Chaos
In the First Star Domain's star network, the Banute Management Bureau's request for assistance from the teams appeared on the virtual forum.
Upon seeing this, internet users found it interesting.
In the First Star Domain Alliance, there were many team-based combat teams, but the ones with actual recognition were mostly the top 32 teams. KID was previously an old 8th place team but had now fallen to 16th. Meanwhile, DE was a newcomer, with a wealthy owner recruiting excellent mech pilots from all over, rising from 64th place to 16th in just one year. These two teams were close to each other, and resource allocation had always been a source of conflict.
As long as KID outperformed DE in the league rankings, DE's resource priority would always be lower than KID's.
As a result, these two teams maintained a facade of cooperation, while underlying conflicts and grudges had been accumulating for a long time.
Now that KID was in decline, other mech teams needed to apply to enter the pollution zone. However, for DE, this was a golden opportunity to gain an advantage over KID before the other teams arrived.
Deep within the Banute pollution zone, five teams had arrived to deal with the pollutant. The top two teams were KID and DE. Currently, it was the DE team's mecha that surrounded the Nine Dragon Vines, while the other mecha were trapped outside.
[jd1456 requested to establish communication and left a message: "Not interested."]
"Rejected," You Su said.
Shen Xingtang: "What—zzz—zzz."
You Su raised an eyebrow slightly, looking at the location of jd1456 in the radar field. Shen Xingtang's voice in the communication channel was getting increasingly distorted, seemingly affected by signal interference from pollution.
The mecha's necklace inside his collar seemed very eager to pop out and assess the situation.
You Su decided to cut off communication with Shen Xingtang and sent another communication request to jd1456.
Ying Chenlin parked his mech outside the chaotic scene, not rushing into the turmoil, and took the opportunity to relax his weary right arm.
When the fifth communication request appeared in his field of view, he frowned slightly before finally accepting it.
The channel was very quiet, it was just him and KF2456G.
"I'm not interested in cooperation," Ying Chenlin said.
KF2456G: "You're refusing so quickly, don't you want to hear me out?"
Ying Chenlin remained silent.
You Su didn't think this person came all the way to this place without any interest in the Nine Dragon Vines. He straightforwardly said, "Let's cooperate and break through DE's encirclement."
"Both of us?" Ying Chenlin asked.
You Su didn't hide anything, "And KID."
Ying Chenlin paused for a while, considering it, and then said, "Okay."
You Su noticed the momentary pause and looked thoughtfully in the direction of the B-grade mech.
After a moment, he quickly added, "Then, let's cooperate. Enjoy the cooperation."
Inside DE's internal communication voice channel, a few mech pilots were talking, their tone tinged with disdain. The Nine Dragon Vines had been completely surrounded by their mecha, a total of twelve mecha, enough to lock down all directions. Now, they only needed to kill this pollutant, and the psychic crystal would be theirs.
"These are KID's people? Are they really qualified for the top 16?"
"Lin Yao and Ji Qingfeng? What's with those two mecha they're using? Do they think they can snatch the psychic crystal from us? They're being overly optimistic."
Xu Yaojun hadn't moved and had been observing everything around him.
"These are the only people KID can muster. Ji Qingfeng is a coward, and Lin Yao is a hothead who just charges forward." Xu Yaojun was positioned in the rear of the mecha and was quite amused by KID's state of decline, "KID's lineup is a mess. Their boss, Shen Xingtang, retired from the battlefield as a repairer. Can we really expect her to manage the team?"
"Oh, by the way, didn't Xu Ge used to be the main player in KID?"
"Now that Xu Ge has left KID, the transfer period is over, and I haven't seen KID hiring new mech pilots. Could it be that they won't be able to field a full team next season?"
They indeed couldn't field a full team.
KID might not even have the money to hire mech pilots. Without mech pilots and repairers, they had the audacity to come into the pollution zone to steal resources.
"Let's deal with the Nine Dragon Vines first. Aim for its roots. When dealing with these plant-based pollutants, we should remove their roots first." Xu Yaojun continued, "Don't be polite with KID's people when they arrive. If it's time to act, act. It's every man for himself here."
KID trying to steal something from him...
It was just an old place that was about to go out of business. It was already merciful not to completely annihilate Ji Qingfeng.
Outside the attack range of the Nine Dragon Vines, two mecha stood together, operating their counter-surveillance systems, closely observing the situation nearby.
KID's two members didn't "flee," but were observing here.
Ji Qingfeng watched DE's arrogant mecha from a distance. "If I had known Xu Yaojun was here, even if I were disabled, I would have brought my mecha."
Lin Yao agreed, "Should we join the fight now?"
Ji Qingfeng swiftly retracted his bravado and said, "There are twelve mecha on the other side. Are we going to be cannon fodder?"
The two of them had been sent on a mission to the Banute pollution zone and had seen the pollution levels far exceeding the standards all around.
The pollution zone requested team assistance, and by default, all profits from pollutant eradication belonged to the team. However, they were the first to arrive at the scene and encountered the Nine Dragon Vines. Shortly after they began, DE's team arrived right behind them, ignoring the principles of first come, first served, and directly forced them out.
They seemed to be showing a very competitive attitude, as if they intended to snatch it.
Ji Qingfeng observed the situation of the Nine Dragon Vines with a slight frown. He felt something was strange. While the Nine Dragon Vines' attack was indeed fierce, he couldn't shake the feeling that there was something unusual in the atmosphere around them. Like there was something they hadn't discovered yet.
How could this high-level pollutant like the Nine Dragon Vines be so easily subdued? Being effortlessly suppressed by DE's mecha?
Lin Yao looked at DE's mecha battling the Nine Dragon Vines. "Are we just going to watch them snatch our treasure like this?"
"Don't rush. Why haven't they responded?" Ji Qingfeng sent another communication request to mech KF2456G for the seventh time. "Tang Jie said she found us some help, but no one has shown up for most of the day. Why can't I get through? Is this person busy in the pollution zone?" Lin Yao and the others had been waiting for a long time. "Why don't we just go up there and beat up Xu Yaojun?"
Ji Qingfeng looked at the DE mecha not far away. "Thank you, but I don't want to carry you back."
"What's going on with KF2456G? Is this person really an outsider called in by the boss?" Ji Qingfeng applied to join the channel after receiving the prompt that the other side's communication channel was busy.
This time, his application was successful, and the message [You have joined] popped up.
Ji Qingfeng: "We're in!"
Lin Yao: "Hurry up!"
In the team channel, information about the mecha started to appear. He first saw the ordinary A-grade mech that Shen Xingtang had mentioned and then saw the B-grade mech following the A-grade one.
Before Ji Qingfeng could ask a question, a stranger's male voice rang out in the team channel:
KF2456G: "We're all here."
Lin Yao was invited by Ji Qingfeng. "Aren't we supposed to be just one person?"
"What do you mean by 'all here'?" Ji Qingfeng was puzzled. "Guardian and Artillery? No mecha controllers?"
Up high, Ying Chenlin cut off his mental connection to his right hand and relaxed his sore right arm. He couldn't help but scan the communication list and see two unfamiliar mech codes.
Why did these two voices from KID sound somewhat familiar?
In the team communication channel, four mecha were positioned around the Nine Dragon Vines.
Ji Qingfeng glanced and noticed that the two newly arrived mech brothers weren't in the same location. Did they have some pre-battle strategy? He was about to ask for clarification.
Suddenly, the pollutant [Nine Dragon Vines] went berserk.
Ji Qingfeng quickly retreated, "Intelligence is shared within the team!"
The situation on-site didn't allow for further discussion.
The continuous tremors and quakes caused the vines that had previously been entangled with DE's mecha to become aggressive suddenly. The speed of their strikes increased to three times their original speed, and the view channels of everyone issued intense pollution value alarms.
The Nine Dragon Vines, which had previously hovered around 4,300, had suddenly shot up to 4,600 and continued to rise, reaching 5,000, then 5,300...
The continuously rising pollution value created tremendous pressure.
The situation on the field changed in the blink of an eye, and several mecha were forced to retreat. The mech from DE that was closest to the Nine Dragon Vines was thrown far away by the vines.
"Why did these vines suddenly go crazy?" Ji Qingfeng had barely retreated when he saw a mech fly overhead, exclaiming, "Wow, it flew quite a distance."
Lin Yao followed the mech with his gaze. "It looks like it's been split."
Ji Qingfeng quickly looked over and saw that the A-grade mech's external armor had developed cracks.
Before he could further react, the Nine Dragon Vines' attacks spread outward, affecting the previously quiet outskirts, forcing everyone into battle.
Ji Qingfeng: "Oh no, run!"
Ying Chenlin had to take a few steps back and, using temporary single-handed control, changed his observation location.
Suppressing the discomfort in his right arm, he operated with his left hand and focused on the increasingly ferocious Nine Dragon Vines.
It wasn't his imagination, he found that the vine tendrils of the Nine Dragon Vines seemed to be approaching him a bit more, just like they had been earlier when he was on the outskirts. These tendrils hadn't gone after the mecha asking for help but had been entangled with him the whole time, suggesting a deep animosity.
As if they were chasing something...
It was not just the pollutants present, other team's mech pilots were also there.
KID trying to steal something in this kind of encirclement would be challenging.
In the communication channel, there were a total of four mecha, including him and KF2456G, with two other mecha.
When the team battle communication was established, both sides' mech information was also synchronized and shared on the channel. Ying Chenlin heard KID's two people speaking, and he could vaguely identify that these two should be Ji Qingfeng and Lin Yao, whom he had seen not long ago.
Today, there were many types of mecha, but they were mainly categorized within the Mecha Alliance based on the mecha' basic performance and weapons for ease of differentiation. They could be broadly divided into five categories: Tank, Guardian, Stealth, Artillery, and Control.
The mecha that Ying Chenlin piloted was a kind of melee Guardian-type mecha, leaning towards versatile close combat. It had decent defense, but both its attack and mobility were good. The mecha that invited him in, KF2456G, was a long-range Artillery-type mecha, equipped with two long-range weapons. This type of mecha had the lowest defense but boasted formidable attack power.
In the current communication channel, Ji Qingfeng was piloting a Stealth-type mecha with a close combat light blade and binding chain. Lin Yao piloted an Guardian-type mecha with a light blade and protective shield.
Four individuals in the party: two Guardian, one Stealth, and one Artillery.
This situation wasn't favorable. Mecha diversity aside, there were few mecha on the field without regard to their respective teams. The only A-grade mecha that met league standards was the red mecha that had blended in with the DE team, while the others were A-grade mecha.
The extent of mutation in the Nine Dragon Vines was still increasing, and if it reached a new stage, it wouldn't be something their small group could handle easily.
The next second, the vine tendrils launched a fierce attack toward Ying Chenlin.
This thing was quite tricky, and Ying Chenlin promptly fended off the vine tendrils.
Chaos suddenly swept through the Banute Deep Zone. With the Nine Dragon Vines' movement, the entire deep zone began to vibrate. One kilometer away from the Nine Dragon Vines, on the high ground, You Su's observation lens showed that the two KID members had escaped from the center of the Nine Dragon Vines. He glanced at the radar position of the mecha he had pulled in, the B-grade mecha.
The B-grade mecha hadn't fully retreated from the center position. Instead, it had found a spot to hover, using the cover of the Banute forest to conceal its conspicuous white mecha body.
A smart hunter's move. You Su's gaze shifted to the opponent's mecha, and the sniper scope provided him with a good view. He could clearly see that the B-grade mecha had no obvious damage.
Obviously, this mecha had suffered less than 10% damage in the previous attack by the group of rat-like creatures.
Excluding this factor, there was only one reason for the maneuver the opponent had executed a while ago.
You Su squinted slightly.
Left-handed? No, it should be a mecha pilot with a habit of operating with both hands, left and right.