57: Chapter 57 Forbidden Mech

Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng stood up, walked to the wall, and lifted a corner of the city defense map.

Behind the map was revealed an iron cabinet embedded in the wall, with three locks on the door. Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng pulled three keys from his waist and opened them one by one; the clicking sound of the lock cylinders turning was exceptionally clear in the quiet council chamber.

There was only one thing inside the iron cabinet.

A roll of yellowed blueprints.

Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng took out the blueprints and spread them on the table. The blueprints were large, almost covering the entire tabletop, and the edges were frayed beyond recognition, but the lines on them remained clear.

The moment Lin Yan's gaze landed on the blueprints, his pupils contracted slightly.

It was a blueprint for a mecha.

Just from the appearance of this mecha, one could judge that it was more precise, complex, and powerful than the mechas they had seen in the Walled City.

The skeletal structure was a composite structure made by recombining, reinforcing, and riveting hundreds of bones. The distribution of muscle fibers was also denser, and the blueprints were marked with dense annotations indicating the origin, insertion, and function of every muscle bundle. The joints had double or even triple tendon reinforcements, as if specifically designed to withstand loads far exceeding those of ordinary mechas.

The cockpit was not located in the chest but was deeper and further inward, wrapped by layers of bone and muscle, like a heart encased in muscle fibers.

In the top right corner of the blueprints were a few lines of text, written in a scrawled yet powerful hand, as if someone had written them in a state of extreme exhaustion.

"forbidden mecha · Prototype."

"Construction Time: Unknown."

"Builder: Unknown."

"Piloting Conditions: Unknown."

"Note: This mecha has never been successfully activated. All pilots who attempted to connect were backlashed the moment they connected. It is speculated that it requires a pilot with mental power far exceeding that of an ordinary person."

Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng's finger pressed onto the blueprints, his fingertip resting right on the words "never been successfully activated."

"This is an old object that has been preserved in the stronghold for over a hundred years," he said, his voice lower than before. "We call it the forbidden mecha. It is said that over a hundred years ago, when this city wall was first built, a genius created it using the strongest giant corpse they could find at the time."

Jiang Ruoxue leaned in closer, her gaze sweeping quickly over the blueprints, her brows furrowing slightly.

"It has never been activated?" she asked.

"Never," Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng shook his head. "We have had countless pilots attempt it, and every single one was backlashed the moment they connected. The longest one lasted less than ten seconds, and then..."

He did not finish, but everyone had seen that result in the infirmary.

"Why tell us this?" Lin Yan asked.

Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng looked up at him.

"Because you are outsiders," he said. "Your mental power... is different from ours. I can't put my finger on what's different, but there is something about you that we don't have."

His gaze moved from Lin Yan to Jiang Ruoxue, from Jiang Ruoxue to Qin Chuan, and finally landed on Shen Xin.

"Especially you."

Shen Xin was stunned for a moment: "Me?"

"Mm," Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng looked at her. "There is a kind of... light on you. It's not the kind of light that eyes can see; it's some kind of... I can't explain it. But none of the pilots who were backlashed in the past had this."

Shen Xin opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing.

Lin Yan looked at Shen Xin and remained silent for a moment.

He recalled Shen Xin's talent: having extremely high resistance to all mental, curse, and control-type abnormal statuses. Was the mental backlash caused by giant neural connection a type of mental abnormal status?

If it was, Shen Xin's talent might be the key to this forbidden mecha.

"There is one more thing." Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng rolled the blueprints back up, put them back into the iron cabinet, locked the three locks, and turned around.

"You arrived just in time. Before the giants attack the city tomorrow, someone will publicly pilot a new mecha on the city wall. It's one we spent ten years building, and it is currently the most advanced one."

"Publicly pilot?" Qin Chuan asked. "Why do it publicly?"

Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng looked at him, his gaze complex.

"Because we need hope," his voice was very soft. "The people behind this city wall have been holding out for over a hundred years and are almost at their breaking point. They need to see that someone can stand up, can fight, and can win. Otherwise, even before the giants attack, we will collapse ourselves."

The council chamber was quiet for a while.

The flame of the kerosene lamp flickered in the wind blowing in from the vent, and the shadows on the wall flickered along with it.

"You can consider the matter of the forbidden mecha," Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng sat back in his chair, crossing his hands on the table with his fingertips pressed against each other. "You don't need to give me an answer now; just finish tomorrow's city defense battle first. Survive, and then we can talk about other things."

At this moment, a Dungeon system prompt sounded in the minds of all four of them simultaneously.

[Triggered Hidden Side Quest: Successfully activate the forbidden mecha]

[Quest Rewards: Level 15 Blue Rare Equipment × 4, Blue Rare Skill Book × 1]

At the same time, another voice, which only Lin Yan could hear, reached his mind.

[hextech system has detected that the host has triggered a hidden side quest. Upon completing this side quest, you will receive an additional hextech selection opportunity × 1.]

---

"Where is the forbidden mecha?"

Mecha Captain Zhao Tiesheng was silent for two seconds.

"In the deepest part beneath the city, inside the foundation of the First Layer of the city wall," he said. "When the city wall was built a hundred years ago, it was sealed in the foundation. It wasn't to hide it; it was... we didn't dare to release it. That thing's power is too strong, so strong that we are afraid."

Lin Yan did not ask again, pushed the door open, and walked out.

Emerging from the council chamber, the sky had already darkened.

Torches on the city wall were lit one by one, their orange-red flames dancing on the black city wall, casting the shadows of the garrison soldiers onto the wall like a group of silent giants standing in formation.

The four of them walked on the road back to the East Section No. 3 Arrow Tower, with no one speaking.

"Boss." He turned around, his expression uncharacteristically serious. "What do you think about the forbidden mecha matter?"

"Shen Xin's talent might be useful, but it is also possible that she will encounter danger." Lin Yan turned his head to look at Shen Xin and said.

Qin Chuan nodded and did not ask any more questions.

"I want to try. If I succeed, not only can we increase our combat power, but we can also complete the hidden quest." Shen Xin said with a determined look.

"This is not something to consider right now. To be safe, gather more information. Let's see how the situation is during tomorrow's city defense."