Chapter 1: The Stranded Man with Black Hair, Section 4

With UncleBuick’s puppet worm, the group’s progress was far faster than expected. By the early hours of the fifteenth day, the outline of the ruins could already be seen in the distance across the desert. Its massive structure resembled an ancient giant, standing there majestically, overlooking all beings below.
It was a huge, long-range armored transport ship. Its thick armor had long been eroded by the passage of time, covered in layers of rust. Yet its enormous size still stunned all humans. Its weapon systems had already been looted during the initial explorations, leaving behind gaping holes that resembled tiny mouths, from which darkness could be seen deep within the ship.
Like other ruins in the desert, this transport ship was also embedded vertically in the ground. The surrounding land had been deeply depressed by the force of its impact. From afar, many small black shadows could be seen surrounding it—equipment left behind by scavengers.
Black Hair had had a lot of free time lately…
As a stranded man who was rescued halfway through his ordeal, he seemed to lack any sense of awareness. Not only did he show no shyness or fear, but he also blended in naturally with all the scavengers. On his ordinary face, one could always see a humble and gentlemanly smile, giving those who approached him a feeling of warmth. Coupled with his hard work, he earned the goodwill of the scavengers.
Of course, there weren’t many trivial tasks during the journey. So most of the time, people would see this young man with long black hair standing quietly outside Car 27 of the puppet worm—saying nothing, doing nothing.
And that was where the magic mecha was placed.
As someone who shouldn’t exist in this world, Black Hair actually hid many things in his heart, including a keen sensitivity to war machines. Magic mechas were something new to him. Yet precisely because of that, he harbored an almost obsessive desire for these massive combat machines. To understand how to operate them, he had studied them more than once. In his arms was now a mecha maintenance manual obtained from a scavenger.

“Give up the tedious manual operations and use neural links to control the mecha. It’s truly astonishing that such things are possible here. But how do humans withstand that nearly destructive mental pressure?” murmuring, the black-haired man sat down.
“Want to know?”
A voice suddenly appeared behind him. The figure of a middle-aged man gradually emerged from the other end of the passage.
It seemed he had known about his presence all along. Hearing this voice, the black-haired man wasn’t surprised at all; he simply turned his head quietly, glanced at George, and smiled slightly.
“You know these things, Mr. George?”
“Of course I do. But do I really need to explain them to an amateur like you?” George laughed scornfully as he stepped closer to the black-haired man.
“Don’t deny it. I know you’ve been staring at that junk. But for someone without any license, operating a mecha is clearly a complex theory. I don’t expect you to understand. So give up—junk will always be junk. Don’t think that killing a few vultures makes you something special.”
George mocked him mercilessly, his smug expression even angering some scavengers in the distance. Yet no one dared to stand up in defense of the black-haired man.
A warrior is a warrior—no matter when, brute force is the foundation of survival. To them, ordinary scavengers are probably no different from ants. Killing a few of them wouldn’t cause them any concern.
But rivals among peers follow the old rule—this also applies to warriors. Even if the black-haired man appeared gentle, his ability to kill three mutated vultures was enough to alert George.
Fortunately, he can’t pilot a magic mecha, George thought maliciously.
Just then, his feet suddenly stopped abruptly, followed by a screeching brake sound and rising dust, which instantly changed his expression. The intense vibration also caused the entire carriage to shake.
“Alert!! All personnel, take combat positions! Full combat readiness. Fire safety disengaged, crystal cannons charging. Mr. George, please come to the command room immediately!” A pleasant female voice rang out, delivering the most terrifying order of all.
“Brat, you’re lucky. I’ll deal with you later.” Throwing down those harsh words, George ignored the black-haired man completely and rushed toward the command room.
Behind him, the black-haired man remained quiet, watching the magic mecha inside through the carriage window. Wordless.

The pleasant female voice quickly turned into a shrill alarm sound. The puppet worm finally stopped after a violent tremor. Looking out of the car window, a sand area hundreds of feet across seemed to come to life, writhing continuously, followed by thick streams of sand gushing into the sky. A giant humanoid figure, ten meters tall, like a pitch-black devil, gradually emerged from the depths of the desert, right in front of the puppet worm. Though covered in rust spots all over, its heavy armor and massive tubular cannon in its hands clearly demonstrated its terrifying nature.

“Moni!”

OldBuick exclaimed in shock and stood up abruptly. The confident expression on his face was replaced by one of awe. The delicate silver box in his hands turned into a pile of scrap metal with a crisp “click” sound.

Yet no one in the command room noticed his distress. Everyone was stunned by the terrifying giant humanoid before them.

Just like the Venus mechs of the Shek planet, Moni’s reputation was also built on its immense power. Unlike human magic mechs, this product of an ancient mechanical civilization brought more sense of madness.

In fact, such giant mechanical beings were purely guardians used by the ruins to protect important resources. They would mercilessly destroy any life within their sight. In past explorations, countless brave warriors had died under its massive cannons. Despite thousands of years having passed and humans now possessing advanced magic mechs, Moni’s formidable presence still filled all the people of Shek with deep fear.

“Attack! Attack now!” OldBuick was the first to regain his senses and shouted frantically. At his command, the puppet worm immediately regained its vitality. Sliding panels on the roof of the carriage opened, and countless dark cannons emitted purplish-red light.

Unfortunately, such intense firepower seemed pitiful against the giant humanoid before them. It could only scrape off some of the rust on its body, with no other effect. As the black-red rust peeled away, a deep blue armored coating gradually appeared to everyone’s eyes.

Things had gone terribly wrong. OldBuick’s face turned pale with agitation, and he finally understood why his excavation team had disappeared. Turning his head, he looked at the indifferent middle-aged man in the corner of the carriage. His lips trembled…

“I understand, Mr. George. I agree to your price. Please proceed.”