Can Ci Pin/Imperfections(残次品)BL by Priest

Chapter 42

Bixing Lu had just jumped down from the mech platform when he heard a strange sound. By the time he turned around, it was too late.

He was only about eight hundred meters from the nearest mech, but he didn't have a human-shaped mech core which could turn the base upside down. All he had on him was a curved spatula!

Meanwhile, on the mech platform, Jingshu Huang had just stumblingly connected to the mental network. The compatibility level barely reached 53%, and the tenuous mind-mech link seemed as fragile as gossamer. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to calm down, and struggled to adapt to the mech's point of view. Unfamiliar as she was, the scene showing up before her nearly scared her into breaking the connection.

Since Bixing Lu and the rest started stirring the pot, the idlers in the base had all gathered outside the mech station to watch the drama. They proceeded to bear witness to this accident as well, unleashing a cacophony of screams and yells. A traumatized former Self-Defense Force member grabbed the railing. "I've already said that mechs can't be operated by normal people! Why didn't you believe it?!"

Bixing Lu had no time to acknowledge him. Turning and running towards the nearest mech, he clicked open base access, trying to force the accelerating rail to close.

Despite braking, the tiny amount of friction was far from sufficient to overcome the high inertia of the mech. Thundering, the accelerating rail changed its direction. It arched upwards as much as possible, narrowly dodging the coolant tower and suspended power station. Macabre sparks jumped out from its points of contact with the surrounding structures.

Eight hundred meters – even the world record for sprinting that distance unassisted was nearly one and half minutes, long enough for a mech to burst out through the thin artificial atmosphere of the base.

Bixing Lu opened the contact station remotely, yelling at the pilot who lost control, "Hold on to your mental network!"

Unfortunately, the pilot had already lost consciousness under the strong stimulation. He was frothing so much at the mouth that it seemed liable to choke him to death. The mind-mech compatibility swiftly dropped below 50%, and the mental network connection simply broke.

The closed accelerating rail could not cool down, and was unmistakably overheated – alerts were screaming across the whole mech station.

What was worse was that at the same time, other mechs connected by the inner net and contact station saw what was happening on the ground. Panic rapidly spread to the sky. Some of the pilots had never passed the basic mental resilience requirement in the first place – many of their compatibility levels started fluctuating along to the events on the ground.

In the blink of an eye, there were already three or four pilots who had broken off from their mental network connections. The freshly-formed defensive net looked like it was going to fall apart at any moment, while panic kept spreading –

Monoeye Hawk cursed, "You can't force sludge up a wall!" He sunk his consciousness into the mental network, trying to fill the gap. However, he was already preoccupied with eight mechs. As his burden unceasingly increased, he started to show signs of mental power overload. However, the mental network of a small mech did not have Zhanlu's broad coverage. Even if he forced his mental power over its limit, he could only deal with localised problems within a short range.

Suddenly, Saturday's voice sounded from the contact inner net.

"Let me handle it!" Saturday said.

Monoeye Hawk felt like even his gums were oozing blood, tasting iron every time he opened his mouth. "Are you sure you can?"

"There's no other choice!" Saturday said.

Holiday roared hoarsely in his carrying voice, "Mom!"

Monoeye Hawk had finally seen it all. "What kind of prayer for luck is that supposed to be?"

During the construction of the mech's defensive net, Bixing Lu had taken emergencies into consideration. First, he counted the number of experienced pilots and distributed them according to their mental network coverage. If anyone fell offline, someone nearby could hold that part of mental network. After listening to his blabbering, Monoeye Hawk thought that it was bullshit. Those so-called "experienced" pilots were on the same level as the members of the patrol team they met when they first came to the base. They ought to thank God for not losing the connection themselves, let alone be counted on to help others!

Who would have known that so many problems would crop up before the construction of the defensive net was finished? They actually had to use the plan!

On the ground, the accelerating rail had already been pushed to its limit. Bixing Lu spotted Jingshu Huang's parked mech outside the rail from the corner of his eye. "Little Huang!"