C5 Natural Resonator

Luo Yan appeared dazed, still reeling from the experience. It was unclear how much time had passed before he faintly heard someone speaking to him.

"Hey, kid. What's your name? I'm talking to you."

Luo Yan looked up blankly to see several people standing nearby. Among them were warriors clad in black armor, and a man dressed in something akin to a wetsuit, adorned with sensors. This man was middle-aged, with a stern countenance and a rugged aura.

He spoke up, "The boy hasn't come out of the resonance yet. Take him to the medical vehicle for a doctor to examine."

"Yes, Regiment Commander Di," came the response.

A few warriors approached, gently lifting Luo Yan and carrying him away, their touch noticeably softer than before. Regiment Commander Di glanced at the silver mecha, the White Dragon, before swiftly boarding an armored vehicle.

Inside, the soldiers rose to salute. "Good morning, Regiment Commander Di!"

With a hand gesture, the commander requested, "Replay the battle footage of the White Dragon for me."

Soon enough, he watched the footage on the screen: Luo Yan performing various maneuvers on the ground, mirrored by the White Dragon mecha.

"Regimental Commander Di Zheng, he must be a Natural Resonator like you," a soldier murmured.

Di Zheng, the full name of the commander, nodded. "He's managed to connect to the Synesthesia System without any training. Indeed, he's a Natural Resonator, seemingly more suited to the White Dragon than Yang Rong."

"After he recovers, I'll see what he thinks. If he agrees, we'll take him back to Dungeon City."

"No!"

The abrupt outcry turned heads. Di Zheng looked back to see Yang Rong, the black-haired, brown-eyed mechanist, emerging from the armored vehicle.

Yang Rong had just exited his mecha and overheard Di Zheng's conversation. Without hesitation, he interjected.

Di Zheng regarded him with a cool gaze.

Yang Rong, impassioned, protested, "Commander, we can't just take some unknown kid to Dungeon City."

"In short, he's of no value!"

Di Zheng spoke with a detached tone, "Are you finished? If so, please leave. You shouldn't be here."

A strong sense of unwillingness welled up in Yang Rong's eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but Di Zheng cut him off with a cool question.

"Do I need to repeat myself?"

Yang Rong, not daring to talk back any further, hung his head and exited the armored vehicle.

As he made his way to his own resting quarters, he felt the sting of judgmental stares.

Yet, what truly gnawed at him were Di Zheng's words, "He is more suitable than Yang Rong!"

No!

Absolutely not!

I refuse to accept it!

A glint of murderous intent flashed in Yang Rong's eyes.

In the medical vehicle, after a series of examinations, Luo Yan finally came to.

Still, he was quite weak.

But when he noticed the nurse preparing to give him an injection, he leapt up, instinctively resisting.

A voice then rang out, "Sit down, behave. You're afflicted with Scarlet Poison, which has weakened you. You've just experienced a synesthesia with the White Dragon, draining your energy and spirit."

"This injection will boost your vitality and ease the effects of the Scarlet Poison."

"Relax, it's not lethal."

Luo Yan watched as the man known as 'Regimental Commander Di' entered.

He introduced himself, "I'm Di Zheng, commander of the Exploration Corps."

"And your name?"

Luo Yan hesitated, then answered in a raspy voice, "I'm Luo Yan."

After the nurse administered the injection and stepped out at the doctor's direction, only Luo Yan and Di Zheng remained in the vehicle.

Di Zheng pulled up a chair and sat down, "We hail from Dungeon City, an underground metropolis built before the Beast Calamity. It's equipped with all the amenities of life, housing a population of 50,000 humans."

"You are a Natural Resonator, able to share senses with a mech without any devices."

"You're a born mechanist, and for that reason, I'd like to invite you to Dungeon City."

"Of course, you'll need training and to acquire some basic knowledge."

"As a mech pilot, you'll enjoy numerous 'perks,' one of which is treatment for your 'Scarlet Poison.'"

"What do you say? Are you interested?"

Luo Yan's heartbeat quickened.

It was just as he had suspected.

These people could indeed cure the Scarlet Poison.

That alone made it impossible for Luo Yan to refuse.

Moreover, he was eager to search for his family.

But burdened with the 'Scarlet Poison' and without any weapons, he had been forced to merely survive within the confines of the city.

He could hardly take a step without difficulty.

Now, at last, he saw a glimmer of hope!

Before he could reply, Di Zheng added,

"However, I must warn you."

"Through my recommendation, you'll gain entry to Dungeon City and attend the Mech Training Academy."

"But in doing so, you'll be aligning yourself with me."

"Whether you like it or not, that's how others will perceive you."

"And for various reasons, I have quite a few 'enemies' in Dungeon City."

"If you accept, you'll gain opportunities but also inherit some 'enemies.'"

Hearing this, Luo Yan's hesitation vanished.

"I'm in."

"I want to survive."

"Besides, I'm not afraid to make enemies."

In his three years on the surface, he had faced and killed more than his share of 'enemies.'

After all,

there's no such thing as a free lunch.

Luo Yan was well aware of that.

To seize the chance to live, naturally, there would be a price to pay!

Regimental Commander Di's straightforwardness instilled in him a sense of trust.

Di Zheng, with an expression as cold as ice, nodded. "Good, rest up. We head back tomorrow."

That afternoon, the third mech finally returned.

Along with it came a truck.

The truck's cargo was tightly wrapped in waterproof material.

It appeared to be something retrieved from the lair of the Taotie, perhaps from the Galaxy Sports Stadium.

This piqued the curiosity of Luo Yan, who was seated on a low stone near the vehicle.

As night fell,

a strikingly attractive woman in uniform approached Luo Yan with a warm smile.

She set down several cans of food and said to him,

"Kid, these are for you."

Luo Yan gave her a look but remained silent.

Over the years, he had learned a valuable lesson: never eat food from strangers. Moreover, the more beautiful the woman, the greater the danger. The woman huffed in annoyance when she noticed Luo Yan's lack of response and took a seat beside him, inching closer. A delicate scent wafted into Luo Yan's nostrils.

"What's the matter, kid? Scared I might hurt you?" she teased. "Had I known, I wouldn't have bothered coming myself."

"Anyway, tell me, how did you manage to operate the White Dragon?"

Luo Yan looked up with a quizzical expression. "The White Dragon?"

"Yes, the mech piloted by Yang Rong."

"Oh."

Luo Yan fell silent again. He didn't understand how he had been able to operate it. He suspected it had something to do with being a Natural Resonator, as Di Zheng had mentioned.

The woman, put off by Luo Yan's aloof demeanor, snorted in disdain and walked away. Once she was gone, Luo Yan cautiously opened the can. The aroma of the meat was tantalizing, but he resisted the urge to indulge and instead scattered the contents on the ground nearby.

A few stray dogs appeared, tentatively approaching. Luo Yan pretended not to notice. The dogs, emboldened, rushed over to devour the discarded meat. Meanwhile, Luo Yan quietly ate the bread he had brought with him.

Suddenly, the dogs at his side began to whimper pitifully. Luo Yan turned to see them collapse, foaming at the mouth and convulsing. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

"That brat doesn't appreciate a woman's kindness. Serves him right to die," the woman muttered to herself with a smirk. "With this deed, I'll earn the basic meditating and thinking skill promised by Yang Rong, the mechanist. Once I 'awaken,' I can join the Mecha Academy and become a mechanist myself. No more bowing to others!"

She felt a surge of triumph as she crawled into her single-person tent. Deep into the night, the woman was jolted awake by a sudden tightness in her throat, nearly choking. Her eyes flew open to a dark figure looming beside her.

"If you scream, I'll kill you on the spot," the shadowy figure whispered menacingly.

Her face suddenly felt cool, then came the sharp sting of her skin being sliced open.

The woman quickly nodded, too frightened to argue.

The shadowy figure demanded, "Why did you give me a can of poisoned meat?"

In an instant, the woman realized who she was dealing with.

Luo Yan!

That seemingly insignificant kid had dared to sneak into her tent?

He hadn't died?

He hadn't eaten the canned meat?

Impossible!

Didn't all the surface survivors greedily gobble down any bit of food they could find?

In a flurry of panic, her eyes darted around.

Not wanting to betray Yang Rong, she whispered defensively, "Poison? You must be confused."

Luo Yan grabbed a can of meat, opened it, and forced the woman's mouth open, ready to pour the contents inside.

The woman hadn't anticipated his ferocity and blurted out in haste, "I'll talk, I'll talk, it was Yang Rong."

"It was Mechanist Yang who told me to do it!"

Yang Rong...

The sullen image of the mechanist flashed through Luo Yan's mind.

"Fine."

Luo Yan let go.

The woman breathed a sigh of relief, having narrowly escaped death.

Then, her mind began to race with malicious schemes to exact revenge on Luo Yan.

But just then, a mouthful of artificially flavored meat and an abundance of juices were forced into her mouth!

Luo Yan dumped the can's contents into her mouth and held it shut.

She struggled desperately, her eyes bulging as if they might pop out.

But ultimately, she succumbed, foaming at the mouth.

Dead.

Luo Yan extracted a sharpened piece of metal, sliced open the woman's artery, filled the empty can with her blood, and slipped away silently.

He abandoned the convoy, leaving a trail of the woman's blood in his wake.

Before long, ticks, lured by the scent, swarmed in.

They infiltrated the convoy.

They surged into the woman's tent.

The commotion roused the soldiers, and a brief skirmish ensued.

The ticks were exterminated.

But the woman was 'unfortunately' shredded by the ticks.

Witnessing the aftermath, Luo Yan inhaled the chilly night air deeply and retreated to his assigned tent.

The convoy departed the next day, swiftly leaving behind Flower City and heading north. As dusk fell, they paused for a rest beneath a large bridge. Three trucks, laden with mechas, opened up to reveal mechanics busily performing routine maintenance on the machines. Each mechanist treated their mecha like a prized treasure, only feeling reassured when they could personally supervise the maintenance process. Yang Rong was no different, and his foul mood only made him more critical of the mechanics.

"Be careful with it. If you damage it, you'll regret it," he snapped. "Are you an idiot? Who taught you to apply lubricant like that?"

Nearby, Luo Yan observed as the mechas' upper bodies were propped up from the truck beds. Yang Rong stood beneath his mecha, gesturing and giving directions, occasionally casting dark looks in Luo Yan's direction. Luo Yan, however, ignored him, closing his eyes to recapture the sensation he had felt the day before. Before long, he could hear that powerful heartbeat once more, as if the mechas were living creatures rather than constructs of metal.

Suddenly, Luo Yan felt a connection with the mecha, experiencing a shared sentiment. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Yang Rong's figure. With a swift movement, Luo Yan caused the mecha, White Dragon, to lurch, snapping several of its tethers and sending it crashing to the ground. Yang Rong, turning to walk away, missed the initial moment but was alerted by the mechanics' shouts. Then, a massive shadow loomed over him.

With a thunderous impact, the mecha slammed into the earth. Blood seeped from beneath the gleaming armor. The camp fell silent, only to erupt in a chorus of shocked exclamations moments later. Another mechanist rushed over in a pitch-black mecha to assist, but by the time White Dragon was righted, Yang Rong was nothing more than a bloody pulp.

Luo Yan pulled out the last piece of bread he had taken from the "kennel" and bit into it. "Mmm, delicious!"

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