by <unknown>
As a result, the two close-at-hand rabbits which had been surrounded a long time ago were still jumping naughtily, which seemed to be mocking him.
Ning Feng immediately made up his mind.
"Fourth Vicious Bee squad, continue searching the water system in the southeast corner and try to locate him.
"Remember not to come too close. The enemy has certain counterattack abilities. Don't let him shoot down a second armed shuttle!
"The pilot of the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle that was down is not injured. Repair the vehicle immediately. Stand by if you cannot bring the damaged armed shuttle back to the sky. We have no further hands to spare at present.
"Seventh Vicious Bee squad, go to the southeast water system, too. Search every river and every stream.
"Remember, temperature and metal reaction can be disguised. Don't worry about the consumption of crystals. Use large-scale continuous reconnaissance by firing to drive him out of wherever the hell he's hiding right now.
"Other Vicious Bee squads, follow me. Let's stick together and take down these two rabbits first!"
"Fourth squad, copy that."
"Seventh squad, understood."
The nine Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles hovered in the sky for a moment, before they locked onto the blinking light spot on their probe magical equipment and chased after it.
Five minutes after they left…
"Huala!"
A wet crystal suit crawled out of the raving waterfall.
It was Li Yao!
The moment he jumped off the waterfall, he forced himself back into the waterfall with a small-scale movement, grabbed the slippery stone behind the waterfall with all his four limbs, and turned off all the power rune arrays on the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.
If he were another Exo, it would've been impossible to resist the furious sweeping of the waterfall without the support of his crystal suit.
Only a monster of such colossal strength as Li Yao with steel-like muscles and bones could grit his teeth through the pressure.
Then he activated a piece of magical equipment that he had hidden previously below the waterfall.
There was nothing special about this particular magical equipment. There were a few power rune arrays on it which could drive it anywhere under Li Yao's control. It had weak metal and temperature reactions too.
It was some sort of shabby 'shadow' for himself.
He had refined several such 'shadows' to be his secret weapons for his escape.
This shadow, for example, had at least bought him an hour of time.
However, he didn't intend to run away in the next hour.
The reason why he set up so many fancy, delicate traps and exposed himself to the heavy bombardment from the crystal warship whose Taiyi Lightning Railguns nearly gave him an electrocution was not to hide in some gloomy corner trembling in anxiety.
His natural instinct was to hunt, to attack!
Li Yao smiled and licked the blood on his lips. Then he climbed up the waterfall and entered into the stealth mode before he marched back toward the forest where he had been hiding in the beginning.
The Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle that he'd shot down had performed an emergency landing over there.
Chapter 328: Capture a Crystal Warship! |
Five minutes later, Li Yao retrieved his Floating Supplier from the pond where he had been hiding in the beginning.
Dense black smoke was flowing out of the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle that he had shot down previously hundreds of meters away, which was as plain as daylight although the night was deep and dark.
Li Yao held his breath and sneaked closer.
His crystal camera with a super-high resolution penetrated through bushes and branches and locked onto the burning hot shuttle without any trouble.
There was also a human-shaped object working on the shuttle busily.
It seemed that he was the pilot of the armed shuttle who was doing the maintenance job.
Li Yao was very confident in his attack. He was certain that the power system of the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle must've been blown to pieces.
It would be hardly possible to repair the vehicle without brand new components as replacement.
Li Yao opened his palms. A spider-like beast puppet crawled amongst the grass towards the pilot quietly.
Inside the body of the spider, there was a reservoir in which powerful anesthetic was stored.
By shooting it with high-pressure, it could narcotize a target three to five meters away without skin contact with the victim.
A moment later, Li Yao heard a dull grunt inside the forest. The pilot of the armed shuttle had fallen over.
Li Yao whistled. He dashed among tree branches like a creamy monkey until he reached the shuttle.
He opened the Floating Supplier and took out all kinds of brilliantly shining magical equipment and maintenance tools, ready to make it big.
However, he heard a feeble moan nearby. The pilot of the armed shuttle, who seemed to be a lieutenant judging from his uniform, must be a Cultivator, too. The powerful anesthetic that could put down an elephant only kept him asleep for half a minute.
Li Yao raised his eyebrow. He took out a metal ring and put it on the neck of the lieutenant. With a cracking sound, the metal ring locked up.
The lieutenant groaned. His limbs were out of his control, as if he had been paralyzed.
But his eyes were glaring at Li Yao, from which confusion and fury were beaming out.
This was the latest restraint magical equipment. By unleashing special bioelectricity, it could stimulate the central nervous system directly and lock the movements of the victim's limbs. Only the body parts above the victim's neck were free.
It was terrifically useful for Cultivators below the Building Foundation Stage.
Li Yao took out a metal scrap and pinned it on the Adam's apple of the lieutenant. Then he said coldly, "Although this is only a sham battle, I don't intend to show you any mercy. I have a thousand ways to let you taste the most bitter pain in the world without leaving any injury or sequela to your body.
"Repeat after me, if you don't want to suffer.
"Shuttle 405 reporting. No. 2, No. 5, and No. 7 anti-gravity rune arrays and the main power system are seriously damaged. The efficiency of spiritual energy transformation is on a continuous fall. The crystals are running out. Further flight or combat is not affordable. Requesting to return for full maintenance.
"Read now!"
The lieutenant was dazed for a moment. His eyeballs rolled crazily as he put on an extremely shocked expression.
A moment later, he realized the situation he was in. His eyes were firm again. Then he gnashed his teeth and snarled, "Don't even think about it!
"Whatever you are planning to do, I will not cooperate!"
Li Yao sneered, "Don't presume that I will not do anything to you because this is a sham battle."
The lieutenant laughed aloud.
"Whether this is a sham battle or a real one, I am always ready to be sacrificed as a soldier of the federal army. Even if I were to fall into hands of demon beasts and about to torn into pieces, I would not be pushed around!
"You want to torture me? Then come on! I'll show you what a true soldier should look like!
"However, I suggest you hurry up. I'm not aware what tricks you've implemented to get rid of our men, but it won't be long before they realize what is actually going on!
"You want to waste your time on me? Very good. I'm always here!"
Li Yao stared at the lieutenant.
Although the lieutenant was only a Cultivator at the beginning of the Refinement Stage who had been confined by magical equipment, he stared back without any fear.
Li Yao suddenly smiled. He took the metal scrap off the Adam's apple of the lieutenant and pinned it on his own.
"That's very brave of you."
Li Yao said, "Not so smart, though."
The lieutenant was shocked.
The one standing in
front of him was talking in a tone and rhythm that were very similar to his.
"This is 'Sound Simulator', latest magical equipment that was displayed on the Magical Equipment Exposition. It was still in the experimental phase. But I thought it was interesting and pulled some strings to get one.
"As long as it collects enough sound information, it can simulate everyone's voice.
"So, really, you shouldn't have talked so much."
With the help of the Sound Simulator, Li Yao talked in the voice of the lieutenant. As the conversation proceeded, Li Yao's voice became more and more like the lieutenant's, until they were completely undistinguishable in the end.
Li Yao patted the lieutenant's shoulder. Then he walked to the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle.
He paced around the shuttle. Watching its shell which was riddled with holes and the power system which was burning in intense flames, he was deep in thought.
The lieutenant was dazed for a long time, before he finally came back to himself and burst out in laughter.
"Suppose you can simulate my voice, so what?
"This Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle was shot down by yourself. The power system has been mostly wrecked. It won't fly again without suitable replacements!"
"Correct."
Li Yao put on a maintenance glove on his left hand, while the dagger as thin as a feather danced in his right hand.
He picked up a huge amount of armed shuttle components from the Floating Supplier, including four small jet engine units.
Taking a deep breath, Li Yao's brain was fully activated. His computational ability was brought to maximum. His soul entered the mysterious world of refining. In his vision, the shattered Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle was dismantled into the most fundamental components which were spinning slowly under the night sky and gradually melted with the components that he brought.
Half a minute later, dazzling brightness shined in Li Yao's eyes. His hands turned into a cluster of grey mist. After several screeches of metal, the armed shuttle was completely pulled to pieces.
The repair of the power system and the anti-gravity rune arrays was not complicated.
The real problem was how to fit himself into the cockpit of the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle.
The space of the cockpit of the armed shuttle was quite limited, which had already been replete with all kinds of magical equipment and operation panels. There was no way that he could cram in while he was wearing the crystal suit.
Of course, he could place the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit in the roomy cabin which was in the middle part of the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle.
The place was supposed to store five beast puppets. So, it was more than enough to put one crystal suit inside.
However, without the enhancement of the crystal suit, his reactions would be much slower.
If the opponents were to suddenly attack him, there would be a good chance that he would have no time to put on the crystal suit.
Li Yao had to consider the possibility that he might be found out half way through his plan.
So, he concentrated his attention on modifying the shuttle.
At first, he quickly repaired two anti-gravity rune arrays, embedded new power units to the shuttle, and reconstructed the transmission tubes of spiritual energy.
Then, he expanded the cockpit by ripping off the shell on two sides and tearing away the pilot seat. Finally, he was able to enter the cockpit in his crystal suit.
But, as a result, the center of gravity of the shuttle had been changed, because the front end of the shuttle was apparently too heavy with his crystal suit.
However, there was no time for Li Yao to readjust the center of gravity now. He was preparing to make up for that with his professional skills.
The Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle after full modification looked a little bit different from a real one.
However, during the night of such a heavy storm, with most of the enemies' attention focused on the escaping crystal suits, they would barely notice the somewhat weird outlook of a friendly armed shuttle, right?
The lieutenant was truly dumbfounded by Li Yao's astonishing maintenance skills.
He had never seen anyone who could repair such a seriously damaged Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle within half an hour, let alone the modification of the cockpit afterward.
When he noticed that there were so many armed shuttle components, even some power units, inside Li Yao's Floating Supplier, his firm eyes were suddenly put in a trance.
The deepest dread flowed out from his heart and reached every corner of his body.
He realized that this was not a spur-of-the-moment thing.
Before the battle had taken place, his opponent had decided that he would shoot down a Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle, repair it, and drive it into the crystal warship in disguise.
"What… what are you planning to do?" the lieutenant stammered.
"What am I planning to do?"
Li Yao waved his swollen, chapped hands where hot air was still rising up and said casually, "To capture a crystal warship, of course."
…
At 4:47 a.m., the darkest moment before dawn, Ning Feng's face was tranquil as ever onboard the Tide Berserker. But his heart was truly relieved.
The toughness of the MP crystal suits was beyond his expectation. Not only did the crystal suit hiding in the southeast water system launch an amazing counterattack, the two crystal suits that he had locked onto since the very beginning, knowing there was no way that they could get away, fought back desperately with amazing abilities, too, which cost him almost a hundred beast puppets and five Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles.
However, everything was finally back on track now.
Three minutes ago, the Mournful Mist Battlesuit was hit by the Heaven Splitters in the front. The command center had determined it to be 'Exploded'.
As for the Sword Torrent Battlesuit, after it used up all the flying swords and shot down three Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles, he was able to capture it alive.
It had been less than four hours since his arrival, and two crystal suits were already suppressed by him.
Very soon, the weather would be clear again. The detection mystic rays would perform at full strength. Even an ant would not be able to get away from their searching.
"405 has tried to repair three power rune arrays. But there's still something wrong with the anti-gravity rune arrays and the main power system. Spiritual energy is leaking. Crystals are running out. Requesting to return for major maintenance."
Right then, the captain of the fourth Vicious Bee squad sent out a request.
There were two fully-equipped workshops on the Tide Berserker designed for the maintenance of armed shuttles and beast puppets.
Many damaged Vicious Armed Shuttles in the previous fights had flown back to the crystal warship with black smoke trailing behind them.
Therefore, the request did not even go to Captain Ning Feng. It was passed by the vice-captain who was in charge of the squad teams.
"Home return granted, 405. Please enter the mother ship through the sixth deck."
Chapter 329: Let's Burn, Phoenix! |
The thunderstorm that had been raging throughout the entire night finally came to an end. The heavily pouring rain became intermittent.
Two crystal suits were tied up from head to toe by electromagnetic shackles and sucked into the crystal warship by anti-gravity, mystical lights.
The sun was about to rise. There were cheers all over the warship. The nerves of all the solders on board which had been tightened all night were finally relieved a little bit before dawn.
Right then, a ragged Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle flew towards Tide Berserker staggeringly.
It seemed that the shuttle had just passed a thick, floating stone belt. Its shell was full of hollows and bumps, as well as all kinds of holes, which couldn't look more terrible.
There was intense black smoke wafting up from its body. Its exhaust flame was extremely pale. While it was flying, cracking sounds we
re echoing nonstop. Now and then, a power rune array or an anti-gravity rune array seemed to explode, unleashing colorful sparks.
The speed of the shuttle was extremely low, like an old man who had one foot in the grave.
It seemed that, if the shuttle sped up a little bit, it would break up in midair at any time.
Five kilometers… Four kilometers… Three kilometers…
It finally came close to the crystal warship and reached the spiritual shield of the crystal warship.
"Beep!"
It passed the authentication of the IFFS. The spiritual shield did not block the shuttle, nor did it attack the shuttle.
But in the cockpit of Tide Berserker, Ning Feng, who was soaking in crimson liquid, suddenly felt such an intense palpitation that his heart seemed to be being pricked by needles.
He felt that a flying sword out of nowhere had pierced into his heart!
"Not good!"
Ning Feng lost his tranquility.
His instincts told him that something must be wrong!
This instinct was based on more than ten years of experience in bloody, slaughterhouse-like battlefields, as well as his natural gift.
Back when he first entered the battle zone, he'd had a fuzzy, strange feeling. That was why he released ten Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles to search the area even though there was nothing suspicious in his sight.
But right now, the feeling of danger was hundreds of times more intense!
'Someone wants to kill me!'
Inside the capsule where Ning Feng was lying, countless bubbles popped up from the red liquid. His head was burningly hot. Every brain cell was overloading. Thousands of pictures unfolded in front of his eyes simultaneously, as he was searching for any anomaly on and around the crystal warship.
"Crack!"
Right then, a lightning that resembled a raging dragon tore the sky apart, illuminating the night as if it were daylight.
It was probably the swan song of the dying thunderstorm.
Illuminated by the lightning, Shuttle 405, which was flying slowly towards the crystal warship concealed in dirty smoke, seemed to have grown scales and claws in Ning Feng's vision.