Forty millenniums of cul.., p.227
Forty Millenniums of Cultivation, page 227
Therefore, three minutes ago, Ning Feng didn't pay much attention to several firefighters who went into the ventilating duct to put out the fire.
But right now, after he gathered all the information and calculated all the possibilities crazily, he suddenly realized…
"BOOM!"
The exit of the ventilating duct above the cockpit was blown to pieces by large fireball!
A man that was wearing silver firefighter uniform and a closed helmet whose ruby glass blocked his undistinguishable face jumped down from the exit like a crazy devil and appeared in the middle of the cockpit!
Before he reached the ground, dozens of round Thunder-Palms had been tossed away by him, which were rolling to every corner of the cockpit.
Cockpit was the brain for a crystal warship. Most of the important officers and warship operators congregated here.
Of course, there were a lot of Cultivators among them. But most of them were admin-type Cultivators. Some of them were creation-type and research-type Cultivators.
There were several battle-type Cultivators as guards here. However, they did have any way to deal with the rolling Thunder-Palms other than to gaze at them in bewilderment.
The Thunder-Palms did not detonate.
But they were already a deadly surprise to the officers on Tide Berserker.
"Si la!"
The firefighter uniform was torn into shreds which were dancing in a storm of terror like thousands of silver butterflies.
Li Yao was wearing a tactical vest where another dozens of Thunder-Palms were hanging, with a battle saber in his left hand, a burning axe in his right hand, and a storm bolter on his back. He appeared in front of Ning Feng, as if he had been possessed by a devil.
He glanced around coldly, and then turned his eyes back to Ning Feng.
Li Yao smiled, his sharp teeth glaring. He said, "Had the last wave of Thunder-Palms exploded, more than half of the officers and operators here would've been injured and killed instantly. The cockpit would've been in a mess. The operation panels would've been hardly likely to function anymore. Shall we continue?"
Ning Feng gritted his teeth.
The crimson liquid was quickly extracted. The capsule opened slowly. He stood straight and glared at Li Yao with bloody eyes as he said coldly,
"I thought this was a sham battle to test the performance of crystal suits."
"Indeed it is."
Li Yao replied, "The fact that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit could rip open the shell of your crystal warship against the salvo of twelve Taiyi Lightning Railguns and so many Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles is evident enough of its toughness already.
"However, a moment ago, it played an even more important role.
"If you've read my files, you should know that I've added a set of detonator magical equipment near the crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.
"Over the past half month, I've made a series of improvement. Not only is the explosion much more powerful now, the detonator can also be remotely controlled or set on a timer.
"After I got out of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and knocked out a soldier, I stuffed him inside the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit and set a timer to detonate the crystal suit in five minutes.
"Of course, this is only a sham battle, and I was not using real bombs. Therefore, your assault team has only been blackened. That's all.
"If this were a real battle, I believe your assault team would've been annihilated already.
"At least the elites in it. The battle-type Cultivators would've suffered most.
"By my estimation, out of precaution, you must've asked the strongest experts to surround the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, didn't you?
"If you don't believe me, you and everyone in the command center can study the detonator magical equipment I refined together and check whether or not the explosion that it triggers is powerful enough to demolish a few hundred soldiers nearby."
Ning Feng was speechless for a long time, before he opened his mouth again with a hoarse voice.
"The two shadows of you were your first decoy. They were also in charge of igniting the fire, so that the fire control team would be deployed. As long as you were in firefighter's clothing, no one would bother to look at you even if you're openly moving about inside a ventilating duct.
"The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit was your second decoy. You lured the assault team to the Heaven Splitters with your crystal suit which you then triggered and crushed the entire assault team.
"When everyone's attention was focused on the authentic Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit near the Heaven Splitters, you crawled through the ventilating duct to the cockpit without raising any suspicions.
"But there is one point that I don't understand.
"Why were you so certain that the cockpit would not be guarded? What would you have done if I had stationed dozens of Electric Whip Teethed Vipers and soldiers from the assault team here?"
"It was not very likely. After all, the crystal chamber below the Heaven Splitters is too important, and you couldn't bear the consequences if it was occupied by me. Therefore, you definitely would send most of your soldiers there."
Li Yao continued, "It wouldn't matter whether or not the cockpit was heavily guarded.
"Most of the Cultivators on board should've been killed by the self-explosion of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit already. How many soldiers can you spare to protect the cockpit?
"But let's say you are well protected by the guards and I have no opportunity to assassinate you. At least I can activate all the Thunder-Palms I have, which will lead to major chaos and blow many officers and operators here up. The controls systems of the warship would be wrecked. It's unlikely that your warship would still function normally.
"Then, I would run away while everything was messy.
"Without my crystal suit, I'm still a battle-type Cultivator at the high level of the Refinement Stage. I don't think ordinary marines can stop me when everything is in disarray.
"Then, I would sneak into the survival cabin and launch a lifeboat, pretending that I'd fled out of the warship.
"After that, I would sneak into the med bay.
"While I was flying the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle to Tide Berserker, I saw that two crystal suits were being sucked into your warship by anti-gravity mystic colors. One of them was not seriously damaged. I assume that you captured him alive.
"So, I would search the med bay for the uninjured Exo and rescue him.
"That way, two saboteurs will sabotage your warship together.
"By any luck, we'd even be able to find his crystal suit which was stored by you. I believe that in such chaos, you wouldn't have many soldiers to keep an eye on his crystal suit.
"After that, I would make an unexpected return again.
"This time, not at the cockpit, but at the Heaven Splitters.
"As long as I occupied the crystal chamber of the Heaven Splitters, I would have, in effect, taken over the entire warship.
"Of course, there are always unanticipated changes. The plans can be adjusted according to the actual situation at any moment.
"The cockpit, the crystal chamber of the Heaven Splitters, the engine compartment, and even the anti-gravity system are all my targets.
"If I had no other choice, I could destroy the anti-gravity system of your warship and force it to land so that I can run away. Without the fire support of your warship in the sky, I don't think that your soldiers and beast puppets are capable enough of hunting a Cultivator at the high level of the Refinement Stage in a jungle.
"All in all, the one thing that worried me most was your assault team.
"Therefore, my top priority is not to destroy the cockpit, nor the Heaven Splitters, nor the engine compartment, but to try everything I can to eliminate your assault team.
"As long as the assault team is eliminated, I'd be able to take the initiative of the battle, and I would be much more comfortable regardless of whether I decide to persist on fighting or simply run away.
"The plans that I proposed just now are not just wild imaginations. The success rate is at least 50%.
"So, I think the sham battle should be concluded now. Do you concur?"
All the officers and operators in the cockpit were speechless.
The command center of the Fifth Fleet was mired in an indescribable silence, too.
Ning Feng seemed to have thought of something, but his rebuttal was overruled by himself before he opened his mouth. He crashed down like an empty bag and sighed, before muttering unwillingly, "I concur."
Chapter 333: Jiang Sheng's Expectation |
Zuo Feijing was hiding in the depths of a dense forest. Countless blurred colors were replacing one another on the surface of the Tiger King Battlesuit. The stealth camouflage that was continuously changing melded him with the forest. The concealment rune array extended an invisible spiritual cover which blocked all the temperature changes and metal reactions.
Unless a mystic color hit him in the face, Zuo Feijing was confident that he could escape the scanning of any probe magical equipment.
This was the third shelter that he chose.
He had set up another eight shelters that were exactly the same as this one.
He had also selected five interlinked underground caves that extended into various directions. There were two underground rivers through which he could go miles away without being noticed.
In all the shelters and underground caves, he had set up serial traps to tackle the beast puppets.
Many pieces of surface-to-air magical equipment had also been deployed, which could shoot down the Vicious Bee Armed Shuttles with his telepathic thoughts.
From midnight to right now, Zuo Feijing had been busy working without a moment of rest for five hours before he was able to complete such a large battleground for guerrilla warfare.
He was waiting for the crystal warship patiently, like the most skilled hunter who was lurking in the darkness seeing the brutal prey coming close to the long-prepared traps one step after another.
He would wash away the disgrace from the Flying Crystal race half a month ago with the most eye-catching battle ever so that everyone would know who had been wearing the best crystal suit!
Prolonged explosions echoed in the distance.
Tide Berserker stayed in the horizon for a long time.
Judging from the fierce engagement, more than one crystal suit had been detected. Maybe the other crystal suits had all been suppressed.
But had Li Yao really been captured?
Zuo Feijing felt irritated the moment he thought of the vulture who had been wearing the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit.
"Just wait for it. Last time, you were lucky. This time, I will crush over you with overwhelming capability!"
Right then, noises came from the communication channel.
Zuo Feijing was stunned.
For better disguising, the communication channel had been kept in the silent mode, so that the crystal warship would not detect the spiritual waves from it.
Now that the communication was reopened, it only meant one thing.
The sham battle was over!
As he expected, Supernova Jiang Sheng's tired voice was the one to speak.
"Feijing, come on out. It's over."
Zuo Feijing was dazed. Then he exclaimed in joy, "The battle's over? Have the other three crystal suits all been suppressed?"
The communication channel was silent for such a long time that Zuo Feijing thought the communication had been cut off, but then Supernova Jiang Sheng said softly, "No. Tide Berserker… has lost combat capability."
"What?!"
Zuo Feijing was dumbfounded. His facial muscles were twitching so violently that there was no telling what his expression was.
Supernova Jiang Sheng sighed and explained, "A crystal suit hijacked a Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle and sneaked into the crystal warship pretending that he was a pilot. Then he broke into the cockpit and performed the decapitation strategy.
"According to the calculation of the commanding center, there was a 61% likelihood that he would have successfully assassinated Ning Feng, captain and the highest commanding officer of the crystal warship.
"Even if the assassination failed, there was still a 93% likelihood that he would have demolished most of the officers and operators, destroyed the operation panels and deprived the crystal warship of combat capability.
"Therefore, the sham battle is over. You can get out now."
Zuo Feijing was rendered speechless. Somebody seemed to have tossed a bowl of hot water on his face, where all kinds of countenances were replacing one another.
After a moment, he gnashed his teeth and said, one word after another, "It was Li Yao, wasn't it?"
Jiang Sheng replied, "Yes. Vulture Li Yao."
Right then, a red sun rose up from the valley, finally getting rid of the arms of the horizon. It tore the gloomy clouds apart with thousands of rays of light and charged at the boundless sky.
…
As if a cold front of -100°C had just passed, the air in the commanding center was entirely frozen. Everyone was solidified by the invisible frigid wind, not even able to blink their eyes.
But deep down their heart, a volcano was erupting. Astonishment, confusion, anger, shame, and appreciation… were all bursting out.
Complicated emotions were flowing in their hearts like magma.
It was not unprecedented for a crystal warship to be broken into by the enemy.
Otherwise, the federal army would have marched into the Dark Desolate Domain a long time ago instead of stationing themselves in the southernmost Grand Desolate Plateau.
However, throughout history, the enemies who had broken in and destroyed crystal warships were all at the level of demon kings or even higher.
Never had anyone imagined that a Cultivator at the high level of Refinement Stage, plus the cheapest MP crystal suit of the federation which had been considered by some people to be nothing more than a pile of garbage, would be able to conquer such a three-hundred-meter steel beast which was armed with a pair of Heaven Splitters and twelve Taiyi Lightning Railguns!
Every part of the light beam was playing the video clips of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit's fighting.
In the beginning, it blew a Vicious Bee Armed Shuttle into pieces within half a second with a Triple-headed Heavy Six-barrel Vulcan Machine Gun.
Then, it broke through the cross-fire of twelve Taiyi Lightning Railguns, innumerable flying swords, and countless crystal cannons, before it breached the shell of the warship with half of the spiritual energy contained in its crystal reactor.
Eventually, with a time bomb, the assault team, which consisted the strongest soldiers on board, was eliminated.
The scenes were seared into everyone's brains and wouldn't be forgotten for a long time.
Their impression grew deeper still after the refiners and the bomb experts of the military studied the detonation system of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit carefully and came to a conclusion.
According to the analysis of the professionals, the detonation system, even if made up by ordinary crystals, could still trigger an explosion that could affect at least ten cabins nearby because the intense blast from the explosion was restrained in the limited space.
Since the assault team was too crowded back then, they might've been blown to pieces with no survivors at all.
As for the Cultivators inside the assault team, they were closest to the crystal suit and would have suffered from the blast the most. It wouldn't help even if they had opened their spiritual shields in time.
The analysis report changed everyone's expressions. Their burning eyes aimed at the delegates of the Grand Desolate War Institution.
"Congratulations."
After a long time, a Cultivator from Star Nebula University applauded Yuan Manqiu first.
"Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is indeed an excellent MP crystal suit model which can enable the craziest Exo to achieve the most incredible accomplishment."
Cultivators from the three major sword-training sects, after a long sigh, offered their compliments to the Grand Desolate War Institution, too.
But the delegates from Deep Sea University stood in absolute silence, as if they were being suppressed by an ocean weighing tons.
Before the Tiger King Battlesuit was able to demonstrate its full strength, the crazy Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit had ended the sham battle with his insane actions. It was truly… vexing!
Everyone turned their furious and indignant gazes to Supernova Jiang Sheng.
Taking a deep breath, Jiang Sheng walked to Yuan Manqiu and said solemnly, "Senior Sister Yuan, I was wrong.
"At the wake of Professor Zheng Xuan, I declared that the Project Mystic Skeleton would never succeed.
"But the reality has proven my declaration to be more than wrong. The Project Mystic Skeleton has succeeded. Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is a very competent MP crystal suit model.
"One must admit his wrongdoings. I sincerely apologize to Senior Sister Yuan, to Professor Zheng Xuan, and to all the staff and students of the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution.
"When you meet Li Yao, please forward my apologies to him, too. I once said that he would achieve nothing in the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution. But as it turns out, he has grown into an exceptional refiner.
"The detonation system that he designed and refined is one of the best pieces of explosive magical equipment I've ever seen.
"However—
"MP crystal suit is only one kind of magical equipment. This victory means that the Refining Department of Grand Desolate War Institution stands equal to the Refining Department of Deep Sea University now.
"If you really want to beat us, please bring out new, stronger magical equipment!
"I'm looking forward, very much, to compete with Senior Sister Yuan and outstanding young men such as Li Yao in the marvelous world of magical equipment!"
…
In front of the blinking light beam, Ren Xingbei stood still and straight, like a crashed warship which had completely lost momentum.
