novelraw Chapter 147 : Mechanical Tower
Chapter 147 : Mechanical Tower
Chen Sui watched the surging energy explosions below. After she occupied the auxiliary position, several academies immediately reacted, shifting their gaze from her to the other members of Zhu Jing Fu.
"Seriously, they don't let analysts carry the instrument again?"
Noya ran a hand through his fluffy golden hair, his tone somewhat agitated.
"Argh, what scheme are you Zhu Jing Fu plotting now!"
He vaguely grasped a pattern: whenever Chen Sui wasn't assigned as the main role in a mission, it usually meant Xie Chunshi had some special deployment.
But Noya still couldn't figure out Zhu Jing Fu's plan. When he saw Puluo raise his cannon and fire toward him, he was momentarily stunned.
He screamed: "You're using an energy cannon?"
This was absurd!
Zhu Jing Fu had an absorption instrument, so why bring an energy cannon?
Other teams heard his voice and quickly looked toward the black gold mecha's position, just in time to see an energy cannon firing directly at Noya, followed by the black gold mecha leaping up, half-charged, firing several shots around Saint Laurent.
Rich energy scent dispersed, instantly enveloping Saint Laurent completely.
Although Noya dodged the cannon's trajectory, the energy bomb exploded, smoke enveloping the mecha, quickly coating it with a scent extremely attractive to energy bodies.
Around the main base station, besides that massive giant mecha energy body, there were many scattered energy bodies, continuously rushing toward the base station following the scent of the absorption instrument. Even if they were initially cleared out, they quickly surged back in groups.
After Saint Laurent was surrounded by energy liquid, it immediately attracted the attention of energy bodies. They turned their heads toward their position, machine gears making clicking sounds. Among them, the robot-type energy bodies, upon noticing the Saint Laurent mechas and the surrounding energy scent, their humanoid eyeballs immediately lit up with red light.
"So underhanded?"
Noya felt the high concentration of energy around him. Usually, energy cannons used to lure monsters would be diluted, with large amounts of energy converted into parts with impact and explosive force. The attraction concentration wasn't very high, but Puluo's charge—Noya could smell it—was highly concentrated energy attraction, with very low conversion to damage.
—This was clearly Zhu Jing Fu's perfect tool for diverting trouble eastward.
But he realized too late. Facing the rapidly approaching energy bodies, Saint Laurent scattered, leaving the original targeting position.
Zhu Jing Fu had been chased by energy bodies all along the way, and by now they were quite skilled at evasive maneuvers. As they dodged energy bodies around them, there were also gun cannons from other academies behind them.
"Watch out for their single combat unit's weapons," Zhang Yingjie glanced toward Saint Laurent's direction. The golden mecha was submerged by energy bodies, and only lightning striking down from the sky could be seen, blasting into the energy body group. Electric light exploded, repelling surrounding energy bodies, and the golden mecha stood up again, propelling into midair.
Zhang Yingjie's gaze quickly swept over, immediately focusing on Puluo's gun cannon. The Ink Hills Commander cautiously examined his weapon, his gaze then moving back, scanning over the rapidly moving Zhu Jing Fu members.
"Can you sense the instrument?" he looked back at the analyst. In the Na Luo River team channel, Xie You was also asking He Lanqi the same.
The analyst brushed aside her cascading wavy hair, looking seriously forward: "The agile attacker and Commander are moving too fast, and the energy fluctuations around are quite chaotic. I can't see clearly for now. The single combat unit is blocked by energy bodies."
When speaking of Zhu Jing Fu's strong attacker Gu Qinxue, He Lanqi said confidently: "There are no fluctuations on their strong attacker. Gu Qinxue doesn't like doing such things."
The topic of 'who's carrying the instrument' in Zhu Jing Fu was similar to the previous elimination round's 'guess who the analyst is'—both humorous points that seemed to require some 'acting' from the involved roles. Gu Qinxue was somewhat cold and not very good at controlling emotions, making it difficult for her to pretend.
Hearing her words, Xie You shifted his gaze to the two black gold mechas leaping away from the energy bodies around Saint Laurent, "Blast them down."
Zhou Chen and Xie Chunshi, taking advantage of high positions, were firing at energy bodies controlled by Na Luo River.
Noya, in the encirclement, watched as a cannon shot from above, directly consuming the cannon fire that Saint Laurent had aimed at the energy bodies. The devouring cannon's energy collided with the energy body, blasting out the energy crystal, and he suddenly smiled.
"You Zhu Jing Fu are truly dirty!"
The energy bodies' harassment was endured by Saint Laurent, yet the points were all taken by Zhu Jing Fu.
What were these people doing in the league competitions? With such heart-stopping tactics, they should go into business.
"All's fair in war," Zhou Chen heard him grinding his teeth through the cannon sounds. Looking down from midair, as the low-charged electromagnetic cannon fired, he snatched an energy body that was about to be pierced by He Lanxiu's ice spikes, "Keep up the good work."
He said with a laugh.
Noya quickly fired his cannon in a circle around him, taking down the surrounding energy bodies, his tone somewhat exasperated: "Zhou Chen, just wait until you come out."
Today he absolutely had to give Zhou Chen a proper beating!
Hearing this, Zhou Chen's mouth twitched, his tone persuasive: "Don't be like that."
Just as he was about to tell Noya to be more generous and not mind these small details, Xie Chunshi, who had already rushed forward near the base station door, suddenly turned back, raising his cannon toward Zhou Chen.
"Bang!"
The devouring cannon fired from its black muzzle, carrying a faint gray light, exploding in front of Zhou Chen.
It raised a layer of scorching flames, the hot air blast flipping Zhou Chen's mecha, sending him flying backward.
Gu Qinxue's whip flicked swiftly as she passed. Already accustomed to grabbing agile attackers mid-route, her movement was incredibly smooth, her footsteps never pausing as she directly propelled from midair, catching up with Xie Chunshi's steps.
From the explosion in front of Zhou Chen to him being thrown back took just a few seconds. Looking back at where the cannon had fired from, he met Simos's cannon muzzle that had just finished charging.
Xie Chunshi's devouring cannon was meant to neutralize the opponent's attack.
Otherwise, Zhou Chen wouldn't have gotten off so lightly by just being thrown back.
"Damn," Zhou Chen said softly, "are they all ganging up on us already?"
"Puluo, give Na Luo River some energy too."
He coordinated with Puluo in the team channel.
The single combat unit, supporting himself with a shield umbrella, leaped on the ground, approaching the door position. Hearing this, his figure paused, aiming the energy cannon toward Na Luo River: "Fire?"
Xie Chunshi had already approached the door, but the main forces of several academies were all waiting nearby. Before he could get close, cannons rained down like a downpour, instantly blasting the path ahead with gunpowder smoke.
The black gold mecha traversed through the cannon fire, paused, then turned and retreated.
"They're really determined to not let us through."
They wouldn't even give Zhu Jing Fu a chance to approach the door.
Zhou Chen clicked his tongue in amazement. With such defense, let alone sending Puluo in, even approaching the door would get Zhu Jing Fu shot to pieces by cannons, instantly blasting their mecha damage to critical.
"We can move against Na Luo River," Xie Chunshi looked at the surrounding positions. The strong attackers from the four schools surrounded the base station door. Near Chen Sui's high position, agile attackers and analysts were ready to contain her and support those below, while the rest of the crowd blocked and eliminated the remaining four from Zhu Jing Fu.
They needed to relax the defenses around the base station door and near Chen Sui, otherwise there was no way for the analyst to break free.
Xie Chunshi thought.
As for the instrument, there were plenty of people willing to help Zhu Jing Fu bring it in.
"When Na Luo River's cannons fire, we can consider exposing the instrument."
Xie Chunshi hinted to Puluo that it was time to 'start acting.' Initially, he wanted to add a few more words since Puluo was after all an honest person, but as Xie Chunshi quickly reviewed Puluo's past actions in his mind, he deeply realized that Puluo might not be that honest, so he swallowed his reminders.
He felt that Puluo's own performance might be better than after his reminders.
Puluo understood the Commander's meaning. As he set up his cannon, his expression became serious, looking at Na Luo River's position and fixing the energy cannon's target.
In the team channel, Chen Sui suddenly reported two positions, "Fire at the front one, dodge toward the back one."
The analyst spoke extremely fast, her final syllable just falling as his energy cannon fired.
Puluo instinctively aimed his cannon at her reported position. High-concentration energy passed through Na Luo River's forward defense, at an extremely tricky angle, rushing straight toward the analyst behind the single combat unit and Commander.
He Lanqi felt the intense energy facing her, her eyes reflecting a huge energy flame. Before Lu Ting's energy shield could rotate over, from Na Luo River's side, Xie You aimed his cannon, directly intercepting midway.
The cannons collided, exploding in midair, energy raining down like water, drenching several Na Luo River mechas.
Lu Ting immediately retracted her energy shield, turning to look at the Commander, muttering: "Such quick reactions..."
Good thing it was intercepted, otherwise it would have all landed on the analyst.
"That's Chen Sui's technique, indeed only analysts understand analysts' positions best," Simos, with dual cannons on his mecha shoulders, charging and aiming, quietly remarked.
"Why aren't you firing yet?" Xie You said coolly, glancing at him with raised eyelids.
Feeling the Commander's sharp gaze through the mecha, Simos suavely tossed his head, his eyes flashing a white light as he stopped: "Understood."
As soon as he finished speaking, two cannon shots led the way, spiraling toward Puluo, followed by several more cannons in succession.
When Puluo saw the bullet rain coming, his mecha propelled toward the position Chen Sui had reported. Just as he landed, cannons exploded around his position. The aftershocks collided in layers, a huge explosion rising like an extremely resonant firework, flames shooting skyward. Puluo was at the edge of the flames, timing the peak of the energy explosion to expose the instrument's fluctuation.
The absorption instrument's wave signal flashed by, quickly disappearing with the burning flames. The black gold mecha flashed from the edge, increasing propulsion, charging into midair.
Na Luo River's explosion immediately attracted attention from around. As various academies looked over, keen analysts immediately captured a fluctuation amid the violent energy explosion waves.
"Absorption instrument signal!"
In the team channel, analysts exclaimed with some excitement.
At Na Luo River's position, He Lanqi also captured the fleeting signal. She immediately looked at her teammates: "It's on Zhu Jing Fu's single combat unit."
The instrument signal quickly disappeared. Zhu Jing Fu's mechas converged in midair. The single combat unit's positioning seemed perfectly normal, with the shield umbrella in front of teammates, but upon careful observation, one would notice his entire body was shrouded by the shield umbrella. If he were replaced with an analyst, this position would have no issues, but a single combat unit being protected by output handlers looked somewhat unusual.
"Is Zhu Jing Fu up to some trick again?"
Noya frowned, looking over, "Putting the instrument on the single combat unit twice, isn't that too risky?"
"Perhaps Zhu Jing Fu thinks you would think that way," a dark yellow mecha speeding past from Saint Laurent's side heard Noya's voice and calmly replied.
Noya was hit at a sore spot by Song Yuan, gritting his teeth: "Let's charge then, this time we won't be fooled by Zhu Jing Fu!"
The four schools converged, charging toward Zhu Jing Fu's single combat unit position.
Chen Sui felt the targeting focus around her relax somewhat. Her figure leaped, seemingly approaching her Zhu Jing Fu teammates, but actually reducing the distance to the base station.
But other academy mechas outside the base station were still setting up remote cannons. Breaking through wasn't an easy task. Chen Sui glanced, firing her cannon at the crowd ahead.
"Bang!!"
The smoke bomb didn't aim at any mecha, seemingly deliberately threading through the crowd, obviously not treating the attack seriously.
Xie You, seeing the cannon brush past his shoulder, his gaze flashed with astonishment.
He certainly wouldn't think he was already good enough to dodge Chen Sui's targeting, and thus, this missed cannon shot instantly raised his alertness.
Zhang Yingjie and other Commanders shared his thoughts.
Before the Commanders could react, white mist burst from the cannon. Around the main base station, fog spread, visibility instantly covered.
"I got it!"
In the swirling white mist, Lu Hang Jiu, bearing the high-voltage current on his Four-sided Mace, his mecha limbs rolling with electric shock sensations, a flash of madness in his eyes, a exaggerated smile spreading across his face.
"Awesome!"
"This is how a fight should feel!"
Zhou Chen, hearing his words, hesitated for a moment: "No seriously dude, you're actually insane."
Lu Hang Jiu's ears were filled with electrical noise, unable to hear what he said. Seeing the mecha in front hesitate slightly, he immediately swept aside with fierce dual blades, the blade edge slashing Zhou Chen aside, his figure rushing straight toward Puluo.
Several Xitisi members observed his position. Originally, they were working with others to control Xie Chunshi and Gu Qinxue, but the battle situation suddenly shifted, seeming as if they were assisting Zhu Jing Fu in forcibly controlling other teams.
He Chigui's scarecrow light surged, energy fluctuations raised to the maximum, a large amount of energy bursting in his mental domain to support, control energy spreading, forcibly controlling for three seconds.
"Bang!"
A muffled groan came from his mecha cockpit. The analyst was suffering from excruciating headaches. The enormous energy of forcibly controlling several high-level awakened individuals made him extremely susceptible to energy backlash. To stay conscious, the Xitisi analyst slammed his head hard against the operation console.
A purple bruise immediately appeared on his forehead, the sharp control instrument on the operation console cutting his skin, blood seeping from the wound.
The pain kept He Chigui conscious, his control energy pulling back the mechas around.
The cannon actions of the mechas around Lu Hang Jiu paused, allowing him to get close to Puluo.
Under He Chigui's energy influence, Puluo's shield umbrella raised a second too late, and the black shadow under the Xitisi agile attacker directly rushed up from the ground, flipping him over.
Puluo felt a huge wound open across his chest from a sharp blade. The fierce dual blades sliced through the mecha's outer shell into the crevice, the blade edge touching the mecha's matching components.
"Open up!"
Lu Hang Jiu exerted force on his hands, the fierce blades lighting up with energy red light, directly prying up the mecha components.
He quickly extracted the absorption instrument that was stuck behind the components.
The instrument signal immediately flickered in the surrounding energy fluctuations.
The second the Xitisi agile attacker got the instrument, he kicked away the Zhu Jing Fu single combat unit, using this force to propel himself, rushing straight outside the base station.
The Xitisi group had already arrived outside the base station.
However, what surprised them was that the white mist from Chen Sui's smoke bomb extended all the way to outside the base station door. The surroundings were completely blurred, only the mecha radar signals in the team channel could identify each position.
But cannon directions couldn't be determined, so Lu Hang Jiu didn't dare to stop at all, fearing that the radar signal would expose his position and a cannon would blast him down.
Outside the base station door, his journey had been somewhat too smooth. Did his teammates' cover make everyone outside the base station door stop attacking?
Feeling the quiet atmosphere near the base station door, Lu Hang Jiu slowed down somewhat curiously.
Black vines swiftly pierced through from behind. He quickly dodged!
It was Xin Ming's Ghost Flower!
Ah.
Lu Hang Jiu felt somewhat relieved, "Good to see someone."
Otherwise, he would have wondered if he had gone to the wrong place.
After all, with all this white mist, he couldn't see the path at all.
Chen Sui fired control cannons continuously, along with Gu Qinxue and Xie Chunshi who escaped from the encirclement. The three completely tied up the surrounding defenses. Seeing Xin Ming's Ghost Flower break through, Chen Sui immediately summoned Wood-Born Flower, the vines entangling with Ghost Flower vines.
Xin Ming's energy control paused, looking at the energy position: "Chen Sui?"
"No!"
She suddenly looked toward outside the base station door, realizing something. She didn't know who was carrying the instrument: "Don't enter the base station!"
Xin Ming's warning was clearly ineffective. To Lu Hang Jiu, this all seemed like part of other academies' plan to organize Xitisi's victory.
The Ink Hills Commander was the first to hear Xin Ming's voice. Zhang Yingjie heard Xin Ming point out: "Chen Sui is approaching the base station!"
He immediately understood Zhu Jing Fu's plan!
Because the instrument wasn't on the analyst, everyone else was preparing to grab the instrument, with no one controlling the analyst.
And after Puluo lost the instrument, others would also relax their hunt for Zhu Jing Fu, resulting in enough manpower outside the base station to contain.
And as long as someone brought the instrument into the base station, with energy shielding, Chen Sui would be able to reclaim the instrument once inside.
After all—
Resolving matters outside the base station was to protect other academies, the defense was against Zhu Jing Fu!
After Xin Ming revealed Chen Sui's position, other team Commanders immediately understood. The Ink Hills agile attacker rapidly headed for the door. After Lu Hang Jiu rushed into the base station door, stepping onto the elevator device, Chen Sui, like a ghost shadow, directly rushed inside.
Jipuna was a step late. Just as Zhu Jing Fu members guarded the door outside, his figure had just entered.
And just at this moment.
"Thud—"
Xie Chunshi closed the base station door. Zhu Jing Fu's cannons charged, standing outside the base station.
"Alright," Zhou Chen's electromagnetic cannon muzzle flickered with electric light, several black gold mechas turned around one after another, watching the mechas sprinting toward the door, "today no one else is getting in."
He calmly spoke harsh words, his tone quite in Chen Sui's style.
Xie Chunshi quickly reminded in the team channel: "Jipuna got in."
"It's fine, one is a fight, two together is also a fight," Chen Sui replied coolly.
"Down here I'll guard for you, today if they want to get in, they'll have to step on—" Puluo quickly covered Zhou Chen's crow's mouth.
"Okay, I understand."
Chen Sui was highly focused, crossing the elevator stairway, directly entering the base station's internal corridor. The dark yellow mecha ahead continued without stopping, rushing straight toward the monitoring base station. Feeling the pursuit behind, he screamed in the Xitisi team channel: "Ahhh Chen Sui is behind me!!"
"Don't be afraid of her!" Chi Buyu looked at the Zhu Jing Fu group ahead, with Zhou Chen's electromagnetic cannon aimed in their direction, "I swear! What weapons does Zhu Jing Fu bring?!"
Even an electromagnetic cannon was brought out!
What are they trying to do!
Are they going to send him flying with one shot?!
Lu Hang Jiu's hands holding the fierce blades trembled slightly. Feeling the pursuit like a shadow, it was like being targeted by a fierce beast, sharp eyes fixed firmly on him, as if surrounded by a large net, with nowhere to escape.
This was the first-person perspective of being chased by Chen Sui.
The inside of the base station was extremely quiet, only the thudding sounds of mecha leaps and the scorching sounds of propulsion devices consuming energy could be heard.
Lu Hang Jiu could also hear his own frantic heartbeat. He suppressed his violent breathing, with footsteps getting closer in his ears. There seemed to be another pursuit sound in the distance, but he had no time to think deeply.
Stepping out from the corridor, passing the plaza in front of the monitoring base station, the view suddenly opened up. Clear sunlight slanted down, the buildings in the plaza casting black shadows on the ground, very much like a black and white ink painting.
Seeing this scene, Lu Hang Jiu suddenly sighed with regret: "Why! Can't! Spirit bodies! Be used! In the base station!"
What a great venue for Light's Creed to play its role.
"Is that so?"
Chen Sui rushed out of the corridor, her mecha propulsion maxed out, directly leaping up from behind him, surpassing the dark yellow mecha. With a midair roll, she instantly landed in front of him.
The black gold mecha's right leg immediately raised, kicking forward—
"Thud!"
A sound came from Lu Hang Jiu's chest, his figure flying backward. However, this falling sensation didn't last long. He only saw a black shadow quickly flashing in front of him, a long leg crossing behind him, stopping his backward movement.
Seeing Chen Sui swing her spear, Lu Hang Jiu felt a chill on his neck, immediately understanding something. Before his body stabilized, he directly turned to the side.
However, the black gold mecha held the spear with one hand, while the other hand had already grabbed the absorption instrument in his hand.
"You're just forcibly taking it?" Lu Hang Jiu widened his eyes looking at her.
Chen Sui raised an eyebrow, before she could speak, a sharp blade wind passed in front of her.
The dark yellow mecha's fierce blade rotated in his palm, slashing forward violently. Chen Sui leaned back to dodge, as Lu Hang Jiu raised his foot, about to kick her.
Chen Sui's eyebrow-raising hadn't stopped, guessing his action from his behavior. With one hand holding the spear, she pressed down, directly locking the dark yellow mecha's legs firmly.
Lu Hang Jiu only felt his mecha's legs seemed to be tightly bound, unable to move at all.
He was repeatedly surprised: where did Chen Sui get such incredible strength!
The Zhu Jing Fu analyst's other hand, taking advantage of their tight grip on the instrument, flung Lu Hang Jiu to the side.
"Bang!!"
She raised her leg and delivered a kick!
Lu Hang Jiu felt his fingers seemingly pried open one by one, his figure uncontrollably leaning back, then flying out.
Jipuna, a step late, had just arrived, only to see the light pouring from the end of the corridor. A figure rushed out, just leaping into midair when suddenly a huge black shadow fell down in front of him.
"Thud!!"
"Bang!"
Two consecutive falling sounds hit the plaza in front of the monitoring base station.
The buildings on the plaza were dragged several meters by the falling mechas, leaving marks on the ground.
The dark yellow mecha and dark blue mecha violently collided, flying in opposite directions, crashing directly to the ground!