Genius Mechanic: Chapter 224

Slared Contaminated Zone(Territory-Wide Abnormal Move)

224. Shadow

Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake and An Zheee 

The incident occurred at a critical moment. By the time Lin Yao reacted, the shadowy claw had already reached him, sweeping him aside and slamming him into the ice wall, creating a deep crater.

Lin Yao let out a muffled grunt, but his body reacted instinctively, flipping his mecha back up and dodging the shadow’s next strike. “What is that thing? Could it be one of Chronos’ creations?”

Above the battlefield, You Su’s eyes glinted coldly as he abruptly redirected the Energy Cannon in his hands. Before the shadowy figure could land another blow on Lin Yao, he blasted it away. With the pollutant momentarily forced back, Ying Chenlin swiftly moved into the center of the fight, slicing through Lin Yao’s spatial field with his Flowing Fire Sword and leaping in front of several mechas to shield them.

“It’s not one,” You Su said coldly, “but it’s not easy to deal with either.”

The shadow once again merged into the wind, vanishing before the eyes of the three mechas.

The direct hit from the shadow’s claw had cost Lin Yao 2% damage. Uncharacteristically cautious, he took a few steps back, lacking his usual aggressive charge. Realizing his mecha’s damage was nearing critical levels, he retreated, knowing he couldn’t afford to be reckless. “Watch out, that creature’s really fast—”

Before he could finish, the pollutant reappeared near them, its black claws striking Ying Chenlin with immense force, pinning him down and cracking the volcanic ice surface beneath him. The sheer destructive power alerted the others—GBK and WHG members turned to look. Ying Chenlin strained to hold off the shadow with his sword, sweeping his Flowing Fire Sword to repel the creature.

The shadow hovered nimbly in the air. Though it had no eyes, it gave the eerie impression of constantly watching Ying Chenlin. Suspended for a moment, it suddenly dived down again, its form blending into the wind as it hurtled toward Ying Chenlin.

Just then, Lin Yao once again extended his Spatial Staff to slow down the impact, but the shadow passed through the spatial field right in front of everyone’s eyes. In mid-air, it suddenly changed direction, aiming straight at Lin Yao. This time, Lin Yao was prepared. As the shadow charged, he swept his staff in the air. Just as the staff was about to hit the pollutant, it turned into a black mist along the staff’s length and vanished, only to reappear behind him a second later.

“What the—!” Lin Yao caught a glimpse of the creature’s sharp claws in the corner of his eye, mere inches from his shoulder.

At that moment, Ying Chenlin launched a sudden side assault, using his Flowing Fire Sword to block the shadow’s fatal blow. Lin Yao quickly flipped backward, creating distance between himself and the shadow. “So it really can pass through shields!”

“It’s an S-Level pollutant,” Qi Sicheng confirmed, catching a fleeting signal on his radar. “Be careful, this thing might have some sort of phase-shifting ability.”

Pollutants were swarming around the ice cavern, and this shadowy creature, able to pass through shields, couldn’t be blocked by normal means. Its interference disrupted their internal defenses, allowing two or three other pollutants to slip through. E.M.’s Stealth retreated a distance with the Artillery mecha, keeping his teammate safe but unable to keep up with the fast-paced battle. He could only set his teammate’s mecha down by the shattered ice, grit his teeth, and turn to join the fight.

E.M.’s Stealth used a short-range weapon designed to nullify abilities. As he approached the shadow, his weapon touched its form, but instead of nullifying the shadow’s powers, it moved like before, vanishing and reappearing behind him, slamming him into the ice. “That wind—it’s not an ability!?”

“How can it not be!?”

Lin Yao said, “It doesn’t make sense if it’s not an ability.”

“My weapon can nullify abilities. If that thing around it is an ability, my weapon should’ve damaged it.” E.M.’s Stealth nimbly dodged on the ice. “But my blade can’t even touch it.”

Even if the effect only lasted for 0.5 seconds, as long as the weapon made contact, it should nullify abilities. The fact that it didn’t meant it couldn’t be an ability.

While they were talking, two more pollutants pressed in from the perimeter. Zhao Lejie had to move his shield to block them, but as he shifted, it left a gap on the left side. Ji Qingfeng was busy dealing with the enraged S-Level pollutant and couldn’t attend to anything else, while Chi Lizi ’s long-range weaponry could only push enemies back without exerting any control. Unlike Qi Sicheng, he couldn’t hold a position on his own.

Zhao Lejie: “We need someone else from outside. We can’t hold with these gaps.”

E.M.’s Stealth had no choice but to cover the position that had been Sink’s. Lin Yao’s mecha was down to only 3% remaining durability, so he retreated to E.M’s Artillery’s side, taking over the responsibility of protecting the teammate instead.

Ying Chenlin, knowing the power of E.M.’s Stealth’s weapon, understood that if it could affect pollutants, it should have worked here. The strange wind surrounding the shadowy pollutant was definitely an ability—it could pierce through Zhao Lejie’s shield and Lin Yao’s spatial field.

But why wasn’t it working…?

The shadow hovered above, once again locking onto Ying Chenlin. It lunged down, crashing into him. Ying Chenlin barely blocked it with his sword, but the pollutant was moving too fast. Even though he could track the wind’s flow, it was impossible to fully predict the creature’s movements.

“Yuan, can you predict it?” Ying Chenlin asked in a deep voice as he swung his sword to repel the pollutant. “Its movement speed.”

Yuan: “Chenlin, it’s impossible to track.”

Up on the higher ice ridge, the mecha pilots were too occupied with excavation to assist their teammates below. Their task was to clear a path as quickly as possible; otherwise, they’d be dragged down by the pollutants, with their mechas eventually becoming food for them.

“You Su,” Theo said, while assisting his mecha pilot and keeping an eye on the surroundings. “It reminds me of Chronos.”

You Su, stationed at a high vantage point, had a clear view of the battlefield below, especially the close-combat struggle between Ying Chenlin and the shadowy figure. Ying Chenlin’s combat skills were beyond question, and his reaction speed, particularly when piloting Yuan, allowed him to instantly adjust to an enemy. But several minutes had passed, and Ying Chenlin was still in a passive position, likely because he hadn’t yet pinpointed the pollutant’s movement pattern.

It was like a shadow—coming and going without a trace.

As You Su watched the distinctive shadow, his memory flashed back to over three years ago, to the Contaminated Zone on the Third Star Domain’s frontier. A massive pollutant had silently approached him, delivering a fatal blow before he could react. Its claws had pierced through the back of his mecha, reaching into the cockpit, leaving an unhealed scar on his back.

“It’s not Chronos,” You Su said coldly. “Chronos is controlling it.”

Super S-Level pollutants have the ability to command lower-tier ones. The higher their level, the more pollutants they can control. With Chronos’ near-insane innate talent, controlling all the pollutants in Slared would be a simple task.

“Ying Chenlin.”

As Ying Chenlin dodged the shadow’s attack, he suddenly heard You Su’s voice in his ear. The voice came through a private communication channel established earlier. Unlike his usual lazy tone, You Su sounded uncharacteristically serious.

Along with You Su’s voice, Ying Chenlin could hear faint movements from his cockpit controls and the distant sounds of artillery fire that hadn’t ceased. He knew You Su was observing their situation from afar.

“Chronos is a pollutant capable of manipulating time. You’ve seen what it’s best at—accelerating the time of pollutants within a specific zone to create a rapid blockade,” You Su continued. “But its ability isn’t limited to areas. It can also accelerate the flow of time on a single pollutant’s body.”

Ying Chenlin paused, suddenly grasping the implications of You Su’s words.

“That shadow isn’t operating in the same dimension of time as you,” You Su said coldly. “When you strike at it, your movements appear slow from its perspective.”

Time manipulation is difficult to perceive with the naked eye. In short bursts, the changes are so subtle that they’re almost imperceptible, while long-term changes only become apparent when comparing them. If Chronos merely sped up or slowed down, they’d have seen pollutants with similar speed-altering abilities before…

But time is different. The changes it can bring to a living being are profound. If the flow of time unique to a creature is accelerated, the resulting combat enhancements are immeasurable: faster reaction times, heightened combat awareness, and enhanced physical capabilities within the same timeframe…

“How much faster is it than me?” Ying Chenlin asked.

“No more than ten seconds,” You Su responded calmly. “But that’s based on data from over three years ago.”

Three years ago…? Ying Chenlin froze for a moment. Three years ago, You Su hadn’t joined KID yet. At that time, You Su was still a freelance mercenary wandering in major Contaminated Zones. The two of them hadn’t crossed paths at all. “You’ve encountered Chronos before?”

Before he could finish his sentence, the shadow suddenly closed in again. Its black claws struck Ying Chenlin, sending him flying and crashing into the ice. He didn’t have time to think further; breaking free from the shattered ice, he engaged his thrusters to quickly widen the gap between himself and the shadow by over ten meters.

“Ying Chenlin?!” Qi Sicheng noticed Ying Chenlin being suppressed and instinctively focused on him. “Are you okay?”

“Chenlin!” Lin Yao, holding a staff, wanted to rush over to help, but he stopped in his tracks. His mecha’s durability was too low, leaving no margin for error. In hindsight, he regretted going all out in his earlier battle with Alice. If he hadn’t, he might still be able to hold out a little longer and not be so helpless now.

“…I’m fine,” Ying Chenlin glanced at his mecha’s durability. The pollutant’s damage output was extremely high. He shot a glance at Lin Yao and E.M.’s Artillery in the distance. He had to deal with this pollutant—it was too dangerous. Leaving it unchecked posed a significant threat to the damaged mechas and the mecha pilots still in combat.

Seeing the situation below, You Su’s expression darkened slightly. His gaze shifted between the coordinates on the radar. The Artillery pilots were clearing a path quickly, but not quickly enough. The appearance of this shadow pollutant indicated that the Super S-Level pollutant was already approaching them… The closer the shadow pollutant was to the Super S-Level one, the more pronounced the effects of its influence would become. This pollutant couldn’t be left alone—it had to be eliminated quickly.

He said, “Ying Chenlin, switch—”

“You said it wouldn’t take more than 10 seconds, right?” Ying Chenlin interrupted You Su. “I just checked, and its pollutant value hasn’t exceeded 8000. That means it’s not as difficult as that Blue Heart we dealt with before. Does the amplification effect of a Super S-Level pollutant on lower-level pollutants relate to its own pollutant value?”

“It’s related, but not by much,” You Su frowned. “What are you thinking?”

“I get it now.” Ying Chenlin let out a soft breath. “Then it shouldn’t take more than 5 seconds, maybe even less.”

Just like humans, the evolution of pollutants is limited by their species. But unlike mechas, if you force them to endure a time flow beyond their natural limits, their biological functions can only handle so much. Of course, pollutants are physically much stronger than humans, and judging by how quickly these pollutants had gathered, Chronos had likely increased their time flow by at least threefold.

Additionally, with their time being slowed down by Chronos, if the acceleration and deceleration coexisted, then while they experience 1 second, the pollutant could already be 2 or 2.5 seconds ahead in time.

For a person to control a mecha to chase 10 seconds in a time warp is unimaginable, but chasing 2 seconds is not impossible.

You Su had a bad feeling. “Ying Chenlin, don’t overuse your mental power.”

“Chenlin,” Yuan called out.

Ying Chenlin calmly observed the dark shadow in front of him. After confirming with You Su, the speed of his mecha’s thrusters increased, and his attack rhythm became faster and more aggressive. The shadow’s speed also increased. Noticing its prey speeding up, it transformed into wind even faster, slipping behind the red-and-white mecha. With a swift movement of its black claws, it struck Ying Chenlin again hard.

The commotion from Ying Chenlin’s battle with the shadow caught the attention of the nearby elite teams. While Claude was dealing with an S-Level pollutant, he glanced in the direction of Ying Chenlin’s battle and noticed something strange about the shadow pollutant. “A special type of penetrating pollutant.”

“Strange, it seems to be wind-element,” Bai Xuyan analyzed. “But it shouldn’t be impossible to catch a black shadow, and its speed seems off.”

“Alice,” Claude called out, “Did you see that pollutant?”

Alice smashed a nearby pollutant with her hammer, not turning around. “It’s not about speed. Its brain processes very quickly. You can’t handle it alone.”

Bai Xuyan: “Even Sink can’t catch it.”

He had witnessed Sink’s reaction speed. When using displacement to drag them into the energy tube’s encirclement, Sink could escape the trap instantly, but this pollutant’s reaction speed surpassed Sink’s.

The situation was too bizarre, as if the pollutant could think faster than a human.

S-Level pollutants do react quickly, but this was the first time they’d seen one that reacted faster than a person. Could this pollutant’s brain have undergone some sort of enhancement!?

Claude, piloting GBK’s Stealth, knew that judging an opponent by speed was key to a Stealth mecha’s advantage—the faster, the better. The shadow pollutant didn’t seem fast at first glance, but upon closer inspection, its reaction time and strikes were incredibly fast. It wasn’t a simple speed enhancement; it felt more like it was making calculated movements based on thought.

“It’s not easy to deal with. Based on the current situation, it achieves its penetration effect by phasing through objects. This type of penetration can go through shields and mechas. That eerie wind surrounding it is most likely a result of a wind field created by its ability. Its actions show a brief pause, indicating that it requires time to activate its ability.

Long-range attacks won’t work well against it. It needs to be handled with close combat, and more than two mechas are required to surround it, blocking its movements and exploiting its pauses to counterattack.”

Claude focused on the pollutant. Penetrating pollutants were rare, and as he continued assessing it, he suddenly saw Sink’s mecha get slammed into the ice wall by the pollutant.

“Trouble,” Alice sscoffed and shouted toward Lin Yao’s direction, “Don’t face it head-on. Just keep moving the mecha.”

The shadow lost interest in the mecha that kept fleeing. Its eyeless form drifted closer to two other mechas nearby, which had weaker energy and little resistance. Its overwhelming hunger urged it to destroy all the moving targets in front of it. It charged straight at Lin Yao, who swung his weapon to fend it off. Forced back several steps, Lin Yao still managed to toss the mecha next to him aside, preventing it from getting caught up in the fight.

“We have to help.” Claude knocked back the pollutant in front of him and was about to have his team suppress the S-Level pollutant when he suddenly noticed the red-and-white mecha that had been slammed into the ice moving again.

Alice, stepping back, paused in surprise and looked toward Sink. “Its speed changed… it slowed down.”

The moment when the shadow pollutant advanced again in the direction of E.M’s Artillery and Lin Yao, the thrusters of the red-and-white mecha roared to life, and the Flowing Fire Sword blazed like a fiery tornado, blocking its path.

The shadow, growing impatient, shifted its speed again. As it lashed out with its claws toward the red-and-white mecha, it was as if the mecha had predicted the direction of its attack. The mecha narrowly avoided the black claw, and in the next second, the Flowing Fire Sword struck horizontally. As the shadow retreated and briefly paused, the flames grazed the pollutant’s body, sending it flying with a powerful blow.

Boom!

The pollutant crashed into the ice wall. Claude looked over in surprise, “It hit!?”

In the air, You Su’s gaze darkened.

Ying Chenlin was calculating.

His mental power filled the entire space of the mecha. Despite the fatigue from overusing it, Ying Chenlin’s eyes moved rapidly, scanning the surroundings. When the shadow turned into wind and launched another surprise attack, the mecha’s wind sensors detected the shift. Ying Chenlin had already adjusted his direction, moving toward a new position that created a gap between the trajectory of his advance and the shadow’s assault.

Bai Xuyan: “The direction—”

At that moment, the red-and-white mecha’s Flowing Fire Sword struck horizontally again. The massive flames swept across the ceiling, hitting the shadow as it dispersed and reformed. With a backward swing of the sword, it locked onto the shadow and sent it flying once again.

The shadow crashed into the ice wall with a boom. The black wind around it flickered, as if it couldn’t believe the mecha had hit it. Its movements turned ferocious again, but this time, instead of going after Lin Yao’s mechas, it charged straight toward Ying Chenlin.

“Chenlin!” Yuan shouted.

Ying Chenlin didn’t look at the shadow but instead focused on the area in front of it, as if he were observing something beyond the swirling black wind.

Left? No, it’s right. Forcing the Flowing Fire Sword to change its course, he slashed through the black wind, pinpointing the pause and striking the shadow once more.

The three consecutive hits on the shadow pollutant darkened the expressions of Claude and Alice.

Was Sink moving fast? No, not fast—actually, slower than his previous attacks. Yet, he managed to precisely hit the shadow pollutant’s pause when its ability shifted. How did he keep up with the shadow’s speed? No, the real question was, how did he know where the shadow would pause?

From his vantage point, You Su could see more clearly, including the detailed changes in the red-and-white mecha’s movements.

Ying Chenlin was calculating. In his earlier encounters with the shadow, he had been analyzing the flow of the black wind around it, using the wind’s direction along with the pollutant’s attack habits to predict the shadow’s likely moves two seconds in advance.

In the air, the speed of the battle between the shadow and the red-and-white mecha accelerated. As the mecha and the pollutant moved, thick black winds and blazing flames clashed, the collision between the black and red became overwhelming to watch.

Bright flames swirled in the air once again, and the Flowing Fire Sword appeared right in the shadow’s path. The red-and-white mecha shifted slightly, and the sword’s flames trailed with a flashing afterglow as it slashed horizontally and vertically, scattering the black wind once more.

“Left.” Ying Chenlin reversed his grip on the sword and caught the shadow on the left where the wind had dispersed. With a downward strike, the sword smashed the pollutant into the ground, cracking the volcanic stone ice surface with a loud crash.

The shadow’s movements halted. The red-and-white mecha swung down from above, plunging the Flowing Fire Sword deep into the circle of wind, pinning the pollutant firmly to the ice. Even after the sword had impaled the creature, Ying Chenlin didn’t withdraw it. A massive burst of energy radiated from the sword, scorching the pollutant. As it tried to escape, Ying Chenlin changed from his sword to the staff and struck the black wind back into the pit once more.

With this blow, the black wind dispersed, revealing the true form of the pollutant hidden within—a wolf-like creature.

Ying Chenlin exhaled heavily, still catching up from his two-second predictions. Hearing movement nearby, he instinctively leaped two meters back. At that moment, an Energy Cannon fired from above, slamming into the deep pit he had created, hitting the revealed pollutant and forcing it back into the hole.

Ying Chenlin looked up in surprise. His racing thoughts finally caught up as he stood still.

You Su quickly fired another shot, suppressing the pollutant and knocking it unconscious in the pit.

Just then, the black wind at the bottom of the pit suddenly began to expand. Realizing what was happening, Ying Chenlin shouted urgently, “Everyone, get back!”

All the mecha pilots retreated behind the Tanks’ shields. The next moment, the pit where the black wind had gathered exploded violently. The shadow pollutant’s entire body blew up, sending out a massive wave of black wind mixed with energy, blasting several mechas backward.

“Shit—!? Self-destruction?!” Zhao Lejie exclaimed in shock.

Ying Chenlin climbed out of the ice wall, noticing an anomalous crystal amid the remains of the pollutant’s shattered body. He retrieved the crystal and said, “It didn’t self-destruct. It seems its body just… exploded.”

“Ying Chenlin, can you stand?” You Su asked.

“I’m not that weak. I can stand. Just need a short break.” Ying Chenlin wiped the sweat from his forehead and retracted his mental power. He instinctively glanced over in Lin Yao’s direction, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw that Lin Yao was safe inside the cracked space. But as he looked back, his gaze froze as his pupils contracted sharply. “Wait, the mecha’s defense field is weakening.”

The blue protective shield around E.M’s Artillery mecha was no longer as bright, showing signs that its energy was nearing depletion.

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