Chapter 14
The sudden loud noise interrupted Jiang Xiangyang's words.
He immediately sat up and turned his gaze, forgetting to ask about the mecha. He just let Jiang Xiangyang stare at him until his eyes became sore and achy. Everything in the cave was still normal, and nothing unusual happened.
In addition, the sound just now was not piercing his ears, as if the propagation of the sound was blocked by countless stone walls. It was difficult for Jiang Xiangyang to distinguish the specific location of the sound source.
He was able to confirm that what he had just heard was not hallucination.
"What's at the end of this road?"
Recognizing Shang Yi's voice, Jiang Xiangyang turned around and found that the mechanical line was gone. The energy-depleted collector lay alone on the floor with a big hole in the tube surface, looking quite pitiful.
Jiang Xiangyang paused for a moment before answering, "Alpha crystals have almost zero impurities, and the crystal source is as thick as 97.4%. Among all known crystal types, it ranks first."
What Jiang Xiangyang didn't know was that as he said this, the armrest that Shang Yi was holding suddenly rose up quickly and lightly pressed against Shang Yi's palm, as if it was very excited about the content of this sentence.
Shang Yi squinted his eyes slightly, and the armrest finally subsided a little. He then asked, "How many are there?"
Jiang Xiangyang shook his head, indicating he wasn't sure. "Although it was recorded, I heard that three of the four-person team that recorded it never returned. The remaining one didn't make it deep due to time constraints and only saw the shadow of the crystal from afar."
Shang Yi: "Then let's take another route."
Jiang Xiangyang: "Ah?"
Shang Yi's mecha: ...qaq
Shang Yi's reasoning seemed convincing: "The authenticity of this information remains to be determined. Five hours only gets us halfway along this route. If we go deeper and don't find any Alpha Crystals, they'll still be inferior, and the effort won't be worth it."
Jiang Xiangyang hesitated: "That's right."
Shang Yi threw down a heavy bomb: "There are traces of pulse cannons ahead."
Someone had been in before them.
This fact completely shattered the remaining resentment in Jiang Xiangyang's heart.
Choosing a cave is a gamble of luck. When they came in, they didn't see anyone or monster corpses, and they thought they were the first team to enter. Unexpectedly, they were beaten to it by someone else.
Because there was a hidden fork in the road that led to other caves, Jiang Xiangyang was very open-minded. However, he felt a little strange that Shang Yi could give up the five-hour journey so easily.
The two of them were manipulating the mecha to turn around, but at this moment, an extremely vague sound suddenly came from the depths of the cave. It could be heard that the noise was so loud that even the ground shook three times.
Jiang Xiangyang paused, unable to suppress his suspicion any longer, and blurted out, "What happened?"
Shang Yi didn't reply, so the small ball turned on the signal for exploration, but the first signal it received was not the exploration signal, but the signal on the communication channel.
The hoarse voice of the trainee who was positioned deep in the cave was unclear over the communication channel due to the sound of the rock collapse.
"Save... Jiang... No... Hurry... Go..."
Jiang Xiangyang's heart perked up, and he shouted into the communicator: "Squad leader? Where are you?"
"Jiang Xiang... hurry up... go!"
With a click, the communication channel went completely black in Jiang Xiangyang's trembling sight. The squad leader's hysterical roar became the last sound coming out of it. Jiang Xiangyang slapped the control panel, and the mecha suddenly turned its head and moved forward at full speed along the road into the depths.
Behind him, the inky black mecha did not move, as if it was ignoring Jiang Xiangyang's departure.
After Jiang Xiangyang left, the mecha, which had regained energy, finally removed its internal camouflage. A control panel that was many times more advanced and sophisticated than Jiang Xiangyang's mecha instantly appeared in front of Shang Yi, and light extended from the screen.
Shang clasped his hands together and placed them lazily on the armrest in front of him, his head leaning slightly back on the chair. He looked elegant and indifferent, watching the scene quietly.
Fluorescent blue electronic light outlines the situation of the planet. Whether it is the approximate resource points or the species active in it, they are all depicted in great detail, with their appearances and expressions, so lifelike that even the greatest mecha designer in the world would be amazed when seeing this scene.
Taking Shangyi's location as the origin, the cracks on the ground extended to the depths of the cave. The cracks on the ground spread rapidly like a spider web. Huge rocks fell from the projection from time to time, and a mecha was almost smashed to pieces.
The mecha surrounded this place with a large warning red circle, but a small dot representing Jiang Xiangyang quickly closed the distance with the red circle.
Shang Yi didn't show any reaction, so the mechanical wire stretched out again and loosely wrapped around Shang Yi's fingers, making him look like he was acting coquettishly.
Its owner smiled in an ambiguous manner: "You want to save them?"
The electron beam outlines the small sphere.
Shang Yi nodded: "Yes, I didn't expect to see the prototype here. It's a pity that it was damaged."
Seeing that the force was not enough, the electron beam persevered in outlining Jiang Xiangyang's outline.
Shang Yi paused, tapped the armrest with his finger, and said nothing.
The mechanical line jumped rapidly, and the electronic light drew a wide scale line with 40 written on it, and then pushed Jiang Xiangyang's projection below the scale line.
Shang Yi saw this and chuckled softly, "We do have a duty to protect and supervise underage cubs." Before the mechanical wires could express their delight, he added, "But the civilization on this planet is different from ours. He's already an adult."
The mechanical line has completely died down and there is no hope anymore.
However, it heard its master continue, "Determine the scope of the collapse and the life forms that need protection. Open the energy conversion channel, tentatively set the conversion intensity to 80%. Prepare the Class B protective shield, prepare the annihilation beam, and prepare to perform an individual space jump."
"I wanted to rest here for a few more days." The man said in a calm voice, closing his eyes as usual. "Let's go."
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Jiang Xiangyang thought the distance was very long, and it turned out to be really long. At least even when he was driving at full speed, it took him about half an hour to reach the deep end.
It may not be a big deal compared to the previous five hours, but when the crisis is imminent, every minute and every second can make people collapse, let alone this half hour.
The scene unfolding before Jiang Xiangyang could be called a major crisis, as expected.
The cave roof collapsed!
The depths were vast, but the fallen rocks were huge. The soil and rocks sank in patches, and dust and gravel raised smoke. The rumbling sound never stopped, as if thunder was still hitting his ears. Jiang Xiangyang's ears were dizzy. Seeing a rock about to hit a mecha, he immediately fired a cannon at it.
The rock was shattered, and the mecha was also stunned. Jiang Xiangyang rushed to his side and asked the person in the mecha: "Is anything okay?"
"It's okay, it's just that the energy is almost exhausted." The man took a breath and said anxiously, "There are still people inside!"
Jiang Xiangyang glanced at the half remaining energy of his mecha, said "Hurry up and go", and immediately ran forward again.
The little ball analyzed nearby: "There are survivors forty meters to the left, and the mecha has suffered too much wear and tear. There are also survivors seventy meters to the upper right, and the crack is over 60% deep, and it's about to collapse..."
Jiang Xiangyang concentrated and calmed his mind, and his hands, which were operating the mecha, moved at an extremely fast speed. The mecha shuttled through the falling rocks, smashing the rocks that were about to cause harm to others, and continued to move forward.
"Something's wrong!" After rescuing another person, Jiang Xiangyang finally regained his focus, his face showing anxiety. "Why are there so many people here?"
The man panted and said ashamedly: "The task device shows that crystal marrow appeared here, and everyone came here for this." That's why he ignored the rules and chiseled out so many cracks for no reason.
Jiang Xiangyang's eyes widened: "Crystal marrow?"
boom--!
The electronic voice of the small ball suddenly became sharp: "Yangyang up there!"
The soil above their heads fell straight down like a huge wave, overwhelming the sea. The remaining people were frightened by this shocking scene and froze on the spot. Jiang Xiangyang gritted his teeth and reacted extremely quickly, throwing the mecha beside him out with force.
Who doesn't know someone who ranks high in the grade? That person suddenly shouted in surprise: "Jiang Xiangyang!"
The deafening sound of rolling stones drowned out the roar, and then a giant transparent barrier came with unstoppable force, wrapping up the surviving mechas.
"What is this?"
"What the hell is this?"
"Protective shield? Where did it come from?"
"Stop talking and quickly form a team and leave!"
“It’s too late—”
The crowd was noisy, and the inky black mecha rushed forward like a ray of light, cutting through the darkness.
[Protecting the surviving life forms. Warning: Energy is running low. Searching for nearby energy sources—]
[Energy source found, energy converter activated, energy replenishing, annihilation ray in place, target locked: collapsed stone layer.]
[Preparing for individual space jump, warning, warning, insufficient energy, conversion rate changed to 100%... Energy found, converter continues to operate... Energy replenishing, energy replenishment completed, warning! Warning! Energy exceeds the upper limit!]
Shang Yi finally lifted his eyelids, which seemed unable to open, and straightened up, staring coldly at the rapidly flashing indicator light on the screen: "Reduce the conversion rate immediately!"
[Accepting instructions,...Warning! Conversion rate reduction failed!]
[Space jump in progress, energy storage limit reached, warning! Energy overflow! Space black hole is forming!]
The air suddenly twisted, as if a huge hole was opened, and tons of soil and rocks were swept into it. Shang Yi's face suddenly darkened, and his bony fingers flew across the operating table at a speed that was difficult to see with the naked eye.
[Warning... Fixed-point transmission has been successfully canceled. The space tunnel will be opened in advance... The space tunnel has been formed and is about to be entered. Mech owners, please prepare——]
The space black hole was like a huge beast, devouring everything visible. Just when it was feeling proud and arrogant, it seemed as if an invisible giant hand pulled it back into its original shape. The inky black mecha, whose energy was on the verge of exhaustion, was sucked into the vortex, followed by a broken mecha that had been buried under the soil.
Before the vortex disappeared, a blinding light instantly swept across the scene, as dazzling as the dawn of the universe. The soil and rocks were completely wiped out in the light. The protective shield, according to a pre-set procedure, lifted the survivors who could not open their eyes out of the underground cave.
It was already a mess outside.
"What happened, oh my god!"
“They’re coming out!”
"What is that, a protective shield?"
"The students are out, come and help!"
"Medic—!"
Everyone was too busy to handle it. The squad leader, despite his dizzy head, walked along the perimeter of the cave to count the number of people. When he saw the instructor rushing over, he became even more anxious and excited: "Instructor, Jiang Xiangyang and Shang Yi are missing!"
When the instructor heard Jiang Xiangyang's name, his face was filled with anxiety. Then he paused and asked in surprise, "Who is Shang Yi?"
"...Instructor?"
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