Ye Chong would never forget those hands! They were very similar to the one that emerged from the circular black hole in the cave underground - angry crimson lines against black colored skin, with strong webbed fingers. These pair of hands had left a very deep impression in Ye Chong. He could never forget what happened in the underground cave.
The only thing that was different this time was that the hands had only five fingers each, unlike the eight fingers he saw last time. The number of digits was different, but that was just about the only difference that mattered.
A similar black hole, and similar hands …
Were these two events related in some way? Ye Chong stared at the unknown lifeforms on the holographic screen, pondering the question. Ever since the black circular hole appeared, the idea had been bugging him.
Aside from Ye Chong's pondering, the rest of the people in the meeting room were all captivated by the battle that was unfolding on the holographic screen.
The first round of collisions had happened in only a few seconds. However, it was enough for the Sang Tribe members to know what to do next.
The sudden attack was like a signal that marked the beginning of the next round of battle!
The 30 Collision mechs behind the 20 before them were already preparing themselves before the actual collision. They had no time to analyze the results of the first round of attack. The 30 Collision mechs charged towards the now wounded unknown lifeforms.
In that short first attack, the mech that was blocking the path to their enemies had cleared away. In other words, the 30 Collision mechs had a clear path towards the enemies.
The 30 Collision mechs had enough distance to accelerate!
Many of the Sang Tribe members in the meeting room looked flushed. For these battle-eager people, nothing could make them more excited than what was about to happen next! Accelerated Collision mechs were deadly weapons of war!
It seemed that the wounds affected the movements of these unknown lifeforms. However, they
also made an accurate assessment of their situation. The 20 creatures flew away quickly, hoping to escape back into the purple gas cloud.
However, how could they hope to run away from the 30 Collision mechs that had targeted them?
It was right then that another attack squad that was circling nearby began to approach the center of the fight. The third wave of attack had prepared themselves to be airborne to assist.
Mach 22 was almost impossible to imagine for any commoner. Of all the people who witnessed the next few moments, many of them only saw a blur.
When they finally made sense of the situation, they could only see 16 pairs of menacing red eyes slowly losing the life in them. The creatures floated helplessly in space, their wounds rapidly frozen , leaving behind pale bodies.
Of the 20 unknown lifeforms, only four made it back to the purple gas cloud. The rest of them died in battle.
The unique fighting style of Collision mechs, their strength, and their top notch speed fascinated the audience. If the first round of attack was too fast to follow, the second round of attack was clear as day. Even so, few people understood the details of what had transpired.
That's because the Collision mechs were too fast! Nonetheless, this was exactly what got people excited. Not everyone in the He Yue Galaxy would be a mech pilot, but they would certainly know a thing or two about mechs. For most people, they were not interested in unknown lifeforms. After all, you could always find more of them in the Calamitous Asteroid Belt. There were plenty of them over there.
Mechs and velocity were concepts that were easier to relate to, and far more interesting.
The news channel seemed to understand the taste of its audience. Right now, the holographic screen was replaying the scene earlier, with a professional set of analysis results displayed on the sidelines, revealing a shocking Mach 22!
All the spectators in the He Yue Galaxy were blown away! The odd looking flying vessels became the hottest topic
topic everywhere. Just when the numbers came out, many mech manufacturing companies faced an overwhelming number of calls from their call center, inquiring if the company could produce or at least buy those mechs for them.
However, the people in the base meeting room on planet Yi Ju did not share the good cheer.
Killing 16 out of the 20 creatures was a satisfying result. However, when taking into account that 24 Collision mechs were damaged, and 50 Collisions mechs were deployed in the battle, it was a truly worrying result. In the second round of attack, with 30 Collision mechs against 20 wounded creatures, they still suffered four casualties, and let four of the creatures escaped.
This showed how strong the unknown lifeforms were in combat - they were at least as powerful as Collision mechs!
Additionally, despite being hit with such a powerful momentum, the unknown lifeforms did not explode into pieces as did the other wild beasts the Sang Tribe had fought against before. Their bodies were mostly intact, a sign of how tough they were.
"Recording is transferred over," Little Rock reported briefly as his usual way. The Collision mech was now being escorted back to base, but the condition of the mech pilot inside was still undetermined.
Of the 50 people who went in, only one came out alive. It was a grave statistic. The Sang Tribe members had always been close to each other. Sang Ling's eyes were already red with tears. The rest of them went silent.
Ye Chong took a sweeping glance of the people around him, and said, "Let's have a look."
The Sang Tribe members lifted their heads. Their lives back in Archipelago had always been dangerous. Battling for life was an integral part of their lives. The death of comrades was not uncommon. With their sorrows momentarily suppressed, everyone looked to the holographic screen. They were also curious about the horrors in the purple gas cloud that left only one of the 50 Collision mechs alive!
As the recording began to show, they all saw an endless stretch of the purple
the purple gas cloud.
The purple gas cloud was dense, and visibility was low. Nevertheless, the mech pilot had quickly switched on the sodium lamps at the front of the mech.
As holographic scanning became mainstream, few mechs would be equipped with lighting systems like this. Strangely, the more advanced mechs and starships would often be found equipped with them. Ye Chong had installed sodium lamps for the Collision mechs to help the Sang Tribe travel across the Red Sea. The lamps were not big, and they came at a low price.
Who would have thought that the sodium lamps would actually be put to good use!
Despite the bright sodium lamps, however, visibility did not extend beyond a kilometer. As a precaution, the mech pilot had slow down his Collision mech.
The Collision mech drifted slowly in the vast, purple gas cloud. This went on for about half a minute without incident.
Everyone in the meeting room as holding their breath, watching the recording as though it was happening to them right now.
Only Ye Chong kept his calm as he watched the recording silently.
Just then, the scene on the holographic screen changed. Something came into view in front, but the dense purple gas cloud made it hard to make out what it was.
The mech pilot noticed immediately. He dimmed the sodium lamps and slowed down his mech even further. The Collision mech cruised forward warily.
As he inched closer towards the object, the view became clearer. However, whatever it was had such a strange shape that it looked like nothing at all.
Suspense grew in the meeting room.
Getting closer now, and clearer still. The Collision mech approached the thing in front of it, and now they finally saw what it was.
Thick columns of flesh in a dark, purplish shade were growing in a frenzy, spreading outwards like tendrils. The dark purple columns were so thick that even the thinnest parts were larger than the cross section of a Collision mech. The soft bodied creature had tendril-like columns for its body, in a dark purplish a dark purplish colour that was even more intense than the color of the purple gas cloud. The columns looked like part liquid, part solid. As they expanded outwards in all directions, any column that got into the way of another would merge with its counterpart like liquid.
There were many dark colored spots on the skin of the soft bodied creature. The spots seemed to be connected to the black threads that ran inside and along the columns, vaguely visible from the outside. Like a primitive forest expanding its territory, the soft bodied creature grew into a forest of fleshy columns. On these columns were many purplish black clumps. It was from these clumps that purple gas was released.
This was such a otherworldly spectacle that even the Sang Tribe members with their numerous encounters with all kinds of animals were dumbfounded. They stared in amazement at the holographic screen.
The mech pilot the Collision mech was lost in the moment for a while, before quickly snapping back to attention. He flew the mech carefully, creeping up to the rapidly expanding soft bodied creature.
The soft bodied creature was so huge that the spaces between the irregularly growing columns was enough to let the Collision mech pass.
The mech pilot hesitated for a moment, before choosing one of the larger spaces to pass through.
It was like entering a forest. The flesh columns extended here and there like vines and branches in an irregular pattern. The Collision mech had to slow down even more to avoid the unevenly thick columns.
As he flew further in, the flesh columns became thicker and thicker.
The mech pilot flew well, dodging all the obstacles as he maneuvered his Collision mech onwards without delay.
Ye Chong estimated his speed to be at about Mach 7.
After two minutes of uneventful flight, the only thing that changed was the thickening of the surrounding soft bodied columns. However, this made the spaces between the columns wider, allowing the Collision mech smoother passage.
Suddenly, the annoying purple gas cloud disappeared, and the view cleared up.