Chapter 223: Kings of Close and Long Range Combat I (2/2)
Rui Bing looked towards the clown-like mech. Its performance was seen by everyone here through the holographic camera in the corridor. Out of all of them, perhaps only Wei Yuan and herself realize the power of this clown mech’s three attacks.
Rui Bing was certain that the clown mech’s pilot must be an expert in combat, and excellent in mech piloting. This advanced level of piloting was nothing like what Wei Yuan boasted himself to have.
Ye Chong watched Grandpa Qian laughing, and was reminded of his earlier days with Grandpa Qian. He felt a little dazed.
”Hey, Master, why don’t you come out?” Wei Yuan cupped his hands like an amplifier and shouted. Wei Yuan was absolutely impressed with this master. The pilot must be an expert in mech combat. Wei Yuan believed that, in terms of close range combat, there were probably not many who could defeat this person outside of his idol and Sister Bing’s future husband, YC. In his mind, Ye Chong was already destined to marry Sister Bing.
Everyone looked expectantly at the pilot cabin of the clown mech, hoping to see the hero that had saved them all.
Wei Yuan’s voice broke Ye Chong reverie. He looked downwards at Grandpa Qian and Rui Bing, and for some reason decided then not to go out.
”Shang, think you can find out why this fleet is here?” Ye Chong communicated to Shang.
”On it!” Shang began working as he replied.
Fid could only stare in stupefaction at the massive starship, and the half-concealed mech from its one opened hatch. He was feeling a little out of depth, and was shocked beyond words. In fact, it was not just him - everyone in the starship’s bridge was gaping widely, staring blankly at the holographic screen with the semi-concealed mech.
Was this even humanly possible?
That was the million zuan question in everyone’s hearts.
Right from the beginning, the impossibly powerful sniper mech pilot had never stopped. He shot like a tireless machine. The fatal blue beams were not entirely noticeable, but everyone on the bridge had already decided that those were beams of death. Every beam signaled the loss of a life, and every mech was destroyed in the exact same manner - exploding into a ball of flames.
This accuracy did not seem to decrease. From the beginning, the mech pilot had never missed a shot.
A clear electronic beep startled them all out of their trance. Fid’s second rushed to the command console and issues some controls. Suddenly, he gasped, ”Squad Captain, look at this, they’re asking where we’re heading, and the nature of this starship fleet.”
Fid gestured with a wave and said, ”Tell them! Our only hope is their assistance!” Fid could only bet everything on this starship.
”Ye, they’re a fleet heading towards Csebesini Galaxy, the fleet is mostly made up of civilians,” Shang quickly relayed the information to Ye Chong.
”Csebesini Galaxy …” Ye Chong finally understood that they were escaping from the war. The only thing he could not understand now was how Grandpa Qian would be with Rui Bing and company.
The Rui family had only begun connecting with Grandpa Qian not long after Ye Chong left Blue Ocean. Rui Bing was always trying to find out where Ye Chong went, and Rui Su was also regretful of what she had done, as she tried her best to help her sister. Ye Chong had stayed with Grandpa Qian when was with Blue Ocean Academy, and most everyone knew that he was very close with Grandpa Qian.
Perhaps it was a matter of loving anything to do with Ye Chong, or perhaps it was for some other reason, but Rui Bing began to visit Grandpa Qian frequently. Grandpa Qian also grew fond of the young lady with a cold exterior but a warm heart. Rui Bing would sometimes help Grandpa Qian to make noodles, while asking him about matters related to Ye Chong. Of course Grandpa Qian understood her feelings, and would answer all her questions happily. Rui Su would sometimes go with her sister, and her smart way around things was something Grandpa Qian especially appreciated. Rui Su, on the other hand, came to act like an obedient daughter whenever she was with Grandpa Qian, something Rui Bing could not understand. As time passed, the two girls grew closer with Grandpa Qian.
The current migration to Csebesini was not something Grandpa Qian wanted. To him, he was an old man, and would not mind dying at his home. Travelling at his age to such a faraway place, where the road was rumored to be quite dangerous, and was too much of a hassle. In the end, however, he gave in to the insistence of Rui Bing and her mother, together with Rui Su and Wei Yuan.
Ye Chong knew nothing of this, and did not intend to pry. To him, it was fine as long as Grandpa Qian was happy.
Ye Chong could not help but took a glance at the woman in white training garb too, her intimidating charisma standing out amidst the crowd.
”Ah! Isn’t that our Bing Bing? Heavens! Ye, it’s the season of peach blossoms for you [1]! To meet our beloved Bing Bing here … What? Peach blossom? You don’t know what’s peach blossom? That’s probably because you’re not reading that chip Lunatic Guan gave you right, isn’t there an illustration for plants or something in there …” Shang observed as he shot effortlessly on.
”Master, come out! Everyone’s waiting for you!” Wei Yuan was still shouting from below. Everyone was curious - why was the hero still not coming out?
Just when everyone was confused, the clown mech pointed outside. The crowd realized then that the battle outside was not yet finished while they were celebrating inside. The euphoria from surviving vanished in an instant. If they lost the battle outside, their fates would remain unchanged.
Wei Yuan no longer smiled, but looked focused. He quickly went to his mech. In fact, Ye Chong believed that Wei Yuan’s help would not tip the balance of the battle. If the young man died, however, Grandpa Qian and the lady in white training garb would probably grieve.
With that thought in mind, Ye Chong rummaged in his bag and produced a dimension keystone. He opened the pilot cabin slightly and threw it towards Wei Yuan.
Rui Bing was watching him closely, and was therefore quick to move a good three meters across to Wei Yuan, catching the keystone with only two fingers. It was a ring-shaped dimension keystone. Wei Yuan recovered himself and took the dimension keystone from Rui Bing as he shouted happily towards the clown mech, ”Master, is this for me?”
The clown mech nodded and turned to leave.
”Shang, we might have to fight.” Ye Chong said plainly. Puppet was still not out of the starship yet.
”Hahaha, Ye, I knew it, hehe, must be because you saw our beloved Bing Bing’er. Tsk tsk, heroes never could stand against beautiful women, even a wild animal like you, Ye could not avoid this fate …” Shang blabbered on.
Ye Chong could only cringe inside. He could remain calm in battle, but never could stand against Shang’s words.
When Ye Chong flew out of the starship, he immediately saw the word ”Coxcomb” that plastered on the front of his starship. Ye Chong nearly lost control of Puppet. Shang had actually took the starship to him.
Both the pirate leader and Squad Captain Fid were confounded by the name of the ship. How could such a massive starship be named so crudely as Coxcomb? Everyone was feeling a little sorry for the Zika class starship.
Shang had, until then, destroyed dozens of mechs. Since the blue beam from Recursion was very tiny and almost unnoticeable in space, it went mostly undetected, and many space pirates found their comrades suddenly exploding into flames.
The empty space of darkness was lit up like a dazzling banquet.
Squad Captain Fid’s side could finally breathe under the enemy’s pressure. The surviving mech pilots were enough to at least evenly match the space pirates.
The pirate leader, on the other hand, was furious. Victory was almost certain for him, until this horrendously capable sniper mech pilot came into the scene. He knew that if he did not do anything, the situation would turn against him soon. The sniper mech pilot was good, never resting between shots, as if he did not need time to aim. In the short time span since the beginning, he had lost dozens of mechs on his side. If things continued like this, he would never be able to recover.
”Blade, take Black team with you and finish off that b*stard,” the pirate leader could no longer do nothing about it.
Translator's Thoughts
mole mole
[1] Peach blossom is closely associated with love in Chinese culture.