The Mech Touch novel Chapter 314

Why did the skeleton of a giant humanoid ended up in the core of the Glowing Planet?

Was he buried underneath alone, or did the planet contain several other graves?

How long ago did the giant live, and how long ago did it die?

Why was there so much Rorach’s Bone around the skeleton of the giant, and why hadn’t the skeleton gone to dust all these eons?

So many questions swirled around in his mind. Much like any mystery he encountered, Ves ignored the implications of what he’d seen and focused on the more important priority: getting his payday.

Thus, when he saw the giant’s skull contained, he couldn’t hold back his glee.

A resplendent glowing jewel hovered at the center of the brain cavity. The jewel looked as polished as the most expertly cut gem, and shone in transparent white, as if nothing had ever tainted its purity. The more Ves stared at it, the more he guessed that it might be the origin of all of the Rorach’s Bone in the vicinity.

"If this isn’t what the System wants, then I don’t know what can top this treasure."

After he finished admiring his find, Ves activated a function in his mining suit that extended a claw-like grip from his gauntlet. Its extra reach allowed him to reach through the hole and carefully grip the shining jewel.

Nothing happened when he pulled the jewel out of its resting place. Ves half-expected some kind of trap to go off, but nothing stood out. Even his sixth sense hadn’t picked up any mental spikes.

Thus, with excruciating care, Ves pulled out the jewel and beheld it in his gauntlets. He suspiciously eyed Lucky, but it seemed his cat didn’t show any interest in it at all.

"Hah, I forgot. You’re a gem cat. This probably looks like excrement to you."

Lucky huffed, but never put down his vigilance. Ves took note of his pet’s alertness. Danger still existed even if he retrieved his prize.

"Well, let’s get this over with. System, here’s your damn jewel. I hope I got it right this time!"

Once he offered the jewel to the System, Ves sighed in relief as the jewel started to dematerialize. It meant he finally hit the jackpot.

[Congratulations for obtaining the core and completing the mission. Exotic materials have a complex origin, and may be spawned by both nature and design. As a mech designer, you must understand the materials you are working with, and be able to distinguish the good from the bad.]

[You have received 10 golden lottery tickets. Please visit the Lottery page to redeem your tickets.]

[You have received a Special Upgrade Voucher (Machine). Please visit your Inventory to redeem your voucher.]

"I’m done! I’m finally done with this mission!"

It came as a huge relief to be finally done with this awful mission. Though the rewards looked promising, he would rather do without all of the danger.

As the jewel slowly disappeared, the System’s message about materials put Ves to thought. He floated back and eyed the giant skeleton in the perspective of a mech designer.

"This skeleton looks awfully like the internal frame of a mech."

He’d only have to remove the superfluous parts like some of the ribs and he’d have a ready-made base for a unique mech. The bones must hold some very powerful properties to be able to persist like this. They looked as pristine as if the giant had died yesterday, if not for the lack of flesh.

"It’ll have to be a mech that takes full advantage of these bones."

That meant he’d have to design something like a light skirmisher, which relied heavily on the soundness of the internal frame to pull of all those high-speed movements. Ves envisioned adding internals and armor plating around the skeleton. The skeleton seemed tailor-made for humanoid mechs.

"It’s viable."

For a moment, Ves thought about claiming all of these bones. Then, he reconsidered.

"It’s not as if the Mech Corps will let me keep such an important find."

Again, his lack of influence and his role as an external consultant limited his options. After a lot of thought, Ves sadly gave up on attempting to claim the bones.

Once the jewel finally disappeared, something changed. The giant skeleton abruptly started to break down. Its pristine white bones grew grey and turned incredible brittle before falling apart into lifeless chunks. A pulse of violent rage emanated from the center of the Glowing Planet and momentarily overwhelmed his sixth sense.

"Arggh!"

The entire cavern shuddered, and rocks began to fall from above. It was as if the entire Glowing Planet had gone mad.

"Lucky! Let’s get out of here!"

Ves picked up his spooked pet and engaged his mining suit’s thrusters. He flew into the tunnel Lucky had dug and carefully navigated it all the way up. This took quite a lot of time because the tunnel was too narrow for him to navigate at full speed.

In the meantime, the rage that his sixth sense picked up thrummed with violence. Ves didn’t know where it came from, but the sheer power and reach behind the ripples scared Ves to death. It might even be the planet itself that was lashing out! _{frёewebηovel.cѳm}

"Who the hell did I piss off?!"

In his haste, Ves mistakenly bumped against a turn in the tunnel. His mining suit gained some scuff marks and Lucky meowed in complaint, but nothing broke, so Ves resumed his flight.

All the while, the spacetime fluctuations began to grow in number. Some parts of the tunnel momentarily warped as if someone pinched that part of space. This alternatively widened or narrowed the tunnel in a random pattern. Sometimes, Ves had to prompt Lucky to claw their way out of a barrier that appeared out of nowhere.

One time, Ves almost bumped head-first into a section of warped spacetime. He had to careen his suit against the sides of the tunnel to stop him from turning into noodles.

"That was close!"