Chapter 90 - A Risky Decision
Chapter 90: A Risky Decision
The trio arrived at the entrance of the superweapons without any incident. Robert only had to scan with his large, flashlight-like eyes before the entrance opened automatically.
Gu Ding and Liliath entered behind Robert.
Upon stepping past the entrance, Gu Ding and Liliath could not stop smiling. The superweapon was a spaceship so big that there was no comparison. Just by looking at it, Gu Ding knew that it was several times the size of a Golden Eagle model.
“This superweapon is over three hundred times the size of the Grey-faced Buzzard model, in other words, it’s the size of four Golden Eagles,” Neptune reported the results of his analysis to Gu Ding and Liliath. He felt that the two of them probably wanted to know some basic information about the superweapon. “The reason why it’s called a superweapon is because it’s a spaceship that has over a hundred batteries of various grades. Its most powerful battery can destroy an entire sector, and that’s not an exaggeration.
“It also has artillery of various grades such as specialized armor-piercing cannons to counter warships, antimatter cannons for ranged attacks, and specialized intelligent particle beam cannons to lock onto single targets. Even a Rank 11 Gene Body Cosmic Nation lord or Army marshal would be heavily wounded, let alone Rank 10 Gene Bodies. Also…”
Robert did not say a word from start to finish and only silently went deeper into the spaceship.
Seeing Robert’s response, Neptune fell silent. As artificial super-intelligence, Neptune also had human feelings and could understand Robert’s emotions.
The duo followed Robert to the cockpit. Seeing the luxurious cockpit, bewildered expressions once again appeared on their faces.
Robert stood in place as he slowly perused the cockpit’s every corner. After a long while, he extended his hand and touched the armrest of the pilot’s seat. His metal fingers brushed along the armrest, producing a sound that was heard when metal and metal rubbed against each other. He seemed to feel nostalgic.
Gu Ding and Liliath did not disturb him, and Neptune only remained silent.
“My comrades and I spent thirteen years building the first superweapon…” Robert spoke out of the blue. After another bout of silence, he headed for the console of the ship.
His two hands waved across the console. About three minutes later, the screen in front of the console lit up, projecting a stereoscopic image.; it was the mold of a concave palm. The complicated lines of the mold could only be faintly seen, but the model of the palm obviously resembled a mechanic’s.
Robert took a deep breath and then pressed his palm against it.
When his palm met the mold, the stereoscopic image turned into the shape of a countdown clock.
Robert’s fingers moved directly over the stereoscopic image as he set the time of the countdown clock to half an hour.
“Let’s go.” Robert turned around and nodded at Gu Ding and Liliath.
The trio exited the superweapon and Robert closed its entrance before they walked toward the second superweapon.
This time, Robert sped up his actions greatly, only taking less than three minutes before he completed programming the self-destruct sequence.
“We must leave this desert posthaste.” Robert guided the duo to return the way they had come from.
Not longer than two minutes in, while the three of them were walking out of the passageway, they heard a roaring sound. Then, the ground beneath their feet started quaking violently. The quaking was more than ten times stronger than the one Gu Ding had felt earlier at the edge of the battlefield. Gu Ding and Liliath could not stand properly.
“What happened? Have we been discovered?” Gu Ding’s first response was to guess that the three of them had been discovered.
“We haven’t been discovered. Sharp’s attack just happened to land not too far in front… Moreover, because of his attack, a portion of the tunnel has collapsed. We have no way to get back,” Neptune reported the terrible news.
“Robert, use three excavators and dig out another tunnel.” Gu Ding immediately thought of a solution.
“Those three excavators were scraped together. I used regular metal for them in order to make it easier for you two to find the required materials. You could say they’re single-use items. Digging through ten kilometers is its limit from what I calculated before.”
“We could retreat to the superweapon and fly away with it?” Liliath suggested her idea. “The self-destruct sequence can be canceled, right?”
“There’s no way to cancel the self-destruct sequence.” Robert shook his head. “Besides, the moment we use the superweapon to take flight, the generals of the Federal Government would definitely contact the Federal Government headquarters immediately. Then, we’d have to face the pursuit of countless powerhouses. Their combined strength would definitely exceed the lord of a nation.”
“We can’t bear to deal with such a consequence!” Gu Ding shook his head. “Even if the Federal Government gets ahold of these superweapons, they definitely wouldn’t use them under normal circumstances, let alone fly them around and show them off. Moreover, after getting ahold of these superweapons, I’m certain they’ll sign agreements with other forces immediately, vowing not to use them indiscriminately. The other forces would ally themselves to the superweapons. Hence, it’s not that realistic, being able to control them personally.”
“Another twenty minutes to the explosion. Standing here, we’re going to die even faster than those people from the Army.” Liliath pursed her lips.
“Robert, are there escape capsules on the superweapons?” Gu Ding suddenly thought of it.
“There are, but the escape capsules can only be used on water, land or air. They won’t work underground.” Robert had thought of the escape capsules. Nevertheless, considering the place they were in, the escape capsules were completely useless.
“If they won’t work underground, we’ll take to the skies then!” Gu Ding had an idea at once. “Robert, bring us back inside the superweapon.”
“If we leave by air, won’t we be shot down by those powerhouses? Though they can’t fly,” Liliath expressed her worries, “No matter how sturdy the escape capsules are, they can’t be stronger than our Grey-faced Buzzard. Even if it was the Grey-faced Buzzard, in front of Rank 10 Gene Body martial artists, it would be shot down in an instant.”
“So we need Neptune to calculate the right angle and use the superweapon’s body to block the powerhouses’ attacks.” Gu Ding’s mouth broke into a grin.
Robert immediately understood Gu Ding’s train of thought. “Good idea. Let’s go back!”
Although Liliath still did not quite understand what Gu Ding meant, seeing that Robert’s reaction seemed to approve the feasibility of his idea, she no longer made any more objections.
The trio quickly retreated to the first superweapon that had its self-destruct sequence timer set. When it’s entrance opened, they entered one after another.
Robert once again walked over to the console. His two hands moved rapidly, and the giant superweapon quickly started its power-on sequence.
[Hull in good condition]
[Spaceship functions in good condition]
[Energy left 33%]
…
Robert somewhat excitedly pressed its start-up button, and the body of the spaceship immediately started to shake.
Meanwhile, everybody else engaged in the fierce battle on the battlefield felt the ground beneath them begin to tremble. All of them shifted their gaze toward the source of the quaking—the excavation site.
Amid everybody’s bewilderment, an incomparably huge superweapon rose up from the ground…