A Visitor from Beyond

The towering mechs had originally been designed to fight giant monsters that could reach dozens of meters in height.

But that didn't mean these giants couldn't deal with smaller monsters. The monsters were evolving, and so were the mechs.

"Notify all ground forces to cease fire immediately and head to the nearest underground shelter to await further orders." General Chen accepted Meng Changkong's suggestion. Clearing out monsters was what mechs excelled at. "Crimson Hurricane, begin clearing all Category II monsters inside the walls. Raider, help the recovery team retrieve Xingtian, then join the battle."

"Xingtian?" Meng Changqing asked in disbelief.

"Understood, General." Before Meng Changqing could say more, Meng Changkong cut his brother off.

"Copy that. We'll get it done!" Raider responded as well.

With Crimson Hurricane and Raider now joining the battle, the crisis would soon be over.

But using towering mechs to clear out smaller monsters inside the walls came at a cost.

Starting with the second-generation mechs, every model had been equipped with small-caliber weapons designed to take on smaller monsters, allowing them to strike these agile creatures with precision.

Far out at sea or in uninhabited areas, the mechs could even unleash their full arsenal in devastating area attacks, wiping out large numbers of these pesky "ants" in a short time.

But in coastal zones or cities, using large monsters to clear out the smaller ones required extreme care. If the mechs unleashed their full firepower, the damage would be incalculable!

That was why, when facing Category II monsters, most forces preferred to send in ground troops with heavy weapons rather than let mechs rampage through cities!

General Chen, however, didn't agree. He had always believed that human lives mattered more than economic losses!

The Xuanse Cangqiong base had a complete defensive wall, with only the hangars and some defensive installations outside it. The rest of its facilities were within the walls.

The base was also a safe distance from Zhenhai City, so that any battle at Xuanse Cangqiong would have as little impact on the city as possible.

"General, an unknown cube has been detected near the coast. It measures fifteen meters long, twelve meters wide, and twenty meters high. No energy emissions or signs of life."

Raider's report drew everyone's attention back to the mysterious black object that had fallen from the sky.

"If it poses no threat, leave it until the battle is over. All units are to maintain a safe distance of two thousand meters from the cube."

Inside the walls, Crimson Hurricane's arms had transformed into rapid-fire electromagnetic cannons, blasting through hordes of Category II monsters.

Any "ants" that tried to climb onto the giant were killed on the spot by the high-voltage current coating its armor!

At the same time, the rain of blue flames filling the sky gradually subsided, which meant the monsters would stop multiplying.

"Disgusting. Once the battle's over, we'll have to clean Crimson Hurricane first!" Meng Changqing frowned and stomped on a dozen Category II monsters trying to flee.

In an instant, thick green fluid coated Crimson Hurricane's feet.

"We may not have time. Leviathan is still firing energy attacks in every direction as we head back. Otherwise, the attack on Xuanse Cangqiong wouldn't have lasted this long." Meng Changkong searched the area within the walls for any remaining monsters, his expression grave.

"So, you're saying we'll have to head somewhere else after this, big brother?"

"Very likely. The number of active mechs has clearly dropped, so there must be places that need our help."

"What if Xuanse Cangqiong gets attacked again?"

"You have us." Raider suddenly appeared from behind Crimson Hurricane and fired its small-caliber cannons at several Category II monsters leaping around. "If Leviathan can launch attacks this way, someone has to stay and guard the base."

"Was that really Xingtian? Who was piloting it? I thought there weren't any other pilots at the base besides the General?" Meng Changqing finally asked what he had wanted to say earlier.

"Did you forget Bai Ying?"

"Who!? How could a half-baked pilot like her operate a mech? Come on, Brother Jun, don't mess with me." Meng Changqing didn't believe Liu Zhenxuan at all.

"Reporting, General. The energy radar shows only eleven Category II monsters remain, hiding inside buildings. Should Raider and Crimson Hurricane withdraw from the battlefield?" Liu Zhenxuan reported the situation first. Only after receiving the order to withdraw did he reply to Meng Changqing, "Why don't you ask the General in a bit and find out for yourself?"

Half an hour later, in the Xuanse Cangqiong hangar.

The battle was over. Aside from those undergoing post-battle maintenance, everyone had gathered here.

Xingtian's still-undried remains and the mysterious cube had both been brought here. A few researchers stood around the black cube, while most of the others gathered in front of Xingtian's body.

Bai Ying lay alone beside Xingtian's cockpit, her expression despondent.

General Chen gave Xingtian a meaningful look, then turned and walked toward the group deep in discussion.

"Well, what have you come up with?"

"I've never seen a material like this, and the precision of its workmanship is beyond anything I can comprehend!" The lead researcher couldn't contain his excitement. He held up the instrument in his hand for General Chen to see. "Look, General. Every face is so perfectly smooth that we can't find a single flaw! Its length, width, and height are all precise to a thousand decimal places!"

"Can you contact the space station and find out where it came from?" General Chen knew the object had fallen from the sky. If anyone had noticed it first, it would have been those stationed up there.

"We already asked. They said it was deployed from Eden."

"Eden..." General Chen stroked his stubble.

He knew it was an experimental unmanned space city that the Star Ring Alliance had sent into near-Earth orbit just two months ago. But because the Watchman Alliance and the Star Ring Alliance had conflicting ideologies, they shared no intelligence.

Calling it a lack of information was putting it mildly. The two alliances were opposed on nearly every front; the fact that they hadn't come to blows was already the best-case scenario.

With Xuanse Cangqiong under attack, Eden had sent something down from orbit. It was hard to tell whether this was a helping hand or a kick while they were down.

"Has their industrial technology really gotten so far ahead of ours?" General Chen put on the gloves the researcher offered him and ran a hand over the cube's smooth surface.

It was exactly as they had described—astonishingly precise.

"Forgive me, General, but as far as I know, the Star Ring Alliance couldn't possibly make something of this caliber." The researcher took a deep breath, as if about to announce something momentous. "With all due respect, I don't think this cube is something humans could have made..."

After the researcher said this, the entire hangar fell into deathly silence.

It wasn't that no one believed him. It was that the only nonhuman beings known to humanity so far were the monsters that had emerged from the sea.

If this object sent down from Eden wasn't man-made either...

Everyone looked at the cube strangely, as though the neat, black rectangular prism were a Pandora's box capable of destroying the world!

Several young men who had been touching the cube backed away several steps in a row.

"You've spent all this time studying a lousy pillar. Why not think about how to repair Xingtian?"

Bai Ying, who had been silent until then, broke the silence in the hangar.

It was the first thing she had said of her own accord since Xingtian had sent her out of its cockpit.

No one knew what she had gone through during that time, or how much she had suffered.

The memories that haunted her like a nightmare played over and over: If only Xingtian could have done this ten years ago...

Even though she had vented her hatred on the old mech like a petulant child, using it for revenge, Xingtian had still saved her.

Whenever she thought of Xingtian's heroic silhouette beneath the setting sun, she could no longer hate it.

Quite a few people looked over at the girl with her head bowed, but no one answered her.

"He's lying right here! Ever since you dragged him back, he's been lying right here!" The girl's emotions grew more and more agitated, like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

"Miss Bai, I think the cube should take priority—"

"Priority?" Bai Ying cut him off. "Every person here owes their life to Xingtian!"

"My life, my brother's life, both Brother Jun's lives—none of us owe them to Xingtian!"

The girl's red eyes fixed on Meng Changqing's blond head.

"Don't expect everyone to humor you, you little lunatic. This isn't the time to hold a memorial for some antique!"

Meng Changqing stared right back at Bai Ying without showing any mercy.

"Silence!"

General Chen's furious shout stopped their heated exchange. "Bai Ying! Go back to your quarters and get some rest!"

"You're the last person who has the right to say that! How can you face Xingtian? If only back then..." Bai Ying shouted, but suddenly choked up, tears welling in her eyes.

General Chen didn't respond. He only stared sternly at Bai Ying, who had lost control of her emotions. No one knew what was going through the imposing General's mind at that moment.

Just then, a middle-aged man with a weathered face slowly took off his cap and walked over to Xingtian.

"Child, there's no need to repair Xingtian anymore."

He was Xingtian's maintenance technician, Lao Yu. From the moment Xingtian left the factory, he had followed it into battle after battle, stitching up the giant's wounds.

Ten years had passed in the blink of an eye.

He knew things were different now. The best use of the money meant for Xingtian's repairs would be to buy a new mech.

"You've already proven yourself a capable pilot. The Alliance will provide you with a more advanced mech so you can fight across the land."

"No." Tears slid down Bai Ying's face as her body trembled uncontrollably. "No, you don't get to decide!"

In truth, the people gathered around Xingtian couldn't hide the grief on their faces when Bai Ying said those words.

"Lao Yu." After a long silence, General Chen spoke. "Does the base still have any spare parts for Xingtian?"

"We've got a full set, but they're just as old as the parts on Xingtian." Lao Yu smiled bitterly and rubbed at his moist eyes. "They've been sitting in the hangar ever since Xingtian was retired."

"Then bring them out and replace Xingtian's parts. If anything else is missing, make a list and send it to me."

General Chen's words left everyone there stunned!

"General..." Lao Yu's body trembled slightly. "Are you really going to repair Xingtian?"

Everyone knew what that meant.

Xingtian was only an old first-generation mech. Using the budget on Xingtian would be a waste for the cash-strapped Xuanse Cangqiong base.

"Lao Yu, you're one of the people who's been at the base with me the longest. Do you remember how we made it through ten years ago?"

Images of Xingtian flashed through Lao Yu's mind. Back then, people had regarded Xingtian as a hero!

"War takes more than personnel and equipment. It also takes courage, perseverance, and faith." General Chen still remembered the words his commander had spoken to him ten years ago.

"Anyone with those qualities is a hero, whether they're human or a mech." General Chen gazed at Xingtian's massive body, his eyes profound.

"Lao Yu, we need a hero."