Chapter 519: Under Attack I
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Ye Chong decided to make this his biology research laboratory. After some basic fortification works, the lab was now secured. This allowed him to devote his attention to other matters.
Ye Chong left the lab in Celest. He did not head for Dual Forest, but went upwards instead. Celest climbed higher and higher into the sky. Everything on the ground receded further and further away.
Ye Chong wanted to do a full scan of the planet to help him gain a general understanding of the native environment.
Suddenly, a light beam came out of nowhere, directed towards Celest.
Ye Chong reacted swiftly. Celest twisted its body in the air, and the light beam narrowly shot past the mech's body.
"Unidentified flying object!"
"Unidentified flying object!"
"Unidentified flying object!"
…
A series of alarms ear-piercingly blared. Dozens of varying flying vessels could be seen on the holographic screen, heading in that direction.
Old Wei was 41 this year, and a Level 4 shooter. He was at an age where shooters were in their prime. Today, he had planned to visit Dual Forest with his friends to gather some ashram grass. Their group was strong despite having only a few members since they were all Level 4 shooters. Besides, having worked together for years, they were now a solid team that performed more effectively than most other groups.
Suddenly, Old Wei received a parapsychic message from his friend, "Look, what's that?" Shooters usually communicate with each other via parapsychic messages. There were many advantages to using this method, especially during combat. It was the most direct and clear way of communicating with each other.
Old Wei could sense the strong emotions of surprise in his friend. He knew that his friend must have found something interesting. It was not uncommon to see unusual things in Dual Forest.
The other five in the group received the same message at the same time. The seven flying vessels made a turn together in perfect coordination.
Old Wei now saw what made his friend gasped in surprise!
It was a giant in black armor!
The giant was at least 10 meters all, and it was shooting up fast into the sky, like a rocket.
Old Wei was shocked. As a Level 4 shooter, he was no stranger to unusual things, but this was his first time seeing such a large giant human. The black armor seemed to be made of an unknown material. The eerie red flowers on the armor looked like blood spilled in midnight. The black pack on the giant's back also had a huge red flower on it. Old Wei felt a chill ran down his spine. He felt his heart clenched tightly.
The giant's eyes were half lidded, like it was looking out afar. Were they looking for something, or simply staring out hollowly?
The most shocking thing was, the giant could fly! Old Wei did an estimate, and found that the giant must be faster than his own flying vessel at maximum speed.
"Heavens! What's that?" Someone exclaimed.
"Yea, what a huge giant, and with armor too. Tsk tsk, that's awesome!"
"Look, guys, there are many others who've seen it now. Let's go get a closer look." Indeed, with such a huge giant materializing in the air, it was hard to go unnoticed. Many flying vessels were now trying to approach the giant.
"Sure!" "Alright!" The suggestion was welcomed by the rest of the group.
Old Wei could not help but interrupt them, "We should still be careful. Safety first. We'll back down if anything looks weird." Old Wei could not understand why he said these words, but he was aware of his own nervousness.
"Yes, Old Wei's right." This came from their captain, Re Guming.
The seven flying vessels flew towards the giant in battle formation. Right then, they saw someone shooting at the giant.
"Is he crazy?" Everyone cried out in an uproar. No one knew what the giant was. Shooting it like that would only be a show of hostility.
What would that shot cost them? Everyone began to worry. An experienced shooter would never make such an idiotic mistake.
The captain, Gu Reming, spoke in his deep voice, "It's a bunch of playboys. They've always been reckless. Let's not get involved. They're in for some deep trouble." Gu Reming spoke coldly. They did not think highly of these so-called playboys.
Everyone in the group trusted their captain's assessment. Besides, they could tell from the way the giant avoided the shot so easily that it could fly well. The more experienced shooters all stayed back, watching from afar. They could see that something was wrong, and did not want to be there when the giant retaliated.
The playboys got even more excited when they found no one else competing with them for the giant. They showed off their fancy tricks in the air as they closed in on Celest, still trying to shoot the mech.
The playboys may be nasty, but they were still a powerful bunch. Most of them were at least Level 3, and there was even a Level 5 among them. Besides, they had the advantage in numbers.
Their flying vessels were also of top quality, more powerful than the average shooter's. In the next moment, Celest found itself dealing with a full blown laser assault from all sides.
It was impossible to not be angry at this attack that came out of nowhere, but Ye Chong kept his calm.
His hands were a blur on the controls.
The giant in armor extended its limbs, twisting its joints in odd angles and avoiding all the lasers directed at it.
The giant was wrapped in bulky armor, but its body moved easily like it had no bones inside. Its limbs twisted in impossible angles, defying all reason.
Old Wei was shocked. It was like seeing a huge, brutish man with a bearded face that bulged at all the wrong angles, but the face was smiling gently like the man did some delicate sewing with a needle in hand. In short, it was like watching a paradox.
The rest in his group were also stunned by what they saw.
"That - that's a monster!" Someone blurted out.
"What a strong body!" Someone commended.
"Someone's going to suffer," said their captain solemnly.
A bright purple flying vessel with two pairs of wings was doing some difficult stunts in the air, making flips and turns like an airshow pilot. The Snakeshot, Big X, Lateral Shift and other magnificent displays would usually be seen only in practice flights.
The pilot was showing off his multitude of dazzling tricks.
Ye Chong thought it odd that the purple flying vessel was flying around it but not attacking.
However, he had no intention of asking the other party about it. The flying vessel was already within Celest's range of attack. Ye Chong flung out his shuriken without hesitation.
The fast spinning weapon was very destructive. It also had auto lock-on technology to make it fatal.
Zing!
A black dot shot towards the purple flying vessel.
When the shuriken came within range of the pilot's parapsychic sense, he noticed it right away. The purple flying vessel did a turn and avoided the attack, quick as a bird.
How could such a slow weapon hit a Level 5 shooter? The purple vessel's pilot was proud of himself. He was also the strongest shooter in his team. As a qualified shooter, they would not be hit by something so slow. Parapsychic sense was fast as lightning. Shooters faced the threat of laser weapons from their enemies that could come at any time. Such a slow moving weapon must be an inferior product, it was no wonder he could avoid it so easily.
Just as the pilot was basking in his own success, he noticed that the black dot had made a turn as well and was now heading towards him again.
Huh? How did that happen?
No matter. The pilot maneuvered his flying machine skilfully and avoided the black dot once again. The black dot was slower than his own flying vessel, and much more slower compared to his parapsychic sense. The young man was confident that the weapon would never hit him.
Suddenly, the black dot came within his parapsychic sensing range again. He was still the target of that weapon.
The young man began to realize that something was wrong. He could sense the black dot more clearly by now, and could make out what it was. If he was really hit by that spinning object … A vision of his flying vessel exploding in the air came to him.
Impossible! He was scared by the vision. He was a Level 5 shooter. How could he be hit by the slow moving plaything? What a joke!
Perhaps due to his nervousness, the pilot did not avoid the attack so gracefully this time.
An innocent, tiny mistake was deadly in his situation. The shuriken gave him no chance. It followed the purple flying vessel closely, closing in the distance until they were only 30 meters apart. The Level 5 shooter could now sense every detailed structure of the shuriken with his parapsychic sense.
However, he was no longer at ease as before. Despite being hailed as a natural born shooter, he did not have much real life combat experience. Usually, he would only fly around with his playboy friends. Ever since he was born, he had never suffered any fallbacks. Most of Yedda knew of the playboys and their background, and would leave them alone.
They never knew how cruel real battles were, compared to their make-believe practice battles.
The pilot felt an immense pressure on him like never before. It was suffocating him, and his flying vessel did not obey his wishes as keenly as it usually did.
Some people would fight back when under pressure, while others would break.
This pilot was obviously not of the former. He was now feeling afraid, very afraid.