Chapter 7  : Burn and Rest

There were a few instances where Xuelin was about to fire, but something distressing was holding her back which made her awfully uneasy. The gun she held faith at all times disappointed her, as if troubled by her emotions, and started to miss on every single shot.

Xuelin instantly pinpointed the peculiarity in YC’s movement. It appeared sinuous yet wasn’t at the same time.

Hmph! Trying to dodge my shots like a serpent huh? Too na?ve, too na?ve! Xuelin thought as she felt a sudden rage.

It’s not a big deal to master the curvature skill because everyone has their own set of techniques, including YC. After engaging in countless of battles, it will be possible for one to identify these distinctive skills. The regularities in YC’s curvature skill had already been spotted seeing that there were hardly any variations which Xuelin couldn’t recognize!

She began to study and calculate his movements in her mind while her eyes locked on YC, picking out every variation in his movements, while waiting for the right time to shoot.

When the time came, she fired without hesitation.

Xuelin stared in bewilderment as the shot she fired missed!

As though he had foreseen this, he dodged the bullet with a twinkle in his eyes. Was this another case of his beginner’s luck again or was there something more? Xuelin was flabbergasted as her thoughts circled in confusion. Taken aback by the whole ordeal, she went rampant on a barrel of firing on the field. Maybe it was a blessing from the God when one of her shots finally went through YC’s left shoulder causing him to lose balance.

Ye Chong on the other hand was completely soaked by his sweat and his hands felt heavier over time; as if they were starting to move on their own, seemingly twitching if this went on. He bit his lips out of panic and was already bleeding before he noticed it. In the midst of adrenaline rush, he felt a shudder from his mech which came to his realization that he was shot! Despite that, his hands continued to key in commands, as there was no time for him to find out the damaged part of his machinery.

Xuelin gushed with excitement for her successful shot that left YC hanging like a broken wind-up robot toy. A golden opportunity awaited before her! There’s no way she could miss this! She loaded her gun and was prepared to send YC a final blow! Ironically, it was the hit that made YC’s movements go haywire and became even more unpredictable than before. Naturally, it was not good news for Xuelin.

Coming to her senses on the aftermath, Xuelin’s distress caused her firing to run wild on the field again! Meanwhile, Ye Chong finally caught sight of his opponent which triggered him, as well as his hands! It was as if they were electrified as they entered the commands at great speed!

It’s getting closer now. It’s coming!

Hiya!! Ye Chong roared like thunder in his compartment.

The opponent froze, taken aback by his scream. Was this a trap? Was there a plan B that she was not aware of? He no longer cared and had already drawn his magnetic sword from his back while his left hand reached for the alloy dagger tied to his left ankle.

As long as I can get close enough, the opponent would be dead meat!

He asserted himself and swung his sword; creating a buzzing echo formed from the magnetic waves of his sword. There was no resistance from the opponent as he sliced right through the throat. He was surprised at how simple it was. He was expecting a final struggle from the opponent as an inflicted wound on a machine’s throat was as fatal as it was on humans but there was no retaliation!

How could one make such an amateur mistake?

Having to live on Trash Planet-12 long enough he showed no mercy. He felt indifferent as he penetrated his dagger deeply and accurately like a serpent sinking its teeth into its prey; right on the upper chest of SP which would be the pilot’s cabin. What YC heard next after the screeching sounds of metal shredding was the sound of applause for his victory.

In the meantime, Xuelin stared blankly in dismay at her floating chair; the network helmet she just disconnected was left levitating in the air. That very menacing figure that travelled speedily, that violent and direct attack, that tenacious bravery, lingered in the thoughts of Xuelin, haunting her.

Xuelin shifted to the dining table right after as it was dinner time.

Her father Ninghai saw her so lost in her thoughts that she ignored the scrumptious dinner on the table, pondering. He then beckoned to his wife but she just shook her head in helplessness of the situation. He asked her daughter, “Linny, what’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Xuelin was startled as she wondered what had gotten into her and yet on the outside, she forced a smile, “Nothing. It’s just that… I met an oddity on the battlefield today.”

An oddity? Her father was intrigued.

“What kind of an oddity?” he inquired.

Xuelin’s father was a skillful pilot of mechs. All of Xuelin’s skills were taught personally by him. It was only then that Xuelin remembered the fact that her father was of such a superior rank in her field, he must have been experienced enough to solve this oddity for her! She then began to narrate the entire sequence of events to her father.

As soon as she mentioned about how YC failed again and again, Ninghai nodded his head in approval, “Good. I do agree this guy is pretty bold!” The conversation became light-hearted as she spoke on. When she talked about the final match with YC and how he portrayed extremely strange curvature skills as he drove towards her, her father’s face stiffened.

He asked for more details about the last match as he tried to stress on the whole incident to help her recollect her thoughts on details she might have missed. Her father reacted seriously, “If you were right on what you have described, this guy could have used a Non-Orderly Wavy Leap.

A set of dodging skills like this would only be known by advanced pilots. This is simply because not only does it requires a high-level manual piloting skill, it also requires a mech that is advanced enough. Only a sophisticated processor with a sophisticated mech could execute the complication in this set of calculation input.”

“But… but… he was only using a Raven!” Xuelin was puzzled.

“And that’s why this was such an eye-opener to me. Theoretically and under normal circumstances, a Raven could never complete such an execution. Reason being is that it has limited processing capabilities even with a master piloting it. Thus, there could only be one explanation for this. He must have modified it by installing a powerful processor into the mech.”

Xuelin gasped in disbelief, “But I still think he’s just a random rookie from out of nowhere!”

Seeing his daughter making such a statement, he snorted, “So what even if he’s just a random rookie from out of nowhere? Can’t a rookie modify his own machinery? Plus, it could have been his teacher or his senior who did the modifications for him to ensure compatibility with his special way of combat. But well this guy sure is something to be able to perfectly perform movements of such complexity!”

Still not convinced, Xuelin rebutted, “Well then, why did he not use it in the very beginning? Why only execute it after a myriad of lost matches?”

Startled, her father replied, “Oh, this part, huh? Well it’s… probably… because… umm… uhhhhh… ugh, Xuelin, let’s just finish up our dinner. We have already discussed this at length and look! The dinner got cold!”

Ninghai’s mother beamed at her husband who led himself into such an awkward situation.

Even if Xuelin’s father’s deduction made sense, somehow she still thought there was something amiss. The reality didn’t seem to be like what he had said to her. However, she could not point out exactly why she felt awry. Her gut’s feeling said so!

Nevertheless, just like how her father never expected that someone could perform this set of moves manually without the aid of the processor, Xuelin too never expected it in her mind.

The discussion was a cliffhanger of embarrassment as she knocked her head which felt like it was about to explode from her contemplation.

“Fine! Whatever! Never mind! Screw this! I’ll just ask him myself the next time we meet. Simple!” she thought.