Chapter 384: Little Four's Mistake!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
"Movement!" Qiao Ting's group, which was rushing towards Ling Lan's group, suddenly felt vibrations coming from below their feet.
Everyone became nervous — because their radars were still blank, they had no idea what exactly was behind these vibrations.
The vibrations were gentle at the start, but several seconds later, they became more and more intense. Qiao Ting's group knew that something was about to appear before them soon.
"Godd*mmit, our radar scanning functions have all stopped working." Only now did Qiao Ting's team realise this fact. However, they did not know that this was a result of the imperial operator blocking all the signals within this sector. If Ling Lan had not possessed the oddball Little Four, she too would have been just like Qiao Ting's team, completely oblivious to the others' presence till they actually bumped into them.
"Prepare to fight!" Qiao Ting instantly gave his orders. No matter what appeared, preparing to fight would never be wrong. Of course, Qiao Ting could be certain that it definitely was not that imperial operator who was creating such an intense vibration. Ruling out the threat of that imperial operator, Qiao Ting behaved calmly and rationally.
"Yes, Regiment Commander!" Qiao Ting's composure calmed the rest of his team down as well. They all drew the weapons from their backs, preparing to meet these unexpected enemies. Of course, it was also possible that the comers were friendlies, but having been frightened by the imperial operator previously, their nerves were taut and they did not dare to take things lightly.
As the point man of the team, the mecha standing right at the front was the first to see the outer forms of the newcomers. Pleasant surprise flashed through his eyes and he hurriedly reported on his team commlink, "The outer form of the mecha has been confirmed to be trainee mecha from the academy. Level: advanced, 5 mecha! Oh, another has appeared, and that mecha is —— an ace mecha!"
When the other team members heard that the other party was operating advanced trainee mecha of the academy, their hearts settled. However, when the point man added that last bit in a tone a whole octave higher, everyone was stupefied ...
This was because everyone knew that, in the entire military academy, only their regiment commander, Thunder King Qiao Ting of Leiting, was qualified to operate ace mecha. They had not heard of any other person in the academy capable of piloting ace mecha so far. Could it be that the one piloting it was an instructor?
That was their first thought, but this notion was quickly overturned. All of the ace level instructors in the academy had their own personal ace mecha — they would never choose to pilot this type of ace trainee mecha which was obviously weaker than military-use ace mecha on all fronts.
Could it be that the person inside was operating it beyond their true level? Excluding operation by an instructor, this was the only other possibility they could think of. However, after observing that ace mecha's movements, they once again ruled out this speculation. That ace mecha's movements were natural, without any sense of stiffness or choppiness. This meant that the operator inside was operating it with ease, and this was absolutely not something someone operating across levels could do. Cross-level operation was very taxing and difficult — every step would drain a tremendous amount of the operator's mental strength and physical stamina. As such, it would be impossible for the mecha's movements to seem so smooth and natural.
Before Qiao Ting's team could come up with a reasonable explanation, the two sides were finally facing each other in the blink of an eye. About 100 metres or so away, the other party suddenly stopped, and the six mecha faced them from that distance without approaching any closer.
Just as Qiao Ting was about to initiate conversation and ask the other group some questions, a ripple appeared in the air above them, and that missing imperial mecha once again appeared before Qiao Ting's group.
Seeing this familiar imperial mecha, the faces of Qiao Ting's group instantly turned pale. Even Qiao Ting could not help but feel his heart drop, yelling internally that they were all done for. Who could have guessed that they were still unable to escape from the enemy's demonic clutches in the end? Could it be that they were really about to die here today?
As Qiao Ting and the others could not help but be swamped with despair, the imperial operator hovering in the air suddenly spoke, "Both teams, Listen well. As long as you can kill everyone in the other team, then you will have earned the right to continue living. Otherwise, I will personally take action, and at that time, no one from either team will be spared."
Qiao Ting's pupils contracted at these words. He had not expected the imperial mecha to have brought the other team over here because he wanted to see them fight among themselves. Although he was unsure who exactly was piloting the other ace trainee mecha, there was no doubt that the members of that team were cadets just like them.
The two teams were originally trustworthy comrades from the same side who could entrust their backs to each other, but now they were being forced to fight each other to the death ...
Did he really have to kill them? Qiao Ting's heart was conflicted — if there was any hope of surviving, of course he did not want to die. He believed that his team of 13 would definitely be able to obtain victory against the other's group of 6, because aside from the one ace mecha, the other 5 in the other group were only advanced mecha. Meanwhile, on Leiting's side, other than his own ace mecha, the others were all special-class mecha. Whether it was in terms of numbers or level of mecha, his team had the absolute upper hand.
But for the sake of survival, were they really going to kill their own schoolmates, their future comrades? Qiao Ting shivered violently. He could not imagine staining his hands with the blood of companions. If he truly did so, how would he be any different from an inhuman beast?
"There are things a person must do, and there are things a person must never do!" "Since you've already decided to be a mecha operator, you must be prepared to sacrifice yourself." Instructor Tang Yu's austere voice rang out suddenly in his mind's ear, and Qiao Ting jolted to awareness.
Yes, if they really did as the imperial operator said and chose to fight to the death among themselves just to survive, even if they were fortunate enough to survive in the end, their beliefs and principles would have been ruthlessly crushed in the process.
Qiao Ting's gaze turned from confusion to clarity, from hesitation to determination ... finally, after several seconds of silence, Qiao Ting spoke up to say, "I refuse!" Although Qiao Ting was extremely proud and self-assured, and loved to be in control — a genius who could stoop to some dirty means in order to achieve his objectives — he would never trade a comrade's life in order to ensure his own survival.
Qiao Ting's resolute refusal made a trace of admiration flash across Ling Lan's eyes. His refusal was equivalent to giving up on his own life. No matter how one looked at the situation, Qiao Ting's side was sure to win if the two teams fought.
Qiao Ting's words made the members of his team cry out in shock, but they very quickly settled down again. Perhaps the imperial operator's suggestion had indeed caused the hearts of some of Qiao Ting's members to waver, but when Qiao Ting firmly refused, though they felt a little disappointed, they were mostly more relieved.
If Qiao Ting had chosen to kill the other team, it might really have been possible for all of them to survive, but they would certainly have been mentally and spiritually tormented after the fact. They may even have had to worry whether, one day in the future, Qiao Ting might also sell them out for his own benefit.
Qiao Ting's words caused the imperial operator's eyes to turn cold. Furious, he raised the gun in his hand and aimed it at Qiao Ting, sneering as he said, "You actually dare to refuse me?! I am very angry. In that case, let me start with you!" That said, he pulled the trigger and a powerful beam was fired from the muzzle.
Seeing this, Qiao Ting quickly operated his mecha to evade, but the speed of the other's attack was extremely fast. This speed greatly exceeded the shooting speed of an ace mecha's beam gun, taking Qiao Ting slightly off-guard. Despite trying his best to dodge, he still only managed to move the vital points of his mecha out of the danger zone. Just as the shot looked like it would hit Qiao Ting's left leg, a whirling giant metal sword suddenly appeared before him, perfectly placed to block that beam attack.
There was a loud 'boom' and the giant sword clattered to the ground. At this time, the giant sword no longer looked anything like a giant sword. Though the giant sword, which was several times sturdier than the outer shell of a mecha, had managed to block that beam, the immense power behind it had still melted the giant sword down into a large metal block. Some tiny holes could even be seen in the metal block.
The power of the beam finally dissipated, and Qiao Ting looked down fearfully at the giant metal sword which had fallen at his feet ... oh, no, now, it could only be called a large metal block; only the two ends retained some impression of being a sword. He knew that if not for the abrupt appearance of this giant sword, that attack just now would definitely have damaged his mecha. If he was truly unlucky, the attack may even have endangered his life.
Qiao Ting could not help but look towards the other trainee ace mecha with gratitude in his eyes. The other's actions had also made his stance clear — he too did not want to fight and kill schoolmates and companions.
Sure enough, Qiao Ting received a communications request from the other immediately after. Although Qiao Ting did not know how the other managed to connect to his team's commlink, it was all unimportant as long as they could communicate and confirm their partnership in fighting against the enemy.
Ling Lan briefly explained the situation to Qiao Ting, and after confirming their partnership, she turned anxiously to ask Little Four whether he had managed to contact her father.
In the mindspace, Little Four was similarly anxious, his back drenched with sweat. Knowing that his and Boss Lan's life were at stake, Little Four, who should not have known what nervousness was, actually could not control his own emotions. The core chip which gave him life once again entered a high-temperature state ...
"Boss, I'm still unsuccessful. The security procedures of the god-class mecha are too powerful; I cannot infiltrate the other's mainframe anytime soon," replied Little Four quickly, wiping away the sweat on his forehead.
"All you have to do is send a distress message to dad!" When Ling Lan heard what he said, her initially sweaty forehead instantly beaded up with even more sweat. Who knew that Little Four would make such a mistake at this critical moment, actually choosing such a difficult path. Just think, the mecha her dad was operating was a god-class mecha — if the mainframe procedures of a god-class mecha were so easy to crack, would it still be a god-class mecha?
Ling Lan's words caused Little Four to freeze, abruptly realising what a stupid thing he had been trying to do. Yes, didn't he just have to send their coordinates and the news that they were in danger over to daddy? There really was no need to actually talk to the other ...
Little Four had tried to hack into and take over the other mecha out of habit to connect to the other's commlink and communicate directly; he had completely overlooked the fact that he could have just sent a message over to Ling Xiao to ask for help ...
"Boss, I'll send the message immediately." Little Four did not dare to meet Ling Lan's eyes in his shame and frustration. Boss must definitely be annoyed with him now — why had he been so stupid? Little Four's heart was a plain of darkness — the initially bright and lovely future looked so dark and lifeless all of a sudden. He might be kicked off his number one follower's throne by Boss because of this.