novelraw Chapter 148 : Mechanical Tower
Chapter 148 : Mechanical Tower
Outside the base station doors, the electromagnetic cannon blasted several large craters in front, scattering the encirclement. The various academies dispersed, pulling away from different angles at the four Zhu Jing Fu members guarding the door.
"Can you just move aside already!"
The energy from the smoke bomb was eroded by the surrounding energy storm. As the continuous bombardment source departed, the white mist before them gradually dissipated, visibility restored, allowing all academies to clearly see the electric light from Zhou Chen's electromagnetic cannon.
Noya's voice reached the area around Zhu Jing Fu. Zhou Chen leaped up with his fully-charged cannon, "No!"
"Today, whoever wants to enter the base station must first ask if my electromagnetic cannon approves."
His tone carried a hint of smugness, making Noya's teeth itch with irritation.
"Zhu Jing Fu is getting crazier and crazier. Where did they get the energy for such high energy consumption as an electromagnetic cannon!"
His voice was neither loud nor soft, audible to several Commanders around. From a distance, Xie You glanced at him, quickly scanning the distribution around the base station. Spotting signals from several secondary base stations, his expression suddenly darkened.
"Zhu Jing Fu came prepared. The surrounding secondary base stations probably won't have any mobile energy left."
He said coldly.
This information made Zhang Yingjie reconsider for a moment: "They don't lack energy, but energy supply takes time. Chen Sui is still in the base station. If we don't get in quickly, we'll just be outside listening to Zhu Jing Fu's victory announcement."
"If we can't suppress the energy, then during his charging interval, just throw him out directly."
Xie You calculated that Zhou Chen's electromagnetic cannon needed about three seconds to charge for a damaging attack. He wouldn't use full charge as that would take longer.
Zhang Yingjie added: "One energy tube is enough for several shots. The energy tube must be nearly empty now."
During the time Zhou Chen replaced the energy tube and recharged, if other academies couldn't break through Zhu Jing Fu's defense, then there was no point in competing in this league. Might as well all go home—being this incompetent, what was the point of competing?
Hearing the Ink Hills Commander's analysis, several Commanders quickly reacted. Strong attackers remained in the impact position, ready to intercept the electromagnetic cannon. Single combat units prepared defenses in the rear. Analysts and agile attackers dispersed to the sides, while Commanders charged forward to attract Zhu Jing Fu's firepower.
Zhou Chen saw an extremely thick lightning bolt heading straight for him, instinctively sidestepping to dodge. The lightning blade cut open the ground, causing the metal surface to curl upward. The golden mecha's light blade glowed with layers of white light, its tip blazing as it swung down, once again sending lightning striking toward his position.
"You're hitting that hard?" Zhou Chen had no time to propel forward, rolling on the ground as electric light spread along the surface, exploding into several-meter-high sparks around his feet, spraying outward.
During this exchange, Zhou Chen, being somewhat clever, prepared to charge his cannon for a counterattack. But the electromagnetic cannon's muzzle suddenly flashed red, and his expression immediately fell.
The Zhu Jing Fu team channel erupted with Zhou Chen's wail.
"How could it run out of energy at this moment!"
With Noya's energy attack still hanging overhead, Zhou Chen closed his eyes, feeling that a beating was inevitable.
Gu Qinxue quickly escaped from Xie You and Xin Ming's encirclement, her thorny fire whip whirling in midair with loud cracking sounds, igniting bursts of fierce flames, causing surrounding mechas to constantly dodge. Just as Xie You was guarding against her weapon, Gu Qinxue twisted her wrist, flicking the thorny fire whip directly outward.
The long whip caught Zhou Chen's mecha, her wrist pulling him up from the ground.
"Bang—"
The thunder struck empty air.
Zhou Chen sighed in relief, hurriedly throwing harsh words at Noya: "Fine, Noya, just you wait. Today if I don't teach you a lesson, you won't know who the true lightning lord is!"
"Get lost," Noya, seeing Zhou Chen move away and Gu Qinxue retreat some distance from the base station door, retorted, then immediately reminded Zhang Yingjie: "Attack the base station door."
Xie You pointed, and Simos and Xiao Er charged out.
"What's happening on your end?"
Chen Sui, outside the monitoring base station door, hearing movement in the team channel, couldn't help asking.
Xie Chunshi observed the changes around, his gaze somewhat profound, reminding Chen Sui: "Four schools' strong attackers—we can only hold for a few minutes."
Chen Sui raised an eyebrow: "A few minutes is enough."
She looked at the two mechas that had collided and crashed to the ground, immediately propelling toward the door.
Jipuna got up from the ground, finally seeing who had attacked him.
"I'm truly impressed, Lu Hang Jiu, your critical damage is really high."
Lu Hang Jiu also got up, but before he could check his damage level, he saw the black gold mecha quickly flashing past and hurriedly gave chase: "No time for talk, Chen Sui is heading for the door."
"Why chase? Just blast her!"
Jipuna was somewhat useful in certain respects. Although he and Lu Hang Jiu weren't among the Five Idiots, when comparing intelligence, he still had some sense of superiority.
Lu Hang Jiu had already charged ahead some distance. Hearing this, he pulled out his cannon and began charging.
Chen Sui had just pulled open the base station door when two cannon shots angled toward her from behind, one on each side. One wasn't even aimed at her but at the absorption instrument. The firepower forced her to retreat sharply. The cannon hit the base station door, pushing it open. With the explosion, a warning red light immediately lit up.
None of the three in the plaza paid attention to this red light. Seeing Chen Sui retreat, the other two sprang forward. Lu Hang Jiu attacked from the left, his fierce blade bringing a trail of fire, chopping down toward Chen Sui's left shoulder along the mecha components, which she dodged by stepping aside.
Chen Sui dared not retreat to the other side, feeling the air current behind her as Jipuna's blade flashed by, swinging down.
Even though she dodged, the sharp edge still cut open her mecha, the energy strike further raising the mecha's damage level.
Chen Sui bit her lip. Truth be told, agile attackers were indeed troublesome.
She quickly pushed back, away from the base station door. Lu Hang Jiu and Jipuna met in front, just turning their heads to glance at each other before flashing backward, wanting to distance themselves from Chen Sui—cannon suppression had a higher chance of success than close combat.
Moreover, with Chen Sui's mecha damage level visibly high, cannon bombardment targeting damage could more likely eliminate her.
[Oh my god what to do]
[Emperor Sui's damage level is too high, otherwise she would have rushed in already]
[If Zhu Jing Fu sent anyone else, it wouldn't be this difficult]
[That would be too dangerous, only Emperor Sui's speed could rush through the doors, can't be helped]
[They seem to be having trouble holding outside too]
[If Emperor Sui's damage hadn't gone up, it's hard to say]
[They're determined to eliminate Emperor Sui, right? Jipuna is being quite clever]
[I don't think it's that easy, that's Emperor Sui we're talking about]
The plan that the bullet comments could see, Chen Sui naturally saw too. And when the two agile attackers opposite set up their cannons targeting her, that feeling of being locked on became even more obvious, raising a series of goosebumps on the back of her neck, generating a bit of aggression from the threat.
Chen Sui looked up. Lu Hang Jiu set up his cannon in front of the door, while Jipuna took advantage of the tall buildings around the plaza, occupying the high ground to block her movement.
For Chen Sui to enter the base station, she would have to endure continuous bombardment from both.
Her tightly pressed lips suddenly moved, a faint voice coming through the team channel.
Zhu Jing Fu members were in the midst of a bitter struggle with other teams. Only Xie Chunshi caught this almost air-like sound.
"Three minutes, can do it."
Chen Sui was silently counting down, guessing her teammates could buy three more minutes.
Xie Chunshi's eyes flashed, suddenly brightening. His expression calmed, looking somewhat stern. The Commander's hand gripped the operation console's sensing equipment, his slender fingers exerting force, the knuckles turning white from the bone pressure.
"Three minutes, hold them."
He said calmly.
As soon as he spoke, the Commander's mecha charged upward. Following his mecha's trajectory, a massive blue light appeared behind him. Ice pillars shot skyward, the sea demon's body magnified, wrapping around the enormous ice pillars that connected heaven and earth in a spiral.
Surging ice-attribute energy was instantly massively concentrated. The sea demon's long tail coiled around the ice pillar in circles. Its azure eyes opened, imprinted on the metallic bright ground. With a crisp singing sound, a crack split open in the center of the ice pillar. A huge wave rose, surging in midair, crashing down toward the ground.
"What the hell."
Noya's vision reflected Xie Chunshi behind him, like a tsunami descending with giant waves. His mecha propelled upward, immediately moving to the side.
"Zhu Jing Fu is about to give out."
Xie You's gaze fixed on the mecha controlling energy in the sky. The massive water-attribute energy could instantly freeze thousands of miles—this was originally Xie Chunshi's true strength, but in his current state, it was merely a desperate struggle of last resistance.
He knew his brother too well.
Inside the base station, Chen Sui must be about to enter the monitoring station, otherwise Xie Chunshi wouldn't suddenly exert such force.
Looking at the fully charged cannons ahead, Chen Sui's gaze quickly swept the surroundings. She embedded the absorption instrument into her chest mecha component, gripped her spear and swung it in a circle. Her mecha legs slightly bent, she leaped forward with high elasticity.
A black shadow flashed past, rushing straight toward the door.
"Bang!"
Jipuna didn't need to think—his cannon fired directly, leaving a white line shooting toward Chen Sui's position. He had aimed to predict Chen Sui's footsteps, but hadn't expected the analyst's speed to be so fast. She flashed past from the side, and the cannon shot missed!
Lu Hang Jiu's intercepting cannon also missed, but the explosion range of the cannon's energy was large, engulfing the black gold mecha in fierce fire. Even though Chen Sui rushed out of the fire circle, her mecha's damage inevitably increased.
"Her damage won't hold. Keep firing!"
Jipuna said sternly, his cannon continuously firing after charging, following Chen Sui's footsteps, blasting crater after crater behind her.
Lu Hang Jiu chased after his cannon fire.
The path from the plaza to the base station was completely covered in artillery fire.
Chen Sui heard the mecha's damage alert in her ears. Her hands trembled slightly. The burning from the mecha's shell numbed her nerves with pain. Chen Sui's expression didn't change at all, only her brows pressing down slightly, showing a kind of enduring restraint.
She was approaching the base station door. She just needed to cross half the cannon fire to rush inside.
"This won't work!"
Lu Hang Jiu observed the distance between Chen Sui and the door. He sprang up, withdrawing his cannon and shaking his arms downward, causing two curved fierce blades to drop from his arms.
Lu Hang Jiu's fierce blades drew a red light in front of him. The dark yellow mecha stomped down, his figure propelling forward.
"Must stop her!"
Song Yuan had already given him orders—he must delay Chen Sui. In one minute at the latest, Xitisi would break through.
Jipuna was still surprised by his action, but quickly received a message from the team channel. He bit his lip.
Well, well, he and Lu Hang Jiu were teaming up, yet this guy was still secretive, guarding against both sides.
Jipuna knew internally that this was an inevitable trend. The three of them appeared to be attackers and defenders, but in reality, the attackers were also intercepting each other, all wanting to seize the absorption instrument from Chen Sui's hands in advance.
Chen Sui saw the two charging toward her, one in front and one behind, and immediately understood what this action meant.
In the Zhu Jing Fu team channel, Zhou Chen's strained voice sounded: "Little Sui! How's it going over there!"
Zhou Chen seemed to be bearing a heavy weight. If Chen Sui were outside the main base station, she would see the Four-sided Mace supporting Xie You's heavy sword, and even hear the Zhu Jing Fu agile attacker's cursing: "Black Mamba, you actually use such a heavy weapon!"
"Can you bear it?" Xie You, veins bulging on the back of his hand, eyes wide, laughed coldly, "That's not your concern!"
Zhou Chen, impacted by this tremendous force, immediately called for help from his teammates: "My arm's going numb, help—"
"Clang!"
The energy-reducing knife struck the Four-sided Mace, following the weapon's streamline directly into the heavy sword below. Xie Chunshi's arm held the knife upward, "Fall back."
Zhou Chen swiftly withdrew his weapon, his figure sweeping backward to block Chi Buyu who was charging from behind. The two barely communicated, but at the moment their weapons connected, both mechas erupted with lightning.
Thunder crawled, instantly filling the space, countless lightning bolts like tentacles exploring from within the mechas, waving and flailing around.
"Little Sui, I should warn you, I can't hold on much longer."
"Understood," Chen Sui's pupils reflected the mechas charging toward her. Her spear swept forward, directly clashing with Lu Hang Jiu's fierce blade, "I'm about to enter the base station."
As long as Lu Hang Jiu and Jipuna dared to engage in close combat, Chen Sui wouldn't give them a chance to distance themselves.
The fierce blade struck the spear, flaring with fire. A white light flashed from Chen Sui's side. She pulled her spear, directly locking the fierce blade at the square spear blade position. The spear handle swung sideways, blocking Jipuna's light blade chopping down.
Weapons collided with continuous sounds.
Chen Sui raised her spear, shaking off the other two. The spear thrust from the side, circling in midair. The four-edged spear blade stabbed backward, pressing down on the mechas around. The spear head swung out, heavily striking the mecha's chest, the ferocious force blasting both Jipuna and Lu Hang Jiu away.
Lu Hang Jiu had just been pressed down by the spear on his arm, hadn't struggled yet, when he felt a heavy object hammering his chest. He could barely catch his breath as he flew midair.
"Huff—"
He took a deep breath, his gaze focusing. A black shadow descended in front of him—the black gold mecha rushing over quickly.
"Bang!"
Chen Sui's foot stomped down, landing directly on Lu Hang Jiu, smashing the mecha to the ground. Jipuna's mecha propelled forward, gaining body control in advance. Seeing this situation, he immediately sidestepped, but the black gold mecha seemed to anticipate his movement. While leaping up, she had already rotated her body, her long leg sweeping horizontally across, chopping down on his shoulder.
"Bang!"
Jipuna felt his body falling, before he could push to stop, a hammering force came from above. The black gold mecha, gripping her spear with the end reversed, smashed heavily onto him, directly pounding the mecha down.
Two heavy thuds sounded as bodies hit the ground.
Chen Sui, using the force from kicking the mechas, propelled herself forward vigorously.
Jipuna, hitting the ground, immediately rolled up, pulling out his cannon, charging it high and aiming directly at the base station door: "Lu Hang Jiu!"
"Coming, don't call your father by his full name!"
Lu Hang Jiu charged high, seeing the black gold mecha appear at the base station door, his cannon suddenly fired.
Chen Sui's speed was too fast. He didn't even have time to respond to his team channel's Commander, nor the energy to understand the surrounding situation. He only saw Chen Sui leaping toward the inside of the base station.
"Bang—"
Continuous artillery fire surrounded the monitoring base station door. The cannons were like passing meteor showers, immediately raising the energy consumption of the two mechas. Yet no one cared at this moment, only watching whether the black gold mecha's steps had been stopped.
Chen Sui felt the temperature around her suddenly rise, flames enveloping her. Through the base station door, she could only vaguely see the layout inside through the smoke. But Chen Sui's vision pierced through the fire and white smoke, directly locking onto the placement point for the absorption instrument.
She could charge through!
After a preliminary calculation of the artillery's intensity, Chen Sui didn't hesitate. She already heard footsteps from the corridor.
—Some mechas had already broken through the base station's defense line.
Zhou Chen's somewhat tired voice sighed, then immediately rallied: "Little Sui, Zhang Yingjie, Xie You, and Xitisi's Chi Buyu have entered. Be careful on your end!"
"Roger."
Chen Sui replied in a deep voice.
But no one in the Zhu Jing Fu team channel heard this answer clearly, because Chen Sui's channel immediately transmitted the roar of artillery fire, seemingly at arm's length.
Zhou Chen frowned deeply, his face showing concern, the lightning in his hands becoming more erratic with his anxious mood.
Xie Chunshi controlled energy, raising an ice wall in front of the base station door, continuing to block others trying to break through.
At this moment inside the base station, hearing sounds from the corridor, Chen Sui's expression remained unchanged. Seeing the trajectory of the artillery, during a one-second interval, she directly charged into the cannon bombardment.
"Holy shit!"
Lu Hang Jiu saw the black gold mecha crash into the artillery fire, directly exploding against his cannon. A huge hole was blasted in the mecha's shell, components shattered. The damage level didn't need to be reported—it was visibly high.
Although shocked verbally, his hand movements didn't stop at all, artillery still bombarding.
Chen Sui felt intense pain from her back, equivalent to her body being blasted to a bloody mess. The analyst gritted her teeth, blood vessels at her temple visible through flesh, pulsing. Her artificial eye began to flicker as the mecha charged into the sea of fire, damage level alerts screaming.
Seeing this scene, Jipuna was as surprised as Lu Hang Jiu internally, but business was business—his hand cannon followed Lu Hang Jiu's locked position, firing out.
The quantum cannon's massive vitality directly blasted the mecha flying.
Fire waves surged, pushing Chen Sui into the base station. Feeling the mecha airborne, amid the pain throughout her body, Chen Sui pulled out the absorption instrument. Taking advantage of the mecha's flight moment, she threw the instrument up. Just as her spear swung, her mecha foot kicked out.
The absorption instrument fell toward the placement point.
"What did she throw?"
Lu Hang Jiu could only see a white light near the door, seemingly Chen Sui's spear, followed by a rumbling sound.
"Bang!"
The sound wasn't as loud as imagined. Lu Hang Jiu's charging motion paused, instinctively looking up: "Hiss—"
"Commander!"
Jipuna had already stopped firing. He heard a sound from behind and quickly looked back, indeed seeing the Ink Hills dark blue mecha landing.
Zhang Yingjie came forward, his gaze quickly scanning: "Where's Chen Sui?"
Jipuna pointed toward the door.
"She went in?" Xie You's face suddenly darkened.
Jipuna looked at the door burning with flames: "Not necessarily. She endured cannon fire all the way, her mecha damage might have maxed out."
Maxed out damage meant Chen Sui was likely eliminated.
Afterward, even if she placed the instrument, it couldn't be judged successful.
Lu Hang Jiu nodded, the two confirming. Plus there was no system announcement yet. Zhang Yingjie narrowed his eyes, suddenly becoming alert.
If Chen Sui was eliminated, then only those who entered the base station now were qualified to take and place the instrument.
The atmosphere among the three academies present suddenly froze.
And in this brief silence, the sound of mechas approaching came from behind.
Several mechas successively rushed over quickly.
Xie You turned to look at his teammates hurrying over: "You broke through?"
Could Zhu Jing Fu be breached so quickly?
This wasn't like Xie Chunshi's style at all.
"I think so?"
Noya responded.
The Na Luo River analyst quickly stood at the Commander's side: "Zhu Jing Fu suddenly released force, energy was scattered. It seemed like they deliberately let us in."
"Huh?"
This made everyone present sense something was off.
"But didn't Chen Sui get eliminated?"
Jipuna pointed at the door. As he looked over, his pupils suddenly contracted.
What!
"Who said someone eliminated can't complete the defense mission."
The four from Zhu Jing Fu arrived leisurely. Seeing the people in the center of the plaza, who a second ago were at daggers drawn, suddenly all turn to look as the Zhu Jing Fu mechas arrived, as if forming a united front.
Zhou Chen sighed, his tone carrying no joy. In the past, he would have certainly bragged a bit.
When they were preparing to intercept other academies outside the base station, in the team channel, Chen Sui's extremely weak voice suddenly came through. That voice had only four words.
Firm, resounding, just different from her usual tone.
She said: "Mission accomplished without disgrace."
Xie Chunshi immediately opened the door, preparing to enter the base station.
The Zhu Jing Fu members looked over.
At the monitoring base station door, after the energy burned out, the fire gradually weakened, and the gunpowder smoke dispersed around.
Now sunlight fell on the plaza, penetrating the base station's exterior barriers, slanting into the door, casting a triangular shadow on the inside near the door.
The black gold mecha held the spear, the four-edged spear blade directly inserted into the ground, the mecha kneeling on one knee. Behind, a huge hole had been blasted, mecha components shattered, the biological neural conduction inside severed, black smoke dispersing from the mecha.
The black gold mecha's head rested on the spear, its silhouette in the light and shadow appearing somewhat magnificent.
"You guys really hit hard," Zhou Chen glanced at Lu Hang Jiu and Jipuna, "See you at the combat platform after the match."
Rationally, he knew such scenes were inevitable in competition.
But emotionally, seeing this scene still made his breath catch, his heart aching.
"Little Sui..."
Gu Qinxue, seeing this scene through the crowd, flicked out her long whip.
Jipuna and Lu Hang Jiu dodged behind their Commanders.
"I-I-I can explain, she charged into my cannon fire!"
Lu Hang Jiu raised his hands high, barely able to speak. It really was Chen Sui who charged in herself.
Gu Qinxue took a deep breath, her surging emotions suddenly halting, because the team channel sounded with Chen Sui's intermittent voice.
"I said... I'm stuck," Chen Sui's voice was even hoarser, "Give me a hand?"
"Damn!" Zhou Chen swore viciously.
Xie Chunshi pushed through the crowd without a word, walking directly toward the door.
As Zhu Jing Fu approached, other academies peered over.
"Damn, how many shots did you fire?"
Noya elbowed Lu Hang Jiu.
The other gestured a distance, his voice extremely soft: "This whole path, she endured cannon fire all the way through."
"That brutal?" Noya sucked in a breath, "And she still made it inside the base station before being eliminated?"
"Hmm?"
"So did Zhu Jing Fu succeed or not?" Noya looked back, "There's no system announcement yet."
Zhang Yingjie looked at the five Zhu Jing Fu members who had already gathered, "They must have succeeded."
Otherwise Zhu Jing Fu wouldn't have come up.
Sure enough, after he spoke, the delayed announcement finally sounded.
[Energy absorption instrument successfully placed]
[Congratulations to 4702 on successful defense]
[This SSS-level energy field—Mechanical Tower—]
The system announcement abruptly stopped, followed immediately by a cold reminder.
[Number 4702 damage level 80%]
[Eliminated]
"Seems like placement first, then elimination."
Noya was internally amazed. Before he could finish speaking, Zhang Yingjie suddenly frowned: "Something's wrong."
"Where's the match-end announcement?"