Section 67: Black and White
Ye Zhong’s pupils abruptly contracted!
Accelerate! Ye Zhong’s hands drifted over the control panel like phantoms, and the previously stumbling F-58 suddenly surged forward like it had been dosed with an aphrodisiac, charging toward Karl with a terrifying whoosh! The tip of the piercing spike gleamed with a faint, eerie light. The pilot inside Karl stared in horror as a cold, sharp point rapidly expanded in his vision!
His usual rigorous training saved his life at this critical moment. Almost instinctively, without a second thought, Karl hurriedly raised the massive shield on his left arm to protect his vital areas, while his right arm instinctively shielded his teammate.
Even Ye Zhong had to inwardly admire someone who, in such a situation, still remembered to protect a comrade.
Just as Ye Zhong was about to crash into the giant shield, he showed no intention of slowing down! With a sidestep, as if the surface of Karl’s shield had been coated with lubricant, Ye Zhong slid smoothly along its surface.
Karl was bewildered. Why hadn’t the expected impact occurred? His hands felt nothing—no resistance, just empty air.
Suddenly, a dark shadow loomed on Karl’s right. Horrified, Karl realized it was too late to move his giant shield. He could only bend and slightly raise his arm, using the mech’s elbow guard to protect his vitals.
Hawk-Eye had been monitoring intently but only now noticed the anomaly. He hurriedly sent a distress signal but received no response. The pilot’s heart sank. The others were most likely already dead. It seemed the enemy had planned this ambush all along. A chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making him shudder uncontrollably! He sent a signal to Karl, instructing him to cover his retreat, and prepared to escape at top speed. He had to bring this intel back!
Just as he activated his engine, before he could make any move, he suddenly felt as if he had been struck head-on by a high-speed mech. An excruciating, tearing pain made him let out a piercing, agonized scream. Then he saw half of his body cleanly severed by something enormous, like a giant guillotine. Blood gushed out like a fountain, splattering across the strange object like abstract splashes of crimson flowers. He could bear it no longer. His head lolled to the side, and he lost consciousness—probably never to wake again.
At the very moment Karl bent and raised his arm, the F-58 leveraged the force against Karl’s thick right arm, executing a mid-air flip. Before landing, Ye Zhong had already drawn the alloy shield, a component rarely used. The F-58’s immense momentum left Karl unable to adjust his posture in time. Upon landing, the F-58 pushed off hard against the ground, lunging forward violently. In the same motion, Ye Zhong made a throwing gesture. The alloy shield shot like lightning through the gap between Karl and his giant shield, striking Hawk-Eye squarely as he tried to flee.
The edge of the alloy shield was razor-sharp, and the force behind Ye Zhong’s throw was tremendous. Combined with Hawk-Eye’s weak armor, the shield sliced clean through the mech. After a few seconds of crackling and sparking, Hawk-Eye exploded violently. Several mechs flying nearby were so startled they nearly plummeted from the sky.
Ye Zhong no longer bothered with concealment. He drew his high-frequency oscillating blade, intending to end the fight quickly and escape the scene.
Karl, however, was stunned by the sudden explosion, completely unaware of the F-58 rapidly closing in on him.
Zoning out at a time like this? You’re asking for death! In Ye Zhong’s eyes, Karl was as good as dead. The high-frequency oscillating blade, like a serpent’s tongue, was about to strike Karl’s vital points. Suddenly, a flash of white light blinded Ye Zhong! Almost simultaneously, Mu issued a warning: “Watch out!”
Karl’s mech suddenly exploded. The blast wave hurled Ye Zhong backward violently. As he looked toward the horizon, he spotted a small black dot. After repeated magnification by his optical computer, Ye Zhong finally recognized it—it was that white mech from last time! Damn it! Ye Zhong cursed inwardly.
The F-58’s hand slammed against the ground, stabilizing its uncontrolled trajectory. Ye Zhong immediately performed an evasive maneuver. Sure enough, another beam of white light struck right where he had been moments before. The F-58 skidded along the rooftop, executing several Z-shaped maneuvers. Ye Zhong snatched up the alloy shield from the ground—it would be very useful now. Without hesitation, he piloted the F-58 to leap from the 500-story rooftop.
The white mech pursued relentlessly, clearly unwilling to let Ye Zhong escape this time.
Ye Zhong inwardly groaned at his misfortune. Of all times to run into that damned white mech again.
Weaving through the city’s structures, Ye Zhong tried to shake off his pursuer. But this time, the white mech showed no sign of giving up. To make matters worse, police mechs, drawn by the commotion, seemed to be aiding the white mech. The blue, black, and white mechs were standard police issue, and none of them were low-tier models—all were intermediate grade or higher. With the police’s assistance, Ye Zhong’s escape routes were being systematically compressed.
Just as Ye Zhong was being harried to the brink, suddenly, the F-58’s communicator crackled to life: “Mu, it’s Johnsen. At the turn 100 meters ahead of you. If you want to live, rendezvous now.” Ye Zhong’s heart jumped. The people from Black Corner had finally arrived!
After a moment’s thought, he gritted his teeth and flew straight ahead. One hundred meters was nothing—he covered the distance in the blink of an eye. His sharp eyes immediately spotted a black mech.
This was Ye Zhong’s first time seeing a combat mech from Black Corner. He had heard plenty about them during his time there but had never actually laid eyes on one!
Now, the only thought in his mind was: This mech is absolutely incredible!
Menacing—that was the overwhelming impression it gave. Its black armor gleamed with a faint, eerie sheen, far more slender and proportionate than training mechs. The barbed hooks at its wrists, elbows, shoulders, head, and knees resembled the bared, sinister fangs of a demon emerging from hell. On its right arm’s exterior was a curved blade, one and a half meters long, its killing aura masked by black anti-reflective coating. A long chain was wrapped around the same arm, both ends retracted into the mech’s interior, hinting at hidden complexities.
Two three-meter-long high-frequency oscillating blades were crossed on its back.
The shield on its left arm seemed rather unremarkable at first glance, but Ye Zhong immediately noticed the sharpened edges concealed by the black coating. Similarly, curved blades ran along the outer sides of both legs, and the barbed spike on each heel curved upward like a hook. As for the number of hidden weapon bays, Ye Zhong couldn’t tell, but Mu resolved his curiosity: “It has five hidden weapon bays!”
This was absolutely a weapon built for killing! Ye Zhong marveled inwardly! Imagine the sheer power this mech could unleash with Johnsen’s speed-focused fighting style! And considering Black Corner’s usual practices, it undoubtedly contained many special, hidden configurations—secrets not visible from the outside, making it unpredictable and deadly.
His own F-58 was completely outclassed, like a half-finished prototype compared to a finished product! Even though Ye Zhong’s own skills were slightly superior to Johnsen’s, if he piloted the F-58 against Johnsen in this black mech, he would still lose, without a doubt.
Johnsen’s voice was low and serious: “The enemy is from the Shishi Association. Let’s team up and take him down here!”
Ye Zhong complied, taking up a position with Johnsen on either side of the street entrance, but his mind raced. The Shishi Association? Were they and Black Corner mortal enemies? From his numerous encounters and his background with Black Corner, Ye Zhong held the so-called Shishi Association-certified pilots in contempt. In his view, this implied the Shishi Association’s overall standard couldn’t be much higher. He never imagined such an advanced mech could come from the Shishi Association. Moreover, the pilot of the white mech, while slightly inferior to himself in skill, was far beyond any common high-level pilot on the market. Was he also from the Shishi Association?
How could the Shishi Association and Black Corner be mortal enemies?
Ye Zhong couldn’t quite figure it out! But now was clearly not the time. Johnsen hissed a low warning: “He’s coming!” Ye Zhong quickly pushed his thoughts aside and focused.
The white mech’s elegant figure appeared at the street entrance. Upon spotting the two black mechs, it paused momentarily. And when its gaze fell upon Johnsen’s mech, its movements faltered noticeably.
Johnsen growled, “Now!” Before the word fully left his mouth, he was already lunging toward the white mech. The speed of Johnsen’s charge clearly took the enemy by surprise—it was undoubtedly a whole level faster than Ye Zhong’s F-58.
Though startled, the white mech didn’t panic. It retreated swiftly while aiming its peculiarly shaped gun at Johnsen.
At that moment, Johnsen’s voice, low and tinged with anger, came through: “You…”