The fleet led by Duncan was already charging ahead at full speed. It was clear that if they were to fail this mission, the other generals might be spared, but the soldiers from Mars would not escape a military trial and might even be executed on the spot.
Lie Xin was extremely anxious, and so were the others. They were restless. Even if they were comfortable enough to pilot a mech, sending themselves out to battle would probably mean instant deaths, but it was even more uncomfortable to see the rest of them suffer in this state.
Meng Tian looked pale. She had made such a fatal mistake at such a crucial time. Zhang Shan, on the other hand, was so furious that he slapped his own face in frustration. He was unable to perform at such an important time. He would have rather died gloriously in battle than cooped up in this cabin.
"No way, I want to go and fight! The three of them don't seem like they can hold on!!"
Lie Xin said after a moment of deep thought.
But Zhang Runan pulled Lie Xin. "Lie Xin, you have not recovered. If you go out there, you might drag them down instead."
This time, Zhang Runan was calmer. The three of them were in an extremely dangerous situation, but it had not reached the final moment, as they were the strongest men equipped with Ability X.
Just like butterflies were attracted to flowers, Lear fluttered around his opponents, attracting the attention of the Shadow Hunter Drones and eventually causing them to bunch up.
Right at this moment, the Space Chariot suddenly stopped. Something shot out, and there was an unusual spatial. One of the Shadow Hunter Drones exploded, and subsequently the other drones were caught in a chain explosion as a result.
In a flash, tens of Shadow Hunter Drones that were chasing after Lear, along with over ten pirate mech warriors, had all turned into scrap.
In the meantime, inside the cabin, the group was cheering loudly. It was totally unbelievable. At this moment, no one felt that Lear was detestable, he was extremely cool.
Lear's Ability X.
But Lear could not hear the cheers. He had turned pale instantly after executing such a showy move. He still had to keep some energy in reserve as the pirate mech warriors were not intimidated by what he had done.
Seeing Lear show his powers, Achilles, who was trapped in the center, had also taken action.
A strong silver light emerged from the Space Chariot.
Countless laser beams shot at Achilles's mech, but all of them were blocked by an invisible forcefield.
Achilles was like a god, absorbing all the laser beams.
Then, all of a sudden, countless lasers were reflected back, striking the drones, and a large area was cleared out in no time.
At this point, Wang Zheng knew that he could not hold back either. Wang Zheng was certain that his Primordial Regression Technique would allow him to sustain his Ability X. Yet in this situation, even if it could not, it was time to take action.
His Space Chariot retreated with his lasers blazing. However, at this point, the lasers he was shooting out seemed to be glowing with even greater intensity.
Boom...
Boom boom boom boom...
He pushed his mech to its limits as he attacked in every direction. Once a drone was hit, its energy shield could no longer be used. Following which, the drones would lose control, flying in all directions and even colliding with one another. Chaos ensued.
Eric and the rest were dumbfounded. What the f**k was going on?
Eric shouted, "We're going to be rich. Dispatch everyone, catch them all alive. Good! We have one with a spatial Ability X, another equipped with a forcefield Ability X, and one equipped with an Ice Ability X. Based on what we can see, they are already at Grade C. As long as we capture the three of them, we can retire already, hahaha!"
Such capable guys, and in addition to Little Worm's intel, they were all quite young. They were definitely the most valuable within the Solar System Federation.
Besides, to attain such a high level of skill was not something that could be done by ordinary individuals.
The Solar System Federation had clearly taken a huge risk with this operation.
Eric had also gone crazy, dispatching all the mech warriors and unmanned drones from their mothership.
In addition to the goods on board, this was not just the case of paying ransom. Getting money, equipment, or even a few Aegis Class Battleships in exchange for these individuals was not a problem.
The trio felt weak after using their abilities. Using the mecha to execute their respective Ability Xs had used up even more energy. Whilst the trio was stressed, they saw a glimpse of recognition from one another, having the same level of powers and abilities. They had not been battling amongst one another all this while for nothing.
But looking at the large group of mecha dispatched, with the addition of the unmanned drones, which numbered over 500, it looked as though the pirates were going to struggle to the end.
Even the conceited Achilles felt a sense of helplessness. Even if they could use their powers again, that would leave them with no energy to retaliate and fight back. Furthermore, the current situation was that even if they went all out, they would only be able to destroy 50 mecha or so.
"Persevere, go in circles, and hold up until our backup arrives!"
Unknowingly, ten minutes had passed.
"It seems like the opponents want to capture us alive, now's the time to make use of it!" Lear looked at the enemies' line-up and noticed something.
The lasers roared, but it was evident that they were not as resolute as before. The opponent's strength in numbers was a great advantage; they could potentially split up and surround the trio.
With their constantly depleting energy shields, under such circumstances, the three did not have many choices left.
Inside the ship, Lie Xin and the others were quiet. The hopes that they had earlier were dampened once again.
Lie Wuqing was also feeling the same. He knew the capabilities of the three soldiers, but…
Watching till this point, he was even more determined to rescue the three soldiers at all costs, and before that happened, they had to hold on.
Time passed, but the pirates were hesitant to take action. What made things worse was that the trio had strong powers and were skilled, making it difficult to catch them, albeit the fact that they were slowly being drained. It was not impossible to capture them alive, but the crux was that time was running out.
Eric was also keeping track of the time. He really wanted to capture the three of them. If that was done, it would be possible for him to exchange them for three battleships. However, the truth was harsh. Twenty minutes had passed, and he had to take his captives and leave before it was too late.
"Don't waste any more time, destroy them instead!"
The laser beams from the drones and the mecha flashed towards the three. The pirates could not take it any further and started attacking relentlessly. However, the trio quickly retreated and made use of the merchant ship's energy shields as shelter from the assault. If it came to close combat, they had no fear as they were confident in their own abilities.
In order to not gain attention, the merchant ship was not equipped with arms, but had reinforced the energy shields to delay for time. All their preparatory efforts were quite adequate, but reality always came up short.
The unmanned drones were dive-bombing the shields, and the pirates' mecha were preparing to board the ship. It was time for close-quarters combat!
"Chief Officer, fire the guns now!"
"Boss, erm...what if we lose our goods because of this?"
"Are you dumb? Take down the energy shield!"
"Yes, Boss!"
The main guns from the three battleships began to charge up. The rays reflecting off from the main cannons appeared particularly icy-cold in space.
Lie Xin and the others were watching, but there was nothing they could do.
Rumble rumble...
A blast was shot out, colliding directly with the energy shield! The energy shield shook violently, and the alarm rang out.
"Danger, danger, ship's energy level has dropped to 60%."
It had to be a joke. These pirates were actually shooting a civilian vessel with a military grade ship armament! It was just a matter of time before they were destroyed.
Meanwhile, some of the pirates had already started wreaking havoc inside the ship. (TL Note: Fratricide isn't cool kids)
Moments later, another laser shot towards the ship with the IG participants. This was an extremely accurate hit, aiming for the rear of the ship to knock out its engines.
The people witnessed the laser beam coming towards the battleship right before their eyes. If it hit the target, even if they had the protection of the energy shield, it would cause significant damage to the ship and might even penetrate through it directly if they were unlucky.
Suddenly, a mech warrior appeared in front, and under Wang Zheng's control, the mech's energy shield was activated.
His Ability X burst outwards. With the Space Chariot as the center, a white area appeared around him, forming an icy shield.
Boom….
But when the laser blast came into contact with the ice, the entire area turned into mist in an instant.
Boom…..
Wang Zheng's mech was struck directly and blown away. His energy shield was completely destroyed.
Although the laser cannon's shot had been mitigated, such an attack could not be forcefully resisted so easily.