Chapter 415: Encounter
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Right when everyone anticipated the next massacre to happen, when people were expecting that mysterious boy from Guan family to jump into action again, Ye Chong was already prepared to leave the place.
Guan family had once again risen. They might have sunken for ages, however they were still a family from the ancient. They had the potential from the very beginning, They only lacked a little spark to light up the fire.
Ye Chong strongly believed that Guan family was practically unshakable now, not even Shi family could touch them. And possibly the family would grow stronger, pulling distance with other families over the time. Guan family had not only an army of fighting alchemist, but also a skillful alchemy researcher like Guan Yan. Ye Chong had given the sparks they needed, Ye Chong had unlocked a new gate for their future, well it might be just a small gap at the moment, but they were growing fast.
They remained fearless even if there were challengers at the doorstep now. Ye Chong reckoned Guan family would continue the hand speed training after the success this time. Guan Jin the talented would surely be a great force for the family in future.
But well, it was time to leave. To be honest, Ye Chong had no idea why he must leave but the feeling was strong in him.
He took one last glance at Guan's residence below. "Phew..." At least he had another job done. He gave a few taps and the Moon King left the ridge silently like a phantom.
In the midst of night silence, a few red spots were displayed on the projection.
Something was there!
Ye Chong turned on the detection system immediately.
Zoom in!
Those were 7 mechs, heading towards him in a standard formation!
Ye Chong could identify the leading mech, while the rest... he had never seen the 6 models before. But he knew those mechs belonged to Xi Feng tribe.
The leading mech was Phoenix Lord. Ye Chong had smashed one before, though a close fight it was. And the experience of that battle had left deep impression in him. Based on a typical Xi Feng lineup, the other 6 mechs should be a rank lower than the Phoenix Lord.
The Phoenix Lord mech had a rather stunning appearance thanks to its giant pair of green wings. The other mechs also had similarly plated the outer layer with dark green, thus the invisibility at night.
Ye Chong could hear his head buzzing...
He had just encountered 7 mechs. If he was able to pick his opponent, he would choose Xi Feng tribe during an one-on-one without hesitation. However, Xi Feng tribe would be the worst opponent choice in a group fight, since it had been widely known that the Xi Feng tribe had the most impeccably cooperative trained army among the 3 aristocrats. They were feeble as singled out, but they were almost indestructible in a group.
Well, since Ye Chong was the protagonist of this novel, in order to survive, he had no other choice but to run.
Unfortunately, it was too late for him to make an escape as the 7 mechs had charged towards Moon King in a perfect curve formation.
A handful of beams had formed into a giant web netting Moon King.
Ye Chong swung his handle to dodge. To fight against Xi Feng tribe's mechs, you got to make the move first, anything later would be solely regarded as too late.
The Moon King's course remained unpredictable while doing most beams fired by the foes. Moon King managed to block the two beams with its shield, but it felt like a close shave to Ye Chong since he always found difficulty with ranged attacks. Assuming the foe had a godly sniper like Mu, it probably would only take a trigger to finish him off.
Ye Chong did not stop his fingers. A small break would have costed his life. Non-orderly Wavy Leap, the first fancy move he had mastered, came into his aid again. Certainly the technique had matured tremendously as the curves had a wider tangent, the velocity was unforeseeably faster.
The dark Moon King moved like a phantom, as shrouded by the night, dodging the beams.
The 7 mechs maintained their flawless formation as they zoomed behind.
Ye Chong could not find the right timing to attack.
There was a prairie not too far away from Line Shaft City.
Feng Su took a look at the sky.
Those are... those are my people!
She shouted in her mind.
They must be here for me!
She thought as she looked at the barbarians, who seemed to have noticed her disdainful stare, that she immediately withdrew her stare out of fear.
Tackan and these barbarians... Feng Su cursed.
She had been spending the days like a caged canary, as she was being watched the whole time. There was not a moment where she could deploy her mech and run. Not only that, she was forced to conduct all kinds of training and engage in all sorts of battles. They were real barbarians for they never thought of showing mercy towards a girl like her.
I think my Jie expert training would've been easier than this.
If this isn't hell...
She would receive the stare of untamed wrath whenever she lifted her steps beyond the boundary, that she believed she would be immediately slaughtered if she ever ran.
"Hmmmmm... weird...," muttered Liu Sheng as he looked upon the sky, "I have never seen such meteor shower before..."
"So what? It's your turn to train her," said Sisko impatiently.
"Again?" Liu Sheng flinched and shrugged at Feng Su. "Well, you have to work hard lassie. You don't get to train with me everyday."
Feng Su bit her lips. The veil on her face had already been shredded into a million pieces during her battle. Well, at least these barbarians seemed uninterested of her presence.
But they were lunatics! They were simply maniac! They had some really ridiculous thoughts on combats, that she cannot comprehend! They never had breaks between dummy and fight practice. It was terrifying to Feng Su to perform such sadistic training every single day! Moreover, those were not ordinary fight practices, as they fought with their lives! The first time she saw their "demonstration" she thought these barbarians just had issues with each other and wanted to resolve with murder!
Her pretty face was now tanned. Her smooth hair was puffy and stuck with grasses. She was no longer that seductive singer before. But she made it here, although she was sweating, occasionally bleeding, she made it with maximum efforts and her lips bitten.
Over the days Feng Su could feel the changing attitude among the group, during which occasionally she would see the slight admiration in their eyes.
Despite all the chaotic training, Feng Su did improve greatly under immense stress. Her physique had elevated to a whole new level. She was frail, even as a Jie expert before and that frailty was more apparent when she fought with these barbarians. She could now tie with any of these men, well, given that the fight did not last longer than 15 minutes, since she was still limited by her stamina.
During the process, Feng Su once given up the idea of running away. The attacks from these barbarians were uncertain, that she would never last more than 5 minutes if she did not invest 100% of her efforts. She could lose since they showed zero tolerance towards a lagger.
Well, her time to run had come. She was right. The 7 mechs came for her indeed.
Feng Su was expected to arrive Dankwood and take over the admiration works there a long time ago, but the tribe had never received any reports since then. So they were pretty positive that Feng Su had bumped into something. The authority decided to send off all the forces to look for her.
The plot twist was... they encountered Ye Chong. Ye Chong's mech, which was presumably an advanced model of Ye family, and that was more than enough to cause alert in the searching team. They did not intend to take action at first, till Ye Chong ran away promptly, which convinced them that something fishy was going on. Everything made perfect sense, as only Ye family's Mandate model could smash a Phoenix Lord of the tribe, which was the exact model Feng Su was piloting.
It was a one-on-seven fight, which justified the confidence in the leader of Team Feng Su.
They then arrived by a mountain range, which looked like a resting beast in the dark.
That spelled good news to Ye Chong, as his hands danced upon the control panel.
The Moon King made a bouncing turn as the body shook slightly to get out of the foes' lock-on. Right when the 7 mechs tried to reposition their crosshairs, Moon King made a high leap and zapped through the mountains.
The chasing mechs did not halt at all, as they reformed into a perfect diagonal, following this Ye model.
The piercing cries of the mechs shattered the silence of the woods, as birds flew away.
Both parties gradually lowered their flight.
That was not a good sign to Team Feng Su, as the leader frowned, knowing that it would be a goner if the foe had run into the woods, "Everyone on your mark, turn to manual aiming, ready to fire on my call."
Their processor had been taking forever to relocate the crosshair on the ever-moving foe. So they got to do it the traditional way.
Well, as expected from a Mandate class...
Complimented the pilot from Team Feng Su.
The model was good enough, but the pilot was greater. Those were some masterly controls he witnessed, with all turns made on the most impeccable timing which managed to disrupt their paces of shooting.
They must not let their prey escape into the forest, as not only it would be more harder, it would be also more dangerous. The foe was a melee model and forest like this was wholly its territory.
A Mandate class pilot must be a melee expert. No explanation required.
The pilot must be.
Frankly speaking, if the foe was not outnumbered, the outcome of the battle would have been the other way round.
"Leader, manual aiming is not possible," stated the man in the communicating channel.
"I know, such a lively prey, livelier than the animal."
"True, he's piloting a Mandate, not some random instant mech at the supermarket after all." They sounded very excited somehow... probably it was the first time they chased a Mandate.
"Switch your mode," the leading pilot instructed. "All units switch your single-targeted aiming to area-aiming. Remain manual."
"Yes, sir." They understood it was not the time to mess around.
"Lock on complete."
"Lock on complete too."
...
"Group firing calibration complete. Ready to fire at once." Heavy breaths were heard in the channel.
"FIRE!" the leading pilot shouted.