Chapter 183: Shock
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Wei Yuan sat before his desk, staring unblinkingly at the holographic recording on the photon processor with bloodshot eyes. This was the recording he made of YC! He had not slept an entire day, but he was still feeling very excited!
He stood up abruptly, and nearly fell from exhaustion! However, that did not dim his enthusiasm!
Just now, he finally had a breakthrough studying his recording of YC!
Wei Yuan had natural talent in this field, often gaining unique insights from the mech trajectories he had seen. This helped him immensely with his understanding of piloting techniques. Even so, his innate talent did not seem to help much this time. This made him feel very impatient and exasperated!
Fortunately, he realized that those emotions did not help. Soon, he vanquished those emotions and went to work!
YC’s holographic recording was like an epic teaching material for mech piloting!
That inhumanly difficult straight line step backwards, for example, was executed expertly. Whenever the mech stepped backwards, Tissot would bend its upper body forward at a large angle like a bent spring, greatly reducing the burden due to the abrupt change in direction to be manageable for the mech pilot. However, Wei Yuan’s calculations revealed that the resultant momentum still placed a heavy burden on the pilot. Without a strong body, one cannot use this technique!
This was not difficult to realize for Wei Yuan. What bothered him the most was why YC did not preferentially use straight line steps, but opted for curved steps instead! Over the past 24 hours, he pondered on the question. Finally, his efforts were rewarded, and he finally understood!
From the beginning, Wei Yuan had made a mistake. He had chosen only YC’s footwork for a.n.a.lysis, and did not realize that YC’s steps were all made to coordinate his combat moves.
When Wei Yuan saw YC using curved steps to match his striking attack from a difficult angle, Wei Yuan finally understood! YC had sacrificed the distance in his steps for the movements of his upper body arms!
He grew more and more obsessed with the recording!
Soon, he began to develop a strong interest in this peculiar way of combat. With his solid mech piloting background, the battle moves he was learning now could not compare with YC’s way of fighting in terms of unleas.h.i.+ng his full potential.
With his full attention on the holographic recording, Wei Yuan did not realize the extent in which the recording had changed him!
Night came, but Ye Chong received bad news. Mu had discreetly hacked in the Shang family’s systems, and was aware of their every movement. From Mu’s a.n.a.lysis, it seemed that the Shang family was about to do something with Ye Chong! For some reason, the Shang family did not send out their orders through the usual communication systems, and so Mu did not know the details. However, Ye Chong believed that the Shang family was definitely up to no good!
Ye Chong was not afraid of the Shang family; he was more vigilant against the four Black Coe bodyguards around Robert. As long as they did not interfere, he should have no problems. This was his initial thought, but what happened later proved just how wrong he was!
Ye Chong quickly deployed Han Jia. It was the only mech he could use for now. He did not let Mu out just yet. In truth, Mu would only make his move if Ye Chong was in a desperate situation.
Fortunately, Mu was not against helping in other matters. Ye Chong received the scanning results from Mu through Han Jia’s photon processor!
A dense network of red dots appeared around him, and Ye Chong took a deep breath! Really now, he was just one person! Besides, Ye Chong noticed that no one else was around, and even Robert and his group were all gone. He was the only person around in a 100-meter radius!
The mechs laying in ambush around almost made Ye Chong thought that someone else was coming! The squads of mechs patrolling above in the air drew intertwining lines of trajectories! The entire area was lit up bright as day with high intensity plasma lights that not even a mosquito could escape attention!
The Shang family was fast! Ye Chong realized that he had underestimated the Shang family! It was shocking to find that they could arrange something like this without any warning!
It seemed that a battle was inevitable! Ye Chong’s eyes grew colder as he gave a soft pat on the arm rest inside Han Jia’s pilot cabin!
Shang Yue watched the white-lit area with a complicated expression. This was the best vantage point, allowing her to see everything clearly. She was thinking about what w.a.n.g Xing meant by "whatever", when she suddenly had a hunch that w.a.n.g Xing was leaving. His last word was spoken with great confidence, showing his lack of fear towards the Shang family.
She reported her suspicions to her father, but kept what happened to her in w.a.n.g Xing’s room a secret! All of the Shang family were infuriated. To think that the guy wanted to leave, just when Lan’er seemed to be harbouring feelings for him. For the Shang family, as long as there was a nonzero possibility of Lan’er liking him, they would not let w.a.n.g Xing leave! w.a.n.g Xing’s feelings were not an issue for them. "He must stay, even if only as a plaything for Lan’er," Shang Zhangming had said. The head of the family even discussed the issue at length with Robert.
The entire setup was planned by Shang Yue alone! The Shang family was surprised at her large scale preparation. After all, he was only one person, how strong could he be? Fortunately, the Shang family had always trusted Shang Yue, and agreed to her plan!
As for Shang Yue, she still acted very carefully even though she did not know who had w.a.n.g Xing’s back. Her eyebrows knitted lightly, her expression unreadable in the darkness. Only her mutterings could be heard, "You can’t win, just back down!"
Robert was also looking towards that area with a quiet sigh, his four bodyguards standing like statues behind him! Beside Robert, Bai Linan’s expression twisted horribly. He bit down on his lower lip until it bled! He was forced by Robert to come here. Even as he wanted to warn Ye Chong, Robert’s presence did not allow it!
"Sigh, he’s a real talent, it’s just too bad …" Robert sighed again.
Ye Chong closed his eyes and placed his hands gently on the controls. His chest rose and fell quickly like a wind box as he breathed deeply. After a while, his chest’s movements began to steady, and Ye Chong’s eyes opened abruptly! His eyes scanned calmly around him!
It was as though Ye Chong was back on the trash planet, fighting for his life. The hunting game was a familiar one to him, only this time, he was the hunted!
He had entered into battle mode, feeling calm but a little excited! This was the perfect state of mind to be for battle!
The enemy may look like an insurmountable force, but that did not mean it was hopeless for him. Ye Chong realized that the other party was only trying to intimidate. They did not know of Mu, and would not know that Han Jia was a full-skeleton mech. Besides, this small battle range was the best kind for Ye Chong, and most suitable for a close range mech like Han Jia! How could Ye Chong not stand a chance?
Ye Chong did not like the Shang family. With the exception of the girl he danced with, he detested the others! That girl’s elder sister in particular made him wary. Ye Chong suspected that this plan by the Shang family was most likely due to her!
He will not make it easy for them!
Han Jia stood valiantly like a giant clad in silver armor! Ye Chong regretted painting Han Jia with this s.h.i.+ny silver coating, as it was simply to glaring under the illumination!
Ye Chong exhaled softly and made his move! Han Jia burst forward like a cannonball!
The Shang family did not expect Ye Chong to actually try to escape. To them, only someone crazy would do this! If he was planning to attack them as he escaped, that would be even crazier!
The orderly formation around him plunged into chaos in an instant!
Han Jia was a full-skeleton mech, with astonis.h.i.+ng speed. If it could break through the formation, chasing after it would not be an easy task!
Looking at the scene, Shang Yue paled instantly! Even Robert and Bai Linan froze in stupefaction!
Ye Chong sneaked up on one of the mechs with its back facing him. This was a Kamenrache, an advanced level mech, one that he knew quite well. Han Jia moved like the wind. The others did not receive any warning signal, oblivious to the ambus.h.!.+
What happened next was enough to chill any witnesses’ heart to the core – the mech was obliterated into pieces! Fragments and parts of the mech flew outwards in all directions, and at the center, a horrifying shriek came from a b.l.o.o.d.y ma.s.s of fles.h.!.+ The black canine-tooth dagger held in Han Jia’s glimmering silver hand was like a sinister omen! The sharpness of the weapon surprised Ye Chong as well. It was truly the perfect weapon for a.s.sa.s.sination!
Chunks of flesh and blood stuck to the mech fragments flying outwards. The mech pilot stood no chance!
Ye Chong had stirred the hornet’s nest!
The communication channels were flooded with confusion. Everyone was looking on their photon processor for signs of the enemy!
How was this possible? The mech pilots of the Shang family were flabbergasted! If they could not pinpoint the enemy’s whereabouts, how could they continue fighting? Fear began to spread within their hearts!
"Do it manually!" Someone shouted in the comms, and the mech pilots gathered themselves. Yes, they were many, and the enemy but one, there was nothing to be afraid of! The thought of their overwhelming fear earlier made them feel embarra.s.sed, but this feeling quickly turned to anger. It was all the d.a.m.n mech’s fault! Everyone charged towards the mech!
Han Jia stood out like a sore thumb under the lighting, and they could find him easily!
Just when they were about to fire, however, they realized that it was easy to hit one of their own. The thought made them hesitated!
There were only three of them before him! If he finished off these three, there would be no one else to stop him! This was his and Mu’s calculation results. This direction seemed heavily defended, but was in reality the weakest part of the formation. There was a route about four meters wide for him to escape in front. Besides, the territory beyond this point was the most complicated, and most suitable for his escape!
However, he must first deal with the three mechs standing in the way. The faster he could achieve this, the better his chances were to escape!
Ye Chong could now feel the difference between Mu and Shang in their strategizing! Mu looked for weaknesses in the enemy through meticulous calculations, while Shang preferred to play with psychology. They were both effective measures!
Ye Chong ambushed the mech to create confusion, and so he chose the most terrifying method of wrecking the mech into pieces! Anyone would be severely affected by the sight of a mech being disembodied like that. If the mech pilot was a comrade, the effect would be even deeper!
Ye Chong’s strategy worked. Almost all the mechs were riled up!
Ye Chong kept his calm. He found that his meditation training had helped with his mental calmness. No wonder the Sanctuary’s mech pilots rarely made mistakes! It seemed that meditation was really useful!
Han Jia had no intention of evading the fragments from the mech. The silver glittering mech charged onwards through the fragments like a brave warrior! With its speed, battling with the mechs in front was inevitable! The enemy mechs readied themselves. They would have shot him if not for the fear of shooting one of their own!
Most of the mechs instinctively charged towards the silver mech! With the mech’s speed, it was nearly impossible to change its direction. Besides, the mech was almost surrounded in all directions!
Just when everyone thought that the mech could not escape, a most shocking turn of events occurred!
The silver mech bent forward like spring and moved backwards in a logic defying step! This surreal move was enough to make everyone freeze in shock!
If Wei Yuan were to witness this scene, he would definitely leap in excitement - it was exactly the same as YC’s straight line retreat in his recording!
Ye Chong was now moving towards the narrow area! He was delighted to find that the situation was better than he expected - of the three mechs situated at the area, two of them were heading towards him now, leaving only one behind! It seemed that he succeeded in moving those two to action too!
Han Jia’s sudden change in direction surprised the two mechs! Ye Chong’s eyes gleamed coldly, his hands now moving faster than before, looking like a shroud above the controls!
Everyone at the scene could never forget what they saw - the silver mech was charging straight ahead when it suddenly retreated backwards in a straight line, a movement that seemed to defy the laws of physics. The silver armor of the mech shone eerily - Han Jia was not quite done yet. Two mechs charged towards it at the front lines, and the silver mech swept past them like a shadow. Before anyone could understand what happened, the two mechs lost control and continued moving forward, carrying their momentum. Before they covered 10 meters, a huge explosion was heard, and two dazzling fireb.a.l.l.s burned under the intense plasma illumination!
Ye Chong had stepped in an S shape, but the hardest part was when he attacked! The two mechs were very close to each other, and even with Ye Chong’s hand speed, maneuvering Han Jia to attack twice in a row had pushed him to his limit! Fortunately, his two daggers were sharp, or those two attacks would have injured him as well!
His extraordinary piloting skills and battle moves had shocked everyone at the scene, and even Robert’s four bodyguards had their emotions written on their faces!
Only one mech left!
Ye Chong looked coldly at the mech before him. This was a model he had never seen before, but it did not affect Ye Chong’s confidence! No matter what mech it was, he had to finish it off, or he would never be able to escape!
Han Jia moved so quickly that Ye Chong reached the last mech in the blink of an eye. His attack on the two mechs earlier had also caused this mech to freeze in shock! It was now in a exposed position!
It was as though Heavens was on Ye Chong’s side. The explosion from the two mechs he attacked had created a heat shock wave that pursued Han Jia like a fiery beast, swallowing Han Jia and the last mech both!
Everyone felt their visions blurred as the ground shook. They could see two mechs through the dust, but that s.h.i.+ny, silver mech was nowhere to be seen! When they looked closer, they saw that one of the mechs had bits of silver flecks on it. The sharper minds immediately realized that the silver mech was actually disguised. They could only guess which master had designed such a colorful mech that did not look quite metallic!
Beside Robert, the four bodyguards took on the entire scene, and one of them spoke up despite himself, "A full-skeleton mech!" His surprised voice made even Robert more interested in the mech!
The four bodyguards were extremely startled! However, they were Black Cove elites, and quickly recovered and exchanged glances. One of them vanished, while another two deployed their mechs and slipped into the pilot’s cabin, leaving only one of them carefully on guard beside Robert! Robert did not interfere with their actions, his eyes only on Han Jia!
Full-skeleton mechs were famed amongst the Three Forces! They did their own research into these type of mechs, but none had never successfully made one. Full-skeleton mechs were only a theoretical hypothesis, although each of the Three Forces believed that they could be built! However, it was exceedingly difficult, as shown by the thus far fruitless efforts of the Three Forces!
Full-skeleton mechs were easily recognizable due to their unique building material. This was why these four Black Cove men recognized Han Jia as one in an instant.
"I didn’t think this last mech would be so hard to deal with! If I don’t hurry up and finish it off, it’s going to be too late when other people joined in to stop me!"
Ye Chong grew nervous, and unknowingly began to use the moves that he practiced in the virtual world!
Han Jia began to move differently, the black dagger in its left hand aiming straight at the other party’s magnetic sword as its huge body twisted quickly like a spinning top, it’s right hand with the other dagger reaching for the mech’s neck like a poisonous serpent! The other mech’s pilot was apparently competent as well. Even though it was now in a pa.s.sive position, the mech was determined, and s.h.i.+elded its neck with the s.h.i.+eld on its left hand!
Ding! A clear ringing sound reverberated outwards!
Ye Chong rode on the momentum and spinned even faster, its left arm bent to slice the enemy with the sharp edges of its s.h.i.+eld. It was a vicious attack - a direct hit would lead to severe consequences!
The mech pilot also moved decisively. The mech inclined its body and received the blow from Han Jia with its left shoulder!
A sharp metallic slicing sound was heard, and Han Jia’s s.h.i.+eld, made of iron lizard scales, amputated the mech’s left arm, exposing the network of photon circuits within!
Just when the mech pilot thought that it had escaped death, he saw four tentacle-like things coming towards him fast as lightning, the sharp ends of the tentacles chilled him to the bone! The maneuver just now had pushed him to his limits, and his fingers now spasmed in protest!
Was he going to die here? He watched as the sharp tips grew larger and larger in sight, and he closed his eyes out of instinct. He held his breath, awaiting that final moment with a bleak heart!
A few seconds pa.s.sed, but nothing happened. He opened his eyes in surprise, but saw that the other party was now fleeing ahead, slowly fading out of view! He did not understand this last act of mercy!
Did he not enjoy killing? The thought was preposterous - three of their own had died horribly!
He could not figure it out!
Ye Chong was about to kill the other party with his four thousand-segment-worm whips. This stubborn opponent was the enemy, so mercy was not necessary. Reducing the enemy’s forces was definitely advantageous for him - this was a principle of Ye Chong! However, it was not meant to be. Just when the sharp ends of the thousand-segment worms were about to reach the mech, Ye Chong heard Mu yelling, "Ye, run, the Black Cove people are moving!"
Robert’s four bodyguards were Ye Chong’s largest concern. Now that Mu said they were making their move, Ye Chong ran without looking back! If they caught on to him, he would definitely be delayed; once the other mech pilots recovered and joined in, even with Mu, he would be finished!
The four thousand-segment-worm whips returned to their concealed shooting chambers like four venomous snakes!
Ye Chong ran! He peeked backwards, and as expected, he saw two of Black Cove’s Cosmic Flares in pursuit. Ye Chong’s chest tightened, and ramped up Han Jia’s speed forward! If it was a usual encounter, Ye Chong would not be afraid of two Cosmic Lares. However, under the circ.u.mstances, even if there was only one of them, Ye Chong could not afford the delay in engaging it!
Han Jia and the Cosmic Flares were quick, vanis.h.i.+ng in an instant. Just then, the Shang family’s mech pilots broke out of their trance and took to the air, following the three mechs!
As for the mech pilot who barely escaped from Ye Chong, he slipped out of his mech, revealing himself to the usually courteous and gentle Shang Ling! His face was now drained of blood!
Shang Zhangming was enraged! Even with so many of them as part of this setup, his single target had managed to escape, leaving three of his own dead. If not for Robert’s bodyguards, his son would have died! Robert and his men had seen everything, and this incident had proven to be a humiliation to the Shang family! Shang Zhangming was infuriated by the thought! Most importantly, if their deplorable performance this time made an ally like Robert lose faith in the Shang family, it would be a double tragedy!
Shang Zhangming could not help a rising sense of regret! Unfortunately, there was never a cure for regret!
In the darkness, Shang Yue’s expression was unreadable. It looked like one of joy, or anger, and but her tiny mole looked even more bewitching!
Ye Chong dared not break his concentration, focusing only on flying!
Han Jia was a lot faster than Cosmic Flare, and the complicated territory was very advantageous to Ye Chong due to his many experiences of escaping!
The two Black Cove mechs in pursuit were obviously new to task of chasing after a target. More importantly, they could not lock on Han Jia! Cosmic Flare’s holographic scanning system was useless against full-skeleton mechs!
Soon, they lost sight of Han Jia. The search around the area turned out fruitless, and they returned resentfully!
Ye Chong finally relaxed a little. While the thought of dealing with these two mechs had occurred to him repeatedly along the way, he had to quickly dispose of them for fear of the other mechs catching up to him. He would then be in a vurnerable position!
The two Black Cove mech pilots had no idea that they had narrowly escaped death!
Ye Chong could not rest now. He must quickly leave Richie. He had witnessed the Shang family’s influence on Richie when he first arrived!
The Shang family had kept Ye Chong’s connection to the virtual world in his room alive to avoid alerting him. They never imagined that this was an opportunity for Ye Chong to leave Richie.
Mu hacked the docking zone’s system through the virtual world and took over a stars.h.i.+p with no one onboard. It was now docked behind a hill not far ahead! All Ye Chong had to do now was to reach that stars.h.i.+p and head for planet Windstar!
With its location marked, Ye Chong quickly found the stars.h.i.+p. This was a medium sized stars.h.i.+p with complete facilities. It was also sufficiently fuelled to complete a few round trips to and from Windstar.
Once inside the stars.h.i.+p, Mu took charge of the flying, and Ye Chong could finally fully relax!
Ye Chong slipped out of Han Jia, and before he could steady himself, the stars.h.i.+p was airborne.
Less than five minutes after Ye Chong’s stars.h.i.+p left Richie, all stars.h.i.+ps were banned from leaving the docking zone! The Shang family did not expect Ye Chong to be able to leave Richie so quickly as they organized their men for a wide scale search.
"F-58, how I’d like to meet with you!" A middle-aged man murmured behind a mask, looking at the holographic image on his desk. It was an image of Ye Chong.
Ye Chong’s holographic image and news of his full-skeleton mech had soon reached Black Cove. With Instructor Hak’s confirmation, it was determined that w.a.n.g Xing was F-58 that Black Cove was searching for. Intel also revealed that w.a.n.g Xing’s destination was Windstar, and so, a large squad of Black Cove mech pilots were ordered to head towards that planet. Their orders were to capture F-58 alive at all costs, and bring him back to Black Cove!
Of course, Ye Chong was unaware of any of this. He was now on his way to Windstar. He was the only person on the stars.h.i.+p. They met with many stars.h.i.+ps along the way, and Mu had played the part of a trading s.h.i.+p from Richie to perfection. No one would have imagined that the ma.s.sive stars.h.i.+p had only one pa.s.senger onboard!
When Ye Chong saw Han Jia’s exterior, he finally understood why the Black Cove people made their move too! The heat from the explosion that came from the two mechs he attacked had melted the layer of silver paint on Han Jia. The shock wave that followed brushed off the paint from Han Jia, leaving only flecks of silver on it, the only evidence of its initial layer of paint!
Full-skeleton mechs were made of unique materials, and Ye Chong had used the best skeletons he could find to build Han Jia. It was no wonder that the four Black Cove mech pilots recognized it immediately. After all, full-skeleton mechs were what mech pilots had always dreamed for!