Mecha Chapter 52: Natural Disaster

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

“What’s going on?” Luo XiaoLou asked as he walked outside.

“…It’s the aftermath of the particle storm. The air is not of the right composition. There was already a lot of radioactive material here, but now it’s getting to the point where it’s dangerous.” 125 said in a rarely heard serious tone. “I’ve just tested it. It’s not dangerous to humans yet. But it’s better not to stay too long.” And then… 125 said nothing.

Luo XiaoLou was relieved to see that there was no other danger. If this was the reason to make the others abandon the training mission, the others wouldn’t agree either. After the storm had stopped, Yuan Xi contacted the other teams. Good news came back because of the early discovery and there didn’t seem to be any casualties.

It was now late afternoon and they stayed another night. After all, the situation outside was unknown. At least they were safe in the cave.

The next morning, they observed and found nothing so they started on their way.

When Luo XiaoLou emerged from the cave, he discovered that it was morning. The sky was still grey, the rock wall was riddled with cracks, and the path across the cliff was in shambles. The width of the path that previously allowed two people to walk side by side was now barely wide enough for one person.

But this time, they needed to walk all day and even lunch was eaten as they walked.

The weather was gloomy and it made no sense to anyone. If the storm came by again one more time, then they would all be dead.

The rest of the journey was longer than they thought. It was three o’clock in the afternoon when they reached the other side of the cliff. The group had been walking for nearly eight hours.

Luo XiaoLou’s legs felt numb and sore. The others were clenching their teeth. The assistant team leader turned to Yuan Xi and asked for instructions. A place to rest was arranged.

Luo XiaoLou sat down without any care for his image. His face was pale as he drank from a water bottle.

Yuan Xi tensed up and circled around Luo XiaoLou a few times. Just as Luo XiaoLou’s head started to spin, Yuan Xi took out his own lunch box and started heating it up. His movements were stiff and rusty. It was all in the manner of an aristocrat who never did any housework.

It occurred to Luo XiaoLou that Yuan Xi hadn’t eaten on the way. As the team leader, he had a lot on his plate. Luo XiaoLou watched with amusement as Yuan Xi did the work himself. 

After a while, Luo XiaoLou suddenly realized something was wrong. It had been heating for so long. If it was frozen, it should have started to emit steam, but the lunch box they brought with them had been kept at room temperature.

Luo XiaoLou immediately took the multi-functional device away, then he opened the lunch box. Black smoke slowly rose from the inside. Yuan Xi looked at Luo XiaoLou with displeasure, “Your lunch box was a real failure.”

Luo XiaoLou felt that he had once again witnessed Yuan Xi’s power. I’m so sorry. I should have added some super freezing technology to the box you were trying to heat up.

“Team leader. We’ve just prepared dinner. Would you like one?” The girls who had been watching from afar finally got fed up. A long-haired girl brought over two boxes of steaming hot rice. It was from the supplies provided by the school… but was mixed with the mushrooms from the asteroid… The aroma was amazing. The taste had improved a lot.

Yuan Xi thanked her with a sour face and took it. Luo XiaoLou looked at Yuan Xi with amazement. The Yuan Xi who was very fussy at home didn’t say anything. Even as he ate with a blank expression, at least he had finished the box of rice.

Luo XiaoLou heard the girls’ quiet screams not far away.

“What do we do? I even love how goofy he is!”

“Yeah. Such a strong leader. He doesn’t have a clue about life. But he’s so cute!”

“So hopeful this training will never end…”

Luo XiaoLou shuddered when he heard the last sentence. Women are scary…

Yuan Xi looked up at the remaining half of Luo XiaoLou’s box of rice, and asked with a frown, “Aren’t you going to eat it?”

Luo XiaoLou was shocked. Did Yuan Xi really have a crush on that girl? He had even eaten all the things given to him! 

Luo XiaoLou really couldn’t eat anymore. He was not hungry at all and was dizzy.

“Give me that.” Yuan Xi pulled out the lunchbox from Luo XiaoLou’s hand and then quickly finished it off.

In Yuan Xi’s powerful logic, Luo XiaoLou was his, and everything Luo XiaoLou had was also his. So he certainly didn’t mind eating out of his lunchbox.

And… When they weren’t eating in a restaurant… Father and Mother would occasionally play a game of feeding each other. When mother does this… whether father was angry or disagreeable… In the end, he would always give in. 

Hmm… Of course… I won’t be useless like father.

Luo XiaoLou’s own hand shook a little… and Yuan Xi really didn’t mind him. After eating, Yuan Xi leaned against Luo XiaoLou and rested his eyes.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t know if it was because he hadn’t slept well in the past few nights or because he was tired, in a short period of time, he also actually fell asleep. The area was getting quiet and the particle storm seemed to have no intention of returning. The tired and exhausted crowd had decided to take the rest of the afternoon off.

Some time later, Luo XiaoLou was shaken awake. “Hurry! The beasts are coming! We need to find a safe place to hide.” With a rushed shout in his ears, he became aware of the sound of strange cries and the roar of high energy particle cannons.

Luo XiaoLou was sure he wasn’t dreaming this time. The mecha warriors surrounded the mecha makers, who were on the inside, and fought with the beasts on the outside with their mecha.

Luo XiaoLou finally got a good look at the beasts. It was really a disgusting sight. Huge bodies; arthropod feet; the upper body resembled a black beetle; the head had huge compound eyes and drooping antennae. Fat, white bodies on the lower half of the bug with long, dragging feet.

They were about five or six meters tall, and against a ten meter tall mecha… they were easy to kill. But the point was, there were too many of them.

They were in a sea of bug beasts. It was a sea of black bug beasts. Twenty-eight mechas had been launched; long-range and short-range weapons were working together. They were keeping the bug beasts at bay, protecting the mecha makers on the inside who had zero force.

Luo XiaoLou could easily spot the familiar white mecha. No doubt, Yuan Xi was the most conspicuous but he was also the busiest. Even with the place he was guarding, almost every bug that had a chance to break into the inner circle without being intercepted by the other mecha warriors were killed in his hands.

But… There were an endless number of them. Was it really enough to kill them all?

Luo XiaoLou’s heart was filled with despair. He suddenly thought of what 125 said about his bloodline. He asked, “125… Can I…? Can I get these monsters to leave?”

“You can’t. That’s what I’ve been worried about. The radiation hasn’t affected humans yet, but it has apparently changed other organisms. It mutated them. And while it’s only a slight mutation now, it’s making them more aggressive.” 125 said somberly. “But… They can only get within five meters from you.”

“What about the others? Why didn’t you say so earlier, asshole?” Luo XiaoLou was sweating like a pig. This had been going on for a long time and even though the mecha warriors were good… they were not gods. 

The mecha makers couldn’t just keep on eating, drinking and sleeping.

“But… You were with Yuan Xi at the time. That’s right. I was afraid to come out. I was adopted by you but I don’t know if Yuan Xi will accept me as I am… You know… Will he accept me?” 125 asked pathetically.

“Don’t worry. He’ll never accept you with the way you’re still messing around with idioms.” Luo XiaoLou said with a cold face.

Accept, your sister!

“You… But without me… You’ll never have anyone to cover up for those wild men and stuff! And don’t come to me when you’re being abused! Even if you don’t want me, I’ll be strong enough to live!” 125, grief-stricken, was suddenly sentimental about the wretchedness of its birth and the heartlessness of its foster carers.

“…I actually have no intention of abandoning you yet. But if you ever mention the words ‘wild men’ again. I’ll throw you into the mouths of those bug beasts.” Luo XiaoLou gave 125 a hard stare, thinking this wasn’t the right time to lecture the stupid mecha.

“That’s disgusting!” 125 screamed.

“What is to be done about the problem before us?” Luo XiaoLou continued to ask.

“It’s easy for me, but since I haven’t completely fixed my body, it won’t work yet. So… So… you’ll have to try.” 125 finished his nonsense with regret, and then concluded, “For now… We can only count on Yuan Xi.”

Yuan Xi, in the mecha, glanced at the upper right corner of the screen. Luo XiaoLou was in the crowd and was safe at the moment.

He was regretting it now. When he first spotted a bug beast, Luo XiaoLou had been sleeping at that moment, so he went to the mecha by himself. However… It wasn’t as simple as he thought. One after the other kept appearing… Followed by two. Then four. And then there were bug beasts all over the place!

These bug beasts could fly but thankfully, none of them chose to attack from above.

He was not afraid of the monsters, of course. Only a few of the mecha warriors took their mecha makers with them, so now they could only defend themselves, not manoeuvre the mecha away from above.

 

The clouds were getting lower in the sky and there was lightning in the clouds.

“Now they have only one way out, which is the sky.” A man’s voice said.

“When they can’t hold on any longer, that’s when they’ll be gone.” Another odd voice then added.

A place where half-crazed bug beasts wouldn’t dare to go, it was certainly not a good place.

 

Ever since the first bug beast appeared, five hours had already passed. The mecha warriors hadn’t rested for five hours.

And then, the battle was not just for the mecha warriors but to protect the mecha makers. For the mecha makers… this would be an indelible memory. This was when it all started — they did not only feel a sense of vassalage to the mecha warriors, they also felt trust and loyalty.

Many of the mecha had lost their color. The area before them was filled with the bodies of the bug beasts and some began to slow down.

“We can’t keep this up. We can’t hold out much longer.” Assistant Team Leader Wang Jing’s anxious voice sounded over the public channel.

“In fact, if it wasn’t for Yuan Xi’s command, maybe we wouldn’t have made it an hour ago.” Yates also said. He was in great shape but he was a little out of his element now. However, he was still excited. 

It was the first time he’d been in combat with ‘Knight’. There was nothing old or second-hand about the mecha. On the contrary, ‘Knight’ was even better than he’d imagined.

“Team leader, let’s go back. Let’s get everyone out of here as soon as possible.” Someone shouted.

“No, we can’t. We have no way out.” Mu Chen’s cool voice was heard. “The clouds are getting lower. The sky is not a safe place to be right now. Besides, my mecha’s running out of power. I have to go back and rest for five minutes or my mecha won’t be able to fight like this.”

Luo XiaoLou stared out. 125 whispered, “There’s something coming again. It’s a higher level mutant bug beast.”

Luo XiaoLou’s eyes were complicated as he looked outside. It was a terrible feeling to be powerless but it was the people defending them who had the hardest time.

 

At that moment, data flashed in front of Yuan Xi and he immediately looked forward. The sky was completely dark and from the swarm of bugs, a ten meter tall creature appeared.