<h4>Chapter 264: Sang Family Vige</h4>


    Trantor: EndlessFantasy Trantion Editor: EndlessFantasy Trantion


    The people marched quickly ahead, one of them carrying the reinvolt over his shoulder. Everyone was quiet, thinking about the massive thing that was flying slowly behind, following them.


    It was a mech. Sang Ling recognized it. The Sang Family Vige’s shrine had seven mechs on disy, but they were ancientpared to this mech. In fact, theparison was not an exaggeration. The seven mechs had been passed down for a few generations, known by every member of the Sang family.


    "Mechs really could fly …" Sang Ling took a peek at Han Jia, flying above, her eyes filled with envy. In the legends, mechs could fly, but today she had finally seen it for the first time. The techniques to fly the seven mechs in the shrine had been long lost. They were now only a symbol of the courage and determination of their ancestors.


    Sang Ling quickly lost her initial excitement. She began to worry about Sang Fan’s injuries. As childhood friends, she and Sang Fan were the most famous pair in the vige. Sang Fan and her were both the most capable and outstanding of their generation.


    It was this guy’s fault! Sang Ling could not help but stared angrily at Han Jia. The dagger had blood from the three-eyed giant squid, it was no wonder that the reinvolt suddenly turned crazy. Just a tiny bit of the three-eyed giant squid’s scent could trigger the reinvolt’s fear due to its sensitive sense of smell.


    However, if the mech had not interfered, Sang Fan would have … Sang Lin shuddered. Besides, the guy had even offered medical supplies. With that offer of assistance, they really could not me him now. His medicine was truly miraculous. Just by swallowing a tiny pill, Sang Fan’s breathing steadied. While he was unconscious now, his situation seemed a lot better.


    What a powerful mech! Sang Ling was impressed. The mech had injured a three-eyed giant squid. Before she met this mech, she never thought that anything could ever hurt that giant beast.


    Ye Chong sat in the pilot cabin, his face calm. Inside, however, he was not nearly so peaceful.


    These primitives spoke the samenguage as him, andmunication was not a problem. Could this be part of the Five Gxies? That was Ye Chong’s first guess. Could the primitives be part of some savage tribe? That thought was quickly dismissed by Ye Chong.


    If there was really such a strange ce in the Five Gxies, it would have been discovered.


    From the primitives, he learned that they came from a ce called the Shang Family Vige. The term "vige" was unfamiliar to Ye Chong. He imagined it to be some kind of city.


    The other party was cautious against Ye Chong, and did not speak much. Ye Chong epted this easily. If it were him, he would be even more cautious. At first, Ye Chong thought they came from some savage tribe, but they had all recognized mechs. That surprised him very much.


    Nevertheless, their clothing and weapons felt very primitive to Ye Chong.


    The two parties did not exchange many words. ording to the woman in the group, any questions can be directed to the vige head.


    Vige head? What an peculiar title.


    Ye Chong quickly noticed something interesting - the group practiced strict discipline. They worked together seamlessly, delegating tasks in reasonable ways. This reminded Ye Chong of an army troop! They were very much like the Sanctuary’s standardbat squad.


    This made Ye Chong suspect even more that they came from a savage tribal society.


    Ye Chong was intrigued by their physique. The seven-meter tall reinvolt was heavy, but the man heaving the prey seemed quite rxed, and did not fall behind.


    Finally, they reached the Sang Family Vige. The vige was much smaller than Ye Chong imagined. The entire vige was surrounded by a six-meter tall fence, probably to ward against animal attacks. However, if a mech were to attack this vige, it would only be too easy.


    There were no anti air attack measures, no field interference facilities, no long range attack weapons. Ye Chong made a quick assessment of the vige. His conclusion was this - if he wanted to escape, they would not be able to stop him. This made Ye Chong feel safer. While they were of the same species, andmunication was not an issue, Ye Chong still dared not be careless.


    Han Jia’s simple scanning system was now quite handy.


    There were about 100,000 inhabitants here. Ye Chong shook his head. This city was too small. In the Five Gxies, any city would be home to at least a few million. Everything here was primitive, the exact image of a savage tribal society.


    The return of Sang Ling and others created a slightmotion. Sang Fan’s injury had everyone busy. However, he was soon sent to a tiny purple coloured straw hut. Just as the people were about to disperse, they finally noticed Han Jia.


    "A mech, it’s really a mech …" A viger muttered incoherently.


    "It’s truly a mech …" Simr utterances were heard in the crowd, all filled with wonder.


    Han Jia was now surrounded by a dense crowd.


    When Ye Chong came out of Han Jia, the vige suddenly fall into a short silence.


    When Ye Chong withdrew Han Jia with its dimension keystone, everyone was shocked. The sight of a huge machine suddenly vanishing made quite an impression.


    Ye Chong quickly found himself stuck in the middle of the crowd, unable to leave.


    "Make way, make way please." A path quickly formed amongst the crowd. In came an old man, supported by Sang Ling, as he slowly approached Ye Chong.


    "Cough, cough, young man, how do you do? I’m the vige head, Sang De." The vige head coughed twice before finally speaking slowly.


    Ye Chong was always respectful towards the elderly. He bowed slightly and replied, "Vige Head, how do you do? I’m a mech pilot and I’ve lost my way. I hope to have your assistance."


    Sang De nodded, and spoke to his people, "Go back to your own businesses now." The vige head was heeded. Everyone left, and only some children were left hiding in a corner, watching them.


    "Let’s talk at my ce," the vige head, Sang De motioned for Ye Chong to follow.


    Ye Chong and the vige head had a pleasant conversation. Ye Chong finally had a rough understanding of the vige. Sang Family Vige was the only human settlement here. Their ancestors seemed to havee here to avoid some huge disaster elsewhere.


    Their tribe had lived here for 500 years. Before that, they came from a gxy called He Yue.


    He Yue Gxy? Where was that? Could it be an earlier name for one of the Five Gxies? 500 years ago, the gxies might be known with different names. However, Ye Chong could not be sure. He had almost zero knowledge of the Five Gxies’ history.


    Ye Chong’s request to stay was quickly epted by Sang De. The cunning vige head knew that this young man was a capable fighter, and could help defend the vige. As for his origin, Sang De did not care for it. If the man wanted to harm the vige, then they could not stop him. If that was the case, why not maintain a good rtionship with him?


    Besides, 500 years had passed, and they knew nothing of the advances of the outside world. Their world was still so primitive. All this while, this had been a concern for every vige head. When their first ancestors arrived here with their mechs, they had sacrificed most of theirbatants to protect the vigers. All the engineers died. This caused the Sang Family Vige to be the way it was today. Moreover, when the backup energy cells were used up, all the mechs became useless. Until today, the problem of powering the mechs was still unsolved, and no one alive knew how to pilot a mech.


    Now that they had a visitor from the outside world, and a mech pilot with his own mech at that, the Sang family’s 500 years of stagnation finally had a glimmer of hope.


    However, Ye Chong was not thinking about these things. The best option for him now would be stay in the vige. He did not know how to return to the Five Gxies, and wondering around aimlessly would be foolish. This ce had too many oddities. Besides, the people here had a history going back 500 years, and were familiar with this ce. For now at least, he would not have to worry about survival.


    Ye Chong followed the young man called Sang Pu. Sang Pu was around his age, reaching 170 meters in heights, a tall staturepared to the rest of the vigers. Sang Pu did not speak much, but seemed to be a man of reputation amongt his peers. He was rumored to be the next vige head.


    "These are the mechs from our ancestors," Sang Pu exined with reverence towards his ancestors.


    Seven mechs with rusty spots all over them were disyed in the shrine. These mechs were all huge, towering at around 20 meters tall, like huge iron men. The thick armor made them look unwieldy, like a metal lump. It was apparent that mechanical techniques were still quite undeveloped back then. One had to use thickened armor to protect the mech pilot in the mech.


    A 500-year-old mech was definitely something that Ye Chong was interested in. Since he first heard about these seven mechs, his first request was to pay them a visit. The vige head agreed easily. Even the oldest mechs in a mech museum in the Five Gxies were only about 300 years old. Ye Chong could not help his excitement at these seven 500-year-old mechs!


    The mechs’ internal structures were crude and simple. There were no hydraulic suspension systems. The circuits were made of metallic wires, and not photon circuits. There was no holographic scanning system, only an ancient radar …


    A mech like this was far worse than the most low level Raven mech. However, Ye Chong still felt very excited. In reality, any mech engineer would be interested in these ancient mechs. This opportunity was not to be missed.


    These mechs would not be able to inspire Ye Chong with new ideas, but he still crawled into all of them and inspected in detail. In his professional opinion, mechs like these were less than basic. However, for something that was made 500 years ago, one cannot ask for more.


    Sang Pu asked, "Are these mechs still functional?" He looked at Ye Chong, hopeful. These seven mechs had been kept here for 500 years. To the people of the Sang Family Vige, they should be warriors, not historical relics.


    Ye Chong shook his head. "No. They’re too rusted. Some of the jointsck maintenance, and cannot be bent anymore. Besides, they use some kind of organic fuel. I’m not familiar with them." In fact, Ye Chong was already quite surprised to find these mechs so well preserved after 500 years.


    Ye Chong’s reply made Sang Pu feel deeply disappointed. Ye Chong could see those emotions in his eyes. However, Ye Chong was helpless as well.


    Ye Chong was also immediately reminded of Han Jia’s energy problem. The backup energy cells were almost used up. If he could not find any new and suitable fuel, Han Jia would probably end up being put on disy with these mechs here.


    Nheless, haste would not solve this problem. There would not be any energy cell charging devices here, so the only option left was to find a recement.


    For now, he could only minimize his usage of Han Jia. It was best if he used Han Jia only when desperate.


    After all, the people here had lived their lives all this while without mechs. Ye Chong believed that he would be able to defend himself, even without his mech.


    It was soon meal time. Sang Pu led Ye Chong to the vige head’s house. Ye Chong saw the woman from the group that brought him here earlier. Ye Chong nodded to her slightly, and sat beside Sang Pu.


    Sang Ling humphed softly, and ignored Ye Chong as she began to eat.


    Since the woman did not greet him back, Ye Chong did not press further. Instead, he nodded to Sang De. The vige headughed heartily, "Food is simple here, nothing grand to boast about, I hope you’ll like it!"


    By now, Ye Chong could tackle these social pleasantries easily. "You’re too kind. Please call me Ye."


    Sang Deughed again. "Alright, I’ll call you Ye, and you can just call me Vige Head."


    On the te before Ye Chong was a piece of steak, with some blue berries of some kind on the side. Ye Chong did not recognize the meat, but he knew what the berries were. On the ins on the other side of the river, there were many nts with these blue little berries.


    Ye Chong picked up one of them and studied it closely. Unlike when it was on the tip of the nt, it no longer glowed with that faint blue color.


    Seeing Ye Chong taking interest in the blue berry, Sang Pu introduced, "This is our main source of food, we call it mayaberry. Go ahead, try it, it’s not bad. This steak is from the meat of that reinvolt you killed today. Reinvolt meat is tender and delicious."


    Ye Chong threw a mayaberry into his mouth and chewed. A fragrance began to spread in his mouth, with a little sweetness. He ate another one. To Ye Chong, this was far better than on the trash. He had never tasted such delicious fruits over there.


    The vige head and Sang Pu smiled, looking at Ye Chong enjoying his meal. Only Sang Ling still looked cool.


    Eyeing the steak on his te, Ye Chong took out his dagger and made to slice it.


    Sang Pu saw the dagger in Ye Chong’s hands, and his eyes glowed. He urged, "Ye, can you let me have a look at that weapon of yours?"