Mystical Journey

“Who are you?” The black cloak chuckled.

“Waiting for me?”

Garen froze. He had left Blackboard Academy not long ago as it was under absolute secrecy. Moreover, no one knew of the route and time of his return. So, how did this person find him here?

There was doubt in his mind, so he separated from the crowds and walked over to the man.

“A few days ago, we found some abnormal energy reaction from somewhere in this area”

The man’s purple lips under his cape did not move and yet, his voice passed perfectly into Garen’s ears.

Garen noticed that the crowd around him did not give any attention because no one else heard this person speak.

“We’ll talk more when we get inside,” the man said while he strode into the courtyard. He then waved his hand and the for of the courtyard was instantly shut, blocking the view of the outsiders.

Regarding his Mech, the incident just now was a trivial matter. It would be considered not bad if there were a few people who would come here the whole year long. No pilots in the inner region were willing to come here and take the risk of contracting the radiation disease. Most of them could do other tasks to earn money. Although it may take more time, safety was a priority.

The previous incident of snatching Master Energy Ore was a one in a thousandth percentage.

Garen however, was not worried. His cabin was completely locked and unless someone was a high-level with decrypting talent, they would not be able to open the door unless they move the entire Mech away. However, this was his teacher’s Black Flood Party’s patrolling site. Even if they ran away, he could contact the patrolling powerhouse anything to get it back. Furthermore, White Light’s people would not dare mess around within an area of ten thousand meters.

“There’s no need. Here will do,” the man said as he flung his arm. A black shadow shot out accurately at Garen and his hand caught it.

Garen looked and saw that in his hand, was a pitch-black metal key. It was simple and antique-looking. It looked like any ordinary key that had been used for a long time, except that there were very few notches on its side, only a single tine.

“This is one of the identities of an Energy Machinist. You have succeeded in becoming a Level One Energy Machinist and are eligible to enter the energy trading market”, the black-cloaked man said with a deep tone.

“Energy Machinist?” Garen was surprised. He had never told anyone about his breakthrough to Level One Energy Machinist Willpower. He did not expect the other party to find him that quickly and pass him this so-called key.

“Who are you guys?” Garen asked with narrowed eyes.

“Federation of Energy Machinists. You will understand when you enter the market, but please do not expose the location of the Energy Market even though it will shift once in a while”, the man chuckled.

“Alright, young lad, see you when I see you.”

He flapped his cloak, turned around and headed towards the small garden of the courtyard. As he walked between the flowers, his body started to fade and become increasingly transparent until it completely vanished.

“What means is this!?” Garen was shocked in his mind. He had never seen such a hand even in Secret Technique World and Totem World. As he thought around it, this was the era of great cosmic science and technology and any kind of technology suddenly appearing was not impossible. It could be invisibility or some other kind of powerful skill, no one could know for sure.

“Energy Market…”, holding the key in his hand, Garen felt for the first time that this world was not as simple as he had imagined it to be. Pilots were probably only one of the segments here.

Garen was not very bothered because the other party did not seem to have any bad intentions, so he carefully tucked away the key.

It had been days since Veci and the others of the V Academy had been killed. Garen continued to stay in Flying Batoid City as he waited for the return of the team sent out by City Master to look for Clint and others. At the same time, he was also collecting materials for the making of biochemical pool in Flying Batoid City. The outgoing search party finally returned after seven days and brought some not-so-good news with them.

The whereabouts of Clint and others had been tracked down, but they seemed to be pursued by White Light’s people.

***********

“Pursued?”

Garen sat in his own courtyard. The hand that was flipping the pages of an old book paused momentarily.

“What is the strength of those who are pursuing them?”

The one reporting was Vendant, who still had a white gauze on his face. He bent over to answer.

“We do not know much about their exact strength, but as we observed from a distance, they were at least Level Three elite Mech soldiers. Shining Mech seems to be involved as well.”

“Oh?” Garen was dazed. Shining Mech was the level of the Red-White which he killed off last time in the inner region, Level Five. It also relied on special Mech ability and its capability was very strong. Of course, not all Shining Mech were of Level Five only. There had to be a powerhouse with resonance degree.

But what astounded him was that resonance degree could only be stimulated with an Exclusive Mech. So how did the Shining Mechs coordinate and stimulate it? Was it relayed over to the person to adapt to the Mech’s body?

“What is the situation of the people who were being pursued?”

“Unclear. However, the Shining Mechs were roaming around and should still be searching on a vast scale. It’s very likely that they have not been found yet. Our people dared not to get too close in fear that we might be killed by the other party”, Vendant replied softly.

Garen lightly put down the book in his hands and began to deliberate.

He had to make sure that Baylon was alright before he could bring the news back to his family. After all, he needed to construct the main frame of his Exclusive Mech which meant that he would head back for a long time before being able to come out again. Although not all the materials had been found, some of the less important parts could be bought with Universal Units nonetheless.

“No, no”, a voice suddenly rang in his mind.

“Red Moon?” Garen immediately responded. He waved off Vendant and at the same time, passed him the tech information that City Master needed and let him take it away. It was remuneration for helping him search for the materials of the biochemical pool.

After Vendant had left the courtyard with the others and shut the door, Garen had Little Bitch sit on his lap, reach out his hands and caressed freely while conversing with Red Moon in his mind.

“That’s right. It’s me. Finally, the signal is clear. The radiation interference is too strong.” Red Moon let out a heavy breath. “Looks liked you should be very near to where we are. You must come over right away to rescue them.”

“Rescue them?”

“Clint is dying and Lonnie can’t hold on much longer as well. If you don’t come, they will all die!” Red Moon briefly said.

“What’s the matter? How much longer can they hold out?” Garen’s gaze became serious.

“Three days. If you don’t come, then there really is no hope. I can only cover for them for three more days at the most. My energy is running out”, Red Moon said helplessly. “Lonnie has contracted radiation disease and it’s quite serious. Her whole body has wilted and she has become extremely skinny. Clint is also heavily injured and his wounds are seriously infected. In order to seize some medication to slow down Lonnie’s radiation disease, he…Sigh, you will know when you get here.”

“Specific location”, Garen said with unrest in his voice. He had achieved one of his goals of this trip. As long as they were not dead, with current science and technology means of treatment, they could still be saved.

“I will point out the direction for you! It’s not far from Flying Batoid City, but be careful of White Light’s Shining Mech! They have dispatched many elites in search of the core!” Red Moon said solemnly. “Don’t bring anyone else. Our situation is very dangerous! Whether is it White Light or other people from the region, they are all seeking us!”

Disconnecting, Garen could clearly feel Red Moon’s Willpower leaving rapidly.

Pushing off Little Bitch, he got up, pushed open the door and instructed the two soldiers who were standing guard.

“Prepare for me the anti-injury and anti-radiation drugs. Two standard sets!”

“Yes, sir!” The two guards looked at each other. One of them quickly ran to the medical center in the city. Since all the expenses were reimbursed by City Master Quarters, just recording it directly in the bookkeeping would do.

Soon, two standard medical treatment packages were placed in front of Garen. The small, white, square packages contained anti-inflammatory drugs, large portions of anti-radiation drugs, bactericidal water, gauze tape for dressing, blood test device, some oral medicine and more.

After examining them, Garen took them and headed out of Flying Batoid City alone.

*************

Inside a concealed small cave in the underground hundreds of meter away from Flying Batoid City.

Clint was straining to carry Lonnie’s body and walking deeper into the cave one step at a time.

He had found the anti-radiation medicine, but the amount the Shining Mechs had with them were far too little. Although it was stolen by Red Moon, the dose could only be used to prevent mitigation. It was not much of a help for Lonnie’s condition.

After the two miraculously stole the medicine from the Shining Mechs, in their moment of exhaustion, they finally managed to make one last leap and fled away.

“Almost there. It’s right in front.” Deep in the cave, a dark-skinned girl with many little black braids was walking in front of Clint. She held a fire torch and her body had the obvious odor of radiation disease. In the midst of the burning sound of the torch, it reflected her thin and slender body and face.

It was this girl who had rescued them when Clint had fainted and helped them from being found by White Light’s patrolling searching-soldiers.

“Lola, how much longer to arrival?” Clint did not have a trace of blood on his face. His lips were cracked and his skin was as if it had been soaked in water, white and blistering. It gave off a feeling of puffiness and his entire body had expanded. Some places even appeared swollen and purple.

“Soon, soon. We usually live in the underground of the city. All the people there are those who could not survive on the ground. They are either wanted criminals, or the resisting strength that are being hunted down everywhere”, the girl revealed her white teeth as she turned back and said smilingly.

“Resisting strength? Resist what?” Clint’s voice was a bit hoarse as he asked.

“Of course it is against those who caused us to fall to this point. Regions, each big region, all the people of the region are our target of resistance”, the girl said in a low voice. “Some called us the Underground Rebel Army.”

“Underground Rebel Army?” It was the first time Clint had heard of this term.

“We have been observing you for a long time. The hut where you previously lived in was one of our temporary strongholds. It was our people who planned to rest there but unexpectedly found you two there”, the little girl, Lola, briefly explained. “Then we found out that you are newcomers who have just came out from the region and are being hunted and struck everywhere , and did not even have the awareness of basic self-protection. It was extremely miserable. Even our children are better than you.”

The girl Lola’s words made Clint speechless and his face flushed.

‘Uueehh!’

His throat had a sudden itch and he vomited a mouthful of blood.

Purple blood with tiny black worms that were vaguely seen crawling in it.

“This… This is…” Clint saw that there were actually worms in his blood. His heart instantly became cold and he was terrified. Standing on the spot with his face looking defeated, “Lord… How much longer can I live…?” he asked tremblingly in his heart.

“If all goes well… three hours.” Red Moon paused for a moment before replying in a low voice.