Volume One, Chapter 6: Revolt of the Mechanical Rats

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Zhang Wei had no interest in what these people intended to do. He sprinted all the way back to New Wind Mountain.

After taking a glance at the mice that were still undergoing transformation, Zhang Wei sat down once more at the summit.

“Replace equipment.”

He took the Double-Cycle Nuclear Engine out of his mech storage space and selected the replacement option.

There was no need for Zhang Wei to oversee the process. The mech could handle it on its own.

The armor on the mech’s abdomen opened, and the Super Matrix Engine floated out from within its body.

The Double-Cycle Nuclear Engine Zhang Wei had seized was then inserted into the mech.

The entire process took no more than a dozen seconds.

“Ding. Double-Cycle Nuclear Engine installed. Combat power +5.”

“Not bad.”

Zhang Wei patted his abdominal armor in satisfaction and stored the removed Super Matrix Engine back in the mech storage space.

The new engine granted five more points of combat power than the mech’s original engine. Although the increase was not especially large, its power output and endurance were certainly far superior.

Zhang Wei rose and began adapting to the mech’s new power.

Just as he was getting accustomed to it, the entire mountaintop began to tremble.

Zhang Wei felt no surprise. Instead, he remained perfectly calm.

Turning his head, he saw that the mice seemed to have been infused with some mysterious energy. Their mechanization accelerated like lightning, while their bodies swelled at an astonishing rate.

The mice under Zhang Wei’s control were mechanizing, but so were the mice that had escaped him and remained hidden in their tunnels.

The mountain shook, as though the whole earth were trembling before this sudden transformation. The mice concealed inside their burrows grew rapidly, like inflating balloons, ruthlessly pressing against the surrounding rock and producing this astonishing spectacle.

Yet this was not merely a change confined to one mountain.

Across the entire world, the land quaked, the oceans roared, and every living creature underwent tremendous changes in the face of this sudden calamity.

“It’s begun.”

Zhang Wei stood steadily in place, waiting for the tremors at the summit to subside.

Then the mechanically transformed mice seemed to awaken from a deep sleep and opened their eyes one after another.

Their bodies were completely covered in an indestructible layer of steel armor. They looked like mechanical hounds magnified countless times, radiating a cold, metallic menace.

But unlike the mech’s gaze, which shimmered with azure light, the eyes of these mechanical mice glowed crimson, like burning flames.

That crimson hue represented more than the color of their pupils. It reflected their very instincts: bloodlust and a complete lack of intelligence.

“Things driven by nothing but bloodlust dare bare their teeth at me?”

A trace of disdain flashed through Zhang Wei’s eyes, while the blade in his clenched hand gleamed with a chilling radiance.

Facing the mechanical mouse only a few feet away, Zhang Wei moved as swiftly as lightning. His blade flashed, and the clash of steel against steel echoed across the silent mountaintop.

The sparks faded. Before the mechanical mouse could admire this drastically transformed world, it had already collapsed soundlessly to the ground.

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The other mechanical mouse connected to it seemed to sense its companion’s death. Red light flickered in its eyes as it let out a sharp shriek and suddenly sprang upward, pouncing at Zhang Wei like lightning.

Zhang Wei sneered. His shield traced an elegant arc through the night sky and, carrying irresistible force, slammed heavily into the mechanical mouse’s skull.

Amid an ear-grating screech of compressed steel, the mouse’s head was crushed into its abdominal cavity.

Two ordinary source crystals emerged from the two piles of scrap metal left behind by the mechanical mice.

“Collect.”

The source crystals entered Zhang Wei’s mech storage space.

Zhang Wei did not linger. He charged toward the next location. There were still countless mechanical mice waiting to be slaughtered.

One, two, three...

The blade in his hand flashed without pause, and the remains of mechanical mice were scattered everywhere.

Bound by iron chains, the mechanical mice stumbled forward in pairs, throwing themselves at Zhang Wei one after another.

But what awaited them was merciless slaughter.

Half an hour later, only a handful of the densely packed mechanical mice remained.

When Zhang Wei swung his weapon and killed the last one, he finally had time to collect the source crystals scattered among the wreckage.

“Open panel.”

“Absorb source crystals.”

The source crystals stored in Zhang Wei’s mech storage space vanished one after another.

On the panel, his mech’s experience rose rapidly. After twenty source crystals had been consumed:

“Ding. Mech upgraded. Combat power +2.”

“Twenty source crystals.”

Zhang Wei nodded inwardly. This was roughly what he had estimated.

“Continue!”

This time, raising the mech from Level 2 to Level 3 consumed fifty source crystals, which was also within Zhang Wei’s expectations.

However, when he discovered that raising the mech from Level 3 to Level 4 required a hundred source crystals, he was caught off guard.

“That doesn’t seem right.”

“Could it be because these mechanical mice have only just completed their transformation, and the energy within their source crystals is insufficient?”

According to Zhang Wei’s calculations, the number of source crystals required for each level should increase by twenty or thirty.

Yet the actual increase was fifty.

“That won’t be enough.”

Zhang Wei was somewhat troubled.

He had originally thought that more than a thousand source crystals would be enough to raise his mech to Level 10 and allow it to undergo its first evolution. But it was now obvious that they would not suffice.

Sure enough, after every source crystal had been consumed, Zhang Wei’s mech level stopped at Level 8. His combat power had increased by a total of sixteen points, with each level granting two points of combat power—far more than the one point per level provided by a light mech.

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“I’m still short by nearly seven hundred.”

Just as Zhang Wei was considering where he could obtain source crystals quickly, the ground began to rumble. Countless red eyes surrounded him from every direction.

Zhang Wei froze for a moment at the sight of those crimson lights.

What was this?

“The mechanical mice inside the mountain.”

“No, that can’t be right. Are these creatures really this intelligent immediately after mechanization?”

His earlier slaughter had been so exhilarating that Zhang Wei had temporarily forgotten about the mechanical mice hidden within the mountain.

Under normal circumstances, these creatures should have joined the mice he had captured in attacking him, or else fled New Wind Mountain out of fear.

But the behavior of these mechanical mice clearly exceeded Zhang Wei’s expectations.

They had neither rushed at him blindly nor fled. Instead, they had gathered together in an organized fashion and now emerged all at once.

“Could a variant have appeared among them?”

When a living creature undergoes mechanization, there is a chance that a variant will emerge. Variants are individually stronger and possess the ability to command their own kind.

“It must have. Come on!”

Zhang Wei was extremely excited.

Surrounded by countless mechanical mice, he not only refused to retreat but advanced directly toward the surging tide of rodents.

His actions completely ignited the fury of the swarm.

They had him surrounded, yet he still dared to resist?

The swarm erupted.

Countless mice charged forward simultaneously, creating a spectacular scene.

Yet in the face of such overwhelming numbers, Zhang Wei remained exceptionally calm.

With combat power exceeding one hundred, how could he possibly fear these pieces of trash?

An unexpected legendary skill had sent Zhang Wei’s combat power soaring. With his overwhelming advantage, he only hoped that the mice would be a little slower when they eventually fled.

Otherwise, he would not be able to catch them.

In the next instant, Zhang Wei transformed both the battle blade and battle shield in his hands into weapons and abandoned defense entirely.

At this moment, all Zhang Wei needed to do was unleash his wildness and abandon.

What he did not know was that not every mechanical mouse was attacking him. Some of them were busy with entirely different matters.

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