Seeing Nero staring in the direction of the vehicle’s departure, he reached out and snapped his fingers at Nero’s ears, drawing the latter’s attention. “Kid, stop staring. It’s time for work.”
Nero settled his emotions, catching up with the team a little absent-mindedly.
He did not know why, but in that instant, he felt a little unsettled.
While somewhat dwelling on this, Nero followed his team to explore the military base. They found an abandoned elevator, arriving at an intricate underground base before going to explore the ‘abnormal signal’ displayed on the radar.
…
“Alert! Unknown target discovered!”
It was more than ten minutes later that the Kunde floating base, which had become blind, was suddenly cured of its ‘cataracts’. They found, to their surprise, a scout troop on the surface.
Everybody within the base received a shock, scurrying around like ants.
The intelligence report was quickly sent over to the commander of the floating base. In his office, the commander opened his eyes wide as his anger rose.
“When did this group of enemies land, and why didn’t you spot them earlier? Were you neglecting your duties‽”
The leader of the radar operators defended his team. “The radar did not even respond, and it was probably avoided by the enemy’s scouts with more advanced camouflage!”
“It’s too scary. With this sort of technology, if they chose to ambush us, we would have long fallen!” The base commander had a frightened look before turning furious. “Sneaking in like that, do you think we don’t exist!”
“Commander, think about it. The opponent has this kind of strength, yet they chose not to ambush us but land on the surface instead. Why is that so?”
Hearing this, the commander’s eyes flashed, and he abruptly slammed the table, bellowing, “I understand now. They obviously know that we’re here, but they chose not to attack because their manpower is insufficient, and they are not confident about getting rid of us! To actually not even put us in their eyes, swaggering before us to collect intelligence, they’re too arrogant. We have to make them pay the price!”
Pausing briefly, the commander rose up and shouted, “Order the fleet to encircle the enemy. Don’t let a single one of them escape!”
From his side, the Vice Commander added, “Commander, with all due respect, we should try to capture a few of them alive. The upper echelons wish to research them. This is a chance for us.”
The Commander’s eyes lit up, and he added with a joyous expression, “That’s right. I almost forgot. The upper echelons want these supers, and now that they have sent themselves up to us, we can just capture them and bring them back with us!”
…
In the abandoned military base, Nero’s troops were in the midst of exploration. The power supply had been disconnected for a long time. Thus, the area was dark and completely silent. Everyone could only hear each other’s breathing and footsteps echoing. The atmosphere reeked of horror and suspense.
Nero released several small mechanical pathfinder bees, which radiated a strong light, leading the way in front and illuminating the underground base.
Without electricity, the access control of the base was rendered invalid, and doors could only be forcibly opened. A few high-energy ray guns were enough to turn the closed metal door into a pile of red molten steel, so they were unobstructed throughout.
After walking with the team for a while, Nero’s bad feeling grew stronger, and he could not help but open his mouth.
“Commander, I feel that something is amiss here.”
“Which part?” the captain asked.
“I can’t put a finger on it.”
“In that case…” The captain frowned before giving out the order. “Take a few men with you to follow us from a short distance behind. Take care of our retreat route. I’ll go with some others to check out the abnormal energy source.”
The captain picked a few members to follow Nero while he led the rest to continue ahead.
Nero waited at the same spot for a while before the voice of the captain was heard from the communicator.
“We’ve arrived at the area of the strange energy source, but there’s nothing here.”
Nero’s heart constricted, and he immediately opened his shared vision. He saw through the captain’s eyes an empty warehouse, without even a single hair.
However, the signal marked by the radar referred to that area. The coordinates were exactly the same, so they could not have turned into a wrong area.
“Is it a false alarm by the radar?” Nero swallowed. “Or…”
Boom!
Before he could react, a violent shock burst out!
“Warning! High-energy strike detected! Please avoid it!”
Boom!
The sound of artillery bombardment rang near his ears, and the support columns of the underground base suddenly collapsed!
The structure of the base disintegrated in an instant, and the floor tiles shattered, turning into a bottomless pit leading deeper down.
Nero only had enough time to open his shield to protect himself before being blown out by the shockwave of the explosion and smashing through the walls of the hallway, falling straight down.
From the communicator came exclamations from his teammates, but he could not care less when he could not even take care of himself. He was filled with anxiety.
Why were we ambushed‽
We clearly confirmed that this planet had no troops stationed!
At this moment, Nero could not think of any other explanation. In his eyes, there was only one possibility.
Dammit, this colonial planet was a trap! The enemy must have deliberately planned for this ambush! We’ve fallen for it!
Just as this idea flashed past his head, Nero hit the bottom with a heavy thud.
Bang!
A human shaped pit was formed, and a large cloud of smoke appeared.
Si!
The huge impact reverberated in his body, and he could not help but grit his teeth in pain.
But before he could stand up, a large piece of metal dropped toward him!
Nero only had the time to raise his hands and reactivate his shield, protecting himself.
Boom boom boom!
Debris rained down, covering every inch of Nero’s sight and burying him directly.
…
At this moment, in an abandoned city not far away, the Kunde fleet who had realized there were enemies had begun to exchange fire with the troops that had remained behind.
Rumble!
On top of the abandoned military base, there were several Kunde battleships docked. Their weapons were brought out, and they launched a bombardment at the base.
Boom!
Only when the entire base was reduced to ruins did those battleships finally stop firing.
The hatch opened, and a squad of Kunde armored soldiers jumped out of the cabin, landing on the ground and carrying their weapons to the base.
The life signals of Nero and his team were exposed to their radar, and the goal of the soldiers was to capture this small group of supers who were without the protection of their fleet.
“Good! The combat operation is a success!”
At this moment, the commander of the Kunde floating base smiled with satisfaction from the command room.
He, however, was unaware that a group of camouflaged mechanical soldiers was hovering outside the window, silently watching his every move.
Chapter 975 - Mission Generated
When the bombing stopped, the abandoned military base had turned into a mess, with the collapsed gravel blocked off countless roads. The terrain had become much more complicated, and the gravel fell from time to time with a clacking sound.
The bottom of the base was filled with smoke and dust. The falling debris had piled up into a hill, beneath which Nero was firmly buried.
Suddenly, there was a sound akin to a slimy liquid flowing in the darkness.
> Whoosh!
An area of two square meters within the debris below gradually turned red as it shone brighter and brighter. The metal beams and stone pieces melted together to reveal an empty hole.
Nero crawled out of the hole, his hands continuously casting heat rays as he limped. The high temperature around him caused the very air to warp.
“Cough cough cough…”
A dull cough escaped the mechanical suit as Nero took gasps of air. He focused, activating the mechanical suit to do a full body scan.
“Left leg is slightly misaligned. Awaiting permission for mechanical suit to autocorrect bone alignment.”
“Go ahead.”
His armor on the left leg tightened a little, and the misaligned bones were set. Nero snorted in pain before relaxing. Previously, a few tons of debris had hit his body, and although his mechanical suit was fine, the shock had given him a slight injury. After all, he was an ordinary, fragile mechanic.
The radar displayed that the enemies were above him. Nero knew that this was not the time for him to relax, and he immediately opened the communicator to contact his teammates.
“Captain, Nero here. Where are you guys, and how’s the situation?”
Static sound buzzed, broken by intermittent screams of pain. Nero shouted for quite a bit before he received news from them.
“We’re not doing good here!” His teammate’s face popped up on his tactical display, filled with bruises and cuts. His tone was hurried. “I was beside the captain just now, and when the base collapsed, the captain was stunned. An artillery shot penetrated through the ground and hit us, and many of us are now injured and scattered. No matter who hears this news, save them, and bring everyone to gather. We have to escape immediately!”
Nero immediately opened the team’s health monitoring subprogram and was shocked when he saw the red on the screen.
Everyone’s injuries were worse than his, and there were several people, including the captain, who were already on the verge of death. Because he had fallen to the bottom of the base and was buried, he had managed to escape the subsequent bombing from the battleship, so he was the least injured.
It was because of his Luck Glow.
“My condition is the best…” Nero immediately felt the pressure on his shoulders.
He gritted his teeth, opening the position locator for his team. The position of each teammate was marked on the tactical screen of the mechanical suit, and the artificial intelligence within operated at a high speed to map out the fastest rescue route.
From behind his back jetted out a tail flame, and Nero flew out of the big pit at the bottom of the base to rescue the scattered members.
The terrain was complex, but there was no time for him to make a detour. His palm continuously shot out heat rays, melting through all the obstacles in front of him, saving one teammate after another before the arrival of the Kunde ground troops. Finally, he reached the position of his captain.
Blasting aside an obstructing metal plate, Nero flew into the messy room and landed with a loud thud. He saw the captain and a group of members there, all with varying injuries.
The captain was lying paralyzed on the ground, his upper body leaning against the wall. His armor was scorched black, revealing large holes. Looking up at Nero’s entrance, he squeezed out a smile, saying in a weak voice.
“Nero, you’re here. You… cough cough… you did well.”
“Captain, don’t talk anymore.”
Seeing this, an intravenous needle shot out from Nero’s finger, and he pierced it into the captain’s chest.
Aurora’s special life potion was injected into the captain’s body through the needle, and his serious injuries were cured in an instant.
The captain’s state recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye, causing him to let out a comfortable groan. He got up full of energy, clicking his tongue. “This is the special life potion of Her Excellency Aurora? What good stuff!”
Aurora would occasionally activate her ability to produce such life medicines, but the quantity was limited after all, and there was even a shelf life for the potions, so not all warriors from Black Star Army could have them. The normal members would all use the typical store bought medicines, but with Nero’s background, he naturally had Aurora’s life potions.
“Those with major injuries come over. I still have a few more of the life potions, and it will recover your combat capabilities,” Nero shouted.
One of them could not help but say, “Leave some for yourself. There’ll be another bloody battle ahead. What will happen if you’re injured?”
“It’s ok. I still have other medicines.” Nero did not seem to care.
Everyone glanced at each other before shrugging. Having a descendent with a powerful background in their team was not too bad a thing. The backer had already offered, so why were they hesitating?
Nero healed up all his teammates, and they discussed their options.
“Everyone, we’re in an unfavorable situation. We’ve been caught in an ambush, and the entire fleet is being attacked by the enemy,” the captain explained in a serious tone. “The others are too busy to respond to us, so we can only break through by ourselves. There are three Kunde battleships above us, but we have no vehicles, so it will be dangerous…”
“If the enemy continue to bomb the fleet, it will be a desperate situation for us, but now the enemy has stopped attacking and has sent their ground troops to approach us instead.” The eyes of the vice captain flashed. “This means that they intend to capture us alive. This is perhaps our only chance to escape.”
“That’s right!” The captain nodded. “If we wish to escape, we must obtain control of the airspace. The fleet can’t meet up with us, so we can only grab a spaceship. The chances are slim but not impossible.
“This debris is our barrier. If we rush out, the enemy spaceships can bombard us unscrupulously. Thus, we can only wait for the enemy soldiers to enter the base and fight with them directly. In order to prevent friendly fire, the spaceships will not open fire at random, so we need to approach this with a two-pronged strategy. One team will deal with the enemy soldiers, while the other will go to steal a spaceship…”
The captain paused. Everyone looked at each other.
This was something that would affect everyone’s survival. Out of ten paths, only one would lead them out alive.
So, the question was, who should grab the spaceship? It stood to reason that the strongest person should be the one performing this task, and the strongest in the team was Nero with the biggest background.
But to ask someone from such a huge background to accept such a huge responsibility, and only a young teen at that… Everyone was a little hesitant.
Seeing this, Nero gritted his teeth and set his resolve.
“Let me go. There’s no one more suitable than me.”
The captain looked at him, but in the end, he did not try to dissuade him, only solemnly saying, “We’re relying on you. We’ll be engaging the enemy to earn time for you… Remember, everyone’s life is in your hands.”
“I understand.”
Nero took a deep breath, regaining his calm. He controlled his mechanical suit to enter stealth mode, casting one last glance at his members. He then separated, vanishing into the darkness.
The captain breathed out heavily and turned to the rest with a severe expression, “You guys don’t need me to tell you what to do. No matter what, lure down every single enemy.”
“We understand.” The vice captain had a complex expression and nodded.
Other than Nero, everyone else understood what the captain’s tone implied. In actual fact, they had two plans. The first was to allow Nero to capture the spaceship and then escape with him.
But if this level failed, they would unhesitatingly invoke the hidden level… which was to turn themselves into suicide warriors, allowing Nero to abandon them and run off by himself.
It was not just because of Nero and his relationship
with the Army Commander, but everyone also knew that the future of this young man was immeasurable. Only by allowing a person with potential to escape could they then obtain their revenge in the future.
…
After sneaking around in the dark for a moment, the commotion of his teammates fighting the Kunde soldiers came from Nero’s communicator.
At this moment, he was no longer on the battlefield but had arrived in front of a collapsed area leading to the ground level. He remained hidden, using the radar to lock onto the spaceship closest to him in the air.
His palms were slick with sweat as he carefully released a unique-looking hovering guard. It was painted in black and gold, and it looked completely different from all of Nero’s other equipment. There was an unparalleled sense of quality in it. After being released, it smartly started to circle around Nero’s head.
“I’m relying on you, brother.” Nero patted the hovering guard, his heart firm.
“Relax, kid. With your big brother here, no one can hurt you!” The hovering guard actually replied!
This was Nero’s final card. This hovering guard was a present from Han Xiao when they first met.
It was high-grade equipment personally built by a Beyond Grade A Super, driven by dark energy. In addition, it had the blessings of [Emperor’s Gift] and [Machinery Fusion]. After Han Xiao obtained the skill of [Mechanical Life Tinder], he had also transformed it into an intelligent mechanical life form, with its independent consciousness and chance to grow. He had named it ‘Sky Guardian’.
Even when Nero was a kid, the Sky Guardian without any Mechanical Force could fend off Grade C Supers.
Now, with Nero as a Grade C+ Super, along with Perfect Mechanical Sense, the Sky Guardian could unleash even more force. Even when compared to Grade Bs, Nero did not lose out at all.
Nero had never taken out this trump card of his, especially when sparring in school. Even if a pugilist rushed up to his face and beat him black and blue, he had never taken out this killing machine.
His true combat capability was unknown, even to Mia who was the closest to him.
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