Chapter Two: Piloting a Mech Enhances My Abilities!
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Dawn had yet to break.
“Brother, it’s time to get up for work. Tang Yu and the others are already here.”
The slightly childish voice roused Jiang Taichu from his dreams. In the living room, Tang Yu and Zhang Jing were already seated. A handsome young man with tousled hair handed him a toothbrush—his younger brother, Jiang Taixuan.
“Find some time to get a haircut. Eat breakfast on your own, we’ll head out first,” Jiang Taichu said, taking the toothbrush and brushing his teeth.
After their parents’ deaths, there was still more than two hundred thousand in the account, enough to see him through university. Ordinarily, when employees died in the line of duty, compensation was provided. Yet the Earth Company claimed their parents had died disobeying orders, awarding only a hundred thousand as a gesture of humanitarian compensation.
All matters on Blue Star were governed by the Supreme Array, the “Heavenly Dao.” But on the unclaimed stars, the reach of the “Heavenly Dao” did not extend; whatever happened there was dictated by the company, and ordinary people like them had no recourse.
The family’s remaining funds would be enough for his brother to finish university—provided their shameless uncle didn’t swindle it away. Uncle Jiang Yaoxing had tried to claim the money for safekeeping right after the funeral, but fortunately, his predecessor had not been so naïve as to hand it over.
“I know, but don’t work yourself too hard. Someday, your little brother will take care of you,” Jiang Taixuan grinned.
“Just focus on your studies. You don’t need to worry about me.”
After finishing his teeth, Jiang Taichu called to the others, “Let’s go, time for work.”
The three of them took the psionic elevator downstairs, where the psionic bus was already running.
Earth Company.
A corporation spanning the stars, it held contracts for dozens of planets. It was said the company’s chairman was a retired general who had achieved countless merits in the wars among the stars.
Their headquarters was thirty-three stories tall, but their work was in the basement, where there stood an independent Gate of the Heavens.
The Southern Heavenly Gate projection!
Blue Star possessed four great gates—east, south, west, and north—each corresponding to a star region. With a single thought, one could travel to any planet within Blue Star’s domain.
Companies contracted to manage planets could apply for Heavenly Gate projections.
This day, their assignment was in the southern sector, on Earth Company’s Planet Ten.
At the elevator, a blue light enveloped them and a cold voice intoned, “Soul resonance confirmed. Earth Company employees, please enter.”
The elevator opened and the three stepped inside.
Jiang Taichu breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed his transmigration had gone unnoticed—or perhaps he had fused with the Jiang Taichu of this world, rather than replacing him.
On basement level one, a golden palace awaited. This, too, required soul authentication—only those in the gold-mining division or upper management had access.
Within the palace, sets of pale yellow armor awaited, adorned with intricate patterns forming mountain ranges. In each hand, a firearm.
Mounted on the shoulders were barrels as thick as an infant’s arm—one a miniature personal psionic cannon, the other a psionic particle cannon.
Embedded in the left wrist was a golden shield.
Strapped to the back, a long sword artifact; at the waist, a cloth pouch for storing items, with a ten-cubic-meter capacity.
The “Patrol Mountain” Mech Suit!
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Over a hundred middle-aged men were already donning their Patrol Mountain mech suits. They too were gold-miners for Earth Company.
No three people could hope to mine an entire planet on their own.
Before the suit marked 109, Jiang Taichu pressed his right hand to the armor. A cold voice responded, “Soul recognition successful. Now equipping Patrol Mountain mech suit.”
The armor flowed over him like water, encasing his body.
An invisible visor guarded his eyes.
Inside, an automatic oxygen array ensured he needn’t worry about air—none of them had reached the stage of internal breathing, so oxygen was still necessary.
The three exchanged glances and walked deeper into the palace, to a grand golden portal—the Southern Heavenly Gate!
Before the gate, another round of identification: “Jiang Taichu, Tang Yu, Zhang Jing. Mission: Resource collection on Planet Ten.”
Tang Yu entered first, then Zhang Jing.
Jiang Taichu glanced at the other workers. There was little interaction; he and Tang Yu were new and not yet familiar with the others.
Passing through the Southern Heavenly Gate, his mind was plunged into brief darkness.
The next instant, they stood in a new palace, with an identical Southern Heavenly Gate mirroring the one at Earth Company’s headquarters—a projection.
Employees streamed out, activating their mech suits and soaring into the void, fading into the distance.
Jiang Taichu and his companions departed the palace. Instantly, a map surfaced in his mind, the Patrol Mountain databank guiding them to their destination.
The three were assigned the same region—a gesture of care for the newcomers.
“Let’s go,” Jiang Taichu thought, harnessing the unique psionic particle fluctuations from his energy engine.
A powerful thrust launched him skyward.
The Patrol Mountain suit could soar through the heavens or burrow underground!
But the depths belonged to the native earth beasts—dangerous territory. Their job was to survey the surface; there was seldom need to go below.
The other two followed closely.
Mech data appeared: Current energy output: 5%.
“Adjust output to 1% increments,” Jiang Taichu commanded mentally.
6%.
His speed surged, but he could still handle it.
7%, 8%... 11%.
At 11%, dizziness and nausea overtook him, so he quickly dialed it back to 10%, where he felt better.
He could handle 10% output!
And as he increased it, he left Tang Yu and Zhang Jing far behind.
Suspended in the void, he marveled at the suit’s power—even the most basic model could traverse sky and earth!
Knowledge of the suit flooded his mind: psionic particle gathering arrays, emission arrays, spiritual radar, energy shields…
The mech was a complex assembly of refined arrays and artifact patterns.
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A moment later, the other two caught up. Tang Yu complained, “Why are you so fast? Can your body handle it? I nearly lost my breakfast.”
Zhang Jing grumbled, “I thought your mech was malfunctioning—I was about to call the Heavenly Dao!”
Planet Ten was now under Blue Star’s jurisdiction, and the Heavenly Dao encompassed it. If danger arose, they could contact the Heavenly Dao for help—though how quickly aid would arrive depended on nearby teams.
“I just wanted to try out the acceleration,” Jiang Taichu replied with a smile. “Come on, we’re almost there.”
With a thought, he urged his mech onward, gliding through the air.
Below, mountain ranges stretched across the land, the earth a dull yellow, barren stone hills fading into the endless horizon.
Not a hint of green, not a trace of life.
On Planet Ten, only the native earth beasts could survive. Any other life would perish—unless the Empress Wa herself transformed it into a living world.
The three hovered above a chain of nine stone mountains, slowly descending.
The mountains spanned over sixty miles. Their task was to use the range as a center, exploring outward until, together with other teams, they had surveyed the entire planet.
“We’ll each take twenty miles. Maintain communication at all times,” Jiang Taichu ordered.
The mech contained a communications array—no need to shout.
“Understood. Be careful. If an earth beast appears, run immediately,” Tang Yu warned.
Zhang Jing cursed, “Don’t jinx it! The earth beasts were all cleared out this year—only cubs left. What kind of idiot beast would show up? Get to work.”
The three split up, and Jiang Taichu began his own assignment: “Activate spiritual radar scan.”
A golden light spread from his mech, radiating outward.
This was the Patrol Mountain suit’s psionic particle radar, capable of detecting nearby life forms and shifts in gold or earth-type spiritual particles.
The denser the particles, the more likely treasure was nearby.
If particle readings fluctuated wildly, it likely meant a life form.
The radar’s maximum range was five kilometers; at 10% energy, scanning was unaffected.
Within five kilometers, the psionic particles were steady—no anomalies.
The three quickly began their survey. Suddenly, Jiang Taichu’s eyelid twitched—his suit was showing a change.
6%!
He sensed his internal essence had increased by one percent, his muscles a bit more solid.
He hadn’t yet reached the stage of Qi Training, but the mech’s enhancement manifested as a boost in his vital energy.
“Operating the mech actually speeds up progress? That will make this month much easier,” Jiang Taichu thought with a hint of joy.
Their work on Planet Ten allowed only two days off each month; only then could they leave.
For everything else—eating, sleeping, even relieving themselves—they would remain in their mechs.