Chapter 39: Untouchables?
Chapter 39: Chapter 39: Untouchables?
Yang Bo was ready to slip away. He figured the bombs these guys had planted were far from ordinary, judging by how deranged they acted. It wasn’t that Yang Bo hadn’t considered using his invisibility to escape, but the perimeter outside was guarded like a fortress. There was no telling how many experts were out there. Furthermore, these people had dumped some kind of hazardous material into the underground pipe network, and the area was covered in firefighting foam...
"You, follow us as soon as you finish planting the bomb. We’re going to flush out the people hiding down below."
"Yes, Captain."
Hearing the fading footsteps, Yang Bo hurried out. However, just as he peeked around the corner, he saw a man pulling bombs out of a stack of crates. The bombs were cylindrical, roughly ten centimeters in diameter and twenty centimeters tall.
The man carried the bomb into a room. Yang Bo was about to take the opportunity to slip away when another person unexpectedly emerged from the opposite side. Startled, Yang Bo quickly backed up. A laser beam flashed across the doorway, followed by a loud THUD.
"What happened?" a voice called out from the corridor outside the control center.
"Someone was hiding," the man planting the bombs replied.
Yang Bo was nearly scared to death. A second later, just as he was about to stand up, the bomb-planter suddenly dragged the crate and stopped right in the doorway. They were just inches apart. Sparks flashed from Yang Bo’s hands as he revealed his true form. The man, who had been looking down to grab a bomb, jolted in shock at the sight of a naked man...
Before he could react, Yang Bo grabbed his head with both hands. The man’s body convulsed once before falling completely silent.
Warship Maintenance +8!
A stream of information flooded into his mind, and Yang Bo instantly realized that these people had smuggled themselves in under the disguise of warship maintenance personnel. He opened the man’s helmet and found that he was completely dead, his hair singed crisp.
Upon closer inspection, the battle armor proved to be quite extraordinary. It functioned similarly to a Genetic Warrior’s battle armor, which was primarily used for defense. Much like a police bulletproof vest on Earth, it could withstand attacks from small energy weapons.
"It’s a good thing they don’t use biological chips," Yang Bo thought. He morphed into the man’s appearance—complete with long blond hair—put on the helmet, and stripped off the man’s outfit and armor to wear himself. These guys definitely didn’t have chips implanted; otherwise, their origins would be easily traced. Looking at his brand-new disguise, Yang Bo didn’t feel a shred of fear. Instead, he felt a sense of anticipation...
He still needed to place the bomb. By the time Yang Bo walked out, he saw his "companions" already herding the people who had been hiding. Some Genetic Warriors tried to resist but were immediately blown away by laser guns. These assailants wore battle armor with incredibly high defense, though some were still killed in the crossfire. Whenever one of their own fell, another would pull out a bottle of mysterious liquid and spray it on the corpse, dissolving it without a trace.
Yang Bo followed the group into the dome concert venue. It was packed with a sea of people, yet the arena was deathly silent. On the massive central stage, the red-haired man was executing people.
"Your sins are unforgivable. I hereby decree your execution!" the red-haired man announced. Over a dozen bodies had already been tossed onto the stage. Yang Bo still had no idea what was going on. Then, another person was beheaded.
Yang Bo carefully looked at the twenty mechas scattered across the venue and realized they were the ones previously on display. He wondered how these guys had managed to take control of them, what kind of organization this Red Earl was, and who exactly they were killing.
The red-haired man then went on a fanatical rant, spewing words like "Dawn," "Darkness," "Divine Punishment," and "Spokesperson." It seemed this organization viewed themselves as righteous knights acting on the orders of some major figure, aiming to restore the glory of the Empire.
All Yang Bo could think about was how to make a run for it. With the terrorists holding so many hostages, the authorities hadn’t dared to make a move openly, but they were definitely maneuvering behind the scenes.
"I can’t let myself get killed out of carelessness," he thought. He was filled with extreme anxiety and tension. Right now, he was disguised as a member of an extremist organization, and he had long witnessed the immense power of the authorities—their mechas and air-ground combat aircraft, to say nothing of those flying sword-like weapons he had seen on billboards before. He absolutely did not want to end up being collateral damage in the government’s counterattack.
"Damn it, these bastards..." Yang Bo cursed inwardly as he sensed the mecha, confirming he could summon it at any moment.
Right at that moment, the ground trembled twice. The red-haired man threw his head back in arrogant laughter. "We have planted over six hundred high-radiation bombs throughout this entire building! Go ahead and detonate them all if you have the guts! When that happens, all these lowly peasants here will be dead, dead, dead!"
Yang Bo was taken aback. Lowly peasants?
"These peasants are a waste of space alive! They’re nothing but a burden! They should be reduced to stinking mud and used as fertilizer!" the red-haired man continued.
Only then did it dawn on Yang Bo. "Fuck, isn’t he talking about the ordinary residents?" he thought.
The radiation from a high-radiation bomb would be fatal to ordinary residents. For Genetic Evolvers, it depended on the dosage. However, even with such advanced technology, there were still various cosmic rays in the starry sky that humanity could not detect. Some meteorites were visible to the naked eye but remained completely undetectable by instruments. High-energy particles and cosmic storms could obliterate humanity’s most advanced warships. Mankind seemingly conquered the stars, but in reality, no one knew just how many dangers lurked in the dark void.
"Bastards," Yang Bo thought, wanting nothing more than to shoot this scum dead. What was wrong with being an ordinary resident? These noble lapdogs were pure scum.
"You guys, come with me," the captain ordered, pointing at Yang Bo and a few others. He strode toward the central stage and headed for the passageway beneath it.
But before they could even step inside, a massive shockwave blasted them all backward.
Yang Bo and his companions sprang back to their feet. The red-haired youth was still ranting fanatically. Spotting the commotion, one of the mechas leapt toward the entrance, violently smashing apart the entire underground passageway opening.
The space beneath the stage was incredibly spacious, boasting a ceiling over ten meters high. The blue mecha charged in with a single leap, but a second later, it was sent flying backward.
Yang Bo shivered violently as he watched his companion get crushed to death under its giant metal feet.
"Not good! There’s an Ancient Martial Artist inside—at least an A-rank!" the mecha pilot suddenly shouted.
"Haha! These washed-up Ancient Martial Artists can only ever amount to lapdogs for the powerful!" the red-haired youth laughed uproariously. His battle armor shimmered with flowing light as he transformed into a streak of silver and dashed inside.
"Energy Metal," Yang Bo immediately recognized. Battle armor forged from Energy Metal could amplify a user’s own energy, but it was said to be astoundingly expensive.
The next second, the youth flew back out, a distinct palm print caved into the silver armor on his chest. He violently spat out a mouthful of blood, the crimson liquid spraying through the crevices of his visor.
"Commander!" The surrounding armored men hurriedly rushed over to check on his condition.
"Come out! Doesn’t your Ancient Martial Arts preach righteousness?! If you don’t come out, I’ll kill everyone here! I’m giving you ten seconds! Mechas, gather around and await my orders!" the red-haired knight roared, brandishing his longsword and pointing it at the densely packed crowd of the elderly, women, and children.
Yang Bo was standing right behind the red-haired man. He watched as the twenty mechas converged. Most of them aimed their weapons at the stage exit, while a few leveled their assorted armaments at the spectators in the stands.
"Red Earl, are you truly determined to make an enemy out of our Ancient Martial Arts Association?" a voice rang out from beneath the stage.
"Haha, we’re all from the same era. Others might be intimidated by the Ancient Martial Arts Association, but we..." the red-haired knight trailed off as his eyes went blank. An instant later, his entire head exploded into bloody mist, while a figure in black armor shot backward in retreat.
"AHHH!!!" The other men in black armor finally realized what had happened—their commander’s head had just been blown off at point-blank range by a laser gun wielded by one of their own. They frantically raised their laser guns.
In the blink of an eye, a colossal object materialized out of nowhere. It was a Blade Mecha, and countless laser beams rained down upon its hull.