Chapter Sixty: The Verdant Terminal, Reflecting Radiance

“What’s going on?” Mingchuan, Winchester, and Colt arrived at the air-raid shelter but didn’t see Wenxin and her group. “Weren’t they supposed to get here before us?” The trio, who had rushed to their destination, failed to meet up with the other four. Winchester spotted footprints on the ground. “Captain, it looks like they’ve already gone inside.” “Damn it, didn’t I tell them to wait? Acting without orders can get them into trouble! Quick, inside and search!”

Mingchuan ordered Colt to guard Winchester, but once inside, Winchester pulled out the RC-6 pistol and a dagger Mingchuan had given him. “Oh? You know how to switch weapons now?” Mingchuan immediately noticed. “It’s too cramped in here. A sniper rifle would be inconvenient.” Winchester followed behind, turning on his flashlight to illuminate the way. “I think you should stick with this gun from now on. Its accuracy and rate of fire are top-notch!” While they chatted, the trio thoroughly searched the shelter but still saw no sign of the four others. “No sign of them? Impossible. Keep searching.” Mingchuan shouted to himself and tried to contact Wenxin. “Wenxin? Can you hear me? Answer me!” But there was no signal at all.

Suddenly, a scream pierced the silence, catching everyone’s attention. “Where did that come from? Wait, if they just went through here, why are there so many vines?” Mingchuan muttered, staring at the vine-covered corner, then slashed through the vegetation with his knife. “Wait a second—is this chlorine gas?” Without night vision, the color of the toxic gas was visible to them. Mingchuan was aware Wenxin was most likely a trained agent; she wouldn’t panic without reason. “Follow me!”

Activating their anti-gas systems, the three entered a door concealed by vines. “Wenxin! George! Thompson! Bob!” Mingchuan sprinted forward, and a faint voice responded, “Mingchuan, help me.” “Damn!” Mingchuan rounded a corner and found George and Thompson collapsed on the ground. “Quick, anti-gas systems!” Mingchuan ordered Winchester and Colt to fit the two with protective gear, but then a nearby door was corroded open by something. Mingchuan rushed in, finding the walls charred, and Bob’s mech lightly corroded. It was clear Bob had used his flamethrower to prevent inhaling too much poison, and the chlorine in the air had reacted with his hydrogen fuel to create HCl gas, which then combined with water vapor and oxygen to form hydrochloric acid, dissolving the mech’s outer shell. Mingchuan helped Bob activate his anti-gas system and prepared to drag him out.

“Forget me! Wenxin… she was dragged away by the vines! Go save her!” Bob managed to squeeze out his last words before losing consciousness, prompting Mingchuan to shout, “Take care of them, I’m going to save her!” Mingchuan ordered Winchester and Colt as he dashed along the trail left by the dragging vines. “Captain, you… the mission… Winchester, get them out!” Colt knew that with injured teammates, as vice-captain he should protect them, while the captain’s only thought now was clearly to rescue Wenxin.

“Don’t worry—I’ll be fine. Trust my skills!” Mingchuan’s voice came through the comms. “Get them out, call for backup, cancel the bombing!” Sprinting through the long corridors and slashing at the tree-men that kept appearing beside him, Mingchuan moved at his fastest speed. At last, following the traces of blade marks on the floor, he reached the end of the trail. There, Wenxin was nearly dragged into the “stomach” of a monstrous creature at the center of the massive, circular shelter. “Damn it!” A flying blade severed the vine, leaving Wenxin limp at the edge of the pit, seemingly unconscious. “Wenxin!” Mingchuan saw that the enormous chamber was lined with countless “hearts.” But there was no time to worry about those; as soon as the vine was cut, new ones appeared around Wenxin. “Damn it!” Mingchuan leapt into the air, throwing the only two swords his mech had, severing the new vines and buying precious time. Using the jet system he had secretly installed, Mingchuan landed beside Wenxin, scooped her up in his arms, and ran back.

“Mingchuan? Is that you?” Wenxin struggled to open her eyes, murmuring weakly. “Idiot! If it weren’t for me, who else could save you!” Mingchuan’s eyes seemed to glisten with tears—was it just Wenxin’s imagination? Damn it, she thought, the person she was supposed to be investigating, and yet seeing this moved her as well. “Anti-gas, activate your system!” Mingchuan told Wenxin, but the response was, “Unable to activate.” “Damn it, here!” Mingchuan produced some medication and injected Wenxin with it.

Emerging from the shelter, Winchester and Colt had already contacted reinforcements. “Take care of her! Her anti-gas system is broken; her condition could worsen,” Wenxin managed to say, while Mingchuan prepared to return to the shelter. “Captain, don’t do anything reckless! Alone, without your main weapons, it’s dangerous!” Instead, Mingchuan pulled out a blade no one had ever seen before. “My arsenal was never limited to just two swords!” With Wenxin’s eyes barely open, she saw Mingchuan’s silhouette running back. She wanted to call him back, but her failing body surrendered to unconsciousness.

“Die!” With the RC-6 in his left hand and a combat blade in his right, Mingchuan entered, slaughtering dozens of “hearts” in a frenzy. The plant seemed sentient; suddenly, a giant “jar” emerged from the inscrutable “sour soup” in the center. “Too slow!” Mingchuan dodged, weaving among the “hearts,” nearly clearing the walls, then shot down all the “hearts” on the ceiling. “Come out! Don’t think I don’t know you’re here—the biosignature doesn’t lie!” Applause rang out, and two “lifeforms” appeared from the fleshy orb attached to the ceiling at the center.

“Impressive, impressive! Who are you? How did you know someone was inside?” The one on the left wore a Royal Research Institute uniform, seemingly still sane. “Teacher! Why… why betray the Royal Institute?” Mingchuan pointed his blade at the man, apparently familiar with him. Hearing himself called “teacher,” the man seemed to understand. “You’re… Cole? I see…,” he smiled calmly. “I want humanity to recognize the power of its own bioweapons, Cole, but you wouldn’t understand!” “Teacher, if you wish to leave, I won’t stop you. But betrayal of humanity—I won’t forgive!” “And humanity? Have they ever considered how other lifeforms feel? Aren’t you the same? Tired of being the Royal First Scientist, a killer machine, Cole?” “At least I destroyed my work, stopped it hurting anyone. No, my mission now is to clean this up—for my teammates and for the Royal Institute!” Mingchuan pointed at another, a creature with intelligence—a true Satan, the boss of this place.

“So you don’t want to debate philosophy anymore? Then… I’ll take my leave. I hope, in the end, you’ll come to me and kill me with your own hands! Hahaha!” A vine wrapped around the man as Mingchuan shifted his attention. “Let me show you half the power of an ‘Angel’!” Mingchuan suddenly appeared before Satan and slashed, but seemed to miss. “My name is Zhou!” Satan introduced himself, extending a hand as a mass of vines attacked Mingchuan midair. Mingchuan swung his blade, incinerating them all. “Half, is it?” Impossible to imagine, this seemingly ordinary mech now possessed half the strength of an “Angel.” “Useless!” With a seemingly casual swing, Mingchuan sliced Zhou in half from a distance, his body tumbling into digestive fluid, and a new monster dragging the “jar” was spawned. “This is my domain.” All the vines in the underground shelter were extracted. “If you’re Arjuna, then I am Karna, who can kill you!” Mingchuan sliced open Zhou’s “belly.” “Legend says Arjuna killed Kar—” Zhou could not finish, the basement engulfed in flames as Mingchuan turned to leave. “It’s just a legend…” A vial shattered inside Zhou’s body. “Is this… fate?”

A stream of liquid sprayed from a crack leading to the surface, and the trees it touched turned from black to brown, their branches sprouting tender leaves. Green quickly spread. A man collapsed under a tree, a ring falling from his pocket; he picked it up and held it tightly. “Wenxin, God bless you—please don’t let anything happen to you!”

——— Extra Notes ———

Arjuna and Karna are figures from the Indian epic Mahabharata. Arjuna only killed Karna by breaking the rules of battle, so in terms of strength, Karna was not inferior to Arjuna! Recently, for some reason, I’ve been updating this saga of ‘Mecha Dynasty’ first, so please forgive me, everyone!