Section 519: The Target of All (Part 1)
Ye Zhong had already decided to build this place into a biological laboratory base. After completing the most basic protective work, the base's safety was somewhat guaranteed, which also freed him up to do other tasks.
Piloting Chen, Ye Zhong flew out of the base. He didn't fly towards the forests on either bank, but instead ascended. Chen continuously gained altitude, and the objects on the ground grew smaller and smaller in his sight.
Ye Zhong planned to conduct a full scan of the planet. This would help him gain a macro-level understanding of the geographical environment here.
Suddenly, a beam of light shot towards Chen from an unknown origin.
Ye Zhong reacted extremely quickly. Chen simply tilted sideways in the air, and the beam narrowly grazed past its lower flank.
"Unidentified flying object detected!"
"Unidentified flying object detected!"
"Unidentified flying object detected!"
...
A series of alarm sounds was nerve-wracking. On the deployed screen, dozens of aircraft of varying designs were flying towards them from all directions.
※※※※
Old Wei was forty-one years old this year, a Level Four Shooter. At his age, he was in the prime time for a shooter. Today, he and his friends planned to go to the forests on either bank; he needed to gather some Grey Grass. Their team wasn't large in number, but their strength was considerable because each of them was a Level Four Shooter. Moreover, over the years, they had always operated together, and the默契 and trust between them wasn't something an ordinary team could compare to.
Suddenly, he received a mental message from a companion: "Look, what's that?" Shooters mostly communicated through mental messages, which had many benefits, especially during combat. It was the most direct and least error-prone method of communication.
He could sense the strong surprise contained in his companion's mental message. He understood that his companion must have discovered something strange. This kind of situation happened often, after all, this was the forests on either bank.
The other five companions received the same message simultaneously. The seven aircraft, with remarkable默契, suddenly changed direction collectively.
Old Wei finally saw the thing that had made his companion exclaim in surprise!
A giant clad in black armor!
This giant was a full ten-plus meters tall, and he was shooting upwards like a rocket.
Old Wei was stunned. As a Level Four Shooter, he had seen plenty of strange and bizarre things, but a giant of such massive size was a first for him. The black armor was made of some unknown material. The red, bewitching flowers on the armor were like blood blossoms blooming in the dark night, eerily chilling. On his back was an equally enormous black case, its surface also adorned with a large, enchanting red flower. A chill ran up Old Wei's spine, and he felt his heart tightening.
The giant's eyes seemed half-open and half-closed, his gaze profound and distant, unclear whether it was deep or empty.
And most surprisingly, he could actually fly! Old Wei roughly estimated that the giant's ascent speed was even faster than the maximum speed of his own aircraft.
"Heavens! What is that thing!" someone else exclaimed.
"Yeah, such a tall giant, and that armor... tsk tsk, it's seriously cool!"
"Look, lots of people have spotted him. Let's fly closer for a look." Sure enough, a giant of such enormous size appearing in the sky was truly eye-catching. Many aircraft spontaneously moved closer to the giant.
"Alright!" "Alright!" This companion's suggestion was met with agreement from everyone.
Old Wei couldn't help but interject, "We should still be careful. Safety first. If anything seems wrong, we can retreat." Old Wei didn't know why he said this, but he felt somewhat worried inside.
"Hmm. Old Wei has a point," said their captain, Re Guming.
The seven aircraft maintained their combat formation as they flew towards the giant. Just then, they saw someone open fire on the giant.
"Is that guy crazy?" The team immediately erupted, cursing. No one knew what this giant actually was. Recklessly shooting at him would only have one result: making the other party judge you as hostile.
What consequences could such rash behavior bring? Everyone was worried. An experienced shooter would never make such an idiotic mistake.
Captain Re Guming said gravely, "It's a bunch of young masters. They've always been unscrupulous. Let's not get involved. I'm afraid they've kicked an iron plate this time." Re Guming's tone was cold; people like them had not an ounce of goodwill towards so-called young masters.
Everyone trusted the captain's judgment. Moreover, from the giant's effortless evasion of the sneak attack just now, it was clear the giant was quite agile in the air. Experienced shooters were watching from afar, not getting close. They also sensed something amiss and didn't want to be caught in the crossfire of the giant's retaliation.
Seeing that no one was competing with them, the young masters grew even more excited. They started showing off flashy techniques, shouting as they closed in on Chen, their fighters continuously firing beams.
It had to be said, although these young masters were unruly, their strength was quite considerable. Most of them were Level Three or above, including one Level Five Shooter. Coupled with their numerical advantage, their strength could be considered formidable.
Moreover, their aircraft were all top-grade goods, with performance levels far surpassing those of ordinary shooters. For a moment, the beams pouring down were as dense as rain.
Being suddenly attacked, it was impossible to say Ye Zhong wasn't irritated, but he still maintained his composure.
His hands became a blur over the main control panel.
The armored giant in the sky suddenly stretched its body, its joints and limbs bending in extremely bizarre ways. Instantly, all the beams missed their target.
A giant entirely encased in heavy armor, yet its body was as soft as if boneless, twisting arbitrarily. Every movement was so eerie, completely defying common sense.
To be honest, Old Wei was startled. It was like suddenly seeing a burly, bearded man tenderly holding an embroidery needle to stitch peonies. The feeling was very contradictory.
Not just him, the other team members were also greatly startled.
"W-What kind of monster is this?" someone stammered.
"What a formidable body!" someone else admired.
"Someone's about to be in trouble," Captain Re Guming said with a profound expression.
A bright purple biplane aircraft continuously performed various high-difficulty rolling maneuvers in the sky. The pilot seemed to be putting on an aerial display. Serpentine assaults, large reverse forks, horizontal shifts – these dazzling tactical maneuvers were usually only seen in flight demonstrations.
This pilot wantonly displayed his stunning skills, a dizzying and exhilarating performance.
Ye Zhong found it a bit strange. A bright purple aircraft kept circling and rolling around him but迟迟 didn't launch an attack.
However, he had no intention of inquiring. This aircraft had already entered Chen's attack range. Without any hesitation, Ye Zhong released the Whirling Darts.
The high-speed rotating Whirling Darts possessed极强的 destructive power, and most fatally, they had a self-locking function.
Zing!
A black dot shot towards the bright purple aircraft at an astonishing speed.
When the Whirling Dart entered that pilot's mental perception range, it was detected. The bright purple aircraft made a nimble turn, as agile as a bird.
At such a speed, how could it possibly hit a Level Five Shooter? The pilot inside the bright purple aircraft felt smug; he was also the strongest shooter in this group. For a qualified shooter, they wouldn't be hit by a projectile of this speed. Mental perception was as fast as lightning; what they had to face were the laser beams an opponent might release at any moment. Something this slow must be a low-level weapon, no wonder he could evade it so easily.
Just as he was feeling pleased with himself, he suddenly noticed the black dot also changing direction, speeding towards him again.
Eh! What's going on?
But he didn't hesitate, his hands熟练地 manipulating the aircraft. He shook off the black dot once more. To be honest, although this black dot was considerably faster than his aircraft's speed, compared to the reaction speed of mental perception, it was simply too slow. This young man believed it could never hit him.
Suddenly, the black dot intruded into his mental perception zone again, its target clearly still him.
A sense of foreboding rose in his heart, stronger and clearer than the previous times. He finally realized what this black dot was. If he were actually hit by this high-speed rotating thing... He involuntarily pictured a scene of his mecha exploding mid-air.
Impossible! He was frightened by his own thought. How could a Level Five Shooter like him be hit by such a slow thing? It was ridiculous.
Whether it was due to this thought or not, his turn this time wasn't executed perfectly.
A mistake usually too minor to matter became extremely fatal at this moment. The Whirling Dart gave him no chance to salvage his fate. It clung tightly to the tail of the bright purple aircraft, the distance between them rapidly closing to just thirty meters. The Level Five Shooter could even discern every minute detail of the Whirling Dart with his mental perception.
But he no longer had his usual composure. Although he was considered a natural-born shooter, he had almost no actual combat experience. Usually, he just hung out with a group of young masters, riding around noisily. From childhood till now, he had never encountered setbacks. Most shooters in Yeta City knew the identities of these young masters, so they kept their distance and avoided conflict.
They never imagined that real combat was hundreds, thousands of times more cruel than their childlike competitions.
A pressure he had never felt before weighed on his heart. He felt even breathing was somewhat difficult, and the fighter he was so familiar with in daily life now wouldn't obey his commands.
Some people can erupt under pressure, others perish under it.
But he was clearly not the former. Right now, he only felt fear, unprecedented fear.