Slightly Off the Mark

"I wonder what hazard level these damn things would be according to Lao Luo's calculation method?"
Xiao Bai continued to finish off targets with his autocannon while recharging his Plasma Cannon using backup energy from his Storage Space.
Though the Plasma Cannon consumed a lot of energy, it charged slowly, making it suitable only for dealing with stationary, large targets.
Fortunately, its power didn't disappoint. A single shot took out the greatest threat. Otherwise, those Anti-Air Missiles, relentless as flesh-eating maggots, would have been a real headache.
"I never expected these missiles to be so troublesome. What kind of guidance system are they using? And what kind of fuel?"
Xiao Bai, having spent countless hours evading missiles in the Simulation Program, knew firsthand how dang erous they could be. If it weren't for his superior processing power, allowing him to accurately predict the missiles' trajectories, combined with his quick and precise reflexes, he wouldn't have been able to evade them. It would have been truly dangerous.
An ordinary Mecha Warrior would likely have been shot down long ago...
The Light Mechas weren't pushovers e ither. Though their movements were sluggish and they offered no evasive maneuvers, their attacks were unnervingly accurate, and their firepower far exceeded what their "light" designation suggested. They nearly overloaded Xiao Bai's electromagnetic shield.
"Adding it all up, that's at least the firepower of an armored battalion... Good thing I took out the biggest one with my first shot. Who knows what kind of Heaven-Defying weapons it might have hidden?"
"And what's with their tenacity? Still not dead even after being sliced in half? And how can they move again after rusting like that?"
Xiao Bai casually picked up a piece of armor from the ground. One side was covered in moss, while the other had a layer of lymph-node-like tissue stuck to it—gross.
He tossed the fragment, hitting a complete mutant. The impact jogged his memory, and he reopened the drone footage of the battle, quickly scanning through it.
"As expected. As the mecha revived, the mutants stopped moving, and that eerie red glow on their bodies gradually faded, as if their life force had been transferred into the mecha."
Xiao Bai then picked up a relatively intact half of a light mecha and carefully examined its internal structure.
Inside, he saw the remains of a desiccated corpse, its structure somewhat different from a human's. Withered skin sprouted strands of 'lymph nodes' that clung to the rust-streaked inner walls of the mecha.
"It seems the problem lies with these lymphatic tissues," Xiao Bai said, storing the half-sample for further study back at the base.
"We're waiting for the Plasma Cannon to recharge anyway, and there's no rush to enter the final area. Let's figure out what exactly happened here first."
With that, Xiao Bai flew toward the wreckage of the large mecha, intending to investigate it first.
He didn't rush to absorb it, preferring to search for data records first to understand what had transpired.
Based on his experience at the base, once these components were absorbed as electronic parts, all data would be wiped clean.
The scan revealed that aside from the chest, which had been pierced through, the rest of the large mecha was remarkably intact—almost "like new."
However, the interior was filled with those eerie, nauseating lymphatic tissues, making it difficult to discern whether the structure was biological or mechanical in nature.
Structurally, apart f rom its unconventional humanoid form, the mecha wasn't significantly different from modern human models. It featured more refined craftsmanship and was almost entirely made of Mirror Alloy, even the armor plates—a level of luxury bordering on extravagance.
Yet with just a slight exertion of force, Xiao Bai effortlessly crushed a piece of armor plate.
"According to the marketing hype, Mirror Alloy is the hardest and densest metal humans have ever developed, touted as 'never wearing out' and 'never rusting.' Even if that's an exaggeration, it shouldn't have rusted into a crumble like a cookie, right?"
"Or could it be that thousands of years have passed here? Even the toughest alloys can't withstand the erosion of time?"
"Is this the cockpit? It's so small—only enough for one person? And its shape is so strange... like a section of a spine. Could it use motion-sensing controls?"
Xiao Bai extended the mechanical arm and peeled away the layers of armor, revealing the peculiar cockpit.
Inside was another desiccated corpse, entangled in a tangled mass of lymphatic tissue and suspended in mid-air.
Xiao Bai used the plasma cutter to slice through the tissue, clearing it away until he exposed what appeared to be a control panel. He then extended a probe from the mechanical arm and poked it into what might be a data interface.
As expected, there was no reaction. It was possible that this wasn't even the same type of data system.
It was time to "wish" again. Xiao Bai pulled out his "smartphone" and searched for "data recovery," retrieving several programs.
"It actually worked? But why is it all alien scramble?"
Xiao Bai hastily "wished" for several translation apps and language decryption software, then opened them all at once. Finally, something comprehensible appeared before him:
"Eighty thousand chiefs oppose this cruel, blood-related decision."
"Permission-denied humor failed the brave."
These words were even more abstract than machine translations; carbon-based lifeforms couldn't understand them at all...
Xiao Bai could only try to fill in the gaps and smooth out the phrasing as best he could.
It seemed the mecha pilot was opposing their mission, arguing that it was too cruel and would be resisted by their subordinates. The response was a rebuke, stating that the pilot had no authority to object and should focus on fighting.
He could only speculate for now, planning to refine his understanding later. He might even visit the "Tavern" to find experts who could help.
He had recovered a substantial amount of data this time, and he needed to organize it properly.
Only after retrieving all the data did Xiao Bai begin the absorption process. A green light shot from his chest, scanning across the colossal machine.
Heaven-Piercing-class mech structure absorbed.
Four multi-domain, general-purpose bio-construct missile launchers absorbed.
Fifty anti-gravity engine components absorbed.
Five Trisolaran heavy metal reactor components absorbed.
Two hundred remote sensing control module components absorbed.
High-Power electromagnetic shield component absorbed: 50
Omnidirectional Central Control Cube component absorbed: 20
Motion-Sensing Factor Fragment absorbed: 10
In addition to these specialized components, millions of general-purpose parts and electronic components were also absorbed, along with over 30,000 units of biological chitin and 1,000 units of mirror alloy.
As the absorption process completed, the large mecha could no longer maintain its original form. Collapsing like a suddenly disintegrating skyscraper, it created a deafening roar and kicked up a massive cloud of dust that made Xiao Bai, standing amidst the debris, instinctively want to cough.
"It's just... gone?" Xiao Bai muttered, feeling a sense of unfinished business.
"How to put it? I can't exactly say I'm dissatisfied, but it's just... slightly different from what I expected."

Chapter end