Genius Mechanic

8. Rattan

Just then, a strong gust of wind swept through the forest.

Sensing an impending danger from behind, Ying Chenlin immediately collected the entire corpse of the giant sharp-toothed rat and instinctively stepped back. The ground beside him cracked open as a massive green vine-like object surged out from deep within the forest.

Caught off guard, the others turned their attention to the creature. It was a mutated giant Rattan, with thorny spikes covering its green stems. Its speed as it burst out of the forest was incredibly swift, accompanied by a strong gust of wind. It struck the ground, causing several cracks in the earth, and then, after a brief pause, it retracted back into the ground, overlooking the surrounding mechas from a higher vantage point.

The mechas' visual displays flashed a severe warning of "Pollution level exceeded," indicating that this mutated Rattan had a pollution level of a staggering 3500!

Nick was dumbfounded, "3500 pollution level?! What kind of monster is this?!"

Without giving them any time to react, the Rattan made a quick decision and charged towards Ying Chenlin's mecha. He narrowly dodged the attack, and the ground beside him cracked open in response.

"Into the forest!" Nick shouted.

Ying Chenlin avoided another attack from the Rattan and followed Nick's direction, only to see several more Rattans surging out from the dark forest, heading straight towards them.

It was evident that these creatures had emerged from deep within the contaminated zone, and their roots were likely not in this area. They seemed to be chasing something and had emerged from the depths to pursue their target.

Ying Chenlin immediately thought of the recent outbreak of the rat  horde; these vines might be the true reason why those rats were fleeing towards the outskirts.

The attack was sudden, catching Nick and the others off guard. They were struck by the Rattan and crashed into a nearby building. The mechas immediately displayed damage warnings.

"Are you okay?!" Ying Chenlin asked.

Nick replied with difficulty, "This thing packs quite a punch! My mecha's frontal armor is cracked!"

Ying Chenlin's eyes narrowed slightly. The strength of this creature's attack was much stronger than the high-level toothed rat  they had encountered earlier. With the current strength of his mecha, it probably wouldn't withstand three strikes from this Rattan.

He quickly scanned the various data inside the cockpit and assessed the remaining energy of his mecha. The situation was tricky; if it were just him alone, it wouldn't be too bad. But with three other mechas running out of energy, the remaining power was only enough for him to engage in full combat or defense for half an hour.

As Ying Chenlin pondered how to handle the situation, a strange voice suddenly came through the distress channel. The voice was fast and fierce, "Mecha JD1456, retreat!"

Immediately after the command, a powerful energy cannon blast from behind Ying Chenlin hit the Rattan directly in front of him.

Seizing the opportunity, Ying Chenlin used his magnetic cannon to restrain the Rattan, preventing it from retreating, and then it endured two energy cannon blasts.

"12 o'clock," the voice from the distress channel spoke again.

Ying Chenlin activated his energy blade and struck the Rattan behind him with a backhand blow. As soon as he hit, another energy cannon blast from behind hit the Rattan, directly shattering it.

The team now had an additional member, which slightly eased Ying Chenlin's concerns. He didn't waste any opportunity and, after the Rattan was blasted back by the newcomer, he quickly advanced and cut off several vines with his blades.

In the rear, the injured Nick finally reacted and noticed a faint mecha signal appearing at the edge of the radar map. "Brother, are you from the rescue team?"

Before the question could be fully answered, the Rattan, which had lost its firepower suppression, went crazy again.

"9 o'clock!" Ying Chenlin shouted through the distress channel.

The new mecha pilot on the channel didn't hesitate and immediately fired a shot, hitting the Rattan directly.

Ying Chenlin switched to his energy blade and advanced, covering the blade with energy, making it incredibly sharp. He quickly cut off the scattered vines on the side.

"Can you cut them off?" the unfamiliar voice asked.

"The branches can be cut off, but not the two main ones," Ying Chenlin replied. He observed that the cut vines were sprouting new leaves. "…It can regenerate!"

The unfamiliar voice said, "The true body of this thing is not here."

The vines were extending from the forest, and their main body was located deep within Banute's contaminated zone.

There were two main vines, and the rest were derived from them. However, these severed vines could rapidly regenerate with time, making it impossible to cut them all.

The others on the distress channel remained silent, unable to participate in the ongoing battle ahead. The speed at which the vines swung was too fast for them to keep up with.

"What do we do with this thing's regeneration ability!?"

"We can't kill them all; if we run out of energy, we're done for."

A regenerating pollutant... this is not something easily dealt with.

Amidst the anxious voices of the others, Ying Chenlin suddenly asked, "Weapons?"

The unfamiliar voice paused for a moment before responding, "Main weapon is a sniper cannon, and the secondary weapon is an energy cannon."

Ying Chenlin inquired further, "You didn't bring any control-type weapons?"

The unfamiliar voice decisively replied, "None."

Nick became even more frantic. So, their current combat capability was just three guns and one blade!? The only control-type weapon they had was a close-range electromagnetic cannon... How could they deal with this thing!?

B-grade mechas had a clear weakness—they lacked strong attack capabilities with only two weapons onboard. Ying Chenlin chose this mecha because it had both the control-type electromagnetic cannon and the offensive energy blade, which were more than enough to deal with smaller pollutants... But they were clearly insufficient against the creature before them.

He was a close-combat mecha, while the opponent was a long-range mecha. But with two additional long-range weapons, the situation was different.

Ying Chenlin saw that Nick and the others had retreated to a safe high ground, so he said, "You take the lead, and I'll assist you. Mount the sniper cannon."

The unfamiliar voice paused for a moment, then chuckled, "Are you sure you want to use the sniper cannon for the main attack? I remember you only have the energy blade and the electromagnetic cannon, without any defensive weapons."

"I'm sure," Ying Chenlin replied.

In the next second, the B-grade mecha flew out, wielding the energy blade in one hand and mounting the electromagnetic cannon in the other, launching a direct frontal attack on the approaching Rattan.

In the distance, on top of an abandoned building in the Abyss Zone of Banute, a gray mecha stood tall. Surrounding it were ruins covered with vegetation. The gray mecha switched its weapons, raising the sniper cannon and witnessing the battle in the forest through its viewport.

Inside the cockpit, a man wearing a gray coat had a cold and stern expression. He manipulated the charging of the sniper cannon without hesitation.

He watched the close-combat mecha in his field of view with interest. After about three seconds, a tremendous heat accompanied the energy fluctuations in front of the sniper cannon.

In the next moment, the sniper cannon turned into a beam of light!

In the forest, Ying Chenlin seemed to sense something. He fired the electromagnetic cannon at the Rattan and used its recoil to propel the entire mecha upwards, avoiding the sniper shot that came from a distance in mid-air.

Boom! After the residual energy dissipated, Ying Chenlin swiftly activated his energy blade and delivered another decisive blow, coldly stating, "Continue."

The man chuckled, his movements swift and decisive.

The initial coordination was all based on his cooperation with the close-combat mecha. But starting from the moment he raised the sniper cannon, the main attacking order changed. In this unprotected wilderness, his attacks could also hit other mechas. The sniper cannon had greater speed and attack power.

The B-grade mecha displayed flawless movements, utilizing the charging time of the electromagnetic cannon and the momentary repelling ability of the energy blade to perfectly control the situation, creating opportunities to strike.

Inside the B-grade mecha was a pilot with an extremely proficient sense of operation.

On top of the building, the gray mecha's sniper cannon charged once more.

The man said, "6 o'clock."

The next shot from the sniper cannon followed, and Ying Chenlin stepped back to avoid it, hitting the Rattan once again.

Their coordination was seemingly telepathic, with simple callouts leading to seamless cooperation.

Nick and his two companions, hiding behind the abandoned building, were astonished. They witnessed the distant sniper cannon relentlessly attacking this area, while the B-grade mecha within the attack range continuously evaded the shots.

This constant barrage of firepower proved effective, and the regeneration ability of the two vines showed signs of slowing down. As high-level pollutants with a basic level of intelligence, they retreated about ten meters deeper into the forest due to the relentless assault.

After five minutes of continuous attack, the vines finally couldn't withstand the firepower and quickly retracted into the depths.

The sniper cannon ceased fire, and Ying Chenlin also stopped his actions.

At the same time, Ying Chenlin noticed that the signal of the remote mecha disappeared from the radar interface, and the voice communication on the channel was also cut off.

Ying Chenlin's eyes flickered slightly as he looked towards the dangerous depths of the Banute Contaminated Zone, lost in thought.

After a while, Nick and the others, who noticed that the gunfire had stopped, finally came out from behind the building. Nick asked in a low voice, "Is it over?"

There was no response on the communication channel, and Nick and the others emerged from the smelly white smoke.

At this moment, the personnel from the Contamination Control Bureau, who were responsible for monitoring the contaminated zone, arrived belatedly. They first noticed the distress signal from Nick and his group and rushed to the scene, only to find a scene of devastation.

"The deep zone is very dangerous. We need to evacuate immediately!" said the leader of the rescue team.

Nick felt relieved when he saw the rescue team arriving. "Thank goodness! You're finally here."

The rescue team was taken aback by the scene of destruction. "Are you three responsible for all these dead sharp-toothed rat s?"

"We're three here, and there's also a mecha below... and one of your team members," Nick said, but he suddenly noticed the scorched battlefield covered in vine remnants. The B-grade mecha had disappeared, and the signals of the two mechas on the communication channel were gone.

"Where's my big brother!?" Nick asked anxiously.

Meanwhile, the personnel from the Contamination Control Bureau fell into contemplation. Standing together, they looked thoughtfully at their detection system. Before they noticed the gunfire, there was a brief moment of high contamination levels, reaching 6000, but when they arrived, all they saw were the dead sharp-toothed rat s without any other sources of contamination.

"Have there been sharp-toothed rat s here before?" one of the bureau's personnel asked.

One of the mecha pilots casually responded, "Not just that, there was also a high-level sharp-toothed rat  that was killed by our team leader who came to rescue us."

The personnel from the Contamination Control Bureau became alarmed and asked, "A high-level sharp-toothed rat !? Where is its body?"

Nick realized something was amiss at this point. He noticed the odd expressions on the bureau's personnel. "The crystals, right? It seems they dropped, but that sharp-toothed rat  was just a B-grade. My big brother killed it with just a couple of strikes."

"Are you sure?" the bureau's personnel asked again.

Nick nodded, "I'm sure. Otherwise, how could we have dealt with it? Look at the state we're in."


One of the members of the rescue team gestured to another person, who quickly left with a communicator in hand.


After speaking, Nick and his friends went to take care of the mecha. As they walked away, Nick kept glancing back.
 

One of his friends asked, "What's wrong, Nick? Is your neck uncomfortable?"

Nick covered his friend's mouth and whispered, "Keep your voice down, don't say anything reckless, and don't mention my big brother's situation to them."