Silent Graveyard

Bai Ying was truly the most stubborn person Yu Xiao had ever met.

The journey from Xuanse Cangqiong to the Silent Graveyard took six hours. The last time the two of them had argued, Xingtian had only walked for one hour.

But now, Bai Ying had piloted Xingtian continuously for the remaining five hours!

During that time, Yu Xiao had tried several times to persuade Bai Ying to let him take over, but she hadn't said a word or even glanced at him. She'd just kept trudging along in silence!

Yu Xiao had never been good at coaxing girls in his previous life, much less dealing with a short-tempered girl like Bai Ying.

Before they knew it, they were nearing their destination.

Warm-colored lights gradually grew larger in Xingtian's field of vision, and several enormous cargo ships were moored at a nearby dock.

Within the towering walls, several high towers rose from the ground. Helicopters occasionally took off and landed atop them, like migratory birds pausing to rest on treetops.

Even Bai Ying, who had been wearing a stern expression, couldn't help widening her eyes at the sight. It was her first time visiting the Silent Graveyard, but she had never imagined that a mech graveyard could be so lively!

"Is this place a market or a recycling center...?"

Yu Xiao was also stunned by what he saw. He had assumed this would be a giant dump piled high with scrap metal, but everything in the Silent Graveyard was orderly—and even seemed somewhat prosperous.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Xingtian approached the Silent Graveyard with steady steps. What Bai Ying didn't know was that the people at the port had all run behind the walls as soon as they spotted Xingtian in the distance!

"Stop! Otherwise, we'll open fire immediately!"

Before they even reached the coastal waters, every turret along the shore had already aimed at Xingtian!

Bai Ying stopped at once.

She didn't understand why they were stopping her.

"State your identification number and information, and tell us why you've come here!" The other party's voice over the comms was highly guarded.

"T-001 mech Xingtian, pilot Bai Ying. We're from the Xuanse Cangqiong base of the Gan Kingdom. I'm here to upgrade my mech. Didn't General Chen inform you in advance?"

"..." The other end of the comms fell silent for a moment, apparently verifying the information.

"Your mech's identification code and the pilot information are both problematic. Please wait where you are. We'll confirm everything with Xuanse Cangqiong."

Bai Ying clenched her fists and stared fixedly at the tightly shut gates of the Silent Graveyard.

The problem with the mech's identification code was probably due to Xingtian's system replacement, but the pilot information touched on her most sensitive issue.

Although she had piloted Xingtian in the defense of Xuanse Cangqiong and earned General Chen's permission to become Xingtian's pilot, Xuanse Cangqiong was so busy that it hadn't had time to complete her Tieyu certification.

That meant that once she left Xuanse Cangqiong, no one would recognize her as a Tieyu.

Meng Changqing had called her a "half-baked pilot" because she had never received systematic training at the Tieyu Academy and wasn't even a registered student.

Her piloting skills came entirely from the instruction of the Raider's two pilots and her countless simulator sessions. But compared with what the Tieyu Academy taught, what Bai Ying had learned was only the tip of the iceberg.

During that minute of waiting, Bai Ying felt like a student who'd aced a test but been suspected of cheating, left standing outside the classroom while she waited for the teacher's verdict.

"What measures a pilot isn't their grades, but their record in battle."

Just then, Yu Xiao's voice came from behind Bai Ying.

"As long as you treat the mech you pilot as a partner, you'll definitely become an excellent pilot!"

"Do other mechs have souls too?" Yu Xiao's words had clearly lifted Bai Ying's spirits.

"I don't know." Yu Xiao's eye twitched. He hadn't expected Bai Ying to suddenly ask such a profound question. "But whether they do or not, your mech is the only thing you can rely on in battle."

Bai Ying didn't answer, but she gave a slight nod that no one else could see.

"Information confirmed. You're cleared to enter. Please proceed to Hangar Four and park your mech!"

As they chatted, the Silent Graveyard had finished verifying their information, and the muzzles aimed at Xingtian gradually turned away.

Following a drone's guidance, Bai Ying parked Xingtian on the mech support frame in Hangar Four, then followed her guide alone to take the elevator.

In truth, though, the connection between Yu Xiao and Bai Ying remained. Ever since they had forcibly severed their neural synchronization the previous time, the two had developed a strange but faint "shared sense."

It required no equipment: they could sense each other's presence, and if one of them faced a threat to their life, the other would know immediately.

Still, compared with that faint "shared sense," they both opted for a more convenient method: a communications link.

Bai Ying's communicator was attached to her fair neck. It combined a microphone and receiver, and even came with an emergency pulse function.

Yu Xiao had no intention of shutting down to rest, either. With his new power core installed, he no longer needed auxiliary charging and could keep running at normal output indefinitely.

Even so, he decided to set himself to low-power sleep mode like a normal mech, to avoid making others suspect something was wrong with Xingtian.

"Welcome, welcome! Xiao Bai, come over and have a seat!"

As soon as the elevator doors opened, a middle-aged man in a formal suit and gold-rimmed glasses came up to greet her, warmly patting Bai Ying on the shoulder.

Bai Ying hadn't expected the elevator at the top of the tower to open directly into a reception room. There wasn't even a hallway.

Unlike the steel alloy outside, the entire reception room had been decorated in a slightly retro European style: rosewood display cabinets and furniture, a pure wool carpet that covered half the room, five crystal chandeliers carved to look like candlesticks, and granite flooring polished to a shine.

The entire room was filled with an intoxicating aroma of tea. Even Bai Ying, who didn't drink tea, felt refreshed.

Ever since this planet entered an era of explosive technological growth, every kind of natural material used in this decor had become incredibly expensive on the market!

For Bai Ying, who had grown up surrounded by steel walls, this was something she'd only ever seen in works of art!

"General Chen only called ahead to reserve a set of upgrade parts. He didn't tell me which mech they were for!" The middle-aged man smiled as he picked up a purple clay teapot and poured Bai Ying a cup of tea. "If I'd known they were for Xingtian, I'd have given you at least half off!"

Bai Ying thanked him a beat late, her eyes still curiously taking in everything in the room, as if she were truly standing in the middle of a splendid dream!

"General Chen and I go way back. Before the war began, I invited him to work as a military adviser for my company. But he was devoted to serving his country and turned me down. I've always admired his spirit from the bottom of my heart!"

Holding her teacup, Bai Ying listened to the middle-aged man reminisce, almost as if she could see the scenes from their past unfolding before her.

Several times, she nearly imitated the middle-aged man and took a sip of tea, but her instinctive aversion to tea kept her from doing so.

That didn't stop her from getting absorbed in the stories he told.

On the other end of the communications link, Yu Xiao could already feel his connection with Bai Ying growing hazy, as if she'd completely forgotten he even existed.

Click!

Just then, the lights in the hangar went out completely.