Genius Mechanic: Chapter 230

Slared Contaminated Zone(Territory-Wide Abnormal Move)

230. Detonate

Proofread by An Zheee and Cloud Chip Cake

“You Ge is carrying Chenlin and running!” Lin Yao, lying on a stretcher, glanced out the window. His shout drew the attention of all the injured Dawn personnel nearby, who gathered to watch the commotion.

On the Slared evacuation ship, the Dawn mecha pilots immediately crowded around the observation window upon hearing the noise. They spotted two figures running below: You Su fluidly carrying someone on his back while evading the Frontier Army and heading straight into the base station.

“Holy crap, incredible! Is You Su’s stamina really this insane?” Zhao Lejie pressed his face up against the window. “Wait! Why are they running?”

“Probably heading to activate the base station’s defense system,” Wen Yi speculated, recognizing that direction as the energy repository. “There’s a designated point for placing the heavy weaponry underneath the station.”

Ji Qingfeng squeezed half his face onto the observation window. “Fuck, they better hurry up! There are two people on the left. Fuck!”

“They’re dodging everything even with You Su’s injured left arm? And he’s carrying someone?!” Hu Luobu also pushed in, enviously watching the man’s seemingly superhuman physique. “Man, no wonder I can’t outshoot him.”

“The title of Dawn’s No. 1 Artillery King wasn’t given lightly,” Ji Qingfeng commented while watching. “You Ge! Go right, go right!”

The Dawn mecha pilots, pressed against the observation window, made quite the undignified scene. Not only were they glued to the glass, but they were also shouting loudly, blatantly directing the actions of the two rogue mecha pilots below. Mecha pilots from other Star Alliance teams watched this with mixed expressions, some wondering how this rowdy group could be so restless even when injured.

GBK and WHG walked away, unable to bear watching any longer. Alice initially planned to join in but was dragged away by her teammates.

Standing farther back, Qi Sicheng and Wen Yi exchanged glances. Seeing the medical personnel’s increasingly dark expressions, Qi Sicheng quickly admitted fault. “They’re just a bit over excited. We’ll take them back to the medical bay right away.”

The medic scolded, “We’re in the middle of an evacuation! Can’t they just behave if they’re injured?!”

While Qi Sicheng handled the medical staff, Wen Yi turned to Huo Yan.  

“They might really be heading straight for the energy repository. I’ll contact the others immediately.”

Time visibly grew tighter. Reports of two mecha pilots infiltrating the base station’s energy repository quickly reached Slared’s frontline operations. A Third Star Domain Frontier Army officer angrily demanded, “What kind of mecha pilots pull stunts like this during an evacuation?!”

“Ther evacuation ships can’t wait. Get the injured out first.”

The IDs of the two rogue mecha pilots appeared on the virtual screen of the joint operations meeting. The expressions of those from both the First and Third Star Domains visibly shifted upon seeing the names. Wei Changyang‘s aide stopped the furious Third Star Domain officer, while First Star Domain’s Li Jingyan’s face also subtly changed.

…! Why is it those two?

“Hold on,” Lao Qiu stepped forward. “Stop Commander Wei and switch the feed to Slared’s base station interior.”

Wei Changyang, in the middle of organizing the transfer and loading of the heavy weaponry, was interrupted by the urgent report. Two mecha pilots had broken into the energy repository. He turned toward the base station and could see Frontier Army personnel chasing the intruders.

“Commander, what’s the plan?” a soldier asked.

“Loading the heavy weaponry will take 13 minutes,” Wei Changyang replied, looking in the energy repository’s direction. “Once loaded, wait an additional five minutes.”

The soldier was about to speak, but Wei Changyang cut him off. “Those five minutes won’t make a difference.”

With less than 30 minutes left after loading the heavy weaponry, the route to deliver them was treacherous. Even with those extra five minutes, Wei Changyang wouldn’t be able to return after deploying the weapon. His gaze fell on the IDs from the urgent report. You Su’s name was all too familiar, but the other one surprised him even more.

The ID “Sink” had appeared multiple times within just two hours: Rescuing a damaged mecha underground, setting up an underground displacement signal point… and now, entering the base’s energy repository.

Wei Changyang paused briefly and looked at the base’s defense system from above. “A mechanic?”

Inside the Slared Snowy Mountains’ base station, to maintain the highest operation of the defense system, most internal functions had already been disabled. Upon realizing the elevators weren’t functional, You Su frowned slightly and immediately changed directions toward the emergency stairs.

With Ying Chenlin on his back, You Su sprinted down the stairs and jumped directly from the stairwell. Carrying someone didn’t affect his speed in the slightest. After leaping down, he continued along the descending internal shaft and quickly located the energy repository Ying Chenlin had mentioned.

“The repository door is locked,” You Su said, unable to open it.

Ying Chenlin recalled several permission codes within the base station. Just as he was about to suggest that You Su try one, the energy repository door before them opened.

Remote access—it could only have been activated by the abandoned Management Bureau.

Without hesitation, You Su carried Ying Chenlin into the energy repository. Looking up, they were met with a maze of pipes running in all directions. “Can you manage?”

“I can.” Ying Chenlin steadied himself, climbing down from You Su’s back. Once he found his footing, he retrieved a maintenance kit from his storage device. He had barely recovered some strength but figured he could hold out for ten minutes.

Standing beside him, You Su said, “Call me if you need help. I’ll stay right here.”

The virtual structure of the energy repository’s pipelines unfolded before Ying Chenlin. Within the intricate network of pipes, the base’s defense system was connected to over a hundred conduits. Ten minutes were nowhere near enough to alter all these pipelines. To make adjustments, he had to strategically modify only a few critical ones.

But how? Which ones?  

Which node would yield the best result?

Standing before the energy conduits’ virtual system, Ying Chenlin didn’t move. His right hand traced along the pathways of the pipes, his eyes darting back and forth as though seeking the optimal adjustment nodes.

“Can this even work?” In Slared’s abandoned Management Bureau, the Unified Front Meeting connected to the Snowy Mountains Base Station. When Ying Chenlin and You Su voluntarily entered the energy repository, they had remotely opened the door and activated the necessary permission codes, facilitating their operation.

Now, through internal surveillance, they saw the two standing at the main control console of the energy repository, motionless. Both appeared utterly worn out, clearly exhausted from their underground combat. It seemed almost impossible for these two to resolve the rerouting issue of base’s defense system.

“The defense system’s pipelines are extensive. Even if this mechanic can operate it, we must consider time constraints,” an engineer experienced in base maintenance said in the meeting room. “We estimate that resolving this would require at least 20 minutes, even with significant manpower. The internal pipelines are too intricate, and any mistake could lead to catastrophic consequences.”

“He won’t mess around,” Lao Qiu spoke through the communication channel. “There was a base crisis in Coria back then. He is very familiar with energy repositories. The boy knows what he’s doing. Just give him a bit more time.”

After some thought, the engineer added, “It’s not entirely impossible. Modifying certain nodes could solve the issue.”

He glanced at the situation inside the Slared base station. “Our engineering team is calculating the optimal nodes for modification. However, even if we finish drafting the adjustment diagrams within five minutes, it would take additional time for him to interpret them. He’s unfamiliar with the base’s pipeline nodes, so identifying the correct spots within a short period will be challenging.”

While the engineering team could assist, the time required to send the diagrams, coupled with the mechanic’s need to comprehend them, would far exceed ten minutes. The Frontier Army would not alter its pursuit of Chronos for the sake of one mechanic’s actions, leaving them with insufficient time for effective repairs.

“Nine minutes left,” said a Third Star Domain Frontier Army officer. “In nine minutes, Wei Changyang will be on the move.”

At this moment, the Frontier Army soldiers pursuing You Su arrived at the energy repository. Having received orders from their superiors, they stopped upon entering. When their gaze fell on Ying Chenlin, the latter suddenly turned to look at them.

Seeing the Frontier Army, Ying Chenlin suddenly thought of something. Most functions within the base station had already been shut down, meaning energy was no longer needed for those functions. The only operations requiring power were the defense system and the operation of the massive descent elevator leading to the deepest parts of the underground—

Unnecessary functions didn’t need to remain active.

With that thought, Ying Chenlin immediately locked onto a location on the control panel and selectively shut down certain pipelines, cutting off energy transmission.

Suddenly, an engineer observing the interior pipeline activity of Slared exclaimed, “Wait? He just altered the pipeline switches?”

“Is there a problem?” a Frontier Army officer asked. “If something goes wrong, we can stop him immediately.”

The engineer’s gaze remained fixed on the changes in the base station’s internal pipelines. After Ying Chenlin turned off several switches, numerous functions in the base station came to an abrupt halt, reducing the number of operational pipelines by hundreds. He quickly realized what was happening. Not being on-site, the engineers hadn’t accounted for the partial shutdown of functions. “Wait, it might actually be possible within ten minutes—”

“You Su,” Ying Chenlin called out after shutting down the pipelines. He handed You Su the largest mechanical hammer he had. “The third pipe on the upper left—destroy it directly!”

You Su took the mechanical hammer. “Are you sure?”

“Positive. That pipe is useless,” Ying Chenlin gritted his teeth. “Manual rerouting is too slow; let the system do it.”

Receiving a firm response, You Su wasted no time. He grabbed the hammer and headed for the third pipe at the top left. Upon reaching it, he tightened his grip on the hammer and struck a critical weak point with full force. A loud bang reverberated, leaving the soldiers and those monitoring in stunned silence.

After one blow, You Su followed with another, aiming directly for the target.

“Wait!” The officer was stunned. “He’s outright destroying it!”

Lao Qiu, also taken aback by this violent method, couldn’t even begin to offer a defense.

“He’s not making a mistake!” the engineer quickly realized from Ying Chenlin’s prior actions. Meanwhile, the engineers’ schematics were finalized. “He’s rerouting energy in the quickest and least labor-intensive way possible.”

By selectively disabling certain program nodes, Ying Chenlin had already reduced the energy pipeline count by hundreds. Now, the next step was to reroute the defense system to a unified pipeline. Normally, this process would require manual adjustments. However, critical base station infrastructure like the energy repository came equipped with backup pipelines. When a large number of essential pipelines are destroyed, the station’s emergency system automatically redirects energy through the backup pipelines.

This method was irreversible. If other functions needed to remain operational, destroying pipelines wasn’t an option.

But since the Slared Snowy Mountains Base Station no longer served its broader purposes and only required a few functions, Ying Chenlin opted to destroy the pipelines, forcing the system to redirect energy to the emergency backup routes.

“Automatic rerouting is much faster than manual adjustments,” the engineer explained rapidly. “By disabling unnecessary functions, he’s identifying pipelines that can be destroyed. By comparing them to the defense system’s pipelines, he’s breaking those currently essential for autonomous operation, forcing the defense system to activate backup routes. It doesn’t matter if other functions fail, as long as the highest-level defense system can operate independently. That’s the goal.”

Without a team on-site to modify nodes, destroying nodes was far simpler. For a physically capable mecha pilot, there was no need to analyze the convoluted system—just smash the relevant parts.

“Stop Commander Wei!” Lao Qiu reacted swiftly. “Deploy the heavy weaponry to the underground base station!”

Bang, bang—

The Frontier Army soldiers, receiving new orders, locked onto You Su’s target area and used their portable remote devices to assist in the destruction. Seeing the soldiers helping, Ying Chenlin immediately directed You Su to focus on other locations. After shutting down all unnecessary functions, there were four critical nodes to destroy. “The blue pipe at nine o’clock!”

Outside the base station, Wei Changyang had already boarded his mecha. As he flew out with the heavy weaponry, the first directive from the command center arrived. The moment the instructions became clear, his mecha instantly changed direction and headed straight for the base station interior. A massive elevator descent opened on the spacious hangar’s left side. Wei Changyang entered without hesitation, unloading the heavy weapon from his mecha and placing it into the elevator.

“The energy supply has been completely cut off; the descending lift can only be operated manually,” an engineer reminded.

Wei Changyang entered the control panel of the lift descending underground. “I know. Leave it to me.”

In the energy repository, streams of energy fluid sprayed from above. Ying Chenlin’s face was drenched, but his movements didn’t stop. With one minute left after adjusting the pipeline nodes, he swiftly activated the remote access for the energy supply, synchronizing the modified pipeline’s operational authority with the engineers stationed at the abandoned Slared Management Bureau.

“Commander, we’ve received the new command authority for the defense system’s  highest-level,” a Frontier Army soldier reported.

“Can you handle it?” the officer asked the engineers.

The engineers, now fully operational, initiated the remote control system as soon as they gained access. The lead engineer responsible for communications responded, “Yes, we’ll concentrate the defense system on the core area after the commander finishes deploying the heavy weaponry.”

“All operational changes: The target location for heavy weapon detonation had been revised to the base station’s underground section,” the Third Star Domain’s commander instructed. “All Frontier Army personnel at the station, quickly board your mechas! The final stable coordinates for the jump have been shared to the station’s location. Evacuate immediately!”

The burden now lay on Wei Changyang and the engineers. Once underground, Wei Changyang might still have a chance to escape.

Only 13 minutes remained for the defense system—

The entire base station was on the brink of collapse. The massive avalanches in the Snowy Mountains had drastically altered the terrain. The Frontier Army’s premonition had been accurate: Slared’s condition had worsened further.

In the energy repository, You Su jumped down from the high pipelines, his combat boots landing in a pool of energy fluid. Grabbing Ying Chenlin, he swung the young man onto his back.

Carrying Ying Chenlin, he sprinted out of the energy repository. By the time he reached the base station’s external tarmac, cracks had already begun to appear in the ground. You Su retrieved his backup mecha, an A-Class Competition-Grade mecha in relatively good condition, which appeared at the docking point. In a few swift movements, he entered the cockpit with Ying Chenlin on his back.

Before Ying Chenlin could react, he found his body being shifted. Half of him was pressed against the cockpit seat, sitting face-to-face with You Su. He abruptly collided with You Su’s chest, ending up perched on his left leg. The scent of blood and energy fluid on You Su’s left arm filled his senses. Realizing the awkwardness of their posture, Ying Chenlin was about to struggle when a firm hand pressed down on the back of his neck.

As You Su settled into the cockpit, the surrounding neural connections rapidly synced with his body.

The jump program began its countdown. Without looking away from the projected data screens ahead, You Su stated flatly, “The cockpit is cramped. Don’t move.”

“Not everyone has made it out,” Ying Chenlin said, his gaze fixed on the descending lift. His dim vision was becoming increasingly blurred as his voice weakened. “The Commander hasn’t come out yet.”

From the corner of You Su’s eye, he caught sight of the lift in the distance. The ground where it had deployed remained open, and faint mechanical noises could still be heard from below.

His gaze darkened. Without hesitation, he aborted the jump program and redirected the mecha toward the descending lift.

On the United Front Communications Channel, numerous Frontier Army soldiers had already evacuated via jump, while Wei Changyang, tasked with delivering the heavy weaponry underground, had yet to emerge.

Officers monitoring the descending lift were momentarily stunned. The lift’s status showed that Wei Changyang’s mecha was still inside, manually operating the lift to descend further.

“Wait, is he insane?!”

The officer from the Third Star Domain froze for a moment. “He’s not insane. He’s trying to deliver the heavy weapon to a deeper location.”

The closer it gets, the greater the chance of killing Chronos.

No one understood this better than Wei Changyang.

“Who else hasn’t evacuated?!” the officer demanded.

“There are a few mechas on the tarmac already at the jump point,” a soldier reported, shouting. “The only remaining evacuee is Commander Wei… wait! Trace’s mecha has aborted its jump—he’s rushing toward the descending lift!”

With five minutes left, an engineer urgently called out, “Get them out immediately! Once the system enters full defense mode, the jump will be cut off!”

The descending lift continued its slow descent. Inside his mecha, Wei Changyang’s S-Class model displayed a countdown timer.  

The surrounding collapses were already impacting the base station’s interior. Wei Changyang’s gaze was steady as he murmured to his mecha, “Just a little longer; we can go lower.”

At that moment, a red-and-white mecha burst into the descending lift’s shaft from above, charging straight to the control panel. It reached out and yanked Wei Changyang’s mecha backward with a powerful pull.

Wei Changyang froze. “You Su!”

“Don’t throw your life away in front of me.” Activating his thrusters, You Su dragged Wei Changyang’s mecha back to the surface.

In the Unified Channel, the anxious officers and soldiers suddenly saw two mechas emerge from the ground. Leading them was a red-and-white mecha, followed closely by the Frontier Army’s mecha.  

With only four minutes left on the countdown, most of the structures at the rear of the Slared base station had collapsed. The abandoned base station struggled to execute its final programs. The safe jump platform was gone, leaving only an uneven, crumbling surface.

Emerging into the fully collapsed environment, the two mechas had no choice but to forcibly activate their jump programs despite the lack of a stable platform.  

As the jump countdown reached zero, the blue rings around the two mechas vanished instantly. A second later, the entire base station’s tarmac collapsed entirely.

A chain reaction ensued. The Slared Contaminated Zone’s surface underwent a massive upheaval as near-frozen energy triggered catastrophic geological disasters in an instant. Just as the two mechas successfully jumped, the station was engulfed by waves of destruction.

The Third Star Domain Frontier Army Commander General, unable to delay any longer, shouted, “Activate the heavy weapon!”

In Slared’s outer space, everything fell into an eerie silence.

The next moment, a blinding white light erupted from within the defense system. An energy wave expanded outward like the resounding toll of a bell, pushing all starships hovering near the abandoned Slared Management Bureau far into space.

Slared’s primary planet underwent a cataclysmic explosion!

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