Chapter 233: Prologue

Several Bounty Hunter Guild members ignored the danger and followed in Yang Bo’s direction.

Meanwhile, the Commander aboard the warship was looking a bit grim.

“I didn’t expect such a variable!” The Commander aboard the warship initially deployed a small force, hoping to seize the mine.

Was there anything in the mine as the intel suggested? The Commander wasn’t sure, so he wanted to investigate. After all, the intel source was quite reliable.

Early on, the Commander assessed the strength gap between both sides. Those guys down there didn’t have any decent weapons—just some laser guns and small bombs.

He initially thought the first wave could easily take the mine, but one wave followed another, leading to the current situation.

Crucially, the intel indicated that what was inside the mine was too important. The Anti-Government Fighters’ Commander had two plans—quickly inspect the mine and prepare against any traps.

The Anti-Government Fighters and the Alliance have been in a battle of wits for so long without being crushed largely because two other nations supported them from behind. But also, they were cautious, always suspecting everything.

Just now, another wave of people went missing. The Anti-Government Fighters’ Commander stared at the footage showing three Mechas speeding into Operation Zone Three at Mach 9.

He immediately understood the fate of the lost squad. To pilot a Mecha at that speed in such a narrow environment, you had to be either a fool or a master.

The warship Commander sent a message to the Mecha squad leader: “Master-level Mecha Pilot suspected in Operation Zone Three.”

“Received!” the Mecha squad leader responded through the comms channel.

“Commander, they’ve appeared!” someone suddenly shouted.

The Commander quickly checked the radar and saw two warships appearing five million kilometers away.

“Sir!” those around who noticed the warships looked toward the Commander.

The warship Commander said nothing, but he began issuing a series of rapid orders.

“War alert!”

“All combat units, stand by for orders!” a booming voice echoed through the warship’s speakers.

The warship engines roared to life, and they charged toward the two approaching warships.

The Anti-Government Fighters’ Commander wore a serious expression. To secure support from the two nations, they sometimes had to show results, or else support would be cut off.

“Sir, I suggest we wait for reinforcements before taking action.” An unwelcome voice broke the silence.

“****!” The Anti-Government Fighters’ warship Commander cursed the speaker’s ancestors for 18 generations in his mind.

The Anti-Government Fighters’ command system was a bit strange. Unlike the top-down hierarchy in the Alliance, every warship here had both a primary and secondary commander, with the latter serving mainly as a monitor.

Because of past instances of Captains betraying them, the Anti-Government Fighters implemented this dual-command system, where the secondary Commander often questioned major decisions.

These people were less concerned with expertise and more with avoiding blame.

In the event of failure, the secondary Commander would claim he had warned the Commander.

If they succeeded, the secondary Commander would say his oversight contributed.

“Sir, whatever happens, I’ll take full responsibility!” the warship Commander was forced to assure.

The other person stayed quiet after that. The warship Commander felt frustrated. If not for the blood feud with some great families in the Alliance, he, a dignified Captain, could have led a comfortable life anywhere. Other nations had already extended multiple offers.

Space warfare between warships resembled the ancient sea battles—two sides approaching and then firing broadside volleys.

Laser weapons traveled at the speof light, nearly 300,000 kilometers per second.

But in space, warships were at least a few million kilometers apart, so such distant exchanges were largely ineffective.

Of course, this was just a figure of speech. Even when firing in passing, the warships still maintained a distance of at least 100,000 kilometers from each other.

This was because warships couldn’t easily turn in space. To slow down, they’d need to use reverse thrusters, but that would make them easy targets.

Exchanging volleys was just one aspect. Another key factor was the warships’ fighter planes.

Though these fighters couldn’t cause direct damage to the warships, they could disable a warship’s turrets with a single hit.

The Anti-Government Fighters’ warship had only just started up, so it was slower, but the two Alliance warships were speeding in.

The warship Commander said nothing, continuing to issue order after order.

As for the ten Mechas he deployed earlier, they were of little concern now. There was no time even to send transport ships. He couldn’t even spare the time for further orders.

The fighters hidden on the planet had also received orders and were gearing up.

That was the Anti-Government Fighters’ Commander’s plan. Once the Alliance warships exchanged volleys and passed close to the planet,

the hidden fighters would launch a massive assault on the Alliance warships.

That was why the Commander had stationed most of his manned and drone fighters on the planet, rather than committing them to the mine operation. Firstly, the fighters couldn’t enter the mine—each one was at least a dozen meters long.

The drones, however, were different. Some were as small as fists, while even the largest were still relatively compact.

The fighters hidden on the planet received data from the warship, which calculated the best timing for their assault, based on the trajectory of the Alliance warships.

“What are they doing?” Meanwhile, Yang Bo, watching the ten Mechas in the canyon, was puzzled.

The ten Anti-Government Fighters’ Mechas were in a state of confusion. Just moments earlier,

the warship had left. The Mechas had seen the warship depart from the void.

Not only that, but the manned and drone fighters that had been patrolling the canyon also disappeared, merely leaving behind the trail of their departure.

Even the Mecha squad leader had no idea what was happening.

Of course, the three Cyborgs were also baffled. They had just reached the entrance to Operation Zone Three. Looking back, they saw the Mechas that had fallen behind suddenly stop moving.

The three Cyborgs hurriedly turned around. When they looked up, they, too, were confused—above them, they saw the glowing energy emitted by the warship’s engines.

Yang Bo didn’t dare move out just yet. The enemy had ten Mechas, while he had only one. Worse, they were outside the cave, armed with drones and supported by a warship overhead.

“What are they up to?” Yang Bo’s mind was a whirl of confusion.

He spotted a Bounty Hunter Guild fighter, from which he had just retrieved three Mechas.

“Should I try to pilot a fighter to take out their Mechas?” A bold idea suddenly crossed Yang Bo’s mind.

He decided to act. Yang Bo maneuvered his Mecha and headed back into the cave.

“Third Master?” Just a short distance back, Yang Bo ran into people who had come to watch the master-level Mecha combat.

“Something’s definitely happened outside. Any of you know how to pilot a Mecha? I’m going out to check.” Yang Bo immediately abandoned the Mecha.

Before the others could respond, Yang Bo opened the cockpit and dashed outside.

One of the others jumped into the Mecha quickly. Yang Bo hadn’t taken the control chip, so the man reset the system and piloted the Mecha, following the others toward the cave entrance.

As Yang Bo reached the cave’s entrance, he became more certain something was off outside. The ten Mechas were still there, and further away, he spotted the three Cyborgs.

“Judging by their appearance, they must be the Cyborgs from the fighter.” Yang Bo recognized the three figures.

“Should I risk it?” Yang Bo calculated the distance to the Bounty Hunter fighter and considered rushing straight for it.

“There’s still more I can develop in my Optical Ability. After all, every detection system relies on some form of light-electronic capability, even cameras, which work by reflecting light.”

“And high-tech radars aboard warships? They depend on radio waves.”

“I need to return and set up equipment to study this, to see if I can make Electro-Optic Superpowers work like technological invisibility.”

Suddenly, a bold idea popped into Yang Bo’s mind.

The Mecha outside may still look the same, but inside, it was in Mechanic Mode.

“5%!” Yang Bo glanced at the Mechanic Mode, seeing it still at 5% progress. He had no idea how to level it up.

However, ever since he’d entered this form, he could sense a lot of electromagnetic signals around him.

“Captain, why did the warship leave?”

“I have no idea. We’re all on the comms channel together.”

“And the drone fighters? We saw three drone fighters deployed just before we descended from space.”

“I was with you,” Yang Bo noticed he could easily intercept the content of these communications.

Yang Bo wondered: “Did the Anti-Government Fighters’ fighters leave?”

“It probably isn’t a trap!” Yang Bo concluded after analyzing it.

“With no fighters or warships around, I can get a bit reckless!”

At that moment, the Mecha he had given up earlier came toward him, under someone else’s control.

The Bounty Hunter Guild member piloting the Mecha was stunned. Even inside the narrow cave, he couldn’t keep up with Yang Bo’s speed.

“Third Master?” The people who had followed, seeing Yang Bo crouched at the cave entrance, were equally baffled.

“Give me the Mecha. I’ll go and take care of them.” Yang Bo swiftly moved in front of them.

Yang Bo already had a plan for dealing with the ten Mechas outside and perfectly knew their positions.

The Bounty Hunter Guild member who had just climbed into the Mecha was still in shock.

“There are ten Mechas outside!” A member who hadn’t been piloting a Mecha reached Yang Bo’s previous hiding spot, glancing up and gasping in horror as he quickly ducked down and shouted into the comms channel.

Second update coming soon.