Chapter 463: Gray Valley
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Shang's recalibration was not done yet. Ye Chong did not have to handle that problem. What he needed to do now was solve another particularly difficult and technical problem - given that he was without any tools, how should he remove a photon processor chip without damaging it?
This was a very hard problem. However, technical problems would hardly trouble Ye Chong for long. What could really stump him were problems that involved people.
This time was no exception.
After destroying two remnant pieces, Ye Chong finally succeeded in extracting the photon processor chip from the third piece of remnant. Ye Chong had used the skeleton tips from the tentacles on Han Jia's back in the process. They were his indispensable tools.
It took Ye Chong quite some time to figure out how to maneuver the flexible tentacles precisely. After days of practicing with the mechanism, he finally got used to maneuvering the tentacles with ease. Ye Chong had a habit - he would always relate anything he knew about with combat.
After extracting the chip, he considered about ways to improve the variety of attacks using the tentacles.
Mu was busy with hacking past a security algorithm that protected the chip. They needed information from this chip. In fact, the best way to get information was to capture the three survivors. However, Ye Chong did not do so, for reasons he did not know himself.
Mu's hacking smoothly progressed. The algorithm was hardly challenging with his superior calculation skills. He was soon able to make a copy of all the information contained in the chip.
"Ye, I know where we are now," Mu interrupted Ye Chong's train of thought.
Ye Chong turned his attention to the mech. "Where? Did you find a star chart?"
"Yes, have a look yourself." Right then, a star chart was projected onto the holographic screen, which showed various planetary objects of different sizes.
"The terrain here is very unique," Ye Chong commented after studying it for quite awhile. The environment displayed in this star chart was unlike any he had seen before.
Planets with a faint red glow in the star chart were inhabited. These planets were surrounded by a dense cloud of gray colored dots. Ye Chong recognized it immediately as the Calamitous Asteroid Belt.
The inhabited planets were all located in the center of the asteroid belt, completely surrounded by asteroids. Ye Chong was intrigued by whoever first discovered the place, to be able to find a place for live to flourish within a place that was known to invite death.
"We are right here." At the edge of the region where the inhabited planets were all gathered, a blue spot glowed, indicating their location.
"How far are we from the nearest planet?" Ye Chong asked. For the moment, their highest priority was to replenish their supplies. Han Jia had no issues, since it was powered by teardrop mineralite. Mu and Shang, however, needed to recharge. Ye Chong also had to perform extensive maintenance work on Han Jia. After so many days of flying in the Calamitous Asteroid Belt, Han Jia was damaged in many places. The asteroid belt was truly as dangerous as its name suggested. Han Jia was an excellent mech, and Ye Chong a competent mech pilot. Mu was also instrumental in warning them of imminent danger. That was they all survived the asteroid belt. Now, however, Han Jia's damages needed to be mended.
"About 18 days of flight," Mu answered after doing his calculations. Han Jia was not equipped to make warp jumps, so they could only stick to normal space flight.
"Anything else?" Ye Chong asked. Any and all information regarding this unfamiliar place would be invaluable.
"Yes. Based on the information in the chip, it seems that the 19 planets and 15 star clusters that were all inhabited and gathered in the center of the asteroid belt is Gray Valley," Mu provided this shocking revelation.
"Gray Valley …' Ye Chong muttered to himself. He had heard of this place since he first found his way to the He Yue Galaxy, but he never expected to arrive in Gray Valley in this manner.
Gray Valley, a symbol of mystery to the most of He Yue Galaxy's inhabitants. Aristocrats were feared everywhere in the galaxy, but here they were miscreants to be punished. Gray Valley residents rarely head out, hence the outside world did not know much about them. If He Yue Galaxy's inhabitants knew so little about them, it was only natural that Ye Chong, the isolated persona that he was, barely knew about them too. The only thing he remembered about Gray Valley was their appearance during the virus disaster, the strong and capable Guang Bei and that underground base of operations.
To think that he was once again thrown into unfamiliar territory! Ye Chong was speechless. After all these years, it looked like he was still wandering from place to place.
"Mu, what's our probability of success in returning the way we came from?" Ye Chong asked.
"According to calculations, less than 3.2 percent." Mu's reply ruled out Ye Chong's plan of going back the way they came from. "There's also something else that's important."
"What is it?"
"Gray Valley is now in a state of emergency, ready for war. They were also attacked by the red-tailed beasts. Therefore, Ye, we must be careful." Mu's warning gave Ye Chong pause.
"They were also attacked by the red-tailed beasts?" Ye Chong asked quickly.
Mu replied, "Yes. The mech squad we encountered earlier is the scouting team from the Xiao Family's 2nd Platoon. Their mission was to search the area for the possibility of small groups of red-tailed beasts infiltrating the place."
"What a mess." Ye Chong was getting a headache. Now that they were in a state of war, it would become difficult for him. Besides, there were the red-tailed beasts to worry about. If the Sang Tribe's Collision mechs were here, he would not be so troubled. However, now that he had lost contact with Sang Pu and the others, he had no choice but to run should he encounter a group of red-tailed beasts.
Long distance travelling in outer space was dull business, but Ye Chong was used to it. He spent time considering his obstacles in the pilot cabin throughout the flight, as per usual.
Ye Chong and Mu's destination was a planet called Henna. This was the closest inhabited planet to them. During the 18 days of flight, Ye Chong encountered a few scouting troops. Fortunately, Mu's holographic scanning system and Han Jia's excellent anti-scanning system allowed them to avoid detection.
The scouting mechs were mostly in squads of 30. Based on the frequency of their encounters with these mechs, Ye Chong and Mu discussed and concluded that planet Henna was probably not in a dire situation, and unlikely to be the frontlines of their battle.
Ye Chong would not wish to rush to the frontlines. All frontlines of any kind of war promised to be life threatening. No matter how strong he was, he would be helpless against the kind of massive death machine that was war.
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"Han Jia needs maintenance." Ye Chong inspected Han Jia and arrived at this conclusion. Many of Han Jia's joints showed minute cracks that would not hamper its performance just yet, but were still nuisances that could lead to disasters. Any strong collisions could make the cracks grow larger.
For now, Ye Chong had no skeletal material at hand, and no maintenance tools. This was an issue for him.
They were now in an abandoned factory on planet Henna. The owner had left the factory, perhaps due to the war. The equipment here were mostly destroyed. There was nothing useful around here.
This was not a problem for Ye Chong though. Having grown up on a trash planet, he had plenty of experience in similar situations. Ye Chong assembled a solar energy converter, after rummaging through the stuff lying around and patching them together. It could convert solar power into a conventional form of energy for charging.
Ye Chong connected the solar energy converter to Mu, and heaved a sigh of relief.
Here in the messy, abandoned factory, Mu stood still as he recharged. The solar energy converter was not very efficient, and Mu would need 36 hours to fully recharge himself. In these 3 hours, Mu would remain quiet and stationary.
Mu and Han Jia stood side by side, while Ye Chong sat on the floor and looked up at the two mechs, and for the moment, was lost in thought.
The rays of sunset reached through the windows into the factory, reflecting off Han Jia's colorful exterior into a dazzling lightshow. Mu's body was almost imperceptibly glowing . The orange sunset dyed the mech into a charismatic palette of orange and yellow. The mech's amputated arm stood out palpably.
Seeing Mu's lost arm reminded Ye Chong of the good amount of coraplatinum he left in that starship in the free space zone. Back then, he had risked himself obtaining the metal, thinking about using it to rebuild Mu's arm. In the end, however, he lost the starship. Perhaps the young boy had taken the ore, or maybe it was still left in the depths of the sea on planet Dankwood. There was now only one Gateway left open to the free space zone, the one controlled by the Xue Lai Clan. The other two Gateways were destroyed.
Ye Chong did not imagine himself having any leverage to ask for the Clan's permission to use the Gateway. He connected with the young boy, but it would be foolish to think that a child could play any part in helping him in this matter. Besides, he had kidnapped the young boy in the first place.
After sorting out his thoughts, Ye Chong felt that the idea was unrealistic and abandoned it.
He stood up to stretch his limbs. Mu would need 30 over hours to finish recharging. Han Jia's maintenance work would have to be delayed for the moment. Without any suitable material or equipment, all the maintenance work he had in mind could not be carried out.
Just then, he heard a noise from outside.