remained silent. One was focused on artillery output, and the other on control.

When Ying Chenlin mentioned improving the efficiency using old methods, they didn’t immediately grasp what he meant. However, Ying Chenlin quickly divided them into four teams of two to attract the pollutants described in the low-level missions around them.

Once gathered, Ying Chenlin used displacement every five minutes to concentrate all the gathered pollutants, focusing everyone’s attack power to improve the extermination’s efficiency. With waves of low-level pollutants, the surrounding output forces also gathered, resulting in a streamlined process: some acted as bait, some controlled monsters, and the rest focused on output, speeding up the cleanup.

Qi Sicheng, equipped with a speed booster, searched for pollutants as quickly as possible with Ji Qingfeng. Huo Yan positioned himself for mobility, and Ying Chenlin performed displacements every ten minutes, matching their processing speed and maximizing efficiency.

Before cooperating with KID, they had never considered this approach for Star Alliance missions.

Ying Chenlin’s approach reminded them of their time in Coria when spatial displacement was used to snatch GBK’s S-Level pollutants. Back then, it was a pollutant; now, it had become Ying Chenlin’s weapon.

Star Alliance missions were inherently competitive, favoring the strong. Weak teams were relegated to low-point missions, while strong teams could dominate territories and disdainfully tackle high-point missions.

Black Crow and YDS, former rivals of KID, had long anticipated their unorthodox methods.

However, once they were immersed in this unconventional rhythm, Wen Yi and Ke Lin had to admit that it was both brutal and efficient.

Wen Yi adjusted the cannon once more and glanced over to see Ying Chenlin assisting Lin Yao with material processing. Ying Chenlin seemed fearless, his actions more focused on achieving the goal than being wary of strong teams.

This perfectly matched Ying Chenlin’s initial emphasis on efficiency—the greatest efficiency.

“This batch is for you,” Ying Chenlin said as his weapon finished charging. He was looking at Qi Sicheng’s position. “We need to speed up. Once we finish here, we’ll need to move to another area.”

—

Gaia’s logistics team, numbered 016, and from the Eastern Nuo Galaxy in the Third Star Domain, was monitoring the terrain changes in the Snowy Mountains region. Compared to other teams, they had much more information about the Slared Contaminated Zone. Although teams visiting the Snowy Mountains were few, such areas were more advantageous for them to score high points.

Gaia’s logistics team was analyzing the combat situations of other strong teams in the Snowy Mountains when they noticed two mechas near the Snow Wolf mission coordinates. They didn’t pay much attention to these lesser-known teams, but to their surprise, not long after, the two mechas not only cut into the Gaia team’s position but also disappeared from their original location.

When reappearing, they were found in a snow plain, 10 kilometers away from the Gaia team’s position.

“Which galaxy is this KID team from?”

“It seems to be from the First Star Domain’s Dawn Galaxy. This is their first participation, and they are ranked last among the five teams from the First Star Domain.”

“There are two other signals from their team’s mechas nearby, but they have moved to different positions.”

Gaia’s coach frowned slightly, “Spatial displacement? What’s the point of their operation?”

“What’s strange is that their main force has been stationary here for a long time!” the staff continued, “but their ranking has been continuously rising.”

They were stationary, and their ranking was still rising!? 

How was this possible!?

Gaia’s coach immediately checked the Star Alliance missions completed by the KID team up to this point. To his surprise, he saw that in the past few hours, they had been completing low-level missions worth 1-20 points, and the number was quite large, including instances of completing two low-point missions within 3 minutes.

As a team that frequently participated in Star Alliance missions, the Gaia team was well aware of how tedious low-point missions could be.

After reviewing this, Gaia’s coach looked at the KID team’s ranking—they had climbed to 45th place.

But this small and unknown team actually climbed to 45th place in such a short period of time by completing low point missions.

“Something’s off. Find out what’s going on with this team immediately—” Gaia’s coach’s words were cut short when he saw that while most of the KID team’s mecha coordinates hadn’t changed, their latest completed mission list displayed some astonishing information.

[Slared Snow Wolves□□[Completed], Executing Team ID 125[KID]]

The planned Snow Wolf mission had been completed by KID, and it was finished outside the mission coordinates.

Gaia’s coach’s expression changed slightly. “How is this possible?”

At the same time, Aegis’ base, also observing KID, noticed something unusual.

Aegis’ coach looked at the coordinates within the Snowy Mountains region. “Compile the mission completion coordinates for KID, as well as their movement tracks over the past few hours.”

Soon, the staff provided the corresponding trajectory chart.

It became clear that KID’s completed missions were spread over a wide range, yet their positions were almost fixed in the snow plain. The only changes were a few coordinates, with their three-person mecha teams searching for mission coordinates, each stopping for no more than 7 minutes.

“One team finds missions, and one team completes them,” Aegis’ head coach said, focusing on the coordinates of the ID Medical mecha “Sink.” He knew that “Sink” had a spatial displacement weapon, but hadn’t anticipated it would be so effective. “They’re gathering all the extermination missions together and killing them.”

Missions below 40 points in the Snowy Mountains region were quickly decreasing. The mission points leaderboard was a key focus for all teams, and the appearance of a steady and unfamiliar team in the top ranks attracted the attention of many strong teams.

“KID?”

“I have an impression. I remember Norbert had a run-in with them.”

“This rate of increase is very fast. The Snowy Mountains region?”

“This team isn’t simple, huh?”

At this moment, in another part of the Slared Contaminated Zone.

A gray-green mecha squad had just dealt with an S-Level pollutant. The man stored the entire S-Level pollutant in his storage compartment and looked at the mission points ranking on the cockpit’s display screen. He didn’t focus on the top-ranked positions but instead paid attention to KID’s ranking. In 15 minutes, KID had advanced one rank.

The communication channel was silent, with everyone waiting for the man’s instructions.

The man’s attitude was indifferent, but he lingered on KID’s ranking for a long time. “SLY is in the Snowy Mountains region?”

An accompanying mecha pilot replied, “Yes.”

The man thoughtfully noted the ranking position, then closed the ranking list with a thoughtful expression.

–

While other strong teams took notice of KID, Ying Chenlin had already used spatial displacement to bring several waves of monsters, stabilizing their team’s ranking within the top 40. At this moment, he had just brought the pollutants over, and Lin Yao was handling the Snow Wolves’ bodies.

“Chenlin, how should we handle these wolves?” Lin Yao asked.

Ying Chenlin looked at Lin Yao’s position, recalling the data on Snow Wolves he had seen recently. After analyzing, he said, “Keep the wolves’ teeth and claws, and save the rough parts of the hide. There’s no need for the rest.”

Hu Luobu asked, “Why is it unnecessary?”

Ying Chenlin explained, “The rest of the materials can be found as substitutes in Dawn’s market. The prices won’t be high.”

Hu Luobu: “……You know all this?”

Ji Qingfeng said, “What do you expect? It’s obvious you’re not a businessman.”

Zhao Lejie started to get a headache when Ji Qingfeng spoke. “Focus on your pollutants!”

“Hey, why so serious? We’ll split the spoils later, I’ll give you more!” Ji Qingfeng said while flying. “The Snowy Mountains looks desolate, but there aren’t any pollutants outside it. Let’s gather more to take back.”

Zhao Lejie: “……”

If it weren’t for the points, he’d have rushed out to challenge Ji Qingfeng in a real fight by now.

Qi Sicheng’s speed booster and Ji Qingfeng’s search for pollutants were very efficient. Ying Chenlin glanced at the coordinates on the map. While waiting for the spatial displacement weapon to recharge, he inspected the mission list. While they were completing their missions, the strong teams were moving even faster. As the surrounding missions gradually decreased, Ying Chenlin noticed some peculiar stratifications on the map.

He recalled that the initial data stated that Slared became uncontrollable due to it being a border Contaminated Zone, but even so, the number of pollutants in this area was still excessive. The low-point missions involved social pollutants, with pollutant levels ranging from B to S, and they hadn’t even started on S-Level pollutant missions yet. Despite this, the number of pollutants in the area was somewhat extraordinary.

The data mentioned that Slared had become uncontrollable in just 10 years. How did a high-risk Contaminated Zone become so uncontrollable in such a short time?

“Slow down. What are you thinking about?”

In the channel, a private message mixed in with the lively discussions caught Ying Chenlin’s attention.

Hearing the sound, Ying Chenlin snapped back to attention and noticed the private chat channel in the voice communication list was from You Su.

He looked up slightly and saw that You Su’s mecha had somehow flown directly above him.

To facilitate team formation and communication, all mecha pilots had their channels open.

Ying Chenlin felt like he’d been caught slacking and wondered how You Su knew he was moving slowly.

Noticing the silence, You Su seemed to understand what Ying Chenlin was thinking. “The speed of handling the pollutants has slowed down by 0.5 seconds.”

Ying Chenlin didn’t hide his confusion. “I feel like there are too many pollutants in this area.”

As soon as he said this, he realized he’d forgotten to switch channels, and his teammates began paying attention to his comment.

“Huh? What did Chenlin just say?”

“There are indeed a lot of pollutants, and many are quite valuable.”

Zhao Lejie looked at the mountain of corpses around him. “Could there be any fewer?”

“It’s normal for the number of pollutants to increase if the area is out of control,” Wen Yi explained, hearing Ying Chenlin’s doubts. “The Alliance established Management Bureaus to control the expansion of Contaminated Zones. The Slared Contaminated Zone was abandoned long ago, and with the appearance of many S-Level pollutants, it was eventually included in the Alliance’s missions.”

Ying Chenlin shared his data on the channel. “Normally, there should be a growth interval? It’s been around 10 years since it went out of control. Is 10 years enough to reach this level?”

The scale seemed almost as large as during the Qiu Jin Black Hole period. The pollutants in Qiu Jin were due to the Black Hole, but what about the Slared Contaminated Zone?

The number of pollutants running over was limited, and the Frontier Army must have used heavy weapons to suppress them. However, when Ying Chenlin used displacement to travel across a large area, he didn’t find traces of extensive destruction from heavy weapons. Instead, the entire Snowy Mountains region seemed to be overly well-preserved.

It was almost like a natural breeding ground, allowing a large number of mutated animals and plants to grow wildly.

Qi Sicheng added, “The Alliance’s detection would be more thorough. It might be this strange phenomenon that led to Slared being included in the treatment scope.”

And these details weren’t provided by the Alliance, nor were they things that mecha pilots were supposed to consider.

In a normal Contaminated Zone, it wouldn’t be possible, but in an out-of-control zone, it was indeed feasible.

“Then these plants grow very quickly. With so many pollutants feeding on them, they can still grow so fast.” Lin Yao dug out a mutated plant pinned under a pollutant. “Chenlin, you said the growth cycle of these pollutants should be around 5 years, right?”

KID paid great attention to various materials in Contaminated Zones. Lin Yao often heard Ying Chenlin talk about the growth cycles of certain materials.

“Aren’t plants’ growth rates generally fast?” Hu Luobu said, then continued, “I remember that in a mutated environment, both plant and animal growth rates are quite fast.”

“Not quite the same,” Ji Qingfeng added. “If all plants grew quickly, market materials would all become cheaper.”

When Lin Yao mentioned this, Qi Sicheng furrowed his brow slightly. “Xiao Zhao, check how many types of pollutants are in there.”

Zhao Lejie was called and immediately started checking. “With so many corpses, how am I supposed to see?”

Wen Yi and Ke Lin quickly went over to check the situation, and many details they hadn’t noticed were uncovered.

They had completed many low-level missions so far, and the types of corpses piled up in the pit were numerous, mostly neglected pollutants. However, KID had a knack for choosing pollutants with market value… and these pollutants shared a common trait—

Expensive, rare, and slow-growing.

Hu Luobu noticed that everyone’s expressions had turned serious. “Is there a problem? In an out-of-control Contaminated Zone, isn’t it normal for things to be abnormal?”

Ten years of out-of-control mutations could lead to some unusual growth, but it should still be within calculable limits.

“The plants and animals are growing too quickly,” Ke Lin said. “According to the out-of-control curve, the growth rate here is almost 1.5 times that of the curve. Don’t forget, this area is a Snowy Mountains, where mutated plants and animals are naturally fewer. Yet, the Snowy Mountains is one of the most widespread areas.”

Ying Chenlin suddenly remembered the mission he had noticed earlier that didn’t indicate any points. The situation now seemed to be strikingly similar to that mission’s details. Why?

While everyone was still pondering the reason, You Su, flying high above, narrowed his eyes and looked into the distance.

In the continuous snow-capped mountains, something seemed to suddenly dart by. At that moment, he switched from his Sniper Cannon to the Energy Cannon. The specialized steel-winged Energy Cannon quickly charged in his hands and, with a hum, shot toward the sky.

The roar exploded in their ears, and Ying Chenlin looked up to see You Su stowing the Energy Cannon. “What’s going on?”

You Su increased the distance. “Something’s nearby.”

The surroundings were a white expanse, with no signals on the radar. At this moment, You Su’s Energy Cannon switched again and fired sharply at a certain spot. Everyone instinctively flew upward.

There was no snowfall, but their visibility had already shrunk to a 20-meter range without them realizing it.

They couldn’t see, but they could hear rustling sounds in the quiet atmosphere, as if something was walking through the snow and approaching them.

At this point, something entered their line of sight.

All the mecha pilots immediately pushed their thrusters to ascend rapidly.

In the snow curtain, the mecha pilots flying high couldn’t see the situation on the ground. The radar showed no response, leaving only pairs of red eyes.

These eyes became denser and denser, overlapping and surrounding the entire large pit, making it impenetrable.

“Why is everyone so quiet?” Zhao Lejie, who had just finished counting the pollutants, noticed the silence around him. He looked up and saw his teammates flying up high, leaving him alone in the pit. Before he could ask what was happening, he suddenly saw a dense mass of pollutants surrounding him from outside the pit.

Zhao Lejie: “?”

“F*cking hell! You guys left me behind and ran away!!!”

TN:

Author has something against Lao Zhao?!😭

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