Chapter 416: Huang Jiming’s Battlelust
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Countless thin lasers converged into a point, merging into a single, thick beam that came down from high above. The mountain ranges were illuminated as bright as day by the bright laser beam.
The laser beams were merged together after frequency-phase synchronization, and the result was an extraordinarily powerful laser beam. Now, the beam was so powerful that its cross section was much larger than its individual component beams.
The seven mech pilots looked at the holographic screen with bated breath and eyes wide open. The combined power of the laser beams from seven mechs was enough to destroy even a Mandate class mech. However, this power came at a price with an obvious weakness.
First, the beams must be synchronized perfectly. While this was done, the mechs would not be able to move or evade attacks as freely as before. In the vital seconds of battle, this would endanger the mechs significantly. Secondly, activating all of the beams would deplete energy quickly. One round of shooting would exhaust one third of a mech's energy cell at full capacity.
Experienced mech pilots would know to employ this method only when evasion maneuvers were not necessary, or the result would be death!
The seven mech pilots felt like their blood was boiling with excitement! Terminating a Mandate class mech would bring them not only glory, but also the Tribe Leader's personal commendation. The Tribe had never defeated a Mandate class mech before.
The combined beam attack was complete! They opened their eyes wide open. The next moment would be the most glorious and unforgettable moment in their lives. They must see with their own eyes the flame that came from the explosion of this Mandate class mech.
The enemy's dead for sure! Up until now, they had never heard of anyone surviving a combined beam attack. A combined beam attack was like a sharp, double edged knife – it was rarely used, but every unsheathing of the blade would end in casualties.
Suddenly, their eyes widened even further! Every one of them wore the same expression of disbelief, as if they had just seen a monster.
The comms channel was dead silent!
How was this possible … How was this possible?
What were they seeing?
Abruptly, one of the mech pilots broke out of his trance, and moved so quickly to rewind the holographic screen recording it was like he had gone mad. When he started the screen recorder a moment ago, he wanted to record down the moment when the Mandate class mech exploded into pieces as a piece of his most prized memory. However, he never imagined that he had recorded a scene that had to be seen to be believed.
The holographic screen re-played the entire scene faithfully.
Seen from high above, the night sky and the dark mountain ranges formed the background of the scene. A black mech disguised itself in the dark, making it difficult to notice. The black mech never stopped with its evasion maneuvers – simple ones, grand ones, wide angle deflections, short range and high speed zigzagged evasions – the variety was enough to confuse and impress the observer with the mech pilot's deft skills.
Just then, an impossibly thick laser beam ripped across the night sky. The devastatingly powerful laser beam was enough to make the mech pilot who released it shudder inside.
No one could possibly survive this laser beam! No one!
However, the impossible had happened.
On the holographic screen, the Mandate class mech suddenly blurred – the mech had gone beyond the effective range of the combined beam attack with astonishing speed as the laser beam barely graced past the mech and hit the ground. The laser beam was very powerful. It hit the ground with a loud "Boom!". A large hole was left in the ground, the surface charred black and smoldered, all signs of how terrifying the attack really was.
On the holographic screen, the mech was nowhere to be seen.
The other six mech pilots had awaken from their shock. The comms channel burst into chaotic exchanges. The first mech pilot continued to stare at the holographic screen, his mind blank.
Ye Chong wiped away cold sweat from his forehead! That was close. If that beam had touched him even slightly, he would not escape without injuries. The truth was, he knew that this success was partly due to luck. To think that his unlucky streak would finally break at this moment to save him!
Without further hesitation, Moon King dived into the forest. The uneven territory and Moon King's excellent anti scanning abilities would make him very hard to find.
As expected, the seven mechs left not long after.
The recording of the scene was sent back to the base of the Xi Feng Tribe as soon as possible.
A knock came from the door of the Tribe Leader's office.
"Come in," the beautiful Tribe Leader did not lift her head as she continued to work on the documents on her desk.
The door was pushed open, and in came a young man. "Tribe Leader, you called for me?" It was a gentle voice, pleasant to hear. The man wore a friendly, positive expression that was infectious for anyone who saw him.
The Tribe Leader finally lifted her head. She looked at the friendly young man before her and could not help a little smile as she said, "Ah, it's Jiming, come over here."
The young man looked meek as he approached the Tribe Leader. No one would have guessed that this shy and mellow young man was one of the Legendary Three of the He Yue Galaxy, and Xi Feng Tribe's most skilled personnel, Huang Jiming.
"Come and look at this recording," the Tribe Leader activated the room's holographic screen.
On the screen was a replay of the scene where Ye Chong avoided the combined beam attack.
Huang Jiming's gentle expression turned severe, and his warm, friendly charisma transformed into a sharp coldness. His whole body radiated with power. In just an instant, the disguise that he wore in his everyday life was swept away. No one would doubt the status of the current Huang Jiming as Xi Feng Tribe's most skilled combatant.
The Tribe Leader was not unsettled by his sudden change. On the contrary, she looked satisfied.
"A Mandate class mech? What a strong opponent! To think that the Ye Family has someone so capable besides Ye Yin! Giving a Mandate class mech to this pilot does not do him justice." Huang Jiming now sounded low and solemn, like he transformed into a completely different person.
The Tribe Leader looked troubled as well. "This came from the free space zone. There's still no news from Feng Su. She's officially missing. We have people searching for her, but there's no news yet. This Mandate class mech was encountered by a search team on Guang Hua planet. Feng Su's last known location was also on Guang Hua planet."
Huang Jiming narrowed his eyes. "If Feng Su were to battle with him, it would not be terribly difficult for him to kill her. I'm just curious. For such a capable mech pilot, the Ye Family should have given him a more advanced mech, but instead he got a Mandate class."
"Is he really that strong?" The Tribe Leader seemed appalled.
"Yes." There was an undertone of battlelust in Huang Jiming's voice. "He is probably on the same level as me, Ye Yin and Siva. Any differences in strength would be almost negligible."
"Since when did the Ye Family had such a powerful expert?" The Tribe Leader lowered her head in thought.
Huang Jiming stayed silent, staring at the holographic screen.
The Tribe Leader asked abruptly, "How did he do it?"
Huang Jiming sounded impressed as he explained, "His evasion maneuvers were excellent. He had kept on with his evasions, and when the combined beam attack happened, he had made a short range high speed change in direction. The change was not large, but it was executed fast enough that it looked like a blur on the screen. Our mech pilots had aimed manually, so they could not help but respond to the sudden change in direction of the enemy. This is a mistake due to a long training history, and skilled veterans are especially susceptible. The mistake committed in aiming caused the beam to be slightly off target, which was how the mech managed to survive. Since the change in direction was short ranged, our mech pilots could not detect it. This subconscious mistake could not be detected by the pilots at all. The more capable the shooter, the more effective this trick is. Besides, notice that his high speed change in direction was done with accelerated speed. That was how his final wide angle evasion move allowed him to avoid the combined beam attack."
"Do you think you can execute the same moves?" The Tribe Leader asked.
"With great difficulty," Huang Jiming answered honestly. "This man had managed to survive a combined beam attack, and more importantly, he timed his moves well, so well that his every change in direction was timed perfectly. His final wide angle evasion move was even more impressive. Even a slight delay would have given him a different ending. On the other hand, to be honest, the guy's just extremely lucky."
"Strange, why would the Ye Family send such a skilled mech pilot to the free space zone?" The Tribe Leader muttered to herself.
Once again, Huang Jiming stayed silent. Suddenly, he lifted his head and said, "Tribe Leader, I'd like to visit the free space zone."
"You want to head to the free space zone?" The Tribe Leader seemed troubled. "Oh, Jiming, you know all too well that the Tribe is in dire need of military strength. If you go to the free space zone now …" Seeing Huang Jiming's determined expression, the Tribe Leader could not finish her sentence.
The Tribe Leader's office fell into silence.
After a full 10 minutes, the Tribe Leader finally relented with a sigh. "Alright, go. However, please be careful. The Tribe has no men to spare right now, so you can only go alone."
"Don't worry, Tribe Leader. I've yet to meet a person who is good enough to kill me," Huang Jiming said with this unshakeable confidence.