Genius Mechanic: Chapter 23.1

23.1: Emergency

Huo Yan and Lu Xi are the other two mecha pilots from KID.

Ji Qingfeng: “Huh? I haven’t heard that they have relatives in the Management Bureau.”

Jiang Simiao was speechless. “Even if they have relatives, it wouldn’t involve us.”

Shen Xingtang glanced at them, her serious tone carrying a hint of seriousness: “That’s because among the disconnected mecha pilots, there are the two of them.”

Lin Yao exclaimed, “What? They’re going to Tianyu Star for vacation!”

Shen Xingtang was practically at a loss for words with these two troublemakers. She explained, “Huo Yan and Lu Xi’s return flight happened to pass through that area, and because of the temporary summons from the Management Bureau, they both went there.”

All active mecha pilots in the Mecha Alliance bases have the responsibility and obligation to respond to the summons of the Contaminated Zone  Management Bureaus across the Star Alliance, to resolve pollution sources and maintain peaceful and stable living environments across the Star Alliance.

Because Huo Yan and Lu Xi were temporarily summoned nearby, Shen Xingtang also received a mission request from the Tianyu Star Management Bureau, so they now had to head to the Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone  to carry out the mission.

“Why are you still dawdling!? Bring your mechs and equipment, the mission is urgent and we need to depart immediately.” Shen Xingtang looked at You Su, who had not moved. “Have you chosen your mech? If not, just pick one, we’re leaving right away.”

Ji Qingfeng and Lin Yao quickly jumped into the room, heading toward their mechs.

Ying Chenlin saw everyone busy and had to put aside the conversation about weapons that he originally wanted to have with Shen Xingtang.

Mecha missions were a regular occurrence at the base. The last time, KID was assigned a mission in the Banute Contaminated Zone . When Ying Chenlin was at the KID base, he often saw emergency missions, but they didn’t have much to do with him. As a maintenance technician, he didn’t need to go on missions, and even if he did, he couldn’t go.

At that time, his disabled body had brought too many burdens, and interstellar travel and entering Contaminated Zone s were almost out of reach for him.

Ying Chenlin didn’t dwell on the past and asked, “Do you need anything? I’ll go prepare it.”

“Chenlin, please bring over the keys to the other two competition-level mechs, the ones for Huo Yan and Lu Xi.”

Shen Xingtang noticed You Su hadn’t gone over to choose a mech and called out, “You Su?”

Ying Chenlin started walking toward the stairs.

At this moment, You Su suddenly stretched out his hand, his fingers hooking onto the collar of Ying Chenlin’s clothes as he passed by, directly pulling him back.

Ying Chenlin was pulled and looked at You Su in confusion.

You Su, however, looked at Shen Xingtang, speaking in his usual laid-back tone: “It’s not safe to leave the kid here alone guarding the base.”

He adjusted the collar of his shirt and then said, “Bring him along too.”

…….

At the edge of the Dawn Galaxy, an endless wilderness planet with yellow sand ruins covering the surface.

The location of the Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone is a deserted planet called “Tianyu.” This place is a ruin of human civilization. It was once a moderately developed planet, but later, due to environmental degradation and the deterioration of the surrounding atmospheric environment, the planet’s destruction was accelerated. After several years, it became a level 4 Contaminated Zone, known as Tianyu Star.

Outside the Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone, in a temporary space station, this is the office of the Management Bureau. The area is vast and has a dedicated landing pad.

When they arrived from a specific landing pad, the KID base team of six came for a Tianyu Star trip, bringing along several mechas and three large suitcases. The receptionist at the Management Bureau, seeing this, forced a smile: “Is this KID Base? Your rest area is over here.”

Ying Chenlin was about to grab the suitcase containing the repair tools, but Lin Yao quickly pushed two suitcases forward, walking while talking to Ji Qingfeng: “I really wanted to come to Tianyu Star last time, but our league ranking wasn’t enough, and we didn’t even have the qualification to participate in the competition… Damn, Da Feng, look at that, such a huge transition point.”

Jiang Simiao, seeing two mecha pilots acting like country bumpkins entering the city, couldn’t help but speak up: “Even if it’s a competition-level Contaminated Zone, can you at least act a bit more composed?”

The staff member responsible for the reception: “…”

Ying Chenlin looked at the vast landing platform. As a frequently used Contaminated Zone for the top 8 competition, the facilities here were very comprehensive. The various detection equipment was the most advanced in the Star Alliance. This space station almost provided complete surveillance and control of the entire Tianyu Star. If necessary, it could track mecha information in real time, enabling full coverage of live broadcasts during the competition.

For a Contaminated Zone with such comprehensive facilities, the equipment’s anti-interference level was at least capable of withstanding S-level pollutant interference. So why had the detection equipment suddenly been cut off, as if something had intentionally severed the connection?

“Wow! This scenery, I’ve only seen it in the StarNet broadcasts!”

Ying Chenlin turned to look at the source of the voice and saw the vast star sea outside the station’s protective shield. The bright, translucent Tianyu Star was right in front of them, with other planets, either near or far, clustered around it like stars surrounding the moon.

You Su: “First time here?”

Ying Chenlin snapped back to reality, “Yeah.”

He had never really seen Tianyu Star. Whenever the KID team went on missions or participated in competitions, he was always looking at the wide virtual screen in the maintenance room, watching the broadcast of the competition with others.

The staff member forced a smile and said: “Well, Boss Shen, the Management Bureau…”

Are they here for a mission, or just sightseeing?!

Shen Xingtang left with the staff to attend a meeting, while Ying Chenlin followed the others to the rest area on Tianyu Star. The area set aside for them was quite large, with rooms for resting and ample space for parking several mechas.

As they walked, he noticed several other teams already present in the area.

Ji Qingfeng: “It looks like other teams have already gone in. Do you think we can still grab some resources?”

“It’s been months since it was last opened. Once you’re in, all the resources inside are yours if you get them,” Jiang Simiao said. “Go check the mechas. Once the boss is done with the meeting, you’ll be heading out.”

You Su leaned against the mecha, his tone as usual: “I brought a mecha for you on the way here. There’s no mecha rental place around here.”

When Ying Chenlin received the key, he glanced at Jiang Simiao in front of him and didn’t bother with pleasantries: “Thanks.”

……..

The base connected to Tianyu Star’s transition, with four mechas entering the area. The staff in charge of commanding the site issued the transition command, and the corresponding spatial magnetic field was activated. As the four mechas disappeared from their sight, one of them, realizing late, said, “Does KID have four mechas? The information sent from above says there are three mecha pilots.”

Outside the base conference room, Shen Xingtang had just finished the meeting. She had already sent all the current data on the Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone to Ji Qingfeng and the others. When she returned to the rest area, Jiang Simiao had already set up the communication station. “Have they set off?”

“They’ve set off. They should be in the transition area by now.” Jiang Simiao was operating the equipment. “Is it okay that You Su went with them?”

“They’ve cooperated once before, what could go wrong?” Shen Xingtang was scrolling through data on her light brain when something suddenly occurred to her. She looked around but couldn’t find another person. “Oh, right, where’s Chenlin?”

Jiang Simiao snapped out of it and glanced behind him: “I was assembling machines here just now, but it seems he was helping them with their mechas.” His gaze stopped at the mecha parking area behind them. Besides their equipment, there was no one else.

At that moment, Shen Xingtang’s light brain suddenly rang.

“Boss Shen, your team has four mechas, right? We need to reverify the data here.”

Four mechas!? Shen Xingtang paused for a moment, her gaze suddenly locking onto Jiang Simiao’s face. “Four mechas? We should only have three mecha pilots.”

The staff on the other end of the communication said, “But the mechas that just transitioned from our side are four…”

Shen Xingtang quickly cut back and noticed two messages in the information log that had just arrived two minutes ago.

One was from Ying Chenlin, and the other was from You Su.

[Ying Chenlin: Tang Jie, I’m heading to the Contaminated Zone.] [You Su: I’ve taken them to the Contaminated Zone, no need to look for them.]

Shen Xingtang: “…”

She looked at Jiang Simiao. “Contact them immediately.”

Jiang Simiao operated the signal system and saw the blue dots representing their mechas appear on the map. He quickly sent out a communication request, but the request sank into silence. The communication system, which had previously been working fine, suddenly went down.

“This is bad,” Jiang Simiao said.

Shen Xingtang paused. “What’s going on?”

Jiang Simiao operated quickly. “Our internal detection system for the mechas hasn’t failed, but their communication signals have been cut off by some unknown interference. This doesn’t make sense, though. The disconnection point should still be 200 kilometers away. How could the signal cut off so soon?”

Footsteps echoed down the hallway outside the rest area, and the staff from the Contaminated Zone Detection Station hurried over with urgent news—

“Magnetic field disturbances and a huge sandstorm have appeared on Tianyu Star, originating from base station C… now the communications system between the Management Bureau and Tianyu Star has been interfered with, and all teams have lost contact!”

Shen Xingtang quickly walked to the window and looked down, noticing that the white planet seemed to be covered by a layer of yellow haze. “This is bad.”

……….

In the Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone, over two hundred kilometers outside the Management Bureau’s defensive base station C, the vast desert stretched endlessly. Low buildings were mostly buried in sand, and all that could be seen was desolation.

When the mechas entered the area, the pollution value in the sight range surged, eventually stabilizing at a high value of 5200.

Lin Yao: “But we didn’t tell Tang Jie, did we?”

Ying Chenlin adjusted the operation coefficient of the new mecha. “I sent her a message before I left.”

Ji Qingfeng then asked, “You didn’t mention it. I didn’t know you had a mecha pilot certification. Why wasn’t it on your resume?”

Ying Chenlin paused briefly and then explained, “I didn’t need a mecha pilot certification when applying for the maintenance technician position.”

Ji Qingfeng sighed in relief. “Good thing Trace reminded us that base station repairs require a maintenance technician. Otherwise, it would’ve been awkward if none of us knew how to fix anything when we got here.”

Lin Yao agreed, “Right!”

At first, they had been wary of You Su, but it turned out he was different from the rumors—quite easy to talk to, and he even reminded them to bring someone who could handle the repairs.

At this moment, You Su spoke up in his usual tone: “You can fix it, right?”

Ying Chenlin, out of the corner of his eye, noticed the “auto-repair program” placed in the corner of the program package carried by their mission target. He wasn’t sure if the two from KID had not read the mission materials or were just easily deceived, but he responded, “Mm.”

It seemed like anyone could repair.

Ying Chenlin hadn’t originally planned to enter the Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone, but when You Su handed him the key, he changed his mind.

The transfer of Yuan required a lot of materials, and the Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone was far stronger than regular pollution zones. Opportunities for accessing high-risk contaminated zones were rare, and some materials were priceless.

Ying Chenlin lowered his eyes slightly. When they first transitioned in, he had seen several exposed sandstone formations in the yellow sand below. Those were A-grade materials, Red Blood Sandstone, worth five times the price of Green Wall Rock. It was more suitable for refining outer armor.

“What are we going to do next?” Lin Yao asked.

The two absent-minded people finally remembered they should check the mission materials first.

Ying Chenlin casually opened the data from the shared channel, which contained the [mission data] sent by the Tianyu Star Management Bureau before they entered the mission area.

The main goal of the mission was to repair Tianyu Star’s detection system. The secondary objective was to find the pollution source that caused the mutations in the Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone, eliminate the system faults, and locate the first batch of mecha pilots who had entered and lost contact.

This included KID’s two mecha pilots, Huo Yan and Lu Xi.

Tianyu Star was vast, with four detection base stations built by the Management Bureau, located on the four major plates of the planet. They were currently near one of these stations, which had been repaired by another team that arrived earlier. The mission list showed that two stations, C and D, located in what used to be a thriving city on Tianyu Star, had not yet been repaired.

Upon arrival, they quickly headed toward the closest station, C.

It was more than two hundred kilometers away, and with the mechas flying quickly, it would only take a few minutes.

Ying Chenlin looked at the data and explained, “Points A and B have already been repaired. The only place we can go is the base station C, which is about 200 kilometers from here. I heard that the mecha pilots sent out earlier lost contact at base station C.”

Lin Yao asked, “What about the other teams that went with us? They have no news either?”

“At the moment, it seems there’s no news…” Ying Chenlin was speaking when he suddenly realized something. He quickly looked at the mecha’s built-in communication system, noticing a red exclamation mark next to the system.

“The communication system completely disconnected three minutes ago.” You Su spoke up, zooming in on a certain area, his tone calm. “To be precise, we’ve already lost contact with the Tianyu Star Management Bureau.”

Lin Yao, caught off guard, exclaimed, “What—?”

At that moment, the entire team saw the pollution value on their screens surge, starting from the previously stable 5200 and skyrocketing—

5600, 5700… 6000, 6500…

The fluctuating values finally stabilized at a high value of 6800.

Ying Chenlin remained calm. “6800, this is an S-grade pollution source report.”

S-grade pollution source?! The other two team members immediately checked the surrounding pollution value reports.

You Su then said, “6800? Looks like we’re in luck.”

“Mm.” Ying Chenlin glanced at the red digits, which seemed to be still rising. “Looks like it’s still going up.”

Ji Qingfeng was dumbfounded. “Brother, is this considered good luck?”

“You can’t even get an S-grade map at the start of a game—”

Before he could finish his sentence, a massive wave of yellow sand obscured all visibility. A thick sandstorm rolled in, and visibility dropped rapidly before their eyes. The magnetic field and pollution interference triggered a loud warning alarm inside the mecha’s system.

The next second, a violent gust of wind swept through, sending all four KID mechas flying!

………

At the same time, in the silent night, the virtual star network remained as active as ever.

On the virtual star network of the various Star Domains of the Star Alliance, an emergency notice was released by the official account of the Dawn Galaxy in the First Star Domain. It quickly pushed to the homepage of the Dawn Galaxy’s star network.

[Latest report from Tianyu Star: The Tianyu Star Contaminated Zone’s detection system has completely collapsed. Multiple mecha pilots have lost contact, and the connection to all Galaxy routes from Tianyu Star to other Star Domains has been severed. Emergency lockdown in place.]

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~ 

Join discord to get notified whenever a new chapter is uploaded since I'm  incapable of keeping up with a schedule~