Chapter 1: Treasure and Trash (2/2)

His foster father might have been an expert in the mechanics, but he was absolutely clueless about mech processors.

The man once said, for any mech, if the engine is its heart, then the processor is its soul.

Ye Chong felt restricted in many ways, piloting the current mech.

Winnie’s only slightly redeeming feature was its pair of bionic eyes. When Ye Chong brought them to his foster father’s attention, even he had no idea what model it was, with only a rough idea that it could be a new model from recent years. After all, he had wandered on the trash planet for decades, whatever advances beyond the planet, he could not obscure.

It was thanks to this pair of modern bionic eyes, that Ye Chong escaped from danger time and again.

Although Winnie was old, until such time where a newer mech could be found, Winnie was Ye Chong’s only choice.

Ye Chong carefully upped the speed for Winnie until 80% of its maximum speed, as this allowed for a faster travel with room for emergency adjustments.

The travel was smooth, and Ye Chong arrived at his destination without obstructions. Anywhere he laid eyes on was filled with trash, but there were distinct areas where the trash were more recent additions, and these were Ye Chong’s goals for the day.

“Scanning commenced!” Winnie’s voice was unrushed, with a slowness akin to an aging senior, Ye Chong thought helplessly, but he scanned his surroundings warily. For once, Winnie carried out a full scan with its eyes but will cease all other functions thus, Ye Chong will have to be fully alert for threats.

Ye Chong examined some corners where mutated lifeforms could possibly emerge from, all the while muttering, “Come on old buddy, you got to do some good today, I haven’t had any new stuff in a while! Come on now… Come on…” Eventually, Ye Chong began humming a little tune. All alone on this trash planet, if he went on for some time without uttering a word, Ye Chong was not sure if he ever could again and so, despite the lack of another person to interact with, talking to himself had slowly become routine.

Ye Chong maintained a casual façade, but his slightly tense posture spoke of his state of high vigilance.

“Scanning completed!” The announcement was like music to his ears. Ye Chong exhaled deeply in relief.

“Switch to High Alert Mode!” Ye Chong gave Winnie the order, and immediately scrutinized the scan results relayed from the processor; a few red patches on the scanned images looking particularly conspicuous. Ye Chong could not contain his excitement – it seemed that the forage this time would be fruitful.

Scavenging in the trash heaps. Ye Chong spitted out grains of sand that made their way into his mouth from the mech’s crevices.

“Damn it! Not one of them is useful, by the Heavens, surely I could not be so unlucky!” Ye Chong wailed, his initial excitement gone without a trace. He had searched through many spots,; all ending up with useless junk, and now only the last spot remained, with the smallest object on the list. Based on the size, Ye Chong could not figure out what it could possibly be used for, but better a mistake than a missed opportunity as he dived headlong into the mountainous heap of trash.

Ye Chong half laid on a chair, munching on freshly roasted engulfer’s meat, as he toyed with today’s only object of value.

It seemed to be a metallic hanging ornament with a dull metallic shine, and only the size of three fingernails. It was roundish with a perimeter lined with a curved blade, and its surface densely covered with queer patterns that seemed indistinguishable, but possibly based on some unknown underlying principles. Sadly, a chipped corner and some cracks along the blade told the story of a damaged, secondary article.

Ye Chong murmured, “What is this? What a strange material!”

His thumb gently caressed the edge of the blade, and a thin cut appeared which Ye Chong felt nothing from, until the sight of crimson brought on a flicker of pain.

“Very sharp indeed!” Ye Chong was slightly surprised. “Surely this gimmick is not a hidden weapon?!” Ye Chong watched as a drop of blood hanged off the edge of the blade, from the cut earlier.

Lo and behold, a mysterious phenomenon occurred!

Beyond the bounds of possibility, the blade unexpectedly absorbed the blood, much like a sponge. A blood-absorbing metal? Ye Chong jumped back in shock. There was no mistake, he touched it, and the blade was undeniably metal! Ye Chong bet that the scene he just witnessed was no illusion.

The eeriness showed no signs of stopping.

The blood-fed ornament emitted a light buzzing sound, the curved blade retracted into the body of the ornament, and the cryptic patterns on its surface began to move. The ornament behaved as though a machine grinding in operations, and Ye Chong’s blood was the catalyst.

Ye Chong was completely dumbfounded!

A voice resonated without warning in Ye Chong’s mind, “Di-proton examination completed, brainwave matched, brainwave locked!”

Ye Chong frantically exclaimed, “Who’s there! Come out!” His vision sharpened as he scanned his surroundings, his hand quietly reaching for the dagger holstered on his leg.

“Are you sure?” The same voice sounded uncertain.