Chapter 105 So Many Good Things

—Clang—

A dull metallic crash broke the millions of years of deathly silence within this hundred-kilometer-long docking bay.

Lin Yuan piloted the "ghost," his feet firmly magnetized to the alloy deck that shimmered with a cold, eerie light.

Lin Yuan stretched his neck inside the cockpit, and his exoskeleton armor emitted a slight hum, offsetting the extra pressure for him.

But he had no time to worry about gravity right now.

His eyes were fixed intently on the area by his feet.

It was a metal plate about two meters square, likely fallen from some large piece of engineering machinery, with irregular fracture marks at the edges and covered in a thick layer of cosmic dust.

"Scan."

Lin Yuan subconsciously activated the system's matter analyzer.

[Ding—Scan complete]

[Item Name: Titan-class High-Density Memory Alloy (Fragment)]

[Composition Analysis: Thorium 23%, Degenerate Carbon 15%, Unknown Rare Elements...]

[Strength Assessment: 12.6 times the highest strength special steel currently on Earth]

[Characteristics: Equipped with microscopic self-repair function, energy conductivity 99.9%]

[Evaluation: S-grade Strategic Material.]

Lin Yuan swallowed hard.

He felt his throat go a bit dry.

Back on Earth, to find even a single gram of material similar to this for the "South Heaven Gate Project," Academician Wang and those other old guys would worry themselves bald. Yet here, this thing was lying by the roadside like a discarded banana peel.

And there wasn't just one piece.

Looking around, both sides of this docking bay—wide enough for aircraft carriers to take off and land side-by-side—were covered in these "banana peels."

"Academician Wang," Lin Yuan's voice trembled slightly with excitement and an innate greed, "did you bring any fast-acting heart pills?"

In the communication channel, Academician Wang's voice was also shaking: "Lin Yuan... I see it... I see it!"

"Don't just stand there drooling."

Lin Yuan took a deep breath, and his professional instincts as a "junkyard boss" instantly took over.

"Li Na! Notify the 'luan bird one' engineering team—all hands on deck! Empty the cargo hold for me!"

"Anything that can be moved, even a single screw, pack it up and take it away! If it won't fit inside, strap it to the outside of the hull and tow it!"

...

Ten minutes later.

The originally cold and desolate docking bay had become as bustling as a wet market.

Hundreds of engineering mechs, like industrious worker ants, filed out from the belly of "luan bird one." The sounds of cutting, hauling, and the roar of engines rose and fell in succession.

Lin Yuan didn't waste time on that pile of "loose change."

He piloted the "ghost," gliding deeper into the passage.

The further he went, the more breathtaking the surroundings became. This place had clearly undergone a brutal internal battle; charred marks from explosions and massive craters were everywhere.

After gliding for about five kilometers,

Lin Yuan stopped abruptly.

"Holy crap..."

On an open platform ahead, a forest of steel lay silently.

No, it was a field of "corpses."

Hundreds of heavy mechs of various designs lay scattered across the ground. Each one was over fifty meters tall, more spectacular than the tallest Ultraman suit on Earth.

Some were missing heads, some had their chests pierced through, and some were left with only half a torso.

But even so, the ferocious aesthetic of these war machines from a god-level civilization still hit him full force.

They were Titan Heavy Industry's mass-produced main battle mechs—[Titan Destroyer].

"A mech graveyard..." Lin Yuan muttered to himself, his eyes gleaming with greed.

To him, this was like a mouse falling into a grain bin.

He piloted the "ghost" over one of the wrecks. Although the energy core in its chest had been scavenged, the pair of massive folding wings on its back remained perfectly intact.

"This material... this craftsmanship..." Lin Yuan tapped the wings with a mechanical arm, producing a clear, pleasant chime. "If I strip these and mount them on the 'luan bird' escort ships, their mobility will improve by at least three levels!"

Flying further ahead,

he discovered a big fellow in a mountain of scrap metal.

It was a [Titan Guardian] defensive mech. It was half-kneeling on the ground, its massive tower shield shattered, and its cockpit completely melted by a high-energy beam.

However,

the thirty-meter-long giant cannon mounted on its right shoulder was miraculously well-preserved; even the focusing lens at the muzzle didn't have a single crack.

[Item: Phase Particle Cannon (Heavy)]

[Status: 95% of charging circuits intact, fire control core offline]

[Lethality: A single shot can penetrate the crust of a celestial body similar to the Moon]

Lin Yuan felt his heart performing a tap dance in his chest.

If this thing were repaired and mounted in Earth's orbit, the Americans wouldn't just stop holding military exercises—they'd have to submit an application just to set off fireworks!

"Captain, I've found something."

Academician Wang's voice suddenly cut in, interrupting Lin Yuan's daydream.

"According to the scans, the interior of this fortress... seems to possess an extremely sophisticated ecological recycling system."

On the holographic screen, Academician Wang pulled up a structural diagram, pointing to a large green area located in the heart of the fortress.

"Although the plants there died millions of years ago, the soil composition and atmospheric circulation pipes still exist. This means this place wasn't just a munitions factory, but a... world that could accommodate hundreds of millions of carbon-based lives for long-term habitation."

Lin Yuan stopped smiling, his gaze narrowing slightly.

Habitation.

That meant there was civilization, society, and... death.

"Continue deeper," Lin Yuan said solemnly. "Everyone be careful. Don't just focus on picking up trash; life is more important than money."

The "ghost" passed the mech graveyard and arrived before a massive gate.

This gate towered into the clouds, so heavy it seemed to separate two different worlds. A line of massive titan script was engraved on the lintel, which translated to—[Third Industrial Zone].

However, this gate did not open automatically like the outer armor plates.

It was tightly sealed, and one could even see dark red energy flows flickering at the seam—a maximum-level containment field.

—Beep—Beep—Beep—

The moment Lin Yuan approached the gate, a piercing red alarm blared inside the "ghost's" cockpit.

[Warning! High-energy reaction detected!]

[Warning! Large-scale disordered vibrations detected in the area ahead!]

"Disordered vibrations?" Lin Yuan frowned. "Is it still in production inside?"

He piloted the mech close to the gate and activated the [Auditory Enhancement System].

The sensors took the vibrations from the heavy metal door, amplified them ten-thousandfold, and converted them into audio signals that entered Lin Yuan's eardrums.

In the next second, Lin Yuan's scalp tingled.

That wasn't the sound of machinery roaring.

"Screee... Screee..."

It was the teeth-gritting sound of metal being sliced.

It was the sound of countless sharp mechanical legs frantically scratching against the steel floor.

It was the shriek of gears failing to mesh.

And there was an incredibly eerie noise, like billions of iron insects huddling together, rubbing and biting each other.

"Cr-crack... I want... to build..."

Amidst that chaotic background noise, Lin Yuan faintly heard an intermittent, synthesized electronic voice, like a broken radio.

There was no logic in that voice, only an obsession driven to the absolute extreme of madness.

Lin Yuan abruptly piloted the mech back a hundred meters, and the Plasma Beam-Saber in his hand instantly snapped out, its blue-white light blade humming in the gloom.