CH 42

Vertical pupils.

That was a typical characteristic of the Zerg. He didn’t know what Qi JiaZe had been through during this time, whether his brother knew about it, and most importantly, how such an Omega had gotten on the ship.

Lin Han’s body was flushed with a chill, but he forced himself not to avert his eyes, watching every move on the battleship in the time that was left. He saw Qi JiaZe’s arms and right leg had three more bullet holes from He YunTing’s gun drawn earlier that were still bleeding.

Even the smell of smoke hadn’t dissipated, and Qi JiaZe, as if feeling no pain, carelessly continued to struggle.

Qi Jiamu called his nickname while trying to pray that Lu AnHe, who had repositioned his gun in front of Qi JiaZe’s forehead, wouldn’t pull the trigger.

The mecha isolated the sound from the battleship, so Lin Han only saw Wen TianYao’s face full of shock, as well as a subtle expression from Xi Yuan.

He saw Qi Jiamu’s hands clasped very tightly, Lu AnHe moved his lips with a serious expression as if he was saying something. 

He saw the Omega who was trying to attack He YunTing finally calm down under his brother’s reassurance, but still trembling and muttering something under his breath.

He saw the Zerg not far away seemingly become excited, the two sand worms at the head raised their tentacles and accelerated the speed of crawling on their foot limbs.

He saw their approaching heights, the yellow sand brushing the cockpit, and the sky turning scarlet. It was like a grand and cruel foretaste.

The battleship retreated at full speed, and soon Lin Han couldn’t even see the iconic railing above. He could only see He YunTing’s broad back and steady breathing. It was such a critical time that He YunTing only had time to fish him out, and both of them were still in the first cockpit.

Lin Han wanted to tell He YunTing about the vertical pupil, but he didn’t want to distract him. The point, of course, was that he couldn’t fly the mecha as perfectly as the best pilots, and he was afraid of becoming a burden.

He YunTing raised the mecha to a certain altitude and then turned on the operating systems one by one. A mechanical system tone came from the mecha’s AI.

“M2742 had reached the appropriate altitude, full aircraft self-test completed. The current mecha outside environment detection is level D, please pay attention to protection, and choose to open the mecha cabin.”

“Open the first cockpit.”

“Mr. Lin, don’t be afraid, you don’t need to pilot.” He YunTing said to Lin Han looking sideways while piloting, “But it might be tough later. Can you hold on?”

After all, in a real fight there were countless crashes and flight, so, needless to say, constantly changing positions and a constant source of weightlessness were unavoidable.

“General, don’t mind me. I can do what I did last time… Go to the second cockpit.” Lin Han’s voice was a bit apologetic, “But last time, after all, it was the General who instructed me, so I may not be able to pilot well now.”

“Okay.” He YunTing responded quickly, “Mr. Lin doesn’t need to drive, just protect yourself. The second cockpit has supporting equipment, don’t worry.”

Lin Han answered and walked towards the second cockpit, and when he was about to leave, he heard He YunTing say in a very low voice, not knowing if he was talking to himself, “After all, it was my personal wish to let you come.”

Lin Han froze for a moment, wanting to say: no, he wanted to come voluntarily. He couldn’t imagine how He YunTing would face these behemoths by himself. This was also his own selfishness. Lin Han didn’t answer, but obediently went to the second cockpit, sat in the pilot’s seat, and put on his helmet.

The hatch slowly closed, and Lin Han saw He YunTing’s hand on the lever and pulled it to the bottom, and the mecha suddenly picked up speed, raising the sky of flying sand and rushing toward those terrible creatures.

Lin Han began to feel sick to his stomach during the acceleration process, but in the end, he didn’t call for help for fear of disturbing He YunTing. He braced his hand against the console, shut down the communication with the first cockpit, so that He YunTing wouldn’t hear his discomfort, and began to desperately gasp and breathe deeply, trying to dissipate the physiological nausea.

And it was in the first cockpit that the man really began his own battle.

The purpose of the sand worms was, of course, the battleship, and as soon as the battleship began to retreat, they began to accelerate, their mouthparts emitting a chilling, high-decibel noise.

M2742 was about the size of a giant sandworm, and He YunTing fought differently than the others. He first dodged the swinging limb of one of the insects high in the air, then quickly found the right angle and fired a laser cannon at the sandworm’s tentacle with his right arm, the blinding laser light exploding precisely on the tentacle.

Several other sand bugs’ eyes were naturally drawn to this loud sound.

A giant sandworm was more powerful than the average Zerg, since their legs evolved to be longer and harder than the average Zerg’s, and they no longer needed to slither on the ground to move, but could choose to crawl with their barbed limbs.

Although these sand worms were already considered to be well evolved, their brutal and murderous nature remained unchanged, and they were very easily provoked. They soon forgot that the purpose of their trip was the retreating battleship and started running towards M2742 with their large heads wriggling and their dense compound eyes glowing red.

Lin Han had thought that He YunTing would keep using such a sound fight, but he didn’t expect that the next moment, he suddenly pulled the engine to full, and without hesitation, used his own fuselage as a bullet, rushing straight towards one of the Zerg.

He was trying to use his mecha shell as a weapon?

Lin Han’s heart was astonished and focused on He YunTing, whose movements were still steady, judging from the system’s instructions, and even his mental power didn’t fluctuate much.

Boom…!

With a loud sound, M2742 opened its highest defense shield the moment before it hit the Zerg, and attacked it straight in the abdomen!

And the next second, the mecha began to build up its strength, and Lin Han felt a violent shock—

That was He YunTing’s spiritual power. Ordinary pilots had mecha operating, mid-level pilots trained in combat skills, and when it came to the top-level pilots, it was all about spiritual power. The higher the level of spiritual power, the higher the fit with the mecha, then these metals in his hands could really play their role.

Lin Han couldn’t see his expression, but he could deeply feel his will and determination to win.

In the sandworm’s brief pain, M2742’s right arm finally stored energy successfully, not some long-range laser cannon, nor the mega particle cannon fired from the forehead, but a huge lightsaber formed with a beam of light, the center was the energy body.

The Alpha’s mental force was too oppressive, but Lin Han didn’t feel too uncomfortable as he watched M2742 use this lightsaber to stab the sandworm’s abdomen!

The sandworm began to struggle violently, and He YunTing’s spiritual power wasn’t put away, under the mecha and spiritual power, the disgusting abdominal organs belonging to the sandworm fell out. Black, corrosive blood splashed in all directions. He YunTing gritted his teeth and stabbed. Since the stored power was so great, the entire mecha’s back foot was even forced back a few steps, and then it pierced straight through the giant sandworm—

Its companions began to realize that this was a tough nut to crack, and one of them began to lunge at M2742, and at this point He YunTing couldn’t stop — if he did, the damage done by the lightsaber would heal quickly for the Zerg if he didn’t attack the brain.

The companion sandworm began to whip the fuselage with its hardened limbs, and the clash of metal sparked, making an ear-splitting and shrill noise.

The entire mecha began to shake with a loud roar, even though the metal was very strong, and Lin Han had the illusion that it was about to be torn apart. Lin Han saw He YunTing’s shoulders start to shake, his right hand firmly gripping the joystick while his left hand controlled the lightsaber, and eventually he jerked it upward—

The lightsaber went up the sandworm’s abdomen, passing through its forehead and neck, and finally splitting its most precious brain in half!

The sandworm began to hiss miserably as its companion struck the mecha’s back harder with its legs. A third one came, and it seemed to be smarter than the first two, trying to use the power of its limbs to lift M2742 up and slam it to the ground like a toy.

He YunTing was able to retrieve his lightsaber when Lin Han felt a sense of weightlessness — he didn’t expect that the Zerg had really lifted the side of the mecha. 

Lin Han could no longer sit idly by, and it was at this moment that he suddenly thought of something.

For an Omega, mental power was actually a luxury. After all, mental power was often linked to pheromone and physique, both of which weren’t often possessed by Omega. Mental power allowed them to do fine and complex mental work, but they couldn’t use this power on the battlefield.

Lin Han once had a dream of driving a mecha because he thought his mental strength could make up for his physical deficiencies, but instead he was taught a lesson in reality. He saw the two other sandworms let out an ear-splitting whistle, raising their barbed limbs, and viciously attacking—

The entire mecha trembled as He YunTing grabbed one of the limbs firmly in his mecha arm, the hard metal seeming to tear at the barbed limbs at close range with a disgusting, shuddering creak.

He was familiar with the mecha; the second cockpit also had an operating screen. There were the same devices as the front cockpit, and it even included a system of mental interconnection. It wasn’t as if Lin Han had never studied a two-person mecha.

What was more, he himself once had a very short, co-piloting time with He YunTing.

It was just that over the years, the Empire hadn’t had many two-person mecha, and most people thought that the conditions were too harsh and that building a two-person mecha for such conditions was unnecessary. Both the Academy and the Construction Institute had gradually stopped talking about this project.

For example, even if the first pilot had a lot of combat experience and training results, as long as the pilot had a different level of mental power than the other pilot, whether it was higher or lower, the final result was invariably failure.

The average pilot of a two-person mecha was at least an S-ranked pilot, so finding two such excellent pilots in a row with one mecha was too much of a waste, not to mention which of the sergeants who entered the base wanted to have a mecha of their own and not be tied to someone else?

Lin Han saw the first cockpit blinking frantically with various system lights, and the AI was reporting errors. He forced himself to endure the feeling of weightlessness and vertigo, and it was too late to let He YunTing know.

He knew that He YunTing’s mental power was SSS level.

If his own physique was destined to make him unable to pilot the mecha intact, then… 

Lin Han skillfully turned on the system of the second cockpit.

This cockpit’s AI voice also turned on, and he smiled softly and said, “Requesting to open a mental co-link with the first cockpit.”

He saw that the silver hair in front of He YunTing’s forehead had been soaked with sweat, and saw the fierce and fierce beasts outside the display, but unexpectedly felt that his heart and soul was firm.

Lin Han thought that he might never be able to pilot the mecha independently.

But at least, his spiritual power could fight alongside him and help him again.