Apocalyptic Mechanist Section 29

The sound of slightly heavy breathing echoed in the small, dim space. A small, curled-up figure with a pale face knew it was nighttime through a gap above the wall.

This was the eighteenth night hiding here.

Xi Guang's beautiful crimson eyes seemed dull and lifeless, filled with exhaustion and daze.

My Spirit Energy is dissipating. I can last two more days. Am I finally reaching my limit...

She shifted her body slightly, and the tearing pain made Xi Guang furrow her brows. She took a deep breath, forced herself to stand, and walked to the gap in the wall to feel the not-so-fresh air outside.

Why was that oppressive and irritating buzzing sound gone today?

Xi Guang was slightly stunned. Listening to the occasional sound of helicopter propellers from outside, she knew the Sin City Council hadn't withdrawn their troops. They wouldn't retreat until they saw her corpse.

Leaning against the wall, she tried to mobilize her Source Energy to suppress the increasingly painful wound. However, her Source Energy, once like a deep pool, was now unresponsive, completely dried up.

Only a tiny bit of weak Spirit Energy remained, ensuring she wouldn't be detected by the scanning terminals.

She hadn't eaten for over ten days, relying entirely on Source Energy to hold on. Now, her Spirit Energy was also running low. If nothing unexpected happened, these next two days would be her last.

Extreme weakness and a cellular-level hunger made her slowly sit down, still leaning against the wall.

Dying here...

Staring at the ceiling, a daze and confusion gradually appeared on her delicate face.

If it weren't for that sudden appearance of a pirate fleet, she should be preparing for her Elf coming-of-age ceremony by now...

Her vision gradually blurred, and she seemed to hear her teacher's voice from Spirit Energy class.

"Will and consciousness are the source of Spirit Energy. When consciousness collapses and will wavers, no matter how abundant one's mental power or how vast one's Spirit Energy, the effects of Spirit Energy will be greatly reduced. Even worse, all Spirit Energy will be lost..."

"Xi Ling, Uncle Li... Sigh, perhaps this is for the best. I was never a... heroic person."

Her consciousness grew hazier. In her daze, she seemed to see the garden in her hometown, with colorful flowers stretching for miles, a babbling river, patches of green forest, and ten-thousand-foot mountain ranges spanning the horizon. Gentle, warm sunlight poured down upon the land.

The sunlight seemed to get closer and closer, its warmth and brightness undiminished, yet subtly distorted, like a mosaic.

Huh? What is this...?

"Light?"

A warm sensation enveloped her. Before her consciousness completely sank, she seemed to hear a voice.

"Light? What light? I lent it to that old freeloader named Diga when I was a kid, and he still hasn't paid me back."

Jiang Xiao looked at the small figure in his arms. Origin Data quickly scanned the surroundings, and he simultaneously took out a nutrient paste and put it into the little one's thin lips.

He glanced at the cramped space, his gaze lingering on the small pool of congealed blood in the corner before looking back at the little girl curled instinctively in his arms.

Little girl?

No, where was the heroic and imposing female champion he remembered?

Why did she look like a little loli less than 1.6 meters tall, and a white-haired, red-eyed little loli at that!

Is this how they test cadres??

"If my life were a novel, it would definitely be written by a Kyushu author..." Jiang Xiao muttered, carefully adjusting his position and using a princess carry to make Xi Guang more comfortable.

He casually sent out a search query.

[Xi Guang Arsophie (Cosmic High Pan-Human, 100% Silver Elf)]

[Level: Tier 2 Elite]

[Talent Value (Dual Talent): 6.34 (Foundation Damaged)]

[Source Energy Intensity: 54 (76)]

[Spirit Energy Intensity: 52 (87)]

[Note: At 132 years old, she is considered a minor among the Silver Elves (average coming-of-age assessment is 160 years old). Please game legally...]

A High Pan-Human, good heavens. Even with a damaged foundation, her Talent Value is 6.34?

In her prime, she was probably invincible at Tier 2.

Jiang Xiao's admiring expression froze on his face as he finished reading.

What the heck, Endless System? What do you mean by that?

Say that again, looking me in the eye!

Does it think I have evil intentions just because it gave me a prompt? If I were that kind of person, I could have cloned any form of unintelligent creature on the Doran with a bit of money back then!

No, no, no, the captain of the Doran would have beaten me up for that.

Jiang Xiao's eyes widened, and he felt a deep malice from the Endless System's rare prompt.

But he quickly pushed those thoughts aside, watching Xi Guang's little ears twitch and her eyes remain closed, feeling a bit confused.

What was the Spark Gang thinking, placing the entire burden of Pan-Human survival on Prison Star onto Xi Guang?

Li Yuan and Xi Ling didn't seem like the type of people to do that. Could it be that they didn't know that over a hundred years old is still a child for a Silver Elf?

That possibility was quite high. As for Xi Ling and Xi Guang being of the same race, they would definitely know, right?

Don't forget, Xi Ling only has 5% Silver Elf genes.

Jiang Xiao surmised that Xi Guang had granted Xi Ling her power, and Xi Ling, in gratitude, had changed her name. It wasn't uncommon for a higher-tier race to bestow power upon a lower-tier member of the same race, with the latter pledging loyalty in return.

This event was also recorded on the Doran.

"I hope it's not the Spark Gang deliberately using Xi Guang to take on this responsibility," Jiang Xiao mused.

If that were the case, he would have to question whether this uprising was truly for their kin.

This wasn't a matter of how many years one had lived; the Doran's database recorded that the Pan-Human civilization's calculation of adulthood wasn't based on years or physiology.

Instead, it was determined by a combination of mentality, various physiological aspects, culture, and the average age of the ethnic group.

In other words, Xi Guang's mentality and cultural age should be equivalent to a normal human of fifteen or sixteen years old!

Furthermore, there was a significant question: why was she sent to Prison Star?

Only the elite members of high-tier Cosmic races, from established mid-tier civilizations, possessed such a life status. They often enjoyed a certain degree of legal immunity within the Galaxy.

At the very least, the laws that would sentence someone to a frontier prison star should be entirely exempt for them. Even if a trial were necessary, it would be conducted internally by their own human race, not by the Interstellar Alliance.

The Interstellar Alliance, in essence, was a United Nations with greater power and armed forces; it lacked the jurisdiction to directly try the elites of mid-to-high-tier civilizations.

"Enough, let's head back for now."

Jiang Xiao slowly channeled Source Energy to soothe Xi Ling's injuries. The neutral characteristic of the Source Energy contained a certain effect of suppressing the wounds.

Seeing that Xi Ling's wounds had stopped bleeding, Jiang Xiao emerged from the confined space. He cast a wary glance at the sky, and upon seeing that the drone swarm had not yet returned, he immediately sped towards the Yuanjin Black Market.

Carrying a young Pan-Human girl in his arms, he wished to avoid any conflict with the aliens.

Leaving the Kasar Street Block was remarkably simple. Jiang Xiao moved like a ghost through layers of security, reaching the outer cordon within five minutes.

He crossed the area, riddled with alarm devices, without incident, feeling a slight sense of relief.

Shortly after he entered an alley across the street, the Sin City Council troops from the Outer 8 Building began to withdraw, returning to the Kasar Street Block in batches.

"Damn it, how did he escape again!"

In the underground space, the newly appointed hall master of the Viper Race smashed the wall with a punch, enraged. "If we can't catch him, are we supposed to hide here like rats?"

"We can only request reinforcements. I didn't expect the Spark Gang to find such an expert. Fortunately, he's only a sniper; his close-combat skills must be weak," the hall master of the Blade Armor Gang said grimly. He then looked at the Tier 2 elite from the Sin City Council. "Give us another three thousand sets of equipment and gear, and we'll arrange for our elite gang members to establish a base in the high-rise buildings across the street."

The Tier 2 elite from the Council frowned, staring intently into the other's eyes.

After a moment, it nodded slightly and left the room.

"I say, don't push your luck too hard with the extortion, or you'll end up on that octopus-headed guy's blacklist," the Dragon Fang Gang elite chuckled.

The Viper Gang elite scoffed. "Hmph, this much supplies is nothing to the Sin City Council. What's wrong with taking a little?"

Around a corner outside the underground space, the Tier 2 elite martial artist from the Sin City Council calmly reported the situation.

"Yes, Chairman. This is the specific development. The three major gangs are demanding another five thousand sets of equipment, and they will dispatch more gang members to provide support.

Yes, I understand. Please rest assured, Chairman.

I'm watching closely. Xi Guang will absolutely not escape the Kasar Street Block, or I'll present my head!"

Chapter 33: Awakening and Request

In the Mechanical Workshop, the dim light flickered slightly. Jiang Xiao carefully placed Xi Ling on a reclining chair next to the workbench.

The girl's pale face had gradually regained some color due to the replenishment of nutrient solutions.

Looking at the blood scabs on Xi Ling's combat suit, Jiang Xiao immediately activated the Origin Data stream and quickly scanned her entire body.

He then breathed a sigh of relief.

Xi Ling indeed had quite a few wounds, but after injecting a few nutrient solutions, her depleted Source Energy had recovered somewhat, at least enough to suppress most of the injuries and prevent them from worsening!

The other more serious wounds were all concentrated on her back, appearing to be tearing wounds caused by some kind of power, but they hadn't damaged her bones or internal organs.

After scanning Xi Ling's internal organs again and confirming there was no damage, Jiang Xiao took out two bottles of external wound spray and a hemostatic spray. He helped Xi Ling sit up, unzipped her combat suit from the back, and began to treat her wounds.

Jiang Xiao was quite skilled at emergency external wound treatment.

The reason? He learned it on the Doran.

Honestly, Xi Ling's injuries weren't that severe. Her current weakness was likely due to being trapped in the Kasar Street Block and unable to get resource replenishment.

Without food and medicine, even ordinary external wounds could be fatal.

After quickly treating the wounds, Jiang Xiao had Xi Ling lie on her side. His gaze involuntarily paused on her silvery-white hair.

During the Origin Data scan earlier, Xi Ling's long hair seemed to have extremely strong energy conductivity and considerable toughness.

'Never mind, it doesn't seem right to secretly pluck someone's hair in this situation.'

Jiang Xiao withdrew his gaze and reached into his upper pocket, intending to use his Sin City terminal to notify the Spark Gang.

As he pulled out the item from his pocket, he found a severely cracked terminal in his hand, emitting a faint smell of burnt material.