Chapter 42: Ace Mecha Pilot?

“Everyone, stay still. Don’t panic.”

“Listen up, everyone.”

“Please be patient. We’ve already disassembled half of the anti-radiation bomb. We have five minutes left.”

“Genetic Evolvers are not permitted to fly. Anyone attempting to fly will be considered a member of Red Earl’s extremist organization.” A loud voice boomed from the SkyDome.

Yang Bo, invisible and hiding to the side, thought to himself that today was really crazy. He had just come to settle his wages.

And then he ended up killing a few people? Or maybe a dozen? There were definitely going to be reports about this.

An hour later, Yang Bo, wearing his normal clothes, stood outside SkyDome Amusement Park, waiting for inspection.

When they announced it was safe, a crowd rushed out. Yang Bo retrieved his clothes and wristwatch and slipped out during the chaos.

“Boss.” Suddenly, Yang Bo spotted Liu Zhijie. The guy was talking to a police officer, looking very familiar. Yang Bo immediately called out.

“Yang Bo, are you alright?” Liu Zhijie, with his thick skin, walked over right away when he saw Yang Bo and asked.

“Boss, this is all your fault. If it weren’t for you asking me to come settle my wages, I’d have almost died here.” Yang Bo complained.

Liu Zhijie lowered his voice, “SkyDome Amusement Park will compensate everyone with emotional damages, and the Company will too. I’ll even fight for a promotion opportunity for you.”

Yang Bo muttered inwardly. Could it be that Liu Zhijie’s company suffered great losses? Was he trying to get him to do dirty work? Yeah, right. He’d rather stay as the lowest-level cleaner. Anything higher would probably involve immoral work.

“Boss, your job is too dangerous.” Yang Bo said, sounding a little scared, refusing his offer.

“Take a few days off, fully paid. This incident was really unexpected. Those Red Earl scum…” Liu Zhijie gritted his teeth.

Yang Bo, being a resident, went through facial recognition, wristwatch scanning, and a manual body search. Residents couldn’t handle machine security checks due to radiation that could harm their bodies. He was soon cleared and allowed to go.

“How about I buy you a drink?” Liu Zhijie asked as soon as Yang Bo finished the check and came out.

“Alright.” Yang Bo had intended to go back and check out their base in his neighborhood, but then he remembered how many criminals were caught because they liked to revisit the scene, so he held off.

They eventually reached a distant teahouse. Before even sitting down, Yang Bo overheard a live interview on the virtual screen.

“Yes, the one piloting the Razor Mecha this time was a senior Supervisor from our Dimension Company. Not only does this Supervisor know all the weak points of different mechas, but he’s also a mecha pilot. As for his rank, that’s confidential.” A pot-bellied middle-aged man from Dimension’s leadership was speaking to the cameras.

Yang Bo was speechless. Damn, they were quick to steal the credit. What Yang Bo didn’t know was that the government had instructed Dimension Company to step up. The person piloting the Razor Mecha couldn’t possibly be associated with Red Earl, because that would make the government look completely corrupt, with no light at all.

Moreover, the government was eager to find this person. After all, an unknown figure who could summon a mecha anytime, anywhere posed a massive security threat. And if that person turned out to be an ace mecha pilot, how could the elites ever feel safe?

They pushed Dimension Company into the spotlight. Dimension wasn’t eager to do this since it meant making an enemy of Red Earl’s extremist organization, but they had no choice.

First, Dimension’s mecha were involved in the deaths of many people. That was leverage against them.

Second, Dimension didn’t want to go bankrupt. If they admitted the Razor Mecha had been stolen, they’d face ruin.

Caught between bankruptcy and making an enemy of Red Earl, it was an obvious choice for Dimension. Otherwise, the government might start suspecting Dimension of collusion with Red Earl.

“Don’t believe that nonsense. It’s all lies.” Liu Zhijie whispered.

“Oh.”

“Everything you see up there—those politicians and celebrities—it’s all BS.” Liu Zhijie continued.

Liu Zhijie took a sip of tea before saying, “The Razor Mecha’s Space Button was stolen yesterday. That’s why Dimension’s exhibition hall closed. I only just found out.”

“And do you really think Dimension can afford an ace mecha pilot? You think ace mecha pilots grow on trees?” Liu Zhijie set his tea down and continued.

Yang Bo was surprised. “Was the mecha piloted by an ace mecha pilot?”

Yang Bo was truly astonished. He was an ace mecha pilot? How come he didn’t know?

“There are many levels within mecha piloting. Take today’s pilot; a low-level third-generation mecha, yet they pulled off a 0:13 record. Though there were many factors involved, nothing changes the outcome. A mecha pilot’s recognition is solely based on their record.”

“There’s no fairness on the battlefield. Record is everything. And that mecha pilot was clearly familiar with the weaknesses of other mechas. The stock prices of both companies running those mechas are definitely going to plummet.” Liu Zhijie spoke with a tone of admiration.

Yang Bo thought about it for a moment and quickly understood. In the exhibition hall, he had used sonic control to inspect the mechas. The mechas, while turned off, relied on their material composition to prevent external detections.

The hall was equipped with jamming systems, making other detection methods useless. But sonic waves were the exception.

“On top of that, the mecha pilot executed perfect tactics from the start. First, they took out the opposing commander. In extremist organizations, unlike in the military, once the leader goes down, there’s no proper transfer of command. That’s why the other mechas couldn’t attack in formation; no one could coordinate them.”

“Of course, Red Earl’s mecha pilots made a fatal mistake—none of them brought close-combat weapons. Their targets were defenseless humans. If even two of those mechas had been equipped with melee gear, it wouldn’t have been such a disaster.”

“But losing two mechas to bring weapons might have exposed holes in their plan.” Liu Zhijie stared out the window at the rising and falling flashes of light from the ground-to-air battleships.

Yang Bo understood what Liu Zhijie meant. The attackers were short on people and mechas. To maximize their chances of capturing hostages, they fully outfitted their mechas with high-frequency laser cannons and other gear.

Now that he thought about it, when he was controlling the mecha, it hadn’t felt like piloting at all—it was more like controlling his own body.

“Could it be related to the Space Button? Didn’t Dimension say the button and the mecha’s energy metal operated on the same frequency?” Yang Bo picked up his tea, contemplating the day’s many surprises as he drank.

At that moment, the virtual TV showed a jaw-dropping scene.

After Yang Bo had entered the basement stage, a person flew down from the SkyDome. Surrounding this person was a crescent-shaped red blade, small, only a dozen centimeters long. This red blade, like a flying sword out of a novel, pierced through the cockpits of three mechas in a single moment. These mechas had been holding a large group of hostages.

“Crack Void.” Yang Bo stared in astonishment at the beam of light. If he had been even a little later in escaping, his fate…

“Planet Guardians’ equipment. Ordinary people can’t afford that, and without the military government’s special communication satellites, forget about using it.” Liu Zhijie replied nonchalantly.