Chapter 469: Experiment Unit
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Hold it right there." A voice coming from a middle-aged plump man stopped Ye Chong, .
It was the top leader of the recruitment, Mr. Powell.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Powell, slightly displeased, when he apparently overheard the exchange between Number 231 and the staff, in which Number 231 was making his withdrawal from the recruitment drive.
If it was not of all timings, Powell just so happened to be walking by the test area while spotting that drowsy-looking boy making such comment he would not have run all his way to the boy. The boy had given him an epic fighting scene, nearly unforgettable in his mind, in which those afterimages danced to crosses as the sounds of raiding punches and kicks came raining like a storm. To be frank, Ye Chong had technically drained every last ounce of vitality of Taylor in that battle. So Taylor had to call it a day early, while requesting a new examiner to take over. Powell asked Taylor's opinion in the following moves and Taylor's replies were rather shocking. In his gasping words, Taylor illustrated his losing fight with this boy, on how he was just barely holding the giant's step which he would never have a chance to overcome the whole time.
Well, Powell had zero knowledge on combats but he felt he had gotten a fish on the hook, a large one too!
So Powell came all the way to check Number 231 out, but never he once expected that this Number 231 was going to leave for good. He got to do something to stop Number 231.
He listened to his staff to get a grip on the situation.
"He has no mech?" Powell flinched, that was never part of his prediction. A pilot with no mech? It sounded as far-fetched as finding lights in black hole, or picking blues from the red-tailed beasts.
"Just a moment, young man." He would not let Ye Chong go just yet, "We do... have a few new units in the storage... Mhm, and by that I meant the close-combat model," he muttered, in suggestive tone to his staff.
"Yes sir but... the newest close-combat model contains only the experiment unit. Other than that we only had a few ranged models and a handful of abandoned units," replied the staff.
"An experiment unit?" Powell frowned.
"Yes sir, it's been there... for 5 to 6 years. Part of the failed experiment... I heard...," replied the staff sluggishly.
A product of a failed experiment? Powell finally understood the situation, of how this experiment unit ended up at his storage. The consortium liked experimenting modification and creation of all sorts of mech, which resulted in an enormous amount of experiment failures that ended up in the storage for the rest of all eternity.
"Well, are you willing to try? We could only offer you this mech." Said Powell, with little hesitation. That was the only thing he could say anyway, he had already lost faith in the situation, like which insane fellow would agree on piloting an failed produ-
"Okay." Ye Chong actually nodded at the offer.
Ye Chong felt it was at least a mech to work things on. It was not like he would be lose anything for piloting a mech with issues. So, why not?
"Okay?" Powell was confused, but later his eyes lustered with impression, "Okay. He'll lead you to the storage for the unit."
And there Ye Chong was, at the storage which looked spacious with only a few mechs standing by the piles of parts.
"If you are wondering about the space, well, the storage used to be full. Thanks to the war, the frontline demands all sorts of resources they could use, so most of the mechs in the storage had been sent there and we are only left with these few experiment units," said the staff, who led Ye Chong to the corner.
"And among them, this is the only close-combat model. You can try it now." The staff pointed at one mech covered in dust.
The mech had been spending the last 5 years with the dust. It was at a horrible location to be noticed and nobody liked to have their duty roster at the storage. When Ye Chong first saw the mech, he had only perceived a giant lump of dust. The working staff did not intend to even approach the dusty history an inch closer.
Ye Chong did not mind however, as he had spent probably his younger days at the filthiest, terrifying entire globe of trash before. The dusty history was just something normal.
He placed his hand over the mech, as if giving a new life, he forcibly swiped over the surface, the dust of the ancient danced in the air under the dim lamp.
The working staff had already retreated himself. He needed not to watch the young man, not like there was anything worth to keep an eye on in the storage.
The identity of the mech had finally been restored as the dust took off.
It was a mech with black and white stripes, yet without the usual metallic glow of the mechs out there. It was something different from what Ye Chong had encountered in the past. It exuded some kind of classiness not very attention-seeking to his sense. Most humanoid units would have a balanced proportion across the limbs and the main body. However this mech was having an inflated set of limbs, just like someone who overtrained the arms and legs and missing out the body. There was a tiny V-shaped shield on the arm and that was the only thing considerably as "weapon" on its entire body.
Ye Chong, as a mech mod technician, was absolutely interested in freakish mechs like this.
He uncovered the cabin, in which he saw a triangular control panel - a design again different from what he used to see, likewise the button layout.
Ye Chong could not help but to boot the tutorial from the processor, so he could have an idea on how to move the limbs at least.
It took Ye Chong about an hour to have a rough idea on how to make the basic moves and also the reason why no one who would be interested of even touching this freak for the past 5 years.
It was a unique mech. Ye Chong had witnessed and also created countless strange mechs but this one was truly unique.
This mech was a close-combat model, precisely, a close-combat model on land*, purely for combats on land. Its lack of versatility had determined its doomed fate of being part of the storage since its creation.
There was only one thrusting engine for really basic aerial mobility. Again, it was a thrusting engine, so what it did best was probably only thrusting, it would not turn as flexibly as one imagined. So the aerial mobility was a jetpack mobility, which had determined the fact that it would never fight in the air since anyone even from the flea market knew an aerial battle required mobility and dexterity.
But well, this mech was not as useless in Ye Chong's eyes.
As long as it was deployed at the right place, it would go well.
Ye Chong thought to himself.
The secondary engines were installed on the limbs of the mech, which gave horrendous strength to those arms and legs. Technically, Ye Chong imagined the mech to accelerate using the explosive sprinting ability. Those secondary engines were not for acceleration but a form of strength reinforcement. Unlike most mechs, this design was rather humane, to an extent that it also required a point to exert the momentum like how humans ran on ground for example, but that was a big no-no to most pilots who desired the elegant turns in the air.
So to accommodate such unique battle style, the designer also gave an overhaul to the control panel which turned out to be a horror to most pilots. It was so revolutionary that no pilot would stay upon opening the cabin.
That was why, the mech had been living with the dirt, at the darkest corner of the storage.
Nevertheless, Ye Chong saw that outstanding luster in this mech. The designer must be a great Maverick, Ye Chong could see this from the programming of the processor itself, especially when calculating the gravitational force balancing, in which Ye Chong believed to be the best he had seen so far. Generally, the processor would calculate the center of gravity of the mech on every action while producing the appropriate recalibration coping with the changes. This mech provided the most motion stability among all units Ye Chong had deployed so far.
The strength of the limbs was a plus when engaging a close-combat, which transformed the mech into a total nightmare since it could just strike like Hercules.
And Ye Chong then found a large inventory of gadgets in the storing unit of the mech. Apparently, to maintain its mobility on ground, the mech was not armed with heavy weaponry. Instead it went with the gadgets.
There were parrying spears, laser swords, shurikens, blade underfoot, arm guard, springing knife on knees, elbow thrust...
This mech was literally a humanoid weaponry. Ye Chong was amazed by the design, as all these gadgets were hidden perfectly across the entire body. The designer was a genius, or probably a lunatic, a super lunatic!
The pilot of this mech had to have a certain degree of foundation on martial arts, especially the appropriate method to exert strength so one could maximize the mech's speed on foot. It sounded like Ye Chong, who was blessed with September Lan's techniques and martial arts experience. To be honest, the mech looked like a larger version of the Guardian.
Well, the only problem left would be this odd control panel.
He had grown onto the traditional designs and it would take a considerable amount of time before he got familiar on this bizarre interface. And it would be horrible if he pressed the wrong button when he thought he knew what he was doing in combat.
Habit was something that killed adaptability and probably himself!
Ye Chong, who was left with no option, eventually started practicing on this mech. At least he was not resistant to the bizarreness of the mech since he had been piloting all kinds of mechs over the years.
The storage was shaking as there was a bulky mech jumping and skipping, crashing into racks around, like a newborn to his steps.