novelraw Chapter 39 : Time-Limited Mission
Chapter 39 : Time-Limited Mission
In the center of the bamboo forest, a bamboo leaf slowly floated down onto the clear green pond, causing ripples on the water's surface.
The ink-blue mecha took a great leap, its propulsion device lifting it off the ground, soaring over the lake surface, following moss-covered stone steps and stepping into a dense bamboo forest.
Looking at the two indicators on the map drawing ever closer, Xiao Er's fine eyebrows furrowed slightly.
Many energy bodies had blocked his path along the way, but they weren't troublesome and were quickly resolved.
It was going too smoothly.
He hadn't forgotten this was a two-person adversarial match.
Where was the other participant?
Where was the energy body she had transformed into?
Xiao Er stared ahead, the bamboo forest becoming increasingly dense further in, layers upon layers, with low trees growing amongst them, craggy rocks protruding haphazardly. A gentle breeze came, everything appearing extremely peaceful.
The mecha's feet crushed leaves, bamboo leaves rustling as they were blown upward.
In the dense bamboo forest, the staggered bamboo leaves blocked the view above.
A grayish-brown long-tailed lemur slowly descended from the top of a bamboo branch.
Xiao Er sensed the deathly silence around him, tension and pressure imperceptibly spreading.
He couldn't help gripping his weapon, placing the monitoring equipment on his chest, protecting it with his other hand.
Just as he slowly walked toward the placement base surrounded by rugged rocks.
A verdant green snake slithered out from the rocks on his left.
It left a trail of dark slime beneath it, quickly corroding the slate into a deep black channel.
On the right, Chen Sui hid among a cluster of lush bamboo trees.
The top branches slowly pressed downward, the slender bamboo poles like willow branches, drooping toward the center, separating the surroundings and forming a natural cage.
Xiao Er felt the chaotic energy, knowing inwardly that the placement process wouldn't be smooth, his vigilance already at its peak.
However, just as he was installing the energy device on the base, a chill rising from behind and a sudden rushing wind sound made the mecha leap into the air, carrying the energy device to midair. His weapon instantly changed to a cannon, charging up and firing violently at the base in front.
"Bang!"
The cannon fire exploded, colliding with the fierce fire spat out by the bamboo lemur, creating violent sparks.
The bamboo lemur, seeing the mecha escape, leaped down from several dozen meters high toward the mecha. The bamboo pole under its feet sprung him upward, the entire bamboo branch bending down.
Xiao Er spun around, the back of his fan blade sweeping in front of him, blocking the small body of the bamboo lemur. Sharp claws scraped against the blade back, making a shrill sound.
Xiao Er swung forcefully, deflecting the bamboo lemur away. The mecha suddenly retreated rapidly. Behind him, the bent bamboo pole swayed flexibly, like a baseball bat, the slender bamboo body hitting the mecha with a thud, sending it flying.
Xiao Er felt a pain like a whip lashing across his back. He furrowed his brow slightly, his lips pursing.
A pillar of ice condensed from beneath his feet, instantly spreading to wrap around the mecha layer by layer. The bamboo pole, about to swing at him again, struck the outside of the ice pillar and was quickly frozen solid, stuck to the ice column.
Feeling the rapidly dropping temperature around, Chen Sui in the bamboo forest locked her gaze on the mecha within the ice-blue wall.
The bamboo lemur, knocked flying by the fan blade, landed with its round little ears frantically twitching.
It emitted a strange call from its mouth, like a human child's heart-wrenching wail.
From within the ice wall, Xiao Er raised his cannon toward the bamboo lemur's position, continuously charging and firing.
Disturbed by the powerful energy carried by the ice, the bamboo lemur's cries became increasingly shrill.
Just as it dodged to the slate nearby, a green snake suddenly thrust its head out from beyond the slate. The bamboo lemur's long tail coiled around the snake's tail. It quickly spun in a circle on the slate, its tightened tail flinging the green snake toward midair.
Simultaneously, it spat out a long tongue of flame from its mouth. The intense heat, guided by the slime on the green snake's body, ignited all the way to the sky, instantly enveloping the ice wall.
In Xiao Er's spiritual domain, his core crystal felt scorching pain.
Fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead.
Ice-blue hair fell from his black hood, the young man's clear, pale handsome face carrying a heavy pensiveness.
"Snow Elf."
Chen Sui heard a soft chant in the quiet bamboo forest.
She instinctively thought of his name.
Star Alliance First Academy, school team assault, Xiao Er.
Spiritual body, Snow Elf.
Just as this thought emerged, Chen Sui distinctly felt the gentle breeze around suddenly become sharp and bone-chilling.
Coldness spread through the moisture in the air like a persistent disease, chilling to the core, making even the blood instantaneously lose temperature.
Time seemed to freeze.
The traces of burning flames still lingered on the outside of the ice wall.
Melting water droplets hung suspended in midair.
The bamboo lemur's long tail slowly descended, its round black eyes staring at the ice wall, maintaining a squatting position on the slate, its entire body instantly stiffening.
The green snake's body remained in midair, through the pillar of fire it had burned to midair.
The fire suddenly weakened, the outer smoke and fire carrying a deep blackness, seemingly about to extinguish at any moment.
In midair, an ice crystal condensed into a hexagonal frost flower shape.
This seemed to be a signal. Immediately following, a howling gale blew, stirring up bamboo leaves everywhere. The bamboo trees surrounding this area made cracking sounds as they broke.
The bamboo trees around the mecha were snapped at the waist, countless plant branches falling from midair.
Accompanying all this falling were the violent snowflakes brought by the cold wind.
Snow like shattered jade and scattered pearls lay on the ground, covering it in a layer of white in just a few seconds.
"Break."
The cold male voice was like midwinter snow day spring water drawn from a deep well, clear yet sharp.
As his words fell, the ice wall enveloped by fierce fire shattered into countless ice crystal fragments, shooting out in all directions at 360 degrees with no blind spots.
An ice crystal fragment headed directly toward Chen Sui's face.
She instinctively sprang her body from the soil, dodging sideways.
The slender bamboo branch emerged from the concealing bamboo forest, this movement exposing Chen Sui's position.
Xiao Er's mecha hand pressed downward, masses of blizzard following his will, burying and extinguishing the remaining flames.
The green snake in midair suddenly exploded, its body fragments falling to the ground.
The bamboo lemur's body was buried under the vast white snow. With only a crisp "crack" sound, the arched shape completely collapsed.
Chen Sui saw a black energy crystal on the snow surface and red light beneath the white snow.
She indifferently swept her gaze over the two energy bodies shattered into pieces.
Xiao Er watched as the bamboo branches fell to both sides, revealing a slender bamboo branch inside. His mecha slowly descended from midair to the ground.
"So that's where you were hiding."
He said coldly, holstering his energy cannon back onto the mecha, drawing his fan blade with his other hand.
Chen Sui watched his movements, gathering all the mental power she had distributed among other energy bodies.
Green light blazed around the bamboo joints. Slender bamboo branches grew violently from her body. From the snow-covered ground, countless green shoots pushed through the snow, emerging from the yellowish-brown soil.
Chen Sui was still somewhat unaccustomed to controlling an energy body. Without weapons in hand, she could only flail her branches like dancing serpents, bamboo whips lashing the ground, sending snow mixed with soil flying in all directions.
The fan blade advanced from afar, wind blades cutting through the floating objects in the air. The biting cold swept away the plants on the ground, turning over the soil to leave a deep, thin mark.
Chen Sui's main body flashed in the green light, moving toward the distance. In an instant, only a phantom of a bamboo tree remained in place, the fan blade striking empty air.
Her reaction is quite fast.
Xiao Er thought, but considering her as an analyst, her survival skills must be strong, which was understandable.
He flicked his fan, his cold eyes turning to fix on Chen Sui.
Wood-attribute energy points gathered around like a forest of fireflies, falling into the dense bamboo forest. The bamboo tree bodies, frozen and sealed in ice, turned from withered yellow to green again, the hard bamboo slices regaining their elasticity.
Bamboo branches danced, figures flickering.
The shadow of a giant mecha beast cut through the crisscrossing bamboo shadows on the ground, the fan blade chopping down toward Chen Sui.
She moved again in an instant, followed immediately by an ice-laden shell.
A long green trail followed behind the bamboo joint as Chen Sui drove her body, striving to utilize her control over the surrounding energy as an energy body.
The main energy body's energy particles could influence the entire space.
An energy storm carrying fierce winds howled from within the bamboo forest.
Countless bamboo branches suddenly grew, vines with tender buds like countless hands, frantically waving and curling toward midair.
The ice shells carried cooling and freezing effects. Each time they struck the vines, they were blocked in their attack trajectory, exploding against the vines.
The ground was littered with shattered plant remains.
Chen Sui weaved through them, effortlessly dodging the mecha attacks behind her.
When she finally accepted the energy body's form and began to skillfully swing her branches, a shell behind her was suddenly enveloped by branches she extended, forming a web-like bamboo cage that grew rapidly.
Ice shell fragments flew out through the cage gaps.
Xiao Er recharged, somewhat impatiently shaking his hand at Chen Sui's eel-like dodging movements.
The fan blade and cannon switched hands.
From the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the plant-type energy body suddenly halting its movement.
Seeing Chen Sui turn around, Xiao Er's eyes flashed. He opened his fan blade in front of him and swung it forcefully.
Chen Sui turned, branches suddenly extending toward the mecha.
The back of the fan blade shook from the immense force of the vines. A mass of gathered green energy was smashed toward the mecha by Chen Sui.
"Boom------"
Energy collided, producing a thunderous sound.
The sound of shock continued.
Xiao Er's hand holding the blade trembled slightly. Frost spread across the blade's back, but before it could strike outward, he felt a force exploding in front of him.
Chen Sui's figure swirled in an arc, bamboo branches bent into a crescent moon shape. Countless branches, driven by her force, were magnificently flung toward Xiao Er.
The mecha was whipped out in a series of strikes, falling from midair to the ground.
Xiao Er's form swayed, a feeling of weightlessness surging up. Water drops rushed toward his falling mecha, but the bamboo branches driven by green energy were faster.
Countless regenerating bamboo branches penetrated through the water drops, binding to Xiao Er's mecha. Countless vines flickering with green light wove layer upon layer, encircling the surrounding space.
Xiao Er felt his body being bound as blue light flared from his mecha. The snow floating in midair grew larger, but the energy body coming through the snow encircled the mecha's waist, lifting Xiao Er from the waist.
"You're not an analyst?"
Xiao Er felt intense energy intrusion, his gathered water-attribute energy scattered. Such a fierce offensive intent.
This person was clearly an output!
From the beginning, disguising as an analyst to deceive others.
The thought 'I've been tricked' flashed through his mind as the ink-blue mecha was heavily slammed against the surrounding bamboo net by the vines!
"Bang!"
"You..." The words from Xiao Er's mecha were interrupted by a second swinging slap.
"Boom!"
He crashed into another bamboo net.
"What are you..."
"Clang!"
"Zing!"
"Will you ever stop!"
The clear young man's voice, containing some anger, shouted softly.
Chen Sui's movements paused.
Xiao Er seized the time, his speech suddenly accelerating: "What exactly are you trying to do?"
If someone who knew him saw this scene, they would marvel that this usually calm and indifferent assault handler could have a flushed face and accelerated speech—truly a spectacle.
However, Xiao Er was simply made patience-less by Chen Sui's elimination method, which was comparable to death by a thousand cuts, and couldn't help but speculate:
Had he encountered a psychologically disturbed output?
Didn't she think this method was particularly insulting?
His eyes were completely cold.
The fan blade in his hand was ready to counterattack at any moment.
Unexpectedly, Chen Sui merely stopped her actions, standing suspended in midair, staring at the monitoring equipment on his chest.
"You..."
She paused her tone, "Hand over the energy device."
Hearing a somewhat hoarse female voice, Xiao Er was momentarily stunned.
He instinctively touched the energy device on his chest.
"What are you trying to do?"
He asked in confusion.
Chen Sui answered without feeling any issue: "Place the energy device, of course."
Xiao Er's ice-blue hair lay messily on his forehead as he maintained a horizontal floating posture in midair, turning his head to look at Chen Sui, reminding her: "You're in the energy body faction!"
He questioned uncertainly: "Didn't you read the rules?"
Chen Sui pressed her lips: "Huh?"
Xiao Er closed his eyes briefly, unable to believe he had matched with someone so clueless. "You are in the energy body faction," he emphasized coldly, "You only need to eliminate me to win. Placing the monitoring equipment is the human faction's task."
"Oh~ I see," Chen Sui recalled the game announcement, "The system only said to prevent the human faction from placing the device, it didn't say I couldn't place it."
Xiao Er bit his teeth.
You're an energy body, what device are you trying to place!
"Now, immediately, eliminate me."
His limbs relaxed, hung by the surrounding branches, the entire person somewhat exhaustedly lying in midair, his mind still carrying the dizziness from being swung back and forth, slapped around.
Chen Sui opened her mouth in surprise, seeing him abandon his struggle.
Branches extended toward his mecha cockpit area. A wave of energy struck down from above. Xiao Er felt a gentle breeze approaching. His face, white to the point of near transparency, was expressionless, his clear and faint gaze vacantly looking at midair, with only one thought in mind.
Wanted to vomit.
Felt like his brain had been thoroughly shaken.
He slowly closed his eyes.
Red bloodshot vessels visible on his thin eyelids.
The gentle breeze suddenly stopped in front of his face.
Chen Sui looked somewhat hesitantly at the energy device on his chest, a strange feeling of betrayal welling up.
"Maybe I should still place the energy device."
She was human, and even though playing the role of an energy body in the time-limited mission, she couldn't fully understand the energy body's thinking.
She only knew how to kill energy bodies, not how to be one.
Similarly, she couldn't bear to kill her own kind while occupying an alien form.
Even if it was all virtual.
"To be frank, if I were piloting a mecha right now, you wouldn't survive."
Xiao Er's eyes snapped open as he turned his head to look at her. "You're very confident."
His tone was cold.
"Which academy's output are you from?"
Chen Sui didn't answer, just looking at her current plant-system energy body form, dissatisfied: "I don't understand why humans should be turned into energy bodies. Being in this form disgusts me."
It felt like being controlled by brain-eating parasites in the apocalypse, becoming an alien species—sickening.
Hearing this, Xiao Er softly snorted a laugh: "You're overthinking. Only time-limited missions have this simulation capability. How could humans possibly become energy bodies?"
After saying this, he found the forfeit button in the mecha cockpit.
"Your ability is good, but your psychological quality is too poor."
Even with the enhanced abilities of an energy body, she couldn't bring herself to act.
In an actual mecha piloting situation, with greatly reduced capabilities, whether she could capture him as easily as today would be questionable.
Xiao Er thought.
[Competition Over]
As Xiao Er pressed the forfeit button, the virtual battlefield voice announcement sounded.
Chen Sui's vision darkened. In the last second before leaving the holographic transmission, she saw herself restored to her original body.
Raising her eyes, she briefly met the gaze of the pale young man in the hood across from her, then both their holographic projections instantly dispersed.
Returning to the time-limited mission public interface, looking at her own body, Chen Sui somewhat uncomfortably moved her limbs.
The feeling of being buried in soil before growing out made her brain temporarily forget normal walking. She practiced several times in place before finally recovering.
After leaving the virtual battlefield, Chen Sui climbed out of the holographic pod, blinking her eyes in confusion, coming back to herself from the swaying light and shadows of the bamboo forest.
She couldn't help tapping her forehead, not understanding why her resonance with the energy body was so strong that she needed to recover before adapting to her own body.
With questions in mind, Chen Sui cleared her usage time at the reservation counter.
She happened to meet Cheng Wei and Chen Tunan, supporting each other as they walked out.
"Ah, Student Chen Sui," Chen Tunan spoke while gasping, as if his jaw had been punched, though no marks were visible, the pain not yet subsided. Cheng Wei was even more dramatic, holding his thigh, lifting it up and down, seemingly just like Chen Sui coming out, not adapting to a human body.
After greeting them, she asked: "Were you assigned to the energy body faction?"
Cheng Wei: "Huh?"
He pointed at Chen Tunan: "No, I was human, he was the energy body. Hilarious, his energy body holographic projection had such a big mouth that his jaw dislocated."
Chen Sui frowned, looking at Chen Tunan: "Apart from that, didn't you feel somewhat unadapted when recovering?"
Chen Tunan and Cheng Wei had identical clear eyes: "Does a dislocated jaw count?"
Chen Sui pressed her lips, suddenly feeling uneasy inside.
Cheng Wei happened to inquire, interrupting her thoughts: "What about you, which faction were you assigned to?"
"Energy body."
Chen Sui waited for them to clear their time, and the three walked out of the holographic training building side by side.
"I'm truly amazed. I saw the energy body leaderboard scores were so high and thought being an energy body would be easy. But as soon as I entered, because I didn't know how to crawl on the ground, I kept falling every time I tried to walk, kept falling, it was so uncomfortable."
Chen Tunan complained.
Cheng Wei nodded along, "Honestly, no matter how many times you do this time-limited mission, it's hard to accept becoming an energy body. Looking like that while killing people, I felt too embarrassed."
Chen Sui deeply empathized.
"No wonder this is a time-limited mission, it feels awful to do," Chen Sui nodded understandingly. "Why arrange it this way? Humans playing energy bodies can't be equated with real energy bodies."
Cheng Wei, seeing her full face of rejection and disgust when mentioning energy bodies, expressed understanding.
"It's normal. Energy bodies are our enemies. To resolve them, we must first understand them, become them."
"How could humans possibly become energy bodies," Chen Tunan complained while speaking, "This notion is like saying energy bodies couldn't become human. The time-limited mission is just to understand energy bodies' energy control and field mastery."
"Actually, those playing the energy body role are mostly analysts, because only analysts' powerful spiritual thresholds can achieve the closest energy distribution control to energy bodies, while also helping analysts with feedback to better understand energy fields."
"Although analysts' attack abilities aren't strong, with the enhancement of energy fields, they're still invincible, otherwise the leaderboard wouldn't reach such heights."
Chen Sui nodded, recalling her perceptions during the energy body role-play, nodding with some realization.
"Indeed, the control over the energy field is more precise."
"But," she puffed her cheeks, frowning with displeasure, "being an energy body, don't let it happen a second time."
Cheng Wei and Chen Tunan smiled kindly.
None of them dwelled on this matter.
She compiled the time-limited mission into a report, analyzing her opponent Xiao Er, and uploaded everything to her light brain in the school team group chat.
After completing all this, the time had turned to late night.
The robot butler flashed with noodle tears.
Chen Sui shook her head helplessly: "Time to rest."
Before the robot butler could display flower-throwing and joyful emoticons, a visitor message came through.
Chen Sui put aside her prepared change of clothes and opened the door.
Gu Qinxue gestured for her to go to the living room, and Chen Sui followed to sit down.
On the long table, a light screen was divided into several frames.
In the upper right corner was Puluo, sitting properly, clothes neatly arranged, though from this angle one could see his boxer shorts, completely mismatched with his uniform style.
In the upper left corner, Zhou Chen was adjusting his hairstyle for the screen, his large face leaning in close, frowning as he flattened his standing hair. Chen Sui heard him mutter that the hairdressers in Songluo District weren't very good.
In the lower right corner, Xie Chunshi wore proper pajamas, buttons fastened to the top, his hair ends still damp. His black hair, like a tattoo, clung tightly to his slender neck, with water drops darkening his pajama collar.
In the lower left corner, Gu Qinxue and Chen Sui appeared on screen.
Seeing everyone present, Xie Chunshi nodded, "Sorry to take a bit of everyone's time, we'll finish in ten minutes."
Having set the time limit first, Chen Sui looked at the 22:47 at the bottom and nodded comfortably.
This timing would let her rest early, without the life steward emitting a piercing alarm.
"With the analyst's submission regarding other academies' situations, plus the school team's information channels, we now have complete lists and situations of the seven military direct subsidiaries."
Chen Sui raised her eyebrows, surprised this was gathered at this time.
Xie Chunshi's next sentence answered her confusion.
"The new assault handler of Na Luo River, awakening time unknown, originally lacking his information, was completed by the analyst through the time-limited mission."
Mentioning this, Zhou Chen pulled back the camera view, exclaiming: "Wow, you captured that lone wolf Xiao Er?"
"Matched in the time-limited mission," Chen Sui added.
Xie Chunshi: "Currently, the other military academies' lists are summarized, and I've uploaded all information to the group. Based on this information, the school team plan has some adjustments. Everyone, remember to check promptly so you don't miss courses."
After saying this, he pointed at Chen Sui, "The analyst's tasks are somewhat heavy, most training plans have been replaced with practical projects. I've highlighted in red several necessary combat training sessions, remember to attend on time."
"Additionally," Xie Chunshi mentioned today's final matter of business, "the school team has contacted the Repair Technician Association to assist with mecha and mecha weapon modifications. Student Chen Sui, if you have ideas for your custom personalized mecha, you can list the required materials and submit them. The school team and academy will prepare everything for you."
Chen Sui's eyes widened slightly, "There's such a good deal?"
She said softly, so only Gu Qinxue, leaning tiredly on her shoulder listening to the arrangements, could hear.
Gu Qinxue raised her head at this point, looking at the Team Leader and Chen Sui, asking: "Then can I have the analyst help with mecha modifications?"
Chen Sui also looked curiously at Xie Chunshi.
His deep eyes looked through the screen, seriously saying: "If you guarantee completion of all analyst projects before the league competition, the school team has no requirements for other times."
As these words fell, Zhou Chen suddenly coughed several times, drawing everyone's attention.
"Well..."
With one hand covering his mouth in a fist, head lowered, he said: "I also want to change my mecha weapon, can I..."
Chen Sui sincerely nodded: "It's possible," looking at the school team members, suddenly thinking of something, she looked at Xie Chunshi with blazing eyes, "But I have a bold idea."
"Have you all heard of combined weapons?"