Chapter 493: Changes I
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Yang Ming [1] panted heavily, drawing air greedily into his lungs. His arms hung beside him, trembling, and his fingers were white from overexertion. Around him were a few young people lying around.
Yang Ming was not skilled enough to repair mechs, but he could still handle structures that were not overly complicated. He was still young by all standards, but still earned respect from his peers due to being a student of Harrell the Great. Besides, being young was the norm in the fleet. One could see young people in almost every major department.
Yang Ming had also proven himself. As the main person in charge of the ship's structural maintenance, his track record had been immaculate.
"Passage 9 is shut. Maintenance crew, please enter immediately." Yang Ming heard the announcement. His hands stopped shaking.
"Folks, time to move out!" Yang Ming sounded hoarse. He went to his comrades and patted them on their shoulders.
The exhausted young people opened their tired eyes, and struggled to stand up.
Yang Ming noticed their fatigue. He was feeling overworked as well. The war was not over, however, and so they could not rest yet. There were eight of them in charge of the starship's structure. With no one to support them, experienced maintenance crew members became heavily relied upon. They must repair the damaged mechs as soon as possible. The battle at the frontline may not even be as vicious as they had it here.
Yang Ming and the crew entered Passage 9.
It was a mess inside. Bits and pieces of the red-tailed beasts were lying everywhere. The air was heavy with the scent of blood. This was not his first time seeing this, but Yang Ming still felt a wave of discomfort.
At the same time, he felt more encouraged every time he saw this. Even his comrades were proud of their battle results.
"Heh, another three! I counted them. We got 11 dead on our ship, it's a big win!"
"You're too easy to satisfy. Just 11? I say, we gotta get at least 20!"
"Dude! 20? What's so good with 20? Of course we gotta aim for 30!"
"Haha -"
Yang Ming managed a smile on his face as he continued working, going through the structure of the passageway. The red-tailed beasts were strong, and their desperate struggles before they died could easily damage the passageway. They needed to repair all the damaged parts so that the passageway could be reused.
Ye Chong sat in Haskel's control room. On the holographic screen, the red-tailed beasts came in waves towards their fleet. As the lead ship, Haskel was their main target.
Ye Chong watched with a calm expression. He was not at the frontline of their battle this time, which was unusual. Given the scale of the battle, one man's strength was insignificant. In this entire fleet, he was the only one capable of commanding! Xi Qing and Shu were good fighters, but still inexperienced in battles of this scale.
The three months of games played against Mu and Shang were immensely helpful. Ye Chong could now maintain a calm composure as he studied the bigger picture and gave orders to his men, almost like a veteran general.
Battles that resulted from encountering enemies had always been Mu's forte. He could unleash the full potential of their available resources. This was something that not even Shang could do, much less Ye Chong. Even so, Ye Chong learned from both Mu and Shang, and he had been trying to emulate Mu's methods. If he did not improve himself, how could he expect to hang on until the end of the battle?
Unfortunately, he was short of hands, and limited in options for their means of offense!
This group of red-tailed beasts were cunning, choosing to focus on the starships that were the furthest out. They would wait for the right time and single out a ship to focus their attacks on.
So far, Ye Chong had lost five starships.
This strategy looked familiar! Ye Chong thought back to this one time during his games, where Shang had used this strategy to devour him completely. Ye Chong remembered the battle clearly. He had watched his own soldiers slowly destroyed by his enemies, and the helpless feeling throughout was unbearable. However, what Ye Chong remembered most about that particular game was not his sense of helplessness, but how Mu had managed to defeat this particular strategy of Shang's!
Ever since then, Ye Chong felt that his perspectives had widened even further.
The explosion from one of his starship's illuminated his features. Ye Chong decided to make some changes to his plan.
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Arwa was donned in neat military attire as he stood up straightly before Xiao Wan. He looked calm, but his eyes betrayed the gratefulness he was feeling. The Young Miss was finally looking invigorated!
Xiao Wan still looked worn and tired, but her eyes now showed steely determination.
"Thank you for all your effort these days!" Xiao Wan expressed sincerely.
Arwa bowed slightly, "It is my duty."
Xiao Wan watched Arwa in his stiff military uniform and felt a wave of emotions rushed up to her. Arwa had never liked wearing it, and he was the only one in the Xiao Family army who refused to wear the military uniform. It was only a small gesture, but Xiao Wan could see that he was doing all he could for their current predicament. Arwa had always looked like an honest young lad from a rural village, but now he had the charisma of a general.
"What's the situation right now?" Xiao Wan asked.
"It's not looking good," Arwa looked worried as he explained, "We've lost our best opportunity!"
Xiao Wan understood him. She knew that Arwa was referring to the war at the frontline. Arwa had been openly against it, but his lowly position meant his opinion went ignored. After the war, there was little left in the Xiao Family Army. Even the 1st Platoon's Commander, Guang Bei, did not make it. Xiao Wan's heart ached at the memory.
Arwa knew that he had misspoke, and quickly added, "However, we're not without hope."
He had the Young Miss's attention now. Arwa quickly elaborated, "I've gathered many mech pilots along the way. We now have 1,500 mech pilots. It's not exactly an army, but enough to bring us to Planet Duodania. Once we enter the He Yue Galaxy, we'll be alright!"
Xiao Wan was confused. "Isn't He Yue Galaxy also invaded by the red-tailed beasts?"
Arwa explained, "The red-tailed beasts are also in the He Yue Galaxy, but the place is larger, with enough room for us to find a place to settle down. Besides, the He Yue Galaxy may be at war now, but it's core areas remain unaffected. We can find a place to lay low in the meantime. I think that once the aristocratic families got rid of the red-tailed beasts, they will most likely be weakened as well. It will be our chance to rise again. On the contrary, Gray Valley is small, and lacked the space for us. Additionally, with our defeat, half of Gray Valley's combatants are gone. It's only a matter of time before Gray Valley falls under the control of the red-tailed beasts." It was in moments like these that Arwa looked like the genius tactician that he truly was.
Xiao Wan considered Arwa's analysis carefully.
Arwa made sense, but this would mean them leaving Gray Valley, the place she grew up in. It was also nearly impossible for them to ever return.
"You think that it's more to our advantage to move to the He Yue Galaxy?" Xiao Wan asked after a long moment.
"Yes!" Arwa replied firmly without hesitation.
Xiao Wan took a deep breath and made her decision, "Alright! Then let's try our luck in the He Yue Galaxy!"
Arwa was pleased to hear that. "Thank you, Young Miss!"
"Thank you? You can thank me for sending Guang Bei to his death in a pointless war." Xiao Wan looked sad as she said this, with a hint of self mockery.
Arwa could only sigh quietly to himself. He remembered something then. "Young Miss, right now we are in urgent need of close range mechs. Without them, we'll be heavily disadvantaged against the red-tailed beasts."
"Close range mechs!" Xiao Wan pondered on it, then lifted her gaze to Arwa, "What do you suggest?"
"We steal them!" Arwa forced the words out of his mouth.
"Steal them?" Xiao Wan did not look troubled at all, as though it was a natural decision. She mused, "From who?"
She looked at Arwa meaningfully and said, "You probably thought of everything already, so let's hear it."
Arwa chuckled and said, "Sharp as always, Young Miss. There are not many organizations with close range mechs now, and most of them are too strong for us. In the end, the Research Consortium seems to be the best option."
"The Research Consortium?" Xiao Wan looked hesitant, but did not reject the idea immediately. "The Research Consortium is too powerful for us to meddle with. I believe that it will be difficult."
Arwa laughed. "Maybe not. The Research Consortium's intel has always been the most reliable in Gray Valley. Nothing escapes them. News of defeat at the frontline must have reached them. The Research Consortium is powerful, but they don't have many mech pilots. If that's the case, their best option is to gather their people and focus on defense. Besides, they're mostly cowards. I believe that the Consortium's headquarters must be empty by now. In the haste of their retreat, they might have left something in their warehouses. These things are now free for all. Hehe, why not take them for ourselves? Of course, it will depend on our luck."
Xiao Wan thought through Arwa's words. She clenched her teeth and made her decision. "Alright! We'll do as you say!"
[1] This is also YC’s fake name back in Chapter 291!