Chapter 965: Chapter 446: This Is Really Rude
She paused briefly, seemingly organizing her thoughts, then cleared her throat and began to speak slowly:
"In our perception of the world... we don’t refer to it by planet, we choose to call the land below ’Crystal Continent.’
As you can see, we ’humans’ look quite different from you, but long, long ago, perhaps we were similar. A long, long time ago, our bodies were not like this."
"Our world does not possess the peace that yours does; our entire continent has been engulfed in war."
"But it is not due to infighting; rather, all of humanity has a common enemy.
They are alien creatures that descended long, long ago, generations before ’Grandmothers.’ We call them ’Black Insects.’
"These alien beings are mostly of low intelligence, acting on instinct, but among them exist higher Black Insects and a Black Insect Queen that can command the lower ones.
And their ultimate goal is to conquer this planet."
"To fight against them, we developed numerous combat mechas based on ancient armor technology—the kind that you possess."
"The reason I crashed here today is also thanks to them."
"I am a pilot of the Third Exploration Corps under the ’Azure Alliance.’
The ’Azure Alliance’ is one of the major allied nations on our continent. We are also in an alliance with other nations since everyone’s purpose is to combat the Black Insects; there is currently no need for internal strife.
However, each major alliance nation is responsible for defending or clearing certain alien stronghold areas, and due to geographical reasons, we usually only communicate and have little large-scale offline interaction.
Today, I was on a patrol mission and ended up encountering an extremely cunning ambush— the Black Insects seemed to know I would pass through that airspace and set a trap.
My constructed mecha was severely damaged, leading to the crash that ultimately landed me here—at the bottom of ’Silence Canyon.’
"The bottom of this canyon is permeated by a ’Silent Field.’ Current research suggests it’s the result of some special subterranean mineral energy dissipation working in tandem with early alien interference devices left behind.
It has a strong suppressive and destructive effect on the technology and energy that compose our constructed mechas. Furthermore, regardless of whether it’s our ’human bodies’ or ’Black Insects,’ both will feel uncomfortable within the ’Silent Field,’ experiencing ongoing corrosion and weakening effects..."
Lin Li slightly raised an eyebrow.
Listening to Zhu Ning’s brief explanation, he roughly formed a contour of the world outside the canyon in his mind.
This alien creature... the system’s world setting is quite conventional.
However, Lin Li became somewhat curious: "These ’Black Insects’ are this difficult to deal with. You’ve managed to come up with such mechas—aren’t they of flesh and blood?
If they can continue to fight with you, their physical resilience must be tremendous. How did you manage to resist their offensives before?"
"They also have mechas," Zhu Ning shook her head, explaining, "We are constantly developing, and they’re constantly evolving."
"They have their own biotechnology. Moreover, most of the higher ’Black Insects’ have mastered the ability to parasitize, directly inhabiting the battlefield’s mecha remnants. After doing so, they become even more difficult to kill."
"Additionally, lower ’Black Insects’ have also grown through evolution; their size today is several times larger compared to ancient times. Killing a single lower ’Black Insect’ with a D-Class Mecha is now a strenuous task."
"I see." Lin Li nodded.
Even more conventional.
At this point, Zhu Ning’s tone grew somewhat fervent:
"Mr. Lin Li, this is why I was so desperate earlier, pleading for your promotion device."
"When those enormous alien creatures descended, they not only brought devastating war but also released a gene-targeted weapon.
History books mention it briefly, stating that they completely wiped out the male gender... Furthermore, this weapon also changed us females, forcing us to ultimately transform ourselves into the form you see today.
As for how exactly we became like this, what those weapons’ principles were... the school curriculum didn’t delve deeply, and I wasn’t particularly proficient in history class. All I know is that it was a tragic event that happened a long time ago."
"With the loss of males, our reproduction can only rely on ancient promotion device samples preserved through genetic technology.
By using cloning and cultivation technology, we obtain more promotion devices, and in combination with our own bodies, we nurture the next generation in incubation chambers."
"The Mecha Synchronization Index is a fixed talent determined at birth.
When we pilot a mecha, the extent of our connection, control, and power depends on it.
The higher the index, the stronger the constructed body we can command, and the closer the abilities we can exert approach the designed limit of the constructed body.
The lower the level of the mecha, the higher the extent the same index can exert; with each level drop, it can double.
For example, if your Mecha Synchronization Index is 80, the power you can exert with an S-Class mecha would amount to 80% of its base value. With an A-Class mecha, like the one you currently have, you can exert 160% of its power.
Continuing down, with a B-Class mecha, you could exert three times, 240%, but for C, D, and E-Class armor, it’s 300%—since this is the absolute limit of the mecha’s values.
