Section 209: Rescue on the Journey
After replenishing sufficient supplies, the Playboy finally departed from Blaze Wind Star. Among the countless starships constantly taking off and landing, the Playboy didn’t stand out too much. Although the斯卡-class starship was a large vessel, which of these aid organizations lacked funds? Large starships weren’t as common as mechs seen everywhere on the streets, but they weren’t exactly rare either.
This suited Ye Zhong perfectly. He never thought there was anything wrong with being overlooked by others. On the contrary, Shang preferred doing things that were more flashy.
The Playboy flew smoothly, quietly leaving Blaze Wind Star.
In the vastness of space, the Playboy moved like a silent whale, gliding noiselessly through the void.
Ye Zhong was busy and thoroughly enjoying himself. Interstellar travel was an extremely lengthy affair, especially since the journey from Blaze Wind Star to Minghong Star was exceptionally long. Even with the Playboy, it would still take a considerable amount of time.
The long journey was quite tedious for most. However, for Ye Zhong, it was no different from any other day. After the massive warship modification project, Ye Zhong had become quite proficient with the instruments in the metal laboratory. Remembering that he still needed a mech to disguise his identity, Ye Zhong decided to build one himself. After all, whether it was instruments or materials, this place had more than enough to construct a mech.
Since it was meant for disguise, the mech didn’t need to be top-notch. So, Ye Zhong simply borrowed elements from various mech models here and there. The final design felt rather peculiar, covered in garish stripes and patches, looking somewhat like a clown – but it was perfect for concealment. These components were all commercially available, making it less likely to raise suspicions.
While this mech’s style seemed complex and somewhat mismatched, a closer look would reveal that its key parts had been optimized. The seemingly haphazard combinations were all in non-essential areas.
Ye Zhong named this mech "Puppet." Unsurprisingly, Shang teased him about this name for a long time. Ye Zhong, however, felt the name was quite fitting. Although Puppet’s components appeared to be common parts from commercially available mechs, they were actually genuine laboratory products.
Ye Zhong was having a blast. He now realized how incredibly useful this metal laboratory was. He simply needed to set the holographic image of each component in the optical computer, define the dimensions, and add the materials he intended to use. Almost without any further intervention from him, the part would be ready almost immediately. This amazed Ye Zhong – it meant that ideas in his mind could be realized almost instantly. The ship had an abundance of alloy materials, and caught up in the excitement, Ye Zhong ended up creating various components. The mech "Puppet" was the final assembly Ye Zhong settled on.
The colorful Puppet very much resembled a clown, but Ye Zhong didn’t mind at all. However, if anyone underestimated Puppet because of its appearance, they would be sorely mistaken. To enhance Puppet’s close-combat capabilities, Ye Zhong installed micro-engines in its various joints. Nevertheless, Puppet still had multiple firing ports on its body, though these were merely for deception. If Ye Zhong ever had to rely on shooting to save his life, who knows what the situation might be?
Puppet wielded two combat daggers. Combined with its petite frame, it gave off an indescribably eerie feeling, somewhat sinister and ghostly. These two combat daggers were Ye Zhong’s real lethal weapons. With his current combat skills, unless he encountered those three factions, these daggers would be enough to ensure his survival. Besides, Puppet was only for show. If his life were truly in danger, Ye Zhong wouldn’t hesitate to use Han Jia or Guardian.
Surplus parts were melted down again by Ye Zhong, turned into alloy ingots, and tossed back into the warehouse. This recyclability was a significant advantage of metal. Of course, not all metals were worth recycling. For instance, the cost of recycling the scrap metal on garbage planets was too high, so it was abandoned. This was a characteristic that bone material couldn't match.
This highlights the different positioning of bone material and metal material. Metal material has a wider range of applications, but bone material possesses characteristics that metal cannot match. The number of processes required to make a single bone component far exceeded most people's imagination, which destined full-bone mechs never to achieve large-scale popularity.
If those metallurgy experts saw Ye Zhong using such an advanced laboratory merely to produce mech components, they would probably go crazy. In any metallurgical research institution, these instruments would likely rank among the most advanced.
After all this tinkering, Ye Zhong’s understanding of mechs deepened considerably. Whenever he had an idea, he could fully realize it through the metal laboratory to verify its correctness. Probably no other mech modifier had conditions as favorable as Ye Zhong’s. With raw materials here for him to use freely, plus the fact that most materials could be recycled with minimal loss, it was an ideal environment for experimentation.
Ye Zhong was now utterly captivated, spending his days as busily as a scientist. His time was entirely devoted to those three laboratories. His interest in gene cultivation was growing stronger, and as his studies deepened, he had begun learning attack methods utilizing gene cultivation from the chip. Gene cultivators often had to venture into forests and wilderness, so having some self-defense means was essential. Ye Zhong still vividly remembered how Madwoman Guan had tricked him at the end.
No matter the discipline, it seemed that whenever it involved anything related to combat techniques, Ye Zhong could learn it relatively quickly. In this regard, Ye Zhong was like a natural-born warrior.
With the gene cultivation lab, Ye Zhong could conduct some gene cultivation experiments. Unfortunately, some rare plants were not available on the market and required Ye Zhong to gather them personally. Moreover, Madwoman Guan's gene cultivation system was vastly different from the mainstream academic knowledge system, a distinction that was also evident in the raw materials. Some things weren't particularly rare but required Ye Zhong to process them using special methods—meaning the gene cultivator had to handle them personally.
Fortunately, Ye Zhong was gradually developing an interest in this field and didn't find it troublesome. Besides, compared to crafting bone accessories, these preparation steps were quite simple.
"Leafy!"牧 interrupted Ye Zhong's experiment through the communicator.
"牧, is something wrong?" Ye Zhong raised his head and asked calmly. He knew that牧 wouldn't disturb him without a reason.
After all he had been through, Ye Zhong now possessed a calm and steady demeanor, never panicking no matter the situation.
牧 said calmly, "We just received a distress signal. Someone is under attack by pirates, and the signal's origin is right on our course." Initially, to reach Scorching Wind Star as quickly as possible,牧 had charted a direct route. With the capabilities of the花|花|公|子, they naturally had nothing to fear from pirates or the like.
"Oh." Ye Zhong showed a thoughtful expression.
"And they are already within the radius of our holographic scan. Here is the holographic image obtained from the scan."牧 added. Immediately after, a holographic image popped up on the computer in front of Ye Zhong.
Two mechas were struggling to hold their ground, protecting several engineering mechas behind them. From Ye Zhong's perspective, it was clear that these two pilots were likely top-tier experts within the Five Major Starfields.
The number of pirates was fewer than Ye Zhong had imagined—only fifteen. Compared to the overwhelming swarm of pirates Ye Zhong had encountered last time, this was child's play.
These fifteen mechas were clearly experienced. Knowing that the two mechas were formidable, they didn't engage head-on. Instead, they continuously maneuvered around them, like a pack of cunning wolves. The two mechas, fully aware of the pirates' intentions, had no choice but to keep firing laser beams to prevent the pirates from getting closer. The two sides were thus locked in a stalemate. One side was at a loss, while the other was biding its time, waiting for the moment when their opponents' energy was depleted to claim victory.
As the花|花|公|子 approached, both groups noticed the sudden change.
The pirates immediately paled. They knew that a宇宙舰 of this size was not something ordinary people could own. The number of guards onboard would be no less than 150, and their own group wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between the enemy's teeth. Without any orders, the pirates launched a frenzied attack. If they could capture these people before the other side's pilots arrived, they could rely on their speed to escape. The slow-moving宇宙舰 catching up to them would be the biggest joke.
The speed of a宇宙舰 was indeed slow compared to mechas. For example, the花|花|公|子's speed was only three赫. Compared to the five or six赫 of modern mechas, it was practically crawling. Meanwhile, mechas like the Guardian could reach speeds of up to ten赫 in short bursts, and the含家 could reach nine赫.
The situation for the two mechas immediately became critical. If the pirates hadn't been intent on preserving their spoils, those two mechas would have already been reduced to scrap metal.
"Huh?" Mu suddenly sounded as if he had discovered something.
"What's wrong?" Ye Zhong quickly asked. Whenever Mu made such an exclamation, it meant he had made an astonishing discovery.
"Leaf, save them first. They’ve got something good on them!" The excitement in Mu’s tone made Ye Zhong immediately realize that this "something good" was almost certainly extraordinary. For Mu to get this excited over something, it had to be exceptionally rare.
"Mm." Ye Zhong acknowledged without further questions. He immediately summoned his puppet and climbed into the cockpit. The interior of the spaceship was spacious enough for a mech to move around freely, though it demanded an extremely high level of piloting skill from the pilot.
Qin Zuo was still struggling to hold on, not daring to let his focus waver for even a moment. They had already pushed themselves to their limits. The slightest distraction would likely break the delicate balance they maintained. Earlier, he had heard his companions mention that a Scala-class starship was heading their way, filling him with hope. But now, why hadn’t they sent any reinforcements yet?
Qin Zuo inwardly groaned. If no reinforcements arrived soon, both he and Han Ben would be overwhelmed. If it were just the two of them, he was confident they could break through the encirclement. But with three non-combatants behind them, their only option was to hold their ground.
Suddenly, Qin Zuo felt the pressure ease slightly, and he relaxed a little. He knew reinforcements must have arrived.
Only ten mechs remained in front of them. With him and Han Ben each handling five, the pressure was much lighter than before. But when he glanced at the holographic screen on his mech’s computer, his heart, which had just settled, immediately tightened again.
He never expected that such a massive Scala-class starship would send down only one mech!
Qin Zuo felt a wave of dizziness. What use was one mech? Wasn’t that just sending someone to their death? The strength of these pirates far exceeded his expectations. As a teacher in the mech department of Zhongmeng Academy, one of the top institutions in the Five Major Star Domains, he was more than qualified to assess their capabilities. Although they hadn’t undergone systematic mech training, it was clear they had extensive combat experience, cooperated seamlessly, and were extremely difficult to deal with.
Even he himself would struggle to determine the outcome if he had to face five of their mechs alone.
Ye Zhong watched as five mechs charged toward him, his expression calm. Although his puppet had never seen real combat, Ye Zhong felt no fear.
The five mechs fanned out and rushed straight at him. In their eyes, the gaudily painted mech flying toward them was nothing more than a clown. Its lightweight frame seemed as fragile as a young girl, easily crushed. The five pilots even joked over their internal comms, discussing how to dismantle this "clown" to intimidate the newcomers inside the starship.
Just as everyone was wondering why the starship had sent only one person, the situation suddenly changed!
Just as they were about to enter their attack range, the clown-like mech abruptly accelerated, shocking all five pilots. The speed it displayed made everyone’s hearts skip a beat.
So fast!
The sudden change caught the five off guard, but thanks to their extensive combat experience, they remained calm. They immediately opened fire, their mechs’ guns blazing toward the clown mech. This was a tactic they often used—with all five mechs firing at full power, they could cover a wide area. The laser beams weren’t all aimed directly at the clown mech; a significant portion were directed at the spaces around it. They had perfected this coordination over the years, and countless renowned experts had fallen to this very strategy.
They could already imagine the clown mech’s thin armor being pierced by the laser beams, exploding into countless fragments! With its lightweight armor, no shields, and no visible weapons—empty-handed, the clown mech was like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered.