Genius Mechanic: Chapter 226

Slared Contaminated Zone(Territory-Wide Abnormal Move)

226. Extreme Repair

Proofread by An Zheee and Cloud Chip Cake

Beneath Slared’s Snowy Mountains, when Ying Chenlin proposed the 15-minute task, the mecha pilots around him fell silent.

Everyone could clearly see how harsh the outside environment was. Performing repairs in such conditions was no different from risking one’s life.

You Su’s voice grew heavier: “Ying Chenlin, do you understand what you’re saying?”

“I do. I wouldn’t have spoken if I wasn’t confident.” Ying Chenlin retrieved a large pipeline from his storage compartment, equipped with flexible bridge connectors on both ends. “Fifteen minutes, and I can modify its program. There’s no other way, is there? Has the key arrived?”

E.M’s Stealth cautiously looked at Ying Chenlin. “It has, but there’s no need for you to—”

During the previous energy-stealing contest, neither side had held back. Even though Ying Chenlin had agreed to bring the damaged mecha out, this was going above and beyond.

“Then give it to me,” Ying Chenlin replied. “There’s no time.”

E.M’s Stealth pilot gritted his teeth and handed over the key.

Once he had the key, Ying Chenlin uploaded all the relevant information to his portable light-brain.

At that moment, the large pipeline attached to Yuan connected to the nozzle on the E.M Artillery’s back. A bridge line linked the two mechas. This special bridge pipeline wasn’t an ordinary, slim energy line. The interior of this energy line was much wider, capable of housing a narrow passage through which a person could pass. One end was now attached to the nozzle on the back of Yuan, while the other end connected to E.M’s Artillery.

This kind of energy pipeline had a special protective feature that could partially isolate pollution and extreme temperatures, creating a relatively stable environment within the current setting.

Only now did everyone understand what Ying Chenlin meant by “confident there won’t be exposure.”

Zhao Lejie realized, “He doesn’t plan to cross through this pipeline, does he?!”

Alice looked at the massive bridge pipeline with surprise in her eyes. “Such a wide pipe.”

Bai Xuyan frowned slightly and asked “Why do you even have such a pipeline with you?”

“Oh, I think we did bring something like this,” Ji Qingfeng suddenly recalled seeing it. “I think we borrowed it from Director Liu as part of a high-capacity storage set. This is probably the widest-diameter pipe, meant for drawing energy. Originally, we didn’t want to bring it since it takes up space.”

Zhao Lejie: “Then why did you bring it?”

“Chenlin said this area was abandoned by the Management Bureau and that there might still be energy in its storage room. Might come in handy, right?” Ji Qingfeng explained. “It’d obviously be faster to draw energy with this. Our mechas’ thin energy lines would take forever. We’re already pressed for time.”

Wen Yi stared at the pipeline and, after a pause, said, “With a diameter like that, were you planning to drain the entire energy repository?”

Ji Qingfeng said with grievance, “How can you think of us like that?”

The others from Dawn Galaxy: “…”

While the group discussed, the pipeline between the two mechas automatically completed its connection. The specialized energy nozzle had an alignment feature, sealing the connection perfectly.

“Fifteen minutes.” You Su frowned, reminding him, “When fifteen minutes are up, you need to come out immediately.”

“I understand.” When Ying Chenlin opened an internal panel inside Yuan’s cockpit, Yuan’s energy to its right was already cut off completely, leading him into the fully oxygen-deprived repair tube.

From his portable storage, he took out an oxygen mask, put it on, and then jumped into the mecha’s operating internal pipeline. Instantly, a biting chill surged up, the piercing cold biting into his skin.

The low temperature outside had begun to affect the mecha’s interior, but it was still within the range the combat suit could handle. Ying Chenlin didn’t hesitate. Using specialized tools, he opened the connected pipeline inside Yuan, sliding directly toward the repair access point.

Yuan was hovering at a high altitude, creating a vertical height difference between his position and E.M’s Artillery. As soon as Ying Chenlin entered the energy pipeline, he began sliding downward. The pipeline’s diameter was narrow for an adult, but with Ying Chenlin’s smaller, agile build, he maneuvered inside relatively smoothly.

Ji Qingfeng was sweating nervously, unable to see the changes within the pipeline from the outside. “Yao Bao, don’t let your hands shake!”

Lin Yao held E.M’s Artillery firmly. “I’m not moving!”

In Slared’s depths, everyone remained silent, not daring to disturb one another. As Yuan entered its automatic mode, the rest instinctively formed a protective circle around it, providing the most stable environment for the mechanic working at the center.

The descent force from the height difference was immense. Ying Chenlin braced himself with his feet just as he was about to reach the pipe’s end, his body slamming lightly against the pipe wall.

He managed to turn on his portable light source and looked up to see the sealed pipeline end within E.M’s Artillery. Moving into the mecha from the outside was no easy feat. Without specialized repair ducts in place, the mecha’s interior, packed with components and metal conduits, created obstacles for human access. Fortunately, only a small part of the mecha was operational. If it were running at full energy capacity, he wouldn’t have been able to move inside through this space at all.

Positioning his foot at the pipe’s end, he used a mechanical clamp to find the part’s latch and forcibly pried open the pipeline’s seal.

Outside, You Su frowned as he glanced at the area where the pipeline connected to E.M’s Artillery.

From a high vantage point, Wen Yi noticed a slight tremor in the pipeline. “It looks like he’s made it.”

In the united communication channel, everyone held their breaths upon learning Dawn’s mechanic was entering the other mecha through a large energy pipeline. Most mechanics worked in secure repair rooms, even for complex operations assisted by intelligent machinery.

Using a mecha’s internal environment to enter the pipeline, though the energy pipeline materials are indeed protected against extreme temperatures and pollution, who would have thought a mechanic would bring such a wide diameter special energy pipeline and enter another’s mecha through it?

Performing a maneuver like entering a mecha in a highly-polluted zone through a specialized pipeline is extremely challenging and hazardous—it was unheard of.

In the channel, a real-time model of the scene built by E.M’s mechanic was shared, showing the bridge connection between Yuan and E.M’s Artillery. Voices from mechanics across other teams filled the channel, discussing the difficulty and timing of this operation.

“The requirements for the mechanic are too high.”

“He’s entering an unfamiliar mecha’s interior; the layout of its parts and metal conduits was only sent to him a moment ago.”

“With such a short timeframe, and entering through the pipeline, it’s almost impossible to locate the cockpit within fifteen minutes.”

E.M’s mechanic remarked, “I provided him with a map of the shortest route when giving him the access key, but it’s unclear whether he’ll actually be able to locate the position in practice.”

Dawn’s team also saw the generated schematic. Upon seeing the E.M meacha’s complex internal structure, even the shortest route was a maze of twisted metal conduits, and everyone’s nerves tightened.

“Even with that pipeline, isn’t there still no way to enter the cockpit?” Jiang Simiao, who had been with KID for a while, asked when he noticed the marked location right behind the cockpit on the diagram. “Isn’t it impossible to pry open the cockpit from that area?”

“Not all mechanics need to damage a mecha for repairs,” Shen Xingtang said, frowning as she kept her eyes on the damaged mecha’s coordinates. “Damaging a compromised mecha and prying open its cockpit are irreversible. Normally, it’s only done in emergencies to rescue the pilot, or when the mecha is too damaged to start up.”

In the wild, prying open the cockpit without restoration tools would only accelerate the pilot’s environmental deterioration.

Zhang Ge asked, “If he can’t pry open the cockpit, then what’s he—”

Shen Xingtang briefly explained Ying Chenlin’s objective. “He’s using that pipeline to link both mechas, entering behind the cockpit through a repair port. There’s an external control panel there, which doesn’t require full access to the cockpit. He’s likely planning to modify the program from that position, which is why he needs the E.M Artillery’s mecha key.”

“He can’t pry open the cockpit…” Black Crow’s leader commented, “Then how will he exit Yuan? He won’t create an escape route through Yuan’s internal structure, will he?”

“He can’t really exit Yuan. He didn’t enter through a conventional route but rather via Yuan’s internal repair tubes.” Shen Xingtang massaged her temples. “E.M’s Artillery got lucky, encountering one of our KID mechanics. If it were anyone else, any other mechanic, no one would be able to modify the program in such an environment.”

The others could just see the operation’s route from the model, while only the mechanics understood how perilous this maneuver was; otherwise, the mechanics on the united channel wouldn’t have been arguing so fiercely.

Shen Xingtang understood the kind of environment Ying Chenlin had to navigate to exit the mecha and enter the pipeline. Most likely, it was a repair pipeline embedded inside Yuan’s structure. In a situation like this, being directly exposed to the environment would be a death sentence for anyone. The best option was to move through the mecha’s internal pipeline to operate within its structure. The internal pipeline’s material was similar to that of the cockpit, providing a certain level of resistance.

Since Yuan hadn’t been fully modified, that pipeline had been left as an access route for small equipment and robots, so while it was a tight fit for an adult, it wasn’t impossible to traverse. Now, it had become Ying Chenlin’s only route to rescue the E.M pilot.

No one could see the actual situation at the scene. They could only simulate the hazardous environment through the demonstrative model, and with each simulation, the probability of success the intelligent system calculated dropped further. Eventually, the other mechanics fell silent, realizing the difficulty of the task. Unable to assist from the outside, they could only watch as the young mechanic took this risky gamble.

Black Crow’s leader, uneasy, asked, “Can he be saved?”

“The danger is immense.” Shen Xingtang knew it was pointless to try and stop Ying Chenlin now. When he’d asked for the access key, chances were the team on-site had already tried to dissuade him once. She said with a headache, “Given enough time, it wouldn’t be a problem, but in an environment like that—with jolts, pollutants everywhere—”

One jolt from an unstable mecha, one collision with a pollutant… These incidents may seem insignificant for a mecha, but for a mechanic wedged between countless metal conduits and parts, even minor impacts could threaten his safety.

There was no choice now but to leave everything in the hands of the on-site mechanic, and the pilots who could create a stable environment for him.

Underneath Slared, an increasing number of pollutants surged from all directions toward the central area.

Fifteen minutes would pass quickly under normal circumstances, but for the surrounding pilots in this scenario, every second demanded absolute focus.

The two Artillery mechas descended, positioning themselves at elevated points to guard both sides. Meanwhile, the two Tanks stepped back slightly, powering their defensive shields to maximum capacity, jointly covering the upper and lower mechas.

During the external operation, Ying Chenlin had already entered the E.M Artillery mecha’s interior through the repair port. Moving aside metal conduits as he went, he checked the circuits with a detector. Fortunately, the mecha’s energy consumption was critically low, leaving no residual power within—a relief for Ying Chenlin.

The route map E.M provided was invaluable. Recalling the path he’d memorized, Ying Chenlin maneuvered through the dim glow within the metal conduits. Clutching onto them with one hand, he placed his combat boots on narrow gaps between parts and leaped to a higher position.

The rear repair port was meant for maintenance of the mecha’s upper areas and was rarely opened in Contaminated Zones. However, it was the closest entry to the cockpit and would save him from traversing a large network of conduits.

There was no need to damage the cockpit. All he had to do was reach the programming interface behind it and input the external access key to make the necessary modifications.

After prying open the first protective layer, Ying Chenlin entered a section filled with metal conduits. His combat suit was soon smeared with the mecha’s internal lubrication, his oxygen mask covered as well. Carefully avoiding contact with anything unnecessary, he followed the map in his mind. Grasping several rear panels, he finally located the program interface directly behind the cockpit.

Fifteen minutes. When Ying Chenlin entered the rear section of the mecha through the pipeline, he had already used three minutes. Reaching the area behind the opponent’s cockpit took him an additional two minutes, leaving only ten minutes remaining.

Outside, the other pilots focused on defending the center. From the moment Ying Chenlin left Yuan, they had entered combat mode, needing to ensure the mecha could hover steadily in a secure environment without any jolts, as any sudden movement would place Ying Chenlin at great risk in the rear section of the mecha.

Qi Sicheng noted the change on the mission system’s display. “The Star Alliance’s mission system has issued an emergency evacuation order, and Slared is being sealed off. Something doesn’t feel right.”

“There’s only one reason for an evacuation: the mission’s severity has escalated to threaten the safety of a significant number of pilots,” Bai Xuyan added. “With such a swift response, it must be Wei Zhangyang, the Star Alliance Special Mission commander. He’s extremely vigilant. When he issues an evacuation, the severity has likely exceeded 70% of initial estimates.”

Time was running out. For them to leave the area, it would take about two hours to get out safely, while they themselves might not have that much time.

At that moment, the blue protective shield on E.M’s Artillery, supported by Lin Yao, vanished. Noticing this, everyone tensed up. Ji Qingfeng couldn’t help but curse, “Damn it, couldn’t it hold just a bit longer? It hasn’t even been 15 minutes yet!”

“Energy is starting to deplete,” You Su announced through his external speaker, addressing Ying Chenlin. In a cold tone, he added, “You have seven minutes left. If that’s not enough, you’ll need to come back immediately.”

The energy depletion would render the mecha’s systems ineffective, but for the next seven minutes, Ying Chenlin, positioned behind the cockpit, would still be safe.

Within this seven-minute window, Ying Chenlin had to solve the problem. If he couldn’t, he’d have to exit before the mecha’s systems completely failed. Once those seven minutes passed, the mecha would lose all environmental protection, leaving him as vulnerable as if he were directly exposed to the outside.

The expression of E.M.’s Stealth pilot was tense. He knew that Ying Chenlin was taking a dangerous risk to save his teammate, and 15 minutes was already pushing the limit. With time further reduced, Ying Chenlin now had only seven minutes left.

It was an extremely tight deadline. The other members of Dawn couldn’t afford to let their guards down, yet they couldn’t provide any additional help.

Ying Chenlin was the only repair engineer on-site. If he didn’t act, they would be left to watch helplessly as the E.M Artillery’s energy was drained by the volcanic rocks, leading to certain death—a result no one wanted.

“Where is he now?” Alice asked, glancing back frequently.

Lin Yao was closest but couldn’t determine his exact position either. “I don’t know; I can’t hear any sounds.”

Upon hearing You Su’s amplified reminder, Ying Chenlin didn’t slow his movements. There was no time to hesitate or calculate. Moving quickly, he reached the back of the cockpit’s vicinity. When he knocked on the cockpit, the pilot inside responded by tapping back.

E.M’s Artillery was still conscious, able to respond to the outside.

Ying Chenlin arrived at the location, switching to a small rotary blade to forcefully dismantle the outer protective layer. Once he breached the program board’s protective layer, he retrieved the program access key E.M’s mechanic had sent from his light brain. Using the key, he accessed the E.M Artillery’s cockpit control program and began adjusting the internal systems on the displayed program interface.

On the way there, the operation’s procedures had flashed through his mind multiple times, and he remembered each step with absolute clarity.

There was enough time, provided his teammates could create a suitable repair environment. Ying Chenlin wiped the lubricant from his oxygen mask with his oil-stained hands, quickly adjusting the program. His mind filtered through several pieces of information as he moved on to the next steps, calculating the time expenditure while operating.

Three minutes after the external blue energy shield disappeared, You Su reported the time to Ying Chenlin again: “Four minutes.”

The fluorescent blue virtual panel flickered, momentarily interrupting Ying Chenlin’s train of thought—You Su was keeping time for him.

Discarding his thoughts about the countdown, his gaze stayed fixed on the virtual screen as he modified several data strings.

At the three-minute mark, more pollutants appeared outside. Several pollutants broke through their defense, crashing into Zhao Lejie’s shield, unleashing a barrage of strange abilities that caused the two Tank mechas to wobble. As ice chunks fell from above, You Su reduced the output of his Energy Cannon, shattering the ice and scattering it away from the others. “Three minutes.”

Three minutes, Ying Chenlin silently counted, and finally, the program displayed the modified instructions.

With swift movements, he set the mecha to a 90% energy reboot, his left fingertips stiff from the cold.

Ying Chenlin frowned, switching to his right mechanical arm. The special metal arm functioned effortlessly, and for the first time, he appreciated his mechanical hand—its resilience far surpassed that of a regular arm. Even in these freezing conditions, his mechanical fingers were entirely unaffected.

The ice-red volcanic rock beneath began to lose its color rapidly, turning transparent. Two mechas engaged in battle had already replenished their energy and looked down uneasily at the fading volcanic stones. “The color of the volcanic rock beneath us is lightening.”

“Energy is rapidly depleting.” Qi Sicheng could feel the pull from below as the mecha’s leaking energy silently drained into the depths. “There’s something down there. We need to hurry.”

“How’s the path coming along!?” Alice looked up.

Bai Xuyan replied, “Still blasting. At best, we need another hour!”

Wen Yi caught sight of cracks spreading across the distant ice layers and quickly switched to his cannon, freezing the fissures. Even so, the cracks continued to spread rapidly. He shouted a warning, “We’re experiencing collapses around us!”

Intense bombardment and excavation were bound to result in collapses, which wasn’t an issue for the mecha pilots, but for the two mechas currently bridged together, a collapse would be fatal.

More and more debris tumbled from above, far too much for the Artillery intercepts to handle.

Lin Yao stabilized his mecha, freeing a hand to summon the Spatial Staff. He tapped it against the tip of his foot, creating a temporary spatial barrier in the air to block the falling ice. “Chenlin, hurry!”

“One minute.” You Su shouted sternly, “Abort.”

“Ying Chenlin, get out.”

“Raise the shield,” Claude called out, “Sink, abort the rescue!”

Ji Qingfeng yelled, “Chenlin! We’re calling it off. Get out!”

E.M.’s Stealth’s voice carried a restrained tone, “… Give up.”

As signs of collapse appeared around them, the pollutants’ attacks grew more intense, significantly increasing the pressure on the mecha pilots defending.

Everyone on the unified command channel monitoring the situation felt their hearts sink. Shen Xingtang seized the communicator and spoke rapidly, “Ying Chenlin, the ground is collapsing, and a massive amount of energy in the volcanic rock is disappearing. Chronos is close to your position—abort the rescue and get out immediately—”

Before she could finish, the command channel erupted with alarms, pulling everyone’s attention from below to the surface. “What’s going on!?”

The Star Alliance’s mecha pilots and the Frontier Army fighting the pollutants came under attack. The pollutants they had been battling suddenly began to self-destruct one after another! A single pollutant self-destructing could be controlled, but with so many exploding simultaneously, the resulting shockwaves swept through the area, hitting the mecha pilots at the battle’s center head-on.

The energy from the chain of explosions sank into the ground, absorbed by the volcanic rock and channeled deeper.

“Chronos is actually—” In the Third Star Domain’s frontier command center, the commanding officer said coldly, “It’s controlling these pollutants to self-destruct.”

“Slared Contaminated Zone’s defensive line has been activated.”

“The mecha pilots can retreat! The base station’s jump coordinates are set!”

“This is bad—the shock from the explosions is being transmitted underground—”

Collapses below happened. The trapped mecha pilots looked up to see frozen earth and rock raining down from the cracks in the ice, repeatedly slamming into the mechas’ shields. All eyes were fixed on the two connected mechas, with voices urgently calling out i the command channel.

“Is Ying Chenlin out yet?” Shen Xingtang asked, her voice trembling.

“No word yet,” a staff member responded, “The chain of explosions disrupted the signal underground, and we’ve lost connection with them.”

Ji Qingfeng plunged his blade into a spiky creature, slicing through its hide to sever its anomalous crystal in one swift motion and cover the E.M. mecha. Without hesitation, he used his mecha’s body to shield against the falling ice chunks from above.

Lin Yao struggled to stabilize himself amidst the shaking, but his mecha still trembled slightly. “Damn!”

At that moment, Ying Chenlin pushed the entire control panel back in place; it automatically slid into the mecha’s inner layer. His left hand was too numb from the cold, so he could only rely on his right hand to navigate through the swaying metal circuitry. Sounds from outside echoed around him, and metal wires struck him multiple times.

Using his mechanical arm to block the impacts, Ying Chenlin slid quickly down through the metal wiring amidst the oil and lubricant, reaching the repair hatch. His combat boot hit a partition plate with a loud thud, instantly alerting Lin Yao, who heard the sound immediately, “I heard something!”

Everyone was momentarily stunned. When they looked over, they saw a faint blue glow reappear around the previously unshielded E.M Artillery mecha, reactivating despite being 80% depleted.

As it restarted, You Su quickly rushed over from behind, passing an energy tube into the mecha’s energy compartment. E.M’s Artillery mecha pilot regained brief control of the mecha, activated the main energy intake program, took the energy tube from You Su, and a fresh energy supply poured into the mecha’s energy compartment.

“It worked!” Bai Xuyan shouted.

E.M.’s Stealth suppressed the tears in his eyes, leaping higher to support the falling rubble above. “Hold on. He hasn’t made it out yet.”

The mecha was reactivated—had Ying Chenlin come out?!

Yuan’s automatic program was still running; its mecha pilot hadn’t returned to the cockpit.

The shaking intensified, making it nearly impossible for Lin Yao to steady himself in such an environment.

Ji Qingfeng was cursing up a storm, “Fuck you, you fucking bastard, did you hear me? Chro, you fucking bastard!”

Zhao Lejie piled on the curses, “Can you curse out the pollutant with the correct name? Chronos, you fucker, you’ve taken the top spot on Laozi’s most hated pollutant list!”

The tremors continued as Yuan, on autopilot, remained unattended. The conduit connecting the two mechas swayed from side to side. Activating his thrusters, You Su maneuvered close to Yuan, grabbing the mecha by the waist and lowering it. “Lin Yao, lift the mecha higher!”

Lin Yao reacted, raising E.M’s Artillery, creating a vertical height difference once again.

—You Su was a huge help.

During the tremors, Ying Chenlin noticed subtle changes in the mecha. Spotting the conduit’s entrance, he shrank his entire body into it. Covered in machine oil, he slid even faster through the conduit toward Yuan.

Bang—a crack appeared on the ground, and the shaking intensified. At that moment, a rock crashed onto the conduit connecting the two mechas, causing everyone to tense up, staring at the conduit’s condition, but there was no response from within.

There was a hint of restrained urgency in You Su’s voice, “Ying Chenlin, do you hear me? Respond!”

“No good,” Alice shouted, “We have to enter the tunnel we dug, or this area’s going to get buried.”

“Everyone else, fly up,” Qi Sicheng commanded. “No hesitation; everyone else, go first!”

One by one, the mechas entered the newly excavated tunnel, with the Artillery mecha at the top clearing the way. Rocks fell from above again, smashing onto the conduit. The weight of the falling debris snapped the connection with E.M’s Artillery, severing the conduit entirely.

Everyone’s hearts leaped into their throats.

It was over.

Dodging the falling rocks around them, You Su maneuvered Yuan to grab the severed conduit, lifting it slightly. He shouted urgently, “Ying Chenlin!”

“… I hear you.” A faint voice came through the comms. Ying Chenlin had tumbled into the cockpit, the special repair hatch sealing behind him. Yuan detected its pilot’s presence, switched operational mode, and systematically closed all open joints. The frigid air rushing in through the broken conduit from outside the mecha was blocked.

You Su froze in surprise, “Ying Chenlin?”

Ying Chenlin, shivering from the cold with teeth chattering, replied weakly, “You Su, don’t shout so close… it’s giving me tinnitus.”

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