There was no time to ponder further. In the seconds right after Yu Di was hit, Ye Chong’s hands were like the wind! While his eyes were blinded by the strong glare, he maneuvered the mech without delay due to his familiarity with Yu Di. The speed of his fingers undeterred by the momentary blindness as his hands moved smoothly.
If one were to witness his act from aside, they would not have believed that this was Ye Chong’s first time using the controls based only on his sense of touch.
The Non-orderly Wavy Leap!
This was the only advanced evasion technique Ye Chong knew of. He chose this technique, the one that he was most familiar with, without much thought!
Ye Chong had no idea where he was truly headed due to his blindness - this was the true Non-orderly Wave Leap! Ye Chong silently counted the seconds in which he switched directions every time, trying to minimize this duration.
This was not a wide clearing, but a populated neighborhood, where houses were densely packed.
Ye Chong moved in random directions, his mech scraping along the ground in its flight, running into houses and destroying them. The brick houses were brittle, and kicked up swirling dust upon impact. However, Ye Chong was blinded, and could not take advantage of the fact.
Nonetheless, his hindered sight did not imply his blindness to the situation. After all, Mu was here!
"Ye, turn 30 degrees to the left!" Mu and Ye Chong communicated through brain waves, their exchange faster than words.
By now, Ye Chong’s super reflexes were utilized to their fullest. With just his sense of touch, Ye Chong performed the maneuver.
Ye Chong intently focused, ready for Mu’s next instruction! Right now, the only one Ye Chong could rely on was Mu! Mu was now his eyes!
"Hmm, good sense of touch, your error is below 3 degrees!" Mu offered a rare compliment to Ye Chong.
Ye Chong, awaiting intently for Mu’s next instruction, did not expect Mu to be in the mood for such comments in the current dire situation, and did not know whether to laugh or cry about it. Could Mu be under Shang’s bad influence?
The sound of crackling explosions did not cease, an indication of the enemy’s violent firepower! Who could possibly want to kill him?
However, this was not the time to think on the question. Mu spoke abruptly, "Ready for impact!"
Ye Chong dreaded, and held his body together tightly. Bang! The loud noise was heard, and Ye Chong shook all over, his hands gripping on the controls, feeling Yu Di’s violent shuddering!
"Stop!" Mu suddenly shouted.
Ye Chong’s hard-earned fundamental training saved his life in that moment. He did not lose control of Yu Di, despite the mech receiving a violent impact while moving at a high speed! A perfect stop! Perfect, despite the circumstances. However, this difficult maneuver was also equally destructive to Ye Chong’s body.
Ye Chong was dizzy from the sudden rush of blood to his head. Nonetheless, the discomfort vanished quickly! Ye Chong did not know that, if it was some other average pilot, that sudden stop would probably have claimed the pilot’s life.
Rumble!
The sound of explosion came from 5 meters ahead of Ye Chong. From that point, about 5 meters in front of Ye Chong, reaching up to thirty meters further ahead, the entire area was blasted to dust from numerous energy based weapons!
The blast wave from the violent explosion nearly tipped Yu Di off its feet.
Ye Chong felt the pain in his eyes eased substantially. He could not help but try to open them into a slit, as a dim ray of light entered his vision. While he could not see clearly, it still gave him an idea of what was before him. This was heartening to Ye Chong.
"Ye, blink your eyes a few times!" Mu prompted Ye Chong.
Ye Chong did as told, and the objects in his vision became clearer. Ye Chong was overjoyed. He now realised that the eyes were fragile things, and losing one’s sight was an absolutely terrifying experience. In those tens of seconds earlier, if Mu had not been by his side, he believed that his life would not be for him to decide.
With his vision restored, Ye Chong grew more confident, and he was no longer defenseless. The first thing he saw before him was a huge crater, and he was inside a building. The building had lost half its structure, and what was left of it was also on the verge of crumbling down, little rocks and dust falling from above from time to time.
"We have a situation!" Mu, who had never said anything like that, now spoke with worry.
"What is it?" Ye Chong asked anxiously.
"We’re surrounded! There are 25 mechs in total. From the models and weapons, I believe they are a class above the MPA’s Messengers. Unfortunately, the enemy had solely used long range weapons to suppress us. The probability of breaking through their formation is below 7 percent. Fortunately, they seem to intend to capture you alive!" Mu’s words had the effect of drenching Ye Chong in iced water.
The sound of explosions did not stop, and were slowly closing in on their location.
"What are they doing?" Ye Chong asked, perplexed.
Mu replied evenly, "They are clearing the area of any obstacles, restricting your area of movement!"
That was a ruthless move. Ye Chong could not, for the moment, come up with a countermove to hinder their suppressive tactics.
With no good ideas in mind, Ye Chong began to examine Yu Di. The mech was heavily damaged, its arm with the laser spear gone. Fortunately, the mech’s main body was not severely damaged.
The opponent was unscrupulous. The neighborhood was like hell on earth, corpses lying everywhere! The locals ran and screamed on the streets, but were mercilessly shot through by the many heat rays and laser beams. Even Ye Chong, used to the loss of lives, couldn't help but watch the bloody scene with sympathy. He looked up to see Doctor Lu’s treatment room now turned into a huge crater. Given the circumstances, Ye Chong believed that even he could not have survived it.
The sky around the area was occupied by many spectating mechs, but none dared to make their move. The formidable force of the perpetrators, mechs one class above the MPA’s Messengers, were enough to make them stop in their tracks. Besides, this was in the lawless and bloodthirsty Orbits!
The place was like a hunting ground, if you were powerful enough!
Without any geographical cover, short range mechs were hopeless against long range mechs. Moreover, these were the most powerful long range mechs that Ye Chong had ever seen. Their massive firepower and terrifying accuracy carved deep into Ye Chong’s memories.
If it were only one or two of them, Ye Chong believed he still stood a chance. However, Mu had said they were 25 of them. Ye Chong was certain that, should he make himself visible, he would be the target of all attacks. From the MPA’s track record, the probability of missing would be less than 1 percent.
Could it be that he was finally going to die here?
Despite the circumstances, Ye Chong did not feel hopeless or gloomy. He had always struggled between the fates of life and death on the trash planet. Even if he died this time, it was nothing incredible!
The sounds of explosions were getting nearer and nearer, almost in rhythm with his heartbeat!
Ye Chong suddenly remembered something, and asked Mu, "Mu, why didn’t you notice the enemy this time?" He was not blaming Mu, it was just that had not meet anyone that was able to avoid Mu’s scans. This made him very curious, especially since the enemy was a group of 25.
Mu explained, "They must have used some special device that tricks scanning systems. It’s very advanced, but I suspect they are not fully developed, since the effective range of coverage is very small. I could sense their positions once you were flung back about 10 meters from being hit earlier. They must have discovered our locations beforehand, or the trick would not have worked!" The mech paused before continuing, "However, the trick was undoubtedly successful this time!"
"There’s something like that?" Ye Chong’s eyes widened in disbelief.
"Yes, probably still in their experimental stage. My database does not have anything on these kinds of weapons!" Mu deduced.
"So they want to capture me alive?" Ye Chong thought it odd. The firepower was heavy, but not intended to kill him, or the gradually approaching firepower now would be an unnecessary move. Ye Chong remembered clearly that they were equipped with the highly destructive nanowave guns, but had not seen them use it! If they wanted to take his life, the size of their group was also unreasonably big!
"Based on what’s happened so far, the probability is high!" Mu agreed.
"Then that’s just strange, why would they want me alive? After that last encounter with Sabre, I can understand why they would want me dead, but why send so many people to capture me alive? This inefficient way of doing things is not very like them!" Ye Chong muttered to himself. Despite the seemingly hopeless situation, Ye Chong was still as clear as winter frost.
"It is strange, the only explanation is that you’re valuable to them alive!" Mu continued his train of thought.
"Valuable to them alive? That makes sense! Then what’s my value to them?" Ye Chong bowed his head, deep in thought. If he could understand the enemy’s objectives, it would be advantageous for him. He might even be able to find a way to survive this. Ye Chong replayed all the events related to the MPA in his head, hoping to identify their motives.
Suddenly, Ye Chong noticed something. He remembered the time when he infiltrated their warship, and all their mechs had pursued him viciously. The enemy’s target had been Fred the Great. Even if he could cause great damage to them, and if the enemy could accomplish their mission, then the mission would have been their priority. However, they had abandoned their mission to pursue him. It was not just one of them, but nearly all of the mechs had set their eyes on him. This could only mean that they had found him to be more valuable to them than Fred the Great!
Nonetheless, how could he possibly be of use to them?