Legend of the Supreme Soldier - Chapter 251

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.

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!

e 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!

n 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!

uang’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.”

ith 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.

he 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.

Where are we?”

“Unknown,” Mu told Ye Chong who was the first morning bird among the folks thanks to his very best physique. Mu’s reply had always been that indifferent.

He took a look at the visuals. His drowsy eyes straightened themselves upon glance. Even an even-tempered person like Ye Chong became odd-tempered for a second because of the scene.

“What… are these?” whispered Ye Chong with his finger pointing at those layers of crimson fluttering in the projection, where the Coxcomb was currently sailing on. The layers were as thick as the bog, sometimes they were as thin as the fog. They could be dense, they could also be diluted as if a space rain had fallen. The nameless misty redness was giving the hologramic detection system a major interruption, where even Mu’s built-in detection system had to force its proximity reduced to almost nothing. What about Photon Mode? Ye Chong peeked at the outside through the window, the mode would be a hopeless attempt.

“Matches with the databank: Negative. Component: Unknown,” that statement from Mu gave Ye Chong another moment of flinched silence.

“Then how do we know if we are sailing in the right direction?” asked Ye Chong. Unlike the sea, a spaceship must locate its coordination all the time. It was not a journey that could be led by a general direction or they could sail way off the planned course easily, to nowhere… And there were tiny asteroids hovering in the space, reminding the Coxcomb to not take a reckless sail on them.

“I would say, we would have to rely on RnG,” said Mu helplessly.

…

Ye Chong was speechless…

The rest of the members woke up very soon after that. The tension, panic and screams Ye Chong was expecting could hardly be seen on them. Zhu Ling just got up and went back to her training room, while Lian Yue, after a nice stretch and a few rubs on his neck, sauntered back to the laboratory after muttering a few words. As for Little Rock… well, he stayed on the ground, as he looked upon the ceiling, dazing off in accordance with his routine.

Why none of them showed concern to our situation now? Wondered Ye Chong really peculiarly.

The Coxcomb travelled in the mystifying zone for the next three days, which he never made a breakthrough within. They were still in the red sea. The zone was rather quiet and nothing had happened just yet, while the supplies of living necessity as well as the batteries were more than sufficient.

The folks had once extracted the strange stream of scarlet to perform analysis, but their research resulted in nothing significant. Their outcome this far, was merely concluding that the scarlet had indeed a negative effect on transmitting signals while altering its viscosity periodically in the space. Whether it could be harmful to human body… they do not have a living subject to test it on, and none of them ever had the courage to experiment themselves.

As the exact coordination remained unknown for the whole time, Mu could not risk to perform a space-jump, so the Coxcomb remained on its unintelligible course.

After two days of tension facing the unknown, Ye Chong too regained his calmness as he withdrew his nervousness and locked back into his heart.

Qiu Man woke up on the third day, whom of course Lian Yue went extremely welcoming upon, although Ye Chong had taught this appeal-loving man that this very lady named Qiu Man was nothing he could lay his hands upon. He better not.

The first thing Qiu Man did was to take a look around. And she immediately understood her situation upon seeing Ye Chong.

“Who are you? What do you want from me? Where am I?” Qiu Man did not lose her grace, as she asked Ye Chong flatly, which was more than alluring to Lian Yue. She’s… She’s gorgeous! Moaned Lian Yue in his mind, finding Qiu Man to be someone finally able to balance out the masculinity and femininity on the ship, since well… Zhu Ling, the only female among them, depicted hardly any ladylike feature. And Lian Yue felt his heart being struck by something the very first glance he had on the lady. He felt his brain had gone short-circuit.

“The location. We have no idea as well,” replied Ye Chong, ignoring the first really silly question he thought. He did not intend to skip the second question though, he wanted something else first, “Your identity?” stated he.

Ye Chong’s tone always felt like the wind on a winter day, which was freezing to one’s core. Even Lian Yue began sinking into his shirt and scurried from the place.

Qiu Man’s heart tightened but being as witty as she was, she knew acting cooperative would be a far better choice, “I am the management of Research Center 79,” she said.

Ye Chong’s eyes were expressing nothing but coldness, they were not blinking as the stare went on.

And Qiu Man, as feeling pressured, could not help but to spit, “My grandfather is the leader of the intelligence.”

Ye Chong withdrew his stare and made a light nod. That explained a lot. No wonder they conducted such outrageous act. He was not sure what exactly the leader of the intelligence did, but obviously it was not some random folks on the street.

“Gao Shichang… Have you heard of Gao Shichang?” asked Ye Chong abruptly.

“Ah!” Qiu Man covered her mouth, as her eyes were inflated with surprise, never expecting this young man inquiring this person. The boy seemed to be just in his twenties, while it had been 20 years since the incident happened. This boy should have nothing to do with the case… or… maybe not, could he be a relative to Gao Shichang? But according to reports, Gao Shichang should have no relative…

Ye Chong’s pupils shrunk, his heart raced. There’s something wrong from this woman. She must know something!

But Qiu Man’s following reaction was not according to his preference, as no matter what he asked, how he asked, she remained in total silence. Sigh… it looks like I’m the wrong person to do the enquiry… I should hand it to the expert. Shang still did this like his bread and butter.

I’ll let the expert do the job then. Thought Ye Chong as he got up and walked away.

Lian Yue was very displeasing to Ye Chong, with his disgusting expression stuck upon Qiu Man’s gestures for some hours daily. He had to make the man forget about women, there was a way of course – mech-engine research and development, Ye Chong would make great use of those rich information he stole from Donald’s research unit.

It felt like an reincarnation of their past on the Coxcomb, where Zhu Ling would spend her days and nights training, Little Rock would be doing nothing as something kept running in his head, while Ye Chong, with his vain partner Lian Yue would be analyzing the information he obtained.

Lian Yue, despite his vanity, was still a genius in engine-development. It took him only three days to fully digest the concept of Donald’s designs. And as Ye Chong had predicted, Donald was indeed facing a stuck-up situation in his research.

And both of them spent the whole day figuring out that missing spot on the incomplete blueprint. Ye Chong might have been the layman in this, but he had seen way more advanced engines than Lian Yue, especially with his well educated on the fundamentals, Lian Yue was utterly surprised.

Under Lian Yue’s guidance, Ye Chong’s engine developing skills were rapidly improving. He had that well-founded primary expertise and vast exposure to actual engines, he just lacked a good teacher to refine what he saw and what he experienced. After a few pointers made by Lian Yue, Ye Chong’s understanding exploded as he realized everything was being connected in his head and making better sense.

Lian Yue was astonished as he had been assumed a genius himself and now he saw someone who was pretty much close to what he believed a genius was. And he was excited, certainly.

“Oh my gosh! You must see this darling! Now when we move this, yes, to that circuit, it would trigger this, yes namely the…” Lian Yue was very, very excited, which worn Ye Chong out quickly.

His thinking leapt from one spot to another speedily. Ye Chong the one with lacked advanced knowledge found it difficult to follow, “I mean, sometimes I really hate the choice of components in engine among the designers, you see…” Ye Chong was forced to activate his brain cells on full force in order to understand what the heck this being was trying to convey.

It could not be helped as Lian Yue had always been the lone wolf in the field and he had finally found someone who could join him in his research, how could he not be excited over this?

“How do you think the more densely structured circuits are compared to the light structures?”

“Hey, Ye, you should watch this visual I downloaded before. It’s about the history of engine components. Yeah we could have a brief seminar on it.” Everyday Lian Yue would haunt Ye Chong to have a discussion on mech engines, which drove the poor indifferent man running away. Nonetheless, it was because of this haunting person, Ye Chong had gained tremendous improvement in this field, as he began being able to follow Lian Yue’s conversation after a week or so. With his immense exposure to the variety of engines in mechs he had encountered, sometimes he would make some really bold comments, which were a shocker to Lian Yue.

A month later they had finally produced a blueprint for a new engine, on the basis of Donald’s design, with the concepts of the engines Ye Chong had seen on mechs of the three forces incorporated. They were not really that great compared to Donald, they were just completing the giant circle the former had drawn over the years. Everyone could see that.

The new engine was known as “the Destiny”, the name was given by Lian Yue. Well, Ye Chong would not mind as usual, he had lots more things to do, as his eyes were glued on the blueprint, wondering in his toasting head on how they were supposed to transform these dots and lines into an actual object.

Assuming they were truly producing this, based on their calculations, its potential efficiency would be 3 times greater than the Overwing’s maximum performance. Of course, that figure was just on paper. It would be rather far-fetched to achieve that since that would impose a ridiculous requirement on the materials.

Still, the capabilities of the Destiny were not something both Ye Chong and Lian Yue had expected, since they were just aiming to design a model which could perform with a similar efficiency as the Overwing but the result was jaw-dropping.

That was theoretically speaking though. What Ye Chong needed to do would be to actually craft it, only the actual object could do the speaking.

First-off, the materials… Like what the heck do we use to produce this? Thought Ye Chong, puzzled as he stood before that gigantic inventory of his, filled with numerous bones of great quality, a collection of uncommon mineralites and even some transmutated energy ores. He had a cabinet of the greatest things one could imagine from the galaxy.

The next fortnight Ye Chong spent on experiments, trying to select the materials to produce the Destiny. He had tested on countless formula and only a fortunate person like him could do experiments on these ultimate rare materials as if the beans and carrots from the supermarket. But Ye Chong picked skeletons in the end.

The bones of Blue Dragon Glider, had a texture of the jades, provided great physical properties while it retained a nimble structure, were one of the best skeletons in Ye Chong’s inventory. He had never seen Blue Dragon Glider in his life but Master Ge gave marvelous comments on it in the encyclopedia with high respects. And after evaluating its compatibility with the design, it might not be able to achieve the engine’s maximum potential efficiency, but it would be the one with highest compatibility among the other materials.

Nevertheless, Ye Chong included a few key components in alloys since the production of alloys was much more efficient than skeletons. 80% of skeletons and 20% of alloys. To get the very best of the performance, Ye Chong – holding his heart, bidding farewell – took the bucket containing the colorful transmutated energy ores, few splashes were heard and the ores were poured into the melting pot with the alloys. He had consumed half of the energy ores he collected from the planet.

He got to do it, for he was currently in the unknown, which gave him a strong sense of danger. If there was any method for Ye Chong to further increase his offensive forces, he would do it, by hook or by crook. The golden law of survival, the stronger you get, the more likely you will survive.

And there it is! He made it, the Destiny had been born!

He installed it into Han Jia. Okay, he got into the cabin and took a breath. Tapped the button. And the engine taught him what real speed was.

It was too fast!

The Destiny might be unable to achieve that whooping 3 times greater than the Overwing but it still surpassed the Overwing’s engine by 1.5 times. Moreover, Hanjia was way lighter than Overwing, so Han Jia’s maximum speed could be twice as fast as Overwing’s.

Wow, 2 times faster than Overwing’s. What kind of speed would that be? Everyone was astounded when Ye Chong was piloting Han Jia in the training room, except Mu. Ye Chong could not imagine, how amazing he would feel if he one day was ever able to make Mu dropped his mechanical jaw as well.

Now you see me.

Now you don’t.

A perfect description on Han Jia’s new velocity. Zhu Ling on Overwing tried fighting against Ye Chong and only lasted for a good 30 second. Such potent mech, Ye Chong was overconfident, as he imagined himself being fearless even against the ace pilots of the 3 forces.

Oh well. It was good while it lasted, when Mu taught Ye Chong a lesson. He only lasted for 20 minutes under Mu’s attack, and it was a hand to hand combat. Ye Chong knew his limits especially Mu was the best at ranged attacks with Recursion and not a hand-to-hand combat. If Mu ever had a duel with him with Recursion, Ye Chong probably could even face a hard time staying up for half a minute.

20 minute survival was still a great record for Ye Chong, since it was the longest in the record of him fighting against Mu.

Imagine if Mu Shang were completed, how powerful would they be? Frightened Ye Chong but he grew confused as well, as once he had asked Mu whether he was the greatest and the reply was Mu could be merely somewhere between the 500th and 600th greatest mechs in the galaxy. Ye Chong did not take Mu’s comment by heart, he simply found it fascinating since Mu was pretty much crippled yet he retained within the 600th.

But after their adventure, Ye Chong started to question that statement.

He had encountered the Strongs countless times coming from all kinds of field. The Nirvana pilot, the ace of the Sanctuary, Feng Su for example, and those two advanced mechs of the Freedom Alliance who drove them into this bizarre area in the first place… All of them, disregarding their experience and expertise, were technically not even competent to be Mu Shang’s opponents despite Mu Shang’s damaged system. If Mu Shang were currently within the 600th, that would mean there were at least 400 to 500 experts they would be encountering above.

But where are they? Those aces Ye Chong had encountered before were already considered as the greatest individuals in the 5 major galaxies.

Mu could not be lying. Ye Chong could confirm that, it was just that Ye Chong was curious of this. Well, screw that, who cares! Even if those Strongs do exist, they were none of my business!

“Greetings, Ye. I hereby present you the outcome of my progress. This lassie does know a lot. Such a memorable experience interrogating the beauty. Jajaja! Never once I would expect this Freedom Alliance having so many interesting stories to tell,” stated Shang, with a mesmerized expression.

e Chong took a glance at Qiu Man who appeared to be rather low-spirited for some reason. It was as if Shang had drained every last ounce of her soul through that “interrogation” of his. One might question the homosapien cruelty but Ye Chong had to admit that Shang’s special session was clearly effective. Lian Yue, who also had tasted Shang’s course before, projected a similar sympathy towards Qiu Man through his watery eyes.

Qiu Man was very well-informed in where she belonged, which turned out to be surprising to Ye Chong, since she seemed to be just his age while the inquiry was about something that happened over 20 years ago. How the hell does she know? Ye Chong almost had his eyes wide open upon hearing the report from Shang.

Based on what had Shang acquired from Qiu Man, apparently her grandfather, Qiu Yuanlie was exactly one of the few very persons behind this. But what he was assigned to turned out to be merely the cleaning after the case. And yes, quite to everyone’s shock that Qiu Man’s grandfather , being the “cleaner” of the case, was that super Maverick everyone shunned themselves away from the whole time, which justified Qiu Man’s persistent silence throughout the session. It also happened to be because of his performance in this case, Qiu Yuanlie was promoted as the leader of the Freedom Alliance’s intelligence.

It was a logical promotion, considering how he managed to wipe away everything regarding a public figure on the virtual networking system singlehandedly 20 years ago. And this was not something that even the current Mavericks could have done with technologies today. It was the brightest entry in his life Qiu Yuanlie considered for himself. So the every bit of details related to the case were generously collected in his records, which kept Qiu Man well-informed of her grandfather’s glorious act in the past. But certainly she would fear Ye Chong and the others would be taking action against her grandfather, her words could have determined her grandfather’s mortality, so she insisted to keep her mouth zipped before.

Gao Shichang was formerly the top mech designer under Prometheus Group. And Freedom Alliance – while being obviously not as established as now – had once infiltrated the group, trying to gain the fond of this amazing talent, to persuade his contribution to the alliance itself. Rather unfortunately, on one occasion, Gao Shichang was made aware of their infiltration, and as much as a strong-willed person he was, he portrayed obstinate resistant towards their offers upon exposure. Gao Shichang was then given further persuasion of all sorts, including threat, bribery, coercion, anything in the bibliography of a gang. Nevertheless, the genius refused to make a move as he ventured into something more strikingly taboo to the alliance. He was involved in a secret project, which eventually became the end of his tale.

Qiu Man claimed to have never seen the projection of Gao Shichang in person. And evidently she also had no idea if Gao Shichang was the papa Ye Chong searched for long. These records were a secret report seemingly. And inside the report, there was one entry which stated that the one who executed Gao Shichang was actually the very best friend of his and that friend also happened to be the second greatest mech designer to Gao Shichang in Prometheus Group.

No doubt, the entry with greatest amount of details was the part where Qiu Yuanlie performed his cleaning on the virtual networking system, listed from the hows to the whys. He had never seen Gao Shichang face-to-face, but naturally he must have seen the projection of this target once at least. He would probably be the only person in the entire galaxy who could tell if Gao Shichang was the papa of Ye Chong, even though that so-called “best friend” of Gao Shichang could do the same as well.

So much hassle Ye Chong had gone through yet so little information he had revealed, while also putting him under greater risk because of what he had done. It was discouraging to Ye Chong.

Qiu Man’s information on Gao Shichang seemed to have ended there as well. Well, under Shang’s unique interrogating technique, quite a handful amount of information on the inside of the Freedom Alliance was obtained at least, although Ye Chong showed little interest on it. The first thing on his priority after this was to resolve the following issues.

First off… how should Ye Chong “handle” Qiu Man? He could save a significant amount of food if he could eliminate her, but it would feel too cruel to eliminate his own kind and he was not the killing type of person from the beginning anyway. He let Qiu Man off his grip in the end and decided to give her the freedom to move around in the ship, since technically there was no such deepest and darkest secret in the Coxcomb.

And the Coxcomb was still sailing in this boundless-looking sea of scarlet.

Although the mist was thick and sometimes thin, they realized something as they progressed, that the range of density of the mist was increasing noticeably. The density remained fluctuating but it was an enough worrying sight for the folks on the ship. There should be something in the front, but there was no way to tell if that thing was benign or malignant. Shang, knowing it was no longer the right stage for him, switched his place with Mu instead. Once in a blue moon, he proactively gave his microphone away and sank behind the scene.

The mist thickened, yet nothing had happened in the next few days.

Ye Chong had wasted enough time anticipating nothing these few days, so on the next tick of his biological clock, he just got back to his routine mech modification as he laid his hands upon the Guardian as he felt more potential with the new engine installed on the Guardian instead. He was right, the Guardian after the installation of the new engine had made a major improvement in its offenses, but it was not enough and Ye Chong remained unsatisfied. He viewed the massive inventory of his, filled with a range of precious materials which could drive any professional mad on spot, that he felt so precious that it would be a waste if he used them right now. Mu had said those materials would be unable to exert the optimum capacity in here. But he had to use them right away, as aware he was, these materials would determine whether they could make it through this time. Materials could be valuable but the values would be lost the moment the owner was lost.

He went to Mu and grabbed the Do-Kun stone, which its performance on Harmony’s lance was utterly memorable. A little mixture of Do-Kun stone in the formation and the lance almost skewed Instructor Hak inside the mech with its superior sharpness.

And now, he had Do-Kun stone and an inventory of uncommon mineralites. He selected a few formula from Mu’s databank, which were the results of Mu’s impeccable calculation and involved solely the sources Ye Chong currently owned. He tried experimenting them and after wasting a tiny piece of Do-Kun stone he finally obtained the best formula from what he owned. He might probably be the only person who actually used a ultra luxury like Do-Kun stone to perform experiments.

Without further ado, he proceeded with weapon-crafting since it would be a piece of cake having the right formula to follow.

He was making a dagger. Of course, Ye Chong still had that connection with daggers. Those were something he had the most hands-on experience. Almost every transmutated energy ore rolling in the inventory along with the uncommon ores were dumped into the pot and a pair of twin daggers were made, in a length of about 1.5 meters. The effect was imaginably potent.

The body of the dagger exerted a color of pale grey in a lack of glow. The design was seemingly simple too without much adornment, which one could say the kind to be “easily-overlooked”. That would be perfect, as long as it stayed potentially overlooked, no one would be aware of what the daggers were capable of, till the daggers got into action. Probably no one other than Ye Chong would invest a full Do-Kun stone on a pair of daggers like these. The value of those mineralites the daggers consumed would be astronomical, even without the inclusion of Do-Kun stone.

Ye Chong was loving his new toy already. The daggers were silent, low-profiled yet formidable, handy. The sharpness of the daggers had also gone beyond everyone’s imagination, including Mu. Ye Chong could not find anything that could last under the slashes of his new daggers. And everyone’s comment was negative towards the capability of the daggers in the first place, which further convinced Ye Chong how the daggers would be a lovely surprise to the foes in future.

Even if he were to fight against a warship, providing that he was not interrupted by external circumstances, he probably could slice the armor of the ship like slicing puddings.

And the previous pair of daggers became the substitute instead.

The only regret for Ye Chong was how he never managed to utilize the Teardrop. So based on what Mu had told, this thing was a super duper condensed battery. He would love to use it but to extract it Ye Chong would have to use a particular kind of matter, namely the Nonlinear Cobalite, which was non-existent in his inventory or he would have used the Teardrop as his pseudo-perpetual motion provider, since Mu claimed that the energy was so vast that it could last the warship several years, while being able to sustain a mech for decades or even centuries.

That definitely could translate as the dramatic increase of warship and mech’s travel. But well, the Teardrop was something so rare that what it could do mostly remained on paper.

Ye Chong had a handful of Teardrops, he could say he had the necessary technique as well but he did not have the cobalite, which directly suggested him to put the Teardrops down and forget about them. The headache-giving lecture from Mu was not for nothing after all. He had practically mastered the technique of Teardrop’s energy extraction. And he believed he would be able to extract and install the Teardrops inside the Coxcomb at the first moment he got that very ingredient.

But then… Sigh…

Oh well. Thought Ye Chong as he sank the 3 Teardrops into his bag, while passing the remaining 4 to Mu.

He had consumed countless amount of materials in his bank these few days. He grew so familiar with those uncommon ores that he could tell the names and the properties of the ores at first glance, after almost tearing the metallurgy encyclopedia in Mu’s databank.

Seeing how his rich collection had half of it vaporized was giving him slight heartache, although he knew that those were gone for his own consumption.

“Ye, something happened,” said Mu through the announcement. Ye Chong sprung from his seat. There had not been anything happening these few days, which was weird. It was quiet, but too quiet. It was a torture of bearing the fear towards the unknown for the past month they travelled, that even Ye Chong felt the stress haunting him.

On the hologramic projection, the red mist wavered like red fluid, which had visibly hindered the Coxcomb’s movement.

That was not the crew’s attention. Those red strands swimming in the red sea were something bizarre to behold. Nobody knew when these strands started appearing and nobody could tell what they exactly looked like, since sometimes the strands were thin like the hair while being able to look broad like the asteroid belt, taking the length of a solar system occasionally. The number of the strands were frightening, the crew felt like they were sailing on the weeds of the red sea.

The body of the Coxcomb had been entangled by numerous strands, which gave him an appearance of a coated pirate ship. The strands were forceful, something the crew was uncalled for. Under the pull of the strands, the Coxcomb was directed away from his former course.

The strands gathered around the Coxcomb, as they danced along the vibrance of the red sea. Few strands were fine but… gazillion strands turning at the propellants of their ship were horrifying.

!

Ye Chong, with his sharp eyes, noticed the strands broadening gradually.

The Coxcomb felt like a potassium dipped into a red pool. The Coxcomb seemed to be engulfed by the red sea with the strange screeches of pulling, to their horror, the crew discovered the number of red strands had been growing worryingly.

“Oh no…” Whispered Ye Chong, looking at the camera flooded by those peculiar strands. They would soon be entangled into a pupa by the red sea alive if nothing was done. They would be buried alive… These red strands were high in tenacity, with the momentum the Coxcomb was producing, it would be impossible to break through them.

t looks like we have to go for the hard way. Thought Ye Chong, as succumbed to his last resort, gesturing Shang to give a few taps on the panel. Tick! And every part of the Coxcomb’s weaponry came forth. Countless laser firing devices rotated into position, while the electromagnetic cannons began charging, along with the Beauty’s Secretion which Shang believed to be a very drastic measure in his hand.

They were unsure if these weapons were able to change anything, but doing nothing would surely be an imprisonment to death for everyone!

No time to give a damn anymore!

ZZzzzzzt!

All laser firing units blasted with the bombardment of electromagnetism. The hologram sparked in plain white, even Ye Chong and his folks were stunned by the scene. They saw neither lasers nor electromagnetic waves, they only perceived the brightest blast. Will the unstable crossing of two energy tear the corner of galaxy?! Will an explosion occur?!

…

The expected explosion did not occur, which was a major relief to everyone. They found their attempt to be rather risky, considering how these strange misty structures in crimson was flammable by nature. They might burn a way out, but they could cause an explosion too. Assuming an explosion truly occurred, never the Coxcomb would be able to survive such a supernova-like explosion.

Their eyes set upon the regained vision on the projection, and they staggered.

The strands… they did not decrease, not at all. Did they just dramatically multiply themselves in this brief time window? Holy Fal… No way! How could that be? Firepower this dense could have smashed the toughest warship or mech, these strands should have been powdered into specks!

But judging by what was being projected on the visual, the odd strands remained unharmed. Wait, did that mean… these strands are actually immune to energy-based beams? Speculated Ye Chong in his mind immediately.

Zzt! Zzt! Zzt!

The laser firing devices did not rest as they carried on raiding the space with a shower of beams. Now without the interference of electromagnetic waves, Ye Chong could see it, the scenery that stirred his disbeliefs – the laser beams rained upon the strands, like actual rain landing on a red pool, where ripples were seen, nothing else happened.

Ye Chong flinched, as his speculation had been verified.

His eyes glared upon the visual, with one last hope mustered in him, the Beauty’s Secretion, a creation of Ye Chong validated by the few wars he had gotten into. The corrosiveness was great that the secretion could fully corrode the outer layer of a mech very quick after contact, leading to the death of the pilot inside due to the leak of oxygen.

Come on!

His eyes enlarged, staring at that one Beauty’s Secretion hovering towards the targets. It moved rather sluggishly because of the delay effect caused by the strands. And contact had been made! The accuracy of the Beauty’s Secretion could hardly be guaranteed in an environment like this, but well, there were tons of targets where it could land, so there was not much of need to aim actually.

Beauty’s Secretion splattered, Shang’s Liquid splashed upon the strand. The corrosiveness was not disappointing, as it began causing few columns of emerald smokes upon the strand with the size of an arm. The strand broke into half!

Ye Chong wanted to raise the corners of his lips, nevertheless, the corners collapsed to a whole new threshold.

The strands multiplied themselves again within that split second. Beauty’s Secretion could be that potent to destroy them, but it would be too far-fetched to use it to clear a way out for the Coxcomb. The corrosion was unable to catch up with the multiplication of the red strands. It would feel like a drop of herbicide to the lawn even if he launched all secretions he possessed.

What are these strands? Everyone stumbled upon the visual. Zhu Ling was calm, kind of. Qiu Man was already much paler than she usually was, with the hands pressed on her chests.

“Mu, any idea what this is?” asked Ye Chong quickly.

“Substance unknown. Composition unknown,” stated Mu, with the calmness of eternity even before the death.

Ye Chong instantly deployed Han Jia and took a quick leap into the cabin. “Mu, get the gate open, I’ll go get some sample.”

“Take care.”

Before that syllable of concern fell, Han Jia had already zoomed its way to the gate at highest momentum, with a plan in mind.

Sample the red strands, find out the exact composition of these strands, investigate its chemical and physical characteristics and take the necessary action against them, or else we would die here! The Coxcomb had been completely tied to the red sea. Fully immobilized, no chance for him to even consider a back-out.

The rapports between Ye Chong and Mu were great, as the timing of the gate opening was just as right.

Ye Chong flew out of the Coxcomb. That was when he finally had a better look on the red sea, realizing to his horror, of how dense these structures were, as the Coxcomb had been utterly enveloped into something like a red cocoon, a quivering ball of yarn.

Something was strange. Ye Chong discovered as he flew on. Apparently Han Jia was unaffected by the delay effects of the red strands, despite flying boldly through the densest layer. Judging by what happened to the Coxcomb, the red mist should have a noticeably negative effect on warships, or generally any flying object. But… he felt nothing on Han Jia?

He gave a tap and Han Jia accelerated towards the nearest strand at the side, which happened to have a diameter over a meter while wriggling rhythmically. It felt very tender, with partial transparency, a bit rubbery? Han Jia grabbed the strand and withdrew a dagger with the other hand.

SSssslurp.

?

The red strand was extremely slippery, with a kind of pulling force within. Ye Chong realized as he saw the strand escape the grip of Han Jia. He hurriedly seized the red strand back into his hand.

A slash with his dagger and a lining of the mist was cleared, which recovered shortly after.

And that was the very first debut of this new dagger, cutting red weed. At least it was not disappointing as the red strand was sliced easily. One more slash and Ye Chong had sampled a strand about 2 meters long. This should be enough.

He was going to turn back but…something big was coming to his way.

A giant red pillar of a diameter over 70 kilometers swept over the rhythm of the red mist, as if a gentle breeze of a bloody spring, as towards it swung the Coxcomb which looked like a red yarn ball on Christmas, like the granny’s cane on a cleaning day.

Thup.

Ye Chong was in the middle of its way. His vision blacked out as he felt a heavy force dragging his entire body tumbling, the sudden wham caused him to lose control over Han Jia completely. The mech began sinking in the waves of strands, a muffling cry whispered throughout the darkened cabin, “Y…Ye…”

After Ye Chong got back with the time, he realized he had lost the Coxcomb as his sight was flooded with these bizarrely-aggressive strands. He could feel the waves, bouncing him mischiefs as he tried pulling himself away, it almost felt like his limbs were bound by a bunch of wriggling springs.

Oh no. Ye Chong panicked.

Transmission would be nearly impossible to reach Mu as long as he was inside the depth of the sea. The red mist was sticky like a viscous layer of glue, visibility zero, and now with the kind assistance of these red strands, Ye Chong could barely tell his location.

Ye Chong calmed down shortly after, knowing that panic and fear would do him no good at the moment. Rather it would only worsen his situation, now he would need to find out where Mu and the Coxcomb were, since obviously the survivability of being in such environment alone would be subzero.

The red mist brewed and Ye Chong nearly was unable to find where his dagger located his body.

He rebooted Han Jia and piloted it towards the direction of the Coxcomb… by estimation and impression of course… although he remained confused, wondering what had hit him just now. The force could be said as colossal, which was not something a human like him could fight against. If there was not these strands to buffer the inertia, he could not imagine, without the friction of any form like the air, how far he would have been sent.

It’s here. It’s here?

No it should be… there?

No… I could not find it. I still could not find it. Han Jia was squirming through the waving gaps. Ye Chong had searched most parts of the area but he could not find the Coxcomb at all. The communicator had been dead silence ever since.

Goddammit! This bloody red mist! If it was not the mist, he could have contacted Mu despite the pulling of these strands. Even if he could not, Mu could at least get his coordination!

He carried on searching on a larger scope. Nope, no sight of the Coxcomb… This was getting nowhere. Ye Chong was forced to surrender. Practically, he should have given up way back, as he was in a foreign zone with nearly zero visibility and a waving structure. If he were to attempt marking the strands to identify his direction, it would be like marking the waves of seaweeds as one swam in the sea. It would be pointless.

Mu… Shang…

Ye Chong gave a wry smile. Mu Shang had always been by his side, through thick and thin, sharing joy and grief, then a sudden blow and he was stuck in this strange zone without them. Ye Chong was lost, feeling his heart empty.

Well… I have to at least survive. Bucked up Ye Chong.

Fortunately I retained that habit of bringing supplementary batteries and nutrition capsules with me all the time, or I would be living with non-existent possibility to leave this red sea. I would not want to be starved to dead, at a horrible place like this.

He then picked a direction to travel randomly. He flew straight, he would not bother anymore as all direction would hold the same odds for him.

Han Jia was not hindered by the red sea unexpectedly, there was no delay at all, as if its usual flights in the vacuum. Ye Chong thought it was him overthinking at first, but the reality was there, which was confusing as Mu had once reported that the thickening of red sea had obstructed the movement of the Coxcomb. The overlooked statement kept ringing in his head.

That was not all.

The strands were acting strangely towards Han Jia. They were rather… slippery, so slippery that they felt like completely lubricated as they slipped over Han Jia’s body as it moved. No strand had caught Han Jia, not even one.

But Ye Chong could still remember that horrendous scene of seeing how the Coxcomb was melting in the red sea by the grasp of strands like a piece of potassium into the water, as the red strands grew over the body of the Coxcomb at a horrifying speed. The Coxcomb started turning into a yarn ball since then.

Weird! Why would the strands not catch him?

Was it because of the material of Han Jia? Speculated Ye Chong promptly but he was not in any mood for researches, he just wanted to leave this mental-scarring place as soon as possible.

When one were to travel in the boundless space, the helpless loneliness could overwhelm one to one’s homicidal thoughts, as one could not help but to wonder on what would be lying ahead, which in the decade one would meet an actual person, to where exactly one would be heading, for how long one would have to travel. It would feel like days… weeks, months… or…

…

Nevertheless, Ye Chong flew on, with Han Jia remained at maximum velocity, as the universal law rang in his head – if you were to fight for the opportunity, you might not get the opportunity; but if you were never to fight for opportunity, you would never get the opportunity.

Although he must admit… traveling in a lubricated area of strands felt rather intriguing, assuming he was not in such endangered situation.

His eyes set upon the waves of red strands. They seemed to be growing again, even though they were not growing as horribly quick as the time he saw back in the Coxcomb, he could discern the growth, they were growing broader. Ye Chong hypothesized that both the red strands and the red sea should share the same matter, it could be a kind of solidification, de-solidification, condensation, vaporizing process like water but … Ye Chong was not really sure on what condition the process would be triggered.

Most of the strands in the red sea were floating with an outrageous diameter, where some hit about a few tens kilometers. That was annoying because Ye Chong could hardly see a thing in the front, at caution he only got to reduce his velocity gradually.

He felt inspired out of sudden as he discovered a way to preserve energy. Han Jia would act like an agile mutated ape, traveling in the woods of reddish vines around, but with way more alien elasticity. Han Jia grabbed the vines and swung to the following, this was a faster approach, more energy-saving too!

He had to save on energy since he could not reckon how far ahead he got to travel before he hit an opening, even though the travel with lower energy cost was sustained on the basis of a larger demand on his piloting.

At least he was a master pilot of some sort. The first two days were a little chaotic though as rushing through the vines would give him constant tension, which would wear him out quickly. Ye Chong was lucky to have a stronger physique than most men so the chaos only lasted for two days before Ye Chong finally adapted himself to the high tension execution.

Of course one could say that a man would have his most potential excavated at the drastic edge of death.

The red sea had lots of strands, much more than the area surrounding the Coxcomb, but the density was much smaller. No doubt, Ye Chong could confirm that something about the Coxcomb must have triggered the red mist there, which led to the aggressiveness. Well, he had yet reached the conclusion on what triggered it.

Twelve hundred and two hundred and seventy three. Counted Ye Chong.

His hands swung along with Han Jia upon the control panel, smoothly like a real mutated ape seesawing throughout the woods.

The travel seemed to be endless, and Ye Chong felt he was collapsing at any second but somehow his expression was depicting a hint of excitement.

And Ye Chong started to see the red mist fading out, the strands were retreating on his way.

Right! That means… I am right! I am going out!