CH 29

Forward (3)

A few minutes later, a flying IP slid down in the air. Tang Zhen manipulated the mecha to land at the agreed place where everyone was supposed to meet.

When he saw that there were only three IPs approaching from the opposite side of the canyon, Tang Zhen’s face paled. He glanced at the positioning cursor belatedly, and asked in a trembling voice, “Where’s Little Jiang?”

In the communication channel of the team, Joe and Ellie were so frightened and they didn’t dare to speak at all, while Li Youfang gritted his teeth. “He……”

Unexpectedly, the communication flickered at this moment.

First, there was a turbulent sound from inside, and then it stabilized into Jiang Jianming’s smiling voice. “Have you met already? I see the positioning coordinates, you should be able to regroup. Is Maner’s situation okay?”

Tang Zhen’s nerves were tense at first, but when he heard Jiang Jianming’s voice, he immediately exploded, “Jiang Jianming!! Where the fuck are you!?”

“Also, where is your location? I can’t see your coordinates here—where the hell are you!?”

“Hm? ” 

On the opposite side, Jiang Jianming replied perfunctorily, with a lazy smile, “Didn’t the three of them tell you?”

–At the other end of the canyon blocked by rocks.

Most of the blue-black mecha’s body was buried in the falling rocks, one side was sunken, and emitted a faint black smoke.

Jiang Jianming opened his eyes with difficulty. His vision was blurry, and he could only see the snowy night sky through the gap between the damaged mecha and the fallen rocks.

A crack was formed on the screen inside the cockpit. Seth Henry’s voice had been turned off by him, and only texts kept on flashing.

[Urgent, urgent! Mecha damage 43%]

[M-IP 18 can no longer be started normally]

[Please switch mechas quickly, Master, please switch mechas quickly, woof woof..] 

The blood flowing from his forehead slid down to his brow bone down to his pale chin.

Jiang Jianming laid on his back inside the broken mecha and couldn’t move–as the IP’s mechanical broken arm was pressed on his right shoulder.

He only replied with a smile. “I’ve already changed my mecha……….The Silver Big Dipper’s positioning system is not installed on Snow Dove, of course you won’t be able to see it.”

Tang Zhen on the opposite side of the communication felt greatly relieved.

Jiang Jianming held the pressed mechanical arm with his left hand and tried his strength.

However, when he spoke, he spoke as if nothing had happened. “I will stay and observe for a while, I will go back after confirming that it can’t crawl out.”

“Observe?” Tang Zhen on the other side laughed angrily, “Observe my ass! Jiang Jianming, you really think you’re capable, don’t you?”

In the canyon, the four IP’s stood still.

Tang Zhen, just a while ago broke out in a cold sweat because of fright, and now he couldn’t help but get angry at the moment. “I say, you only have a little self-awareness, but in the end, you are still a crippled human being. Which time is it that you didn’t get your ass wiped by others? Get back here!”

“Tang Zhen!”

Li Youfang couldn’t help but yell, his eyes were empty and his throat was hoarse, “You, you…..stop talking.”

Tang Zhen rolled his eyes at him, and snorted. “What’s the matter, being saved by Little Jiang once, and now you’re protecting him? Let me tell you, once you get to know him well, you will know that this guy is not worry-free.”

Li Youfang was speechless, but his hands were shaking.

In the cockpit, three lines of words flashed on the screen in front of him. It was the information received remotely in the communication channel.

[Forward] 

[Don’t look back]

[Listen to me this time]

Li Youfang closed his eyes suddenly–he knew that the same message must be flashing on Joe and Ellie’s screen at this moment.

It’s Jiang Jianming……He told them not to look back……….

“Okay, okay, Young Master Tang, don’t be angry, I’ll go back now……!”

Jiang Jianming clenched his teeth hard, and with a clang, the mechanical arm pressing on his shoulder was finally pushed away.

However, when he opened his eyes again, he saw the huge subspecies spider.

The big guy also seemed to have been hit by fallen rocks, because new injuries could be spotted on its body. 

Even so, the sound still made it turn its head, along those two rows of turbid green eyes as well.

Jiang Jianming panted slightly, pressed his voice and said, “Go forward according to the original plan, at least run forward for half an hour……..Find a safe place to set up camp, I will go over and meet you as soon as possible.”

Tang Zhen: “Okay, but you should hurry up.”

Jiang Jianming only said “Mn” and turned off the communication.

He didn’t panic, instead he was very calm.

He remembered a few years ago, when Marshal Chen kept him from leaving to have a chat. He said that the battlefield was ever changing rapidly, and no matter how wise a commander was, it would still be impossible to always predict all the situations.

Therefore, as a General and Commander-in-Chief, the most important quality was not to anticipate things as planned—but to reflexively respond to the changing situation.

Gasping, he held onto the Snow Dove folding bracelet. Fortunately, there’s still the remaining back up energy on Snow Dove, therefore the problem was not that big.

As long as—

Just have to ride the Snow—fly to the canyon’s side……

“……..!”

Jiang Jianming suddenly choked and coughed in convulsions, and his internal organs and bones aroused a sharp pain.

By this time, his body could no longer hold on.

It’s so exhausting…and it hurts too much.

It was not the trauma that caused the sharp pains, but the heart.

Jiang Jianming couldn’t help but shrink back from the pain. Some physiological tears stained the bottom of his dark eyes, and the blood foam he coughed up fell on the silver-white bracelet.

The heavy snowstorm outside seemed to swirl and fall into his mind, making it only a vast expanse of whiteness.

In the exhaustion and pain that swept his body, Jiang Jianming lost his mind for a moment.

He breathed patiently, staring at the blood on the Snow Dove bracelet, and at the huge subspecies not far away.

All of a sudden—

A very strange thought came to mind.

Weird, why is my……………….memory suddenly became confused.

Unexpectedly, a crisp childish voice resounded in the depths of time.

“……”

Outside the window was the boundless universe, in the huge purple-red ringed star—this was the Purple Silk Star City of the second galaxy, the most important commercial star of the Empire.

In the warehouse of a civil starship, a young boy with black hair and black eyes closed the paper book in his hand, and tilted his head. His eyes were very clear. 

“Why do you want to escape from the heavy snow?”

Heavy snow kept falling all over the sky. Jiang Jianming laid on his back among the wreckage of the mecha, and he felt as though the ring that was hanging around his neck, warmed.

Under the night, the giant spider subspecies rushed towards his side with its chelicerae, opening and closing its mouthparts, preparing for the next spin of its silk.

Jiang Jianming held the Snow Dove tightly. He was already having difficulty breathing, his eyes were dark, and his heart was beating faster and faster.

If you don’t leave…..it will be too late……

But, it is weird.

In the final analysis, why would he even leave?

For this B-grade subspecies that came suddenly, all the training was wasted. Bei Maner even broke her right leg, and he himself was exhausted and was in pain like this.

The M-IP18 was damaged, Snow Dove’s energy and the new crystal weapon prepared were almost exhausted, and there were also the medicines and crystal particle tranquilizers……

They fought all the way to break through the siege, and successfully made this subspecies bleed along the way.

And now the teammates should have also left safely without any worries.

Then why is he—— 

In the flashback memory, the young boy sitting in the civilian starship…..the thirteen-year-old Jiang Jianming propped his chin curiously, and asked with a smile,

“Why not go and kill the enemy?”

Jiang Jianming’s pupils shrank slightly.

In an instant, the sprayed spider silk shattered his old memories!

There was a crisp sound of metal clashing, then white light suddenly appeared. The mecha Snow Dove unfolded at the last moment, and its pair of wing-like white shields blocked the subspecies spider’s silk as Jiang Jianming fell into the driver’s seat!

In a state of confusion, he seemed to have returned to the Purple Silk Star City of his childhood, and saw the back of his adoptive father dragging his luggage out of the house.

The old man who taught him to read and write, and also taught him to handle guns and play with mechas; the old man who wore an apron and knew how to cook, and happily raised him…..

The first person in his life who promised to be with him forever, his father.

In the end, he was summoned to the distant interstellar space, and was then buried in the interstellar sea forever.

[Urgent, urgent, mecha damage 4%…10%!]

More spider threads stuck to the joints of the mech, and the Snow Dove seemed to be trapped by ropes with its fluttering wings, and was hanging between the cliffs!

[Class B subspecies is approaching rapidly, please take action, please take action]

The spider subspecies hissed. It continuously spewed out a white substance mixed with venom and spider silk, trapping the mecha tighter and tighter, until it eventually hung the Snow Dove in mid-air.

[It is detected that the vital signs of the driver have dropped below the safe value, please receive treatment in the treatment cabin immediately!]

[Woof woof…….woof woof!]

Jiang Jianming was lying in the cockpit that kept flashing red lights. He was so weak that he was trembling uncontrollably, and he couldn’t hold the lever anymore, but he held the black hand grenade in his hand. It was the crystal particle explosive bomb that he fished out from the combat bag beside him in the last few seconds before the Snow Dove unfolded.

“Cough..cough..cough..”

His body hurt even more, and more blood gurgled from the corners of his lips.

At this moment, Jiang Jianming’s eyes were out of focus, and he seemed to see Ryann’s departing back again.

With his platinum long hair fluttering, the prince glanced back one last time, and slowly disappeared into the dark depths of the universe.

This was the second person in his life who had promised to accompany him forever.

At their parting three years ago……

Has his Little Highness also made such a choice?

Was it the same as his father?

Knowing that a strong enemy was approaching, as long as he could turn around, as long as he retreated, there would be a safe and comfortable home behind him, and people waiting for the return of the conqueror.

But looking at the history of thousands of years of the stumbling human civilization, no matter when and where, there would always be some stubborn souls——

—that would choose to go forward even if bathed in blood.

Between the cliffs in front of the canyon, a spider web was already formed impressively.

The giant spider subspecies quickly rushed towards the immobile S-Snow Dove, and spit out the last spider silk towards the cockpit.

—The spider silk would corrode the hard metal, and then it’s hard mouthpart appendages would bite open the cockpit hatch and drag the driver inside out.—

—It would first suck the most delicious brains, and then spit out its digestive juices, corroding this weak human being into a ball of meat paste, and then swallow it into its stomach for a full meal.—

“…..”

Gritting his teeth, Jiang Jianming smiled softly with tears in his eyes.

In fact, he never really resented Ryann’s death, it’s only that he couldn’t calm down—

He whispered, “Why don’t you just take me away? After all, I still have to work hard just to chase after you.”

You should know that I am the same person as you.

In the next second…

The Snow Dove in the middle of the spider web disappeared.

—It’s not that it disappeared, but the mecha was forcibly retracted into a folded state.

The spider thread in the middle lost its binding object, and immediately hung limply, turning into a ball swaying in the wind.

Subsequently, Jiang Jianming fell down.

The cold wind mixed with thousands of snowflakes surged from behind like waves.

He saw the overwhelming, intertwined and criss-crossed white spider threads passing by around him one after another.

This is…… 

Does the chains of fate want to bind him?

He also saw the lower jaw of the spider, every fluff, and even every fold on the carapace was clearly visible.

Let it all be destroyed then.

With a soft sound, Jiang Jianming pulled the safety ring of the crystal particle explosive grenade in mid-air, and threw it at the enemy who was close at hand.

He didn’t use much strength because he really had no strength left.

But this distance was close enough. He used himself as bait to attract the subspecies to the point of face-to-face, and now, even if a child were to throw it, he would surely not miss.

Sure enough, the explosive grenade landed on the seriously injured abdomen of the subspecies spider, and then there was a flash of light.

The next moment, a scarlet fireball expanded rapidly.

The fireball engulfed the spider subspecies, not only that, the aftermath of the explosion even quickly spread in all directions with a heat wave.

Jiang Jianming quietly watched as the heat wave neared him.

However, there was peace in his heart.

Will not die, at most will only be seriously injured.

Injuring the enemy one thousand while inflicting eight hundred self-injury was worth it.

(t/n Kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred- an idiom, the pronunciation is sha di yi qian zi sun ba bai, to inflict damage on the enemy while one’s own side suffers a smaller but comparable level of damage)

Until, within his field of vision, countless red-gold real crystals suddenly pierced out of thin air, blocking the rushing heat wave.

“!?”

Boom!!!

The loud noise that shook the valley came late.

Thud! 

Jiang Jianming’s falling body was blocked twice by the real crystal condensed in mid-air before landing on the cold mountain.

He immediately let out a muffled groan. Even though seven or eight percent of his body was already numb, his lungs still ached again.

Jiang Jianming didn’t care about anything, and immediately raised his head.

The night seemed to have stagnated, and the area outside the canyon had changed its appearance.

There was thick smoke and fire everywhere on the scorched earth, severed limbs of the giant spider fell from the sky, and its blood rained down wildly.

The long wind brought the smell of burn, blood and stench……….

If the eighteen levels of Avici Hell described in the oriental theology of the Ancient Blue Star era really existed, it might not be more depressing than this scene.

However, just before this tragic scene, stood a tall figure.

Garcia looked back against the flames. The turbulent wind of snow blew away his long platinum hair, and revealed, were still those haunting emerald cold eyes.

A pitch-black mecha hovered obliquely in the sky at some point, blocking the sprayed filth for the prince.

Amidst the sprayed blood rain of the spider corpse, he was like a fallen god.