Chapter 383: A Game!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
After the other imperial mecha abruptly left the dormitory district, it arrived at an area several kilometres away several seconds later, where it then intercepted the Thunder King's gang which had been sneaking away from the dormitory district.
Seeing this enemy imperial mecha which had suddenly appeared before them, even the confident Thunder King Qiao Ting instantly lost his composure. His first reaction was to lead his team members to run in a desperate bid for escape.
"What a bunch of limp eggs!" said the imperial operator scornfully. He looked towards the distance — on the escape path this group had chosen, a team of eight mecha was heading right towards them in this direction ...
"Perhaps, I can play a fun game." A creepy smile emerged on the imperial operator's lips; this was his favourite game.
Having come to some decision, the imperial operator did not choose to destroy the Thunder King's group directly. Instead, he tailed them like an unshakeable shadow, slowly yet surely. At the same time, he enforced signal interference onto this sector, making it impossible for the two mecha teams to discover each other's presence beforehand with their radars ...
"Eh?" The imperial operator suddenly cried out in surprise. He had noticed the eight mecha rushing here suddenly stop — could it be that they had sensed something? The imperial operator immediately denied this possibility, because the interference function of an imperial mecha was unable to be cracked by mecha other than god-class mecha.
"How troublesome!" The other party's subsequent actions puzzled the imperial mecha and soured his mood. He could not help but curse and mutter under his breath before disappearing in a flash.
Running for their lives, at the brink of despair, the Thunder King's group suddenly found that the imperial mecha chasing after them all this while had suddenly vanished. Unable to help themselves, all of the mecha fell to their knees — the only one who managed to stay on his feet was the Thunder King ...
"He's letting us go?" Qiao Ting asked disbelievingly. Had that butcher's knife hanging high above their heads truly just gone away? The Thunder King really wondered if he was dreaming.
"That person is gone. He must have decided to let us go," answered one of his team members, panting. He was very grateful to keep his life — when they had been running earlier with the imperial mecha hot on their tail, he had really thought that they were all done for.
"Boss, while that person is away, let us quickly leave this place!" Another member was still extremely frightened. Even though his stamina was almost depleted by their desperate dash for survival earlier, he still felt that it was better to leave this dangerous location as soon as they could.
"Then, where should we go? We have no idea where the enemy has gone. What if we just happen to choose the same direction that person is heading towards? Isn't that just asking for trouble?" Yet another member glanced at his radar and saw that everything was empty on it. This meant that there were no other mecha within a ten-kilometre radius of them, making it seem as if this spot was very safe. However, the more things appeared this way, the harder it felt for him to make a decision.
"Let's just go back to the dormitory district. There are Federation troops there, and Instructor Tang Yu is there too." Someone suggested that they head back from whence they came. In their minds, Instructor Tang Yu was the strongest — perhaps he could protect them. Besides, there was both power and safety in numbers.
"No, I believe that it would be even more dangerous there. Didn't you see how all the enemies focused their attacks there? I'm wondering whether that imperial mecha has gone over to reinforce the forces at the dormitory district. If he has really gone there, even if Instructor Tang Yu is there, he won't be able to handle it," said Qiao Ting with a bitter smile. Even though Instructor Tang Yu was a king of aces, against an imperial operator, he was equally vulnerable.
Of course, although Qiao Ting did not want to go back for the reason he had mentioned, there was still another reason for his resistance. He had domineeringly led his group of twelve away earlier because he had wanted to earn battle merits and establish himself — if he ran back now with his tail between his legs, Qiao Ting felt that it would be just too great a loss of face. He did not want to go back and become the butt of jokes for those three members who had refused to come with him.
"Yes, the regiment commander is right." The member most supportive of Qiao Ting once again jumped out to back Qiao Ting's decision.
"It's better for us to continue moving forwards in this direction. If the imperial operator was planning to head this way anyway, I really can't figure out why he would choose to disappear on his own. Wouldn't it have made more sense to keep following us?" Qiao Ting bit out, then finally chose to continue with his previous course.
Qiao Ting's words were undoubtedly logical. Moreover, he was also the regiment commander, so even if some of the members had some reservations, they could only tag along since the majority agreed with their leader ...
Meanwhile, on Ling Lan's end, her team had been charging at high speed towards the dormitory district when she suddenly stopped. As soon as Ling Lan stopped, without her having to say a word, the rest of her team members tacitly stopped moving as well. They silently spread out around Ling Lan — highly used to working together, they knew what to do. They believed that their team leader would not have stopped for no reason; he must have noticed something.
Ling Lan had stopped because, inside her mindspace, Little Four had suddenly shouted a warning that there was an enemy ahead and that this enemy was actually an imperial mecha!
This news stunned Ling Lan. She immediately chose to stop her mecha, turning in her mind to ask Little Four what exactly was going on.
Little Four was also very distressed. Hands wrapped around his head, he said in disbelief, "I also can't figure it out. Doesn't this world have a joint declaration that mecha above ace level are not allowed to appear on a battlefield?"
"Boss, we better change directions and run! The other has most likely already noticed us ..." Little Four had some shielding ability, but he was not confident that his shielding would work as flawlessly against an imperial mecha. He immediately suggested that his boss temporarily run away to avoid the enemy.
"Okay!" replied Ling Lan decisively. She signalled for her team members to follow her, turning 90 degrees left in a swift escape ...
Backtracking along their original route, they would certainly bump into the unidentified enemy — Ling Lan naturally did not want to take the risk. Also, if they turned right instead, they would indirectly shorten the distance between them and the imperial mecha — Ling Lan did not want to chance it. Only by turning left and heading up could they put as much distance as they could between them and the imperial mecha.
However, Ling Lan's team had not even flown this way for 10 seconds when Little Four yelled out, "He's found us! He has given up on his original prey and is rushing towards us ... estimated time of arrival, 10 seconds!" This final phrase was said with a whine, because Little Four really could not think of any way for them to escape from the demonic clutches of the imperial operator.
Ling Lan gritted her teeth at those words, once again putting the brakes on her rapid sprint. She abruptly turned her head around to shout, "Prepare to fight!"
This cry of Ling Lan's instantly caused her well-trained team to stop and turn around like Ling Lan to get ready to face the enemy. At the same time, they took the weapons hanging on their backs into their hands.
Just when they had finished doing all this, in the night sky above them, a huge mecha appeared out of thin air. Its glorious and lovely chassis made everyone's face change. Familiar with mecha of every level, they naturally recognised that this was an imperial mecha.
At the same time, they also understood now why Boss Lan had asked them to prepare for battle. Before an imperial operator, it was utterly impossible to escape by running. As such, they might as well choose to fight — even if they died, they would at least die with some dignity.
"How interesting, actually able to choose death so calmly ..." Seeing how this group made a completely different decision from the previous group, the imperial mecha was exhilarated. The more he saw how brave and upstanding they were, the more he felt like abusing them. He wanted to see what these people would choose to do in the face of death — would they heroically leap to their death, or would they betray their principles to live?
"I will give you all one chance to live. Go back to the path you all were using previously, and you will encounter a group of people with 13 mecha. As long as you all kill everyone in the other group, I'll let you all go!" The imperial mecha suddenly turned on its external speakers to tell Ling Lan's team.
Ling Lan's gaze narrowed. "If I'm not mistaken, that group must be from our side. You want to see us fight amongst ourselves?"
Applause rang out from the other's speakers, and the imperial operator's sinister voice quickly followed, "You're very smart! Yes, indeed, I really want to see you all fighting and killing each other. And this just so happens to be your only chance to survive. Refuse, and the outcome for both your teams is death, though you will all just die at my hands."
"Of course, you can also choose to sacrifice yourself. Lead your team to meet the other group and commit suicide, and I can also let those people go," suggested the imperial operator with a smile. He was just like Satan, spreading the seeds of temptation which you could not refuse.
Ling Lan fell silent. All of a sudden, she did not know how to choose — the opponent had given her a reason she could not refuse. Just as Ling Lan hesitated, Little Four's despairing face was suddenly painted with pleasant surprise. He shouted loudly, "Boss, Daddy's here!"
"I agree!" Ling Lan's heart surged with joy as she replied decisively. Ling Lan was neither planning to kill the other team to survive, nor was she planning to lead her team to kill themselves. She was only trying her best to drag things out. Since she knew a saviour had come, it would really be too stupid to die here out of carelessness.
As Ling Lan replied, she did not forget to command Little Four inside the mindspace, "Little Four, quickly think of a way to send dad a message so he can come save us!"
"The other team is heading here right now. I'll give you all 10 seconds. If you all still have not met up with them after 10 seconds, I will destroy all of you, because you are all trash unworthy of playing this game." The imperial operator did not do as Ling Lan wished and give her more time — instead, he gave Ling Lan's team yet another rule to follow, giving them no choice but to work hard.
"I'll begin the count now ... 1 ..." The imperial operator did not give Ling Lan's team any more time to prepare, beginning to count the moment he finished issuing his newest rule. When Ling Lan heard '1', she was the first to turn her mecha and rush back in their original direction.
No matter what the situation would be like 10 seconds later, she needed to make full use of these 10 seconds to do as the other had said. Her only hope was that Little Four could make contact with her father as soon as possible ...
Seeing their boss charging out like a ferocious tiger, Ling Lan's team responded swiftly. All of them also operated their mecha to follow after their boss ...
"What a bunch of obedient children! Things are gonna be fun now!" The imperial operator licked his lips in excitement at the sight, cackling maliciously. A second later, that grand and lovely imperial mecha once again vanished from the sky, leaving no trace behind.