Chapter 61: Chapter 59: Acquiring a New Trait: Mechanical Soul_1

Translator: 549690339

In this world, under the starry sky, on an island.

The rift reopened, and Jiang Chen landed on the beach, his expression one of regret.

There was too little time remaining, and in the end, he still had not managed to deal with the Transcender, forcing a return to the present world.

However, he had already figured out the Transcender’s true strength.

Next time he explored the Star of Mutation, he could go directly to trouble the Transcender.

After dealing with the hidden boss, he would then clean up the abyss leader.

“Speaking of which, if the Transcender, the main body of the Roots, dies, can the Evolvers that are branches of the Roots still exist…”

“It should count as completing the mission, right?”

Jiang Chen was planning the route for his next exploration.

On one side of the beach, Bai Ying had been waiting for a while.

“Welcome home, my lord.”

“Bai Ying has already brought back your personal belongings, and they have been placed in the storage room at the base.”

“Thank you.”

Jiang Chen smiled.

Although those personal belongings weren’t worth much money, they contained many items of sentimental value.

Especially the laptop given by his parents—even if he were to replace it with better equipment in the future, it would still need to be physically destroyed.

It represented the innocence of a former college student and absolutely should not be left in a rented apartment.

Of course, now that he had taken it back, it would be too unfortunate to destroy it.

You never know when you might want to reminisce about your youth and see if the study materials had auto-updated after the changes in the world line…

Considering Bai Ying’s presence, even if he wanted to reminisce, it would have to wait until after the protection mission was completed.

For now, a quick shower and then the repair of the damaged primeval mecha were the priorities.

Jiang Chen stood on the beach, gazing longingly at the private base inside the island; he bent forward slightly, then leaped powerfully!

Boom! Thud!

A leap and a landing.

Jiang Chen was now standing outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the base’s living room.

He looked down to see that not even a single crack had formed on the floor.

“Bio-organic Force Field, boy!”

When needed, a single punch can blow up a building.

When not needed, even a high fall leaves the floor unscathed.

Don’t ask, it just makes sense!

After showering, Jiang Chen put on a black bodysuit and topped it with some regular clothes.

This made it so that whether he dove into the abyss or encountered monsters in the present world, he could skip changing clothes.

Just rip off the jacket, and make a grand entrance.

“Now all I’m missing is an ‘S’ shape symbol on my chest… but that’s just too blatant, better forget it.”

He then went to the repair room and released the damaged primeval mecha.

The purple-white body, covered in cracks, stood firm under the influence of enigmatic energy, without collapsing.

Jiang Chen snapped his fingers, and the walls unfolded to reveal a complete set of repair tools.

The repair begins!

This time, Jiang Chen’s repair speed was noticeably slower.

Firstly, the mecha’s larger size meant that the Abyss Coins and other materials needed for repairs were more costly, consuming more time as well.

After all, Xuntian City’s mechas, with diameters over ten kilometers comparable to interstellar fortresses, couldn’t possibly be repaired as quickly as Bai Ying’s Light Armor Bio-organic Mecha, which could be fixed in an hour or two.

Even using repair tools dropped from the abyss, the time consumed for repairs would scale accordingly.

Secondly, after the upgrade of the primeval mecha, its type had changed.

The original Model Zero Mecha, even with the Roots Core installed, was essentially an exoskeleton-styled combat suit.

The interior metal structure wouldn’t change.

Now, the primeval mecha had become a [Light Armor Bio-organic Mecha].

It had completely rid itself of its metal skeleton and become a completely bio-organic material mecha.

The repair method naturally shifted slightly.

Jiang Chen had to get used to the new repair method, which slightly affected his speed.

From nightfall and throughout until the sunrise of the next day, the repair work on the primeval mecha was essentially finished.

After completing the repairs, Jiang Chen looked up at the tall, purple-white giant, wiped an invisible bead of sweat from his forehead, and spoke.

“Zero, although we didn’t win against the boss this time, it’s normal.”

“How long have we been awakened? How long has It grown?”

“Besides, you’re far from reaching your limit…”

While Jiang Chen was comforting the mecha soul,

Bai Ying pressed the buzzer of the repair room, drawing his attention.

After being allowed in, Bai Ying entered and said.

“My lord, the master has sent a message that the [Mechanical Soul] trait you required has been successfully dropped,”

“So soon?”

Jiang Chen expressed in surprise.

The [Mechanical Soul] trait was the production of the sixth layer abyss’s [Machine Cataclysmic Change] on a Nightmare difficulty level,

Senior Ruan had previously mentioned that it might take an additional two days if they asked a 6th Rank mecha pilot to farm for it.

Unexpectedly, it was delivered in just one day.

“The 6th Rank mecha pilot whom the master had commissioned, like the master himself, had obtained an SS-class evaluation in the basic trial.”

“He has continuously cleared the [Machine Cataclysmic Change] on Nightmare difficulty level twice since yesterday. Since it was a solo clear, the drop rate was higher.”

“Fortuitously, the specific trait you needed dropped.”

Bai Ying explained.

“However, the master is currently on vacation at the base in Proxima Centauri, resting his spirit and has no time to come here.”

“So, Bai Ying is to take you to Xuntian City to meet the 6th Rank mecha pilot and acquire the trait.”

Mecha pilots who couldn’t obtain a high evaluation in basic trials might not necessarily have weak talents—

they might have late-stage talents that can only be fully realized with specific mechas or through specific methods.

But those who could obtain a high evaluation definitely possessed strong talents.

Like this 6th Rank mecha pilot,

Even in the sixth layer of the abyss, he was still able to maintain his strength and solo clear the Age-Old Shadow on Nightmare difficulty level, proving his excellent talent.

No wonder he managed to drop the premium trait so quickly.

Jiang Chen agreed happily, stored his primeval mecha, and followed Bai Ying to Xuntian City.

As they headed towards the teleportation array formation, he asked another question.

“Proxima Centauri? The one in the constellation of Centaurus?”

“Yes.”

Building a vacation base light-years away…

These high rank mecha pilots sure knew how to spend extravagantly.

It made sense when he thought about it.

If high rank mecha pilots all stayed on Planet Blue Star, the small planet really wouldn’t be enough for them to mess around with.

Speaking of which,

Jiang Chen clicked his tongue.

Since Proxima Centauri had already been explored, it seems he wouldn’t get to meet the Trisolarans.

They quickly arrived at Xuntian City via the teleportation array formation at the base,

Following Bai Ying, Jiang Chen arrived at the [Trading Zone].

Besides the alliance material store that he had visited several times, there were also many coffee shops, tea houses, and even restaurants.

Specially providing a quiet trading environment for mecha pilots.

Entering the reserved private room of the tea house,

Jiang Chen saw a golden-haired, blue-eyed man sitting inside, drinking tea.

The golden-haired man set down his teacup and greeted them with a smile upon seeing the two,

“Hi, superstar newbie, I’m Lyle, an alliance’s 6th Rank mecha pilot.”

The alliance, being established jointly by various countries, naturally had mecha pilots from all over.

Jiang Chen was not surprised; his gaze merely paused for a moment on the pitch-black, eye-like Abyss Rune by the golden-haired man’s ear.

An Abyss Rune appearing below the ear was quite conspicuous.

“Senior can just call me Jiang Chen,” he said.

“No, no, no, there’s no need to be so formal,”

Lyle said with a shake of his head and a smile,

“Just call me Lyle.”

“I’m counting on you to grow up so that you can take me to explore the Age-Old Shadow on Hell difficulty level… I’m really good at assisting,” he added.

Jiang Chen almost couldn’t keep his composure.

An assistant who has solo cleared Nightmare difficulty, huh?

While laughing, Lyle lightly tapped on the Abyss Rune beside his ear,

A silver, metallic-looking gemstone appeared at his fingertip and was offered forth,

“Check the goods first.”

Jiang Chen’s attention was immediately captured by the gemstone, and he reached out to touch it.

Rows of information floated up before his eyes,

[Mechanical Soul]

[Type: Trait]

[Effect: Grants the mecha pilot the Mechanical Soul trait, allowing them to sense the mecha soul and communicate without barriers.

When piloting a mecha, they can briefly merge with the mecha soul, causing the mecha to temporarily erupt with greater power.]

[Description: The mecha pilot is the true soul of the mecha.]