Chapter Twenty-Three: The Fully Automated "Terra" Mecha!

The collapsed mountain peak sent rocks tumbling down as dust filled the sky, blotting out the sun. At that moment, the formation’s patterns were shattered. Jiang Taichu didn’t hurry forward; instead, he retrieved the remaining three mechs. Checking their backpacks, he found them all empty. Though the mechs were battered, they should be enough to compensate for his losses this time.

His own mech was just as ruined, but fortunately, the oxygen supply, water filtration, burrowing, and flight systems were intact. As for defense, the spirit particle radar, and the databank, all were unusable. He tried activating the particle gathering formation—only to discover it was also damaged. In other words, if his energy was depleted, he would have neither oxygen nor water.

Inspecting the three mechs, he found two in similar condition to his own, while the last one was in worse shape—its burrowing and flight systems completely destroyed.

As the dust gradually cleared, it revealed the ruined mountain peak, its formation sigils dim and many damaged. The great seal was dull, its luster vanished. Jiang Taichu waited a little longer, making sure all was calm before stepping into the mountain’s heart. First, he poked the seal with his gun barrel; finding no reaction, he reached out his hand.

A sharp beeping sounded just as he was about to pull back, and a cold, mechanical voice spoke: “Scanning… Blue Star life form… Verification complete. Fully automated ‘Terra-95’ mech, now equipping.”

The great seal turned fluid, merging into his body. In the next instant, a golden mech enveloped him completely, a sword slung across his back and a shield embedded in his wrist.

“Terra-95?” Jiang Taichu paused, memories surfacing in his mind. The current Terra mechs had been upgraded to the 132nd generation; this must be a 95th generation model, a truly ancient relic. But that made sense—it had been over a thousand years. This basic mech, equivalent to a first-tier Qi Cultivator, was damaged, but still superior to what he had been wearing.

The spirit particle radar was broken, the particle defense shield destroyed. The databank was ruined, though the scanning system still worked. The particle cannon and the energy cannon were both damaged…

However, the power core, burrowing array, and particle gathering and release systems remained intact. It even had an independent ammunition storage—though, regrettably, it was empty. The Terra Sword and Terra Shield were not only perfectly preserved but of a quality surpassing most magical weapons. The fully automated Terra Spirit, both in seal and battleship mode, was operational!

What astonished him most was that this mech showed not a trace of age; its materials were far superior to those of his own “Mountain Ranger” mech. No doubt, a result of its nurture by the earth’s veins.

“Terra-95 Spirit at your service, esteemed Blue Star life form. Would you like to rename me?” the cold electronic voice sounded.

An automated mech with its own spirit—capable of independent combat!

If this mech were fully restored, it would be tantamount to possessing the power of a true first-tier Qi Cultivator! Outdated as it was, that still meant the might of the first tier.

For now, though, he could not afford repairs—he simply didn’t have the money.

After a moment’s thought, Jiang Taichu decided to use a character from “Taifeng”: “Rename to Little Tai.”

He hoped that one day, he would pilot a mech as mighty as a star fortress.

“Renaming complete. Esteemed Blue Star life form, Terra-95 mech ‘Little Tai’ at your service,” the electronic voice intoned.

Suddenly, the ground trembled as sand and stones flew and the earth split open. From beneath, powerful auras surged forth.

Earth Beasts!

Jiang Taichu’s expression shifted. Channeling energy through his mech, he soared into the air.

A colossal maw burst from the ground where he had just stood, snapping shut with terrible force.

“That ruckus must have drawn the earth beasts. Time to go.” Jiang Taichu quickly flew off into the distance.

Without the spirit particle radar, neither he nor Little Tai had detected the beasts’ approach.

Little Tai’s voice sounded: “Scanning initiated. Low-level life forms… No relevant data. Suggest retrieval for research.”

“Nothing worth researching,” Jiang Taichu replied.

With Little Tai’s databank damaged, there was no information on earth beasts; and if there had been, it likely meant they held no research value.

One after another, earth beasts surfaced, devouring the six corpses whole.

Roars echoed, stirring up clouds of dust and a hail of broken stone.

Jiang Taichu checked Little Tai’s energy reserves—ample, with no need to worry about running out.

“Since I’m already here, why not make a little profit?” Jiang Taichu mused.

With nothing pressing back home and his expenses already spent, he might as well earn some money here.

He refrained from using Little Tai’s energy, piloting the battered Mountain Ranger mech instead. Hovering above, he aimed at an earth beast and squeezed the trigger.

Bang! Bang!

Bullets pierced the beast’s defenses, sending pale yellow blood spraying.

Howling in pain, the earth beast dove into the soil, vanishing underground.

“Hiding its body in the earth—the stone core can’t be shattered. I’ll just have to watch it escape.” Jiang Taichu frowned slightly.

After a brief consideration, he dove down.

With his own defenses, even without Little Tai’s help, the earth beasts could not harm him.

“Enable combat assistance?” Little Tai’s voice inquired.

“Enable,” Jiang Taichu responded.

An earth beast charged at him, gliding over the ground like a fish through water, astonishingly fast.

Its tail swept toward him, but before Jiang Taichu could react, Little Tai transmitted a command: “Activate shield defense, thrust with the sword…”

Jiang Taichu’s heart leapt as the shield on his wrist flared to life, forming a golden barrier that enveloped him like a sphere. At the same moment, the sword was drawn from his back and gripped in his hand, though it was powered by the Mountain Ranger’s energy—he’d paid for it, after all, and didn’t want to waste a drop.

The sword pierced forward, its keen edge sliding effortlessly through the beast’s rocky hide.

The tremendous impact made Jiang Taichu’s body tremble, his feet sinking into the ground.

“Wait, this shield… Little Tai is a fully automated mech—its reaction speed far surpasses both mine and the earth beast’s.”

He instantly realized what had happened.

Little Tai’s response was too quick; as his sword struck, the earth beast’s attack landed simultaneously.

Thus, the shield’s defense was misapplied!

The sword sank deep into flesh. Sensing its power, Jiang Taichu braced his legs and shot forward like a cannonball.

A slash, and ochre blood sprayed, painting him gold.

The earth beast howled, its flesh ripped open, leaving a long gash across the ground. Its stone core shattered under his strike.

From afar, more beasts roared, racing toward him.

Instead of fear, excitement surged in Jiang Taichu. He dashed toward the nearest earth beast.

He no longer tapped his mech’s energy, relying solely on his own strength.

By now, his physical power matched 25% of the mech’s energy—enough to battle these beasts barehanded.

Especially since his defenses surpassed the mech’s itself; he could ignore bullets from a semi-automatic rifle.

These earth beasts, for all their bulk, couldn’t breach his defenses at all.

He crashed into a beast like a savage predator, sword slashing, easily sinking into flesh to open its belly.

Beast blood sprayed, coating him with a sheen of gold.

Another earth beast lunged, massive jaws clamping down on his right leg, but the sound was like metal striking metal, shattering its teeth.

The Sublime Body-Refining Technique circulated, essence surging, blood boiling, every fiber of his being radiating power.

He reversed his grip on the sword and brought it down, driving it through the beast’s skull and pinning it to the ground.

The earth beast thrashed violently as Jiang Taichu, gripping his sword, sliced through its body as if it were tofu.

Its agonized roars echoed as more earth beasts, drawn by the smell of blood, surged toward him.