The Silent Base

Xiao Bai continued deeper into the base, arriving at a wide runway littered with dozens of mecha scattered haphazardly. Many more had been destroyed outright in the hangars.
The majority were improved Guardian models, split roughly evenly between autonomous and piloted types. Among them were specialized variants for air defense, logistics, and command, roughly equivalent to a synthetic battalion's worth.
Judging by their positions, they seemed to have been gathering for a full deployment, but before they could assemble completely, they were wiped out by... a powerful electrical surge?
Was it a natural disaster like a thunderstorm? Or a black-tech weapon like a plasma bomb?
Yet the surrounding buildings hadn't been destroyed by electricity; they'd been blown up from within. Had someone infiltrated and sabotaged them? Or did they activate self-destruct protocols?
As Xiao Bai analyzed the scene, his green light swept back and forth, but he could still only salvage a few scattered parts.
"What kind of electrical surge could cause this level of destruction...? Huh? What's this?"
Amidst the wreckage of standard-issue mecha, Xiao Bai discovered two distinct light-class mecha—essentially training power armor.
Though the mechs were burned beyond recognition, Xiao Bai's scanner revealed they weren't standard models, but custom-assembled by the Mecha Warriors themselves.
"Anyone who dares to DIY their mechs is either a genius or a daredevil. I'm the latter, but these two are clearly the former—probably experts from the Defense Force who met such a mysterious end..."
Xiao Bai saluted the two 'Seniors' in a military gesture before beginning to extract materials.
Biological Chitin extracted: 2
This was his first encounter with such a substance. When he examined the details, it simply described it as a basic material equivalent to 'parts'.
"Could this be the legendary material for Biological Mecha?"
Xiao Bai had only ever seen discussions about Biological Mecha on internet forums, all of them speculative.
Paradise had indeed unearthed some biotechnology, such as the Medical Bay behind him and new equipment incorporating bio-tech, but whether true Biological Mecha existed remained unclear—a classic forum topic for generating clicks.
Some enthusiasts had drawn concept art for Biological Mecha, but these were often bizarre, Cthulhu-esque Demonic Beasts, and frequently involved inappropriate relationships with anime girl mecha warriors...
"So Biological Mecha actually exists? Just not quite as people imagined?"
"And this base was where they conducted such experiments? Did it get destroyed by an out-of-control prototype? Or a raid by some shadowy organization?"
Xiao Bai's mind instantly conjured up various movie scenarios, but he quickly shook his head, dismissing the ideas.
"This is ridiculous. Why would anyone conduct such experiments here? Why not anywhere else instead of this barren wasteland?"
Just as he was speaking, the scanner suddenly detected something unusual.
"Huh? There's actually an underground laboratory beneath this base?"
Xiao Bai abandoned the mosquito leg-sized parts he was scanning and hurried toward the elevator entrance revealed by the scanner.
Crouching before the elevator doors were the two "Heng Ha generals" he had seen earlier, their bodies curled up in standby mode. They looked broken and didn't react at all to Xiao Bai's approach.
Xiao Bai quickly mimicked their posture, crouching down, folding his legs, and tucking in his arms, entering a space-saving standby mode. Driven solely by the omni-directional wheels on his feet, he whirled into a freight elevator.
The surface of the base was mostly destroyed, but the underground facilities seemed relatively intact—at least the elevators still worked.
When the elevat or stopped, Xiao Bai found himself in an underground warehouse that had clearly suffered a massive explosion. The floor was littered with debris from various supplies and equipment, the walls riddled with gaping holes, and exposed cables sparked ominously.
"This place must have been quite large, but it's been severely damaged. Many areas have collapsed. I'll have to head towards the areas with power first."
"Fortunately, my standby form is only about two meters tall. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to navigate this place at all."
Xiao Bai navigated the narrow passages, encountering sharp turns and collapsed walls. He simply rammed through any obstacles, advancing like a force clearing a path through thorns and brambles.
Along the way, Xiao Bai encountered numerous withered corpses, clearly having been left to dry in this place for years.
Some wore white lab coats, while others were clad in standard military uniforms. All bore the same emblem on their chests: a human figure divided into proportional sections. The same symbol adorned the walls in abundance.
Before long, Xiao Bai arrived at what appeared to be a central control room. Three walls were densely packed with screens of various sizes, surrounded by control panels and instruments. Most had failed, leaving only a few dimly glowing screens.
Xiao Bai glanced at the screens, which displayed complex data streams and strings of text. They all eventually froze on the same message:
"Standby mode. Awaiting further instructions..."
One screen detailed events directly related to Xiao Bai:
C4-618 recycling robot requests entry to Maintenance Station 5. Request granted.
Maintenance Station 5 suffers unknown attack. C4-618 dispatched to investigate.
C4-618 recycling robot requests entry to Maintenance Station 5 again. Request granted.
"C4-618 has suffered a biological attack. A patrol team has been dispatched."
"An anomalous radar signal has been detected and identified as Recycling Robot C4-621. There may be risks involved, requiring operator secondary verification."
"Secondary verification not completed. System on standby, awaiting further instructions..."
After reading this, Xiao Bai murmured:
"So this is the base's Main Control System. Most of it is broken, the version is quite old, and nobody's monitoring it. It can only maintain the simplest operations."
"I wonder if I can find any operation logs or something to figure out what exactly happened here and whether it's safe."
No sooner had he spoken than the last few remaining lit screens exploded into a flurry of 'snow' before going completely dark.
Xiao Bai quickly withdrew his outstretched fingers, signaling that he hadn't touched anything—it had committed suicide!
However, after a thorough scavenging, he managed to salvage over two hundred usable electronic components, three server-grade computational chips, and two components for computation modules.
Xiao Bai tried to insert the chip into the mecha, but a red warning message flashed, indicating it was incompatible.
"Alright, that's a bit of a stretch... I'll have to look elsewhere."
He left the Central Control Room and approached a massive, pressure-sealed door taller than he was. Even with the mecha's strength, forcing it open would be difficult.
"This can't be the isolation chamber for some super virus or Heaven-Defying Demonic Beast, can it?"
Out of caution, he initially didn't plan to open the door.
Unexpectedly, the door collapsed with a thunderous roar, revealing a shocking scene within.

Chapter end