Chapter 115: Mecha

Chapter 115: Mecha

On the day of welcoming Rilwei and his family, Ji An and Gu Jinsheng livestreamed the immigration process online. There was no grand or elaborate welcome ceremony, but it was solemn and dignified.

Rilwei and his family stood draped in the national flag, solemnly taking their oath.

"I, Rilwei, voluntarily join the nationality of Xia Country today. From this day forward, Xia Country shall be my homeland. I vow to fight for my country, to shed blood and sacrifice, to defend my homeland, and to protect my fellow countrymen."

The image of Rilwei and his family pledging under the national flag spread rapidly across the internet through the livestream, and Charles also witnessed this scene.

Charles was so furious that his lone eye bulged like a toad's.

Rilwei was a member of a well-established noble family in M Nation, with considerable renown. Charles knew the Rilwei family well and never dreamed they would emigrate. Watching Rilwei draped in another country's flag, swearing loyalty to Xia Country, Charles wished he could reach through the screen and strangle him.

Rilwei's immigration sparked a storm both online and within the HSD Base. Many old noble families began seriously considering the issue of emigration.

Some families closely associated with the Rilwei family privately contacted Rilwei.

"Why did you suddenly emigrate?" asked his old friend Crick.

Rilwei smiled. "Crick, I don’t regret emigrating—in fact, I regret not doing it sooner. You have no idea how much the Jing City Base has developed. Compared to HSD Base, it’s like heaven here. Before coming, I never imagined the Jing City Base could be so prosperous. After arriving, I felt as if I’d returned to the days before the apocalypse."

Crick said, "Rilwei, you’re not lying to me, are you?"

Rilwei replied, "No. All the good things you’ve seen online about the Jing City Base pale in comparison to one-tenth of its reality."

Crick said, "Alright, I’ll trust you on this. But even so, that can’t be the real reason you emigrated. Rilwei, we’re old friends. Can you tell me the truth?"

Rilwei lowered his eyes, pondering for a long moment before speaking. "Alright, I’ll level with you. If you believe me, think carefully about your future. If not, just consider me mad, spouting nonsense."

Crick nodded.

Rilwei continued, "You’ve seen what happened to R Base. R Country no longer exists—the entire island has become a base for clones. The purpose behind R Country’s clones is no secret now. Everyone knows.

R Country was never exactly a colony of M Nation, but it was certainly its puppet. I don’t believe for a second that M Nation wasn’t involved in R Country’s clone project."

Crick frowned. "So you’re afraid M Nation might follow R Country’s path one day?"

"That’s part of it. The other reason is that Xia Country’s scientific and economic strength has already surpassed M Nation’s by at least a century. Yet instead of building bridges, Charles keeps picking fights with Xia Country. Sooner or later, Xia Country will run out of patience, and a full-scale war will break out. When that happens, M Nation will likely suffer a total defeat."

Crick asked, "Rilwei, do you really have so much faith in Xia Country?"

"It’s not about faith—it’s about the reality of Xia Country’s strength. You haven’t been to Jing City Base, so you can’t feel it. But when you’re here, you’ll understand the stability and prosperity it offers."

Crick looked at Rilwei and said, "I’ll think carefully about this."

Many small European bases, seeing that even the prestigious Rilwei family had joined the Jing City Base, realized they were on the brink of collapse and couldn’t survive on their own. One after another, they petitioned to join Xia Country.

If Xia Country could just feed them, they were willing to become Xia Country citizens and defend the country.

For a time, the Jing City Base saw a flood of immigrants, with people from all over the world seeking Xia Country citizenship.

To handle the surge, the Jing City Base had to expand, which in turn pushed other bases within Xia Country’s territory to eagerly clamor to join. As Xia Country citizens, they felt they should join the Jing City Base as well.

The Jing City Base’s population surged for the first time. Fortunately, with its numerous factories in need of workers, it was able to take them all in.

Li Mo from Z Base, after being reunited with his parents, was assigned to the Jing City Base along with other stranded individuals.

Initially fearing retaliation from Gu Jinsheng, Li Mo's parents kept to themselves, making themselves as inconspicuous as possible. After living quietly in the Capital Base for over two months, they began to become restless, eager to return to Z Base and reunite with their son.

Z Base was thousands of miles away from the Capital Base, making it unrealistic for Li Mo's parents to walk back. After discussing with Li Mo, they had the audacity to approach the command center.

"Commander-in-Chief Gu, we’ve been guests at your base for quite some time now. It’s time for us to return to our own base. Will you arrange a hover vehicle to send us back, or open an aerial route so our son can come fetch us?" Perhaps because Gu Jinsheng and the Capital Base had never troubled them since their rescue, the couple spoke with an air of entitlement when making this request.

Gu Jinsheng tilted his head, studying Li Mo's parents. He recognized them immediately but deliberately pretended not to understand, asking Zhou Qin, "Who are they?"

Li Mo's parents grew uneasy. Zhou Qin replied, "They are the parents of Z Base's Commander-in-Chief, Li Mo."

"Z Base?" Gu Jinsheng feigned confusion.

Zhou Qin played along, "The same base whose commander took our core technology and then reneged on the agreement to hand it over to Nation R in exchange for his parents."

Gu Jinsheng said icily, "That traitor commander hasn’t been dealt with yet?"

The moment the word "traitor" left Gu Jinsheng’s lips, Li Mo's parents felt their hearts skipped several beats, a wave of dread washing over them. They immediately defended their son, "How dare you call our son a traitor! He was just being filial, trying to save us by any means necessary. At worst, he was selfish—but never a traitor!"

Li Mo's father countered, "If you had just told my son earlier that your Capital Base had such powerful hover vehicles and could easily rescue us hostages, he wouldn’t have panicked and traded the technology for our lives!"

Zhou Qin almost laughed at their gall. "If your son was so capable, why didn’t you just have him rescue you? Why did you shamelessly take advantage of our Capital Base’s hover vehicle instead?"

Li Mo's mother shot back, "We’re also citizens of China!"

"If you were truly citizens of China, you’d know how crucial that technology is to our nation. You can’t claim to be Chinese when it suits you and betray China when it doesn’t," Zhou Qin sneered.

Before Li Mo's parents could argue further, Gu Jinsheng opened a public broadcast.

The Capital Base was now the flagship base of China, with every other base watching its moves closely. Even without prior notice, the moment Gu Jinsheng’s face appeared on the public channel, every base immediately took notice.

Gu Jinsheng declared, "Z Base’s Commander-in-Chief Li Mo, driven by personal greed, compromised China’s interests by trading technology belonging to the Chinese people for his parents’ lives, disregarding the welfare of the nation and its citizens. This is an act of treason plain and simple.

"As both the leading base of China and the rightful owner of the Mental Scanner technology, the Capital Base has the authority to hold Z Base accountable.

"I, Gu Jinsheng, Commander-in-Chief of the Capital Base, hereby formally announce our demand for accountability against Z Base in the name of this base. Soon, we will dispatch superpowered agents to arrest the traitor Li Mo.

"Once captured, his punishment will be determined through a national assembly of bases, with all base Commanders-in-Chief voting on the decision."

With this brief statement, Gu Jinsheng ended the broadcast.

Yet, this single announcement set off shockwaves through every base in China, as if an atomic bomb had been dropped.

Li Mo's parents crumpled to the floor. "You can’t do this! You can’t treat Li Mo like this! He was just trying to be filial—what’s wrong with that?!"

Gu Jinsheng stood, looking down at them with icy contempt. "What makes you two worthy of Li Mo sacrificing the interests of all Chinese people just to 'be filial' to you?"

Li Mo's parents opened their mouths but found no words to defend themselves.

Gu Jinsheng ordered, "Detain them for now. Release them only after Li Mo’s verdict is decided."

Zhou Qin immediately responded, "Understood, boss."

As Zhou Qin dragged Li Mo's parents away, they continued pleading with him. Zhou Qin smirked, "Thanks for reminding us about this matter. The Capital Base has been so busy we might have overlooked Li Mo entirely."

Li Mo's parents wished they could slap themselves. Why had they gone to Gu Jinsheng? Life in the Capital Base had been fine. If they hadn’t spoken up, maybe he would’ve forgotten about the whole thing.

Just as Li Mo's parents felt the world crashing down, so did Z Base.

Li Mo never expected that while his parents had returned safely, the Capital Base would now come for him.

Li Mo burned with humiliated rage, though panic was his dominant emotion. He said, "What does Gu Jinsheng mean? We got our people back, and there's no loss. What's left to settle?"

The Deputy Commander lowered his eyes, his expression unreadable. Li Mo had no choice but to ask, "Now that Gu Jinsheng is going to attack our base, any bright ideas?"

None of the Deputy Commanders spoke. Finally, one of them stood up and poured Li Mo a glass of water. "Commander-in-Chief, have some water to calm down."

Li Mo took the ice water and downed it in one swallow. Whether it was due to extreme nervousness or something else, instead of feeling calmer, his thoughts turned sluggish.

Within seconds, Li Mo couldn't hold on any longer and slumped face-first onto the table.

"You... you..." Li Mo trembled, pointing a shaky finger at the Deputy Commanders. "You... poisoned me?"

One of the Deputy Commanders rubbed his face wearily and looked at Li Mo. "Commander-in-Chief, don’t blame us. When you wanted to trade the technology of the Capital Base for your parents, we Deputy Commanders were against it from the start."

Li Mo glared at them. Back then, the Deputy Commanders had indeed opposed his decision, but he had never taken them seriously. He never expected they would dare to drug him now.

"Commander-in-Chief, hating us won’t change anything. You have only yourself to blame. You should have known that Gu Jinsheng and the Capital Base aren't opponents to cross lightly. Even if you succeeded in getting your parents back, our base would still suffer the consequences."

"You’re the Commander-in-Chief, so you might not have to face the worst, but what about our superpowered troops in our base? Someone would have to fight on the front lines. Gu Jinsheng’s Thunder Dragon's power is devastating—who knows how many superpowered people would die? We can’t sacrifice countless lives in our base just to save your parents!"

"You’re too selfish!"

Li Mo’s mind was too sluggish to process anything. His eyelids grew heavy, and he slipped into unconsciousness.

The Deputy Commanders exchanged glances. Deciding to go all the way, they drained Li Mo of his superpower.

The next day, when Gu Jinsheng led his forces to attack Base Z, a white flag was already raised on the city walls. The Deputy Commanders immediately defected en masse to the Capital Base, and Base Z was wiped from existence.

When Li Mo woke up again, he was already at the execution platform. Someone was reading out his crimes beside him.

Before he could even react, rotten produce and eggs were hurled at his head. The crowd glared at him with burning hatred, shouting angrily, "Traitor! Death's too good for you!"

Traitor? Li Mo had never imagined that word would be used to describe him. Suddenly, he realized how selfish his actions had been—bartering China's security for his own gain.

Li Mo gave a hollow laugh. Even in the apocalypse, with resources so scarce, people still managed to find rotten produce and eggs to throw at him. Just how much did they hate him?

Only now did he truly understand that his decision had benefited no one but himself. In fact, it had brought disaster to the rest of the base.

With a bitter laugh, he thought that perhaps his death would balance the scales for the entire base.

The last bullet tore through Li Mo’s forehead. He felt a strange sense of relief—at least the base hadn’t thrown him into a horde of zombies.

When Li Mo’s parents learned of their son’s death, they were overcome with grief. They had longed to return to Base Z, but Base Z no longer existed. They had no choice but to stay in the Capital Base. In an instant, they seemed to have aged ten years.

If only they had persuaded their son back then. Even if he had been willing, they should have refused. They never expected Gu Jinsheng would make good on his threats, actually holding their son accountable.

Gu Jinsheng’s decisive action sent shockwaves through the remaining bases. Those that had considered trading the Mental Scanner for benefits immediately abandoned the idea. If they couldn’t survive on their own, they obediently joined the Capital Base.

From then on, the Capital Base became the largest in China, with only a few bases remaining independent.

The Capital Base’s reputation soared not only in China but also in Europe. While people had once feared Base M the most, now even the mere mention of the Capital Base struck fear into their hearts. As for the grudges between the U.S. and China, other bases dared not get involved, adopting a "let the gods fight while mortals stay out of it" attitude—avoiding conflict at all costs.

After resting for a while, Ji An threw himself back into research.

With the integration of various bases, Ji An received many uninfected plants and animals. As he had predicted, his space evolved to include an ocean, forming a complete ecosystem—everything except humans existed within it.

The Magic Spring, as the source of life, nurtured all living things. Many animals thrived there in pairs.

Thanks to the success of the hovercar, Ji An’s mental superpower advanced by a minor tier. Later, the complete evolution of the Magic Spring propelled him to a major breakthrough, elevating him to sixth-tier superpower status.

Gu Jinsheng had reached the mid-level of the sixth tier, just two small breakthroughs away from reaching the maximum level.

The enhancement of his psychic abilities allowed Ji An to perceive things with newfound clarity. Problems that once seemed vague and incomprehensible now appeared as simple as elementary math, requiring no excessive thought—it was just common sense.

At the same time, Ji An faintly sensed a mysterious force, or perhaps an energy field.

This feeling reminded him of the indistinct presence that had appeared in his consciousness during his coma.

Whenever Ji An tried to focus deeply, his mind seemed to hit an invisible barrier, preventing further contemplation. He had a strong suspicion that if his psychic power evolved just a bit more, he could break through that barrier and explore the deeper mysteries of the universe.

However, his immediate priority wasn’t these abstract thoughts—it was the experiment at hand. This project was the most crucial at the moment. If he could complete it, they could finally ignore provocations from Country M.

After Ji An’s psychic power successfully advanced, the experiment progressed with astonishing speed, advancing rapidly every day.

Originally, the team had estimated that the weapon research would take ten years to complete. That timeline was later reduced to three years, then one year, and finally just six months.

At last, as another New Year approached, the experiment succeeded.

The moment Ji An stepped out of the lab, all the researchers knelt beneath the national flag, overwhelmed with emotion.

Han Yaokun was openly weeping. "We succeeded! I didn’t become a sinner of this era, nor did I hinder progress. I won’t be remembered as a failure!"

Na Boyu patted Han Yaokun’s shoulder and said, "No need for such words. What matters most is recognizing mistakes and correcting them."

The truth was, this research project had been daunting in scale. When they first joined, none of them had believed it could succeed—or at least, not within their lifetimes. No one had expected that after Ji An’s return, the experiment would progress at an unprecedented pace. And once Ji An’s psychic abilities leveled up, the research surged forward like a rocket, achieving breakthroughs at a blinding pace. Sometimes, they barely had time to process one success before the next arrived.

When Gu Jinsheng heard that Ji An had came out of isolation, he rushed to the lab with a group of people—only to find all the scientists kneeling beneath the red flag, tears streaming down their faces.

Zhou Qin was startled. "What’s going on? Why is everyone kneeling?"

Ji An waved a hand dismissively. "The experiment succeeded. They’re just emotional."

Zhou Qin was baffled. He couldn’t fathom what kind of experiment could evoke such a reaction.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Zhou Qin urged, "Ji the Divine, what is it this time? Take us to see it—we can’t even begin to guess!"

Ji An nodded. "Alright, follow me into the lab."

Zhou Qin and the others followed Gu Jinsheng and Ji An, eager to enter the laboratory.

This time, the lab was chaotic, filled with scattered metallic components. Yet, even with Gu Jinsheng’s keen eyes, he couldn’t identify the material—it seemed like an entirely new kind of metal.

They continued inward, reaching the innermost chamber of the lab—and then everyone froze.

Standing before them was a ten-foot-tall robot, its outer shell polished to a mirror finish.

Zhou Qin swallowed hard. "A… robot?"

Though the robot looked powerful and awe-inspiring, it was still just a machine—somewhat underwhelming compared to Zhou Qin’s expectations.

If anyone else had created this, Zhou Qin might have praised it. But coming from Ji An, he couldn’t hide his disappointment.

Wan Xueying shared the sentiment but remained cautious, keeping her thoughts to herself.

She had a strong feeling that Ji An wouldn’t spend so much time developing something as apparently useless as a robot. There had to be more to it.

Besides, if this were just an ordinary machine, the researchers outside wouldn’t have had such an extreme reaction.

Instead of answering Zhou Qin directly, Ji An turned to Gu Jinsheng and asked, "Jinsheng, what would you call this?"

Gu Jinsheng gazed deeply at Ji An, closing his eyes briefly as if he already had the answer in his heart—only it was too earth-shattering to voice.

Gu Jinsheng said, "Is it...a mech?"

The impact of these words was more shocking than if Earth had exploded. Zhou Qin and the others collectively gasped, turning to Ji An with looks as shocked as if they'd just been told aliens were real.

Compared to Zhou Qin and his group, Han Yaokun and the other researchers stared at Gu Jinsheng with even greater astonishment.

Even the inventors could hardly believe that the first mech had been born from their hands, yet Gu Jinsheng had already accepted it.

If Ji An hadn't asked Gu Jinsheng to guess first, they would have assumed Ji An had already told him.

This pair was truly something else—one crazy enough to build it, the other sharp enough to figure it out.

Ji An nodded. "Congratulations, you guessed right. It is indeed a mech."

"R-really?" Zhou Qin felt like he might faint on the spot.

Ji An replied, "It's true. Go ahead and try it out."

Zhou Qin immediately rushed forward, grabbing at the mech's leg—since it was so tall, that was all he could reach.

At that moment, the mech's eyes flashed red, and suddenly, its leg moved, taking two steps back to evade Zhou Qin's touch.

"Personal space, please. Please show some respect and refrain from touching me like that. If you dare harass me again, I won't hesitate to defend myself."

Zhou Qin stared blankly, dumbfounded, and mumbled, stunned, "Who... who's speaking?"