Chapter 455: Reinforcement
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Sang Pu's heart sank! One by one, the mysterious creatures tore out of the vesicles. In the next moment, the battlefield was turned against them! The Sang Tribe's advantageous position and their attack rhythm were disrupted immediately. The difference in strength between both sides was too huge!
In the span of only 10 minutes, the number of unknown lifeforms increased by the thousands! The Sang Tribe was forced to react passively. However, none of the mechs attempted to escape by themselves. On the contrary, they maintained their rigid formation and fought according to plan! The Sang Tribe's discipline and mental fortitude were once again demonstrated in practice, although this time it was witnessed by an army of unknown lifeforms.
Sang Pu tasted bitterness. He could see that if the situation continued as they were now, they would not last for long. However, there was no way he could get in touch with their young teacher now.
D*mn it!
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Fei Si looked at the report in her hands, containing the latest results from her experiment. Should she send them over? She was hesitant about this. The truth was, Uncle Jalopy was the only person she was familiar with in this place. She was only a researcher, and could not be certain if the report in her hands were actually of any value.
At that moment, a knock came from the door. "Anyone here?" It was a woman's voice.
Who could visit at this hour? Fei Si was curious. She replied, "Please come in." She had never locked the door to the lab, since Ye Chong would sometimes visit to conduct his own experiments. Besides, as long it was within the base, they should all be safe.
A beautiful woman came in.
"So it's her?" Fei Si thought to herself in surprise. She had seen this woman before. Her name was Qiu Man, and she seemed to be one of Ye Chong's comrades before her time. Qiu Man was in charge of coordination between divisions and resource allocation. However, since resources for the lab were specially ordered, she had discussed business with Qiu Man before.
Why would she be here?
"Miss Fei Si, how do you do? I'm Qiu Man." The woman's tiny, rosy lips moved. Her watery eyes gleamed with professionalism. After all these years of practice, she had now transformed from a typical Young Miss into a competent diplomat.
While this was not the first time she saw Qiu Man, Fei Si still found herself awed by the woman's beauty as she stood before her, and felt ashamed of her own looks. After all, Qiu Man was a rare beauty. Moreover, her graceful conduct made her the center of attention wherever she went.
Qiu Man was already used to the way other people looked at her. She smiled and said, "Pardon me for not making an appointment beforehand, I hope I'm not interrupting Ms Fei Si's research."
Fei Si gathered herself and shook her head in reply. "No, you're not. How can I assist you, Ms Qiu Man …"
"I was doing some coordination and just happened to pass by. The door was open, so I ventured to drop by for a visit," Qiu Man explained with a smile. She had always been interested in the lab, and she could tell how much importance Ye Chong, Mu and Shang placed on it. Hence, since she happened to pass by, she could not help but came wondering in.
"It's alright, my experiments were just completed." By now, Fei Si had recovered from her awe of Qiu Man's beauty, and resumed her usual coolness. "If Ms Qiu Man is interested, you're welcome to visit anytime."
Qiu Man's gaze shifted to the unknown lifeform's body in the transparent chamber, and asked with interest, "Oh, is that the creature's body delivered from the frontlines?"
"Yes." Fei Si nodded. "My experiment just now is related to it."
"Did you find anything?" Qiu Man studied the damaged flesh, her face showing no signs of fear as she asked.
"There are a few peculiar findings, but they will have be to further explored."
"Peculiar findings?" Qiu Man lifted her head, looking intrigued.
"These unknown lifeforms were all part of the same group, and share many traits. For example, when they evolve, or more precisely speaking, under the right conditions, they can evolve in a very short time! This is the fastest evolution that I have ever seen completed in any higher forms of life." When it came to matters of her professions, Fei Si spoke with confidence and ease.
"Evolution?" Qiu Man sounded troubled. "What changes would occur after this evolution?"
"Based on what I know now, it will mainly be an increase in muscular strength and toughness. Performance wise, there will be improvements in both strength and resilience. Besides, their outer protective armor would be further strengthened," Fei Si explained in detail.
Qiu Man's expression turned grim. She pondered for a moment before asking, "You said that if the conditions are right, they can complete their evolution in a very short time, yes?"
"Yes, the experiments seemed to suggest that."
"What are these conditions? Exactly how short is a very short time?" Qiu Man asked anxiously.
Fei Si could not understand why Qiu Man looked so nervous, but she still answered with care, "Thus far, I have identified two conditions that can trigger an evolution in these creatures. The first is pure energy, and the second is metal. It's too early to tell if there are other triggers. As for the time required to evolve, this depends on the amount of pure energy or metal absorbed. What this means is, the more pure energy or metal they get, the faster they evolve. However, I have not figured out the mathematical relationship amongst these three elements."
Qiu Man no longer looked at ease. She dragged Fei Si along, running out of the lab as she said, "This is a very important finding. We need to inform the frontlines as soon as possible …"
The situation was getting worse.
If this continued, they would be finished sooner or later. Sang Pu observed the war happening around him with reddened eyes. Every Collision mech's explosion was like a stab to his heart! He must do something soon, or else …
He desperately tried to calm himself down.
More of the creatures continued to emerge from the flesh columns. They were now awakening on a massive scale. The ones still within the vesicles were still vulnerable, but once they awakened, it would be a true disaster for the Sang Tribe. What was happening now were just like the early signs of an impending calamity. One by one, the unknown lifeforms escaped from their vesicles. Sang Pu also noticed that they were now emerging from the vesicles at an accelerating rate. His heart sank further and further as he watched.
If this continued on, everyone would be done for! Sang Pu bit down on his lips, his eyes red with emotions as he continued to observe the war. The Sang Tribe's battalion of Collision mechs no longer held their earlier advantage. Not only that, their adversaries were getting stronger and stronger. He could see swarms of the unknown lifeforms targeting individual Collision mechs, wilfully pursuing them. Had the Collision mechs been slower, or the Sang Tribe members less skilled in flying their mechs, they would have suffered even more casualties by now.
Pursuit … A tight pursuit … As he watched the unknown lifeforms pursuing the desperately escaping Collision mechs, Sang Pu's mind suddenly cleared up.
A bold idea came to him.
The reporters who were watching the purple gas cloud closely from outside were now getting jumpy. Since the large fleet of strange flying vessels entered the purple gas cloud, none of them came out. The purple gas cloud's perimeter was now clear of the flying vessels, which allowed the reporters to approach the purple gas cloud closer.
However, what happened earlier still brought a shudder to their hearts. Those unknown lifeforms were obviously hostile. What if one of them came out just as they were close to the purple gas cloud? The reporters had no confidence in fighting for their survival. Hence, despite the lack of the odd flying vessels outside, none of them dared to go closer.
A long time had passed, and still nothing happened at the purple gas cloud.
Just when the reporters were hesitating, someone cried out, "Heavens, look at that!"
Tens of thousands of strange looking flying vessels and starships appeared from the Calamitous Asteroid Belt. The massive ragtag fleet was a magnificent spectacle on the holographic screen.
However, when the impressive fleet got closer and closer, the feeling of magnificence gave way to a sense of disbelief. In terms of numbers, the ragtag fleet was definitely imposing. However, all the flying vessels and starships came in a random assortment of colors. They looked like a cloth with many random patchings. In short, they looked like a joke. This was the same for each of the tens of thousands of flying vessels and starships.
What was this? A beggar's parade?
Viewers of the live feed on the news channel were now laughing out loud. Some were doubled over with laughter.
Abruptly, the laughing stopped.
Sang Tie travelled with urgency, bringing with him a support combat with 30 thousand men! That's 30 thousand Collision mechs! Travelling along with him were 300 starships, all filled to the brim with mildstones and spare parts for Collision mechs. That was the reason the entire fleet's arrival was slightly delayed.
They finally reached Yi Ju.
However, when Sang Tie saw the massive purple gas cloud, he was taken aback. He quickly got in touch with the base. When he found out that their young teacher and Sang Pu had gone into the purple gas cloud, his expression turned even more grim.
"All combatants, prepare yourselves!" Sang Tie gave the simplest and most straightforward order.
30 thousand Collision mechs immediately separated from the ragtag battalion, flying all over the place. It was a grand spectacle, seeing 30 thousand mechs flying in the same area. Sang Tie's order was enough to let the rest of the Sang Tribe understand what they were about to do next.
The 30 thousand Collision mechs showed no disorder as they flew to their positions. The 300 starships turned around in the opposite direction and headed for Yi Ju as fast they could to land.
Even with the Sang Tribe's brilliance in piloting, it still took five minutes for everyone to take their positions. In these five minutes, the 300 starships had already landed on Yi Ju.
Sang Tie wanted to just charge straight into the purple gas cloud, but he could not! Without Sang Pu, he was now the commander of the battalion, and that meant suppressing his own impatience. His every decision would have to be made carefully, since it would very well decide the fates of these 30 thousand members of kin and himself. Sang Tie had prepared the best they could afford. These 30 thousand members of the Sang Tribe were all the most competent in the Tribe!
Ye Chong had asked for Sang Tie to bring only 10 thousand men, but after the Village Head listened to Sang Tie's story, he immediately asked to gather 30 thousand men. No one doubted the Village Head's decision. With that, Sang Tie found himself armed with 30 thousand of the best warriors from the Tribe.
30 thousand Collision mechs took their positions outside the purple gas cloud. The smallest basic combat section consisted of 10 mechs. Every 10 of these sections formed a squad, while every 10 combat squads formed a company. A total of 30 companies presented themselves in perfect formation.
With 30 thousand mechs achieving this wonderful formation in just five minutes, what more can you ask for?
This huge and orderly battalion filled up a significant space in the vast universe, and it was a wonder to behold.
"1st to 10th Company, prepare to engage! The rest of the battalion, shift to echelon formation [1]." Sang Tie's voice rang in the comms channel.
Every Sang Tribe member could feel their blood boiling! Borned with an inclination for battle, they had never been in a war of this scale before.
"On my mark!" Sang Tie's eyes widened and bulged. He was about to say "Charge!" but then he noticed something at the last second.
On the holographic screen, a single Collision mech suddenly burst out of the purple gas cloud, heading towards their battalion.
Before Sang Tie could react, a huge swarm of Collision mechs came out of the purple gas cloud.
What was going on? Sang Tie was taken by surprise.
"Attention, 1st to 10th Companies, fly right through us! Full speed ahead! Attack!" From the comms came a voice that was familiar to everyone in the Sang Tribe.
It's Pu! Sang Tie recognized his voice and was overjoyed by it. While he was still far from illuminated by what was happening now, it was instinct for everyone in the Tribe to obey Sang Pu's commands.
The 10 companies at the front accelerated without delay, and shot towards their comrades that emerged from the purple gas cloud.
Since Sang Pu had ordered for them to fly full speed ahead, all 10 companies had accelerated to their maximum speed in the shortest time possible.
Both sides were flying at extremely high velocities. Collision mechs could exceed Mach 20 at their maximum speed, the power of their engines at full blast was formidable. Besides, since both sides were flying at over Mach 20, any head-on contact, no matter how minor, would most likely end in disaster.
Many viewers of the live news channel gasped, and some even closed their eyes, unable to continue watching.
Both sides did not slow down, and they were now about to reach each other! The most terrible accident in the history of spaceflight was about to happen.