"Follow me." Aina said to Qianlong, feeling a bit surprised herself. The newly joined boy seemed to have a solid mental state, showing little anxiety or panic. If it weren't for his age and the knowledge that he was a novice, one might mistakenly think he was an experienced hand.
Qianlong followed Aina to a Harvester mecha, numbered KC-745.
"From now on, this Harvester will be yours."
"Next, this is your Protective suit. Of course, don't rely too much on this thing; its effectiveness is very limited." Jones spoke up.
Qianlong caught the Protective suit, "Thank you."
He looked at the 15-meter tall Harvester before him. This was the machine he would be working with?
It had the standard mecha appearance but was only equipped with two 150MM Automatic Cannons, loaded with about 20 rounds. Although its firepower was limited, it was comforting in a way.
Additionally, it had four Multi-functional operating mechanical arms, an External fuel tank mounted on the back, and the legs had been modified with Stabilizers and Detection devices, allowing the Harvester to navigate more safely in complex environments.
Seeing that Qianlong had been silent, merely gazing at the Harvester, Aina chose not to say anything further.
Before long, the spaceship emitted a voice announcement.
"Fat Fish Marauder is about to close the hatch, all Harvesters return to your respective machines and prepare."
"It's time to board." Aina said, and she directly climbed the ladder to the cockpit.
Qianlong snapped out of his daze and began to climb up to his Harvester.
Reaching the top, Qianlong squeezed into the cockpit of the Harvester, sitting in the cold pilot's seat, gripping the control sticks. For some reason, he found the cold metallic touch quite pleasant.
As the pilots boarded, the Harvesters powered up, and a pair of eyes lit up.
Qianlong pressed the start button.
"Starting up, identity verification in progress, fingerprint recognition passed, pupil recognition passed, identity: Qianlong."
As the mechanical voice finished, the Harvester's systems began to operate.
Qianlong maneuvered the Harvester to stand up.
At that moment, Jiela's image came through.
"Hello everyone, I am Jiela, the commander of this operation, and I will be in charge of the mission. I will now begin assigning tasks."
"First, Shark, Mushroom, Hound, the three Giant Marauder Ships will fly to the coordinates 425, 658, 745 for hovering, awaiting further orders."
"The Grizzly plunder ship will head to the coordinates 542, 741, 846 for hovering, waiting for commands."
...
A series of preparatory commands were quickly relayed.
When the last spaceship's command was received, Jiela continued, "Thank you for your contributions to Hyberian. Everyone, be careful and set sail."
As her voice fell, the entire hangar began to emit a piercing alert sound.
"Preparing to open the External Flight Port, all hangar staff evacuate the hangar, evacuate to the isolation safety zone."
"Repeat, operations are about to begin, the External Flight Port is about to open, all staff immediately leave the hangar and proceed to the isolation safety zone."
"Countdown initiated, 9, 8... 0"
"Opening External Flight Port."
"Opening Safety Gate."
"Opening Buffer Gate."
"Passage fully opened."
The Fat Fish began to start up, the engines roaring loudly. Even sitting inside the Harvester, Qianlong could hear it clearly. He found it strange how loud it was. But upon reflection, it made sense; the Marauder had long surpassed its design lifespan and had only been refurbished.
The Fat Fish slowly lifted off, then flew towards the passage, exiting Hyberian and entering space.
Sitting in the Harvester's cockpit, Qianlong didn't feel much, but he knew the Fat Fish was heading towards the designated coordinates.
A countdown of 40 minutes to the target appeared on the screen in front of Qianlong.
The screen began to switch, and an image popped up.
Aina's figure appeared.
She spoke seriously, "Once we reach the designated target, the mission will be sent over. As the team Captain, your rule as a newcomer is to obey orders and not to act on your own. Resource extraction is inherently dangerous, and you are quite unlucky; this mission is even more challenging."
Qianlong calmly replied, "Understood."
Aina's image disappeared, and Qianlong stared at the countdown on the screen, feeling there was nothing much to do.
He began to pull up the Harvester's data for review.
It was basically no different from what the instructor had taught.
Soon, the countdown reached zero.
A message popped up, and Qianlong clicked on it.
"Mission details: Located at Planet V42-52, latitude 462,752, the detector has discovered an Unknown feedback wave. Due to severe atmospheric interference, complete detection feedback waves cannot be obtained; on-site investigation is required.
Mission requirement: Proceed to the designated location for investigation."
Aina's voice rang out at this moment,
"Set off."
The safety locks on the Harvester's base clicked open.
Qianlong piloted the Harvester, following Aina's Harvester towards the cargo bay's rear.
At this moment, the cargo bay door of the Fat Fish was opening.
"Good luck to you all." Quake's voice sounded.
Aina led the charge forward, then leaped out.
Qianlong began to operate, moving the Harvester forward, reaching the edge, and jumping down.
It felt quite awkward; although he understood the methods of operation and had practiced in simulations, the actual maneuvering was still a bit clumsy, not as fluid as he wished.
Qianlong opened the jet ports at the back of the Harvester, chasing after Aina.
Looking down, he was taken aback by the planet he was about to land on.
A grayish planet, with no other colors visible.
No, this shouldn't be the appearance of the planet; the gray should be the atmosphere, which was likely the peculiar interference they had mentioned.
"Data analysis in progress~"
Qianlong's expression froze, and he suddenly smiled; Phantom had awakened.
"Elements detected: hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, sodium, argon. Elements normal."
"Life forms detected, automatic analysis in progress."
"Detected Planktonic Monad Amidofen Monocellular Organism, capable of absorbing interference spectra, sound waves, and energy."
"You're awake."
"Yes, Qianlong."
"Will you fall into slumber again?"
"Theoretically, yes. I maintain operation by absorbing energy from you and am expected to fall into sleep again in about a month."
"How can you replenish energy?"
"A large intake of food is one way, but not recommended. The preferred option is Energy Crystal Stone, which is the mildest."
"Don't dawdle, keep up; we're about to enter the atmosphere." Aina's words interrupted Qianlong's focus.
Just as Qianlong was about to operate, Phantom's voice sounded.
"Intelligent micro-adjustment assistance function activated."
(End of Chapter)