Legend Is The Supreme Soldier

by Stayrr

Ye Chong was a denizen of Trash Planet-12. On one fateful day, he discovered a treasure that would forever alter his destiny from a pile of junk – Mu Shang, an unknown machine with artificial intelligence and a lost memory. Together, they venture into the vast galaxy as the isolated “caveman” that was Ye Chong began absorbing all sorts of knowledge and meeting people from all walks

8. 225

Legend of the Supreme Soldier #Chapter 225 - Kings of Close and Long Range Combat III - Read Legend of the Supreme Soldier Chapter 225 - Kings of Close and Long Range Combat III Online - All Page - Novel Next

Chapter 225: Kings of Close and Long Range Combat III

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In truth, almost everyone was watching Coxcomb's terrifying sniper mech pilot. This battle between one and 300 would be a story as important to other sniper mech pilots as their course material. Besides, if all 300 of those mechs were advanced level mechs, then no one would object calling the sniper mech pilot as one of the best in the field.

Such a rare battle of historical significance was underway, and no one would want to miss it! Everyone was glued to the holographic screen, counting down the number of mechs left on the pirates side. Besides, the result of this battle would determine their own fates, thus raising the stakes even more. Everyone was astonished to find the pirates wielding such a strong force, but also thankful that they had met this impossibly strong sniper mech pilot.

Be it the pirates of the civilians, this fight would determine whether they live or die.

Ye Chong's movements were only noticed by a single starship, and that was Claudia's Lunar Rose. They had been watching the clown mech from the start, and were awed by its performance. They believed that the clown mech's unexpected movement must be some unrevealed plan.

Puppet clung onto the ore, still. This ore was bringing Ye Chong quickly towards the pirate ships observing from afar.

Roar! The crowd in Lunar Rose's control room erupted into an outburst. They now understood the clown mech's intention. Was he suicidal? This was the question that arose in everyone's mind; only Claudia was watching the mech with esteem.

Ye Chong sat in Puppet's pilot cabin calmly, without a ripple in his emotions.

"Ye, be careful." Shang spoke out of concern. He approved Ye Chong's plan, and had even cooperated by slowing down his shooting, not killing off the pirate mechs as quick as he could to produce the illusion of an equal chance of winning in his fight. This was to draw attention from the enemy and to stall for time.

Ye Chong felt warm inside, but kept his face neutral as he replied plainly, "I know."

Ye Chong had used this strategy before. When he met with the Red Beard's Owl pirate crew, he had relied on this strategy to kill the pirate's leader. That was also when he met Bai Linan. This ambush strategy required three conditions to be satisfied. Firstly, the ambusher must be extremely capable of fighting by himself. Secondly, the enemy should have a weak defensive line. Lastly, the ambusher must be able to reach the starship of the enemy's leader unnoticed.

In truth, if Ye Chong was flying Han Jia, he would be more confident of his chances. However, given the chaotic situation, he knew that there would be people hidden amongst the crowd, looking for him. Han Jia would be difficult to explain away, and Ye Chong did not want to attract attention.

Even with Puppet, he was confident enough to complete the task, or retreat successfully should he fail. He could do it with Sand Scorpio before, and Puppet was even better than Sand Scorpio, so his chances would be higher now. Besides, Ye Chong believed that the seemingly tight security was just an empty show. If they had another mech squad, Ye Chong believed that they would have been sent in when the battle first begun, securing an early victory.

Now, they could only watch their mechs killed off, one by one without being able to do anything. This meant that they had no more remaining force.

As for the starships surrounding the battlefield, Ye Chong chose to ignore them. If these were warships, they might pose as a threat, but they were clearly unarmed. Without any mechs to protect them, they were helpless.

Ye Chong's action may seem hasty, but it was born out of detailed considerations.

In outer space, asteroids of all sorts could be found almost anywhere. This particular one slowly making its way towards their ships was anything but noteworthy. Just as the asteroid was about to hit the starship, it eerily traced an arc across the space. If anyone on the pirate ships saw this, they would immediately be alarmed. However, it went by unnoticed, since everyone was absorbed in battle. The mighty sniper mech pilot's shooting frequency had dropped for some reason, and this gave them hope. They were watching their holographic screen with unblinking eyes.

With his previous experience, Ye Chong was able to quickly identify which of the ships belonged to the pirate leader.

Ye Chong left the ore and landed softly onto a shaded corner of the starship. Puppet was already wielding its two parrying spears in its hand. With one leg as the pivot, Ye Chong drew a circle in the air with its parrying spears. Metal scraps flew outwards. Puppet's parrying spears were tough, and was the only way Ye Chong could think of that could breach the starship's hull armor. However, this starship's armor was thicker than that of ordinary starships, and Ye Chong could not breach the ship even after a few rounds of attacks.

One of the pirates inside inclined his head to listen, and asked one of his comrades beside him, '"Huh, I think I heard something just now, didja hear it?"

The other pirate laughed derisively at him and said, "Hah, gotcha heart in your mouth, ain't ya? Hehe, sonny, let me tell you, I've seen situations like this dozens of times in my life, and it always turned out alright in the end! Keep your heart where it should be, now."

Ye Chong suddenly felt a round plate of armor loosening. Just then, the round plate was flung out due to air pressure. Puppet was now moving as deftly as a human being. It pushed its right hand off the round plate and jumped to the side. Just as the round place left the starship, Puppet inclined itself and evaded the round plate as it swished past the mech and flew straight out into space.

Ye Chong ignored the air gushing outwards from the hole and crawled inside.

If none of the space pirates noticed this, they would be unworthy of their titles. The alarm blared in the starship, and it was chaos inside.

Ye Chong ran towards the control room without hesitation. In truth, he did not know exactly where it was, but he had seen more than a few starships, and could make a rough guess. After deciding on the location, Ye Chong chose the most direct route. He broke through walls and doors, even tore through photon circuits when he met them. Ye Chong destroyed everything in his path, and advanced astonishingly quickly. He encountered some mechs along the way, but they were efficiently dealt with. As for the pirates without their mechs running away from him, Ye Chong chose to ignore them.

The starship was actually quite useless by now. The ship was depressurizing quickly, and the air was so thin now that breathing was almost impossible. Most of the main photon circuits were destroyed by Ye Chong, and the entire starship could no longer function. All the lights were out, and the starship looked like a dead vessel. Only the control room was still illuminated, since it had its own independent support systems.

However, this made it a clear destination for Ye Chong. Ye Chong adjusted his course and ran towards the control room. Ye Chong took full advantage of the darkness and the complicated narrow environment. The mechs which stood in his way were all disabled with Ye Chong's ingenious plots.

Not sticking to any pattern of attack - that was Ye Chong's way of fighting. In fact, Ye Chong was mostly using the basic moves that Mu made him train the hardest. He moved simply and quickly, making use of the environment. That was where Puppet's eerie, unpredictable moves derived their power from.

Walls, ceilings, alloy doors all served as launching spots for Puppet. The mech also used many unusual moves, reproductions of combat skills that Ye Chong could conjure in his mind. These were all moves that were impossible without Ye Chong's excellent mech maneuvering skills.

Puppet advanced so fast that many of the space pirates had no time to deploy their own mechs. As Ye Chong breached the walls of the starship, they all died from suffocation as air escaped into outer space.

The surrounding defense starships seemed to received their distress signal at the same time, and quickly approached the starship. Even in this dangerous situation, the defense starships could only deploy about 40 odd mechs to assist. This confirmed Ye Chong's theory that the pirates did not have additional battle forces.

Ye Chong's mind was now as clear as ice. He did not hesitate as he broke through the wall of the control room with his parrying spears. Air gushed out from within, and Puppet braced through the airflow and entered the control room, agile as a monkey.

Inside, five mechs surrounded a red colored mech in the center. They all waited in trepidation, not knowing how the enemy had entered their starship, or how many of them were here. For now, they could only wait to defend themselves and wait for backup. They believed that as long they could delay the other party for a moment, about three minutes, or maybe two, then their backup would arrive.

Seeing the five mechs before him, Ye Chong did not dare to be careless. The five mechs were all advanced mechs, top class mechs that could be bought from the market. These five mechs seemed to be highly skilled, judging from their positions and posture. If it were one against one or two, Ye Chong would not be concerned. Now, however, it was a matter of one against five. Besides, the enemy seemed ready to put their lives on the line. This was a difficult situation for him.

If Shang were here, he could just finish off everyone one of them with one cannon blast. However, the thought was not helpful to Ye Chong.

He had not much time left. Ye Chong dared not hesitate further. Puppet launched forwards, making a bend, and reached one of the mechs. Speed was the mech's strength, and its movement gave everyone a shock. The control room might look spacious, but it was definitely too small for a mech.

In this small space, no one would dare to speed up their mechs so fast, for fear of hitting the walls. Besides, that abrupt change in direction seemed impossible for any observer. At this speed, with such an abrupt change in direction, one would think that the mech pilot would be left with broken limbs.

However, this was exactly what was happening before their eyes.

The five of them were horrified. Two of the five were skilled in close combat, but this degree of mech maneuvering left all five of them with ashened faces. Given the circumstances, long range mechs could not unleash their full potential. Weak energy guns could do nothing to the opponent's mech, but more powerful energy guns might explode the entire starship. Moreover, the other party moved too quickly and unpredictably, and it was impossible to lock on target.

Just when everyone was still caught up in surprise, the clown mech suddenly made a right-angled lateral change in direction. With this, all the mech pilots were once again astonished, even though they were all highly skilled themselves. That move was practically against the laws of inertia!

Ye Chong was now facing a close range mech, with its typical weapon combination of a shield and a laser sword. The clown mech made a go at him. While the mech pilot inside was afraid, he still maintained his calm and charged forward instead of retreating, making a small left step forward while raising his shield, and striking down vertically with his right hand's laser sword. This series of movements was executed smoothly. The defense offered was strong, and Ye Chong could not find a way to break through. Ye Chong was secretly impressed that the pirate crew could have someone so strong with them.

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Even so, the attack was not a threat to Ye Chong. Puppet inclined its body and avoided the sword smoothly. Its right hand pushed against the shield as it leaped across to deliver a right kick towards the other mech's face. If it hit, the other party's mech would probably be decapitated, and the mech would become useless.

The clown mech's unusual reaction was also a surprise to the other party. Fortunately, he was experienced enough to respond accordingly, stepping wide and lowering himself while angling his upper body backwards, thus avoiding the clown mech's attack.

Ye Chong still wore a calm expression, but his eyes flashed. Ye Chong knew that the moment had come!

On the controls, Ye Chong's hands were practically a blur. Only his wrists could be barely made out as a blurry shadow.

The other four mechs could only watch in anticipation. They were too close together, and had no space to attack. Besides, of these four mechs, three of them were not specialized in close range combat.

The clown mech then did something that none of them would ever forget for the rest of their lives.

The clown mech suddenly reached out with its left hand, holding on to the lower part of the shield so strongly that the pirate mech was about to topple over, though the pilot quickly steadied himself. With his upper body still, he watched as the clown mech's left leg swept past his head.

Suddenly, the burden on the shield was gone, and the clown mech disappeared! This sudden turn of events had all the pirates looking around in a daze.

Just then, the pirate heard from his comms a surprised gasp, then a horrifying shriek! The shriek sounded very familiar, it was … it was from his leader! In that moment, his mind blanked.

Behind him, the clown mech leaped high into the air at high speed, bouncing off the ceiling at an angle. When the pirates recovered from their surprise, the clown mech had already disappeared from the hole in the wall where it came from. At the same time, he heard a bang from behind, the sound of a mech falling to the ground.

He turned back and could not believe the sight of his leader's mech lying on the ground, with a huge hole in the pilot cabin. Inside was a bloody mess. While he could not see his leader, it was clear that no one could survive those injuries.

He still could not understand what had happened.

Later, he learned from his four comrades of what exactly happened, and it would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The clown mech held onto the lower part of his shield and pushed, using the momentum to sweep its left leg across his head, the whole mech doing a complete rotation in the air like a windmill. Just when its legs hit the ground, the clown mech suddenly rolled into itself and slipped under his shield before anyone could react. The clown mech was slender to begin with, and executed a series of moves to make him widen his stance, thus allowing the clown mech to slip past between his legs. After that, the clown mech was directly in front of their leader. It shot upwards like a poisonous snake and finally took out its parrying spear, accurately plunging it through their leader.

When all four of them recovered their composure, the clown mech had already withdrew its spear and leapt off their leader's mech towards the ceiling, then bounced off again towards the exit!

Inside the icy cold mech, through the hole from the attack, the body of the pirate's leader was slowly losing its warmth. With that, the leader of this large pirate crew was killed by the clown mech despite their defensive measures.

From that moment on, word of the dark clown spread like wildfire throughout the pirates, and every pirate now knew of the existence of this clown-like mech that walked in darkness.

His mission accomplished, Ye Chong's next task was to quickly return to Coxcomb.

The clown mech's speed was now fully unleashed. Ye Chong flew directly towards Coxcomb quickly and without reserve. Behind him were 40 odd mechs in pursuit. Shang increased his firing frequency, and in just moments, the few mechs that managed to get close to Coxcomb were all destroyed. Just like that, with the spectators gasping in shock, 300 over mechs were annihilated!

The sudden appearance of the clown mech on the holographic screen caught everyone's attention.

Ye Chong proceeded to perform the art of evasive measures. As the 40 over mechs attacked with an array of shots, none of them hit Ye Chong. The eerie change in directions, confusing feints, and movements at all kinds of angles held the spectators in wonder. In the eyes of professionals, this clown mech had instantly become the most dangerous character around.

As Coxcomb drew near, the 40 odd mechs grew fearful of the sniper and began to retreat. Even so, Shang managed to take out three of them.

The survivors cheered jubilantly as the space pirates retreated, and joy from surviving permeated the entire fleet!

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Chapter 226: Fleet

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Currently there was one problem standing in Ye Chong's way. Based on the course planned by Fid the leader, both Ye Chong and Shang could confidently confirm that, there should be no less than 5 groups of pirates lurking on the way. A fleet filled with folks would be a feast for the pirates. The Oak Leaves and Red Lion could have been completely annihilated if Ye Chong and Shang had never joined the party.

Without the escort of the Coxcomb, the success rate of the fleet arriving at Csebesini would be no more than 10% in the end.

To be honest, Ye Chong did not really care about the survival of those mere strangers. According to Shang's comment, there seemed to be a kind of occupation called the "rangers" or the wandering "vigilantes" who turned out to be the very busybody taking care of life, maintaining justice for everyone in the world. "What's justice?" The elaboration was worthy of a classic eye-roll from Ye Chong, as Shang stated that there was also a rather lackluster and conspicuous concept called "Justice", which the artificial indulgence seemed to be very passionate about. "Okay, got it." And Ye Chong quickly retrieved the microphone from him.

Ye Chong - for some reason - did not wish to let Grandpa Qian to know who led the Coxcomb. Maybe because… well, I was more of a lone wolf eventually. Thought Ye Chong, a little dejected.

Ye Chong was a decisive person. He was not the kind to hesitate and there he was, making up his mind. A living person would always be far more important than a dead person. His papa would support his decision if he was still alive.

Alright then! Ye Chong and Shang began launching the project vigorously. First, Shang replanned a course to travel, where the distance was much longer but at least they would be able to avoid the areas frequented by the pirates. "This is preposterous! I can't believe one could make such an unintelligent course!" Shang could not control but to reprimand this physically non-existent planner of the former course. Ye Chong on the other hand was running to and fro in the ship and withdrew every battery he could find in their storage. The gate where Shang made his sniping before was filled with a massive amount of batteries. Similarly, there were also placed numerous batteries at every corner where the cannons were. Given that a war were to happen, the Coxcomb would not be able to sustain itself for the energy consumption in long-term. So the tedious task of replacing batteries would be performed by Ye Chong the captain slave.

Both the leaders of the Oak Leaves and Red Lions, Fid and Claudia were on an exchange.

"So…" Initiated Claudia, "We are in a sticky situation now. If we do not call for more backups, we would be in deeper trouble as we travel on," she frowned as the remaining forces of both the squads were discouraged and worried after the fight.

Of course, she was not the only depressed one. Fid's face was tight the moment he realized the unexpected difficulty he and his squad had to overcome this time.

Apparently most of the people were unprepared for the war which came falling like a bomb.

Well, they were glad to be still able to sit together and have this exchange, after all that chaotic experience. Fid was silent, as he admitted his helplessness towards the situation. "Calling for more backups" were said easier than done. From where would they get the backup? What kind of backup? In the matter of days they would never form a proper crew and it would be more chaotic if the pirates took the chance to sneak in as one of those backups.

In the midst of hopelessness, his assistant ran into the room, all excited, "L…Leader, my lord, captain, I can't believe this. The Coxcomb had just sent us a plan, a new plan for the course!"

"Huh?" Both the leaders looked at each other, confused. "Take a look." The assistant then projected the new course on the hologram. A course - which they had never thought of - was drawn in clear lines over the galactic layout. And the destination of the course turned out to be Western Track, a residential planet in Csebesini galaxy.

The heck? Fid and Claudia looked at each other again, wondering in what Csebesini the owner of the Coxcomb was playing with his cards.

"Grrr… Ye, look, it's ourrrr Bing Bing! Tsk, tsk. Look at her legs, demm, long and gorgeous yet capable of delivering strong blows anytime. She could give me a blow anytime! Jajajaja… Ye, too bad you missed it. That split she made with her beautiful legs on the floor, it was beyond beauty! Man, my heart would sail off to the other dimension if I keep watching this…" Shang was growling in excitement, while on his duty to watch the entire fleet, where supposedly, his focus should mainly be on the spaceship with Grandpa Qian and the other mates. And there Shang was, blatantly abusing his rights being the watcher, as his mechanical eyes were bleeping over one angle of Rui Bing to another.

Ye Chong did not intend to feed the hungry indulgence as he was very much engaged in an important experiment. The fluid he collected from Twin Sisters was more corrosive than he thought. No wonder Lunatic Guan stated it being one of the 12 most corrosive plants on her microchip. A drop of the fluid could fall through a spaceship armor about 10 centimeters thick in the matter of a minute. It would spread vigorously too.

What Ye Chong must do for now, would be to culture a new sprout of Twin Sisters using the fluid, which was not a challenging task to do. Practically, a task like this was generally not challenging to even a second-year alchemy student.

The cultivation was a success. One might think it would be a little too much to cultivate a small sprout using such a luxurious lab, but the facilities were able to speed up the growth period of Twin Sisters. Ye Chong eventually was able to harvest a few tens of Twin Sisters. Ye Chong spent the following days to study their behavior. Observation was one key task for any professional alchemist. Ye Chong even took into account of their frequency of secretion.

He looked at his inventory, as naturally he was figuring out a way to transform them into a kind of firepower. Being once a resident on the Trash Planet, fully utilizing resources was his very good habit. The fluid of Twin Sisters possessed a great potential with their corrosiveness. If one could utilize the fluid appropriately, it could be destructive.

It was the first time Ye Chong took an approach of an alchemist in his thinking while what he did was simply amplifying the corrosive effect of Twin Sisters. Being an alchemist, a novice alchemist he was, he could still figure out a few tricks to make it work.

He could, for example, continuously change the surrounding of Twin Sisters to encourage mutation. Then he would select few of the Twin Sisters closest to the standard. Alternatively, he could also use the fluid as a base to create a stronger corrosive reagent.

He proceeded with the second method, since the first method was too time-consuming for Ye Chong. Lunatic Guan fortunately also was an expert in formulating reagents. Those bone strengthening formula were also the outcome of her research.

Ye Chong did once think of using the Guan's automatic analysis mechanism… he could have found the perfect formula for the reagent by simply searching. But he never wanted to do so, plus Lunatic Guan had reminded him to not rely on the mechanism too much, that principle of his which encouraged him to rely himself rather than the others, was echoing in his head.

To reach the higher height, one must figure and explore. Ye Chong could have skipped this phase using the mechanism but he would lose more than gain in long run.

He tried recalling the knowledge he had learned before, attempting to connect them to reach a certain set of formula.

"Jajajaja…" And Shang spent the next few days watching Rui Bing, jumping from one camera to another. The hobby of a voyeur was more than entertaining. The biggest regret of his was probably the lack of camera in the bathroom.

Ye Chong was investing all his time on research. He trusted Shang, that he would inform him at the very first moment if anything were to occur. Then Ye Chong could save his time from watching over Grandpa Qian the whole time. The plan however had received criticism from Shang, claiming that it was unsentimental.

The crews of the other ships outside were wondering the whole time, of why the Coxcomb did not seem to be leaving them despite not having an obligation to lead them. Was the owner of the Coxcomb really intended to escort the entire fleet? Everyone was appreciative over the mysterious Coxcomb for the contribution. They would probably be long slaughtered by the pirates if the Coxcomb was never there.

Fid and Claudia had comprehended the underlying motive of the new course, so they immediately responded by requesting their squads to change the course accordingly, while announcing them to the entire fleet.

The puzzlement for them was the lack of response from the Coxcomb every time they requested communication. No sound was coming from the communicator. After the course plan was sent, the Coxcomb had never proactively engaged in the transmission. He just sailed on quietly at the center of the fleet.

It would certainly be a pleasure for Shang to get the phone, since Claudia was also a beauty, even though she was far from Bing Bing the gorgeous. Claudia was, still, the uncommon polished jewel in the cave, Shang would no doubt have the intention to spend the next potentially happiest 5 minutes in his life talking to her. "No. Watch and no more than that," Ye Chong strongly disagreed to his action. Shang in the end succumbed to the days of being a Peeping Tom.

Ye Chong's eyes set upon the bottle of reagent in its purplish glow. There was excitement in his expressionless eyes since that bottle of reagent was the very first craft he actually made with his alchemy expertise, namely "The Liquid of Shang". Its corrosiveness was deadlier than the Twin Sisters, where all the alloys in Ye Chong's possession were unable to withstand its melting effect, including the black gold.

"So Ye, may I ask why is there my name on this… thing?" Shang seemed curious.

"Oh. That has to do with its full name," his reply was calm.

"It has a full name? What is it? Could you tell me?" Shang was really interested.

"The Secretive Liquid of Shang," the answer was concise.

"Ye!! You are good!" Shang was grinding his mechanical gears, rolling back and fro, "I'll remember this!" His mechanical eyes rampaged in glaring blue.

Ye Chong was not free to entertain the thrashing indulgence and he felt that the name was very befitting to the reagent's function, although he found Shang's actual secretive liquid to be potentially far deadlier than the reagent.

Ye Chong seemed to be inborn with extreme sensitivity towards war and weaponry. The reagent did not come without a boom. The melting effect of "Liquid of Shang" was beyond his expectation, which gave Ye Chong a new weapon of fatality. So Ye Chong made use of his bone supplies to create a kind of shell to contain gases to envelope Liquid of Shang while installing an aiming program which mimicked the double-edged shuriken, allowing it to accurately lock upon the foes. He also added miniature engines on the bomb to permit automatic redirection when necessary.

No doubt, a killing weapon had been born. A shell made out of bones would go undetected by the foes' system. Then there was the locking-on system, assisted by redirecting engines, making it the signature weapon for the assassins.

Shang complimented the creation while also seizing the naming opportunity, "The Beauty's Secretion" he called it, in a poetic manner.

And Ye Chong began the mass-production of the Beauty's Secretion the following days. In Shang's terms it would sound like this, "You have such a big ship yet you only have a handful of the Beauty's Secretion? What a joke it would be!" Ye Chong must agree that the Beauty's Secretion could very well be an effective threatening tool. If that was the case, indeed the supply was too low at the moment.

The heart-wrenching fact for Ye Chong was the painful realization that the qualities of the bones used for production had negligible effects on the overall capacity of the product. And he only had the best, few rare bones in his inventory. Such a waste to make them into shells, yet he lacked options. At most he could pick the few less-rare bones for production.

Shang even designed a launcher for the Beauty's Secretion. And Ye Chong, being half-dead from the production, got to crawl up from the ground to further modify the Coxcomb to accommodate the new launching channel. At least the modification was quite simple so it did not take much time.

Hundred Twenty… Hundred Twenty One…

Ye Chong was surprised when he counted the outcome of his production, for he actually had produced 260 Beauty's Secretions without noticing.

And they were very much close to Csebesini. Fid and Claudia were not expecting a smooth sail… They could not believe in three days they would be arriving at Csebesini. Throughout the journey, not even once they had encountered the pirates. "Very strange…" said Claudia, when she was body and soul ready for any wild encounter with the pirates the whole time.

Assuredly they would not know how news spread faster than a meteorite among the pirates. On the second day of that war, almost all men with their bandanas on were made aware of the existence of the Coxcomb, which did not only have a super sniper capable of mass-murder, but also a killer clown sneaking in the darkness. And the pirate leader, even under the dense protection, still was brutally murdered by the foe's parrying spear.

The disbanding of a crew was nothing new among the pirates but the story had taken a change when the crew involved was one of the few strongest one. The sailing pirates could not believe their ears when they heard of how the strong crew was eradicated by merely two men, including the leader who was killed right in front of everyone. It would be considered as the greatest insult for one crew's leader to be slaughtered by the others and surely the survivors would seek to avenge their leader someday. Nonetheless, none of the survivors even dared to think of avenging. Their eyes were colorless, their bodies were shaking the moment they told the very tale, of their close-shaves dealing with that clown killing horror and the deadly blue glow.

There was not a need to mess with such a figure! Every leader of the crews thought so, which was why no pirate ever showed up in the following days of the fleet's course. The little factions of pirates, too, were well-aware of their sizes and limits and would not even approach that fleet.

The escort was a success. Both Fid and Claudia were overjoyed despite not knowing the working behind this. And the names of their squads would be known by the people, they would ascend as the few greatest squads out there. People would give their hymns over them while they would be handsomely rewarded. The expansion of the squads would be close.

And they were heading to the last space-jumping point on their course. They would arrive at Csebesini after performing space-warp there. When wars were haunting the other galaxies, Csebesini had transformed into a Neverland for the others. The government still owned the wholly right of the galaxy and was enforcing their security. People remained at peace and was never disturbed by the shrapnels.

The residents from the the galaxies had been moving into Csebesini one batch after another, which pressured the local government in return. The government demonstrated efforts in arranging residences for the immigrants however, which the immigrants greatly complimented. Csebesini, as the surge in the number of residents, commenced rapid developments.

Once we hit the point, we would make it! Fid's excitement glowed in the eyes of Claudia. Claudia's joy was lighting up the pupils of Fid.

"Report!"

Right when everyone was hopeful and excited, at the void nearby, there was one fleet of darkness.

"We had discovered a large fleet of privateers."

"Mhm, looks like we have a group of uninvited guests. Pass down the order, the sixth and seventh ships would eliminate all privateers. No survivor. Repeat, no survivor. The remaining warships shall maintain their course. We must arrive by the next warp point within 5 hours." An emotionless voice rang. A pause was made, "Send Thorn along."

"Yes sir!"

The last two warships of the dark fleet were redirected towards the large ship at the opposite.

Shang discovered the fleet almost immediately after. Standing before the hologram, even a calm man like Ye Chong felt a sudden cramp over his head the moment he saw the fleet. It was a group of 7 warships. The black glowing body obviously told Ye Chong that those were the ships from the Black Coves.

A fleet! Gosh! Ye Chong saw the strongest force incoming! To Ye Chong's senses, a warship would indicate a large warring unit. And all the units he had encountered thus far, be it from the MPA or the Sanctuary, had always been one unit at one time, never once he saw … a fleet of them, of seven units…

The other ships in his fleet were not reacting towards the shocking discovery however. And Ye Chong then realized that their detection system could not detect the Black Coves' specialized war crafts.

Shang was a quicker planner than Ye Chong, as he passed the news to Fid. And every spaceship in the group was commanded to travel at full speed to hit the warp point as soon as possible.

The Coxcomb sluggishly flew away from the fleet and went to confront the two warships. The Coxcomb was slow to make a runaway. It would be more practical to confront the foes instead. At least that would give better chances of Grandpa Qian's survival.

Ye Chong was not being really sentimental over this, rather it was the outcome of his calculation, the optimum route to pick.

Ye Chong inhaled deeply to gain his inner peace. He was sure that he would not be able to make it out within the grasp of 7 warships, but at least he could make sure that there would be one or two warships joining his grave.

And this, shall be the first war of the Coxcomb!

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Chapter 227: First War of the Coxcomb

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The armor of the warship had that particular metallic glow which convinced Ye Chong the identity of the voyage made out of black gold. Unlike the warship of MPA which was all graceful and sophisticated, the Black Covers made their ship in the toughest, and most efficient way they could possibly imagine. Those tubes of the cannons bold as their soul, those rampant amount of gates across the ride where the mechs seemed to be swarming out from soon… there were even thorns over the body, giving the warship an appearance of a porcupine. Ye Chong was foreseeing the also decent capability of warship on performing a close-ranged attack while firing off cannons.

The two approaching warships from the Black Coves were rather surprised seeing the fleet accelerating out of sudden. Are we busted? No way. Privateers should not have the technology to detect us beforehand.

Within the boundless space and the broadening milky way, the size of the Coxcomb was pronounced as he travelled in slothful tranquility.

The two warships approached very quickly after they discovered that the over-sized spaceship was heading towards them. It was no shocker, a Zika-graded spaceship was merely a sailing ornament, one with only the outside. Privateers were still privately owned ships after all, compared to the warships, it would feel like an arm against a firearm. The remaining 5 ships from the Black Coves were highly confident of the capabilities of 2 leaving warships, so they sailed off to the warping point.

It was a relief when Ye Chong saw the other mates of the Black Coves forfeited the fight. They were going to be in contact soon. A one-on-two would be still better than a one-on-seven. The stress would be quite different.

The figure displaying their distance was ticking on the screen, getting lower each time.

Ye Chong deployed Han Jia, the issue of being busted was no longer his concern. The survivability was something more important. He did not hop into the cabin immediately, as he knew Han Jia could wield only the fists and the legs, going off now when both parties remained distant would be pointless.

Well, then, we will do something first. Ye Chong did not intend to hold back. Shang would probably think the same, as nasty-minded as he was.

Beep. The board covering the 52 electromagnetic cannons was lifted. The tubes were glowing in threatening darkness towards the approaching dark force. The sudden change of the Coxcomb startled the incoming foes.

ZZzzzzzzt!! Energy started being charged at the muzzles! Due to angle issues, only 33 electromagnetic cannons were pointing within the proximity of two of the foes. The accumulating electromagnetism was glaring in the black void. Some said it was brighter than the nova, the morning star. The naked eyes seemed to be deceived as they saw a constellation of a tiny fish formed by the 32 glows in the dark.

The hologram on the projector was showing the otherwise. The densely conglomerated glows were a major horror to the crew. The pale blue glow flooding the muzzle was a brutal warning.

"Battle station! All warring units take off now!" The leaders made a prompt command in their throaty shriek. The gates were opened one after another, as the units swarmed out of their nests. Like hornets they took off smoothly despite the emergency, the outcome of their systematic training was justifiable. The cannons of both warships also started glowing.

Beep. Beep beep. Beep beep Beep beep. Beep beep Beep beep Beep beep.

Within twinkling of eyes, the screen was overflowed by countless red spots.

A massive energy-based weaponry like the electromagnetic cannons would require a moment of charging-up, or the unit would explode as the abrupt surge of energy jammed the system.

The electromagnetic cannons of the Coxcomb were charging, as about hundred of Beauty's Secretion slid into the space quietly. Both Ye Chong and Shang knew, the key to the war might not be the energy-based weaponry they had built, rather it could be the deadly corrosion in the dark. Although they were unsure of the capabilities of Beauty's Secretion as it lacked actual experience in wars, its participation would have direct influence to the outcome of the war. And that launch Shang made had already consumed about half of the secretion in their storage.

The two warships were performing their evasion. It might appear to be ridiculous to Ye Chong as he would never believe a warship being capable of performing an evasion this agile, but it just happened before his eyes. The coxcomb literally looked like a retarded sloth before the two Black Coves' crafts. And that was when Ye Chong made up his mind, swearing to strive on giving the Coxcomb another overhaul, if they ever made it out alive that is. The Coxcomb was nothing but a walking bullseye. Ye Chong prayed to have eliminated the foes before the Coxcomb got hit.

Then, considering the possibility of the foes requesting immediate backups from the other 5 warships after this, Ye Chong would be obliged to perform a space-jump before the backups arrived. The acceleration before the actual space-warp would put them under the greatest risk, as any form of interruption could lead to a horrible outcome - they could jump to another dimension, while also having the possibility to warp to the deserted area beyond the 5 major galaxies. Any imaginable outcome would be mortal. So, that last straw to the crumbling, it must be avoided at any cost.

The flowing blue glow at the muzzles were getting brighter. Zoom! 33 beams of light in pale blue rifted the void. The two warships could have looked all deceitful in their evasion, but they were no match for the master sniper called Shang.

The electromagnetism oozed over the darkest space formed a shining bridge between the Coxcomb and the foes.

The beams were obviously most effective penetrating the armor of the warship. Penetration itself was nothing to be afraid of, since unlike the spaceships or the mechs, most warships were programmed to perform a rather facilitated self-repair mechanism immediately. The armor was not the issue, the energy units, however… Assuming the beam landed on the batteries or the charging pipes of the foes, the collision of energy would initiate an explosion which would cause casualty as well as the destruction of the warship itself.

The first wave of attack was fully aimed at one of the inching warship. The thumb rule to fight a one-on-two was always to knock down one partner with maximum force before the other.

The outcome, was grand. Under the attack of charged energy blast, the warship was crippled, probably damaged beyond repair. The Black Coves might have fought the mightier foe like the MPA, but the MPA only had about 20 electromagnetic cannons on their corvettes, unlike the Coxcomb, where Shang launched 32 cannons at once. The power would be beyond overwhelming, especially with the aid of the tubes made out of black gold which further enhanced the effect. Given that they were facing the MPA instead today, their warship could have taken at least two to three waves of high density energy blast like this. Too bad, they were not.

Zzzzzt Zzzzzzt! Boom. The explosion happened one after another. The beam probably had in fact landed on their batteries. The consecutive explosion made Ye Chong unable to imagine the remnants of the ship, he could end up seeing nothing in the void. The crew on that warship? The explosion was a horror itself, the men on that warship would have ended up the specks among the asteroids. No way they could have survived that.

And that was the first war between warships Ye Chong had witnessed, where death could be determined in one moment. Contrary to the fights between mechs, the body of a warship was too hefty to make real agility, so the first wave of firing would have determined the outcome.

Ye Chong tumbled into the cabin of Han Jia. He got to put on something, he was still a human and he would be diving into the void.

The Coxcomb took a drastic turn as the 19 electromagnetic cannons at the other side were about to finish charging.

Oh no.

Ye Chong's eyes were then blinded by the light. He felt his eyes almost burning. Boom! The explosion created a quake within the ship, carrying inertia, flipping Hanjia violently. Ye Chong could feel himself tumbling uncontrollably. Wham! Han Jia was slammed upon the wall. Luckily he was able to get inside Han Jia and gained protection from the built-in liquid buffering system, or he would have transformed into a splat of flesh on the wall.

The Coxcomb was hit! The Coxcomb was hit! It was fortunate that the Coxcomb was making a turn, that the light beams slightly missed as they slid through the Coxcomb at minimum contact. They carried on zooming beyond the Coxcomb, going through the fleet accelerating behind.

Ye Chong by then had learned the fact that any individual, in spite of the mighty strength they might wield, would be minuscule in a massive war like this. No one could guarantee he or she could be the last one standing in the war.

The armor of the Coxcomb was papery compared to the warships. At least the cannons of the foes were not as great as the electromagnetic cannons on the Coxcomb or the slightest touch like that just now would have torn the Coxcomb apart.

Everything happened according to Ye Chong's imagination. The Coxcomb was too sluggish to make the necessary movements at occasions. Shang had tried his best to predict the timing and perform the evasion beforehand, yet they were struck by most of the incoming beams. The yellowish white glow sliced through the dark void from the Black Coves, leaving openings on the fragile body of the Coxcomb. And one beam had contacted a charging cannon at one spot, which caused the explosion that flipped Han Jia like a whirlwind.

Well, the Coxcomb was alright, except for the fleet. A beam could easily penetrate two to three spaceships and the fleet was traveling at their closest, like the group of ducklings with their mother. No way the beam could have missed.

Explosion, a few explosion illuminated the space. The queueing fleet was then disorderly. They might be able to face the pirates' strike with courage, but towards the brutality of the firing, they had surrendered with the loss of hope. They could only watch the explosion happening with their eyes enlarging, while their leaders struggled to speed up, striving to crawl to that warping point and leave this dangerous war field. The situation had already gone beyond control, while the leading spaceships of the fleet had already performed their space jumps and scurried from the scene safely.

The spaceships of different colors and shapes crashed into each other. Ye Chong could no longer distinguish the one which Grandpa Qian boarded within that one panicked glance. He prayed, that they would be the luckier ones than the others and not part of the explosion.

The Coxcomb was not the real warship in the end, one blow and the body of the Coxcomb was full of openings. The saving grace was that the Coxcomb was not damaged at its main component so it was still under Shang's control.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! The spaceship was crawling slower than a tortoise. One more blow and we could smash it! We would not have to call for backups if we knew it was made out of jellies!" stated the living warship of the Black Coves proudly.

"Right." The even-tempered cannoneer was finding it strange as well, "What a weird warship. Both slow and frail. The armor was their fatality. Tsk, although I must admit that they have great firepower. Warship Number 7 took the blow and bloody hell, it became goner, scaring the crap out of me. Freaking hell. I think the MPA's cannons are no as good!"

"What a pity Number 7 was. At least the beam was not at our boat, or we would have joined the milky way now. Now that you have mentioned it, I do find that electromagnetism firing similar to the MPA's."

"Indeed. But this is much bigger I must say," the experienced one from their team added.

"So which side does this warship belong? And they actually have better technology than the MPA?"

"Who knows… as much as you can see, there are always a hermit hidden somewhere in this world."

Despite the comments, the Coxcomb was being tormented in actuality, as the foe clearly demonstrated a more experienced warship-piloting than Shang. Moreover, the body of the Coxcomb was huge, the movement was slow. Utilizing those weaknesses, they launched their attacks in tiny waves to seize the control of the Coxcomb.

The leader of the ship seemingly had yet to realize how foolish his command was, for he could have destroyed the entire boat if he ordered his men to make a one-time fire instead.

Both parties were unable to do anything to each other.

The beams continuously showered upon the Coxcomb, but the Coxcomb managed to make necessary turning.

One nice flip by the Coxcomb.

The men were greeted by the 19 charged electromagnetic cannons from the other side, the living glow was a discoloring horror to the crew.

"Evade!!!" Roared the leader, "Evade!!!" His voice was wavering, his eyes were soulless.

Zzzzzzzzt!

Of course, they did not make it. It was too late for them to make an evasion, as 19 blue beams landed right upon their ship. It was obviously not their day, as one beam actually gave a gentle touch at their battery.

"Fuc-"

The war field was once again blinded by the explosion. The black gold armor was torn helplessly into debris, being scattered over the corners of the space.

A fireworks, bloomed like a brilliant flower.

Ye Chong was relieved. It was surely a mental trial for him to bear with the helplessness in a battle that he could not be directly involved with. He hated the feeling of not able to take the control of his fate.

"Ye, your final blow!" Shang's voice was expressionless as it lost its usual joking tone, sounded bloodthirsty and inhumane.

I wonder… if Shang was like this in the past? That was the strange thought appearing in Ye Chong's head.

"Okay." He took a deep breath and grabbed the inner focus. Probably he had been in many hand-to-hand combats, he realized that he could get into the status fairly quick, since in the past, he would have needed to take a few more cycles of aspiration in order to get the sense.

To be honest, the war between warships had imprinted in his head, being all straightforward and direct, black and white, dead or alive. And there he was, once being worried that he would be short of batteries as the battle went on and on. The fight between warships was merely a matter of a few turns. The additional batteries, the energy was not that important and could be said as even a kind of unnecessary burden since it made the ship more likely to explode on beam contacts. But, similarly, the foes, the Black Coves seemed to be inexperienced as well, which eventually gave Ye Chong and Shang a chance to survive.

And finally, Ye Chong was ready for his next move. The mech-combats, the battle known as the bread and butter of his tale, they were exciting.

The screen projected over hundreds of red spots, which were so horrifying to Ye Chong in the past, that he might just press the "Eject" button and blast away instead. But now, with Coxcomb and Shang, he believed, he could see the next breaking dawn.

And then he realized, the benefits of having a warship for a mech.

Han Jia sank into the space silently. There was no need to open the gate. The openings torn by the beams were already the gates themselves. Ye Chong flew out from one of them. The things were floating around, as the air ventilation had been disrupted, the oxygen had leaked, forming various vacuum areas on the ship.

Being a skeleton mech itself, Han Jia sure was amazing at its speed and stealthiness. Those were the trick to every victory.

The destruction of two war units were enraging to the remaining Black Covers who departed from their ships just now. "We shall avenge!" They already lost their mates, and a way home to rest their transports. They no longer had the turn back option. And when one, being unable to turn back, would have a stronger, more irrational bravery.

The dark mechs accelerated, their momentum intensified, as they charged towards that hefty looking warship! They were highly experienced and they knew the fragility of the armor of the Coxcomb. Their attacks shall not be stopped! As soon as they approached their foe, they would retrieve victory. The electromagnetic cannons might be a threat to the ship, but not enough as a threat to the mobile mechs.

The warship remained immobile, while the half-devastated body seemed to give off an unbeatable sense.

Don't tell me… there was not even one pilot inside such a big ship…

The pilots were confused and suddenly a crash was felt. Something small hit them?

Should be one of the specks from the explosion… One pilot thought, since the screen did not project anything, the detection system did not go wailing.

"Assassination. Careful. Photon Mode, now!" A deep voice of a male rang inside his helmet. Goosebumps crawled over his shaking hands… Wasn't that Lord Thorn?

Assassination? A skip on his heart beat, as he moved his hands over the control panel to make a change… Honk! Beep! The alarm wailed inside the mech.

It kept wailing. And he was wondering why. But there was something on the shell of his mech, a pool of purplish fluid engulfing the surface, in the hideous sizzles one could imagine.

The glowing shell of Cosmic Flare became distorted, melted like a splat of mud. "The Liquid of Shang", Ye Chong's latest invention, a liquid that nothing could stop, even the black gold alloys.

Sssssssss…sssssssS… The thin armor eventually could not withstand the pressure in the cabin. Boom. The armor ruptured, forming a dense opening like the hornet's nest. The air squeezed out of the pores and was pulling the diameters larger and larger.

Cough, cough… The pilot realized he was having some breathing difficulties…

Huh?! And he saw the giant opening, his eyes were huge, filled with disbelief. He frantically reached over the panel, he was trying to speak, yet the pressure squeezed his eyeballs, blood overflowed his expression.

And that… was how he used to look.

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Chapter 228: That One Moment of Stare

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The situation had gone too chaotic. Everyone on the spaceship was having their eyes tightly stuck upon the screen, with fright in them. The situation had taken a strange turnabout. The Coxcomb, from the beginning, had been traveling with them, as if a personal bodyguard heroically staying by their side, being the appreciated honor among the crew members. Well, anyone on the crew would have appreciated its participation in the fleet. The Coxcomb was sailing at the side wings of the spaceship, and the sailors, the staff, all of them crowded upon the window to have a proper look at their hero.

And that was when everyone thought they would be reaching Csebesini safely, the Coxcomb left abruptly, away from the side wings of their ship. Almost immediately after, they were shouted upon by Fid the leader to make it to the warping point at the quickest speed possible. The leader, who received the command, as well as the remaining crew had assumed the pirates had returned. His experience had illustrated a series of impeccable commands which eventually allowed them to be in quite a better status in the war.

But the confusion lingered, as everyone's eyes were almost popping out seeing the Coxcomb being the only ship on the screen, they once thought it could be a false alarm, there was no pirate in sight, till the moment the Coxcomb launched countless streams of blue beams to the darkness, explosion occurred. The void was exploding? The void was exploding indeed. Did the pirates have invisible technology? What was that stream of blue beams?

Wei Yuan screamed, "What are you waiting for!" He reacted quickly, "Change to Photon Mode!"

Apparently the anti-detection system - despite being effective against the most advanced hologram detection system - could be ineffective against the most traditional Photon Mode of the visualization system.

The crew then switched their visuals to Photon Mode. To their horror, Coxcombs the gentle whale who escorted them kindly the whole time, turned out to be a warship, armed with countless dark frightening muzzles, all pointed towards the incoming dark mechs. The sudden emergence of a warship was worrying, the sudden devastation of the other warship was nauseating.

Warship - the tool which defined the war itself, that reminded humanity the fear itself - was there, laying bare in front of them. The pirates seemed to be a triviality now the moment the warship came into comparison.

The leader of the spaceship hurriedly performed his acceleration, since it was a known fact that an unarmed spaceship was directly vulnerable in front of a warship. Only speed could save them if they could make it to the warping point. All leaders from the other spaceships in the fleet held the same opinion, as the queue was in disarray. Then the pilot squads came into action to restore the order. And at that current ship where people crowded their windows, they were glad they were in luck, for they were quite ahead of the queue, they would be fleeing from the war field in a couple of minutes.

The passengers squeezed before the photon projection. They hurrahed the moment the Coxcomb finished the other warship, as they breathed in a relief, delighted and salvaged, believing that the Coxcomb would be the one holding victory in the end. There were dense flocks of mechs but rumor said there was one super sniper on the craft that could finish 300 advanced models quickly.

"Elderlies and ladies please enter the safe house immediately. I repeat, elderlies and ladies, please enter the safe house immediately. The remaining passengers please stay calm and take care of your own safety. We would be performing space-warping shortly. Please be prepared." The elderlies and women were sent the the safe house in the ship, remaining the others still watching the next action on the projection.

They could feel the inertia pulling them behind, the spaceship was accelerating, which signified them the space-warping was happening. Well, space jump was not something challenging for spaceships to perform, however, if they were interrupted, things could go a little nasty. Compared to two years before, as science and technology developed rapidly, the space-warping procedure for passengers today was of negligible discomfort. Most adults could not even feel anything much, other than the acceleration itself.

Zzt Zztt…

The visuals on the projection were wavering. The momentum intensified, the projection was getting more and more noises over the time, till at one point people could no longer distinguish the happening on the projection. They only saw a silhouette flying out from the Coxcomb, "Feels like a mech?" They believed.

Zzzzt!

"Ah!" One brief frame of the projection was very clear then nothing was there.

There were two voices exclaiming.

"Performing space-jump." The passengers were truly relieved by then. As soon as they completed the procedure, they would be away from all these chaos and devastation. Of course, before every space-jump, one must have performed a very precise calculation or the crew might never make it to their designated location. If the coordination was never given in the beginning, no one would dare to perform a space-jump this suddenly. Even if they were piloting a warship, the law of physics itself remained enforced for them.

It felt like a dream for the passengers, so unreal and mystifying, feeling so long yet it only lasted for a brief second. That depicted the sensation one had during space-warping, which was mesmerizing to most people.

They felt their bodies lighter for one pull. Then the projection regained its clarity, as if they had exited from a lucid dream.

Rui Bing's face was stupefied, while Wei Yuan remained in a disbelieved expression. Yes, the two exclamations were made by them.

"Wh-What happened… Yuan?" Asked Rui Su to Wei Yuan, she did hear her beloved sister making the similar squeak, which was peculiar for she knew her sister's undisturbed nature. Well, she would not directly inquire her sister, since it was not easy to dig out anything from her thoughts. But Wei Yuan made the exclamation too, so he should know something.

Wei Yuan took a glance at Rui Bing, who was pondering with her head lowered, "It seemed like…" Whispered Wei Yuan by Rui Su's ears, "That… the mech seemed to be … well, the brother-in-law of Sister Bing…I saw it before…" It was already a common sense for the Ruis to know the relationship between Rui Bing and Ye Chong. Whenever the great guy was mentioned, Wei Yuan loved to address him as the "brother-in-law", while Rui Su would call him "my future brother-in-law". The nicknames were rather gimmicky sometimes but Madam Rui was helpless on her daughter's marital relationship, knowing her daughter's personality, her daughter would execute whatever she had decided.

"Ah!" Rui Su screamed then she quickly covered her mouth. Her expressive eyes were telling skepticism. A moment of silence, and her sister remained stoned, "Yuan, you sure?" she whispered into Wei Yuan's ears, she was unconvinced.

"Hmph, no way I would get it wrong. My brother-in-law saved me with that mech, how could I have mistaken it?" angered Wei Yuan, as his wholehearted statement was being suspected by Rui Su.

Rui Bing's head was all upon the floor. A hint of sadness rose in her heart for some reason. Was it… the greatest distance between us…? Or was it the silent most farewell? She was dumbfounded.

"Heh… my future brother-in-law is great in fact, for he knows how to protect us," Rui Su's voice rang by her ears.

"No way, how would brother-in-law know our whereabouts? Probably he just happened to be there and well, being a hero, he did so-"

"Shhhhhh!" Interrupted Rui Su, all disdainful, "Well, being a hero? What do you think your brother-in-law was? He was the cruel and cold kind from the beginning. Hmph, if there was not anything here worthy of his protection, how would he have done it? Stop joking!" stated Rui Su, based on her past experience dealing with this indifferent beast named Ye Chong.

"Don't insult my brother-in-law!" rampaged Wei Yuan. "What do you say?" shouted Rui Su. And they began quarreling.

Rui Bing's soulless eyes suddenly lighted up a warm glow. Was he there… for me? The Coxcomb had always been flying at the side wings like a royal knight in escort… It does feel like…

Rui Bing who lacked the experience of such situation was of course mesmerized by this feeling, like a young girl she was.

But then her worries upon Ye Chong's safety overtook her strange infatuation.

But what could I do? Rui Bing was quiet. And there the couple was, passing by the shoulders, touched yet unspoken again, when in the century, the decade would they mean again?

"But…" She tried to speak, but the words choked her. Her eyes were filled with bewildered fear and then were replaced by faith and optimism.

Rui Bing recovered her indifference, as she made the leap, right onto the center of the quarrel, and lifted the two fighting animals, dragged to the resting room where Grandpa Qian and Madam Rui stayed.

"Sister Bing! It was Sister Su who…" Wei Yuan felt embarassed.

"Bing Bing, don't listen to that Yuan. You know your sister, don't you? Sigh, my good little Bing Bing, would you spare your sister and put her down…" The strange gazes from the other passengers were more than pressuring to Rui Su despite her shameless nature.

The happening on the fleet was not something Ye Chong had leisure to deal with, as his eyes were all focused upon the flock of mechs before him.

About 20 dark mechs left in the field, waving their lingering aggression being the war units being all short of arms and legs from the effect of the Liquid of Shang. But they reacted quickly as they disengaged their limbs before the liquid expanded.

One could see the success of the Beauty's Secretion being the tool for assassination.

Thorn the lord of the Black Coves was more than angry, as there was such terrible casualty under his lead, the first incident to taint his perfect records. Never once he would expected the foe would wield such diabolical weapon while being able to avoid detection.

Ye Chong's glare carried on… and he distinguished one really different mech among the uniform mechs. And that was the mech who burst the incoming Beauty's Secretion with a single sting on his short alloy spear. Judging by his skill, the foe should be no novice.

That was not it. What was giving Ye Chong a loud thump in his heart was the mech.

It was the very first time he came across such model among the Black Covers.

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Chapter 229: Thorn

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The mech was the same humanoid model in dark metallic glow, of a balanced proportion coated with thorns which rose tidily of different lengths, in a threatening appearance all over its body, from head, shoulders, elbows to even the thighs. Although the spikes were different in lengths, all of them were perfectly sharp. And Ye Chong could not help but notice the fact that the fists were not plain dark like the Black Covers' usual units, rather, those were of a dim gold.

A Black Coves model painted in a color other than black itself? The addition was more than alarming to Ye Chong.

"Warning, Ye. This should be from the heart of the Black Coves, the real war machinery units, the high ranked model. The name of this model should be 'Thorn', if my information was not wrong that is. Mhm, so, be careful, the real warring pilot from the Black Coves would be exactly the real deal itself. Jajaja, well, compared to you that is. If I was the one standing in your place, those were just starters for me. Hah! Ye, may you have an enjoyable fight," the distorted mechanical laughed then rang inside Ye Chong's head. And Ye Chong almost had the urge to strangle that artificial indulgence with the arms of Han Jia.

Certainly, under Photon Mode visualization, Han Jia was no longer undetected. It was a miracle though, for the mech to be detected only after being this close to the Black Covers. Most of the survivors under the attack of the Beauty's Secretion were gasping in slight fear.

"Leave this guy to me," stated Thorn. "The rest of you will take the warship."

"Yes sir!" The remaining mechs blasted towards the sluggish warship.

Thorn, took a look at the strange mech before him, and was a little shocked, as he realized this was the skeleton mech his heads had been searching for and he could confidently confirm that he was not wrong on his judgement. The fact was, technically no pilot who had undergone systematic training from the Black Coves would fail to recognize the skeleton mech being what the authority desired. And Thorn was the elite from the inside, he was more than well-informed on it.

Skeleton mech had always been something from the myth. Its design approach had been long raised by people, which however sadly nothing new had ever been discovered other than the words of mouth. And there Thorn was, having a clear sight on an actual skeleton mech hovering before him. The Black Coves research unit had been striving to at least grab the gist of its formation, even though the outcome had always been demotivating.

According to the news he had heard, in the 5 major galaxies, the current skeleton mech artisan the humanity could ever have would be the pilot sitting right inside it right now. And Thorn remembered there were also several commands going on in regards of the skeleton pilot himself… What a complicated individual… Thorn thought.

Whoever he was, the skeleton artisan pilot and the skeleton mech itself would be his first priority!

Coincidentally, Ye Chong who remained in the silence before storm was also taking a good look at his foe. Thorn, the warring unit gave a strong resemblance to a porcupine, which one could say to be "thorny" to handle sometimes. Fortunately Han Jia was pretty armed, Ye Chong could not imagine which part of Thorn to strike if he were barehanded.

!? What?

The dark humanoid vanished. Ye Chong was astonished by the vanishment of the foe!

That speed! Ye Chong flinched!

Han Jia twisted its body and took a peculiar turn. Panicked, it shifted to the position where the foe was standing formerly.

Klink! Klank! Klink!

There were a few streams of cold light flashing at where Ye Chong stood before. Ye Chong shuddered, as seeing the foe attempted to raid where he was before. He was really glad he moved his mech away before the rapid slashes happened. The foe was fast, very fast, probably as fast as Han Jia. It could be a close race if they were to have a competition. Mach 8 to 9 was actually this horrifying… now Ye Chong could understand how the foes he faced usually felt when he moved in Han JIa.

And Thorn, menacingly was excited. As expected from a skeleton mech, you never failed surprise me… Complimented Thorn in his mind, as contrary to his belief, he discovered the speed of Han Jia being slightly faster than his. My Thorn is known as the fastest among the core units in the Black Coves. And never once I would see such capability from a mech. No wonder the authority have been wanting the skeleton mech so much.

Towards the momentum of Han JIa, Thorn was not afraid, not even the slightest bit. The capability of a mech was merely an aspect, one of the factors to be taken into consideration. The skills still matter, since a battle between mechs eventually would just boil down to a raw fight between men. I would have better chance to win if that is the case. Hah, I'll have you, skeleton pilot, and your mount.

Gasp…

Ye Chong was a little overwhelmed. Judging by that quick combination of slashes the foe delivered, Thorn had rose to be the strongest foe Ye Chong had met so far.

A battle was brewing. The blood was boiling. The slight excitement tinted that pool of calmness in Ye Chong's head.

Since thorn had no other weapon, Ye Chong's obvious option would be to have a close-combat with him, even if the Black Covers were known for their superior hand-to-hand tactics and they were truly the expert in this indeed. No doubt, close-combats were the bread and butter of Ye Chong's fighting record. His alternate identity, YC was also known as the representative figure of mech combats on the Virtual World, or one could say, the mech combats itself.

One lift of the arm… Zoom!

Wise people think alike… or perhaps fools never differ. The moment one lifted the arm, both mechs were triggered.

The daggers were already in both hands of Han Jia as Han Jia raised a stack of afterimages all over the foe, with one right onto the throat, the other slicing towards the heart of Thorn!

The two slashes from Han Jia were dismantled as Thorn stormed itself with a veil of afterimages as well, as it performed a quick hold on Han Jia's incoming cut. Ye Chong was amazed. Even under such insane speed, he managed to maintain his accuracy in both movements and eyes while taking the right action at the right time! It was pain for this potent person to be his foe.

The two mechs then collided into each other. A swirling hurricane was formed between the arms and the blades. One could not tell what was happening as one could only see a rambling mixture of two silhouettes and thousand stacks of afterimages. If any lucky audience happened to there and recorded this to be uploaded to the Virtual World, one could imagine how much replies would be flooding the forum board.

The exchange was rapid, filled with various touch-and-gos, as both parties wielded the same clean-cut style. No conspicuous movement, no flashy bomb and array, just the traditional cuts and blows, where every part of a mech could be a weapon itself. And the fight was epic, as the two mechs were fighting in the closest range possible.

Ye Chong in Han Jia did not even have the time to blink his eyes. The situation was so intense that a slip on the finger could have costed his life.

Thorn on the other side was also all eyes and all ears on the ticking control panel. Being a warring pilot, his experience and techniques were not something Ye Chong could even mimic on spot, although he had yet discovered a way to finish the foe directly, which was perplexing as the fight went on unexpectedly.

What a strange foe… his movements were highly complicated. Not only there were a few standard movements from the mainstream fighting methodology among the five galaxies pilots, there were also some sort of evolved gestures from a kind of martial arts which I could not really tell its exact identity, the techniques involved were too strange for me to identify. And there was also a hint of fundamental moves from our group. Thorn could feel the stress, despite the fact that those movements the foe made were merely the basics of everything. He simply did not reckon sequencing the basic movements could be this potent.

The basics could be rapid. The basics could be this interchangeable. It felt like an epic score formed with the most basic linguistic units one could image. The movements were the stacks of the foe's shadow. The movements were unpredictable. Commented Thorn.

Ye Chong, in his Han Jia, handling this nuisance of darkness, was not feeling easy either. The stress was something really new to his sensation. This was the first time he came across such skillful fighter after he incorporated the techniques he learned from Lan Yixing's microchip into his combats.

This Thorn launched his attack really rapidly, even though his model was reacting slower than mine. The timing and landing of each of his moves are impeccable, where he mainly revolves about the use of his own thorns. What a headache… The thorns are so much tougher than I thought, my Han Jia would need three downward slashes to cut one particular spot through while I am required to dodge all his moves at the same time…

If it was not Lan Yixing's techniques I would have lost right away…

The techniques… the foe's techniques, they should be of a certain kind of style. Too many of his movements are the anomaly to my senses, I could n… Hold it!

Ye Chong remembered Instructor Hak once mentioned about a kind of martial arts technique from the ancient.

It was a very intense fight as both parties did not seem to be losing anytime.

"Fight for the Black Coves!"

"Yeah!"

Meanwhile, 20 mechs or so from the Black Coves were heading towards the Coxcomb. Their fate was a sad story.

The broken ship did not seem to be reacting anytime soon. Did we really break it just now?

That was what they assumed being the witnesses of this warship getting bombarded by their mates countless times. They had faith in their own weaponry.

The folks on the Coxcomb could not even rest their breaths, as seeing the dark enemies approaching on the projection while having no mech to protect them! The Coxcomb was merely a spaceship to be wrecked!

"All hail the Black Coves!"

"We shall take over the ship! And teach them who rules the galaxies!"

As they felt victory approaching, something occured. Their expressions changed.

Tick! Tick tick tick tick tick!

The Coxcomb suddenly rolled out a hefty amount of laser firing units. The number was innumerable, as if the warship was the factory of the firing units itself. The Black Covers zoned out for a second, probably they never expected a warship to have firing units this many installed, considering the amount of batteries would be needed to run the show.

Zzzt!

Before they realized, they were already surrounded by a laser web. The laser web? That was something new to the trained pilots, then the supplementary bombs came showering upon them.

The extreme firepower of the Coxcomb was a shocker to Fid and Claudia when they were restoring the order of their fleet.

Folks would never understand the power of electromagnetic cannons, to them it would be just a stream of blue light, that would be it. But unlike the electromagnetic firing, the laser beam coming off like a spectrum shower turned out to be more stunning to them.

The crowding fleet held their engines for a considerable amount of time. The crew members were dumbfounded.

The Black Covers? No one liked being a fish in the net and they were experiencing it. They had been rather disdained towards these normal laser beams, as the beams would feel like a pump of water on their armor. Laser beams this dense however, were an eye-opener to them, a soul-taker.

Laser firing units like this could fire about 20 beams of laser per second. And the units on the Coxcomb, contrary to the tradition, were making the pilots losing their mind as they tried counting the number.

It was a depressing discovery by the Black Covers that these beams were not blind-shot after all, they were more accurate than their own snipers. No matter how sturdy their armors were, when hundreds of beams aiming one single mech, it would only lead to an explosion, nothing else. The addition bombs scattered in the space also had also weakened their mechs before they realized.

The glow of 20 mechs exploding had illuminated the space again. The laser web vanished the very second when people were blinking their eyes in blank dismay, as if the Coxcomb withdrew its fangs like the beast returning to its tamed self after a feast.

The contrast was beyond their comprehension.

…

Ah!

Thorn seemed to have noticed something but … but he was not in the mood to take a look around. His screen, his eyes were all on that skeleton mech before him. Sweats were stuck at his fringe, as his ruffled hair went standing like the bushes on a globe. His body was soaked wet. The stress over the time… it was pushing him to the limits. His hands felt fatigued since it was consuming to maintain such amount of APM even for a strong man like him.

But he would not… he would never have a break. The dark twin daggers from the foe were like twinning serpents, aiming their prey and frantically they attacked. He knew if he were to hold back a little, within that brief second, the twin daggers would get beyond his defense. Not only the daggers, the shield was also a danger to look out for. The shield was similar to those mechs of the Black Coves, having sharp edges.

Pant… Pant…

Ye Chong's breathing became heavier, although he maintained the greatest hand speed he could imagine. The movements he carried out were highly complicated, the controls were not simple and were obviously more than a tap and slide. It was the first time Ye Chong maintained the maximum speed for such a long time.

Han Jia held the incoming punches with its daggers. The thorns of the dim yellow fist were a wonder, a mystery of they material, for they were unhurt by the edges of the dagger despite all the slashes and slams.

Right when Thorn's punches were held, he made a thrashing knock with the elbow, the thorns were glowing cold. Ye Chong in his Han Jia believed that his armor could not take the sharp thorn so he backed off like a breeze, trying to dodge.

The few thorns over the elbow were then disengaged and began propelling towards Han Jia. Hah! Thorn was confident that with this twist carried out at such a distance, the foe could never see this coming! These thorns would deal great amount of damage, they would at least inflict something on the foe's mech even if they could not penetrate the armor.

To experts like the Black Covers warring pilots, one simple plot twist was more than enough to turn the tide.

Klink! Thup thup thup thup!

Han Jia blocked the thorns with its shield. Ye Chong had seen this coming ever since the time when he saw Thorn ruptured the Beauty's Secretion with its spikes moments ago. The spikes were absolutely something to watch out for, since it was able to shatter Beauty's Secretion enveloped in skeleton shells.

Ye Chong then felt the delay in movements of the foe, even though he had no idea why, he changed his battle approach anyway, as Han Jia started weaving in different directions frequently, which were disrupting Thorn's senses. Han Jia's speed was superior from the beginning so it was a torturing act for Ye Chong to abuse it against Thorn.

Thorn could feel his hands getting spasm soon. His fingers danced madly on the control panel. Man I never knew this skeleton prick could be this sustainable in battle.

Absolutely, no one would know Ye Chong's inhuman vitality till one tasted it, while his APM was the result of Mu's continuous training. The marble trainings were once a hell for Ye Chong. Getting spasms was something usual for Ye Chong who underwent the intensive training courses daily. No man would be aware of the torment Ye Chong had undergone in order to get specs like these.

Frankly speaking, from the aspect of techniques, Ye Chong was clearly inferior compared to the experienced foe. Vitality-wise for long-term battle would be a different story. Ye Chong was only exhaling louder than usual, which mostly was due to the brewing excitement inside him.

Ye Chong had long understood the importance of high APM in mech piloting, although not all inputs were effective execution. To a mech processor, its effective input-execution would be limited to a certain amount of figure, which once your APM had overtaken the figure, it would be a mere waste of stamina as you accelerate further while most of your inputs would be neglected.

And to avoid that, Ye Chong had been trying to minimize the amount of inputs to execute a specific action. And his attempt had been proven to be effective in the battle today. If he were to face Thorn in the past, he would be inputting much more commands and probably be drained dead in the end.

The following attacks of Thorn remained its ferocity, although the execution was not as seamless as before. Ye Chong could tell the lethargy within, but the intenseness of the battle had grown beyond their imagination.

Thorn, as his fingers moved on, had never seen a man being able to last this long in a close-combat before. It was then he noticed his weakness being his vitality. Under normal circumstance most players would be knocked out with those sinister tricks of his. But he met the wrong opponent today, as the foe seemed to be well-aware of all kinds of dirty tricks as well.

A sudden urge rose in him to back off and forfeit the battle, as he knew that he would surely lose if he persisted. The skeleton pilot had known most of his moves after exchanging for so long and did not seem to be giving up anytime soon.

Like seriously if there was one moment his hand twitched, he would be stabbed right to his fatality with those daggers.

"Ye, retreat. The remaining 5 warships are heading towards us." Shang's voice sounded a little agitated.

Ye Chong had a shock. He looked at Thorn who jumped away, taking a turn and was running away.

Tink! A fine blue lining zapped through Thorn's body.

Ye Chong could see the blue beam penetrating the armor of Thorn and zapping further into the endless space.

"You are welcomed."

The voice rang proud in his head as Ye Chong turned back and saw Shang waving his weapon of vanity behind the ajar gate.

"Why can't he be the expert in style…" muttered Ye Chong, who zoomed towards the Coxcomb without style…

Well. You would do the same.

If 5 warships were behind you.

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Chapter 230: Pilot of Darklight

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

A mech flew out of the dark warship. Very swiftly it arrived by Thorn's side and seized the lifeless commander floating in space; like a bird returning to its nest, a flawless swing drew towards the opened gate.

"My lord, I have returned," a gentle voice rang in the captain's room.

"Mhm, discovery?" an emotionless voice stated.

"Thorn has officially deceased, caused by a recursion ray right through his heart. An immediate death. Other than the two pores about the size of fingers, numerous slashes were found over his body. He should have been involved in an intensive fight before, where his foe could be also a fighter. The speculation, my lord, is that Thorn probably had a struggling fight with an ace fighter and was then sniped by one with a superior marksmanship, thus the instant death," the gentle voice reported serenely, although the lips were shaking when "recursion ray" was mentioned.

"Recursion? Are you sure it's the recursion?" The warship commander's emotionless voice was slightly quivering as he spoke.

"Yes sir," the voice remained calm.

"Looks like our nemesis could not hold up any longer, though I wonder when did the MPA have their own ace fighters? I do feel much stranger when I realized the warship we faced was clearly not belonged to the MPA," he scratched his chin and pondered.

"My lord, requesting a follow-up on this," the gentle voice sounded serene as ever, while the commander could see the will of battle blazing in his eyes.

"Alright then. Better if you do. It's been 50 years since we met the Pilot of Darklight as well as the Hunter in White. I am very much looking forward to this war. Mhm, bring Little Rock along. I will also hand you a quick transportation. Just go. Also, check out their motives for me," the emotionless voice actually sounded concerned about his underlings.

"Thank you my lord," the voice was filled with gratitude.

He boarded the powership, which was a boat of small diagonal, able to accommodate just two passengers. If one would relate the size of a warship to a large fish, the powership could very much be that thin bone within. Although the powership was rather petite compared to its counterparts in the armory of the Black Coves, its capabilities were not something to be shunned. It was mainly for infiltration and hunting purposes for its speed was superior while being capable of performing all kinds of turns easily. It was also installed with a massive amount of batteries to ensure sustainability in long travels. Technology-wise the Black Coves might be lagging behind compared to the RD of MPA, but that was it. Black Coves were not incompetent at any other aspects. This tiny boat could also perform a space-jump and everyone in the Black Coves believed it to be probably the smallest spaceship that could warp through spaces in the entire galaxy.

The powership hovered out of the gate of its mothership, it then zoomed towards the Coxcomb.

One of the underlings in the captain's room was hurrying the way out.

"Remain on our course," the commander's voice suddenly echoed.

"What about those privateers?" the underling was looking confused.

"Let them be. We have wasted enough time on them. Now we got to catch up, it's all about speed," said the commander as he rose from his seat and turned away after giving one last glance at the speeding powership on the screen. He left the room.

"Little Rock, it's your time," smiled Luo Wei, who had a charming smile of a late twenties that made him approaching, especially with that handsome face of his, a charmer he was. And no matter what had happened before him, he seemed to be always able to keep that serenity in his tone, which convinced the people his reliability.

"Sir Luo Wei… I… heh…" Little Rock's face reddened. Compared to the handsome master leading the powership, the rocky boy was just an average boy. Nothing particularly attractive was found on his face. He was short and looked so puny that people wondered if he had ever eaten. But the Black Covers, despite being hefty and potent, were not looking down on this feeble boy. He was in fact, a genius, an absolute genius after all.

"Sir Luo Wei… is that…" halted Little Rock. "Is that White Hunter really great?"

"Hmmm…" Luo Wei's voice ran deep, "It was also my first time seeing a White Hunter. They are eye-catching with their Recursion. Right, it's a type of energy-based firearm that launches recursion rays. They are also master of ranged and extreme-ranged attacks. Rather terrorizing if you ask me. Based on the information from our heads, the grading system of MPA is the same stern as the Black Coves, while the Pilot of Darklight just so happened to be at the same level as the White Hunter. But it's rare to have a White Hunter in MPA. Most of them were Divine in the tree. So it's really weird to see a White Hunter here."

"Meh," Little Rock gave a disdained look. "That Widdy Hunter is nothing in front of Luo Wei the great. Don't they know how great our Pilots of Darklight are? Do they think their Widdy Hunter could win us?"

Luo Wei responded that statement with a smile. He said nothing, although his mind wandered away for a sec, for he knew that it would not be possible for these people to understand the depth of the Black Coves, not even himself, probably, what he knew was a mere tip of the iceberg.

Zztt!

Shang screamed, "Wait what, those warships are leaving?"

"Leaving?" Ye Chong was also shocked by the report. Leaving the nemesis was not something the Black Covers would do.

"Wait no!" The mechanical voice shrieked, "There's one powership coming! Man we almost got cheated. Ha! Ha! Ha! Thanks to my wisdom and amazing sight! Tsk, tsk tsk, how could they…" And Shang got vain of himself again.

Ye Chong had no word for the artificial indulgence, like for real.

On the hologram screen he saw, that particular miniature spaceship rushing its way to them. The speed astonished Ye Chong a little.

"This fast? This could already compete with a mech!"

"Ye, this is known as a 'powership'. It's empowered of course it's fast. Holy Mama, Ye, we are in hot water…" Shang sounded as if his tail was snapped.

"What's wrong, Shang?" asked Ye Chong peculiarly.

"Ye, the pilot of this ship has to be an ace. The ship is prominently used to infiltrate enemies' bases or to perform counter strike. They would utilize the maximum force of their mech to annihilate their foes. Whoever running on his mission has to the ace of the aces, not even Thorn could be close. Ye, we had overdone it. Something big is coming!"

"A stronger foe than Thorn…?" Ye Chong's face drained. Fighting with Thorn was already energy consuming for him. He could never imagine killing Thorn by himself. Defeating foes was a fundamentally different concept to killing them. Anyone with experience in battles would know that.

And there he came, someone stronger than Thorn.

… Are we done? No way I would win… I wouldn't even survive… But what about Mu Shang…

"Ha!" In the midst of Ye Chong's misery, Shang was giggling, "Ha! Ha! Jajajajajajajaja! Ye, did you get frightened? Man Ye you could be a scaredy cat sometimes! Kekekekekeke! I was just messing with you! Tsk, tsk, tsk. Ye, you were that cool and indifferent usually, never knew I would have the chance to see the true you inside. Don't judge a Ye by his face…" The last syllable trailed off, it was weird.

"Ugh." The veins bloated on his forehead, there were greens and some blacks. He looked around, his hands swinging, nothing throwable was found. "Ugh!" And he gave up.

Shang - probably sensed Ye Chong's coming eruption - stated cheerfully, "Jejeje, Ye my boy, don't panic, I have already calculated our warping point. Hah! They wouldn't get us. Don't even think about it!"

Beep. A fancy tap on the button.

Almost immediately after Shang's words, Ye Chong could feel the acceleration by the Coxcomb. They had to give up… They no longer had the stamina to follow the privateers. Where would Grandpa Qian be? What about the others? Ye Chong was rational as he gave up searching for them under such chaos.

All he could do was to pray them having a good luck, a very good luck.

Beep. Beep. Tick. Little Rock's face was grave as his eyes fixed upon the floating screen of the processor where the data was streaming in ticking beeps.

"Master Luo Wei, I have calculated their warping point. For the exact coordination, I have already submitted it through the processor," he sounded a little tired. Shang would probably be jumping up high with his bolts raining the ground if Shang ever discovered the fact that their coordination had already been estimated with mere calculation even a second before their space-warp procedure. The world was vast and limitless, where always a new genius would appear. In whichever field one would be, there was never an absolution where one remained on the top. The superb calculating ability that Little Rock possessed was the main reason he was called to assist Luo Wei by the commander.

The Coxcomb did not realize it at all. No one would believe this tale where a person was able to calculate the exact coordination of the destination the space-jumper was heading, merely by a grip on the final data before the jumper warped out of the dimension. Not even Shang could do it, Mu was not confident to assert that too.

The Coxcomb was all torn on the outside, at least the main frames were not destroyed so it was not a problem to warp between spaces.

The Coxcomb's momentum increased over the time and before they realized, they had already zapped out of the warping point. Phew… Ye Chong and Shang could finally have a moment to catch their breath. Be it the god of war or the greatest commander, facing two warships at once would not be an effortless task, especially when one had to face a mighty fighter and fight for one's own life. It would be a blatant lie if one would claim to be still kicking and alive after the fight.

On the fence between death and life, humans were like ragged dolls pulled by the hidden thread from both sides. And once they escaped the dead-or-alive moment, the thread would loosen, the ragged doll would have a resting land on the fence, as reminded the flooding fatigue over its body.

"Holy Fal! Ye!" Shang was in bewilderment as he shouted, "That powership had just warped out of the point! How in Fal did they know our warping point's destination?"

Ye Chong was dumbfounded as well, although he did not react as dramatically as Shang since he was not aware of how space-to-space connection worked.

The foe's craft further accelerated while retaining a distance right beyond the proximity of the laser firing units. Shang was annoyed by the pesky little ship behind. We will use the electromagnetic cannons. Wait no, we can't. This pest was too small to make the firing count, especially when it had demonstrated quite a level of piloting skill. And it remains at one point where the lasers could not reach. I'll use Recursion then. The only thing I could have used. Still… Recursion might be great, it is not possible for it to penetrate their ship. Recursion cannon? Distance and accuracy-wise… No. And Shang gave up these ideas which seemed too far-fetched to succeed.

The powership did not seem intended of anything just yet, as it sluggishly tagged the Coxcomb along. The Coxcomb could not do another space-warp as the foe - being so close to them - could have easily disrupted their warping sequence by a simple firing or whatsoever right at that second when they accelerated.

Ye Chong and Shang looked at each other, their temper extinguished and shrugged.

"Shang, how about…" frowned Ye Chong, "I'll go and lure them and you snipe them with Recursion."

"Wait, let's try the Beauty's Secretion first." Sneered Shang.

10 Beauty's Secretions fresh off the pipe, heading towards the powership behind.

Ye Chong and Shang glued their eyes on the screen, fearing to miss that very moment of their life. The Beauty's Secretions overcame the void in silence and were hitting the ship soon. "Got yo-" And the foe launched one laser firing unit and shot down all 10 Beauty's Secretions which then vanished as a cloud of purplish mist.

"Ye, calm down, stay here," Shang regained his calmness. "Rest yourself. You have been fighting for so long. Your stamina is fully depleted. Fight only after you have recovered. Hmph, I might be incomplete and crippled but that doesn't mean some pesky bits could flaunt their dirty tricks in front of me!" Shang subconsciously displayed his tyranny, which was odd to Ye Chong's eyes as he wondered… What exactly was Shang in the past? How did he behave? Was it like this?

"Keke, well the pests aren't approaching anytime soon, anyway. Kekekeke…" The tone and the expression of Shang were giving Ye Chong goosebumps, which shattered his speculation. Maybe I was thinking too much… Yeah, Shang actually got serious and stern? It must be an illusion. Feeling defeated, Ye Chong picked a resting spot and fell asleep quickly.

It would be impossible for one to actually infiltrate the Coxcomb without being noticed by the artificial pairs, like seriously, how would that be possible? Ye Chong might not be that confident to declare Mu Shang's detection system to be the most advanced in the world, but their system had got to be one of the most advanced. That would be convincingly undeniable.

It was a comfortable nap Ye Chong took, as he felt quite replenished when he woke up. He took some food and hydrated himself a little, "How's it going?"

"The same." Shang sounded bored, "That pest was just following us. Nothing much."

"What about our current location?" asked Ye Chong.

"Cyana…" Shang said as he yawned.

"Cyana? Isn't that the territory declared by the Sanctuary?"

"If the news reporter was not lying, yeah."

Ye Chong did a stretch and swung his limbs, then performed a brief set of Lan's martial arts techniques to warm up. And he felt his body activated on all sides, going strong.

He then deployed Han Jia from the alternate dimension and resupplied the batteries on it.

"Well, Shang, I'll be heading out to have a look. You coming?" asked Ye Chong.

"Nah, I'm good. I just do my sniping here. It's a shame that your materials are only able to craft a Recursion, if I have "that thing", I would have… Hmph! Recursion is just a toy, which works on plain shooting at mech. It would not work well on anything else. Sigh, Recursion cannon could have done the trick, but the accuracy is way too low," Shang packaged his disdain towards Recursion fancily.

"Aren't mechs for mechs? Are we going to use a mech to fight a warship?" it sounded ridiculous to Ye Chong.

"Who said a mech is incapable of fighting a warship? Kek! You'll know one day, of how mech and warship are inversely conditional, how one would break the condition formed by the others. Ye, be careful. Always the fiercest stays in the powership. Anything they do, you make a quick back off, and I'll snipe him," concerned Shang.

"Okay," Ye Chong took a deep breath and climbed upon Han Jia.

Ye Chong flew out of the Coxcomb.

…

"Skeleton mech! It's a skeleton mech! No wonder Thorn had a hard time fighting!" Luo Wei seemed astounded.

Little Rock - filled with disbelief - looked at Han Jia in the projection, "Sir, is this the skeleton mech the legend has mentioned?"

"Yes, should be it. Little Rock, you'll take over the steering. I'll have a nice talk with him," something was shining in his gentle eyes.

"Alright," nodded Little Rock, piloting a powership was not difficult for a little genius like him.

After being in a cold war for the past 2 days, finally something had happened to break the ice, as the mech flew out of the gate.

Ye Chong, again, had never seen such model from the Black Covers before. It was a model about 10 meter tall, likewise to other models it had a great body proportion while giving off a dark metallic glow. The slender main body gave off a vibe of elegance which reminded Ye Chong of the MPA, except well, the MPA's mech was white while the one he was seeing glowed in black. The mech was missing the usual thorns adorned on the other Black Covers' units, hence the texture looked rather clean and smooth. A gorgeous seamless curve could be seen over its slender legs, with a hemispheric armor piece at the knees which reinforced its imagery, reminding the foes that it was not as weak as it appeared.

The weapon installed was a pair of moon blade. A long narrow blade with outrageous curl, with the handle laid at the center. The blade body was dark, tainted. No glow could be see, although the edge of the blade was shining bright. It felt like as if a gentleman in dark tuxedo had come with a pair of silver moons, standing in the midst of darkness of the space.

Ye Chong could not help but to compliment the craftsmanship, as being experienced as a critic, his eyes lay upon every joints of the mech. It was not the weapon which amazed him. The little details could always depict the craftsmanship of the mech. And Ye Chong felt there was nothing he could nitpick on the mech hovering before him. The Black Coves was as dark as he knew, dark and bottomless, bottomless and unknown, where one could never know if a more fearsome beast would appear at some point, as these powerful pilots could be a master in certain field.

Ye Chong's cold gaze then fell upon that strange scythe. His heart quivered. He was not fearing the unknown, rather he feared knowing that among the Black Covers, the use of a unique weapon always would be paired with a unique set of skills.

Okay… well…

"Darklight!" He heard Shang screaming, "The Pilot of Darklight!"

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Chapter 231: Super Training Partner

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

What mech pilot?

Ye Chong was startled. Just then, a silver light appeared before him, shining almost painfully bright. A strong sense of danger enveloped him. Almost reflexively, Ye Chong's hands began to dance quickly on the controls. At the same time, Han Jia stepped back and raised the dagger in its hands against that silver light.

Ding! Han Jia's daggers felt like it had hit a starship, and Ye Chong could not help but be flung backwards.

Ye Chong groaned. For every mech pilot, it was dangerous to lose control of his or her mech, no matter how fast they could recover. Ye Chong's hands were flying across the controls. For the first time ever, Ye Chong felt that his hands were not fast enough.

Han Jia went eagle-spread, its engines firing intermittently as it came to a mind-bending stop. Then, it suddenly changed directions. This was a very difficult series of movements, executed when the mech was almost out of the pilot's control. Ye Chong's excellent mech piloting skills and adaptability had saved his life.

A silver crescent shone in midair, so very close to Han Jia. Ye Chong could see it clearly in all its beauty and fatality.

Ye Chong's mind was not blank, without fear or surprise. He thought nothing, for there was no time to think of anything. His movements were all done out of instinct from his years of battle experience.

Ye Chong was also at his limit in executing that move earlier. However, the other party was not going to let him go. The silver crescent rushed to him like an incandescent wave. Ye Chong could feel the overwhelming attack coming like a sea of mercury, indefensible.

Was he really going to die here?

Ye Chong's survival instinct could not accept that. Time suddenly stopped out of the blue. Ye Chong watched as the silver wave slowly approached him, like a movie put on slow motion. His brain turned so quickly like never before, and his hands moved crazily fast, with his calm eyes now burning with excitement.

Han Jia made an adder-style turn, but the silver wave followed it closely behind.

Thomas's spin, T-shaped turn … Han Jia moved like a performer of a grand show, trying out all sorts of battle techniques. Nonetheless, the other party's mech piloting skills were just as impressive, and it never once fell for Han Jia's maneuvers. Han Jia's movements were already at its limit, but the other party seemed to be capable of keeping with it.

Ye Chong saw that the other party still pursued him closely from behind, and he came to a decision. Han Jia stopped moving forward and began to fly backwards. Like a compressed spring being released, its body bent at the sudden change in momentum almost uncontrollably as the mech launched itself backwards at an even faster speed.

Inside the pilot cabin, Ye Chong grew pale. Han Jia's action was putting a heavy physical burden on him.

Ye Chong's movement surprised the other party, and Ye Chong could see that the silver wave grew hesitant. Ye Chong's glowed as his hands executed a series of movements that he had done so many times before.

Han Jia wielded the dagger in its right hand and swiped towards the other party in the midst of the silver wave's hesitation.

Ding! The solid hit from his dagger encouraged Ye Chong greatly. He was also to see the other party's movements clearly for the first time! Without room for doubt, Han Jia's other dagger struck again at an angle against the other crescent blade of the opponent.

Ye Chong's desperate attack was powerful, so much so that it surprised Luo Wei. He almost lost control of his Darklight. This startled him, and sparked his interest for the pilot in this full-skeleton mech for the first time.

Nonetheless, with his long combat experience, he did not forcefully hold his ground, but flew backwards with the momentum.

Seeing his opponent moving away, Ye Chong controlled Han Jia to throw out two auto lock-on shurikens and immediately left for Coxcomb. Han Jia was accelerated to its maximum speed, as Ye Chong demonstrated a perfect example of cut-and-run.

Luo Wei was a little stunned to see his opponent escaping, but the two shurikens were already coming towards him. Luo Wei did not panic. As the two shurikens crossed over each other, Darklight's crescent blade drew upwards to trace a silver arc in the air, slicing the two shurikens into clean halves in one go.

Luo Wei watched as the full-skeleton mech took the opportunity to widen the distance between them. He smiled faintly and flew contentedly back to his powership.

Little Rock looked at Luo Wei with admiring eyes and spoke excitedly, "Master Luo Wei, you're so strong! That fellow couldn't even fight back …"

Luo Wei smiled warmly but did not reply. While the pilot in the full-skeleton mech was not particularly skillful, his deftness and adaptability were unexpected.

Han Jia returned to Coxcomb bewildered. Ye Chong came out of the pilot cabin looking very pale and uneasy. He sat heavily on the floor and heaved a long sigh of relief. It was only then that he realized his back was wet from sweating, and the horrifying chill that came with it.

Ye Chong had escaped from death in the truest sense. He still could not calm himself down. Even though he had struggled to survive many times in the past, he had never come close to what had happened today, nearly defenseless against the situation.

"Ye Chong, you did well!" Shang's words sounded like sarcasm, and Ye Chong could not help but roll his eyes.

However, Shang continued evenly, "Ye, you really did well this time. I didn't know he was actually a Darklight mech pilot, or I would have stopped you from going. From your battle against Thorn yesterday, I believed that you are on the same level as Thorn now. There is a huge gap between Thorn and Darklight mech pilots. Darklight mech pilots could almost certainly kill their enemies, and you had managed to escape from one, and that really surprised me, especially those last few moves. Hehe, however, I've also come up with a wonderful idea!" Shang's final words brought another chill to Ye Chong.

Even so, Ye Chong knew that he was safe just now. When he was flying back towards Coxcomb, Shang had been at the opened hatch, holding onto Recursion and aiming towards him. If he was really in trouble, Shang would make his move.

"Darklight mech pilots, in actual fact, Ye, are not very strong in Black Cove. There are many more stronger combatants above them. The MPA and the Sanctuary do not lack capable mech pilots, but I'm not so sure about the Freedom Alliance." Shang suddenly paused for a moment before continuing, "Besides, Ye, these mech pilots are not good enough to be in the top rankings. That is another level, fit for the best of mech pilots." Shang spoke almost melancholically.

Ye Chong listened closely, entranced by Shang's every word.

"Ye, you still have a long way to go, if you want to truly be the master of your destiny." Shang spoke those words with the demeanor of the wise, a strange sensation for Ye Chong. "Ye, you chose close range combat, and this is quite the opposite from me and Mu. Mu and I are good at shooting, that's why we didn't extend much guidance for you while you train. Fortunately, you learn quickly, and can reach your current level by learning and thinking on your own, and gaining experience in actual combat. I must say, Ye, you're a genius in this! Now, since you have chosen to specialize in close range combat, then you must only rely on yourself to improve further." Shang spoke seriously.

"Mu's summaries are always so dull," Shang said with some disdain, and Ye Chong could not help being a little frustrated with him.

"Hehe, Ye, I've come up with a wonderful idea." Shang sounded almost wicked, and Ye Chong felt a sense of foreboding.

"Ye, since we don't have a systematic way of learning, we could only rely on accumulating experience through actual combat, and slowly analyzing them, yes?" Shang lectured patiently.

Ye Chong nodded. Shang was right. Most of what he learned was from actual combat, and real battles were actually very helpful to improve one's strength.

"Hehe, Ye, compared to average opponents, isn't it more helpful if your opponent is strong?" Shang continued.

Ye Chong nodded. Shang was right in this too. Fighting against a strong opponent would not only allow him to realize where he was lacking, but also provide a model for him to learn from. Most of Ye Chong's techniques were "borrowed" in this way.

Shang grew excited. "Heh, that's right! Ye, think about it, isn't that a strong opponent on that powership?"

Ye Chong started.

"Ye, look, what a good training partner. The man's a Darklight mech pilot, definitely a superior training partner! Besides, we don't have to spend a single zuan, and he's brought his own energy cells. Hehe, Ye, where in the universe can you find such a good deal?! We have to make use of this opportunity, it'd be a such a pity to waste it. Hehe, isn't his intention to follow us? Then let's make the most of him!" Shang was now talking like an unscrupulous trader.

Ye Chong was hooked by Shang's idea. If he really had such a training partner, then he would be able to learn so much more. In any case, he would definitely be able to improve himself. After that close call earlier, Ye Chong wanted more than ever to make himself stronger. The vulnerable feeling of losing control of his destiny when facing Luo Wei was horrible.

Ye Chong pondered on the idea. "Shang, your idea has a little problem. That guy can be a good assassin, but as a training partner, he won't be so obedient." While he really wanted to fight against such a strong opponent, he recalled how powerful that man had been, and how close he was to death. Ye Chong may want to improve himself, but he was not so stubborn as to disregard his own safety. He cannot imagine how the other party would agree to become a training partner.

Shang laughed and said, "Ye, don't worry, whenever you go to fight him, I'll be at the hatch. If you're in danger I'll shoot the guy, force him back, then he'll not be able to harm you. Hehe, I'll threaten him but keep him unharmed. After all, he's your training partner!"

Ye Chong recalled then that Shang was also capable himself, even if he never seemed to act like one.

"Sounds like a good plan." Ye Chong pondered longer, and thought of something else. "What if he refuses to come out?"

Shang replied with a sinister tone, "If he won't come out at all, then you'll go to his powership. If he chases us, we'll speed up with warp jumps, hehe. Even if he can calculate where we would emerge, I can still make two continuous short distance warp jumps, then they'll not be able to find us, plus we'll lose our tail. However, if someone on that powership can calculate our first position, then he must have thought of this as well. If your training partner still refuses to come out, then you can start dismantling his powership, hehe, see if he'll yield."

Ye Chong stared at Shang for a long moment before gasping, "Shang, you're ruthless!" Shang's idea was really cunning. Ye Chong turned it over and over in his mind, and could not think of a reason to reject it.

Shang laughed sinisterly, "Hehehe …"

Poor Luo Wei. He had now unwillingly become a superior training partner.

Ye Chong worked hard studying Shang's holographic recording. He analysed the opponent's every move, even replicating Luo Wei's two crescent blades in the metal laboratory. He repeated Luo Wei's moves again and again, hoping to find a way to counter them.

What struck Ye Chong the most was Luo Wei's first attack. The silver glimmer that he saw did not look particularly threatening, but the power that came with it was surprising. It was then that Han Jia suddenly lost control, leading to his narrow escape from death. For Ye Chong, holographic recordings of combat between powerful opponents were very valuable for study. He was at least vaguely familiar with Black Cove's close range battle style from his short time at Black Cove, so battle recordings of Black Cove mech pilots were particularly valuable to him.

The MPA excelled in long range combat, hence they were not so useful to Ye Chong. The Sanctuary's strange ways were even harder to understand, it being the most mysterious of the Three Forces. As for the Freedom Alliance, until now, Ye Chong had never seen any of them in actual combat, so he could make no reasonable conclusions about them.

Nonetheless, they must have their own merits, or the Three Forces would not even deign to notice them. It seemed that until now, the Three Forces were careful against this new arrival, the Freedom Alliance. It was thus apparent that they were a force to be reckoned with.

Ye Chong frowned in thought as he watched the holographic recording. He had only fought briefly against the Darklight mech pilot, but this short recording had taken him much effort and time to absorb and understand. In the end, however, he finally found the key.

He did not know what Black Cove called this move, so Ye Chong called it the Z-shaped draw-strike. This move traced the outline of a reverse Z, and could triple the attack power compared to a normal strike. No wonder he lost control. When Ye Chong could finally execute the move himself, he was already deeply impressed of its creator. He would never have imagined such a clever way of drawing energy into the muscles before striking.

He even tried executing the move with his bare hands. With his muscles and the Lan family's energy control techniques, Ye Chong's punch was packed with deadly power.

Even so, there were still many things in the short holographic recording that he could not understand. However, he can take it slowly. After all, didn't he have a superior training partner now? The thought of Shang's weird expression could not help but make him smile.

Han Jia and Shang stood side by side at the hatch's opening. Shang waved with Recursion in his hand, and affected a valiant tone, "Ye, go, you have nothing to worry!"

Ye Chong was now regulating his breathing. He must forget that Shang was protecting him, so that he could enter the right combat mode quickly.

Calm with a little excitement - that was what Ye Chong thought of as the perfect mental state to be in for combat. As he regulated his thoughts, he could feel something warm flowing within him, the mental state born of a mixture of calmness and excitement.

Han Jia's flew swiftly towards the powership that stuck like a barnacle to Coxcomb at the back.

As Shang expected, the Darklight mech came to welcome Han Jia.

Ye Chong charged without fear. He chose to be proactive this time. Luo Wei was surprised, but his eyes were calm as he countered steadily.

Ye Chong's first attack was with the Z-shaped draw-strike.

Luo Wei was even more surprised now, but he did not receive the blow head on. Instead, he twisted oddly like a black snake and shook off Ye Chong's Z-shaped draw-strike attack. Then, he drew his two crescent blades and aimed for Ye Chong.

Ye Chong was confounded. The difference in their strengths was too great, and he was quickly out of his depth.

Luo Wei's eyes gleamed. He must not let go of this guy this time. He could almost be certain now that this full-skeleton mech was the one that fought against Thorn.

Just when he was about to deliver the fatal blow, Luo Wei suddenly had a strong feeling of being locked on. Black Cove and the MPA shared a deep hostility between them, and among the Three Forces, the battles between Black Cove and the MPA were the most frequent. This made Black Cove mech pilots more sensitive than usual to the feeling of being locked on. He abruptly recalled that the starship still had a White Hunter. Luo Wei felt cold sweat beginning to form on his forehead. He abandoned his plan and turned back, executing all sorts of evasive moves.

This was the best he could manage, and perhaps his best was not enough.

Curiously, however, the blue beam that he was wary of never appeared. As he flew back into his powership, he saw an opened hatch on the opponent's starship, where a semi-concealed blue-white mech was holding Recursion, looking coldly at him.

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Chapter 232: Transformation

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Luo Wei was vexed. He realized that something was wrong. That full-skeleton mech had come almost every day for a fight, and every time he was about to strike a killer blow, that strong deep of danger would arise within him. Once, a recursion beam had left a bruise on his mech's cheek. He understood well that the recursion beam was a warning.

That semi-concealed mech on this strange warship was using Recursion, but Luo Wei was certain that it was not a White Hunter. White Hunters never made him feel so threatened before, and his combat instincts had never failed him.

It had been a few days, and he never noticed any other mech besides these two. Could they be the only passengers of this ship?

Luo Wei was confounded. The warship was strange, no matter how he looked at it.

To think that an electromagnetic cannon made of black gold alloy was found on this starship. He could not figure out how they whipped up such a powerful weapon. The close range full-skeleton mech and the always semi-concealed powerful mech armed with Recursion was not a duo that could be found in the MPA.

He also had reason to believe that this odd duo was not from any of the Three Forces. As far as he knew, black gold would never be lost to outsiders. Different black gold alloy could have different proportions of black gold and hence, different quality. Their properties would not be alike. The EM cannon used by the other party, however, had a high proportion of black gold, implying that they had the material in significant quantities.

Black Coves true nature was not as outsiders would imagine. Black Cove mech pilots were usually solitary, and spent most of their time training. Competition was strong within the organization, an important factor that led to powerful Black Cove mech pilots. Unless it was an order from the higher-ups, the pilots preferred not to concern themselves with other matters. This was why Luo Wei did not know the reason Black Cove was pursuing Ye Chong.

However, the odd warship before him was also very intriguing. If this was not the Cyana Galaxy, the Sanctuary's territory, he would have called for backup. Now, however, he was stuck in this awkward situation.

The mech pilot of the full-skeleton mech seemed to be very energetic, more than he could imagine. He came for battle every day like he never needed to rest. At first, Luo Wei handled the battles easily, but the routine became harder and harder. That was when he realized that he was dealing with a genius, a battle genius.

Ye Chong had no time to think on his situation. In truth, he was spending his days in quite a fulfilling way. Aside from his daily battles, he spent the rest of his time studying the battle recordings. He must find the reason the opponent was better than him, and try to improve himself. Ye Chong had great talent in combat, and in just the span of a few months, he was able to undergo a transformation. Whenever he was busy, Shang would stay out of his way, holding Recursion in his lap while he sat by the hatch, like he was deep in thought.

Ye Chong was beginning to understand Luo Wei's battle patterns. To him, it was not the most powerful moves that made a person strong, but solid fundamentals and excellent split decision making during battle.

Under this high pressure "training", Ye Chong's talents were fully unleashed. From his initial near-death experience under the opponent's crescent blades to his current form of being able to fend for himself, Ye Chong could hardly believe how he had transformed.

Ye Chong's pressure on Luo Wei grew stronger. Luo Wei never expected to see anyone improve so much in such a short time. Luo Wei had always been proud of his own innate talent, but even he had spent five years to rise from Thorn mech pilot to the status of Darklight mech pilot.

This mech pilot had used only a few months to improve himself from a Thorn mech pilot level to a Darklight mech pilot level. As the person who enabled this, Luo Wei did not feel any sense of accomplishment, but only despair and humiliation. This, however, had also made him more eager to win.

Every person has something they are most proud of, that they would never allow to be trampled upon.

Luo Wei ignored the mech pilot with Recursion, and fought with his all whenever the full-skeleton mech came for a fight. After the battles, he would return to his ship to study the battle recordings. He could not stand watching how his opponent improved day by day while he stagnated at his current level.

Luo Wei's full force attacks were immediately felt by Ye Chong. However, after the initial quick defeats, he soon adjusted and improved even faster.

This situation continued on for a few more days. Luo Wei was pleased to find that he himself was also improving, at a speed that he would have been impressed with before. However, now that there was this other crazy fellow with him, he could not exactly be happy with his achievements.

Luo Wei had already forgotten his original mission. After he realized the benefits, Luo Wei put more effort into the battles. An opportunity like this was rare. In an organization like Black Cove, where strength decided one's status, he understood the value of strength. Besides, the higher-ups did not exactly give up clear orders. He had flexibility in his mission this time, and so he indulged in the joy of battling to improve his skills.

Ye Chong's varied and flexible combat style greatly expanded his mind, and he worked even more earnestly to train with his "partner". The strong mech pilot never appeared again, implying that the blue beam of death never crossed the space between them again. Luo Wei believed that they had no plans of killing him in the immediate future. The other party may choose to end his life at any time, but Luo Wei did not want to miss this golden opportunity to improve himself. To him, the risk was worth it.

Luo Wei guessed right. Shang was having fun with Little Rock every day. Shang was surprised that the other party could compute his warp jump locations accurately, so he sent a message to him. This earned an unexpected reply from the other party.

Little Rock was a computation genius, and Shang was similarly capable at some level. The two of them were a good fit together. Little Rock was still young, and obviously the academic type. Once it involved his expertise, he could forget about everything else.

Thus, a strange situation arose. The enemies began to have a dialogue with each other.

Ye Chong could not fight against Luo Wei for even longer. Their battles would often take half a day to come to an end. After so many days of battle, they were now very familiar with each other's moves, and so the battles stretched on longer and longer. However, this served to emphasise Ye Chong's advantage in stamina. The fact was vexing to Luo Wei. How could a Black Cove mech pilot be physically weaker than another outsider? No Black Cove mech pilot would believe his story. In Black Cove, all mech pilots were physically strong, and Darklight mech pilots were the cream of the crop.

Luo Wei sometimes suspected that the fellow he was fighting with was actually a mutant.

The battle between Shang and Little Rock, however, was a game of wit and intelligence. Shang did it out of boredom, while Little Rock was too childish to let go of the fun.

In the end, both sides came to an unstated agreement of momentary truce, engaging in friendly battles of the physical and the mind.

Ye Chong enjoyed his life right now. To him, the most exciting thing was that he could clearly feel himself improving, which was what was happening most of the time now. Ye Chong did not imitate Luo Wei's moves exactly, but introduced changes as he saw fit, making his newly learned moves different from Luo Wei's. This was especially confounding to Luo Wei for a time. He found it hard to cope with Ye Chong's multitude of odd moves, even though they looked very familiar to him.

Ye Chong now understood Mu and Shang's intentions. If he had not put in so much effort into building a solid foundation in combat, Ye Chong would never be able to improve so much, so fast. Everything he learned before was now the stepping stone of his current transformation.

Ye Chong could feel his mind opening up to a whole new world of possibilities. He also came to realize how he should continue forward. Without a systematic learning history, he could only continue to train through actual combat and study his battle experiences to improve himself, until the day came that he could introduce his own system of combat.

That day was still far in the future, but Ye Chong was hopeful. This was the first time he could see his future so clearly. He believed that, with this clear goal in mind, he could pursue it with all he had and achieve it one day.

Han Jia continued to make acute angle direction changes like a mesmerizing wave, hoping to confuse the viewer's sight. Nonetheless, Luo Wei was immune to them. After so many days of battle, he now knew that the mech was skilled at changing directions. Suddenly, Han Jia twisted and vanished from his sight. This was when visuals failed, since it could not have as wide a range as holographic scanning systems.

Luo Wei did not panic. The Darklight mech raised the crescent blade in its right hand to the back in an elusive swing. Ding! The silver crescent was met with Han Jia's dagger. Luo Wei used the interruption to incline Darklight to its side, raising the other crescent blade and tracing another long and deadly arc in space.

Han Jia's shield came up to meet the silver crescent, while its dagger silently went for the other party's knees. Just when the silver crescent was about to hit Han Jia's shield, the expected clash did not happen, and the shield missed the blade. At the same time, a silver gleam halted Ye Chong's dagger. Ding! That was a solid clash.

They both understood that the battle had just begun.

"Ye, come back now," Shang suddenly spoke urgently to Ye Chong. Ye Chong was startled, but did not get into a fluster. Han Jia's daggers drew a few arcs in the air, keeping the Darklight mech at a distance. Han Jia suddenly retreated, turning back and fleeing from battle, leaving a stupefied Luo Wei behind. Why was the full-skeleton mech escaping today?

Soon, he received the same message from Little Rock, asking him to return to the ship.

"Shang, what is it?" Ye Chong asked. Shang would not have him return without reason.

"There, see for yourself." Shang pointed at the holographic screen.

On the holographic screen was a small starship, pursued by dozens of mechs. They were all the Sanctuary's Dawn mechs. However, the starship was as fast as the Dawn mechs themselves.

"40 Dawn mechs," Shang announced lazily.

That made four standard combat squads, since a standard Sanctuary combat squad had 10 members.

Who could possibly demand the attention of four combat squads?

The starship had obviously noticed Coxcomb. After all, Coxcomb was so massive it was impossible to miss it. The starship immediately adjusted it course and headed towards them.

"Ass," Shang said, "They probably want us to fight against the Dawn mechs while they make their escape." Ye Chong agreed, since he would probably had done the same.

The 40 mechs seemed to notice the massive starship too, but they adjusted their course towards Coxcomb as well without hesitation.

The battle force of four combat squads was not insignificant. That was why the mech pilots acted so boldly.

As they approached, everyone was struck with a cold chill. Coxcomb may look dilapidated, but that was precisely why its electromagnetic cannons could not be concealed. The dark cannon barrels were a chilling sight.

No one expected to meet a warship here.

Shang was decidedly uninterested in the 40 Darn mechs, but more intrigued by their target.

Shang immediately messaged the starship to enter Coxcomb, under the threat of the powerfully gleaming electromagnetic cannons directed straight at the ship.

For a mech like Shang to be so well versed in the art of threatening, Ye Chong sometimes wondered if Shang was actually not just a PSI.

The starship hesitated, but as Shang released two warning cannon shots, it obediently docked inside Coxcomb. The starship was small, but Shang opened a larger hatch for it just for laughs.

The turn of events was unexpected.

The warship looked weird, being so dilapidated, as though it had survived a great war.

The 40 mechs assessed the situation, aware of the power of the enemy. They noticed the warship, but knew that a warship could only be as powerful as the mechs that supported it. It was not sure that the fact a warship could overcome the agility of mechs. Besides, it was obvious that this warship had been through a lot and took heavy damage.

To them, the warship was only a show.

What caught their attention was the tiny powership beside it. As a member of the Three Forces, they knew as much about Black Cove as the MPA. They knew the real purpose of the apparently tiny powership, and the strength of its crew.

Their first response was to send out a signal to call for backup. They could only be comforted by the fact that this was Cyana Galaxy, the Sanctuary's territory. Now, they could only hope that backup arrived sooner than later.

It was almost certainly a fact that the passenger inside the powership was not their peer, the Cosmic Flare. They had no idea who was in the ship, but they knew that they were no match for that person, even with their advantage in numbers.

The balance between quality and quantity is a peculiar thing. Sometimes, quantity can make up for the lack quality, and sometimes, it cannot.

Luo Wei was feeling calm. In truth, every Darklight mech pilot would know how to sabotage the enemy, and how to escape when faced with overwhelming enemy numbers. Besides, they were only 40 Dawn mechs. It would not be a problem for him, even before his vast improvement recently. The thought filled him with pride and enthusiasm.

Luo Wei quickly calmed his mind. This was the Sanctuary's territory. If he could not quickly vanquish the enemy and escape, then he must be ready to face even stronger mech pilots from the other party. Escape would not come so easily then.

With that thought in mind, Luo Wei made his decision. He slipped into Darklight and exited the powership.

As Darklight came out of the powership, all 40 mech pilots from the Sanctuary froze.

Heavens, it was a Darklight mech!

This intel was also quickly dispatched to headquarters. To their horror, the higher-ups ordered them to delay the Darklight mech pilot for as long as possible, as the higher-ups had already sent out the experts to aid them. Everyone knew how dangerous it was for a powerful enemy like this to wreak havoc in their territory.

With the orders from the higher-ups, everyone came to a calm acceptance of their assured deaths. This made them calmer, especially for the more weathered mech pilots.

Luo Wei seemed to gauge their intention, his gentle eyes now shining with a cold, deadly glare. He could not spare any more attention to that weird warship behind him now.

WIth two crescent blades in hand, Darklight flew towards the mechs like an elegant gentleman.

Ye Chong and Shang were completely absorbed in the starship in Coxcomb. For safety reasons, Ye Chong had slipped into Han Jia. Shang and Ye Chong went to the docking area specially made to host small starships, and approached the small starship which silently landed in there.

"Come out." Ye Chong's cold voice came out through Han Jia, resonating in the docking space.

After some seconds of silence, the starship's hatch slid open, and a person came out.

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Chapter 233: Zhu Ling

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

She had messy short hair, with her thin and apathetic look, but her eyes were alive. Ye Chong almost feel the sharpness of her stare. Her apathetic look could not mask the strong wariness in her eyes.

"Huh?" Ye Chong could not help gasp. "Isn't that, whatshername, Shang, what was she called again?"

"Zhu Ling, Lunatic Guan's sister," Shang tsk-tsked. "What a beauty, cough, last time it was Mu outside, hehe, but now that I can take a good look at her with mine own eyes, my my, she's a beauty. Hmm, a little young, but she's well developed, I think I see her boobs coming on well …" Shang began commenting.

Ye Chong ignored Shang's words automatically. He noticed that Zhu Ling was unarmed, and so he slipped out of Han Jia.

"You're Little Ye?" The girl gasped as she saw Ye Chong's face.

"You know me?" Ye Chong was surprised. The last time they met, he was in Guardian, and she should not have seen him before.

"My sister showed me a holographic image of you," Zhu Ling explained plainly, but the light in her eyes dimmed.

Ye Chong asked, "Where's your sister?" No one else had exited the starship.

"Dead," Zhu Ling's indifferent voice was slightly tinged with sadness. The lonely droplet shaped Red Liquor hung on her neck.

Lunatic Guan was dead? Ye Chong was reminded of a beautiful and lonely figure, leaning against the door, looking outside in a daze, often with a glass of liquor in hand.

In the end, she had found her sister. Ye Chong found himself losing interest in the details of her story. He gathered himself and asked Zhu Ling, "What do you plan to do now?"

"My sister told me that if I found you, I should stay by your side. Of course, if you think it's a bother, I'll leave," Zhu Ling spoke as though she was talking about something unrelated to herself.

Ye Chong gave it a thought and replied, "Alright, you can stay." Lunatic Guan was his teacher after all, even though she never officially announced it. That was how Ye Chong had always thought of her. This was the main reason he decided to welcome Zhu Ling.

Zhu Ling still looked expressionless, her face devoid of any signs of joy.

"What are you good at?" Ye Chong asked.

"Combat," was Zhu Ling's concise reply.

"Where's your mech?" Ye Chong asked.

"Didn't you crush it already?" Zhu Ling spoke a little sarcastically. Ye Chong remembered then that he really did crush her mech back then.

"What kind of mech do you use?" Ye Chong may not have much to offer, but he still owned quite a variety of mech models at the moment.

"Anything's fine," Zhu Ling said, "Best if it's the Sanctuary's."

Ye Chong had only a few Dawn mechs and Mu Fei's Overwing. Ye Chong took out the dimension keystones for the Dawn mech and Overwing, and said, "These are all the Sanctuary's mechs, pick one."

"Overwing?" Zhu Ling stared widely with a look of disbelief.

"You know Overwing?" Ye Chong found out what the mech was called after noticing its name carved on the mech. Ye Chong had killed the mech's previous owner in an ambush. Ye Chong had studied Overwing for a long time, but there were many things about it that he could not understand. Its structure was markedly different from what Ye Chong knew about regular mechs, with its very own system architecture. The fact that mentalists were different from regular people made Ye Chong realize that using the mech would probably require special techniques.

"No one in the Sanctuary would not recognize Overwing." Zhu Ling did not intend to laugh at Ye Chong for his apparent idiocy, but she was still a little confused. "Why would you have Overwing? Mu Fei is well known as the master of Overwing. Did you kill him?" Zhu Ling asked, clearly surprised and suspicious.

"Yes, I killed him," Ye Chong replied plainly.

"You killed Mu Fei?" Zhu Ling studied Ye Chong's seemingly vulnerable physique. Ye Chong was not familiar with the Sanctuary, and so did not know how powerful Mu Fei actually was. He had zero understanding of the idea of being a trump card, and what a person bestowed with this title was truly capable of.

"Ambush," Ye Chong explained flatly, not embarrassed in the slightest.

Zhu Ling seemed to come to a realization. To her, that seemed to be the only way to kill a trump card of the Sanctuary.

"We should leave here," Zhu Ling said, "That Darklight mech pilot must have alerted the Sanctuary. As far as I know, Feng Su and her Wings of Nirvana are nearby, she is most likely sent here as backup."

"Feng Su and her Wings of Nirvana?" Ye Chong asked, confused. Shang was already howling in excitement, "Ah, Ye, is it Feng Su? Wah, such a gorgeous voice, and that beautiful face. Hehe, Ye, I have her exact measurements right here, would you care to …"

Zhu Ling could not hear Shang as she replied, "Feng Su is also one of the Sanctuary's trump cards, Wings of Nirvana is her mech. Darklight mech pilots may be strong, but they will not stand a chance against the Sanctuary's trump cards."

If a Darklight mech pilot was no match against the Sanctuary's trump card, and he himself was barely even against a Darklight mech pilot, then wouldn't he be dead for sure if he face the trump card himself?

"Feng Su is that strong?" Ye Chong remembered exchanging a few blows with Feng Su in the forest where Mr Yin lived. While her moves were difficult to anticipate, he did not feel that she was as strong as Zhu Ling described. Ye Chong believed that with his current ability, he should be able to kill her.

"Of course," Zhu Ling gave Ye Chong an odd look, clearly not understanding his thoughts. She probed, "You fought with her before?"

Ye Chong nodded.

Zhu Ling found herself unable to read this student of her sister. He had fought with Feng Su before, and even killed Mu Fei in an ambush, taking Overwing for himself. This man had survived all of that.

Of course, she did not know that when Ye Chong met Mu Fei, the latter did not even have the chance of deploying his mech, and could only fight in person. Feng Su was not skilled in hand-to-hand combat, and that was why Ye Chong could escape unscathed. If Feng Su had used Wings of Nirvana, Ye Chong would have died without a proper body to show for it.

However, Ye Chong knew that Zhu Ling would not exaggerate like this. She was from the Sanctuary, and would know more about them than he. Always place importance on an expert's opinion - that was what Ye Chong had learned from his days at Aurora.

Shang asked abruptly, "Where did you get your starship?"

Zhu Ling had noticed the damaged mech with one arm from the beginning. However, the pilot had said nothing, not even coming out of the mech, and Ye Chong did not seem keen to introduce, so she did not ask about it.

However, now that Shang suddenly spoke up, Zhu Ling did not betray any change in expression. Her years of training and planning had molded her into a person that would not lose her cool easily. Seeing Ye Chong looking at her, Zhu Ling looked back and replied, "That's stolen from a space pirate crew."

Shang's question reminded Ye Chong that her starship could fly as fast as the Dawn mechs.

Shang asked courteously, "Can you bring us to them? I believe that they must have something of interest to us."

"Alright," Zhu Ling's reply was simple.

"Ye, this girl is very much like you," Shang seemed to say that with a sigh.

"Is that right?" Ye Chong replied noncommittally.

Zhu Ling quickly pointed out the location where she stole the starship, and Shang proceeded to calculate the warp jump time.

Ye Chong asked, "Shang, are we doing this for her starship's engine?" Ye Chong recalled Shang's words and came to this conclusion.

Shang corrected him, "Wrong, Ye, we must find the creator of that starship's engine. That engine is special." It was not everyday that something could earn the remark "special" from Shang.

"Ye, I finally understand something." The way Shang talked now made Ye Chong uncomfortable.

"What?"

"No matter how powerful we are at computations, we would never be able to create as humans do. These days, as I interact often with Little Rock, I was surprised to find that humans are so much better than we are in the art of creation. And we, we can only rely on a massive database of information and run detailed computations to arrive at our deductions. We ourselves are not capable of creation." Shang was now speaking a lot like Mu.

"You're right." Ye Chong accepted Shang's conclusion easily.

"Therefore, the only ones who can surpass humans are the humans themselves," Shang pointed out cooly, and added, "Or we will be left behind."

Ye Chong nodded. Shang's words were irrefutable.

"Ye, you may be talented, but your strength is finite, and you cannot be good in everything. We need more talent, coupled with my and Mu's vast database. With these, I believe we can become stronger. That is how we will be able to control our own destinies." Ye Chong could not deny Shang's words.

"Shang, do you mean that we need more power?" Ye Chong frowned despite himself. He was not particularly ambitious, and he disliked doing things like that.

"No, we need a team. We need members who are strong in different fields, so that we can protect ourselves," Shang explained.

Ye Chong asked, "Are we not capable of protecting ourselves now?"

Shang spoke cynically, "Seems to me that we're the ones who run away every time."

Ye Chong grew silent.

"Ye, the world is changing. The war has just begun. Ye, do you think you'll be able to live in peace anywhere in this world?" Shang asked.

"No," Ye Chong came to this conclusion after a moment's thought.

"That's right. The balance in Csebesini cannot be maintained for much longer, the peak of the war is close at hand. Ye, didn't you notice that there are more pirates than before these days? And they're more ruthless than ever. For now, the powers of the Four Forces are precariously balanced, but this will soon cease to be. This is only the calm before the storm. Ye, we must prepare ourselves, or we will be threatened in every moment of our lives."

Ye Chong could say nothing to dispute Shang.

Shang continued, "Ye, if we have a warship so powerful that no one can avert their gaze against, then with you and me, hmm, and that girl, and a few more geniuses onboard, err, then we can make this our headquarters, hehe, and no one will be able to do anything to us."

Ye Chong nodded with determination. He never liked to hand his life over to another person. Best if he could be in control of his own life.

"Hmm, if we can do that, then we can invite Bing Bing over, Xiu is also not bad. Oh, right, and Sun Xuelin, Grandpa Qian, Mrs Rui, err, and that Rui Su is also quite good looking, I'll think about it. Ha, if we can get Feng Su here too, then it'll be perfect, hahaha … I'll live my days with all the pretty ladies around me, what a wonderful life …" Shang began to spiral down into his fantasies.

Ye Chong rolled his eyes. Of course the mech would return to his usual behaviour.

"Hehe, Ye, I've informed them that the Sanctuary's backup are coming. With them here, the Sanctuary will be focused on them," Shang said with an evil laugh.

As expected, Ye Chong saw that the Darklight mech was working faster now to finish off his enemies. It was clear that he was also afraid of the Sanctuary's trump card. The beautiful and fatal crescent blades flickered in space like a swords dance.

Coxcomb had already made a warp jump towards its destination. None of the mechs paid any attention to Coxcomb. The Dawn mechs' orders were to stall the Darklight mech. To them, it was already straining to stall the Darklight mech, and they could not spare the effort to deal with the starship. Luo Wei was also ignoring Coxcomb. The way he saw it, he was already lucky enough that the ship did not destroy him first.

Zhu Ling was already making headway with Overwing. She did not understand Overwing any more than Ye Chong, and could only figure out the mech herself. Fortunately, it was still a Sanctuary's mech, and the similarities were there. As a member of the elite squad, she had already surpassed the abilities of any regular elite squad member long ago, but had kept her abilities hidden from view all this time.

She could have finished off all the Dawn mechs that were pursuing her if she had gotten herself a serviceable mech. To a mech pilot, a mech could make a difference between life and death.

Today, however, she received the surprise gift of Overwing. This was a mech that gained fame because of Mu Fei. To think that she could pilot a trump card's mech! After a brief moment of exhilaration, Zhu Ling quickly threw herself completely into familiarizing herself with the mech. Experience taught her that her strength would ultimately decide her fate, no matter the situation.

Zhu Ling's insane training surprised Ye Chong. However, he quickly got over it. He would have done the same. In any case, Ye Chong hoped that his comrades would at least be able to defend themselves.

On the other hand, Shang was trying his best to locate the space pirates that Zhu Ling had met.

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Chapter 234: Lian Yue

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Hei De was vexed. Ever since he took over the pirate crew not long ago, all sorts of problems sprang out. Two days ago, they lost a ship to a thief, and he was only informed much later by an underling. This frustrated him to no end, since that starship was the one modified by that crazy guy, to be used for his own safety. Now they had lost a ship for no apparent reason, and it was so d*mn frustrating.

They were pirates, and they were robbed. What a f*cking joke. He dared not spread the word, however. If the pirates knew about this, he would become the butt of their jokes.

Just when he was about to search for his beloved evacuation ship, he saw that exact ship flying past him and his crew. However, Hai De did not move even a muscle.

That was because his stolen starship was keenly pursued by dozens of mechs flying behind it. Heavens, weren't those the Sanctuary's mechs? If any of Cyana Galaxy's space pirates do not recognise the Sanctuary, then they might as well kill themselves first. The Sanctuary was now the true ruler of Cyana Galaxy.

Could he or she be the Sanctuary's wanted fugitive? Hai De thought with dismay. He could only pray that the Sanctuary did not blame him for the starship. He was at least aware of how his crew would fare against them.

The matter had troubled him for days, and he was having trouble sleeping, his eyes wide open at night. The boss was not in a good mood, and the underlings stayed out of trouble for the most part. These days, the pirates behaved, careful not to provoke his ire.

Fortunately, the Sanctuary made no move against them. Hence, Hai De became more cheerful, and approved another "hunting trip". Bored from his past few days of hiding, Hai De decided to lead the hunt himself.

It seemed that their back luck was over, as their hunt was particularly fruitful. The loot from a mid sized trading fleet would not only replenish their supplies, but also provide them with more mechs to strengthen their crew.

"As expected, surviving a great disaster would lead to good fortune …" Hai De mused to himself.

However, before he was done musing, he came to realize how when one was at the peak of happiness, disaster would follow.

A dilapidated warship suddenly appeared before the space pirates. Heavens, a warship! Aside from the Sanctuary, no one had heard of anyone else owning a warship. Even the largest pirate crews only have their own starships. Even if they have a warship, they would not dare to show it to the world. These days, the arrogant ones died faster.

In fact, Hai De did not think much of this warship. It moved so slowly likely a turtle, and looked heavily damaged. However, a warship was still a warship. The cannon barrels were a constant reminder to Hai De that the other party was not to be messed with.

"Was it the Sanctuary? Black Cove? The MPA? The Freedom Alliance?" All the major powers came to mind, but the warship did not look like any of them. Even so, he treaded very carefully.

Of course they would give way, this was a warship! Who would dare to mess with someone who dared to fly a warship in the Sanctuary's territory? Hai De yelled hastily at his underlings - a few of the pirate ships were still anchored in the way.

The warship did not leave, but was heading straight towards them.

Hai De instantly felt that something was wrong. Was it trying to rob them? Robbing their own?

Just then, one of his underlings came to report panickedly, "Boss, bad news … Bad news, they want to speak with you personally."

Just then, one of the pirate ships was blasted into smithereens with a thick blue beam. All the pirates froze in place, afraid to attract attention to themselves and become the next target.

The fire from the explosion illuminated Hai De's pallor.

Ye Chong could not be bothered with the details. He left it all to Shang. This kind of intimidation act was always Shang's favourite. Ye Chong believed that no one would lie when facing Shang.

The way Ye Chong saw it, instead of wasting time here, he should be spending time on his training. Zhu Ling was completely absorbed in her training, not concerning herself with other affairs. Compared to Ye Chong, she seemed to have a more systematic training regime. Besides, she was getting used to maneuvering Overwing, and this made her even more devoted to her training. As an elite squad member, she was definitely capable, and Overwing allowed her to showcase her strengths even more.

Ye Chong would sometimes watch her train. The mech's wings that would never move under his piloting now came to life in Zhu Ling's hands, performing some inexplicable feats. However, it was Overwing's powerful movements that truly surprised Ye Chong. It moved so fast that it could even surpass Han Jia. The thought of obtaining such a powerful mech but unable to use it himself was frustrating.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong quickly got over it. The wiser way forward would be to make full use of all available resources at his disposal.

He wondered what Shang was doing to that poor leader of the pirates now. He seemed to be howling and shouting even more pitifully than that Mr Yin from last time.

What Ye Chong should do now was to organize his findings from his days training with the Darklight pilot, and train himself long enough that those new insights become part of himself.

Ye Chong's training was finally interrupted. He knew it must be a result of Shang's triumph.

When Shang brought a young man into Coxcomb, Ye Chong asked plainly, "Is this the guy?"

Shang gave a laugh and said, "Should be him. I didn't expect him to be such a handsome man, hehehe. Ye, worry not, I've verified his identity …"

Bam! Shang let go, and the young man fell straight down, slamming straight into solid ground. He quickly stood up, and the first thing he did after was to check if his clothing was dirtied. He adjusted his clothing, looking unperturbed.

The guy's physique was alright, seeing that he was unharmed from his long fall to the ground.

If anything, he looked like an eyesore. If not for his flat chest, Ye Chong would have thought he was actually of the opposite sex. His delicate eyes gleamed oddly, or seductively, using Shang's vocabulary. His skin was smooth and like a lady's, and his features were well balanced. If he wore a lady's garments, no one would suspect him to be a man.

He ran his fingers along his golden hair. Fortunately, Ye Chong was steady enough to not openly gape at him.

The man finally realized Ye Chong's presence, and gasped, "Ah, handsome, I didn't think there'd be someone handsome here, I like it." He stepped swiftly to Ye Chong, his delicate eyes studying Ye Chong carefully, his slender fingers making to give Ye Chong a warm welcome.

Just when his fingers barely touched Ye Chong, Ye Chong's made a move with his right hand, and the man was back at Shang's feet like a sandbag.

Ye Chong asked Shang, "You're sure this is the one?"

Shang gave another laugh. "He's called Lian Yue, an interesting person."

Ye Chong was indifferent. "Do what you have to." He then casually made his way to the alchemist laboratory.

Just then, Lian Yue looked up from the floor, his face full of disbelief and he spoke, "You, you would really hit me?"

Just then, Zhu Ling exited the mech training room. She was drenched in sweat, and her tight-fitting combat uniform accentuated her body's curves. Sweat rolled down along her cheeks to her sharp chin, and dripped down to the floor. Her face was blushing from her vigorous exercise, making her even more attractive.

Zhu Ling took a glance at Lian Yue on the ground. Of course, it was a short glance.

"Wah, a beauty! Is this heaven? There's a handsome man and a beautiful lady. Hey beauty, wait …" Lian Yue moved so deftly like he was not hurt at all, quickly making his way before Zhu Ling, his face wearing an expression of flattery as he held onto Zhu Ling's hands. "My beauty …"

Zhu Ling glared coldly at the guy who appeared out of nowhere. She planted a heavy right kick into his abdomen, sending him back to Shang's feet even faster than the last time.

Zhu Ling did not look back at him as she returned to her room.

A long moment passed before Lian Yue finally lifted his face, looking very sorrowful and full of disbelief. "You, you would hit me too?"

To Lian Yue, this was a most memorable occasion. All this while, he had always been fawned upon due to his looks, and no one had ever really hit him. Today, however, he was hit, twice. Truly, this was a heavy blow to both his body and soul.

Nonetheless, when Lian Yue saw the metals laboratory and modification room, his eyes shone as brightly as when Ye Chong and Zhu Ling when they first saw them. The look on his face when he caressed those world class instruments was enough to make Ye Chong cringe and leave the laboratory.

Shang spent his days with Lian Yue in deep discussions. One could hear the occasional lewd laughter resonating about the Coxcomb, as the starship finally lived up to its name.

However, this became a problem for Hai De and his pirate crew. The warship had essentially anchored itself at their base, and seemed reluctant to leave. The pirates were all anxious. While they had the advantage in numbers, Hai De knew that his underlings were just a motley crew, all scared to death. Besides, who knew what was inside the warship? It could be a full army of mechs. Best if they be cautious.

As for his meeting with the one-armed mech, it was hellish. He would prefer to never relive it ever again.

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Chapter 235: Reorganization I

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lian Yue was a genius in mechanics - such was Shang's conclusion. Rarely did Shang offer such high praise for any one person, so Lian Yue must be the real thing. Ye Chong no longer concerned himself with Coxcomb's engines. Better to let the expert onboard handle it rather than someone amateur like him.

Ye Chong was trying to figure out how to improve Han Jia. While Han Jia performed well, it was only on par with Darklight. Shang mentioned that there were many other more powerful mechs. More importantly, Ye Chong noticed the disparity between Overwing and Han Jia.

This made Ye Chong feel a great sense of urgency and danger.

Ye Chong believed that full-skeleton mechs could do so much more, and there should be space for improvement. For starters, the mech should have better automotive power. Without a good engine, Ye Chong would be limited in the mech. Han Jia was now using the engine from Yu Di. In fact, the engine had performed well, but compared to Overwing, it was still not good enough.

Speed was crucial, often deciding the fate of the mech pilot.

However, this was not an easy problem to solve. Ye Chong was not familiar with engines. It was an entirely different field for him.

In other aspects, like the mech's structure, reaction speed and protective armor, Ye Chong could offer more improvements. In reality, Black Cove's mechs were the simplest amongst the Three Forces. However, this did not mean that they were less powerful, since that was a matter of the mech's battle capacity.

Ye Chong's experience fighting with the Darklight mech told him that experts were more well versed with their weapons. The Darklight mech had blocked almost all of his own attacks with that pair of crescent blades. Ye Chong's strategy was decidedly different - he would often block attacks with different parts of his mech. This was related to the training he grew up with. On the trash planet, before he found Mu and Shang, all his combat strategies were self taught from experience. They continued to heavily influence him today. Luo Wei, on the other hand, received training from Black Cove's system since young, so he was already used to that combat strategy.

To Ye Chong, after a certain level of proficiency, mech pilots would be differentiated by their physical prowess and combat insights. Advanced mechs moved faster, and required advanced maneuvering skills. The stress on the human body would also be heavier. For example, Han Jia's high speed abrupt direction adjustments could squash the heart of an ordinary mech pilot.

Hand speed was also another factor. When a mech changed course, the mech pilot must be able to enter the commands fast enough. In reality, this was an important barrier that prevented mech pilots from advancing further.

Of course, these were all skills. Having them did not mean that the mech pilot was excellent. Making the right calls based on the circumstances, predicting the opponent's next step, quick strategizing for battle and so on were all inner qualities of a good mech pilot.

Ye Chong possessed all these qualities. His body was strong, and he had never really reached his physical limit. At least, Ye Chong never had any bad experience from piloting mechs. As for Ye Chong's hand speed, it was mostly the mechs he used that limited his piloting. Ye Chong would only move his hands at his fastest when in danger, and often in those cases, he would find his mech unable to keep up with him.

In terms of skills, Ye Chong possessed enough of them to warrant him for a more advanced mech.

However, Ye Chong could not for the moment think of any other mech better than Han Jia that was suitable for him, other than the ones from Black Cove.

Would Black Cove give one to him? That would be laughable. Black Cove would not negotiate, but Ye Chong himself was also not someone keen in using words to solve problems. If there was any way to procure a Black Cove advanced level mech, Ye Chong would definitely strive to achieve it. However, Black Cove was too strong for him.

For some reason, he had offended all of the Three Forces. It seemed that only the Freedom Alliance was the only power that he was not involved with.

Ye Chong shook his head and dismissed all these impractical ideas. Better for him to make his own modifications on Han Jia. It was a pity that the mech was limited by its skeleton materials. Skeletons were in some sense a one-time material - once it was shaped, there was not much room for adjustments.

If Ye Chong was not satisfied with Han Jia, he would have to redesign and rebuild the mech. He still had many skeletons materials, and most of them of high quality, with excellent properties. After such a long time, he had many new ideas. However, without a good engine, all of them would be worthless.

In the end, Ye Chong reluctantly set aside his project.

These days, Lian Yue seemed to have received some kind of shock. Every day, he would stare sharply at the holographic screen with reddened eyes, mostly in a trance. Ye Chong took a glance, and found the holographic screen to be filled with all sorts of engine schematics.

Lian Yue would occasionally laugh madly, his handsome features distorted into a pitiful state. Even his gleaming, delicate eyes were now often in a daze. Saliva would drip from the edge of his mouth without him noticing.

The man was obviously not normal. Aside from Shang occasionally entering the room, Ye Chong and Zhu Ling kept away from him. Fortunately, whether it was the mech or the humans onboard Coxcomb, they were all psychologically strong, else the intermittent eerie laughters coming from metals laboratory would have scared the living daylights out of them.

Ye Chong considered his next steps.

First, he must fix Coxcomb's engines, or they would not be able to go anywhere. Now, he must wait for Shang to lay out the general reparation and modification plans.

Ye Chong believed that Lian Yue was definitely capable, but he also knew that what Shang had in his database was very little compared to the vast amount of information available in the Five Galaxies. No matter how good Lian Yue was, he might not be able to do much in the meantime.

As for how Shang managed to convince him to cooperate, Ye Chong believed it would not be an issue. No one understood better than him of Shang's prowess in the realm of psychology. In this field, Shang was definitely far superior than Ye Chong. Ye Chong did not know what Shang had offered to Lian Yue, but he would not waste time to find out more.

Once Coxcomb was repaired, Ye Chong planned to head straight to planet Ming Hong, and find out the truth about Papa.

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Chapter 236: Reorganization II

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Shang finally came up with the warship's modification and restoration plans.

However, when Ye Chong examined the huge schematics, even his strong mental fortitude gave way. This was not modification and restoration, this was rebuilding the warship from ground up. The last time Ye Chong installed the electromagnetic cannons and the laser guns, he was thoroughly exhausted. This new project would take Ye Chong at least a few years to complete.

Shang seemed to be able to read Ye Chong's mind, and laughed as he explained, "Ye, no need for you to do the work yourself this time, hehe, we have all the labour we need."

Starships were necessary for the space pirates for transport. Almost all pirate bases would have at least a few shipyards, with plenty of capable technicians. Besides, with Lian Yue hanging around the place for so long, he knew exactly who could be "convinced" to help.

Hai De's base was well equipped with relevant facilities. Since they were only a small pirate crew, they could not afford to continuously buy advanced mechs from smugglers. Besides, the loots they acquired varied - sometimes it would be something like ores, worthless to their buyers, but a waste to be thrown away. Hai De chose to spend some money on metal forging equipment to make some of their own tools. Nevertheless, they lacked the necessary talent, and rarely needed the metal goods anyway, so the ore were mostly kept in their stowage area, accumulating over time. Fortunately, their base was spacious enough, and Hai De need not worry about it.

Now, though, all these equipment were taken by Shang; even the ores were all removed. Hai De was extremely cautious of the one-armed mech. Moreover, the ores were worthless to him, being kept for long at their base and taking up space. Hence, he agreed to hand them over without hesitation.

Shang also had a list of names given by Lian Yue to him, all of them pirates who would serve as good labour. The list was a problem to Hai De, since many of the people mentioned were bad tempered. He feared that some of them would kick up a fuss and raise havoc.

Just then, two mechs flew out of the dilapidated warship.

Hai De flicked his gaze towards them. This was his first time seeing mechs other than the one-armed mech from the warship. At the sight of the two mechs, Hai De's eyes widened in horror. His face contorted, blood draining from his cheeks, and his legs trembled.

When the one-armed mech was finally done talking, Hai De quickly took the list with him and vanished out of sight.

Noticing Hai De's shock, Shang touched where his one arm ended abruptly and after a long moment, finally spoke bitterly, "I may be one-armed, but I'm not really one-armed!" Once, there was a movie called One-armed Soldier that was so captivating it became an instant classic, marking the beginning of an era of movies featuring gay characters. As a movie fan, Shang did his research in these subjects.

Hai De's mind was now completely occupied by a single thought - the clown mech! It was the clown mech! That funny looking colourful clown-like mech was a symbol of death and despair. The one the space pirates called Clown of Darkness that walked between the shadows, was the mech that killed the pirate leader and escaped unscathed despite all the security measures - a super assassin.

The clown mech was a hot topic amongst the space pirates.

"Heavens, why am I so unlucky, to meet this legendary dangerous character?" Hai De groaned to himself.

He also finally knew what the warship was called - Coxcomb. To think that Coxcomb was actually a warship. Hai De suddenly remembered that since the Clown of Darkness and Coxcomb were here, then that Blue Ray of Death super sniper mech pilot should also be here. He did not recall seeing the mech though. On the other hand, the mech with the strange wings beside the clown mech did not match the legend - wasn't the Blue Ray of Death armed with a huge sniper energy rifle?

"Wait a moment, energy gun?" Hai De recalled that the one-armed mech had a huge energy gun slung on its back. He shuddered and nearly tripped himself.

Blue Ray of Death … Could that guy be the Blue Ray of Death? Hai De felt like he was living a dream - not a good one, but the mother of nightmares. Hai De swallowed heavily. These two characters were not known to be merciful. He should tread with care, or else … He felt around his throat with his fingers, as though he could feel a chill cutting across.

Ye Chong and Zhu Ling exited Coxcomb because the modification works were too extensive, and it was getting very uncomfortable inside. Lian Yue still holed up in the metals laboratory, enduring the loud noise around him as he worked non-stop everyday for some unknown project. Ye Chong grew a little respectful of his determination, even though he was not interested in whatever project he was up to.

For safety reasons, Ye Chong and Zhu Ling exited the warship in their mechs. Han Jia was a touchy subject, so Ye Chong decided to use Puppet in the end. He was not aware that the word of the clown mech and the Blue Ray of Death had already spread out far and wide even though it was only recent news.

As Puppet appeared, Ye Chong noticed curiously that the people busily working around suddenly stopped and looked at him with terrified eyes. Clangclangclang! Heavy objects fell to the ground, and the men quickly picked up what they had dropped and scattered away, like they were running for their lives.

Ye Chong looked at their reactions curiously, unable to understand.

In just one day, the clown mech and the Blue Ray of Death became the dominating topic of conversation for Hai De's pirate crew. No one dared to step within 100 meters of Ye Chong. As for Shang, his constant movement around the base made all the pirates extra nervous. The days went by with nerve crushing intensity. Shang quickly noticed the fact - nasty as he was, he realised this was actually quite fun. Hence, for the time being, the pirates spent the followings days in absolute fear.

This had the unexpected result of greater labour efficiency. The pirates worked so hard that Ye Chong thought they looked like they were building their own warship.

Shang had divided the warship modification works into many tiny compartments, such that the pirates would ever only know what they did themselves, and not what their comrades were doing.

Ye Chong and Zhu Ling had already made themselves familiar with the pirate base. The base was well concealed from unwanted attention. The main entrance was hidden within a large valley. If the pirates had not led the way, Ye Chong believed that he might not be able to find it.

"This base is not bad," the thought came unbidden to Ye Chong's mind. If he installed some firepower here, then it would be a very good defensive position. A well-concealed and well-defended base was hard to find. Besides, while the space pirate here were not so strong, they obviously had a long history in this place. This was apparent from the construction of the base. The base was a large hole dug out of the ground. While it was not as magnificent as Nine Gates of Daylight, it was still quite impressive. It took a lot of work to build this place. Ye Chong estimated it to be the combination of effort from at least a few generations of space pirates.

Ye Chong was always on the move - from galaxy to galaxy, or from planet to planet. At some level, Ye Chong, Mu and Shang were just like the space pirates.

"If only I have my own base," Ye Chong suddenly had this thought.

Ye Chong may not realise it, but this thought was a step forward in his mindset. He was finally starting to be more proactive in facing this chaotic world.

Unfortunately, Ye Chong did not pursue that thought. It was only a sudden thought, one that he quickly abandoned. "Best to leave this kind of vexing problems to Shang," thought Ye Chong. He scanned the area, assuring himself that there was no danger nearby.

Zhu Ling flew in Overwing, following the clown mech from behind. Its light green wings made it look like a green bird. The mech danced easily in the sky, moving in the hands of an expert pilot as it trailed behind the clown mech, looking all too comfortable with itself.

Ye Chong could only feel jealous of her. The clown mech was worlds away from Overwing's standards. Seeing Zhu Ling flying Overwing made him feel threatened. Ye Chong dared not imagine how Overwing would be like with Mu Fei in the pilot cabin. He felt lucky that Mu Fei was not in Overwing when he tried to kill him.

It was obvious then that no matter how capable a mech pilot was, he or she would still be vulnerable without a mech. The best way to kill a mech pilot was to do it before he or she slipped into a mech.

Finished with their survey of the area, Ye Chong and Zhu Ling prepared to return. Just then, Ye Chong suddenly heard Shang speaking, "Ye, come back quick, hehe …" Shang sounded overjoyed.

Ye Chong did not hesitate. The clown mech made a graceful turn in the sky and headed straight for the pirate base, with Overwing close behind.

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Chapter 237: Reorganization III

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

It's an engine - that was what Ye Chong identified at first glance. The circuit partially visible over the silvery main body, the seamless arc, the condensed structure, those were the charmer in Ye Chong's eyes. He was not that well-versed in engine expertise, but it would not stop him from loving this particular engine. He was convinced, utterly convinced, of the liveliness running deep down in the thumping mechanical arteries on the entity, although it might be a mere glance he took.

"Shang, where is this from exactly?" Ye Chong was feeling peculiar. Anyone would have felt peculiar if one hefty thing suddenly popped out of nowhere, especially when this was not an engine for mechs, rather it was for spaceships.

"Oh my Ye…" Lian Yue seductively approached, "This? You like this? It's my masterpiece, you like it? If you like it, I could g-i-v-e it to you. Only for you, as I am… well… hmm… for you." His eyes were lustrous with an alluring glow.

"I prefer guns," flatly he replied, which shattered the loving expression on the handsome face of Lian Yue. "Oh?!" He was stunned at first, then his eyes burst with a blazing passion as they looked upon Ye Chong endearingly. If one were to give a close observation at the features of Lian Yue, one could see some unknown liquid tainting the corner of his slightly opened lips. Ye Chong was finding this anomaly somehow bizarre to him. It almost felt as if a carnivore was eyeing its prey.

The bizarreness sent chills to his spine, goosebumps lumped over his skin. This guy has some issues…

Disregarding the peculiarity, he shifted his attention back onto the engine.

Shang then introduced, "Ye, this is Lian Yue's reworked design on the engine in accordance with the blueprint found in my databank. Even though the engine is 10% less efficient than the MPA main warship unit, the required materials to build this engine has become much more less demanding, which could be replaced by most common materials. Theoretically it is also more agile in making turns. Well, this is the first product we have developed, fresh from the oven, we still need a test drive for this."

Ye Chong's large eyes swung over Lian Yue at the side. I never expected this strange person to be so skillful! I have seen the print Mu Shang provided before, those lines and circles were as if heavenly sent for me, I could not even identify where the exhaust was located.

Ye Chong had the talent and skill in technical field, so he could naturally understand what the strange guy had achieved. The strange guy should have a great foundation in his skills and a daring personality to attempt the new, for he was able to gain senses over all the design plans while giving them the necessary tweaks to renew the design. The creativity was something really uncommonly precious to Ye Chong. It only took an engine and 3 minutes for Lian Yue to ascend as one of the greatest persons in Ye Chong's mind. Ye Chong was one believer of strength speaking louder than words after all and the strength Lian Yue demonstrated was more than enough to win over his respect.

And Lian Yue stood there proudly.

Zhu Ling's expression remained unchanged, although the emotion was brewing inside her. She had not been exposed to the components of a warship, but she could tell so much just from seeing that mech with missing arm alone. She speculated and wondered, "A technique of MPA? Where in the 5 galaxies they got this? And this person with questionable gender was actually a super expert? I mean the person would have gotten the Master title in the Sanctuary with such craftsmanship.

Provided that her sister had not shown Ye Chong's face clearly on the projection Zhu Ling once was given, Zhu Ling would have suspected that Ye Chong was in fact an apprentice under her sister's teaching. Those two were the mysterious. The pilot of that handicapped mech had never left the cabin. This is too weird, I could not imagine a pilot living inside a mech for almost eternity. He *is* living inside, I had never seen him coming out for food or hydration…

And the potency that Ye Chong demonstrated had gone beyond her sister's description.

Her head was rumbling yet her mouth was sealed tight, as experience advised her to stay silent at all cost. That unnecessary curiosity of hers would only make her death worse. Being as alert as Ye Chong, she remained silent.

Lian Yue was passionate towards both Ye Chong and Zhu Ling, but strangely he acted as if he saw a black hole when it came to Shang. He would suddenly become docile and kind, which Ye Chong really wondered what Shang had done to the strange kind. But whenever he inquired Shang regarding this, "Hehehehehehehe!" Shang would unleash a kind of incomprehensible grin.

The engine was called "Gandhanra". The name was given by its creator, Lian Yue. The concept of this naming was apparently based on a myth from the ancients where there was one goddess whose appearance was beautiful and angelic, captivating and loving. Whenever she glided past the sky, petals of flowers would shower the ground as the gorgeous symphony for the angels would be rung. Shang, the poet of the team, was extremely satisfied towards the given name. So the engine retained its exotic name.

The largest shipyard at the pirates' base was filled with busy engineering units flying around, where sometimes the bright light of laser welding could be discerned. The site was livelier than ever, which people at first glance would have assumed it being some major construction happening under the sponsorship of a large company. The workers were working hard, sweating blood, dripping life, without a rant, without a word. The blood and sweat were to keep their life. These works were nothing compared to their own life.

The progression was rapider than Ye Chong had expected, as he was a little unsettled when he was informed that the ship had been completed.

Right before the newborn gigantic craft the group of pirates stood tidily in a row. They were viewing, they were observing, but they did not seem to be at ease. Their expression told worries and agitation as if they were facing the ultimate enemy on their final cruise.

Shang made a quick inspection on the entire warship. The construction had been completed. To ensure airtight confidentiality he actually broke the whole construction into different parts and let the pirates to take each of them. So what the pirates were fearing was Shang's inspection on their work performance, where there could be consequences for the underperformed works.

The clown mech was leading the entire team, where its members feared to even lift their eyes upon. Their stares were illustrating the clown mech as if the reaper with spears rather than a machine.

Men would only be left with frailness after they lost their bravery.

Regarding that winged mech right next to the clown, it was something that no one would dare to look down upon, despite its ridiculous appearance had been an ongoing subject brought up the pirates during their mundane cruise. Well it was evident for the winged mech was being able to stand right next to the notorious clown killer. No one would believe that it was claimed to be harmless.

"Mhm." Shang pondered, "Pass." The syllable was the most gorgeous tone the pirates believed they had ever heard in their life, where a loud sigh of relief could be heard in the shipyard.

Ye Chong was really curious of the Coxcomb's appearance after the makeover since he was absent throughout the construction. Shang was the director of everything.

"Go!"

Under Shang's call, every pirate got onto the engineering mechs and started moving again, as they rose like a swarm of bees, flying towards the supporting stand.

"Pull!"

And the support was dismantled into million pieces which the pirates dropped to the side right after.

The Coxcomb had been reborn, with a brand new appearance.

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Chapter 238: Reorganization IV

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The long body of the ship exerted a kind of personality of the MPA. Unlike his former hefty body, the Coxcomb had undergone a successful diet, where his length had been reduced to 3 kilometers, with a flatter, condensed appearance and two supportive engines at both sides to achieve agility.

The dark crimson body was not the result of normal painting, rather it was finished with a particular kind of alloys which mostly were made out of the uncommon mineralites Ye Chong had collected over the course. The bright red alloy was tainted by the color of black gold in the end, thus the darkened hue. Shang said such type of alloy was quite above the standard for it would have superior performance in defending against energy-based firing. Under most circumstances, such alloy would only be found in the shield of advanced mech models. But Ye Chong had an inventory full of the necessary mineralites, so Shang just dumped the choices into the pot and coated the entire body of the ship with it.

It would probably take 3 electromagnetic firings on the same exact spot from the MPA in order to have a chance to penetrate the armor.

As expected from a warship, its body contained a much more seamless design which reduced the air friction providing an amazing performance even when traveling within the atmosphere. Moreover, they had a masterpiece from a master craftsman, namely Gandhanra the exclusive engine. Ye Chong started to get excited over the ship's capability on the move. No aperture could be identified on the body. The entire weaponry, including the lids, had been concealed. And Shang reported that they had actually further strengthened the offense of the ship, where the number of electromagnetic cannons had been increased to 88 along with additional installments of the laser firing units. Shang believed he could slaughter any reckless pilot who dared to approach the Coxcomb in his or her mech with the help of his 500 laser firing units.

The pirates seemed to be truly exhilarated as they had been mesmerized by the appearance of the Coxcomb at first sight. It had the most low-profiled design yet it was so eye-catching at the same time. They could not lift their eyes away. Weaponry-wise they had yet witnessed the power of the guns and cannons in action, but judging by the strong respect coming from Ye Chong and Shang towards the weaponry, they were fully convinced that the ship would be an ultimate killing machine. They were feeling proud since obviously it was the outcome of their handwork over the past few days - although none of them owned the ship.

The letters of the "COXCOMB" were not visible within the dark red body, yet they would be glaring at you the moment you switched on the lights, as they stood pompously at the front of the ship, along with the oversized illustration of a beauty Shang painted at the side. "Kekekekekekeke!" Ye Chong was finding the beauty in her suggestive posture to be rather familiar. After a moment of searching the similar image in his head, the beauty turned out to be Feng Su from the Sanctuary.

The posture was a nose-bleeding choice while her expression was enticing as her body curved into something that men could feel their arteries hardened upon sight.

"Kekekeke!" Chuckled the artificial indulgence in distorted mechanical voice, "Ye, this is made based on actual data alright? I still could remember the time when I fully scanned and analyzed every spot of her data, trying to re-sculpture this beauty in the posture I had always wanted. Kek! Not too shabby isn't it? Her curves."

Zhu Ling was going to roll her eyes but she was so lazy that she just gave a disdainful glance. I never knew this pilot on the mech could be this disgusting, shameless and low! Although I must admit the illustration was pretty good, I had seen Feng Su in person before, well not in such look. And the illustration had actually captured Feng Su's charm and depicted it vividly in her moves. Thought Zhu Ling.

Ye Chong, as usual, showed ignorance towards Shang's rhetorical question as he got onto the clown mech and boarded the Coxcomb first.

The interior of the Coxcomb seemed to have receive a major reorganization. The inner structure had been extremely strengthened, which had narrowed the accommodating space. Well it was still more than enough to take everyone on board.

In the gaze of the pirates, the Coxcomb finally departed! Well of course, the Coxcomb had been fully supplied with necessary resources before departure. Hai De could feel his insides dying as he bade a silent farewell at the resources of the entire base when he was moving boxes and boxes of them onboard. What an ironic torture.

At least the trouble was going to leave! Hope rose like the morning sun high in the heart of every pirate, "Before we go, according to our terms and conditions…" Shang was beeping something horrible, a gag order precisely speaking, it was so threatening that the pirates almost had an urge to sew their mouths for the rest of their life, they really feared of the forbidden secrets coming out from the mouth carelessly.

Ye Chong, once he got back to his own spaceship, started to get busy again. He first headed into the alchemy lab, as the supply of Beauty's Secretion was nearly depleted since the last war, so he got to undergo another round of mass-production.

Lian Yue, on the other hand, took a sweet dive into the metallurgy lab and modification room. "The two rooms are mine, thank you very much," he stated sassily. Zhu Ling retained her stern training routine. Lian Yue would be a super workaholic when he lost his head over his invention but he spent his free time with Zhu Ling whenever he got some, as he would act like a kitten growling around her. Zhu Ling was annoyed to the other end of the galaxy of course, as she imagined Lian Yue in countless pieces if he ever did that on her territory.

Lian Yue absolutely had as much interest on Ye Chong, well… till the one time a dagger slid through his fragile grimace and tightly struck on the door. Lian Yue had been missing in front of Ye Chong ever since.

The Coxcomb carried on sailing smoothly, with the destination being the Rainbow planet in the Fal galaxy. Gandhanra was as superior as expected, as Shang carried out all sorts of acceleration test and turning test, which the outcome impressed Ye Chong. The Coxcomb had forsaken his former sluggish self and had become an acrobat in the space. Ye Chong could not imagine the foe locking on the Coxcomb on a rampage.

"Ye. Come over. Fast," interrupted Shang, when Ye Chong was producing Beauty's Secretion.

The few words of Shang had summoned everyone to the captain's room.

The largest projectors in the room were projecting two Dawn mechs chasing a powership. Ye Chong recognized the powership. It was the ship piloted by that Darklight Pilot. Few days back he had been fighting with the pilot continuously, so its imagery had been imprinted in his head.

"Wait, 2 Dawns?" Ye Chong was skeptical of what he saw, as the sight was ridiculous with two substandard Dawn mechs chasing a powership containing one of the most skillful pilots who - contrary to his expectation - was running gracelessly.

"Nothing strange," Zhu Ling seemed to have gotten Ye Chong's implication. "That Pilot of Darklight should have been defeated by Feng Su."

The overhaul the Coxcomb had undergone was so major that the two Dawn mechs and powership could not recognize as they accelerated, assuming him to be a random passerby.

"Given that the Pilot of Darklight was not piloting the ship, it should be Little Rock inside," stated Shang. "Ye, why don't we save him? He's quite good you know."

"Good?"

"Right. He's a genius in calculation."

"Genius?" Lian Yue who was standing by Zhu Ling snorted, "Such convenience, we would soon see geniuses sold in different packs at the local convenience store soon. Like when did genius become so common that a random person zooming in the space could be one? I ca-"

"Shhh…"

Something on the projection caught Ye Chong's attention.

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Chapter 239: It's All the Beauty's Fault!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Powership was not that inferior in race with mechs but one could clearly see piloting-wise the two Dawn mechs were much better than the powership, as they were traveling in recurring curves, trying to pounce upon Little Rock.

Yet they failed.

Little Rock's performance was a shocker.

The 2 Dawn mechs, being unable to finish their prey, tried their deadly best to pin the nuisance down as they attempted several times of neutralizing the ship by smashing from both sides.

The reason Ye Chong got astounded by Little Rock's performance was because he was able to escape from each grip despite his second-class piloting skills.

Whenever the two Dawn mechs were approaching him from both sides, the powership would act like a little fish on detection as it squeezed out of the tiny aperture it found.

The happening also astonished Zhu Ling, since it was considered pretty rare to see a non-combat member being able to remain unharmed throughout the chase by 2 Dawn mechs.

Zzzzzt! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzt!

The projection was then flooded by countless ever-changing data streams. Ye Chong's face flexed, as judging by that one moment of what he saw, the escape routes of powership could have been completely blocked, remaining one single chance to run away by flight. Shang then illustrated the escape route with a red line on the map, "Theoretically, this is the one and only escape path. Anywhere else the ship would bump into the mechs again," stated Shang and anyone could have imagined the fate of the unarmed ship by then.

Ye Chong understood the fact that it was Shang who added the flooding data streams on the screen, while that escape route was the result of his intensive calculation in the briefest time possible.

Well only Ye Chong understood the intention of the projection, since he was highly sensitive towards data streams after deploying the Guardian for some time. That was why he got it in one glance, while his rapport with Shang affirmed his deduction.

Almost immediately after Shang had drawn the red line, Little Rock started traveling exactly on the line, as he made out from another grip from the two mechs.

This would be a perfect runaway. Ye Chong tried imagining himself in Little Rock's shoes, he believed that he could not be as perfect as Little Rock if he were to pilot that ship. It was not something he aced in, impeccable accuracy in immediate calculation.

Little Rock was a genius in fact, for he was able to perform such complicated calculation in such short amount of time. He's intelligent!

The 2 Dawn mechs did not seem to be in a hurry however, as the prey they were hunting turned out to be quite entertaining to their taste. They tried forming another grip afterwards, gently and leisurely.

Little Rock - who seemed to have noticed the Coxcomb at one point - made a sharp turn and flew towards the Coxcomb.

The turn he made attracted the attention of both Dawn mechs over that strange spaceship as its color turned out to be rather refreshing, which they, of course, were unafraid of. Those who probably went jumping around in their cabin would be the real coxcombs upon seeing the illustration on the ship, while the pilots of the Dawn mechs were some bums from some countryside called the Sanctuary. Seeing the silhouette of a person painted on the ship, they were unimpressed.

The two Sanctuary pilots were showing sympathy towards this pretty good-looking spaceship, since it would be eviscerated soon once the powership got there. Well, future plan aside, it would be more important to seize that powership before it went to somewhere else. They seriously never expected the powership to be this peculiar in movements. The pilots once assumed the powership was piloted averagely but somehow it always managed to squeeze out from their grip.

What a weird boat.

The 2 Dawn mechs passed the dark crimson spaceship by. The heavenly appearance of the absolute beauty struck upon them.

It was a relief that the dark red spaceship had yet taken an action. They were already prepared for their next grip, while handing their final salutation towards the pilot of the powership. They could feel the wisdom in Feng Su's order by then. She was great for she was visionary. Such non-combat member, once seized, would be way stronger than a bunch of mechs if they used him at the right place.

Wait, Feng Su? Hmm… Something seemed to have flashed in their mind. Master Feng Su… the long naked legs sprang in their heads, M-Master… the lustrous wink appeared, Feng… the cherry lips pursed sweet, Su…

… Ah! Both of them screamed almost together as they realized what had been going on!

That damned!! Wrath seared their rationality as they ditched the speeding ship and headed towards the dark red spaceship in sharp curves.

As they were approaching, the spaceship got larger in their sight, the illustration of the beauty grew clearer.

I knew it! It's Master! It's our great lord, the wisest Feng Su, the most gorgeous ace pilot in the Sanctuary, the goddess in the heart of all male pilots and ours! This is preposterous! This is blasphemy! How dare this ship tainting our goddess! Both the pilots were agitated.

If they ever had the chance to pull this junk back to the Sanctuary, they swore, upon the innocence of their ace pilot, that no matter how sturdy this junk was, it would be obliterated in the flames of all male pilots!

But they did not have the time for that, as their rages were overflowing soon. They would not want this eyesore to exist, not even a second more!

"Hmm…" Seeing the two Dawn mechs abandoning the powership and heading towards the Coxcomb instead, Ye Chong was feeling weird, "What's going on?"

"Maybe they were finding the Coxcomb to be too handsome…" muttered Shang. Well those were merely Dawn mechs, something whether Ye Chong or Zhu Ling could have taken down easily.

"Yes, very true," nodded Lian Yue intensively as Shang was so precise at his description. "Yes, yes, yes," Zhu Ling, beside the nodding vanity, stepped to the front and stood up straight in pride.

"Hmph." Zhu Ling glanced at Ye Chong, "You could never imagine in the Sanctuary how popular the Winged Nirvana herself, Feng Su is. Spraying that kind of imagery of hers on the ship is obviously a direct call for war to the entire Sanctuary."

"Ohhhh…" Shang giggled, "I never knew *our* Feng Feng was this loved by the people…" The artificial indulgence was laughing shyly. "Hahahaha…"

Ye Chong gave an eye-on at Shang, "Ha… Ha… Ha." And Shang laughed awkwardly like a child being stared over his spilled milk.

…

The dark crimson spaceship was gigantic but well to those mentalist pilots from the Sanctuary, it was nothing but an empty vase, which could be completely smashed in no time as they believed, their confidence rose high.

Wham!

Something was felt slammed upon their mechs, as their eyes fell on the screen confusingly. There was nothing?

Are we imagining things?

Although they were given a shocker for a moment, they did not stop, as they flew towards the spaceship in full speed.

As they approached the ship they could finally take a clear look over the illustration of Feng Su. The exotic expression on her face was heart-skipping for them. The anger was pumping their heart hard. How could this happen to our great lord! Our Winged Nirvana, Feng Su was not to be tarnished by something like this! How dare the owner hurled such insult on her! Unforgivable!!

And they formed a plan quickly, striving to give the owner of the ship a life lesson.

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Chapter 240: Planet Rainbow

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

On Planet Rainbow, a dark red spaceship was laying alongside the docking zone. The spaceship, of its 3km length, was not attracting that much of attention among the other spaceships.

Although galaxies other than Csebesini were in hot water, the 4 forces had been performing all sorts of reorganization to restore the security of their territories. The pirates plundering everything had been knocked into oblivion, and soon intergalactic trades started once again. As affected by this incident, the figures of both incoming and outgoing spaceships at Rainbow had been increasing these days.

The docking zone, isolated by war, had regained its activity.

The dark red spaceship laid at one quiet corner.

Well, if anyone noticed the ship they would have been wondering why no one had left the spaceship for so long it had been parked. But who would really notice a normal spaceship at the pier anyway?

The spaceship was the Coxcomb, by the way.

Well, the process starting from the time the crew spotted two Dawn mechs chasing the powership, then suicidally heading towards the Coxcomb and being shot down by Ye Chong was merely a matter of few minutes. The Beauty's Secretion had always been the best assassin in the dark, with its corrosiveness melting the armors of the mechs and soon penetrating them, leakage happened and they were history before they knew it.

Under Shang's kindest "invitation" Little Rock boarded the Coxcomb. Of course, within the few brief exchanges of Shang and him, Shang's cunningly experienced talking style had gotten all the information he needed from Little Rock.

First off, Luo Wei had died, which matched what Zhu Ling had stated. And the potency of Feng Su had once again be reinforced in Ye Chong's mind. And Little Rock managed to escape when Luo Wei gave a final struggle before his death.

Little Rock was a non-combat members in the Black Coves, so never once he was dipped in the silver liquid. Judging by Little Rock's description, one could determine that the silver liquid was something rather precious among the Black Covers. It was known scientifically as the "Muscular Texturizing Solution" and only the selected combat squad members would be dipped in the liquid.

Non-combat members, being the entities in a fighting organization, were of a rather low position, so Little Rock had always been the bullies' target back then. But ever since Commander Qiu Lie recognized his capabilities, he was shifted to the strategy department, which since then his life improved. Nevertheless, he still received discriminative behaviors from the pilots of the frontline from time to time, even under a commander's protection, which led to his shrinking personality. And Luo Wei was one of the only few pilots who treated the non-combat members with friendliness.

Shang, the psychological expert had millions of ways to win over Little Rock's heart in his mind. And they had formed a decent relationship from the beginning, which soon Little Rock grew fonder on Shang.

Towards Shang's superior performance, Ye Chong did not say a word, even though he was showing high respect towards his capabilities. He knew he was not an expert on this, even though he was confident to assume he would not worse than Shang when it came to talking appropriately.

Luckily I'm not the leader of the team, I'm seriously weak at this man… Laughed Ye Chong at himself in his mind.

Lian Yue, who only had his eyes on the pretties and the handsomes, was directly scorning at that mere average boy who in fact was certainly underwhelming compared to Lian Yue himself. His body was short, he was underweight, one could say he was a puny coal coming out of nowhere, although his lustrous eyes were rather intelligibly expressive.

"Meh," snorted the vain man.

The happening after that was astonishing to him however, as the artificial indulgence and the little boy started playing tremendously complicated games, with tremendously overwhelming amount of calculations in a tremendously ingenious manner. Lian Yue had already been stunned to the alternate dimension as the game progressed, upon realizing the fact that he could not understand anything on the screen.

"I have to admit… he is a genius! No doubt!" he muttered as he failed miserably associating this easily overlooked puny underweight boy with the word "genius" gloriously shining in his mind. Aren't geniuses supposed to be worldly gorgeous like me? But the happening before him was irrefutable.

Zhu Ling on the other hand remained silent upon Little Rock's arrival, as she was well-aware of her position in the ship. She was rather surprised of this little boy with a similar age as hers, however. With his professional calculations, the boy would have been greatly regarded by the authority in the Sanctuary. She could not imagine how the Black Covers could ill-treat such a contributing genius.

After a wave of shock and amazement, the peace on the Coxcomb was restored, since everyone had their own tasks to do. Ye Chong had to perform his alchemy experiments, while having the responsibility to produce Beauty's Secretion; Zhu Ling needed those time to carry out her meditation trainings; Lian Yue had always been running between the metallurgy lab and Zhu Ling, while Little Rock had been competing Shang on some extremely complicated mathematics.

Little Rock, as easily overlooked as the pebbles at the roadside, had somehow made tremendous development under Shang's training, as his standard skyrocketed to a whole new level, which he got to switch opponent by then. Yes he was facing Mu instead. And Mu, with his godlike ability, was actually feeling a little troubled in defeating Little Rock, since unlike the artificial intelligence, Little Rock had the creativity to make some interesting detours.

Creativity of humanity would be something that a PSI like Mu could never imitate.

Everyday Mu Shang would report Ye Chong the progress of everybody else, although Ye Chong did not see the need in doing so, Mu Shang showed persistence in it.

And that oversized illustration of the gorgeous, under Ye Chong's continuous demand, Shang eventually took it down, with a heavy heart. Well, Ye Chong would not want to be suddenly bombarded by someone just because of the unnecessary attention the illustration had attracted.

"Done," Mu's voice remained flat as usual. The word signified Ye Chong's ability to get off the ship and wander at free will.

The Coxcomb - as it was parked at the docking zone - had completed scouting and mapping the landscape of the entire area. It would be rather essential to have planned a few sets of escape paths beforehand, especially when they were in the land of the Freedom Alliance, which none of them had any idea how the organization operated. Be cautious, that was what they thought.

The unknown always holds the greatest danger.

The monitoring was successful under the assistance of Little Rock, who had drastically improved the calculation the processor of the Coxcomb had to perform. This was also the very first collaboration between Little Rock and Mu. The outcome, as far as one concerned, could be considered satisfactory for Mu was able to hack into the Virtual Connection Central Point at the docking zone effortlessly with the help of Little Rock.

Virtual Connection Central Point, as the name had defined itself, was a point where all the transmitting signals conglomerated in an area, which connected all users in the area at once.

After hacking into the central point, Mu and Little Rock began sneaking upon the other central points nearby. It did not take long before they successfully hacked into up to 13 points of virtual connection access.

Very quickly after, both of them started to create a new connection between these 13 central points, in a way the points would be connected in a completed crossing structure, which expanded the useable virtual resources as well as promoted its stability. The idea was brought up by Little Rock and was formed into a final plan after Mu's verification.

They reinforced the crossing structure afterwards. Mu first extracted all sorts of trapping program from the databank and laid them across the structure afterwards. Ye Chong was seeing Mu being so intense the first time near the control panel.

Well, Ye Chong could understand the artificial intelligence's intensive expression, he was being alert over someone, someone who was able to wipe a celeb completely from the Virtual World 20 years ago. How horribly strong that person could be! And Ye Chong had Mu's words, where he stated that he was not confident to carry out the same task as flawless as the person now. And that was the person's standard twenty years ago. Assuming the person was still living, within 20 years, the person could have become a sky-walking hacker, no, sky-flipping hacker perhaps.

One could not imagine the potency such person could have demonstrated using the Virtual world. Ye Chong also knew the whole point of Mu being so participative in the preparation was to ensure their safety, since this would be a duel across sections, where two persons from two different worlds hacking into each other.

Preparation had been completed. And Ye Chong got off the Coxcomb, alone. Mu needed to watch over the entire warship while trying his best to handle that super Maverick from the Freedom Alliance. Zhu Ling, well she could be helpful in battles but Ye Chong had not grown comfortable enough to bring her out as working partner. His sole partner would be none other than Mu Shang.

Ye Chong brought a modified communicator with him, which he would use to keep in touch with the Coxcomb. As he was walking around, Mu and Little Rock had began engulfing the Virtual World of Rainbow gradually.

He walked down the stairs and realized he was actually at lost, having zero idea on where to start, as people were walking on the street tranquilly. It felt like he had got out of a fictional world and had returned to the humanity.

He made a new ID card, more precisely, "recover" his ID card on a little "help" from Mu. Ye Chong had already gotten use to this "recovery" process since this had been like the thousandth time he had done it. And this time, his pseudonym was Takano.

He went to one of the self-serving hotels, got himself a room.

Prometheus Group seemed to be rather well-known among the residents on Rainbow. The group was the leading financial group on the planet. They had numerous branches beneath them and every zone of Rainbow was occupied by companies of their subsidiaries, which was puzzling to Ye Chong as he had no idea which department that Gao Shichang, who happened to have the same name as his papa, was belonged to.

And it was a fruitless outcome when Mu carried out his research on Gao Shichang back then.

At least they saw a consistency within the fragmented information, which pointed towards Prometheus Group. It could have been a search of a needle in a haystack, which could take years, but Ye Chong did not bother. He had plenty of time to find out what had actually happened behind the scene. He would not mind spending the next one or two years staying on Rainbow to be a detective. And for those on the Coxcomb, he believed they would not care where they actually were.

Nevertheless, it felt a little strange for Ye Chong, since he could not tell if this was the first time he was on a mission alone. It was foreign to head out without Mu Shang by his side, even though he could have made contacts via the communicator. Mu had once advised him to avoid contact as much as possible unless on an emergency, too. It would be risky if Ye Chong contacted Mu, since it would be a piece of cake for that super Maverick to monitor the streaming over the communication process. Mu would in fact encrypt the entire chain of signal but he could not guarantee if it would be impossible for the foe to decode it.

Everyone was fearing that super Maverick from the Freedom Alliance.

As he wandered on the streets, Ye Chong saw the scattered pedestrians moving, with a depressing frown on their faces, under the tall buildings which part of them had turned into debris at some corners. The damage caused by war to the people, was not something that could be simply undone by time. The place was once a developed and lively place and now, it was devastating and lifeless.

Sometimes there would be flocks of mechs zooming by in the sky, which the piercing sound the air friction caused was still alarming to the residents. Something was clogging their heart, some sort of gloominess had clouded their mind. The residents never could imagine the days in devastation and now here they were, walking on the street as if it was a norm. Human was one kind with great adaptability to their surrounding after all.

Ye Chong stopped. It was the arrival, Prometheus Group : Mech Research Center 76.

The center was a tall building, about 500 floors height, with a particular modern design. The walking staff seemed to be extremely engaged in their ongoing works, unlike the other places. The name of the company stood blatantly on top of the sign, which one could not miss.

Ye Chong lifted his head as he set his eyes upon the hologram projection at the outer wall of the building rolling all sorts of information about the center.

That was one notice which caught Ye Chong's attention. It was written in a rather desperate tone, where they were looking for all kinds of mech experts in the industry and they would pay handsomely for the expertise. And a large page of introduction on their facilities and hardwares followed. Ye Chong felt the urge to compliment the designer of this notice, it was too tempting! Even an indifferent person like him could not resist but to have slight fond over working here for the rest of his life.

He took a look at the date, it was published 10 days ago, with a duration of a year.

People were walking in and out of the building while he was reading the notice, where most of them were expressing deeper depression with their sighs and whines. There are hardly any person leaving the building with a smile.

Ye Chong, with his eyes, could tell the information those little gestures had suggested. These people must be the candidates for this job of the fantasy. The sorrow faced must have failed their selection while the smiley one must have been employed.

30 : 1. Okay that was a slight shocker to Ye Chong, never would he expected the rate of employment to be this low.

He stayed in one corner at the outside for a moment and to his surprise, the number of candidates grew over the time, and he could feel the lobby exploding. He frowned upon the phenomena, I know it is a really amazing job but I seriously do not see the need of this craze.

Oh wait, could there be something unknown to the outsiders?

And for some reason, Ye Chong uncontrollably headed towards the crowded gate.

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Chapter 241: Hired I

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong did not expect to see even more people inside. Even with his skills, moving through the crowd was difficult. The main hall was packed with people, and one could hear the occasional greeting between the candidates.

"Old Zhao, you're here too. So?"

"Sigh, yeah, the world is so messed up now, it's hard to find a safe place to live. I didn't want to come, but Mei wouldn't have it. Besides, if we're hired, our families will be safer, so I decided to come give it a try. Gotta think about the children," the man said with a wry smile.

"Sigh, that's right, this world, how did it become such a mess?"

"I know …"

From the people speaking around him, Ye Chong quickly realized the reason the place was packed. Anyone hired by the Prometheus Group would have his or her family protected. This was more attractive a benefit than anything else.

Surviving was the most important thing in a chaotic world.

Ye Chong unknowingly drifted to the front along with the crowd.

"Please show your identity card." A soft voice came from a beautiful lady, giving a slight nod at Ye Chong. The lady wore a working uniform in a neat and simple fashion, with a natural smile on her face that was warm and contagious.

Ye Chong was surprised to find himself at the front of the line.

"Please show your identity card," the lady repeated, this time a little louder. This caught the attention of the surrounding people, who quickly turned to look at Ye Chong. The ones lining up behind him were glaring at his hesitation. If not for their generally refined manners, someone would have started shouting at him by now.

As the people all stared at Ye Chong, he could not help but feel embarrassed.

"Oh." Ye Chong could only acknowledge awkwardly, and produced his identity card for the lady.

The lady received Ye Chong's identity card with both hands and gently swiped the card on a reader.

An intermediate level modification technician.

The lady paused upon knowing this. This was the lowest qualification she had seen so far. In the eyes of others, an intermediate level modification technician might be high up, but here among professionals, it was only an entry level qualification.

Most of the candidates here had quality expertise in mech related subjects. Besides, even with their industry standard high qualifications, they could not guarantee their entry into Prometheus Group. They must still go through the Group's special screening process.

Ye Chong had no industry standard qualifications of any kind. The intermediate modification technician status was only something Shang conjured up for him. Having a proper job would keep him inconspicuous. The job was also not too lowly or prestigious, suitable for Ye Chong to remain in the background.

The hiring process this time did not have a restriction on the allowed lowest qualifications. The lady disapproved, but her face did not betray her thoughts, a result of her extreme professionalism.

"Please head towards room 303. If you pass the test, please accept my sincerest congratulations." The lady smiled warmly at him.

Ye Chong ignored her completely, only thanking her flatly and turning to leave.

The lady was always confident of her smile - few could maintain their composure when she smiled at them. However, this man was completely unmoved, behaving coldly throughout. She had met all kinds of people due to her profession, and was experienced in reading people. She knew that one should get to know a person by the eyes and not the face - expressions could lie, but the eyes could not.

This young man's eyes were cold and apathetic. She felt a shudder and quickly bowed her head to mask the unexpected jolt of emotions.

When she lifted her head, the cold figure had already vanished.

Room 303.

The room had only a single photon processor. Ye Chong had a profound moment of realization. So this was it. It reminded him of the time he accepted Yang An's invitation to compete at Blue Ocean Academy. What a familiar sight!

Could these people not think of more creative ways to test? Why were they all the same?

As expected, the photon processor was the first round of tests. Of course, it was much harder than the one at Blue Ocean Academy. Time flew, and Ye Chong suddenly felt like he was worlds away from his troubles.

He was now better than he was at Blue Ocean, and the test was not too hard for him.

However, Ye Chong did not want to stand out. He waited until the last moment before filling out the answers. The time allocated was also enough for him to think through his problems.

The quest to find out more about Gao Shichang, who could be Papa, was difficult and risky. Ye Chong did not expect to succeed in a day or two - that would be unrealistic. The other party had been very thorough, and it would not be easy to uncover the truth in a short time.

The situation was such that he had nowhere to begin with. Perhaps entering this research center would be a good idea. Working from the inside should be easier than breaking through from the outside. This would put himself at risk, but Ye Chong could not think of a better idea.

Ye Chong had already studied every inch of the room when he first entered, ensuring that there was no danger. The room was not spacious. Aside from the photon processor, there was nothing else, also making it impossible to conceal any other people inside.

Making a solitary venture into the other party's territory was a dangerous move. Ye Chong had no plans of dying from this. The way he saw it, he would not mind spending years to investigate the matter about Papa, but if he were to die from it, then the costs outweighed the benefits. If Papa was still alive, he would not have approved of it too.

If everything he did could revive his Papa, then even his life would be worth it. However, try as he may, Papa would never come back. The thought saddened him.

Surviving was top priority. Dying in the quest for revenge was a foolish thing for him.

His mind was as calm and cold as ice. He understood the risks and benefits of this mission. Everything depended on the combined skills and abilities from him, Mu and Shang. With Guardian and Han Jia with him, he should be able to defend himself. Mu and Shang had also prepared an escape plan. As for the others, Ye Chong could not hope for them to achieve anything, only that they would stay out of trouble.

"Switch the display to room 303." A sweet and lazy voice from a woman resonated in the surveillance room.

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Chapter 242: Hired II

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"An intermediate modification technician?" The candidate's background surprised her. Her hair was tied up in a high bun, and the hair ends quivered as she lifted her chin, exposing her snow white neck.

"To think that an intermediate modification technician would come! Interesting!" Her sultry voice was sweet as honey. One could hear the sound of the others gulping in the surveillance room.

Half lying on a deep crimson sofa was a woman of unrivaled beauty, and she was the one who had spoken. Behind her stood a middle-aged man in a black suit. His profile was steely, and his muscles bulged under his suit. He looked expressionless, with his hands crossed at his back. From the beginning, his expression had not changed one bit.

The lady sat up slightly and lightly tapped on the photon processor on her desk with a slender white finger. The photon processor's holographic screen image immediately switched to room 303.

In the holographic feed was a young man, deep in thought.

Dark red irises framed by thin, long eyebrows, under which was a smooth, aquiline nose. Her moist, lustrous lips drew up into an alluring smile. The unreadable smile made her look even more seductive. This was seduction at its finest, blooming like a flower.

One could hear simultaneous gasps in the surveillance room. Only the man in a suit behind her maintained a cold expression.

Ye Chong was now using the ample time allocated to think. Back from when he first saw the research center, he had received plenty of information, and now he was attempting to organize them in his mind.

She watched the young man thinking. No, perhaps the man was no longer so young. He was obviously over 20. This was the youngest candidate Qiu Man had seen so far. Knowledge was accumulated across time - while a 20-year-old man was considered an adult, he would still be considered a beginner only no matter which field he specialized in.

However, a talented young man would still be a good choice. Qiu Man looked at the man meaningfully, now realizing that his calm expression was contradicting too much with his age. The naive expression he wore earlier was probably only a trick of the eye. What she was seeing now was a steady, cold man.

Qiu Man's eyes gleamed as she noticed this sudden transformation.

In the holographic feed, the man was calmly entering his answers in the photon processor, lacking the joy that most candidates would have when they solved a problem. This was a maturity that belied his age.

"Indeed, this is an interesting man," Qiu Man thought to herself as her eyes narrowed, her right hand clasping lightly on the armrest with slender fingers. Behind her, the middle-aged man stood like a wooden pole.

Next, the man's performance surprised her. Even the one who marked his work, old Donald praised him highly, believing him to be a promising mech modification technician. Old Donald was a practical man. His stubbornness was found offensive by many, but his capabilities and insights were never doubted.

The candidate must be a genius.

However, the candidate was being too calm about it, such that even Qiu Man herself thought that something was off.

When she met the young man face-to-face, Qiu Man's heart was already in a turmoil. The sensitive Qiu Man could sense the sharpness in the man's calm eyes. His cold demeanor towards his surroundings reminded her of those people known as elites - their eyes were almost identical to this man's. The thought of those inhuman personalities made Qiu Man very uncomfortable.

Swish! Suddenly the wooden middle-aged man behind Qiu Man stepped in front of her. His hollow eyes were suddenly bright as fire, glaring at Ye Chong.

This abrupt turn of events startled everyone around. Even Ye Chong was slightly surprised. The hostility in the other party's eyes was confounding. Was his cover broken?

Qiu Man was also just as shocked, as seen from her surprised expression. Even so, she still looked just as beautiful. This was the first time Qiu Guang had moved without her orders. All this while, she had thought Qiu Guang as a puppet, lifeless, and only kept him around because of his strict obedience. However, what happened now baffled her.

Ye Chong noticed from his movements that the middle-aged man had nifty footwork.

He was a combat expert, and a highly skilled one! It was apparent from the way the man moved with his speed and accuracy.

In that instant, Ye Chong's muscles tensed. While his feet never left the ground, he was already full of energy, ready to defend himself.

It would be suicidal to be relaxed when within 10 meters of a skilled combat expert. Ye Chong understood the potential damage that could be incurred within this radius more than anyone.

Fortunately, Ye Chong himself was not too shabby as well as a combat expert.

Ye Chong's minute physical responses were not unnoticed by the middle-aged man. His elbows lifted a little, his body inclined slightly, and his feet moved apart. To the average person, these seemed like normal movements, but Ye Chong could sense the danger behind them. This further convinced him that the combat expert before him must be very capable.

Had the other realized his intentions?

The middle-aged man's eyes shone brightly with ferventness.

It was a pity that Qiu Man, shielded behind him, could not see it. She asked curiously, "Guang, what is it?"

Those words seemed to cool the middle-aged man almost instantly. The ferventness in the eyes of the man called Guang vanished without a trace. His eyes resumed their earlier hollow, lifeless look.

Guang returned to stand behind Qiu Man without a word, moving like a puppet.

Qiu Man took a curious glance towards Guang, but did not see anything amiss. She decided to focus her attention back on the young man before her. His appearance had provoked that strange response from the usually passive Guang. Besides, this young man called Takano was a strange character as he was.

Almost everyone knew the identity of the one who supported Prometheus Group from behind the scenes. It would only be more unusual if none of the other powers send their spies here.

However, Qiu Man believed that this young man was a spy. The training for spies was different from the training given to combatants. Moreover, spies and combatants gave off very different vibes.

All of a sudden, Qiu Man felt that the situation had gotten much more complicated.

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Chapter 243: Hired III

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Donald stared fixedly at Ye Chong, and the latter felt like something weird must have grown on his face. Qiu Man was still all smiles, and the middle-aged man behind her that she called Guang was still wearing a stale expression.

Ye Chong did not know that this beautiful, sophisticated woman was actually feeling very conflicted. It was obvious from Old Donald's face that the man was a genius, and not a talent to be missed. However, the young man did not seem like any ordinary person. Somehow, she was wary of this man whom she could not read clearly.

Ye Chong seemed unaffected as he stood silently at his place, looking very calm.

Qiu Man took another glance at him, and could not help laugh on the inside. Why was she so troubled all of a sudden? Even if this man had his own hidden agenda, wasn't the situation still under her control? As long as she increased surveillance on him, there would be many ways for her to deal with his movements. It was safer to keep this kind of people under her watch.

Was she really getting old now? She was growing timid! The woman absently traced her smooth profile.

This feminine gesture attracted the attention of almost everyone in the room. Even the aging Donald stared at Qiu Man. When he came to himself, the old man blushed.

Only two people kept their expressions unchanged. One was Ye Chong, and the other was the middle-aged man standing behind Qiu Man, Guang.

Qiu Man knew how much her actions could influence the people around her. Her looks were her most dependable weapon. That gesture just now may not be entirely done consciously, but she knew that it was this kind of careless show of emotions that really moved others.

"When had men ever been able to defend themselves against lust?" She laughed in her own mind.

When she saw that even someone as old as Donald would blush, she could not help but chuckle. This made Donald feel like burying his head in the ground. However, when her glance swept across the young man's face, she paused.

What she saw was a calm and expressionless mask, the kind that made people feel uncomfortable.

The woman's sudden chuckle had startle Ye Chong a bit. Ye Chong was now better at reading people than before. He could see that this woman was not easy to handle, and she was far better at controlling emotions than him.

However, Ye Chong faced his adversary calmly. He was confident of his own strengths. The current circumstances were advantageous to him. If the other party balked, he was sure that he could escape unscathed. Even if the middle-aged man, Guang was a skilled combat expert, he was not afraid of him.

In terms of combat, Ye Chong believed that even if Lan Yixing were alive right now, the man would not be a match against him.

The woman quickly resumed her peaceful composure, still smiling cheerfully. However, Shang had once told him not to let his guard down, even when the other person was smiling at him. Ye Chong could not agree more.

Seeing that Ye Chong had no intention of speaking, Qiu Man gave another laugh and said, "Welcome to Prometheus Group!"

Donald was overjoyed. This beautiful and fatal woman was a mystery to everyone in the research center. Everyone was aware that she had a complicated background, but no one knew of the details. However, none dared to disobey her. Experience showed that those who did all ended up with horrible consequences. Since Qiu Man had decided, it meant that this young man that she had his eyes on was definitely hired.

Donald's overjoyed expression was a deep contrast to Ye Chong's calm face, as if Donald was the one hired, and not Ye Chong.

Before Ye Chong could react any further, Donald grabbed his arm and ushered him towards his laboratory.

Qiu Man watched the backs of the two figures as they left, her mouth arching up meaningfully as her large, pearly eyes gleamed. Her mind was still occupied with the reflexive movement of that young man earlier.

Just when Donald reached for the man, she saw his right hand jerking away in reflex, but the young man quickly reacted and pulled his hand back and towards Donald's. The movements were so fast that she almost thought it was a trick of the eye, and Donald himself did not seem to even notice.

"Takano," Qiu Man muttered, looking at the information in her hands.

It was a pity that she did not see how the eyes of the motionless middle-aged man behind her glowed with ferventness when Ye Chong's right hand jerked.

When she turned back, Guang's eyes had already resumed its typical hollowness.

The events today seemed to be out of her control, and that made her feel uncomfortable. Even the usually obedient Guang had acted strangely today, and that surprised her more than anything.

Seeing Guang now as his usual self, Qiu Man's delicate eyebrows knitted together.

"Guang, do you understand me?" Qiu Man probed carefully.

Guang stood unmoving.

"Strange, what's with Guang today?" Seeing Guang looking like his usual self, Qiu Man muttered to herself, but her eyes were discreetly looking for Guang's reaction.

Guang did not move, his eyes hollow as always.

Qiu Man gave up, and went to the door. Guang immediately followed closely behind her.

Donald's laboratory was so messy that Ye Chong found himself surprised. It felt like returning to the trash planet.

All sorts of mech parts were scattered across the floor, and moving around proved difficult. Some of the parts were even rusted. Ye Chong even suspected that the living conditions here may be even worse than on the trash planet.

Donald was obviously used to the place, and did not seem embarrassed.

"Get familiar with this place. From today onwards, you'll be my assistant. Hmm, don't simply move the things around here. If you questions, feel free to ask me. Remember, don't disturb me when I'm working," Donald explained.

Nonetheless, Ye Chong was currently focused on a light purple ongoing project on one of the laboratory workbenches.

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Chapter 244: Becoming an Assistant

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

This must be an unfinished mech engine. It had a light purple alloy shell, with a complex mesh of intricate photon circuits inside. The light flowing within the circuits looked like something from another world. All the parts seemed exquisite. While it was still unfinished, Ye Chong could already sense the power it would one day be capable of.

Ye Chong was not proficient with engines; that was up to Lian Yue, the real expert. However, before Lian Yue had joined Coxcomb, Ye Chong did his own studies in mech engines. His earliest experience was with Black Cove's mech engines, and later the ones from the Sanctuary. He had dismantled the Dawn mechs a few times himself. However, the one he was most familiar with was the MPA's mech engines. In Mu and Shang's database were plenty of mech schematics of MPA's, including their mech engines.

In terms of knowledge in engines, Ye Chong had much to catch up with Lian Yue, but when it came to exposure to different mech engine models, Ye Chong held the advantage.

The mech engines from the Three Forces all had their own unique characteristics, and were based on vastly different principles. However, their performance were about the same. Ye Chong at least noticed that mech models of the same level from the Three Forces moved at about the same speed. On the other hand, for mech engines of different levels in the same organization, the engine designs did not differ in design principle, but only in the quality of building material and detailed structure.

Ye Chong had thought that these three mech engine principles were the foremost in the world today.

However, looking at this unfinished engine, Ye Chong felt like he had just been struck in the head, and felt a little dazed. This was a completely new design, completely different from the three principles he knew of!

At a certain level, Ye Chong was similar to academics. When he saw this original mech design, his rational mind took a back seat momentarily, astonished as he was.

Four support chambers stretched out from the engine body like legs, an odd sight. Mech engines with support chambers were not unheard of, but usually only one or two were used. This was the first time Ye Chong saw a mech engine with four support chambers. He was getting a little too eager to see what was inside the engine.

However, he did nothing, and his expression remained unchanged. He did not even give another glance at the workbench. After Donald finished with the induction, his back was to Ye Chong as he worked, so Ye Chong's minute changes in expression went by unnoticed.

Everything was just beginning.

Ye Chong began to tidy up the laboratory. This was a difficult task, but one that Ye Chong was most familiar with. On the trash planet, Ye Chong was solely responsible for the cleanliness of his home, so the routine was natural for him.

Donald was definitely a workaholic, oblivious to the world once he started working. When he was done, he was surprised to find the laboratory looking very different. All his stuff was arranged in categories around the room, and the lab now looked neat and tidy.

Donald did not think much of these things. He took a glance at Ye Chong and said, "You should be spending your time on work, and not waste it on cleaning up the lab. You have talent, but this doesn't mean you have time to waste. Workbench 2 has a modification outline, go and calculate the grinding value."

Ye Chong acknowledged. He was not discouraged with how Donald ignored his labor, since he knew that researchers like him often do not place importance in things over than research work.

Of course, Ye Chong did not reorganize the lab for cleanliness, or for comfort. To him, an organized place would make work more efficient. However, he had no intention of explaining himself to Donald.

Ye Chong was always decisive in his actions. He immediately turned towards Workbench 2. Behind him, Donald's eyes flashed with approval, but he quickly returned to his own work.

The grinding value was a troublesome calculation. While it was not difficult, the nitty-gritty details involved were often enough to drive someone crazy. This was also one of those calculations that demanded a good fundamental base of knowledge, since the steps of calculations were too detailed, encompassing almost 80 percent of all basic calculations related to mechs.

To Ye Chong, however, it was not too difficult a task. He had patience, and his foundation was solid, to a level that even Donald would not have expected. Back in the days, he studied mech foundations intensively at Aurora, and the elderlies' unceasing attention to him made him very knowledgeable in mech principles. These days, the younger generation would never spend time on something like this.

Ye Chong could even identify places where the mech modification schematics seemed unreasonable. Mech modification was his specialty. With his rich combat experience, he knew better than most mod technicians on ways to better improve combat performance. The schematics he was studying now had a balanced design, but there were many details that Ye Chong thought could be improved. Whichever mod technician drew up this mech modification schematics must be quite capable. There were a few new ideas in there that inspired Ye Chong.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong had no time to study it closely. He dived right into the work of calculating the grinding value.

"Hmm, not bad, it's close to what I expected. Err, let me see, this is Rigg's modification schematics, not bad at all. Hmm, you've learned about mech modification before, right?" Donald suddenly turned to Ye Chong and asked.

"Yes." Ye Chong replied.

"Your foundations are not bad, quite solid, it's rare to see that in young people nowadays." Donald continued, "Hmm, try to improve his schematics and reduce the grinding value by 0.05."

With that, Donald turned back to his work and ignored Ye Chong.

"This is information on Takano?" Qiu Man looked at the brief and simple information in her hands. Her brows knitted together, her alluring profile turned dignified.

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Chapter 245: An Expected Disappointment

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The underling was terrified, and quickly replied respectfully, "Yes, this just came in from the Intelligence Division."

The Intelligence Division was a reliable source of information. Had she not been very familiar with someone on the inside, it would have been impossible to obtain this dossier. The Intelligence Division would not have wasted their efforts on something so trivial.

Takano was not a fake identity - this was apparent from the dossier. The Intelligence Division had one of the longest histories of existence, having been set up over two decades ago. Besides, she knew the boss of the division, and what that boss specialized in.

On the surface, this person's background was sparkling clean. However, Qiu Man thought otherwise. The content of the dossier was too simple, not enough to even derive anything useful out of it.

For the moment, however, she had run out of moves. Behind her, Guang still stood with a wooden expression. Due to his odd reaction that day, Qiu Man had gone out of the way to bring him to that mysterious laboratory, but the man did not behave any different than usual, which made Qiu Man gave up in the end.

Ye Chong did not know that he had caught Qiu Man's attention. Everyday, he worked in Old Donald's laboratory, from early morning till late at night, without much rest. He was beginning to think that he would begin to forget why he was there in the first place.

Ye Chong had always yearned for this kind of plain but fulfilling life. He was no longer as curious of the world as he was when on the trash planet.

Old Donald would always come up with all sorts of crazy ideas. When he saw Ye Chong successfully reducing the grinding value of the mech modification schematics by 0.05, he began to delegate much harder tasks to Ye Chong. This was exasperating to Ye Chong, but he could not help but also felt intrigued by those new ideas.

He was not aware, of course, of how surprised Old Donald was at this stage. Some of the problems he had delegated to Ye Chong involved some relatively unknown fields of knowledge. He was sure that even those so-called advanced mod technicians would not be able to solve them. However, this young man with the title of intermediate mod technician had surprised him again and again to his delight. Moreover, his ingenuity also impressed him.

As expected, he was not wrong! Donald felt thankful that he insisted back then, or he would have missed his chance with this genius. All this while, he had always been lonely. Now that he was growing old, he wished to find a capable student, but did not want to start teaching from the basics.

In this hiring session, Qiu Man may have been the decision maker, but anything related to his field of knowledge would be left to him. Ye Chong was such an example. His solutions were different from the ones stored in the photon processor, so they were sent to Donald himself. Ye Chong's demonstration of his talent made Donald so excited that he immediately rushed to see the young man.

The hiring session was still going on for now, but none of the candidates' responses had required his attention anymore.

By the time the hiring session ended, Ye Chong had already been working there for close to half a month.

In this half a month, Ye Chong had also began to have a rough understand of the organization. Mech Research Center 76 was a subsidiary mech research center of the Prometheus Group. There were many research centers like this under the Group. From the products of these centers, it was clear that they were not involved with the core products of Prometheus Group.

What Ye Chong thought was strange was that a subsidiary organization like this would have someone as good as Donald. Donald was a master of his field, and should not be here. He should be at the core of the research work. Ye Chong believed that the Freedom Alliance would not make such a careless mistake.

After spending time so much time with Donald, Ye Chong believed that he could judge his abilities quite well. The man was another master level mech expert that he had met, the second he had met in the Five Galaxies, with the other being Fred the Great. Fred's Yu Di was an excellent mech with crafty designs, limited in power only by the materials available to him.

In terms of mech knowledge, these masters from the Five Galaxies were not so far off from the masters of the Sanctuary or Black Cove. It was a pity that the Five Galaxies were lacking by a wide margin in terms of fundamental research compared to the Three Forces, such as in metal alloys.

Ye Chong did not know how the Freedom Alliance fared in terms of research, but he believed that no organization would leave such a master level expert outside of their core research team. Besides, the research center's director was the woman he met that day. From the gossip flowing around him, Ye Chong came to know that the woman had a complicated background. Everyone in the research center was wary of her. Even Donald, who acted arrogantly in front of others, would behave himself before this woman.

While the woman had always smiled at him whenever they met, Ye Chong always felt a chill inside him. The puppet-like middle-aged man behind her was also someone to watch out for - the man was no amateur!

This seemingly ordinary subsidiary center was not as innocent as it seemed to be. However, Ye Chong did not wish to look further into it. He was here because of the man who shared his Papa's name; there was no need to complicate things.

However, Ye Chong was disappointed to find that he had found out nothing about Gao Shichang so far. Fortunately, Ye Chong was not in a hurry. He knew exactly how difficult this operation was going to be, and his disappointment was only to be expected.

During his time here, Ye Chong had contacted Mu, but only through the comms device. Ye Chong described his situation briefly. Mu had no issues on his side. Careful as he was in his disguise, he had not invited the attention of that super hacker yet.

Coxcomb still operated as normal, and the people onboard all behaved themselves, staying out of trouble. Without Mu's permission, no one was allowed to open the hatch. However, Mu reported that Zhu Ling seemed to have reached a bottleneck in her training. Mu asked Ye Chong if he should pass over the information about mentalist training extorted from Mr Yin last time to her. According to Mu, this could increase the chances of her breaking through her bottleneck by 53 to 60 percent.

Ye Chong gave it a moment's thought, and agreed with Mu's suggestion. After all, he had given Overwing to her anyway, and the information about mentalists was useless to him. Ye Chong knew that he was not suited at all for mentalist training. If he could not even get pass the most basic meditation training, then the rest of the training would be wasted on him. Giving the information to Zhu Ling, who had a solid training foundation, was the wiser choice.

With this, however, the gap between Ye Chong and Zhu Ling would grow even larger. He was no match against Zhu Ling with her Overwing. Now that he passed the mentalist training information to her, the disparity in their abilities would further widen.

When would he finally be able to own a mech that was on the same level as Overwing, but more suited for himself?

That day seemed so very far away! Ye Chong looked at the mech parts in his hands. The designs were exquisite, but the thought of Overwing dampened his mood.

"Takano, come with me for a moment," Donald interrupted Ye Chong's musings.

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Chapter 246: Troublesome Woman

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Lian was surprised to see Ye Chong following behind Donald. She remembered well the intermediate modification technician that she had ushered that day when she was on duty. These days, she was busy with the hiring session and was not aware that the young man was already recruited. It was no wonder that she was surprised to find him trailing behind Donald.

Ye Chong did not notice Lian. On the day of his interview, his attention was focused on all the other candidates. Lian may be a pretty woman, but for someone as obtuse as Ye Chong, it was not enough. Ye Chong only saw the crowd behind the woman. They were all above 40 years of age, and their hands seemed to be heavily calloused. Ye Chong realised then that they were all candidates who had been hired.

Lian bowed slightly to Donald and said, "Chief, they're all here." When she lifted her head, she was surprised to see the young man standing just beside Chief Donald. Experienced workers would know to never stand beside their superior during a lecture session. It was more appropriate to stand a half step behind their superior.

This young man was obviously inexperienced. Thus was Lian's conclusion, but Chief Donald did not seem to be offended.

Donald nodded expressionlessly and looked around. "Is Ms Qiu not here?"

Lian replied respectfully, "Ms Qiu is currently occupied with other matters. She said that you will be in charge here."

Donald grunted in acknowledgement and faced the crowd. "Since you're all hired, that means you must be at least somewhat capable. As long as you work hard, I believe you will be properly rewarded. As for the general scope of your work, I believe you must have received it. All in all, here in the center, it's all about walking the talk."

All the new recruits listened quietly with respect. After all, this was Donald, the only Great Master on planet Rainbow! Most of the recruits here were his fans. Only Ye Chong's unmoved expression as he stood right beside Donald was a little odd.

"I think you're all familiar with your job scopes. I don't have time to follow up with all of you individually. This is my assistant, Takano. If you have any questions, find him. He will also be responsible for inspecting your work."

His words were met with an outburst from the crowd.

All of them, besides Lian, had thought that Ye Chong was Donald the Great's student. While there were many academic institutions available these days, some still preferred the traditional way of teaching. However, this young man looked like he had just passed his 20th birthday, how could he take on such an important duty?

Lian also let out a soft gasp despite herself, but quickly covered her mouth. However, her eyes still shone strongly with disbelief. The research center never had such a young researcher, much less allow him to do work inspection. It was usually the more experienced and reputable old researchers who were given this role. They were more persuasive both in terms of their abilities and their reputation. However, this young man was only an intermediate mod technician, and he was so young. What was Chief Donald thinking?

Ye Chong was also shocked, and groaned inside. He had joined this center to infiltrate further into Prometheus Group, and find out more about Gao Shichang. Laying low was his priority, but now Donald's order had pushed him to the forefront of attention.

Fortunately, he was able to keep his cool, at least maintaining his calm exterior.

Donald was satisfied with everyone's reaction, and even more impressed with Ye Chong's composure. From the work he had delegated to Ye Chong recently, he could tell that this intermediate mod technician was actually far more capable than the average advanced mod technician. Besides, his creativity was a rare quality for most mod technicians.

This talent should be nurtured. Hence, Donald made his decision. Besides, he understood the real intention behind the research here. To the higher-ups, the projects given to these new recruits were only a cover for the outsiders to see. He still had his own experiments to do, and did not want to waste time on these meaningless chores. Even if Ye Chong were to blunder up, it would not matter. Donald hoped that the work would be good training for Ye Chong. To him, that was what most young people lacked.

Ye Chong said nothing. Donald was happy to see him so steady, and so declared that the meeting was over.

"Assistant Gao, please have a look at this matrix arrangement."

"Assistant Gao, can you please look at this new photon circuit schematics? I can't seem to find out where the problem is."

There were too many requests like these coming in, and Ye Chong soon earned their respect. Qiu Man did not object to Donald's decision after her return. Besides, Ye Chong's performance surprised them all.

Even Donald, who gave the role to Ye Chong, was also surprised. He did not expect Ye Chong to do his job so well. To him, the young man may be a genius, but he was only a 20-year-old teen, and knowledge took time to accumulate.

However, Ye Chong's performance was too impressive.

Ye Chong had a solid foundation, and was familiar with a wide range of subjects that people began to wonder is he was actually a Great Master in mechs in his previous life! Almost all problems presented to him were easily solved, and while they may be very difficult, some of them involved some relatively unknown mech subjects.

Who was his teacher? What would it take to produce such an exemplary student?

In particular, his creativity and flexibility were astonishing. His creative solutions were all easy to realise, and mose people began to wonder if he was actually an old veteran in mech modifications. Young people may be bursting with creativity, but most of them were unrealistic ideas, impossible to translate into actual products.

This was the difference between reality and ideas.

Only a truly experienced mech modification technician could handle the delicate balance between the two. Soon, the researchers found that the young assistant called Takano was able to translate his creativity into practical solutions. This ability that did not match his age won the approval of the other researchers.

The atmosphere in the research center was cheerful, and Ye Chong's performance won respect and approval. No one doubted the appropriateness of Donald's decision.

In fact, Ye Chong was quite taken aback by the atmosphere around him. Fortunately, he still remembered his original mission. His keen sense told him that the woman called Qiu Man was watching him. Many a time did he find that woman's smiling eyes flash meaningfully at him.

The woman was an annoyance to Ye Chong. Her smile was always faint and unreadable. Ye Chong found that no one could stand against her. Even Old Donald, with his skin all wrinkled up from age, would blush at the sight of her.

This made Ye Chong wary. He dared not relax whenever the woman was around. Fortunately, nothing strange had happened so far. The woman's influence was so strong that it surprised Ye Chong. Just a glance, and Ye Chong could feel his heart racing for no reason.

When it had happened the first time, Ye Chong was almost scared out of his wits, thinking that he was attacked by an unknown force. Was it an infrasound wave attack? Fortunately, he quickly caught up to what was really happening.

"Biology class really does come in handy." Such was Ye Chong's first thought upon his realisation.

Ye Chong never thought that a person's glance could be so powerful. Fortunately, he was also very good at controlling himself. Even as he trembled inside, his face betrayed nothing. This became something of a legend in the research center, as Ye Chong was the only man who could stay composed before Qiu Man.

Ever since that last incident, Ye Chong was very conscious of his own reactions. It was not that he thought badly of this natural response, but he felt that it would put him in danger.

Ye Chong remembered someone saying that the difference between humans and animals is that humans could control their natural instincts.

Besides, the expressionless man standing behind the woman was also someone he should be careful of. While Ye Chong could not see any reason for that man to attack him, the situation was still unclear. If he grew careless before a combat expert and made a mistake, he would be so dead.

Qiu Man smiled enticingly and called, "Takano."

It was like a flower had bloomed in full glory, and everyone in the entire room except Ye Chong experienced a lapse in attention. Ye Chong acknowledged with a wooden expression, but inside he was tormented. This was not the first time for him, but Ye Chong had no choice. His reaction was also the center of attention. If he ignored the woman any further, he would create further problems for himself.

For the time being, Ye Chong did not want to stir things up, but this did not mean that he was averse to it. Ye Chong lowered his head, and the flash in his eyes went unnoticed.

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Chapter 247: I Had Gone Too Far!

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Qiu Man was unable to see through the man standing before her, as the man had always been displaying a kind of indifference while retaining the same expressionless features whenever she saw him. Even his eyes were not wavering at the slightest bit. Qiu Man was not the pompous and conceited kind of woman, but at least she knew herself well enough to tell where to stop and which part of her would work most likely. The man was never moved by her words and gestures however, as he stood there, immobile like a sculpture. It was certainly demotivating for her.

That was the first time she actually doubted her own charm as her curiosity over this very man named Takeno grew. She could tell from her observation that he must have some kind of unspeakable motive to be here, although Takano had yet taken any unusual action to justify her intuition. It could be her overthinking, but she trusted her intuition deeply.

Very well, it's not like we have the super top-secret here. It could be interesting, Takano. Thought Qiu Man, intrigued.

"Takano, I have been hearing compliments from the colleagues on your works recently," she let off a brief smile, as the fleshy cheeks of her formed two sweet-looking dimples, her alluring stare suggested otherwise. The air in the room felt a little sugary out of sudden. It was refreshing and warm, except for that Guang who was exerting his iciness through his lack of expression and soulless eyes.

Ye Chong felt nothing towards her tease. He had been through the same situation for countless times, that he was able to fully control himself from reacting over such level of teasing. He did not let out a word as in his eyes, the woman in front seemed to be emanating a kind of danger, which kept him alert all the time.

Qiu Man, as if expected Ye Chong to stay muted, chuckled briefly as she got up from her seat and did an outrageous stretch on her back. The perfect curve of blood-surging proportion was waving before him. If there were other men in the room, they would probably be dead by now, due to the excessive loss of blood through the nose.

Ye Chong did not see the curve as he had shifted his entire attention to the surrounding instead. He looked at Guang, the lamp, the window, this was one of the ways Ye Chong could think of. His brain had identified Qiu Man to be none other than a mere humanoid mutated species, like which man would be aroused by a mutated lifeform?

She skipped her step, a swing as she moved to Ye Chong's side. Her enchanting smile was magnetic, her eyes were electrifying, every part of her body was speaking.

Her expressive eyes stared right into Ye Chong's eyes, her body tilted forward, with the deep fissure over the hills sneaking through her buttons.

Ye Chong still remained unmoved. His expression was frozen, as if he was staring the air. His damned eyes were unwavering as before.

Dammit! Ughhh! This little… Qiu Man started to get agitated, although her smile grew far more gorgeous than before. "Hmm~?" She raised her chin slightly, exposing her neck, the gesture held the same effect towards the opposite gender. Qiu Man was very much convinced that this could be her best performance ever since she was born.

Being so close, she could discern every detail on Ye Chong's face. Other than the occasional muscle contraction due to his profound respiration, she saw nothing else. His eyes, contrary to her expectation, were not reacting to anything she did.

Qiu Man did not intend to give up just yet, as she further reduced the distance between them, with her tender lips almost onto Ye Chong's cheek while her lifted arm gently approached the man's cheek. The scene was suggestive at all angles. The only thing that felt off was Qiu Man's loyal Guang who stood there like a lamp stand.

Ye Chong was not sparing attention at the inching lust, as his eyes were on Guang who began approaching towards him. This man, he is very dangerous. Commented Ye Chong.

A moist, warm breath of the wild sprayed upon his face.

Ye Chong flinched.

Teehehee… it's working! Qiu Man was excited over her first achievement on this man for she finally broke the petrifying spell of the man.

Ye Chong had always been maintaining a certain distance away from people. He would react even on a man's approach, let alone a mutated lifeform. He would not be Ye Chong if he did not take any action.

His pupils shrunk drastically. "Ouch!" Ye Chong's curved left arm rocketed high, seizing that strange thing invading his proximity.

"Ow Ow Ow!" Qiu Man could not help but to wail pitifully, which did not seem appealing to Ye Chong at all. Never once he would have a soft spot for a mutated lifeform in a disguise of human. The seize was a really forceful one. "Owww!" Qiu Man could feel her wrist shattering, as her beautiful face squeezed into something indiscernible.

Crack. The sound of bones cracking rang throughout theroom.

The attack, habitually by Ye Chong, also came in a set. Once the first blow was successfully delivered, the second would follow. His eyes had spotted all the critical points on this mutated puppet which had lost her balance. And of course, he aimed the throat of Qiu Man, as his right hands, having its fingers slightly curled, zapped towards the target!

"No. No… No…" Qiu Man's expressive eyes were dramatically expressing her bottomless fear and astonishment. "No!"

Wham. A hand blocked Ye Chong's launching hand.

The strength was so much greater than Ye Chong's expectation. He then felt a gale swaying his left hand, which he immediately loosened as he backed off.

He raised his eyes and saw a pair of eyes with luster of war. Guang made a fancy turn on his arms and held the falling lady.

Wait what? Ye Chong only realized by then, that he had been facing Qiu Man and not some humanoid mutated lifeform.

Guang remained in his stance and had not taken any action.

"My hand… Ow…" Ye Chong gave a glance at the tearing lady, "Please do not get too close," he said and left.

Guang did not hold Ye Chong back, as his searing eyes were cooling down, soon returning their usual soulless expression.

Great. The moment Ye Chong left the room, he felt bitter of himself. I had gone too far… I was not sure who Qiu Man actually was in the company but she led the tasks of the entire research unit, that even Donald the elderly had to listen to her opinions before every move. She seemed to have a strong background, which could have been having millions of instances with the authority. And here I am, breaking her hand. No way I would ever be infiltrating the core of the company…

The situation was bad, really bad, as Ye Chong wondered if Qiu Man would be enraged and the security would be called. Once he left Qiu Man's room, he started sprinting, like a falling meteorite. He ran against the inertia and tried getting away with his misconduct. Running away would be the best option.

Ye Chong had always depicted an indifferent character to the other researchers in the center. But that very scene where he sprinted like an animal in a forest fire had attracted the surprised look of his colleagues. They tried greeting him, sometimes asking him what had happened. There was no answer from him, only ignorance and an increasing velocity of his steps.

People were astounded, as they never expected the assistant to be such a runner. A really fast one too.

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Chapter 248: The Chase I

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong tried collecting his thoughts afterwards. He must admit that it would be too far-fetched for one to infiltrate the insides of the company. He knew himself well, that he would be the last person on Rainbow to be assigned with this task. And among Mu, Shang and he himself, probably only Shang could do it well. But it certainly was not the right time to contact Shang, he was unavailable at the moment. And they could not switch just yet, Mu had an important task on the table. If without Mu's guard, fearing the super Maverick in the dark, Ye Chong would not be able to conduct anything.

It was clear that an assassin who could deliver a deadly blow upon you would be a nuisance to deal alone. It felt as if he was in the dark, with his eyes coveting the time to make the strike. You would be fully exposed, head to toes, the pressure would be something unimaginable.

Ye Chong had never worried about this before, since he was given Mu Shang's assistance, which happened to be the trump on his deck. Ye Chong could now feel the potency of Mu Shang as the actual fearsomeness of a super Maverick was defined in his mind. He was glad that Mu was there, along with Little Rock. He could at least ensure his own safety even though they might be underwhelmed in front of a sky walker. He was confident over Mu, as always. No way he would dare to travel to Planet Rainbow if Mu was not there.

Planet Rainbow was the lair of the foe, which was reinforced throughout the years the foe had been running on the planet itself. It would be ridiculous if the foe claimed to not have infiltrated every corner on the planet.

It was not a wild goose chase for Ye Chong over the past few days anyway. He managed to take a good look at every spot in the research center. There were occasions where he even paid a night visit, rummaging every drawer and folder, even though he ended up discovering nothing. As far as Ye Chong had observed thus far, the only valuable thing would be that developing new engine model of Donald the elderly.

Donald the aged was facing problem making a breakthrough on his development apparently.

At Ye Chong's current level he could not really tell the meaning behind each detail of the engine's design, but that would not prevent him from appraising it. Just like most thefts happening out there, the thief might not be able to perceive the beauty of a well-known masterpiece, but he knew the fact that a drawing would not be called "masterpiece" for no reason, his senses were great enough to justify his judgement.

The security of the research unit was nearly non-existent. It was as effortless as sneaking into your own house as Ye Chong made it through. Obviously the company showed little concern towards Donald's research, judging by the lack of proper security facilities, which was a nice setting for Ye Chong. He eventually copied down every information related to the engine. He knew, if he passed this plan to Lian Yue, it would not take long before the newest engine model had officially showed up in this world. Ye Chong would be ridiculed if he never fully utilized the master craftsman on his ship.

Well, the unfortunate part was, Ye Chong did not take the hassle to travel for this uncompleted engine or he would have been calling everyone in the ship to prepare for departure and leave this menacing planet already.

There had yet clues on papa this far, while the plan for infiltration did seem unpractical. Did someone say invasion? Are you joking?

There was no clue. And it was something that happened 20 years ago. Thinking of the possibility to actually acquire something, Ye Chong was in a blank dismay.

Wait!

Ye Chong sprung up from his seat, his eyes grew intense, as he listened to the surrounding carefully. Now that Mu was not by his side, without those fancy super detection he had to rely on his senses in order to survive. Fortunately, his senses did not weaken throughout the journey.

Ye Chong was currently at a residential area. Technically, whichever planet it was, the residential area always seemed to be the most chaotic area in the place. The people might have gained their happiness living on the planet, while being provided free residences by the government as part of their citizenship. However, anyone would have moved away from the area the moment they had gained additional disposable income, since in reality… this was the place with the worst safety and outdated facilities while illustrating the lowest standard of living on the planet.

Everyone here had one simple wish, that is, to leave this damned place as soon as possible.

Nonetheless, such place would be perfect as Ye Chong's hideout. No way that Qiu Man would take no action after today's incident where Ye Chong snapped her hand. So he remained highly alert for the time being.

What's coming will come.

Ye Chong did not have any form of regret over what he had done. Even though he had degraded his position in the situation through that unthoughtful behavior of his, regrets would not do any help. What he could do was to figure out a way to overcome this issue and have a good session of repentance so that he would not repeat the same mistake in future. But… will the same thing not happen again? Will I be able to prevent myself from doing that? Ye Chong gave a bitter laugh.

He deployed the Guardian in stealth.

The Guardian would perform better than Han Jia in the concrete jungle. He went into the cabin, with the welcoming vision of monochrome.

Boom! The walls fell into debris, the dust flew up high.

The materials used to build these residences were of rather tedious quality. At least the dusty scene gave Ye Chong the best camouflage he needed.

The daggers had already been withdrawn. Ye Chong sometimes wondered what mechanism formed these daggers. The twin daggers of the Guardian remained as a mystery to him. The Guardian - the result of Gu Shaoze's brilliance - had never failed to surprise him again and again.

And the twin daggers were displaying a sharpness that Ye Chong believed to be the strongest among all weapons he had seen before.

Ye Chong made his move before the dust subsided!

Whichever brand the hologram detection system was, its accuracy would always decrease with the complication of the area.

And within such a crammed area, the jumbling system did not seem to be more reliable than the primitive senses of humanity, especially for Ye Chong who possessed an astonishingly sensibility.

A tip to his toes, Ye Chong did a gesture to initiate his run, as he fired himself off like a golden cannon ball, dashing right into the endless sandstorm.

The information was overloading the visual system of the Guardian, as the projection was utterly disordered. The refreshing data was flooding the intercourse, which refreshed at a speed that Ye Chong could no longer distinguish. It just looked like a plain white milky way with intensive motion.

He decided to close his eyes instead. There was no panic as he remained as calm as the falling snow. His breath was inaudible as he set his focus upon his hearing.

Ye Chong was naturally acquainted with amazing hearing, which was further developed ever since he began meditating. The chip given by Lan Yixing also included a very detailed guide on the application of the sense of hearing in combats. Legend said there were practitioners whose hearings were so great that they could literally fight with their eyes closed, as they could hear the flow of the wind to help them make the judgement.

Well, that would be something Ye Chong could only be envious of. He relied on his hearing anyway. It seemed reckless yet he had already sorted it out in his mind - his hearing might not be as great as the legendary practitioners, but he did not fight unarmed, he was in a mech where people could hear the clearer happening inside. That would be more than sufficient for me to make an accurate judgement.

Klink, klank, thump. The falling of the debris…

Hoo… Ha… Hoo… The sound of my own breath…

Hush… Hush… The sound of the wind…

Wham! It was not loud but Ye Chong could hear that sonorous sound coming at the front off is left. 12 meters away!

Ye Chong's hands which had been laying over the control panel began to move!

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Chapter 249: The Chase II

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The Guardian launched itself forward soundlessly. The sound of striking of where it landed, as its right arm tightened, the strength mustered, began stirring a storm while it waved heavily. Ye Chong put his ounces of strength in it, hush… the air around started streaming towards the center of the gale he stirred, which then transformed into a high spinning cut. Shush… The sudden pull coming from his spin defogged a tiny area around him, a blanked zone in the dusty storm, The scenery near Ye Chong had been cleared up temporarily.

The monochrome vision became much clearer as few crossing white lines had defined Ye Chong's view.

His left arm moved once more, with neither hesitation nor distraction, without either inaccuracy or unnecessary gestures, he smashed upon the hurricane he formed, before the dust had fallen. The violently torn air splashed upon the area, as dust once again camouflaged Ye Chong.

The technique he used was part of the inspiration he got during his practice of unarmed combats, as he realized such movement could produce a powerful conglomerating effect upon the air in the surrounding. Well, he did not expect it to be this effective when he carried it out on the Guardian.

The loud sound was obviously from a mech. No time to waste, as Ye Chong tipped the mech on his toes and fired himself backwards. He did not care if he was heading into a wall or whatever, as he knew the foe was a done for within a glance, since he had destroyed the engine of the foe just now with his blow.

He sprinted again, desperately running towards the outside. The landscape had always provided him additional aid when he needed it, ironically the current landscape was nothing more than an obstacle course for Ye Chong's runaway. He would need to get as far as possible before…

Boom! The thunderous explosion occurred behind Ye Chong, as the strong momentum raided the place in waves. Ye Chong, not managed to get into a safe zone, was lifted by the shockwave caused by the explosion. The Guardians body was petite and light, Ye Chong inside it only felt a brutal force tossing him to the far corner.

Fortunately his fleshes were coated by the Guardian, he remained intact despite the heavy fall. But the explosion gave him a shocker. Man… this guy's explosion was a little bit more than I expected…

Ye Chong got up from the ground, feeling a little disappointed of the long-anticipated first battle he had with the mech. It seemed like the mechs from Freedom Alliance weren't something compared to the 3 forces, the energy stability was poorly developed. From my experience, there won't be such dramatic explosion even if the engine of the mechs of the 3 forces were shot. Commented Ye Chong in his mind, being a mech expert himself.

??

Ye Chong had his mouth open when he saw the huge dentation on the ground. The explosion had wiped out the surrounding residence. That was not the reason for his opened mouth, rather it was the mechs that appeared right next to the dentation, around …

Nineteen?! There were 19 mechs? Including the one I smashed, there would be 20 of them.

They actually sent 20 mechs to finish me? This is too much… Or did they discover my true identity, that's why the hassle? Or mechs on this planet were actually this cheap?

He had seen this model on primary planet. Those broad muzzles and combative weapons over the body, there were even ancient lances, magnetic blades… some were too weird to be recognized by Ye Chong.

They were cool on designs but they seemed rather graceless at the moment as being alarmed by the unforeseen explosion, which they remained confused of what had happened. The Guardian's anti-detection system had done a brilliant job in this situation. Judging by their reaction, those men were unaware of Ye Chong's existence, yet.

This was the first encounter with the Freedom Alliance and within the first 5 minutes Ye Chong could already see the lack of experience of fight against an actual mech as well as the necessary anti-detection mechanism. Those were the basics and if it was one of the three forces they would have changed to Photon Mode and seen Ye Chong immediately.

With its barely 2 meter height, being in an area with such complicated landscape while utilizing its superior anti-detection mechanism, the chance of it being discovered would be drastically low.

And Ye Chong did not intend to remind them of his existence. This is obviously a good chance to run. I would be a fool if I stayed here and waved at them, saying "Hello I'm here!".

What he had done was evidently horrible. It felt like he had poked the wrong beehive as he saw the alarming situation after he scurried out of the residence zone, with flocks and flocks of their mechs flying in the sky. The mech seemed to be the unmodified, standard model for Freedom Alliance. The number though, it gave Ye Chong another shock, which convinced him why the Freedom Alliance, despite its lack of experience and technology, would not shun the war with the 3 forces. Are they playing the number game? But from where they could get pilots this many? Mechs are a mere issue to be resolved by manufacturing, but you can't manufacture pilots! Ye Chong understood the fact well.

So who Qiu Man really is in the Freedom Alliance? I'm not buying the fact that the hassle they took was merely because of a random employee's broken hand.

There were always time and place for this but not now.

Ye Chong, after observing the situation, deduced his defeat if he were to run to the opening now, as being swarmed upon by the mechs. He would be so dead even if the Guardian was godly.

Beep…

Ye Chong quickly dialed the modified communicator.

"Ye. It seemed like you have caused something?" Mu's flat voice sounded a little teasing for some reason but Ye Chong felt very much relaxed as judging by his tone, Ye Chong was not at a dead end yet.

"Yeah, I must admit, that woman is a nasty one to handle," confessed Ye Chong, with his expression illustrating helplessness. "I swear Shang would enjoy doing this if he was there." Thought Ye Chong to himself so suddenly for some reason.

"As statistics had shown, women have a significantly higher pointer of danger than men. Probably only Shang would be very interested in this. Mhm, Ye, this would be the optimum escape path I planned based on the situation just now. You only have 10 minutes at most. The probability of our communication being decoded by the enemies is very high," reminded Mu.

Ye Chong quickly memorized his escape path. It took him 10 seconds to do so, well the scouting he made in the city for the past few days was not for nothing, as every street and alley had already been imprinted in his mind. Since he was informed of the threatening existence of a super Maverick, he was pressure to be very, very well-prepared, although he did not really expect all these preparatory works would come in handy this soon. Even though…

Runaway? I'm running again? Am I going to run for the rest of my life? Sighed Ye Chong, as he leaped his steps, going for another runaway.

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Chapter 250: The Chase III

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Grandpa! I never asked you to touch him!" said Qiu Man, making a rather cutesy rant like a little girl, contrary to her mature self. Her face reddened in adorable annoyance was somewhat appealing.

"Hmph. That fella wanted to touch my granddaughter? I think he wanted to die, that's why. You have never been touched by anybody ever since you were young, and this damned fool actually snapped your hand? I don't feel right if I don't grind him a thousand times." Inside the projection of a communicator on the wall, a white haired elderly was throwing a demonstration to his precious.

This was Qiu Man's grandfather, known as Qiu Yuanlie. His beloved granddaughter lost her parents in an accident back then when she was much younger. So she had spent her childhood, her adolescence, her adulthood with her grandfather. It took him a moment of consideration before he accepted his granddaughter's proactive request to head out to work. And that research center happened to be her practice zone.

Seeing her grandfather throwing such tantrum, Qiu Man was silent, knowing the temper of her grandfather. This man whose name was Takano would probably be a part of the deceased record soon. No one else recognized the actual power of her grandfather as much as she did.

Seeing his granddaughter's ignorance, Qiu Yuanlie displayed ignorance. His granddaughter had been rather rebellious these few years so it would be a good opportunity to let her taste her own medicine.

But that did not mean that Ye Chong would be spared. How dare that ignorant kid fractured my girl Man's hand! This is barbaric! My beloved Man had never been hurt since I had been in charge! Not even a scratch! And this is what I am proud of. And now, despite all my efforts, there's this someone who jumped out of the bush and make things happen. This is disgusting! I felt my heart wailing when I imagined my granddaughter having her hand cracked! Ughhhh!

It took quite some time for Qiu Yuanlie to cool off. Sitting in his own office, he wondered how he would handle that bull in a museum whose name went by Takano!

Wait, Takano? Flinched Qiu Yuanlie, as the name rang a bell. I seemed to have seen this name before. My beloved Man seemed to have requested me to investigate on someone, was it this fella? But I did not really take note of her request, I just passed it to my men. So who exactly is this Takano? For he could snap my Man's hand? I understood the captivating charm of my granddaughter, that even those boys from the wealthy family went constantly mesmerized over her. And he actually was able to do that to Man?

He took a glance at Takano's profile, his face tightened as he saw nothing peculiar about this man. Takano seemed to be just like the others. Everything was clear and straightforward. "But too straightforward…" he whispered. The elderly, being one who had been working as the intelligence of the leading organization, how could he not see the oddness in this profile?

It was too perfect, a concise and concrete flawlessness, no one would have suspected the profile, not even Qiu Yuanlie himself if without experience. And that was his concern, the profile was unquestionably too perfect.

This person, was not like the others at all…

He quickly browsed for the recording on the day Man got her hand broken. He could not have Man by his side forever, but with his capabilities, Man could be under his protection 24/7. As long as he was willing to do it for his granddaughter, Man could remain in his vigilance for the rest of his life. Qiu Yuanlie stared at the hologram projection. The happening was only a record of about 20 seconds but it took Qiu Yuanlie 10 minutes to watch it, as he continuously readjusted the angle of view, trying to grab as much details as possible.

His eyes lustered.

This man, is indeed, not a simple person.

It was a speculation from him out of intuition at first and now, from the visuals, he could confirm his belief. This man had demonstrated his combative skills through that snap. He must be an expert of it. And what gave him a sense of danger was the eyes of Takano's eyes the moment when Man approached him by her hand. The shrinkage of his pupils exerted a powerful bloodthirstiness. I had seen a person like this before. Only those men who had experienced wars and had gained the fighting intuition would wield such eyes.

And he had only met a few persons like this in his organization.

So a man like this must not be as simple as his profile had stated. That sense he gained from wars was not something that could be replicated easily. He knew his men well enough. To be honest, the fact that Freedom Alliance was able to fight equally with the other 3 forces was merely because of a majority aid provided by the intelligences. So he believed in the capabilities of his men. They should have identified such a simple fraud within the profile itself since the beginning. But they did not, which could only mean… the information from the residence center itself was already a fake from the start.

Hmm… this is getting really fun. Though Qiu Yuanlie as he laid his hand over the table, with the index finger tapping the surface, he smiled coldly. He could basically confirm that this man by the name of Takano was up for something when he got into the research center.

But… that research unit was a mere training ground for Man. It was empty and acted as a living stage for Man's career from the time it was founded. So the elderly felt strange.

Assuming this man with the name "Takano" was a spy sent by the other 3 forces, well… he seemed to be a little too foolish to be a spy. The elderly shook his head, as he discarded this ridiculous thought. He had talked to his colleagues countless times, he knew the ounces in each force well enough.

Then, which side do this fella belong? What's his plan? Of all things, out of his habit gained from his occupation, Qiu Yuanlie actually thought these at first.

Oh wait, should I be asking these first? Realized, he laughed, for labelling himself being overthinking. Well I would meet that fella soon enough, everything would open up itself when I asked him in person. I had sent 20 pilots for him. I mean if those pilots could not even capture a single man, they could be flushed down to the blackhole, especially when none of the information on Takano's profile indicated him being a pilot, he seemed to be more likely a martial arts practitioner to me.

Well, even if he was in fact a skillful pilot, he could never run away. Thought so, he connected his communicator and requested all war units to undergo Level 2 Security protocol.

Am I doing too much? Yuanlie, you are a little hot-headed sometimes. Hah… Teased himself as he giggled. But his smile froze soon after, as he thought of something.

It was a problem … a potentially fatal issue! Okay, given that the person has the ability to alter the database of the residence information center itself, that person could very much be a top Maverick. Qiu Yuanlie staggered, as nobody knew the capabilities of a top Maverick more than himself, since he was in fact, a Maverick himself.

Only the Maverick could understand the Maverick.

A knock on the door resounded in his room.

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Chapter 251: The Chase IV

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

"Come in," Qiu Yuanlie's voice sounded solemn and dignified.

In came three large men, all looking pale as they squirmed under Qiu Yuanlie's scrutiny. Qiu Yuanlie was an intense character, and was very strict towards his subordinates, so they were all respectful towards him.

Qiu Yuanlie was a worldly person, and frowned upon the sight of his subordinates. He asked lowly, "Trouble?"

Seeing Qiu Yuanlie's frown, the three of them felt a sudden chill in their hearts. They exchanged glances, and finally the man who stood in the middle braced himself and answered, "Yes."

"Tell me more," Qiu Yuanlie picked up the bitter pine wood carved teacup from his table and sipped carefully, looking at ease with himself, unhurried and not as intense as he was.

The trio were encouraged by the lack of reprimands from Qiu Yuanlie, knowing that they had been spared. They quickly reported the situation in exaggerating fashion.

They did not see the enemy, only just beginning to go into a surrounding formation when the enemy moved first, as though anticipating their movements. The attack came without warning, and was very powerful, instantly destroying one Aren mech, which ended in an explosion. The sudden explosion caught the other mechs off guard. Chaos ensued, and their target took this opportunity to escape from their enveloping formation.

The target's mech was unknown. His attack strategy was unknown. His whereabouts were unknown.

At this point, the trio could not help but blush out of embarrassment of their failure.

Qiu Yuanlie kept silent. The target's abilities were beyond his expectations. However, knowing that he was supported by a capable Maverick, it was not strange for him to realize their plans beforehand. The fact that the target could destroy an Aren with a single hit was surprising to him. Aren was the Alliance's special made battle mech, armed with powerful weapons for close and long range distances. While its armaments were a little inferior compared to that of the Three Forces, it was comparable in other respects. Hence, Aren was impressive in the battlefield.

Aren mech pilots were systematically trained by the Alliance. They had to be excellent in shooting and mech combat. In one-on-one battles, Aren mechs would fare well against any of the mechs from the Three Forces. Average mechs could not hope to win againt an Aren - only the Sanctuary's Darn, Black Cove's Stellar Flare and the MPA's Messenger were on the same level. To destroy an Aren with one hit, then escape from the attack formation of a squad of 19 Arens - that was only achievable with an advanced mech from any of the Three Forces, most probably one of their trump cards.

All these thoughts flashed through Qiu Yuanlie's mind in the blink of an eye.

The combined power of a trump card and a Maverick was not insignificant.

Qiu Yuanlie waved, signalling his subordinates to leave. The three felt like they were magnanimously forgiven, and quickly left Qiu Yuanlie's room.

The use of the Alliance's trump cards was a hassle, but that was never Qiu Yuanlie's intention. No matter how strong a trump card was, it could not win against numbers. The Freedom Alliance had an important advantage over the Three Forces, and that was their strength in numbers.

Once he activated Level Two Emergency protocol, it would not be easy even for a trump card to leave this city unnoticed. However, with a capable Maverick's assistance, Qiu Yuanlie's efforts would not be enough.

"A Maverick …" Qiu Yuanlie's eyes glowed intensely. A Maverick can only be stopped by another Maverick.

It had been about two decades since he had last seen action himself. The thought of his glorious days in the virtual world long ago made his blood boil with vigor. In just the blink of an eye, 20 over years had passed! Qiu Yuanlie felt a touch sentimental.

It had been over 20 years ago since he did something of grand significance for the Alliance. The mission was difficult, but he had accomplished it flawlessly. It was his flawless performance that won him the position of the Intelligence Division's General soon after. He held the position for two decades. Aside from the early years since he joined, he had improved the Division to the point where he rarely needed to do things himself anymore. For more than a decade ever since, he had never been in the field. Even when the Three Forces become exposed to the world earlier, he stayed behind the scenes.

While it had been more than a decade, this did not mean that he had grown weak. Everyday, he spent long hours researching in computations. Compared to his younger self, he was no longer as imaginative, but now, he was infinitely better at rigorous computations.

It looked like it's time for him to enter the field!

Fortunately, Ye Chong had investigated the city in detail to the point where he could memorize the local geography, else Mu's proposed escape route would have been wasted on him.

For now, Ye Chong had already broken through his 18th wall. To avoid the enemy's patrols, Ye Chong had to move through people's homes. Of course, meeting the inhabitants was unavoidable, but Ye Chong always hit them unconscious before they could react to his presence. Thanks to Ye Chong's earlier efforts in learning biology, he had a better grasp of how to make someone unconscious efficiently.

Killing was not pleasant business, and Ye Chong was not bloodthirsty. He did not know of alternatives in his early days, but now that he had choices, most of which were more efficient and effective, there was no longer the need to kill.

Looking at the time, Ye Chong had taken three minutes to reach where he was now. If all went well, he would reach Coxcomb in another 10 minutes. Once he entered Coxcomb, he would be safe. Coxcomb was now armed to the teeth. Moreover, with its new engines and firepower, escape would not be too difficult.

Ye Chong thought as he ran without slowing down.

Another wall was upon him, and Ye Chong punched straight into it without hesitation.

Crack! A soft sound, followed by a crack that spreaded out like a spiderweb.

Ye Chong paused. The first 18 walls he dismantled were all crushed with his fists. Ye Chong's punches may look like normal, but they were powered by energy manipulation techniques from the Lan Family of September, and were very powerful. More importantly, using this technique to break through walls would not be too noisy.

However, this wall only yielded slightly with a crack. The expected hole in the wall was not to be.

Ye Chong reached forward and lightly knocked on the wall. The composite material came crumbling down like raindrops. Ye Chong was startled, and quickly began to move. His hands were everywhere, catching all the crumbling pieces that fell from the wall.

He caught the pieces, then placed them softly on the ground. Ye Chong's figure moved in a blur.

The entire process was silent. Ye Chong was thankful that his hands were fast enough, or the pieces falling to the ground would have alerted the people in the house. However, even with Ye Chong's speed, the crumbling pieces strained him to his limit.

The entire process was over in less than 10 seconds, but Ye Chong was already drenched in sweat.

Luckily, he did not miss any of the pieces.

Ye Chong breathed in deeply a few times and calmed his breathing. The situation was over quickly, but it had drained Ye Chong a lot. It was even more tiring than breaking through the first 18 walls.

Looking beyond the wall, however, Ye Chong groaned.

It was an alloy wall! A solid alloy wall was sandwiched between two walls made of average composite material. This kind of security would only be available in powerful families. Since they spent this much effort in walls, it was only natural that there would be guards in the house.

This was a problem for Ye Chong. Now was not a good time for battle. Ye Chong believed that if his punch was slightly louder, he would now be overcome by an overwhelming swarm of mechs.

However, according to Shang's route, he had to pass through this place. Ye Chong ran to a window, carefully peering outside. There were many mechs outside, way more than he expected. There were also a few unfamiliar models. Ye Chong quickly retreated from the window.

It looked like the inhabitants beyond the wall must be someone influential and powerful. While he did not know exactly who it was, the fact was clear as day.

Ye Chong was troubled.

However, there was no time to hesitate. In fact, he had no choice. If he did not reach Coxcomb in 10 minutes, then he would surely die here.

In another battlefield, the action was also heating up.

The atmosphere inside Coxcomb was tense. Everyone stayed in the control room. Little Rock sat solemnly behind the photon processor, data flowing out of the machine like a waterfall. If Ye Chong was there, he must thought it looked very familiar.

Soon, the information displayed before Little Rock stopped refreshing, and transformed into a hive-like network. Little Rock went into action - he must help Mu do some calculations. Little Rock's talent in computations was approved by Mu. To win Mu's approval and work alongside him, showed just how impressive Little Rock's achievements were in this field.

Days of working together allowed Little Rock and Mu to cooperate rather seamlessly. They communicated through the photon processor without speaking a word. The entire control room was silent, and tension was thick. Lian Yue could only watch helplessly, no longer in the mood for his own research. Even if he wanted to, all of Coxcomb's photon processor were now used by Mu to defend against this super powerful Maverick.

Lian Yue paced around the room anxiously.

Zhu Ling sat quietly with her eyes closed, deep in meditation. Beside her, Overwing stood like a guardian angel.

Confrontation was imminent!

Chapter 252: Counterstrike I

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Ye Chong deployed Guardian. Before he came to this wall, the territory was difficult for Guardian to move about. The black-and-white vision would make it hard for Ye Chong to study his surroundings, hence he had chosen to withdraw Guardian. However, with this wall in front of him, Guardian would be more suitable to break through. Besides, Ye Chong did not want to be defenseless without Guardian when he reached the other side. Who knew what was behind this wall?

As long as he was piloting Guardian, he would at least not be completely helpless.

Guardian shone with a dazzling gold, its black-white eyes looked like they could see through a person's soul. Ye Chong was wearing a tight fitting spacesuit, his balanced and slender figure apparent from the outside. The soft metallic mask fitted perfectly on Ye Chong's face, showing his facial expression clearly. The golden mask and black-white eyes had steely angles, giving Ye Chong a cold and eerie look.

Ye Chong moved without hesitation, withdrawing his two daggers. Every second was precious to him, a matter of life and death.

Swish swish! Ye Chong's hands were so fast it was hard to follow with one's eyes. Silently, a square hole was carved out of the alloy door.

Ye Chong looked at the hole in the alloy wall, impressed. The daggers did not disappoint him, with such astonishing sharpness!

Du Yun leaned against the door, yawning lazily as he looked at the Aren mechs outside on full alert.

"Tsk tsk, these days, you can see all sorts of people out there," Du Yun sighed to himself. Today, he heard that a man had broken Lady Qiu Man's hand. In fact, he did not quite believe the news at first. Lady Qiu Man had a fragile body, it was not impossible that she hurt her hand. However, if the news said that it was caused by a man, then it was only natural for him to feel suspicious.

What an extraordinary beauty! Her flawless features and lively eyes were so enchanting, no man would dare to hurt her. Du Yun's heart raced. A woman like this was every man's dream lover, and Du Yun was no exception. However, he knew that it was impossible for him to win her over. Besides, backing her was the old man Qiu. The old fellow's terrible temper was enough to dampen Du Yun's fantasy of that beautiful woman.

Best if he kept to his own business. However, it seemed that Lady Qiu Man was really injured … He turned back to look into the house. The woman was as obstinate as her grandfather, choosing to stay at this kind of place. While security measures were taken, this place would not guarantee her safety. However, looking at the swarm of mechs outside, he realized that there were mechs patrolling everywhere outside the house. There was also him guarding the house. There should be no problems.

He had just received orders earlier to be here and protect Lady Qiu Man.

To him, it was definitely a golden opportunity. Du Yun imagined that should something happened, he would be able to prove himself. If he could win Lady Qiu Man's approval, that would be most wonderful. However, looking at the tight security outside, Du Yun did not think anyone would be foolish enough to make trouble here.

"Perhaps, today's only going to be routine work," Du Yun mocked himself inside.

Suddenly, Du Yun froze. His cynical attitude earlier was all gone, his expression turned serious as he tilted his head like he was listening for something. As the Freedom Alliance's advanced mech pilot, he was much stronger than the average mech pilot. This was the reason he was assigned to be here.

He heard a faint but dull sound. If it was some other normal person, they would have thought they heard wrong. However, Du Yun knew better. True experts were confident of their own abilities.

What followed was utter silence.

Du Yun's expression turned grimmer still. He quickly deployed his mech.

Du Yun's mech was silver with a dull, matte surface, giving off a rustic and steady feel. Compared to Aren's 15-meter high build, this mech looked more compact. From the exterior, it looked like a close range mech, complete with a shield and laser sword. The only eye-catching feature was a blood red chain wrapping its upper half body. It looked like red chainmail on the mech. At the ends of the chain were two metal spheres covered with barbs. On the bulging parts of its shoulders were two concealed shooting chambers, storing powerful energy weapons. This allowed the mech to be capable of close and long range combat.

Du Yun's mech was quite famous in the Freedom Alliance, with the pleasant name Windchime. The mech pilots around Du Yun saw him deploying his mech, and were all curious. They did not notice anything amiss. However, with Du Yun's reputation, no one doubted him. Since Du Yun made his move, everyone instantly felt a sense of foreboding.

However, the absence of a target made them all nervous and confused.

Du Yun had no time to waste on explaining. He quickly climbed up into Windchime's pilot cabin. From the mech's weapons, it was clear that the Freedom Alliance's mech pilots were all trained in close and long range combat. Close range combat was compulsory for all their mech pilots. As an elite member, Du Yun's strength in this field was apparent. Climbing into his mech's pilot cabin was the quickest way to get there.

Once he was inside, Du Yun hesitated no further and rushed inside the house.

Windchime may be a lot smaller than Aren, but it was still over 10 meters tall. The room's door would not fit the mech. However, Du Yun had no time for such trivialities. That faint sound he heard did not bode well. Suddenly, he realized where the enemy might be escaping to.

D*mn it!

Even the reinforced walls could not stand against Windchime's impact. Bang! The wall crumbled into pieces, and Windchime swiftly made its way into the room. All the mech pilots standing outside stared at Du Yun's baffling and crazy reaction, unable to grasp the situation.

The people inside the room were also alarmed by his actions.

Standing behind Qiu Man, Guang's hollow eyes now shone brightly. He quickly stepped before Qiu Man, moving too fast for the human eye to follow. Qiu Man only heard a thunderous crash and almost immediately, Guang was already in front of her.

Windchime's impact had caused the many composite and alloy pieces to fly towards Qiu Man.

Du Yun groaned. He was too focused on the enemy that he had forgotten Lady Qiu Man was defenseless. Before he could react any further, Guang was already standing before Qiu Man, reaching outwards with his hands, easily deflecting all the wall fragments flying towards him away to the other corners of the room. None of the fragments hit Guang, and Qiu Man, standing behind him, was unharmed.

Du Yun heaved a sigh of relief. He now knew that the man with hollow eyes, following Lady Qiu Man around like a puppet was actually an expert. Even he was impressed by the middle-aged man's moves. While he could have deflected the fragments as well, he would not be able to do it so easily.

Just then, the situation turned for the worse!

Wham! It was another loud crash. The wall to the right of Du Yun crumbled into dust, as the fragments flew towards him.

Du Yun was at least a veteran, and did not panic despite the surprise. With the middle-aged man here, these fragments would not harm Lady Qiu Man.

Du Yun's did not leave the controls. In fact, when he first stepped into the room, he was already in a high state of alertness.

Suddenly, Du Yun's eyes widened. A two-meter square of metal plate was mixed amongst the fragments, and was flying straight towards Lady Qiu Man. This was a huge metal plate, moving at high speed. If anyone was hit by it, the victim would definitely be reduced to broken flesh and bones. Even if he was confident of the middle-aged man's abilities, Du Yun dared not take the risk.

His hands danced across the controls.

The blood red chain that wrapped around Windchime's body like a poisonous serpent suddenly raised its head and struck out! It moved swiftly, overtaking the metal plate. The barbs on the metal sphere's barbs shone like a snake's poisonous fangs.

Ding!

The sharp clang of metal against metal was painful to the ear. The metal plate was hit, and diverged from its course, flying off to the side. However, with her ears unprotected, Qiu Man's face writhed in pain.

Du Yun was intensely alert. Up until now, the enemy had not showed himself. However, when he saw his metal sphere hit the metal plate, he felt a little relieved.

However, just 0.1 seconds after his barbed metal sphere hit the metal plate, Du Yun saw a shadow move past him. A golden figure suddenly appeared behind the two-meter square metal plate, moving so quickly that Du Yun only caught a blur of a shadow.

Du Yun was shocked! That was fast!

The golden figure suddenly pressed against the wall. At that moment, a minute pause in its movements allowed Du Yun to finally make out the golden figure clearly.

This person was wearing a weird gold-coloured tight suit, that covered even his face. The odd metallic gold luster seemed like soft-textured material, showing the wearer's facial expressions clearly. The black-white eyes on the gold mask were a striking visual contrast.

Du Yun felt a sudden chill in him for no apparent reason! He did not know that those black-white eyes would carve themselves deep into his memories!

The gold figure suddenly stopped moving, and adopted a strange posture. It bent its legs and pushed one hand against the wall, looking like a tightly drawn bow.

Not good! Du Yun immediately gauged the enemy's intention. His expression twisted as he moved quick as lightning to prepare himself!

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Chapter 253: Counterstrike II

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In truth, Ye Chong never expected to see Qiu Man behind the wall. While everything had happened because of this woman, Ye Chong did not hate her. To him, Qiu Man was only a woman, albeit more dangerous than the others he had met. Now, she was probably his enemy.

Nonetheless, Qiu Man was not so dangerous a threat compared to that silver mech.

Ye Chong was no longer as oblivious as he was before. When meeting enemies, Ye Chong would study them closely. In just a split second, Ye Chong understood the situation.

These people were protecting that woman!

Ye Chong came through and reached another wall very quickly. However, in that short time span, the silver mech's performance was enough to catch his eye.

The other party was obviously an expert. Whether it was his skills or predicting his own movements, the man was capable. That sphere-on-chain weapon was the first Ye Chong had ever encountered, but that did not stop him from admiring its dexterous usage.

Ye Chong was not the only one. Few could actually name the weapon today. The morningstar was a lesser known weapon even in ancient times, and it looked strange in the hands of a mech.

Since it was difficult to master, requiring special maneuvering techniques, not many could actually use the weapon today.

Fortunately, Ye Chong never underestimated his enemies, much less when facing a weapon he had never seen or heard of. Flexible, fast, unpredictable - these were Ye Chong's immediate conclusions about the weapon.

Ye Chong had innate talent in the battlefield.

In that moment when he broke through the wall and saw the silver mech, Ye Chong knew that Mu's escape route would not work out. Mu's plan depended on him not drawing any attention. Now that Qiu Man was here, and this silver mech, Ye Chong knew that it would be impossible to run away unnoticed. Besides, there were many other mechs guarding outside.

Fortunately, Ye Chong was adaptable. The best option now would be to get to their leader. With an important figure in his hands, the enemy would not dare to touch him. With this thought in mind, his eyes wandered to Qiu Man, wearing a flustered expression.

The woman was the perfect hostage in all respects.

Ye Chong crouched near the wall like a golden frog, eyeing Qiu Man intently. His bent legs gave him power to launch him forward like a golden arrow, heading straight towards the woman!

Du Yun's eyes went red with tension! Just as Ye Chong left the wall, he issued the commands to attack. Another morningstar flew towards the space between Ye Chong and Qiu Man, the sharp barbs on the weapon looking menacingly bloodthirsty.

Ye Chong saw a blurred movement, and the morningstar was already in front of him, covered with some frightening looking barbs. Ye Chong was flying too quickly. If he crashed into the morningstar, even Guardian would not keep him alive.

However, he was now suspended midair, with no physical support to redirect himself. Impact was inevitable. Besides, this was his chance. Once the mechs outside came in, his plan of capturing Qiu Man as hostage would fail. This meant that his chances of escaping would diminish to an insignificant figure.

Even against an enemy, Ye Chong could not help but comment on the silver mech's pilot for this clever attack.

However, Ye Chong was not one to give up, ever!

Ye Chong was flying too fast! The morningstar grew larger and larger in his eyes, until he could see the chilling light reflecting off its sharp barbs. The more dangerous it was, the more he should stay calm. Panic would not improve his situation, but hasten his death. Ye Chong's numerous close calls allowed him to stay calm in this deathly situation.

As the morningstar came closer and closer, Ye Chong grew even calmer!

Yes! Now! Ye Chong's eyes shone brightly. His right arm lifted from the side, reaching towards the barbs on the morningstar!

If one could watch this moment in slow motion, it would be a wonderful spectacle. Just before Ye Chong hit the morningstar, his right hand gently grabbed onto one of the bards on the metal sphere. Unlike Ye Chong's crude entrance earlier, he now moved softly and elegantly like a dancer. Just as his right hand touched the barb, Ye Chong's shoulders and arms expanded as he pulled in his abdomen. His upper body became an upside-down triangular shape.

Every barb on the morningstar was as thick as an adult's arm. Ye Chong's right arm did not seem to push very hard, but his upper body was not bent into an S-shape. Ye Chong pushed gently and flew towards the ceiling.

Du Yun was already shocked to the core! He had thought, right until the point the morningstar met the enemy, that the enemy would not be able to escape. Whether it was the timing or the location, his attack was perfect. If he was the one attacked, he would not be able to avoid it himself.

However, the scene unfolding before him was too shocking! Du Yun was never so surprised before in his life. To him, the golden figure was too intriguing!

To grab onto the barb at such a high speed, and to escape unharmed - heavens, what visual acuity and accuracy it would take! He saw every detail of that moment, how the enemy had held onto the morningstar and bent his upper body strangely into an S-shape. "Just who exactly am I dealing with?" Du Yun could not help but sigh in dread.

He had fought in many battles, but never had he seen something as extraordinary as this.

In fact, one cannot blame him for his shock. Anyone who saw it would be shocked still. Ye Chong had actually exercised some kind of muscle control technique. To strengthen his arms and shoulders, Ye Chong tucked in his abdominal muscles towards the shoulders, a unique muscle control technique of the Lan family of September. However, Ye Chong had done it so quickly that it created the illusion of his shoulders and arms expanding and his abdomen shrinking.

Under normal circumstances, if he had on his clothing, his muscle transformation would not have been visible to observers. However, since Guardian was malleable and tight fitting, that strange transformation was completely seen by Du Yun.

The transformation was a visual shock to anyone who had never seen it before. Even a veteran like Du Yun was momentarily distracted.

Just as Du Yun paused in distraction, Ye Chong had already reached the ceiling. Ye Chong dared not try any direct attacks again. He now knew how dangerous a long distance direct attack like that was, himself suspended midair without any way of changing course. He was essentially defenseless. He pushed his feet lightly against the ceiling towards the wall and returned to the ground.

This was Ye Chong's specialty - short distance direction changes. His trajectory was mind bending to watch. A golden figure with black-white eyes moved in a blur, approaching Qiu Man like a golden lightning strike.

That short burst of muscle transformation had already pushed Ye Chong beyond his limits. His muscle control techniques had not yet reached this level of proficiency, so he was unavoidably injured from the move. Right now, he was no longer as strong as he appeared to be!

The silver mech was already behind Ye Chong. Being so close to Qiu Man, the mech pilot would not dare to use his chain weapon again, not without hurting Qiu Man.

From the moment Du Yun appeared in the room, the middle-aged man, Guang seemed to come to life, blocking in front of Qiu Man. He glared at Ye Chong intently, eager for battle!

However, Ye Chong did not want to fight him. Time was precious for him right now. Ye Chong took a step to the side. He moved in a blur, and was beside Qiu Man in the next moment. Ye Chong was good at changing directions like that, and with Guardian's strength, he reached Qiu Man easily.

Du Yun was growing anxious and furious. With the enemy so near Lady Qiu Man, he could not interfere. Besides, the opponent was cunning, moving around here and there even faster than before, making it difficult to aim at him. If Lady Qiu Man was not there, he would have used heavy fire, but now he could only watch and wait.

The only thing he could do was pray that the middle-aged man with Lady Qiu man could handle the enemy.

Guang's eyes were full of life, a strong contrast to their initial hollowness. He seemed to finally and truly come into existence! Ye Chong did not want to fight Guang. While he did not know who Guang was, their few encounters earlier made Ye Chong aware that the man was a combat expert.

Guang took a sidestep, and Qiu Man was once again behind him.

Ye Chong switched positions a few more times, but Guang was always able to stand between him and Qiu Man. Ye Chong was growing impatient. He realized that if he did not go pass this middle-aged man called Guang, he would not be able to achieve his goal.

Ye Chong no longer hesitated. He lunged forward towards Guang!

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Chapter 254: Counterstrike III

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Guang's eyes shone brightly. His left hand moved to distract, but his right hand turned into a fist and came straight towards Ye Chong.

Ye Chong was overjoyed, and met Guang's right fist with his. Strength was always Ye Chong's forte. His physical strength was also top class, enough to surprise even Mu and Shang. Besides, he was a practitioner of the September Lan family's muscle control technique, where strength amplification was an important part of it. With Guardian's support, Ye Chong's punch was packed with so much power that even he himself would not take it lightly.

It seemed that the fastest way to finish this was with brute force.

Guang did not evade, his features dancing with fiery vigour.

Crack!

Guang's right arm exploded into a rain of flesh and bones, like it had been hit with a mech head on. His right arm was completely useless now. With such a serious injury, even the best available medical treatment would not be able to restore it. If one were to dissect Guang's right arm, you would see that the bones in his arm had all crumbled into numerous minute fragments. Ye Chong's punch was powerful and astonishing.

At the same time, Ye Chong felt something warm rush up his throat, and he spitted a mouthful of blood behind Guardian's mask. Guang's strength had greatly exceeded Ye Chong's expectations. He tried to steady himself, but his mind was still whirling in an attempt to understand what had happened.

Was this truly something a human body was capable of?

This was terrifying! Ye Chong had never met anyone who could compare with him in terms of physical strength. All these years, his strength seemed to have reached a point of stagnation, and even Mu and Shang agreed that he must have reached the limits of the human body. Hence, Ye Chong had devoted most of his effort in mastering techniques.

However, this puppet-like middle-aged man had completely shattered Ye Chong's belief. The man was bare-handed, without any tools to aid him. Ye Chong himself had Guardian's protection, and yet he was still injured. The power behind that punch was incredible.

Without Guardian's aid, even if he used the Lan family's amplification technique to the fullest, he would not be able to attack with so much power like Guang. If the man was not right before him now, Ye Chong would not have believed that he was human.

The world was truly full of surprises!

He could only thank his lucky stars that the man was more heavily injured than he was. After receiving such heavy damage, the man would not be able to fight back again.

Ye Chong felt a pressure building in his chest, feeling a little dizzy. "Looks like I'm also hurt bad," Ye Chong laughed bitterly to himself.

He hesitated no longer. Ye Chong lunged at Qiu Man.

Du Yun was stupefied. The gold figure was too powerful. In his eyes, the gold figure and the middle-aged man had only exchanged a single blow, and the so-called expert middle-aged man was gravely injured from it. He did not know that the exchange had left both sides heavily injured. Ye Chong was hurt from the exchange, on top of his injury earlier.

Qiu Man's snow white throat looked so enticing to Ye Chong.

However, at that moment, a single hand blocked Ye Chong's advance. "Guang?" Ye Chong paused, his movements stalled. Guang's expression was unchanged, still as vigorous as it was before, completely ignoring his injuries and lacking any signs of pain.

How was that possible? Even with Ye Chong's calmness, he almost let out a gasp. With his biology studies, he knew exactly what that kind of injury meant to the victim. It would have been difficult to stay awake, much less continue continuing. The pain would have instantly led to a blackout, while the huge blood loss would not have allowed for further vigorous movements such as combat.

However, Ye Chong was looking at him right now. Guang did not seem ill at ease. If he could not see Guang's right hand hanging beside him uselessly, Ye Chong would not have guessed he was injured.

Ye Chong momentary pause was an opening for Guang. The man's left hand came quickly, trailing upwards from Ye Chong's right arm. When Ye Chong recovered, Guang's left hand had already grasped tightly onto Ye Chong's right hand like some mysterious vine.

Ye Chong was shocked. His left hand came into a fist and went straight for Guang's chest. If Guang did not let go, Ye Chong's attack would kill him.

Guang seemed unfazed, and Ye Chong felt his right arm tighten.

Crack! A faint sound, followed by Ye Chong's pained groan! He felt a powerful grip and sharp pain coming from his right arm.

His bone was broken! The pain was like an adrenaline injection. It had been a long, long while since Ye Chong had been injured again and again.

Sometimes, an injured animal is more terrifying than a calm animal.

Ye Chong instantly saw red! All the emotions suppressed by his calmness erupted. He yelled loudly, left hand delivering a blow on Guang's chest like a hammer. Ye Chong's punch was much stronger than the last one, and Guang was flung backwards like a sandbag. His chest was sunken, and the sound of bones breaking could be heard clearly in the room.

Ye Chong did not leave him at that. Guang's left hand was still gripping onto his right arm. Ye Chong pulled his right arm, the pain evoking another groan from him, while Guang was once again brought before him.

The elbows, the knees … Ye Chong's attack came like a storm, raining down onto Guang's entire body. In less than three seconds, Guang's body was beaten to a pulp.

"Huu …" Ye Chong exhaled deeply, blood still trickling from the edge of his mouth. He finally calmed down. Qiu Man was already frozen in shock. She had been well protected since young, and had never seen bloody scenes like this. Her face was drained of blood, and she finally could not hold it much longer and began to throw up.

Ye Chong turned back to look at the silver mech. The silver mech stood there frozen in place like a puppet.

Du Yun was shocked beyond reason! The two persons before him were not like any human at all. The middle-aged man was practically a maniac, a fearless maniac. The gold figure, on the other hand … Du Yun shuddered! It was too scary! The middle-aged man was already inhumanly strong, he was sure about this. A master like this was stronger than even those so-called combat instructors. However, this master of masters was beaten to death right before him. Ah, no! This was not just death. The man was now more like a pile of bloody meat. Du Yun wanted to get away from the man as soon as possible. While he had never heard of anyone breaking a mech's armor with their bare hands, Du Yun could still feel a chill as he sat inside his mech.

When the gold figure turned back to look at him, those black-white eyes looked like the eyes of the God of Death, promising the end of many, many more lives. Du Yun almost lost it.

Ye Chong waited no longer. He dragged Qiu Man, who was still throwing up, over to himself without any care for delicateness. His hand reached and closed around her snow white throat. This was because Ye Chong heard the other mechs coming towards him.

In fact, it was not that the mechs reacted too slowly; it was that everything had happened too fast. From the moment Ye Chong broke through the wall and began fighting with Guang, it was only three seconds. The fight between Ye Chong and Guang was only 10 seconds at most. In these 13 seconds, only the ones present understood the risks and close calls involved.

The other mechs were not as bold as Du Yun, and did not break straight through the wall. Just as they were in a confused state, a golden figure suddenly came out in a flash, and quickly escaped.

The group was shocked, still not understanding the situation, only standing around the doorway.

"You idiots, go after him!" Du Yun roared through the comms. The other mechs were all standing around the doorway, and he could only watch as Ye Chong escaped. In truth, he could do nothing, but pursuit was necessary. The enemy had taken Lady Qiu Man hostage. If any of the fools opened fire … He shuddered as he thought of facing the old man Qiu should that had happened.

In any case, Lady Qiu Man's life was top priority - Du Yun decided then and there, and quickly went out by breaking through the adjacent wall. He scanned from the air above and finally located the golden figure. Quickly, he gave chase to the enemy.

Ye Chong had already given up on the escape route that Mu designed for him. Given the circumstances, that route was already pointless. Now, he must get onboard Coxcomb as soon as possible. Ye Chong chose the shortest route to his objective.

The gold figure moved so quickly that Du Yun could barely believe his eyes. Even Windchime's engines on full blast could not keep up. If it was the Alliance's Aren mechs, they would only trail from far behind. Du Yun chased as fast as he could as he reported the current situation to the higher-ups.

Ye Chong and Du Yun were both oblivious to the fact that far away, on another battlefield without any traces of firepower, the battle was reaching its climax. Ye Chong's actions had a direct influence on the future of this battlefield.

"Switch the calculation module!" Mu's voice sounded strained like never before, as he continued, "Initiate structural improvements. Reinstall the three lines of defenses."

Sweat trickled down from Little Rock's forehead, but he dared not be distracted. His eyes were staring straight ahead at the ever-changing data on his holographic screen, as he transferred his calculation results to Mu. Suddenly, a handkerchief came and wiped off the beading sweat on his forehead.

Little Rock was startled, and looked up. It was Zhu Ling. He returned a sincere smile, and returned to his calculations. Zhu Ling said nothing, only holding onto the handkerchief as she stood beside Little Rock.

Lian Yue took in the scene with interest. He moved closer to Zhu Ling and began sweetly, "Dear Ling'er, why don't you wipe off my sweat too." He nudged his forehead towards Zhu Ling, which was not sweating at all.

Zhu Ling returned with a look of ridicule and humphed coldly. She raised her leg and kicked Lian Yue hard, sending him flying.

Qiu Yuanlie studied the transformation happening before his eyes, and could not help but be impressed. The opponent was excellent, powerful in his calculations, the traps almost flawless. While he thought they lacked some creativity, but such impressive computation skills would be enough to do as one wished in the virtual world. This must be the strongest Maverick in computations in the entire virtual world.

Qiu Yuanlie could not help feel a little competitive. Experts were hard to find. He had never needed to do things himself for so long, mostly because there were no worthy opponents.

Computation, decryption, trap setups, assault … The entire Intelligence Division's resources were directed to him for his disposal. He was now like a general, directing his soldiers and infantry, while his officers were the data that he entered into the system.

The opponent was strong, blocking all his attacks. However, Qiu Yuanlie did not turn hasty. The battle between Mavericks could be won in a split second, but the probing and defense efforts that came before would be long and arduous. Every Maverick must learn to be patient. Beside, no one knew the Rainbow's virtual world like he did. This was his territory for 20 over years. He could reach every corner of the Rainbow's virtual world. Given time, he would be able to find the opponent's weakness.

Infiltrate and counter-infiltrate, attack and defense, diversion and counter-diversion … The entire battlefield was in a constant state of push-and-pull. In order to prevent wide scale effects, Qiu Yuanlie tried his best to contain the range of the battlefield. However, the side effects were inevitable. Rainbow planet's virtual world was already affected in many places.

Bang bang bang! It was a panicked series of door knocks. Qiu Yuanlie was furious. He had ordered for his subordinates to not disturb him no matter what, and now they had dared to defy him.

Besides, the battle climax was near, and Qiu Yuanlie did not want to be distracted.

Bang bang bang! The knocks came even more urgently.

Qiu Yuanlie was already at the peak of his anger. He would smash whoever it was to pieces once his battle was over. For now, however, he could only suppress his emotions. He breathed in deeply for a few times to calm himself.

Bang! Someone broke through the door.

"General, bad news! Lady Qiu Man was taken hostage!"

Rumble! Qiu Yuanlie could feel something snap inside his mind. He took off his helmets, revealing bloodshot eyes as he said hoarsely, "What?"

Qiu Yuanlie felt like a tearing off a person's head. The subordinate who came in to report gulped heavily and continued, "According - according to mech pilot Du Yun's re - report, Lady Qiu Man was taken hostage!"

Qiu Yuanlie nearly blacked out. After a long moment, he finally recovered. His voice was bitter and hoarse as he asked, "Is this information reliable?"

"This just came in from mech pilot Du Yun. He's now in pursuit of the enemy." The subordinate stole a quick glance at Qiu Yuanlie's pale face before asking, "Mech pilot Du Yun is requesting further orders. Please advise."

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Chapter 255: Counterstrike IV

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

With a single hand holding Qiu Man, Ye Chong advanced as fast as he could.

It looked like Qiu Man was really someone very important. The mechs standing in his way all avoided him. This allowed Ye Chong to move as fast as he could.

Du Yun was still following Ye Chong tightly from behind. He was now being very careful. The gold figure's crazy strength had left a deep impression in him.

Ye Chong ran, and felt his chest growing warmer, and his breathing disturbed. His injury was not light. Usually, this level of running would be a piece of cake for Ye Chong.

Even with a hostage in hand, Ye Chong dared not be careless. He was now in a very dangerous position, and any mistakes could lead to his death. Besides, it seemed that currently the only expert around was the one following him. Ye Chong knew that Rainbow planet must have more than one person of his caliber. There was no way his opponent's base would be missing capable guards.

"Ye." Ye Chong's comms sounded.

"It's Mu," Ye Chong thought, startled, but immediately felt overjoyed. Mu was contacting him now, meaning that Mu had control over the virtual world.

The truth was about as Ye Chong guessed. With his heart worried for his granddaughter, Qiu Yuanlie could no longer focus in his battle. The combined efforts of Mu and Little Rock had slowly overpowered their opponent. Of course, the entire process was still quite risky. Qiu Yuanlie, the veteran, quickly realized his mistake, but by then he had lost control of the battlefield.

Even so, Qiu Yuanlie had prepared a few impressive traps, intended to turn the tides towards his favor. Fortunately, Mu was careful in his calculations and did not give Qiu Yuanlie that opportunity. Understanding the futility of his defense, Qiu Yuanlie still managed to stop Mu from entering any further. All of the Freedom Alliance's classified information were still under his protection.

Ye Chong asked Mu, surprised and happy to hear from him, "Mu, you beat him?"

Mu sounded calm as always, with none of the joy from his triumph, "The opponent made some obvious mistakes, reason unknown."

Ye Chong continued asked, "What's the situation now?"

"Rainbow planet is now in the highest state of emergency. Ye, you had just stirred up the hornet's nest," Mu made a rare joke. Hearing that, Ye Chong felt his tension relieved to some degree.

"I just intercepted their internal orders. Their First, Fourth, Ninth and Thirteenth Contingent Leads are heading in your direction. Estimated time of arrival is between three to eight minutes."

"Contingent Lead?" Ye Chong asked, confused. While this was obviously a title of some sort, Ye Chong could not deduce its implications.

"Contingents are the Alliance's mid-sized combat units. A Contingent Lead is the strongest of their contingent. While they do not issue orders in battle, they are the best of their own contingent, the representative of their own units." The reply came from Qiu Man, whom Ye Chong was carrying under his armpit.

Even in her dangerous situation, Qiu Man still held herself calmly as she explained in her cold voice. Given the circumstances, she knew just how bad it was. She usually behaved in a carefree and playful manner, only because she was in no danger. Now, threatened by death, her intelligence shone through.

Her priority was to make the opponent let down his guard. If that happened, the Alliance's Contingent Leaders would have an opening. However, how can she achieve that? If it were another person, she would have opted for seduction, but this man before her was clearly not that kind of man. The memory of her broken hand was still painful. Even though it healed immediately after treatment, she did not wish to experience that kind of pain again.

The only choice she had now was to cooperate with this d*mned fellow. That way, at least her situation would not be worsened.

In just a short time, Qiu Man had deliberated over these matters.

"That silver mech back there, what's his position in your organization?" Ye Chong asked. While Qiu Man's cooperation struck him as odd, he would not waste this opportunity.

"He's a Contingent Sentinel. Every contingent has seven Sentinels, charged with protecting the commander of their contingent," Qiu Man explained.

"Who's stronger, the Lead or the Sentinel?" Ye Chong asked.

"The Lead, of course, how can the Sentinel hope to compare?" Qiu Man answered as if the answer was obvious.

Ye Chong picked up his speed instantly. The silver mech back there was already a difficult opponent for him, and now he just found out that the Leads were even stronger than Sentinels. From Qiu Man's tone, it seemed that the Leads were far stronger than Sentinels.

With four mechs that were even stronger than the silver mech, and with the silver mech itself following him closely behind, he would not dare to face them even if he was uninjured, much less with his current condition.

Ye Chong suddenly came to a halt. This surprised everyone around him. What was he doing?

Ye Chong quickly deployed Han Jia. WIth Guardian's aid, he did not even need to climb the mech. He leaped and stepped on Han Jia's protruding parts before quickly reaching the pilot cabin and entering it.

The guy had a mech!

This came as a shock to the members of the Freedom Alliance. Their target had only wore a golden coloured battle suit all this while, so they had assumed that he was only a very powerful combat expert. Now, it appeared that he was actually a mech pilot.

They were all combatants here, so they knew exactly what this implied!

Besides, it was obvious that the guy's mech was different. Many of the more knowledgeable ones immediately recognized Han Jia and gasped, "A full-skeleton mech! It's a full-skeleton mech! Heavens, there's actually a full-skeleton mech out there …" Their dispirited expressions were pitiful to watch.

However, someone finally could not help but asked, "Big brother, what's a full-skeleton mech?"

"Young man, clearly you're not civilized. Bet you didn't pay attention in civilization class, now you pay for your ignorance." The man looked condescendingly at the inquirer. Everyone's attention immediately went to him, and this encouraged him and pulled him out of his gloom. He coughed slightly and continued on seriously, "Full-skeleton mechs are mechs made completely out of skeletons. Hmm, you should know that the mutant creatures are growing stronger and stronger. I bet you have experienced them yourselves."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Mech pilots of their level would have crossed paths with mutants at some point in their lives. They fully agreed that mutants were not to be treated lightly.

"These mutants, their skeletons are very strong, some even stronger than alloy materials. More importantly, they're much lighter than alloys."

The crowd understood then. Someone asked, "If this full-skeleton mech is so good, why don't we have them?"

"Sigh, if only it were that easy! Skeletons are grown naturally, and no two sets of skeletons look the same. Only the most experienced skeleton carvers of skeleton artisans could clearly identify the properties of each skeleton. Heh, in this day and age, where could we find any skeleton carver or artisan? All these years, our organization has only found some half-ass*d skeleton carvers. They can't make even make reliable skeleton parts, much less a full-skeleton mech. However, this is normal, considering that we never heard of the Three Forces making full-skeleton mechs too." The man spoke with a sigh.

"Then why would this guy have a full-skeleton mech?"

The man could not help but roll his eyes at that. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Now that they identified him as mech pilot with such a powerful mech, it was only to be expected that mech was not just for ordinary travel.

Soon, news of the man called Gao Ye with his full-skeleton mech spreaded to every corner of the Freedom Alliance. All this while, the higher-ups of the Alliance had been troubled with their disadvantage against the Three Forces. Technological advancements did not come easily. If they did not have their advantage in numbers, they would have been annihilated by the Three Forces.

Soon, orders came from the higher-ups. Lady Qiu Man must be rescued, and the man called Gao Ye must be captured alive. If it were anyone else in Ye Chong's hands, the Freedom Alliance would probably have sacrificed her. Unfortunately, this was Qiu Man, Qiu Yuanlie's only granddaughter. No one dared to even suggest the possibility of sacrificing a single person for the Alliance. As such, they gathered all the capable combatants to capture Gao Ye alive and rescue Qiu Man.

Ye Chong deployed Han Jia to conserve his strength and to prepare himself against the so-called Contingent Leads. Using Guardian to battle against those mechs would quickly wear him out physically, and physical strength was something he was lacking now due to his injuries.

Once inside the pilot cabin, Ye Chong withdrew Guardian. He once fantasized about controlling Han Jia while wearing Guardian. Wouldn't that increase his strength? After some experimentation, he found it to be the opposite. Guardian's black-and-white vision was only effective against solid objects. Han Jia's holographic scanning results could not be visualized with Guardian's black-and-white vision.

"Ye, I've destroyed Rainbow planet's communication system, but the opponent might have their own internal comms channel." This was reported calmly by Mu, and Qiu Man could only listen in horror. Who was this man? Even for her grandfather, destroying the entire planet's communication system was not an easy task.

"Bad news, Ye, the Second, Third, Fifth, Sixth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Contingent Leads are all heading in this direction. Estimated time of arrival is between 10 to 15 minutes." Mu sounded more urgent.

Even Qiu Man was a little dazed. By her count, it seemed that besides the 7 or 8 contingents sent out for their own missions, the rest of the Contingent Leads were deployed here. Even with her grandfather's position, it would be impossible to deploy so many Contingent Leads at once. The organization must have found something of value in this man before her. With Qiu Man's upbringing in her family of status, she was keenly sensitive to these matters.

Ye Chong said nothing, but Han Jia had already sped up. From motionless to Mach 9, Ye Chong took only two seconds. The acceleration evoked another heavy feeling in Ye Chong's chest, injured as he was. Qiu Man, together with him in the pilot cabin, was even worse off. She was bleeding from her nose and mouth, and her face was pale and contorted in pain.

Han Jia was slower than Guardian by a single Mach, but the sky was without obstructions, so Ye Chong's advance was even faster.

Mu cooperated seamlessly. The entire city's traffic was already paralyzed. Mechs were flying around everywhere, confused. The chaos was problematic for the Freedom Alliance.

Ye Chong moved like a fish swimming amongst the coral reef, not slowing down one bit. Compared to the current situation, he had flown through worse territories.

Qiu Man was already unconscious. The acceleration earlier was dangerous for someone without training like her, and possibly even fatal.

This way, however, Ye Chong did not have to worry about her obstructing his piloting.

Mechs were everywhere in the sky, and the full-skeleton mech was nowhere to be seen. After searching for a while, Du Yun finally gave up on this futile mission.

When Han Jia arrived at the docking zone, the Freedom Alliance finally reacted. Mechs flew swiftly towards Ye Chong's location. This was the largest military operation in the history of the Freedom Alliance. They had deployed a grand total of 11 contingents, with all 11 Contingent Leads in the field, and 77 Contingent Sentinels close behind. The number of average combatants was even larger.

Coxcomb's hatch was already wide open. Zhu Ling stood guard by the hatch in Overwing. As she saw Ye Chong approaching, she tilted to the side, and Ye Chong flew straight into the warship. The hatch closed immediately behind him.

Coxcomb was all ready for flight, and immediately undocked.

In the next moment, the dark red starship delivered a lesson that the Freedom Alliance would never forget.

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Chapter 256: What the Future Holds

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The dark red Coxcomb was like an awakened maroon-coloured shark, flashing its horrifying teeth. Countless laser guns were activated. The mech pilots from the Freedom Alliance could only see a painfully blinding flash of light.

The millions of laser beams illuminated the skies as bright as day. They bloomed like flowers, and dazzled like fireworks.

The pursuing mech pilots were in no mood to enjoy this beautiful spectacle. They were all scared for their lives. To them, all these thin laser beams were fatal. Usually, laser beams like these were too weak to concern them, and they could take a few hits without considerable damage.

Indeed, the thin laser beams would only leave a shallow dent on their mechs, almost inconsequential for the mechs. However, the density of laser beams they were seeing now was beyond their imagination.

No matter how tough a mech was, it cannot withstand an attack like this. Besides, the laser guns were terrifyingly accurate, and almost never missed.

Boom boom boom! Just as these laser beams left an afterimage in their visions, dozens of mechs were already exploding. The sight of these dozens of mechs all exploding together was staggering, and even the elites of the Free Alliance, who were no stranger to such spectacles, were momentarily lost in the moment.

The rain of lasers did not stop. The explosions continued on here and there, fireballs illuminating the starlit sky like a melody.

Three seconds!

It took only three seconds! All the mechs that entered the attack range of the laser beams were annihilated.

The battlefield fell into a short, awkward silence. The mechs further away dared not advance. The dark red warship was like a massive beast, staring down at them.

They were only normal laser beams, how could they be so devastating?

With so many laser beam guns, and such an astonishing hit ratio, just how many skilled shooters were there on this warship?

All the mech pilots were shocked.

Just as the masses were lost in the moment, Coxcomb suddenly accelerated and made its escape. While it may seem like Coxcomb had the upper hand now, those onboard this warship knew that they were not out of danger yet.

After all, this was the enemy's base. If this was all the enemy could offer, then they would be unworthy of competing with the Three Forces. Besides, the Alliance had their own warships. If Coxcomb was delayed by their mechs until their warships arrived, then escape would be futile.

Hence, Mu chose to retreat without hesitation.

"Warning, enemy warship incoming!" Mu spoke with alarm, which was rare for the mech.

Tens of black dots appeared on the holographic screen, growing larger. Everyone on the ship felt a chilling fear in their hearts.

"80 of them," Mu presented the result of his rapid calculations.

Everyone on the ship were shocked, including Ye Chong. This can't be right. 80 warships? Did they really send out 80 warships just for their single ship? This was ridiculous!

The enemy's warships approached in battle formation. The dense fleet

of warships was a magnificent sight, and a feast for the eyes. 80 warships! This was a reality that could blow one's mind.

Abruptly, everyone jerked backwards. Coxcomb had accelerated! Even a fool would realise that they must escape right now. Ye Chong could not imagine why the enemy would send out 80 warships for him. Looking down at Qiu Man, lying on the floor, Ye Chong could not help but felt curious. Who was she really, that the Freedom Alliance would send out 80 warships for her?

"They're surrounding us!" Zhu Ling gasped as she realised the fleet's intention.

Ye Chong looked up. Some tens of mechs were already breaking away, flying off into the distance, probably wanting to outflank Coxcomb.

There were 13 of them, by Ye Chong's count.

These 13 mechs flew surprisingly fast. Two of them were even faster than Zhu Ling's Overwing. The rest of them were at least on par with Guardian. These 13 mechs were all aggressive and ready to kill.

If Qiu Man was awake, she would have recognised all 13 mechs. 11 of them were the Freedom Alliance's celebrated Contingent Leads, out of 13 in total. The other two were even stronger, but known by fewer. Qiu Man was one of the few. They were the Alliance's rarely deployed Vanguards. The Vanguards of the Freedom Alliance were the equivalent of the Trump Cards of the Three Forces. Now that the Freedom Alliance had sent out all of their best, it would be humiliating if they could not capture Coxcomb.

One of the two mechs was a non-humanoid mech, shaped like a scorpion, but much more powerful than Ye Chong's Sand Scorpio. These two mechs flew the fastest, leading the rest of the mechs.

However, these 13 mechs were wary of Coxcomb's laser beam attack, and had to make a huge detour around the warship.

"Everyone, please fasten your seatbelts, we're going to make a warp jump," Mu declared calmly.

Ye Chong was surprised. A warp jump? A warp jump required a long distance to accelerate, and the ship cannot be disturbed throughout the jump if the passengers were to remain safe.

However, Ye Chong quickly calmed himself. Mu's decisions were always the best results derived from his computations.

Zhu Ling was also surprised. She looked over to Little Rock, and calmed down as well. Little Rock seemed calm; he must have arrived at the same computation result as Mu. Only Lian Yue was as white as a sheet, putting his hands together in a prayer, muttering under his breath.

When they first arrived on Rainbow planet, Mu had already chosen a few points for warp jumps as their retreat options. Now, they were heading for one of those points.

Suddenly, Ye Chong recalled the time when he sat in Mu's pilot cabin as they escaped from the trash planet. They were facing a similarly unknown future, full of potential disasters. However, Ye Chong was feeling very much at peace. There was no panic or fear. After the initial surprise, Ye Chong quickly accepted his situation.

From his many close encounters with death, Ye Chong learned not only to appreciate life, but also to not fear death.

The war jump point would bring them to a place in the Csebesini Galaxy. Once they made this warp jump, they would be safe.

No one would make a warp jump without careful computations. A tiny mistake might send you to a far off and unfamiliar territory. You may never find your way back.

The universe is vast, and humanity will never reach its ends. The Five Galaxies may be large, but compared to the size of the universe, it was just a speck of dust.

Hence, calculations for warp jumps were made with extra care. People who could calculate the warp jump points of others quickly like Little Rock were exceptional geniuses.

Time seemed to slow down. Seconds felt like minutes. Everyone in the warship could feel the suffocating tension.

They all prayed that the enemy's mechs did not discover Coxcomb's intention. Everyone stared at the holographic screen unblinkingly. The 13 mechs were still flying outwards, taking their huge detour. For the moment, none of them seemed aware of what Coxcomb was up to.

Time passed. The warp jump point was getting closer. Everyone could feel the tension rising. Little Rock balled up his fists, his face turning red. Even Zhu Ling was breathing heavily. Lian Yue was even worse off, sweat covering all over him, but he did not care to wipe them off.

Almost … Almost … Almost there …

"What?!" Everyone except Ye Chong gasped almost simultaneously, their faces betraying fear and surprise.

The scorpion-shaped mech had a dark brown tail, the tip of which was now shining bright red. The sight was familiar to Ye Chong. He immediately thought of the faint blue light visible when an electromagnetic cannon was charging for an attack.

Now, even Ye Chong felt a sense of foreboding.

A dark red beam hit Coxcomb.

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