Genius Mechanic: Chapter 206

Slared Contaminated Zone(Star Alliance Mission)

206. Mutual Calculation

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake and An Zheee 

At the same time as all communications were restored, Qi Sicheng, who was inside the base station, was the first to witness the internal changes of the entire base station’s main control room. More detailed information popped up in front of him: the coordinates of the mecha pilots, details of high-level pollutants, energy fluctuations underground… Emergency red alerts almost covered the base station’s control panel entirely.

Such reports, if placed in any other ordinary Contaminated Zone, would have prompted the Management Bureau to either summon mecha pilots or call in the Frontier Army.

However, this was an independent mission system outside of all standard regulations—an Alliance mission site, where elite mecha pilots from all major Star Domains were gathered.

“What’s the current situation outside?” Ying Chenlin’s voice came through the communication channel.

Qi Sicheng: “Can everyone hear me clearly?”

Hearing Qi Sicheng’s voice, Zhao Lejie almost burst into tears, “Boss! My god, we finally got in touch—”

As the mixed voices echoed in their ears, Ying Chenlin simultaneously heard his teammates from other locations. The radar coordinates showed strong yellow signals surrounding them, rapidly closing in within 318 meters above the ice layer.

Ying Chenlin instinctively glanced at the underground coordinates and noticed that You Su was positioned laterally, five kilometers away. The mecha’s status was good, with no apparent issues, but neither You Su nor Huo Yan spoke, and their mecha signals were fluctuating, possibly indicating they were in combat.

“What did you guys do underground?” Qi Sicheng asked, “The external system for the entire Slared Contaminated Zone has recovered. We don’t know what happened, but the current situation isn’t good for us.”

Upon hearing this, Ying Chenlin looked up sharply at high above. Could it be because of that flower…?

In their initial assessment, this flower was supposed to control the core ability that manipulates large amounts of ice fog. Ying Chenlin’s original intention was merely to test the flower’s reaction. An Energy Cannon shot from a Medical mecha didn’t have high destructive power, and he hadn’t used its full force. However, surprisingly, the flower directly absorbed the cannon and then sucked in all the ice fog.

The Parasitic Flower above now had its petals tightly closed. The Energy Cannon fired into it didn’t cause any visible reaction. Ying Chenlin immediately used the restored system to scan the surrounding contamination levels and detected densely packed red signals, indicating that their three mechas were completely surrounded.

Most critically, directly below them, there were pollutant readings that were red to the point of almost being black. This type of pollutant signal exceeded the range of an S-Level pollutant. Ying Chenlin had seen similar red-to-black pollutant signals before, at the Qiu Jin Black Hole site, right at the center of that bizarre magnetic field, where the black hole itself was located.

Seeing the approaching yellow coordinates from the strong team up above, Ying Chenlin fired a shot at the high-level pollutant but saw no reaction. He immediately instructed Lin Yao and Zhao Lejie, “Pry that flower’s mouth open!”

“Pry it open!?” Zhao Lejie hesitated, looking at the tightly closed Parasitic Flower above. “If we pry it open, wouldn’t that—!”

Lin Yao switched from his staff to a blade and immediately said, “I’ll do it!”

Lin Yao dashed out from Zhao Lejie’s protective circle, leaping several times to reach the high ground. He thrust his standard attack blade toward the center of the Parasitic Flower, only for it to be blocked by the outer petals. The seemingly fragile petals had a defense akin to a fortress, stopping Lin Yao’s attack firmly.

Pollutant readings indicate that the flower’s contamination level was only 6500, matching the standards of an S-Level pollutant.

So far, the flower had shown no offensive capabilities, only passive defensive behavior.

Its ability was the ice fog, it was incapable of attacking, but its defensive strength was high.

Lin Yao certainly wouldn’t be deterred by this level of defense. Each slash of his blade landed on the same spot, with consecutive regular attacks causing continuous damage to the pollutant. After several strikes, a small opening appeared at the edge of the petals. Lin Yao seized the opportunity and thrust his blade into the gap, using it to pry the petals open.

The sudden restoration of Slared’s system caught everyone off guard. At the same time, information from the auto-operating abandoned Contaminated Zone system was received by the starships of the strong teams hovering outside the Slared Defense Line.

Jiang Simiao, who was operating the radar system, reacted immediately, looking slightly stunned. “What on earth is going on?!”

Qi Sicheng promptly connected the communication systems between both sides. At that moment, communication between the inside and outside of Slared became common, mixed with static and the voices of mecha pilots that hadn’t been heard in days. The people from the Dawn Galaxy instinctively checked the status of their own mecha pilots, but the next second, they realized an even more serious issue.

“How could the abandoned Slared Contaminated Zone suddenly be restored?!” Black Crow’s leader stepped forward, “Is this part of the Alliance mission?”

“No, it shouldn’t be.” Shen Xingtang frowned at the fully restored system. She had already reviewed the data from before and after Slared’s collapse. Slared’s initial collapse was due to the rapid breakdown of the foundational system within the Contaminated Zone.

At that time, the Management Bureau took remedial measures as soon as they detected the collapse of the foundation, but none of the measures were effective. Coupled with the extremely fast rate of Slared’s collapse, the Slared Management Bureau ultimately had to abandon the area and evacuate everyone.

Subsequently, Slared was included within the scope of the Alliance’s missions. Since the Management Bureau had evacuated urgently back then, only the original Management Bureau and the Alliance knew the current state of Slared’s internal system.

“If the system of the Slared Contaminated Zone were controllable, the Alliance wouldn’t have established a defensive line outside of Slared.” Shen Xingtang continued, “This communication system’s restoration is coincidental. Even the Alliance likely didn’t anticipate the system’s restoration.”

Jiang Simiao quickly added, “Moreover, it’s in an automatic access mode, which aligns with the emergency state triggered when the Management Bureau loses control and reactivates.”

The members of Dawn frowned upon hearing this. What exactly was going on with this Contaminated Zone?!

All the personnel on the ship dared not slack off; the more the system was restored, the more information they could grasp. They had to take advantage of this time to unearth more valuable information.

Qi Sicheng said, “There’s a lot of information inside the base station that I can’t analyze. I’ve packed it all and sent it to you.”

“We’ll handle it!” The Dawn staff immediately stepped up. “Leave the environmental report analysis to us.”

However, not long after Qi Sicheng transmitted the data report, it seemed as though the previously affected Slared system was once again being influenced by something else. A large number of signals began to malfunction, and after a brief flicker, many foundational facilities showed signs of collapsing again.

“It’s malfunctioning again?!” Jiang Simiao was stunned.

Shen Xingtang’s gaze locked onto the final coordinates where Ying Chenlin appeared. “It doesn’t seem like a malfunction; it’s more like something is controlling it.”

Meanwhile, in Slared’s Volcanic region, a wide corridor was open beside a dormant volcano.

Within the cracks of the fissured valley lay an endless abyss. At this moment, several gray-green mechas hovered above the rift, with the leading gray-green mecha remaining motionless.

“Radar signals have disappeared,” said one of the mecha pilots.

The E.M. team’s captain gave a simple response, his gaze fixed on other mecha signals rapidly moving in different positions. The mechas around the snow-capped mountains were all within his monitoring range. “KID won’t escape; the Snowy Mountains are already surrounded.”

-*

Outside the Snowy Mountains region,  the moment the underground signals disappeared, the SLY and GBK’s mecha pilots gathered here had already captured the underground radar coordinates. After confirming the coordinates, Alice flew directly to the position directly above KID’s underground coordinates. KID had two coordinates below; she chose the one where Sink was located.

“Vice Captain Bai isn’t leaving?” Alice asked.

Bai Xuyan’s expression was indifferent: “Sink has a displacement weapon, and the rest of their team is nearby; we can catch them.”

At the same time, Wen Yi and the others outside the field reached the coordinates above KID’s position and spotted the SLY mechas above the coordinates from a distance. They noticed the complication of the situation and, looking down, saw the light red mecha at the forefront of SLY. Before they could take any intercepting actions, the light red Guardian mecha had already pulled out a gigantic hammer weapon as tall as the mecha itself.

Wen Yi abruptly halted his mecha when he saw that iron hammer slam down from above, its immense destructive power shattering the entire ice surface below. “The Giant Mountain Hammer, Alice’s signature weapon.”

SLY’s captain, the mecha pilot Alice, was notorious in the history of the Alliance as a Guardian mecha pilot known for her extreme violence.

The Giant Mountain Hammer was her favorite weapon, with the power of a single strike comparable to a landslide. At a depth of 318 meters, she was planning to dig straight through to the underground by excavating a direct path.

“Damn, I remember that crazy woman’s weapon is really fierce,” Hu Luobu paused, looking stunned. “How the hell do we stop that? GBK is also over here.”

Lu Xi asked, “318 meters—how long will it take her to dig through?”

Chi Lizi: “If no one stops her, less than 2 hours.”

Two hours—far too short a time.

If it were just SLY, they could barely manage to hold them off, but now GBK was also in the front.

Ke Lin’s gaze stayed fixed on the coordinate location, “It’s not just GBK; PJT has also arrived nearby. The strong teams are gathering quickly.”

Bai Xuyan turned his head slightly, seemingly spotting the silhouette of a mecha in the distance. “They’re here.”

Alice ignored Bai Xuyan’s words; with another hammer strike, she shattered the entire ice surface and leaped into the snow. “Then we’ll split up, Vice Captain Bai.”

Bai Xuyan glanced towards the distant mechas, switched to a Sniper Cannon, and said, “Control and Tank and follow me; everyone else stays here.”

Ke Lin realized the problem and noticed the subtle changes, “Retreat! GBK is coming over.”

Hu Luobu: “What do we do now?”

“Fight,” Wen Yi said in a deep voice. “Hold GBK here and buy time for the team underground.”

—

In Slared’s Underground, Lin Yao finally pried open the Parasitic Flower. The moment it opened, a large amount of ice fog gushed out from the flower’s center. The restored radar signals were immediately restricted again, and the ears of all three were filled with static, followed by the long wail of disconnection.

Zhao Lejie paused: “I can’t hear the captain’s voice anymore.”

Ying Chenlin’s heart sank—his guess was correct.

This flower was far more complex than they had initially perceived. Ying Chenlin had assumed the flower controlled the ice fog in the snowfield area, and that destroying it would resolve the influence of the fog’s magnetic field on their communications and radar. Given the mixed energy underground and the out-of-control state of the Slared Contaminated Zone, it shouldn’t be so easy for other mecha pilots to obtain their information—

But now it seemed that the range of this flower’s spread was even broader than he had anticipated, and it greatly affected the foundational facilities of the entire Slared Contaminated Zone.

Lin Yao used his knife to prop open the flower petals and didn’t dare let go: “So what now? Should I keep holding it open?”

Zhao Lejie’s mind was working fast. “Something’s off, Ying Chenlin. Is this thing related to Slared?”

Ying Chenlin: “It’s highly related.”

“You said earlier that this flower was parasitising the roots, thereby amplifying the ice fog’s influence on the snowfield area.” Zhao Lejie calmed down and summarized the information: “But now it’s affecting more than just the snowfield area, so doesn’t that mean…”

“It suggests that the roots of these plants we’ve seen cover an area far beyond the snowfield and could very well extend throughout the underground of Slared’s main planet.” Ying Chenlin looked at the broken ice layer below, which led into a seemingly bottomless abyss that could potentially reach Slared’s core.

Zhao Lejie: “Damn… Is this thing really that powerful?!”

Ying Chenlin reviewed the Slared Contaminated Zone data he had seen before. The information noted: Slared experienced a Frontier Contaminated Zone riot, which led to a loss of control between the two zones, causing a malfunction in the Management Bureau’s foundation. After the evacuation of everyone here, it was listed on the galaxy’s mission board.

They had already seen the influence of the ice fog—it could paralyze most systems in mecha equipment.

To operate Slared’s foundation systems, each facility had a corresponding backup energy reserve. If these strange plant roots were hunting near Slared’s foundations, then such root networks must exist near the foundations. Consequently, the Parasitic Flower’s anomalous ability would impact a certain range.

The Management Bureau’s foundational equipment was adapted to each Bureau’s specific environment. Besides the necessary backup energy, the foundations would also use air or solar energy for recharging. In the absence of severe damage, these foundations could last 50 years.

It can only be said that the Parasitic Flower’s ice fog ability had entirely covered Slared’s main planet. It’s just that they approached the core of the Parasitic Flower and its roots, which caused the malfunctioning of mecha functions within a five-meter radius.

Zhao Lejie: “How did this ice fog spread over such a vast area? The Management Bureau didn’t detect it?”

“It’s not that the Management Bureau didn’t detect it; it’s just very hard to detect,” Ying Chenlin explained. “Records indicate that a riot broke out at the time, and with the significant increase in contamination levels, the foundations also faced high contamination, causing signal disruptions. Coupled with the subtle influence of the Parasitic Flower, this led to the foundation’s failures.”

Now, with the Parasitic Flower closed, the surrounding influence on the foundation was limited to the signal disruptions caused by high contamination.

Communication difficulties with the foundations were indeed an issue in the past. However, now that the Star Alliance had taken over the Contaminated Zone, the perimeter of Slared was surrounded by enhanced signal boosters, plus the signal equipment brought by the strong teams… Once the Parasitic Flower was gone, all these issues would surface.

Who would have thought that such a flower would be the main culprit behind the signal loss across all of Slared?

“The coordinates are restored now. Can’t we use spatial displacement to get out of here—” Zhao Lejie asked.

“No,” Ying Chenlin frowned. They couldn’t leave this place while the flower was still unresolved, not to mention that Huo Yan and You Su were still in other parts of the cave.

“Waiting here isn’t a solution either.” Zhao Lejie glanced at the nearby ice crevice. “We can leave a target point here and head out to bring the others inside.”

Ying Chenlin’s spatial displacement weapon requires a target point, allowing them to move back and forth once every 10 minutes. As long as one mecha remained inside and another outside, they could establish a transmission link between the two.

If those plant roots in this icy crevice really extended throughout all of Slared, then this wasn’t something they could easily handle.

Hearing Zhao Lejie’s suggestion, Lin Yao was about to pull the blade out of the Parasitic Flower when he heard a voice stopping him.

“Wait,” Ying Chenlin said.

Zhao Lejie looked at him in confusion. “If we don’t let it close, we won’t be able to restore the signal.”

“The strong teams already know our coordinates.” Ying Chenlin’s gaze lingered on the radar data saved earlier. “There’s more than a dozen mechas, the closest being SLY, and the furthest being PJT.”

Zhao Lejie: “And how does that relate to us calling for backup?”

“They’re watching me,” Ying Chenlin said. “We’ve already exposed the spatial displacement weapon. Once we reach the ice layer above, we’ll face a five-minute vulnerability window.”

The distance between SLY and them was close. At full speed, if a mecha approached Ying Chenlin during the recharging period of the spatial displacement weapon, the weapon wouldn’t be able to accomplish the intended movement of personnel.

As soon as Ying Chenlin performs a displacement, everyone will lock onto the coordinates that indicated Sink.

Within five minutes, they’ll be pinned down.

There are strong teams all around; with the spatial displacement exposed, the people they can move to are limited.

Lin Yao: “So what do we do now? Have Xi Mei run further away, putting some distance from them, and then use the weapon?”

Or should they bypass the closer targets and go further away to bring Ji Qingfeng and Qi Sicheng in?

Ying Chenlin observed the coordinates that appeared the moment the signal was restored. He was clear about SLY’s position, but what puzzled him were the other strong teams’ coordinates. These coordinates seemed clustered together. Even before the Slared Contaminated Zone’s system was restored, the positions of these strong teams were already strategically placed, surrounding the snowfield as a core point.

It was as if someone had been watching the snowfield area all along.

Ying Chenlin: “E.M.”

Zhao Lejie: “What’s up?”

Ying Chenlin: “E.M’s mechas are not on the radar.”

Zhao Lejie: “Maybe they didn’t notice…”

No, that was impossible. E.M was the top team in the galaxy; if other teams could notice, there’s no way they wouldn’t have.

“We’re being watched,” Ying Chenlin confirmed. “Or rather, we’re being played.”

At that moment, the Parasitic Flower started moving, its petals trembling as if trying to break free from Lin Yao’s blade. A large amount of ice fog spread from the flower’s rhythmic inhalation and exhalation. Perched at a high point, Lin Yao had to focus entirely on controlling his weapon’s position as he noticed this. “Oh no, this thing’s struggling.”

The S-Level Parasitic Flower didn’t possess offensive capabilities, but its extreme defense posed a significant threat.

Lin Yao was forced to drive the knife deeper, and a large amount of sap froze on the surface of his mecha. “Should we kill this flower?”

“Kill it, but not now,” Ying Chenlin said, eyeing the Parasitic Flower up above. “Someone’s scheming against us, so we can scheme against them too.”

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