Chapter 1: The Mysterious Mecha Pendant in the Ruins

Located in the wasteland mound of the Forgotten Realms, it is a planet dedicated to accumulating useless trash. With the arrival of the Great Interstellar Migration, the lifestyles of all humans have changed drastically. Because of the constant off-ramping of space technology, humans have discovered one new habitable planet after another, and interstellar development technology has become increasingly sophisticated, which has led to a faster pace of life and a greater focus on individualized needs. However, all this prosperity and progress has also brought about a thorny problem - the rapid increase in garbage.

As the cost of reusing garbage was too high, throwing it away would have a terrible impact on the living environment of the residents, triggering dissatisfaction and complaints from the residents. As a result, various interstellar United States have chosen to transport large amounts of garbage to these designated planets. These planets either had no mining value or were useless planets already mined. Since they were uninhabited, they became ideal places to dispose of garbage.

In the Rubbish Star Mounds, under the gray sky, mountains made of various kinds of garbage piled up rose and fell, so silent that it seemed like a void. There was no trace of life here, and only the cold metal wreckage was emitting a characteristic chill. However, the dust on these metal wrecks hid their former glory, and only the occasional sunlight reflecting light from some fragments could remind people of their former splendor.

Almost everyone thought human beings couldn't exist in this deadly wasteland mound. Because the environment here is too harsh, there is no water or food, and all the conditions humans need to survive in this place are not available. The only thing that is abundant here is - garbage! However, even so, who could conclude that there wouldn't be human figures appearing in this seemingly desperate land?

Matthew looked up at the old point-and-shoot watch on the wall, which he had dug out two years ago from the mountainside of a garbage mountain fifteen kilometers from here. At the time, the watch's point-and-shoot vibrator had been damaged, and it had taken Matthew three full days to repair it, after which it had replaced the much more dilapidated pendulum watch that used to hang on the wall.

It was two forty-two minutes of Oblivion time, and Matthew knew that in another eleven minutes, the temperature outside would reach the most suitable range for going out in a day. This suitable temperature would last until the end of the day at five thirty-eight minutes Oblivion Starfield time. For the rest of the day, it would be either eighty to ninety degrees above zero or eighty to ninety degrees below zero outside.

If he hadn't guessed wrong, yesterday's midnight would have been when the unmanned garbage transport ships of the United States of Starland dumped their waste products. After careful consideration, Matthew decided to go out today and take his chances to see if he could find something new and valuable. There was still enough food in the house for the time being, and many of the Starhill guinea pigs from the last hunt were sitting in the dilapidated freezer, so there was no need to worry about food shortages for at least three days. In addition, there was still a certain amount of organic runny food in the house, which tasted about as bad as pig food, making it hard to swallow. It had been a long time since Matthew had eaten this kind of food.

It was two thirty-three in Oblivion Starfield time, and almost at the last second, Matthew rushed out of the house like a hundred-meter sprint. For him, time was life. The location where this unmanned garbage transport ship dumped the garbage was more than twenty-five minutes away from Matthew's home, which meant that he would need to spend close to fifty minutes to an hour on the road for the round trip, leaving him less than an hour and twenty minutes to search for valuable items.

　　Like a running cheetah, Matthew quickly weaved and jumped through the narrow gaps between the hills cluttered with stacks of trash as fast as a gust of wind. Matthew had already had the terrain of this area etched into his brain and muscle memory, and Matthew was confident that he could not go wrong even with his eyes closed.

With the oncoming wind mixed with debris whistling past his ears, Matthew felt the joy of a rare outing and thoughts of the unknown harvest to come. However, while moving at a high speed, he remained vigilant and constantly aware of the conditions around him. Surviving this planet of waste gas meant one had to be ready to fight against various mutated creatures that might appear at any time.

Even though the environment of the garbage planet was highly harsh to humans, for the mutant creatures, it was their paradise. The garbage here provided them with a rich source of food, and animals like the Starhill guinea pigs ate almost anything the fact that they had no natural enemies, coupled with their strong ability to adapt to the environment, allowed them to thrive on this planet happily.

Matthew's home was located at the bottom of an inconspicuous waste mountain, and Matthew slowly dug out the only road leading outside after spending half a year. Matthew had also laid many traps on this road to keep his home safe.

Running Matthew's speed didn't decrease in the slightest. His legs were full of explosive power, just like a running cheetah, and his movements were susceptible, more like some kind of monster that combined primates and felines. But on this abandoned planet, at this moment, only Matthew was running alone in the barren wilderness; at this moment, Matthew was very much enjoying this solitude and freedom.

　Matthew's legs muscles tightened, and he suddenly launched himself into the air. When the rising potential energy was about to be exhausted, Matthew grabbed a titanium metal pole in the air. The whole body flexibly rolled and swung in the air as if it were a gymnastic champion, and after a few high-energy degrees flips, Matthew's feet steadily landed on the top of the garbage mountain.

Matthew stood atop the mountain, rubbing his right thumb against a black and inconspicuous metal wristband on his left wrist, softly droning, "Wendy."

A black-gray mech appeared in front of Matthew's eyes. He muttered to himself out of habit, "I hope when I get lucky this time, I find I pick up a Cerebral Wave Controller just for the hell of it; voice control is so inconvenient." Matthew grumbled with a flip and jumped into the cockpit.

The Wendy was a humanoid mech that stood about eight meters tall. Its thick, heavy armor body, arms, and legs made Wendy look slightly clumsy, and its bare head made it look stupid. The surface of Wendy's armor is dull, the original special paint is already splotchy, and the sharp barbs protruding from the rounded and worn shoulder and knee guards reveal a bit of viciousness. Wendy's body was covered with various claw marks, dent marks, and a few dents and penetrating ragged holes that looked alarming. However, it had received excellent maintenance, and the entire surface of the mech was spotless, which was enough to show the depth of love and care that Matthew had given it.

If he hadn't owned the mech with Wendy, Matthew would probably have died long ago on this exhausting planet. Matthew was convinced that if he didn't pilot the mech, he would never be able to withstand the attack of more than two Starhill guinea pigs. However, the Starhill guinea pig was a swarming creature, and they never came out with less than eight of them. On this planet, weakness was the original sin. The natural rules of survival of the fittest and survival of the strongest are manifested to the fullest.

In addition to the "Wendy" mech, one person had to be mentioned: Matthew's godfather. Matthew only knows that his godfather's name is William, but he doesn't know anything about his godfather's past. According to the godfather, originally abandoned planet on the only person, he thought the universe might only live here. Still, one day, the godfather suddenly found Matthew, except for the card on the body of the two words written "Matthew" and nothing else. This is the story of the dry and uninteresting encounter between the godfather and Matthew. As for how the godfather came to this abandoned planet and what he used to do, he never told Matthew; Matthew is also too lazy to ask.

This mech was something that godfather had found in a vast pile of garbage. It was initially an ordinary civilian-type mech, and after some sewing and modification on his part, it had long since changed its face. According to Godfather, in the outside United Galactic Union, mechs are a necessity of life, one for each hand, just like the ancient times when humans used cell phones; every once in a while, a few new versions would come out, and the old ones would be eliminated, and even on this planet entire of garbage, trying to find one or two of them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it would be tough.

Under his godfather's intentional teaching and training, Matthew became interested in mechs. The godfather was even more devoted to him, and the two of them often gathered around the old and shabby light brain at home to discuss with a very high content of mom. This mech was named "Wendy" according to the description of the godfather, "Wendy" is a very classic old mech, just like the ancient beetle car.

Matthew had an innate talent for piloting light armor, unlike his godfather's technical side. Therefore, "Wendy" has always been driven by Matthew. Godfather said that if Matthew had not lived on this abandoned planet, he might have become a great mecha master.

Matthew encountered hundreds of Starhill guinea pigs during a battle and almost lost his life. Since then, Matthew has begun to work consciously on his real-world combat skills and physique. Since he first ate freshly grilled rat meat skewers, Matthew couldn't muster the slightest interest in the runny food that came out of the food machine, which looked like pig food.

The long, brutal, and harsh battles made Matthew a mighty hunter. On this planet, except for a few terrifying, ferocious creatures that Matthew did not dare to touch, other creatures no longer pose a threat to Matthew.

Unfortunately, the "Wendy" is too broken. Even after modification and reasonable maintenance, because of the lack of suitable core components and a mech operating room with precision machining, "Wendy" strength has been played to 120%. The most fatal thing is that the light brain of "Wendy" is just like the Dos system in ancient times; it is too backward.

　Although Godfather has good mech maintenance technology and years of experience, the light brain side can not rely on maintenance skills to make up for it.

Godfather had said, "The power source of any mech lies in the engine, as if it were the heart of a living organism, while the intelligent core of the mech, the light brain, is like the soul that controls everything."

Due to the backwardness of the optical brain, Matthew was now a bit uncomfortable controlling the mech and felt that his power was limited by the "Wendy."

"The part that Wendy was most proud of was its electronic eye. When Matthew retrieved it and asked his godfather about it, even the knowledgeable godfather knew nothing about this model. He could only speculate that it might be a new model introduced in recent years. After all, Godfather has been stranded on this abandoned planet for dozens of years and knows nothing about the technological progress of the outside world, and the current development speed of human mecha technology is often far beyond our imagination.

Because of this pair of more advanced electronic eyes, Matthew has escaped from dangerous battles several times.

Even though Wendy was old, until a new mech was found, it was still the only thing Matthew relied on, even if it had already reached retirement age.

Under Matthew's precise control, Wendy's speed was adjusted to seventy percent of its maximum speed to maintain a high speed without being too much of a burden, which could prevent the mech's parts from being damaged.

After a journey full of thrills but ultimately safe, Matthew successfully arrived at the intended target location. As far as the eye could see, there were endless piles of garbage. However, a few areas were fresher than the surroundings, and this was exactly where Matthew's focus was for this exploration.

"Commence scanning!" The commanding voice from Wendy was smooth and subdued, with a hint of age. Although Matthew was a little helpless inside, he knew deep down that this was a fact that could not be changed. His sharp gaze swept around, alert for possible threats. It would suspend all other functions whenever Wendy activated the electronic eye for holographic scanning. At this moment, Matthew had to be fully focused and rely on his strength to ensure safety.

While vigilantly observing the surroundings, keeping an eye out for any mutant creatures that might be hiding, Matthew muttered to himself, "Old buddy, you have to be more powerful today; I haven't made any discoveries in a long time! You've got to hang in there ... we'll make it ..." said Matthew, who couldn't help but hum a little song softly. On this barren garbage star, there was no one else but himself. The long period of loneliness made Matthew unsure if he could maintain his language ability if he didn't speak for a long time. Therefore, talking to himself became a way to eliminate his loneliness and maintain his language habits.

Even though Matthew looked calm and unperturbed on his face, his slightly tense body revealed his inner tension and wariness. When the "Scanning complete!" sounded, it was simply the most beautiful music to Matthew. He exhaled deeply, feeling that the weight on his shoulders was instantly much lighter.

"Enter alert mode!" Matthew quickly issued a command to Winnie, and then he fully focused on the scanning image presented by the light brain. Several bright red spots stood out in the image, and excitement surged through Matthew's heart. It seemed that this time, he would finally not return empty-handed.

Standing on the abandoned pile of garbage, Matthew touched his head somewhat helplessly, looking at the unproductive pile of garbage in front of him with some disillusionment.

"What bad luck!" He couldn't help but wail; his original anticipation and excitement had dissipated. He searched around these ruins, but there were all useless and broken things everywhere he went. Now, there was only a small, seemingly insignificant garbage left that hadn't been rummaged through. Matthew looked at the insignificant pile of waste and couldn't help but feel a trace of helplessness in his heart. What treasure could be hidden in such a small pile of garbage? However, he was not willing to give up, and the persistence of "it is better to kill a thousand by mistake than to let one go" in his heart drove him to plunge into the sea of garbage again. He took a deep breath, ready to start the final search, hoping to find a ray of hope in this barren.

Matthew leaned back wearily in his worn chair, chewing on freshly roasted rat meat in his mouth, while in his hand, he played with his only find of the day in this wasteland.

The object looked like a metal pendant covered in a dull metallic color. It was extremely small, only about the width of three fingernails side by side, and its overall shape was rounded, but its edges were decorated with a circle of unusually sharp curved blades. These blades were carved with intricate and indistinguishable patterns, which looked like random graffiti and seemed to imply some esoteric arrangement. However, this pendant was not complete; one of its corners was broken, and there were several noticeable break marks on the blades, so it was a flawed artifact.

Matthew scrutinized the pendant and whispered, "What the hell is this contraption? The material is so peculiar!" Curiously, he lightly touched those curved blades with his thumb but was unexpectedly cut with a slit, and blood instantly seeped out. However, something shocking happened! The bladed pieces unexpectedly acted as if they had come to life, quickly absorbing the oozing beads of blood into a clean slate.

"Heavens! Is this a metal that sucks blood?" Matthew's eyes widened in shock. He was sure that his fingers had just touched hard metal, but this scene now made him doubt his judgment. However, something even more bizarre was yet to come.

When the pendant had sucked its fill of blood, it suddenly emitted a subtle buzzing sound. Immediately afterward, those curved blades quickly contracted into the interior of the pendant as if they were under some command. On the other hand, the pendant's surface began to change, and those originally static patterns seemed to have been injected with life. They began to wiggle slowly as if a mysterious totem was being activated. The entire pendant was like a machine sleeping for a long time, suddenly awakening under the trigger of Matthew's blood.

Matthew watched all of this happen dumbfounded; his brain was confused, completely unable to comprehend this bizarre scene. Suddenly, a voice resounded in his mind without warning, "Dual quantum verification passed, brainwave synchronization reached, and the target has been locked without error!"

This sudden voice instantly brought Matthew back from his shock. He jumped up sharply, looked around nervously, and bellowed, "Who's talking? Come out quickly!" His eyes were as sharp as a falcon's, vigilantly scanning every corner around him while his hand subconsciously touched the dagger strapped to his leg.

However, the voice didn't seem to have any malicious intent. Instead, it carried a hint of doubt, "Are you sure you want to do this?