Hyberian Wars Chronicles

Qianlong finally understood the nature of this mission; in some respects, they were akin to thieves.

Weibahe spoke up, "You should now know the specifics of the mission. I will explain some common knowledge. The tenacity of Kikouzi's life forms is quite troublesome. Unless absolutely necessary, we should avoid direct confrontation and focus on infiltration. You need to stay closely behind us, and we must try not to be detected by the enemy."

Qianlong asked Phantom, "Is his plan feasible?"

Phantom replied, "We haven't reached the destination yet, so there are no specific references, but from a basic standpoint, it is feasible. Although we cannot completely avoid Kikouzi, as long as we minimize our presence, with so many teams entering, we just need to ensure we are not the first to be locked onto."

Qianlong roughly understood.

Weibahe continued, "Remember one thing: do not entertain the thought of exterminating Kikouzi; that is unrealistic."

"What if we run into them?" Qianlong inquired.

"The best course of action is to follow orders. If there are no orders, run as far away as you can," Weibahe answered.

The team continued to advance, getting closer to their destination.

Three days later, a bare red planet appeared before them, its exposed surface pockmarked with craters from meteorite impacts.

"Stay close," Weibahe said.

After speaking, Weibahe led Qianlong and the others off the course taken by the other teams.

Qianlong was somewhat surprised; they weren't heading towards the discovered area? Were they planning to search for something themselves?

In fact, Qianlong's guess was correct.

Geller believed that since the last large group had suffered losses inside, entering again would not yield much change. It was better to take a gamble; perhaps other areas also had Star Crystal Stones.

Qianlong piloted the Harvester closely behind Weibahe.

Weibahe sent a regional map to the three Harvesters.

"This is the activity range map we derived after research. What you need to do is determine where there are Star Crystal Stones in this area."

Duomeng's voice rang out, "Isn't this putting us in a difficult position? Exploring for Star Crystal Stones is quite tedious. They are embedded in special rocks, and their energy responses are shielded. The characteristics of those rocks are not very obvious, and it's so dangerous here? Time is also limited. How can we explore deeply?"

Weibahe replied seriously, "This is your professional issue."

Duomeng fell silent; indeed, arguing with Weibahe would not be of much use, as the other party could not provide any effective suggestions either.

At this moment, Qianlong spoke up, "I will select the exploration area."

Everyone looked at Qianlong in surprise. Duomeng also turned to Qianlong, while another Harvester remained silent, showing no reaction.

Duomeng then said, "Alright, I have no objections."

Qianlong operated the control panel and quickly drew two circles on the range map.

"Let's try exploring these two areas; perhaps we will have some gains."

"So soon?" Weibahe frowned. Although he wasn't an expert in this area, he had dealt with it often.

Duomeng was also a bit confused; was it really done so quickly? Had he prepared in advance, or was he just drawing randomly?

In fact, Qianlong did not like to show off; he just wanted to provide the closest correct answer. At this moment, hiding would be making a joke of himself, as the longer they stayed, the more dangerous it became.

"Is there a problem?" Qianlong asked.

"No problem," Duomeng replied.

Weibahe was also very decisive, "Since we've decided, let's head to the first area."

"Okay."

Half an hour later, Weibahe and the others successfully landed their mechs on the red planet.

To their surprise, the ground was exceptionally hard. The heavy Harvester left no trace on it.

"We will use this spot as the center. The three of you will explore separately, no more than 10 kilometers apart," Qianlong said.

"No problem," Duomeng replied.

The other Harvester remained silent, tacitly agreeing.

Weibahe waved his hand, "You three are responsible for protecting this Harvester, you three for that one, and one will stay in the air for surveillance. You two will follow me to protect the last Harvester (driven by Qianlong)."

Whether by coincidence or other factors, it turned out that Weibahe was assigned to this task, which was quite good.

Qianlong piloted the Harvester and began exploring, slowly moving in one direction.

Phantom analyzed and relayed information back to Qianlong.

According to Phantom, "Mining Star Crystal Stones requires a certain amount of luck, so don't hold out too much hope."

Weibahe consistently maintained his position on Qianlong's left side, his steps precisely controlled, while the other two mechs followed on the right and behind.

Qianlong's speed in piloting the Harvester was not fast; Weibahe and the three did not show any impatience or urge him. Qianlong occasionally stopped the Harvester in place.

After seven hours of moving and stopping, Phantom conducted a deep scan.

Qianlong stopped once more, and Phantom provided an answer, "There is a small probability of being able to mine Star Crystal Stones from the deep rocks below."

Qianlong piloted the Harvester, retrieving a specialized drill from the toolbox on his back and began installing it on his right Mechanical Arm.

The three of them spread out to guard around Qianlong.

Qianlong started the operation; the special drill began to spin, but the resistance from the ground was much stronger than he had imagined.

"It seems the time required will increase," Qianlong said.

Phantom replied, "Yes."

Weibahe, while keeping watch, asked the other team members, "How's the situation?"

"Captain, we haven't encountered anything yet; everything is normal."

"Captain, we are also proceeding smoothly for now."

Weibahe continued to inquire, "Have you started exploring?"

"We have."

"Good."

Weibahe took a deep breath, hoping this mission would go smoothly.

After successfully drilling to a certain depth, Qianlong stopped the operation and retracted the mechanical arm.

Then he controlled the Harvester to retrieve a long, tubular special mechanical tool from the toolbox on his back.

He twisted it in reverse, and the tool began to extend.

Qianlong inserted the tool into the hole he had drilled, and the head of the tubular tool opened evenly, securing itself to the surroundings.

He then pressed the switch on top to begin deep exploration.

An hour later, Qianlong received the exploration data.

"Each exploration takes about an hour, and the range is not large. The limitations of this tool are too high. For this small area we have defined, if we want to explore it completely, it will take a long time," 

Phantom replied, "This is a common device for exploring Star Crystal Stones. Due to the difficulty, the yield of Star Crystal Stones is relatively scarce."

Qianlong calmed himself and began to explore little by little to the side.

(End of this chapter)