novelraw Chapter 144 : Mechanical Tower
Chapter 144 : Mechanical Tower
Although Gu Pingyang didn't understand, he was commendably dutiful. If Gu Haichuan had given such an order, he would have complained somewhat, but at the family head's command, he immediately arranged personnel to prepare to go to Zone Eleven to find information about Lu Cuining.
His sudden departure from the review panel was indeed somewhat abrupt, but with a batch of people joining at that time, it wasn't strange for someone with busy affairs to leave.
In the Legislative Hall, Song Qisheng could counter an entire row of people. The Gu family and others with some entanglement with the old nobility, as well as those with designs on White Satin Gold Gilt and other materials, couldn't outargue his mouth. The old nobility always placed face above all else, yet Song Qisheng insisted on throwing their face to the ground.
During the meeting, it was just this one matter, with both sides playing tai chi back and forth. It was mainly a struggle between the faction led by He Lanying and another faction that wanted to interrupt the league to obtain the things left by Master Jin. As for Song Qisheng, he was responsible for helping He Lanying's side in cursing people.
The He Lan family produced analysts. The old man, due to suspected mental domain withering syndrome, had always been in poor health, with affairs consistently handled by He Lanying. In terms of seniority, she was of the same generation as Song Baining and had some verbal reservations toward the "elders" on the opposite side. Song Qisheng didn't need such considerations—he could curse the opposition to death.
Chairman Zhao sat at the head of the conference table, listening to the arguments from both sides. Whenever Song Qisheng spoke, it was his most relaxed moment. If not for maintaining the dignity of being in charge, he would have applauded. This old fellow's poisonous tongue hadn't diminished over the years; as long as the foul language didn't fall on him, it was enjoyable to watch him curse others.
Just as the meeting was heating up, a light screen in the room flickered.
The signal on that side was somewhat unstable. The screen flickered several times before revealing the control room built of Zone Eleven's cold, hard metal. The camera moved down to show Zhao Loulan's severe face.
The Zone Eleven chairperson's expression was solemn. "Apologies for interrupting everyone, but there's an emergency situation."
The arguments in the room abruptly stopped.
The four words "emergency situation" carried tremendous weight.
They wouldn't be easily brought out. Generally, they would only be used for large-scale energy field descents or when matters involving military secrets erupted, allowing Zone Eleven to access the council through a special channel.
"I've already handled the Mechanical Tower matter with priority. The Border Army has entered the competition field through a rescue channel and will extract Master Jin's starship without interfering with the league."
Zone Eleven had the right to prioritize affairs without requiring council resolution.
On the other side, those advocating for obtaining the materials heard her lightly gloss over this part, their faces instantly changing. But seeing Zhao Loulan's tightly knit brows, their hearts skipped a beat.
Zhu Jing Fu was backed by the Song family, with military support also from the Song family. If these materials weren't taken out in advance, they would become one of the Song family's resources, which would be of no benefit to Zhao Loulan. Since each major family had their own interest group, there was only one reason that could make her issue such a resolution.
—The emergency that had occurred was far more important than the materials.
Zhao Loulan took a deep breath and solemnly said: "The signals from the Ten Major Energy Fields were interrupted ten minutes ago."
Chairman Zhao at the head seat changed expression and immediately asked: "Specifically—"
After speaking, realizing that Zhao Loulan wouldn't make such an error in reporting, he immediately stopped.
But Zhao Loulan had already answered: "All Ten Major Energy Fields."
These words were like a thunderbolt from clear skies, instantly calming everyone. The embarrassment of red faces and bulging necks during the argument was quickly put aside, and everyone immediately regained their composure. Chairman Zhao also changed the council's topic, opening Zhao Loulan's control permissions and letting her report the situation.
"Simultaneous with the disappearance of energy field signals, the Management Department monitored that energy fluctuations throughout the star sea have all increased..."
The increase in star sea energy had shown a trend since Sand and Mirage, when fire attributes were persistently high. The Management Department found it somewhat strange and had been searching for the cause, focusing particularly on the God-Abandoned Domain energy field during this period.
But this time, it wasn't just the God-Abandoned Domain. All Ten Major Energy Fields had experienced disturbances!
The high attribute energy overflow that each represented directly raised the energy level of the entire star sea, which was no different from directly turning the normal territory of the star sea into an energy field.
Zhao Loulan's expression was serious as she arranged for military guards from various star rings and planets to be prepared. This kind of high attribute energy fluctuation had always been accompanied by the descent of fractures, and now, it was an anomaly throughout the Star Alliance's territory.
The increase in energy attributes not only affected the outside world but also quietly caused changes in various energy fields within the Star Alliance.
When the Border Army entered the competition field through the rescue channel, the Competition Committee had already announced through broadcast that the opening of large channels would affect base station signals, so everyone felt a few seconds of signal stuttering.
Zhu Jing Fu had just left the secondary base station at this time.
Chen Sui had spent a day and night at the secondary base station completing the polishing of materials. Those that could somewhat match with Zhu Jing Fu's mechas were immediately set up by her, and for the remaining parts that couldn't be used, the analyst also placed very heavy imprints.
It was done with the attitude of "what's ours is ours, and no one can snatch it."
The bullet screen watched while sighing at Zhu Jing Fu's clear understanding, and some people had also received information from Zone Eleven.
[The central tower alarm suddenly went off today, Zone Eleven sent us an energy anomaly signal]
[Hey, same here. I checked the daily energy fluctuation on the official website—wow, this increase is too dramatic]
[There's been growth recently, just suddenly surging these few days]
[I remember, earlier the Biological Association was saying that plants were also growing wildly. Could it be influenced by wood attribute energy?]
[Biology department here, can confirm it's like that]
[Damn, I have a bad feeling. The information from Zone Eleven is still in my light brain. Has anyone else received it?]
[No need to worry for now. The league is still continuing, which means the Border Army can resolve it]
If the league were interrupted, it would mean Zone Eleven needed to consolidate its forces, which would be when they couldn't resolve it.
As Chen Sui stepped out of the base station, a series of static came through the mecha channel, making her falter and miss the first piece of information returned by her perception.
"The Border Army is coming through the rescue channel to collect the starship?" Zhou Chen's eyes brightened. "They won't look for us, right? Should we run early?"
After all, in the energy field, even the Border Army couldn't find them.
Xie Chunshi's expression was impassive. After thinking for a moment, he said: "The materials should be secured, and we can take them out."
Being able to take them out meant these materials had entered Zhu Jing Fu's pocket and were Zhu Jing Fu's things. After going out, the Song family and Border Army wouldn't let other forces take them away.
Only taking away the starship indicated they had no time to find Zhu Jing Fu. It wasn't clear if this was because Chen Sui's early processing of materials made others hesitant, or if... there was something outside more important than the materials.
Just as he thought of this, upon leaving the base station, Chen Sui's footsteps suddenly stopped.
She raised her head and looked ahead. The mining area's black soil and yellow sand covering it were piled together, with metal coverings above that hadn't fully integrated. In her view, the daylight was clear, the vista broad and unobstructed, without particularly large cover. The energy bodies that could hide were few and far between.
It looked extraordinarily normal.
But Chen Sui's brow instantly twitched and furrowed: "The surrounding energy fluctuations aren't normal."
The Zhu Jing Fu members became alert upon hearing this. As Zhou Chen drew his Four-sided Mace, he carefully moved to the side, shielding Puluo behind him. But his height compared to Puluo was somewhat inadequate, and his mecha wasn't as robust as the soldier's mecha. He could only turn his head to signal Puluo: "You move inward a bit."
Puluo, with an extremely complex expression, took a step inward.
He, a dignified soldier, had always been the one protecting others, but now he was not only protected by the analyst but also face-to-face protected by the output handler. This really was... awesome!
Zhou Chen, after shielding the device on Puluo, eagerly looked forward: "Where are the energy bodies? Point to a location, and I'll go straight in!"
He thought Chen Sui had discovered abnormal energy body fluctuations.
But the analyst's perception went deeper and deeper, "It's not energy bodies—"
"It's energy field fluctuations," Chen Sui pondered. "Similar to the fire attribute surge in Sand and Mirage, the metal attribute energy inside the Mechanical Tower is rapidly increasing, and other attribute energies are also surging."
This rapid increase was different from the fire attribute surge in Sand and Mirage; this rising trend was extremely quick.
"The energy level of the SSS-level energy field is a bit too high. Energy bodies might advance early using this energy."
This also meant that the high-level energy bodies in this energy field would be more than twice as numerous.
Energy storms had also suddenly become stronger.
The analyst looked at the Commander: "Are we still following the original plan?"
Chen Sui's brow remained tense. She had a sense of unease, with the pendant in her palm pressing into her soft flesh. The pain forced Chen Sui to calm down.
Xie Chunshi looked at her: "How much will the abnormal changes affect the plan?"
"Energy," Chen Sui spoke, "we may need more energy to bombard the towers, as well as more energy consumption to cope with energy storms."
But Zhu Jing Fu had only filled up with energy at the secondary base station. A team had arrived at the secondary base station earlier and taken away the mobile energy.
Xie Chunshi thought for a moment and made a decision: "Continue with the original plan. We'll go around the tower cities and attack scattered energy bodies."
Tower energy bodies were numerous and could be dealt with collectively, making them highly cost-effective. But even so, energy consumption was extremely large. Zhu Jing Fu was heading to the main base station, clearing the surrounding secondary base stations. That would be when their reserves were richest.
Chen Sui thought about it and felt it was still feasible. After discussing with her teammates, the group continued to move toward the main base station.
Attention on the Mechanical Tower decreased with external disturbances. Due to the energy level suddenly rising and continuing to rise, the Star Alliance initiated various emergency plans. Safe houses built with energy isolation materials appeared in various cities. These locations, in the unknown situation, were designated as high-risk fracture areas, and people were evacuated into safe houses.
People entering safe houses all opened the StarNet, either posting on forums or watching live broadcasts to alleviate anxiety.
After task compression, Zhu Jing Fu arrived at the outskirts of the main base station on the sixth day of the league. By this time, the other teams that had entered the arena and headed toward the main base station position to block the defending champion had all arrived.
Ink Hills was the last to arrive, looking at the high-level base below, surrounded by various mechanical buildings outside the mechanical main base station.
The main base station was a floating-like building supported by three heavy pillars deeply embedded in the ground, able to minimize the impact of energy storms. The periphery also had strong energy isolation devices for support. Below was a structure similar to a mechanical mountain forest. High mountains, giant rocks, and overlapping peaks were all made of metal. Mechas blended in without any incongruity, just with overly vibrant colors.
Seeing the arrival of Ink Hills, the analyzers of several teams showed no surprise on their faces.
Na Luo River, which arrived first, could still treat Xitisi normally when they saw them. But by the fifth day, when Saint Laurent arrived, they felt something was off. On the sixth day, seeing that the arrivals were Ink Hills, everyone knew they had misjudged Zhu Jing Fu.
Noya hadn't even finished greeting Zhang Yingjie when he directly looked at the point rankings. Zhu Jing Fu was still in the central position, while Na Luo River, the first to arrive at the base station, gained the dubious honor of being at the bottom.
"Zhu Jing Fu still isn't coming? Their point changes aren't significant either. What are they thinking?"
Except for the major point changes when Zhu Jing Fu first entered the arena, at other times it was a steady increase, with a frequency even lower than Ink Hills, which focused on killing energy bodies for points. This led several teams to speculate that Zhu Jing Fu was quickly making their way there.
Zhang Yingjie's response to Noya's feelings was flat. The young man pushed his sensor glasses, looking refined and elegant: "I've been thinking from the beginning, if Zhu Jing Fu's plans were so easily guessed by us, they wouldn't have been trapped so many times."
He spoke matter-of-factly, but Noya felt as if an arrow had pierced his heart.
Yes, he was the most miserable among those frequently trapped.
This was also why Zhang Yingjie had slowly come to the main base station. Seeing everyone's points increasing, he knew the fighting hadn't started yet.
Ink Hills had also thought about intercepting Zhu Jing Fu at the main base station when they first entered, but after Zhang Yingjie discovered the frequency of point increases, he relaxed the pace in the following days and fiercely accumulated points, directly leaping to the top position.
"Could they really be planning one against four?" Noya pondered.
Xie You looked at him, thinking of Chen Sui's skill and Xie Chunshi's mind, quickly recalling the two competitions they had experienced. "It wouldn't be the first time."
He spoke calmly, but Noya immediately flared up, jumping as he said: "That's different!"
In Red Moon Snow Plain, they didn't know they couldn't fight inside the base station. In Sand and Mirage, they hadn't expected Zhu Jing Fu to have the mirage trick. Now in the Mechanical Tower, there wasn't anything strange—
Wait!
Noya suddenly thought of something and asked: "When the Border Army entered mid-way, could it be that Zhu Jing Fu found something again? The Mechanical Tower shouldn't be summonable like the mirage, right?"
Noya's question silenced the other three Commanders.
Although they wanted to say it was impossible, what if it was?
After all, it was Zhu Jing Fu. Nothing that happened to them would be strange, right?
"Then let's not even give them the chance to summon a mirage," Xie You's eyes turned cold as he thought of the frustration of being caught in the mirage by Chen Sui. His hand unconsciously tightened.
He wouldn't fall into the same trap twice!
Zhang Yingjie calmly replied: "That's unlikely. Ink Hills has encountered several towers. Energy bodies are numerous. The entire city, except for the foundation, has buildings, objects, robots, etc., all of which are energy bodies. They shouldn't be summonable."
Moreover, though Zhang Yingjie didn't say it, the other Commanders understood that the tower's data could be found at the base station. It was data formed over many years, indicating that the tower's situation was very stable and wouldn't change position.
But even if this doubt was resolved, they still couldn't understand what gave Zhu Jing Fu the confidence to directly confront the four major academies.
At this moment, the black-gold mecha, which had already reached the main base station area, was hiding behind a metal rock wall, watching the signals in the channel.
Chen Sui silently marked another point on the energy level.
Xie Chunshi looked at this marking and exhaled: "Along this path is the main base station, with three secondary base stations around."
"Let's go to the secondary base station first!" Zhou Chen's intelligence came online, knowing without the Commander's reminder, because he really had no energy left.
The lightning magnetic cannon consumed energy too quickly and also carried away a large amount of his concentrated lightning attribute energy. Zhou Chen had relied on his teammates' help along the way. Chen Sui and Puluo's mechas had each given him an energy pipe.
Xie Chunshi nodded. He had no intention of going to the main base station, even though the opponent was right in front: "Correct."
Zhu Jing Fu had clearly already entered the circle around Base Station C, but they closed their mecha radar and moved to the side of the main base station, showing no intention of approaching.
[I understand closing the mecha radar to prevent people outside the base station from discovering them, but I don't understand this route]
[Zhu Jing Fu wants to replenish energy before fighting with others, right?]
[I understand the reasoning, and normal people would think this way, but Zhu Jing Fu isn't normal]
[We still have energy bodies chasing behind us. What's wrong with avoiding them by going to the secondary base station?]
[There are really a lot of energy bodies around Base Station C]
[Understand, they were all brought by Zhu Jing Fu]
[So I still don't understand, why didn't Zhu Jing Fu come early to place the device, instead delaying until all four schools gathered at the main base station? Do they have a plan?]
This was indeed Xie Chunshi's arrangement. Zhu Jing Fu had no intention of going to the main base station after fully charging at the secondary base station.
Not only did they circle around the main base station, running a lap around the surrounding secondary base stations, but on the seventh day, they ran out of the central area, clearing all the nearby secondary base stations.
Someone on the bullet screen said [What is Zhu Jing Fu doing, trying to control the energy lifelines around Base Station C?]
Xie Chunshi was indeed planning this.
Zhu Jing Fu not only replenished their energy but also took away all the mobile energy. Now, comparing the five schools' reserves, even added together, they weren't as abundant as Zhu Jing Fu's.
After fully charging, Xie Chunshi located the positions of the surrounding mechanical towers.
So the bullet screen could see by switching screens that outside the main base station, the four schools had been waiting so long they could have grown spider webs, while Zhu Jing Fu was constantly collecting energy bodies around the main base station.
When Noya saw Zhu Jing Fu's point changes, he had just finished coming out of the information tower at the main base station. He scratched his hair, somewhat exasperated: "What on earth are they doing? Why aren't they coming over yet?"
"Has Zhu Jing Fu closed their signal? The base station can't scan them."
He Lanqi added, "They still haven't arrived? But that's unlikely. At this point, if they don't come, they won't be able to complete their defense task—"
Noya thought of this and suddenly realized something, weakly saying: "Zhu Jing Fu... shouldn't... be the type to harm the enemy by a thousand while harming themselves by eight hundred, right?"
"They are," Xie You confirmed. Chen Sui could charge straight at his attack just to give him a slap. He was very certain they were.
Noya looked up and sighed: "Then they probably aren't the type who, if they can't get it, make sure no one else can either, right?"
Zhang Yingjie was surprised by his speculation, raising an eyebrow, hesitantly saying: "Zhu Jing Fu... shouldn't go that far."
After all, if they dragged until time ran out and all five schools couldn't get the multiplier, it wouldn't harm Zhu Jing Fu either. They still had two multipliers in hand and weren't afraid of being overtaken.
On the other side, Song Yuan thought of something and shook her head along with several strong attackers and analysts from other teams.
"They won't."
"First of all, Chen Sui isn't that kind of person. They will definitely come."
These words awakened the train of thought that had been led astray by Noya.
Right, with the kill-all-who-stand-in-her-way personality of Zhu Jing Fu's analyst, she certainly wasn't the type to avoid battles.
So the question remained, why hadn't Zhu Jing Fu come yet!
If they didn't come soon, there wouldn't be enough time left to finish the fight!
The bullet screen, listening to the four schools' tea party-like various speculations about Zhu Jing Fu's thinking, which hadn't hit the mark at all, couldn't help but feel some sympathy.
[How to put it, everyone has a bit of a dark heart, but no one expected someone's heart to be this dark]
[Zhu Jing Fu is truly exceptional. If I were the four schools, I'd give them a good beating]
[Your Zhu Jing Fu is too bad]
[I don't know if these are good brothers or good tools]
[Good, good, good, the energy bodies are all brought by your absorption device, the points are all taken by your Zhu Jing Fu. I understand now—energy bodies hold back other academies, and your Zhu Jing Fu can still frantically collect points before the end]
[At first, I thought Puluo carrying the energy cannon was because Xie Chunshi had calculated that the tower could be handled this way. I didn't expect it to be used here]
On the way to the tower, Xie Chunshi once again allocated task arrangements. Besides rushing into the base station, there was also continuing to act, but this task wasn't on Zhou Chen. Those responsible for performing were Chen Sui and Puluo, swaying the energy device.
Additionally, there was using energy bodies to hold back other academies. As for how to hold them back, that depended on Puluo.
And now, Zhu Jing Fu needed to "wake up" their tool energy bodies.
Dealing with mechanical towers, Zhu Jing Fu already had their own experience. The black-gold mecha entered the tower city, and a quantum cannon fired from a mecha in mid-air, rushing from one end of the city to the other.
Fire light splashed along the way, falling sparks carrying energy, destroying the floating car tracks in mid-air, the aura impacting the high-rises throughout the city.
"Thud thud!"
"Crack!"
The bodies of robots on the ground began to move. Human-like eyes flickered with red light. The high-rises seemed to come alive, beginning to extend "bridges" of metal, like long swords rushing toward the mecha's position.
A huge metal wall pushed toward them from the front. The Zhu Jing Fu mechas scattered.
Xie Chunshi flew to the high air, confirming Zhou Chen's lightning magnetic cannon strike point.
Then from his fingertips, ice attribute energy burst open. The sea sprite leaped from his back. Following the mecha's movements of dodging energy body attacks in mid-air, it danced through the entire mechanical city, with water flow extending and spreading along its movements between the high-rises and above the ground.
Chen Sui held her long spear horizontally in front, leaping from the ground, the spear head thrusting downward, striking diagonally at the energy wall. The mecha figure erupted, feet landing on the energy wall, the long spear drawing an extremely long mark. The mecha followed the mark, rushing all the way toward the high-rise emitting energy attacks.
A cold, sharp silver light swept across. Under the black sky, it was like a crescent moon falling directly, splitting the dense night, with cold light bursting on the cold, lustrous metal city.
The long spear, carrying a powerful aura, cleaved open the high-rise ahead.
"Swoosh—"
"Bang!!"
The wall body fell, striking the ground, splashing in all directions.
Chen Sui's vision suddenly expanded. Green light burst from the mecha's surroundings. She stepped on the broken high-rise, her figure leaping upward.
At this moment, the shadow of a crescent moon emerged from the dark clouds.
Behind her, Gu Qinxue's fierce fire cannon aimed and fired a shell at the high-rise.
The explosion's roar came, with towering flames, setting a gorgeous background for the leaping mecha, pushing her toward the position reported by the Commander.