Cooperation
On the other side of the mountain forest, Ying Chenlin saw the pollution Zone rescue mech approaching from a distance. He slightly controlled his mental power output and concealed himself in the mountain forest.
Since personnel from the management bureau had arrived, it was highly likely that they would clear the pollution zone.
Ying Chenlin didn't want to leave the pollution zone for the time being, so he had to evade the patrolling mecha. He shut down the excess energy consumption of his mech and carefully assessed his recent gains.
The fang rat corpses were still stored in the internal storage space of the mech. Fang rats were B-grade pollutants, and their most valuable part was their fangs. Apart from that, there was the deep red crystal carried by the fang rats.
"It looks like a high-level psychic crystal, but I'm not sure." Ying Chenlin couldn't help but speak and glanced at the mech key on his neck. However, there was no response from the mech key.
Yuan, the solo mech, had an S-grade psychic crystal at the core of its primary weapon. To create a mech suitable for his current stage, he needed to inherit Yuan's intelligence. He had to choose a weapon core slightly lower than the S-grade psychic crystal, which was also compatible with his combat style. Auxiliary-class psychic crystals were mostly useless.
[Cannot detect this item, please try again.]
Ying Chenlin used the detection system to analyze the item once more, but the results only indicated pollution detection. An undetectable crystal could only be an exceptional psychic crystal carrying psychic abilities higher than B-grade fang rats, but how could such a psychic crystal appear in the Banute pollution zone? Why was it carried by the fang rats?
The red crystal emitted a strange thunderous light, and its psychic abilities couldn't be predicted.
While pondering, Ying Chenlin suddenly noticed the hole in the ground where he had stayed earlier. The hole had been there from the outskirts when the vines chased the rat swarm to the perimeter. Could it be that they weren't chasing the mutated fang rat but rather the psychic crystal carried by the fang rats...?
Ying Chenlin suddenly realized something and looked in the direction where the vines had retreated into the deep woods.
He drove his mech towards the deep woods without noticing the faint glow of the deep red psychic crystal near the fang rat's body.
Simultaneously, the black-red mech key beneath his collar briefly illuminated.
Outside the pollution zone, the management bureau was bombarded with various information.
Urgent reports of abnormal pollution levels were appearing on the monitoring system, and the personnel in the management area were frantically busy.
"Most of the mecha at the outskirts of the pollution zone have been cleared, and some have entered deeper, and the rescue team is also providing assistance."
The head of the management bureau stared at the monitor with a look of urgency, saying, "The mecha pilots who were seen have all been cleared out. This time the mutation is unusual, with significant pollution level fluctuations. We can't afford any casualties."
The urgent reports on the detection system continued without stopping, causing them tremendous pressure. If there were problems in the Banute pollution zone, it could potentially affect the safety zone outside the pollution zone, which would be a major issue.
"Has the location with the 6000 pollution value been investigated?" The head asked while looking at a spot on the map, but the pollution value in that area had already dropped to the average level. "Has there been any pollution source?"
According to the Alliance's pollution source reports, pollution values of over 3000 within the pollution zone indicated A-grade pollutants, and a pollution value of 6000 was the numeric report for S-grade pollutants. From the start of the Banute pollution zone anomaly, they had only detected the 6000 pollution value three times—first when they received the report and recently.
The staff replied, "No, we only rescued a group of mech pilots there. According to them, the targets they killed were only B-grade fang rats."
At this moment, another person rushed in from outside the room, "Director, teams from other star systems have also arrived. They received our message and want to enter the pollution zone."
The head's expression changed slightly. How could so many people want to join the commotion at Banute? It seemed like news of a possible S-grade pollution source had already spread.
A lean man walked up to the side, saying, "Director Liu, since you reached out to us for help first, if there is indeed an S-grade pollution source, the division of the loot should fall to us, right, Mrs. Shen?"
The lean man looked towards Shen Xingtang, who remained silent.
Shen Xingtang glanced at him and didn't say much.
The news of a possible S-grade pollution source had sparked the interest of many people. If such an S-grade psychic crystal appeared, it was a precious treasure that couldn't be bought or sold.
As she was contemplating this, she suddenly noticed a communication request on her neural implant. "Excuse me for a moment."
The lean man chuckled, "KID, you're not as active as you used to be these years. You even dispatched only two people for a mission like this."
The head of the management bureau cast a deep look at Shen Xingtang. At that moment, the detector in the room suddenly displayed a high value of 6000 pollution—
Shen Xingtang paused briefly, and by the time she turned around, the pollution value report had already disappeared. The report was only there for 3 seconds, but the detection system had instantly locked onto the target.
This time, the new location wasn't where the rescue team had found the fang rat, but rather deeper, near the Banute deep zone.
The lean man said, "Is this S-grade pollution source moving? Look at the direction..."
The head said seriously, "If it moves four kilometers further in that direction, it will be near the Nine Dragon Vines."
The lean man looked pleasantly surprised, moving towards the location of the Nine Dragon Vines meant entering their territory. After all, all the team members were currently dealing with the Nine Dragon Vines.
Shen Xingtang furrowed her brows slightly and pushed the door open.
Deep within the Banute pollution zone, the grey mech pursued the vines at high speed, with alarms constantly ringing in its field of view. Inside the cockpit, the man's face was cold, and his forehead was slightly disheveled. Two shared neural nerves were coiled around his slender fingers.
The mech's pollution value continued to rise, glowing red. The man's calm eyes showed no concern.
The quiet cockpit had no extra sound until a woman's voice sounded.
He finally regained some response, "What's the matter?"
The pollution value had already skyrocketed to 4000. Yuan turned off the noisy alarm system, stopped the mech's thrusters when it was about to catch up to the vines, and glanced at the new radar view with a glimpse of the red markers indicating pollution and the coordinates of other mecha.
Amidst the crackling communication, Shen Xingtang's voice came intermittently.
Shen Xingtang: "Why did you just lose contact?"
You Su found a high vantage point to observe the situation below. "I ran into something on the way. What's the situation with the pollution source?"
Deep within the Banute pollution zone was the origin of the advanced mutated pollutant, the Nine Dragon Vines.
There were almost all mech units of the same color around the Nine Dragon Vines, and if you counted the others, there were no less than 15 mecha present.
"Ji Qingfeng provided some intel. We've tentatively concluded that the Nine Dragon Vines' mutation is higher than Grade A, very likely an A+ or close to an S-grade Nine Dragon Vines. This certainly must have the psychic crystal we're after," Shen Xingtang continued, "A+ approaching S-grade, it wasn't a wasted trip, was it?"
"I definitely didn't waste my time," You Su pondered, "But there are quite a few people coming to join the excitement."
Shen Xingtang asked, "Can't handle it?"
"I didn't bring my mecha here today," You Su said simply.
Shen Xingtang: "?"
"That's why I rented a mecha at the pollution zone entrance. The owner rented me his A-grade mech," You Su explained. Then, he noticed his mech key necklace swaying, and he tried to get it out from his collar.
You Su pushed the key back and added, "It's just that his mecha is broken, and I didn't feel like using it."
"That's problematic. Here, we have Lin Yao and Ji Qingfeng, but they aren't using their own mecha either," Shen Xingtang said, "Not long ago, the monitoring station detected two locations with 6000 pollution values. Given the current situation, if it's difficult to handle, you don't have to push it."
You Su suddenly interrupted, "Which locations?"
Shen Xingtang sent him the coordinates, "One is outside the deep zone, and the other is about 4 kilometers away from the Nine Dragon Vines."
You Su saw the two coordinates. He had already checked the first one and only found a bunch of fang rats when he arrived. As for the second coordinate, it was in the same direction as his approach to this area. "When was the data reported?"
"Fifteen minutes ago," Shen Xingtang said.
Fifteen minutes ago... That meant he might have crossed paths with this thing at some point.
You Su watched the situation below. He had received messages from Shen Xingtang earlier, learning that a 6000 high-value pollution report had occurred in the Banute pollution zone.
A pollution source of high-level mutation would undoubtedly carry a psychic crystal. This was always a sought-after resource for mech pilots. For him, who needed various materials, it was undoubtedly good news.
There were clear tracks in the soil along the path the mutated vines had taken to escape. It didn't take him long to identify the direction. However, when he was about to approach the high pollution point, he noticed four or five mecha in the sky not far away.
Mecha of the same color...?
Ying Chenlin frowned slightly. Did the Banute pollution zone Management Bureau request assistance from a league team?
The situation on the battlefield was somewhat chaotic. Eleven yellow mecha had almost surrounded the central pollution, and the remaining mecha trying to enter the inner circle were being pushed away without distinguishing between friend and foe. Two red-striped mecha stood out, which he had seen before in KID's repair shop. The pollution zone often invited nearby teams to help clean up pollutants, so the team from Sirius, KID's team, was definitely coming. Besides, with 12 mecha dominating, it was probably the other team from the top 16 nearby.
He was just a little puzzled as to why there was one red-colored mech among the 12 mecha in the circle.
Right at that moment, a notification popped up in front of him:
[Mecha KF2456G requests communication with you]
[Additional information] KF2456G: Hello, interested in cooperation?