"Come to me"

Night fell, and the wind grew stronger in the darkening forest. As Merlin ventured 3 kilometers deeper into the heart of the Banute Pollution Zone, his mech's onboard map triggered a warning alert. He dismissed the 'Deep Incursion Warning' as his lightsaber dripped with fresh blood.

In the mech's field of vision, a Sharpfang rat, its eyes a bloody red, turned tail and fled towards the outskirts of the Banute contamination zone upon witnessing Merlin slay one of its kind.

[Emergency Notification from the Banute Pollution Zone Management Bureau: A mutated pollution source has appeared within the Pollution Zone. All Mech pilots currently in the deeper areas are advised to evacuate immediately!]

The emergency notification flickered twice before being disrupted by the chaotic magnetic field, turning into a static buzz.

"Pollution source issue, at least A-class mutation."

Merlin: "But the outer regions lack enough Greenwall ore, can't leave yet. Need to check it out."

In the cramped cockpit, he was alone, with no response from the neural tendrils.

After a pause, Merlin's gaze dropped to the black and red necklace hanging around his neck.

The black and red mech necklace fell out from his collar silently with his movement.

Accompanying him was not the S-grade mech 'Abyss' he had been with for years, but a mere ordinary B-grade, devoid of any intelligence, all operations directly commanded by the pilot.

"I forgot, you're not here anymore."

Conversing with an intelligent mech, seemed like a habit etched deep in his memory.

Merlin didn't chase after the fleeing Sharpfang rat; instead, he slightly lifted his right hand.

A slight sour fatigue spread through his nerves, making the hand holding the weapon particularly heavy, the fatigue from piloting the mech coming on faster than that of memory.

But he wasn't at his limit yet.

Perhaps due to the weaker extent of mental output while piloting the mech, in the contamination zone, mutated plants and animals were highly sensitive to mental power. His meager mental power was actually a lucky, generally undetectable to most mutants, the strongest he had encountered so far being the Sharpfang rat.

With the danger temporarily averted, Merlin found a safe spot to disconnect the mental link, rummaged through his backpack in a corner of the cockpit, and methodically injected himself with a syringe. Only after tending to these tasks did he focus on the map routes and contamination levels he had recorded along the way.

The danger in the deeper parts of Banute was greater; from the outermost perimeter to his current position, the contamination threshold had jumped from 1240 to 2310, already surpassing the highest values recorded for the Banute contamination zone. This was abnormal.

Merlin dismissed the notification from the Pollution Zone Management Bureau. His A-class mental power was more than sufficient for piloting a B-class mech, but the strain of his depleted reserves was significant. Factoring in rest periods, his limit in this Pollution Zone was two days.  

Within those two days, he had to at least earn back his investment before leaving.

Merlin glanced deeper into the Banute Pollution Zone, still intent on venturing further.

While the unknown dangers increased the deeper one went, so did the resource abundance. Rare materials like GreenWall Ore were scarce in the outskirts, but nearly every kilometer traversed deeper revealed new veins. Anomalous signs also grew more frequent, with distinct burrowed holes in the ground near energy-rich mineral deposits seen almost everywhere.

A few isolated instances could be dismissed, but these burrow markings multiplied the deeper one went. Areas with more holes had significantly depleted resources as if swept clean by some creature, leaving only chaos behind.

Deep in thought, Merlin suddenly noticed movement in the distance. He immediately retreated, spotting several approaching mechs on his radar along with a dense cluster of red warning signals trailing close behind.

At this moment, an SOS signal requesting contact appeared on Merlin's radar.

Merlin: "...?"

-

Nick had ventured into the deep parts of Banute with friends, eager to test his newly acquired A-grade mech. However, the situation in the Banute contamination zone has been highly unstable recently. Advancing deeper, they encountered multiple attacks, staining their mechs with blood.

Pollution sources high in the zone created magnetic disturbances, affecting mech flight orientation. Coupled with high energy consumption, sustained flight in such disturbed magnetic fields was impossible.

After a harrowing escape from a snarling rat pack, their mechs were significantly drained of energy, clearly unable to proceed further. When they decided to retreat, they were unexpectedly caught by a migrating swarm of Sharpfang rats, with dozens visible at a glance.

Sharpfang rats, rare on the outskirts of the contamination zone and typically hiding deeper within, were seldom seen.  Spotting one or two was already uncommon, but now they faced a horde of dozens!

For their current state, this rat flood was a death sentence.

They activated their thrusters in a desperate attempt to escape, but the rats, as if guided, pursued relentlessly. With their energy depleting rapidly,they had no choice but to send an SOS distress call to the outskirts, hoping the management zone would receive it and dispatch a rescue.

However, it seemed the signal was affected, as there was no response from that end.

Just as they resigned themselves to their plight, an unfamiliar voice suddenly crackled through the distress channel.

"Hey there, what do you need help with?"

The voice was youthful, a beacon of hope for Nick and his friends.

"We've run into a Sharpfang rat swarm, our energy's been drained too much, we need a rescue," Nick replied urgently.

Unfamiliar voice:"How much energy do you have left?"

Nick quickly checked and replied, "Our two B-grade mechs and one A-grade mech have an average of 20% energy left, with about 30% damage to the mechs."

He immediately sent their mech information to the stranger.

20% energy would normally be sufficient, but facing so many Sharpfang rats, it was far from enough. They might run out of energy halfway through the battle.

Once their energy was gone, all they could do was wait for death.

The voice on the distress channel paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating.

Nick glanced at the radar system, noticing an unfamiliar mech appearing far on the radar within the deep zone. Being able to venture solo into the deep zone meant this mech was no ordinary machine. The voice likely belonged to this mech, "We can pay! Money is no object!"

"It's not about payment," the unfamiliar voice responded. "I'm alone."

Nick froze. the stranger was just one person against dozens of Sharpfang rats.

Even with ample energy, they would struggle against so many rats, let alone one person. Was this how they were going to end? 

Once the energy was gone, without protection against the Sharpfang rats' ferocity... 

"You're the only one who responded to our call for help. We're really out of options here."

At that moment, the unfamiliar voice suddenly asked, "How much weapon energy remains?"

Nick blinked. "My energy cannon has 15% left. My friend's lightsaber and electromagnet cannon are still operational."

"That's enough," the voice said. "Come to me."

Hearing this, Nick and his friend didn't hesitate; they immediately sped toward the stranger's mech indicated on the radar map. This acceleration drew the rat swarm faster towards them, closing the distance rapidly, and thunderously breaking through the forest trees.

"Nick, it's too late!"

"Look! There's a high-tier Sharpfang rat among them, it might be beyond B-grade!"

Nick clenched his teeth, spotting through his visor a high-tier Sharpfang rat with a reddish hide among the swarm. It seemed to have locked onto him, charging straight forward with its gaping maw and sharp teeth gleaming coldly, as if ready to pierce through their mechs at any moment.

The most formidable aspect of a Sharpfang rat was its teeth, capable of biting through C-grade metals. In a frenzied state, a high-tier Sharpfang could even penetrate the shell of a B-grade mech.

It was too late to turn around!

Just as the Sharpfang rat was about to leap onto Nick's mech, a blast from an electromagnet cannon came from behind, hitting the rat swarm and causing an instantaneous paralyzing effect.

The electromagnet cannon weapon utilized the core of a B-grade special contaminant, the Thunderbird, as its energy source. The Thunderbird could unleash localized thunder strikes, resulting in an electrocution paralysis effect. The cannon inherited this ability, momentarily paralyzing its targets for a few seconds.

In those precious seconds, Nick and his friends were spared from the rat's assault, quickly swerving into the forest.

Simultaneously, a calm, rational voice came through the distress channel.

"Fly up."