Chapter 5 of 10

Chapter 5

20 min read5,025 words

What appeared before him was a machine that looked like a mecha, standing about three meters tall, resembling the exoskeleton combat armor from the movie *Avatar* he had seen.

The mecha was now leaning crookedly against a large tree, one of its mechanical legs completely broken off. The surface of the mecha had several dents, and the cockpit was punctured with a large hole, from which sparks and crackling sounds continuously emerged, indicating a highly dangerous situation.

Through that large hole, the internal mechanical structure was clearly visible. Within a radius of several meters, scattered parts and even wisps of smoke from some metal holes could be seen, emitting a pungent smell.

Du Yuqi observed for a while and then slowly approached. As he got closer, his shock intensified. The "large tree" the mecha was leaning against turned out to be a monster. The eyes, mouth, and nose on the trunk were clearly visible, and what appeared to be twisted branches were actually sharp, thick, brown forelimbs!

"Is this thing a tree spirit from legend? Damn, shouldn't this thing only exist in those medieval parchment records?"

Looking at the massive, twisted branches, Du Yuqi immediately understood how the large hole in the mecha's cockpit was formed. Clearly, it was pierced by the tree spirit's forelimb, which then thrust with full force into the cockpit, severely injuring the pilot inside. The forelimb then flung the pilot out of the cockpit.

This explained the wounds and terrible lacerations on the earlier victim. However, the massive tree spirit also appeared to have lost its life force, with the leaves on its head showing clear signs of withering.

Changing his angle of view, Du Yuqi noticed that although the mecha was not equipped with any weapons, its right arm had a large chain saw deeply embedded into the body of the tree spirit. This severe injury was almost equivalent to a decapitation. Even with the tree spirit's strong vitality, it was unlikely to survive.

Understanding this, Du Yuqi's mood improved. He carefully avoided the sparks and circled the mecha, discovering a nameplate in the cockpit. Although the text on the nameplate was not from Earth, Du Yuqi immediately understood its meaning.

"AT-8M Civilian Multi-Function Autonomous Walker (Crystal-Driven Version)."

"Optional Add-on: Carrot Hybrid Electric Chain Saw (Civilian Version)."

"Weight: 6.8 tons."

"Load Capacity: 21 tons."

"Maximum Power: 800 horsepower."

"Energy Consumption: 3 small colorless crystals / 260 working hours."

Standing on the head of the scrapped mecha, Du Yuqi looked around and noticed that there were indeed many areas nearby that had been cut down. The sequence of events could be pieced together:

The deceased person was likely a logging machine operator whose job was to control the mecha to cut down trees. However, he probably did not notice the tree spirit lurking nearby and was thus ambushed, with the cockpit being pierced in one blow!

As the operator was attacked, he also operated the logging machine to counterattack immediately. The tree spirit's slow movement was a clear weakness, and it was cut by the chain saw, leading to a mutual destruction.

At this point, Du Yuqi found what he was looking for—a backpack with a lot of bloodstains, which the logging machine operator must have carried with him. The backpack had been carelessly opened, revealing a hidden compartment and a peculiarly shaped empty bottle. The bottle was about the size of a fist and contained a small amount of residual liquid. Du Yuqi, who was a half-doctor, sniffed it but could not identify the smell, so he reluctantly put it down.

However, the other items in the backpack were a pleasant surprise for Du Yuqi. If his guess was correct, the logging machine operator often worked in remote, uninhabited areas, so he would carry a survival backpack as a precaution.

Apart from the used first-aid medication, most of the items in the backpack could help Du Yuqi in his immediate needs, such as a unique lighter, a rainproof cloak, and dried food.

Finally, Du Yuqi found a machete on the mecha, which was likely used to clear a path through the dense forest. Although the blade was not very sharp, the thick back of the machete felt good in his hand, so he took it as a weapon.

By this time, it was getting darker, and Du Yuqi was becoming increasingly anxious. Since this strange forest contained such a powerful and bizarre tree spirit, which could easily destroy a mecha, who could guarantee that there were no other dangerous creatures?

With this thought, Du Yuqi gritted his teeth, determined the direction, and continued toward the area where smoke was billowing. His sense of crisis grew stronger, and if he did not reach there before nightfall, he would be in serious trouble.

***

Du Yuqi's "bleeding" was just a figure of speech,

but for Ming Xi, it was real. She was spitting out blood in small amounts.

Ming Xi was only fifteen years old, a girl who looked very cute and innocent. However, her young age did not mean she lacked ability. Just a month ago, Ming Xi had successfully passed the organization's "Lamis Test," summoning all the elemental spirits—Nais, Yade, Revos, and Semitek—in just 3.27 seconds, which broke the 4.01-second record set by the great summoner Poya hundreds of years ago. Therefore, Ming Xi was given special attention by the organization.

Passing the Lamis Test allowed her to advance to the second rank of summoners. Due to breaking the record, she was promoted to the third rank of elite summoners within the organization. (Note: Rank 1 is equivalent to level 10 in the game, Rank 2 is equivalent to level 20, and so on. The same applies to weapons and equipment.)

Although the organization "Sons of Lamis" had only been established for a few decades and could not compare to the long-standing giants like the Seven Gods' Sheath and Norton Technology, it was gaining momentum and seemed to have strong hidden support. It had even managed to persuade the government to grant it exclusive procurement rights to special minerals (such as diamonds, bloodstones, aquamarines, obsidians, purple agates, soul crystals, and ordinary terra stones) in two major regions of the country.

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