Fierce Battle

Bang!

Red light flashed violently.

Yang Ming was sent flying by the shield. He passed over the heads of several soldiers before crashing heavily to the ground between two mechs.

"Captain Hanton!"

"Fire! Fire!"

Dense volleys of laser bolts erupted. The overlapping ripples in the red sphere around the Valkyrie briefly checked her charge.

But the Light Red Shield, whose exact workings were unknown, remained sturdy.

Her gaze slowly moved away from Yang Ming. Expressionless, she stared at the soldiers ahead and slowly raised her left hand. Two soldiers screamed as they rose into the air.

The next second, thick blood burst from inside their helmets.

Screams came from the corners. The soldiers who had witnessed it all went pale and erupted in a string of curses.

Two Old Mechs, their chest-mounted vortex turbines glowing, raised their fire-control support arms at the same time. The cannons mounted on them had finished charging for three seconds. The soldiers in their cockpits no longer waited for orders from their superiors. They locked onto the Valkyrie and pulled the triggers.

Whumm, whumm!

Two purple spheres of light burst forth and struck the shield around the Valkyrie.

The Valkyrie was sent flying.

The two mechs took half a step back, steadied themselves, and began charging their cannons again.

"Take down her shield! Requesting support! Tail Compartment requesting support!"

The field commander's roar boosted morale. The soldiers kept firing their Laser Guns, and irregular, fine cracks appeared in the protective barrier around the Valkyrie.

Behind several soldiers, "Hanton" staggered to his feet.

Yang Ming glared at the Valkyrie, then continued toward the two closed hatches.

Beyond the transparent hatch was the outer bay, which had yet to finish closing. Yang Ming could clearly see the small spacecraft, shaped like a flat wooden crate, sliding out into the vastness of space. Propelled by a faint blue ring of light, it quickly moved away from the Research Ship. Several human-shaped ice sculptures floated near the outer hatch, gradually drifting away.

Yang Ming raised his middle finger at the lifeboat outside the bay. The few men and women beside him who hadn't managed to board were nearly in despair.

"Damn it! Does that monster's shield not use up energy?"

Screams came from behind him and through his Earpiece at the same time.

Yang Ming had only just turned around when he saw seven or eight Empire soldiers floating straight up. They struggled in midair, then their heads burst apart a few seconds later.

Screams rang out one after another.

That sight was enough to make the soldiers lose their will to fight.

Yang Ming's Adam's apple bobbed repeatedly, and his breathing grew more labored.

Perhaps she had already decided Yang Ming couldn't escape. Or perhaps the mech bombardment had made her feel threatened. Either way, the Valkyrie turned her attention, for the moment, to the Empire soldiers here.

This was a one-sided slaughter.

As she repeatedly raised her left hand, the soldiers lost control one after another. Even the simulated Gravity Field couldn't hold their bodies in place, and their protective helmets became containers for their gray matter.

I can't stop here!

Yang Ming clenched his fist.

If the Valkyrie caught him, his fate would be much worse than these soldiers'!

Yang Ming cursed Geglov's ancestors for eighteen generations in his mind, forced himself to regulate his breathing, then pulled a small packet of capsules from his pocket and took out two. He crushed them and swallowed them.

Right, the Landing Pod! At this point, only the advance Landing Pod and the carrier-based mechs could leave the Research Ship!

Yang Ming scanned the area and quickly spotted the Landing Pod's access tunnel.

Its indicator light was pale green.

That's it!

Yang Ming immediately started toward it, but as soon as he took a step, an invisible pressure slammed down on him.

His muscles suddenly stopped obeying him, and Yang Ming fell flat on the floor.

From the corner of his eye, he saw the Valkyrie pointing her right hand at him, slowly pressing it downward.

What was this?

Telekinetic control? Or was she interfering with the nervous systems of living things?

Had the Ancient God Lifeform evolved for over a hundred million years just to acquire all these strange abilities?

Yang Ming sucked in a sharp breath and pressed both hands against the floor. His muscles slowly bulged, veins standing out on his forehead, neck, and arms. He struggled to lift his upper body off the ground, only to thump back down.

A human-shaped dent appeared in the hard, sturdy metal floor.

The Tactical Pack hanging on his chest rattled noisily, but fortunately, the safety mechanisms on the throwable weapons were quite reliable.

Again!

"Hanton! Hanton!"

A familiar voice called out from ahead. Yang Ming, struggling to get up, lifted his head and spotted a woman doctor crouching behind a parts crate.

Lina, with golden hair.

Nearby, laser beams and mech ion cannons streaked through the air. The Valkyrie had already slaughtered more than a dozen soldiers with ease.

The slender doctor's legs were trembling, but she still rushed to Yang Ming's side. She tried to pull him up, then realized he seemed to be stuck to the floor.

Dr. Lina's face was ashen. "How can I help you, Hanton? Are you all right, Hanton?"

Yang Ming regulated his breathing and spoke quickly. "The Landing Pod... can you pilot a landing craft? I remember it can fit three or four people..."

"I—I've piloted a Medical Ship. If its control system is similar..."

"The control panels are the same!"

Yang Ming stated this as a fact with absolute certainty, despite having no idea if it was true.

Watching the Valkyrie approach the two mechs, he said quietly, "Go start the Landing Pod. I'll draw the Valkyrie away... You have to save me a seat, okay, Lina?"

"Okay, okay." Dr. Lina immediately nodded, panic making her voice quaver with tears. "I'll wait for you, Hanton. I promise."

Yang Ming growled, "Go! Don't attract the Valkyrie's attention."

Dr. Lina took a breath, ducked low, and ran toward the Landing Pod.

Yang Ming sucked in another deep breath, as if trying to force himself through the hardest sit-up of his life. He tried three times in a row, only deepening the human-shaped dent in the floor.

The Empire soldiers kept falling.

The shouts coming through his Earpiece belonged to the Captain, who was leading the last group of soldiers aboard the ship to reinforce them.

The Valkyrie raised her left hand, aiming at the two Old Mechs that had posed a considerable threat to her.

The lifeboat in the Tail Compartment had already accelerated away.

Only despair remained in the soldiers' eyes...

Likewise, despair enveloped Yang Ming like the dark backdrop of the universe, and the fire in his eyes gradually died out.

No.

He couldn't give up like this.

The Earth had exploded without killing him. Why should he give up now?

There had to be a way!

"Child, try using your mind to control your body instead of letting your nervous system repeat a few monotonous reflexes."

A memory suddenly flashed through Yang Ming's mind. Back when he'd done the Abyss career tutorial, the Sword Master who served countless players had given him a perfunctory introduction.

"Focus your attention. That's the foundation of everything."

"Try calling to your body. Feel your body. Release the power hidden within it. Nature spent a full billion years laying the groundwork for the birth of consciousness, so don't underestimate it."

Consciousness, right! Consciousness!

Consciousness wasn't just neurons firing;

Nor was it just brain waves constantly changing under a detector.

Yang Ming didn't know if he was going crazy. He searched for that feeling, rapidly clearing the distractions from his mind. He braced both hands against the floor and focused on just one thing—standing up. He had to stand up!

Then, little by little, inch by inch, he tried to lift his back off the ground.

Yang Ming's face twisted into a grimace.

Large red patches appeared across his body. His capillaries were bursting one after another.

Suddenly!

Yang Ming sprang to his feet, then lost control of his momentum and tumbled forward several times.

The Valkyrie's outstretched right hand seemed to be shoved aside.

She frowned at Yang Ming, then reached out her right hand again and pressed down hard!

A thin Light Red Shield formed around Yang Ming, yet he remained standing firm.

Confusion crept into the Valkyrie's eyes.

Yang Ming expressionlessly held the Laser Gun slung across his chest, pressed his thumb against the barrel to power it on, and pulled the trigger.

Pew!

Amid a faint sound, another source of fire joined the battle!

The Valkyrie immediately prepared to pounce on Yang Ming, but the ion flare from a mech cannon lit up beside her once more.

The third and fourth mechs in the corner had been activated. Their ion cannons, powerful enough to pierce the armor of a small spacecraft head-on, sent the Valkyrie flying again.

Yang Ming seized the chance to run, repeatedly tapping shots at the cracks in the shield around the Valkyrie. He pulled two bombs from the Tactical Pack on his chest and hurled them straight at her.

His aim was incredibly precise.

When Yang Ming concentrated intensely, it was as if an 8x Scope appeared before his eyes. The gaps along the outer edge of the Valkyrie's shield seemed to expand several times over in an instant.

Yang Ming had found the shield's weakest point.

In the midst of the battle, more than a dozen figures rushed out of the corridors on both sides. The Captain and First Mate had brought the remaining soldiers to reinforce them, and a barrage of Laser Guns opened fire on the Valkyrie.

Yang Ming kept checking the indicator light by the Landing Pod's entrance. The green icon of a small spacecraft, which indicated that its systems had been activated, still hadn't lit up.

Hurry up, Lina!

The Captain's voice came through his Earpiece:

"Get all the mechs moving! The Valkyrie is evolving rapidly. If she escapes, the Empire will face an unprecedented threat!"

Damn it, what had you been doing all this time?

Yang Ming cursed inwardly and immediately ran toward the next piece of cover, but never strayed far from the Landing Pod's hatch.

Suddenly.

"Enough!"

The hoarse, angry woman's voice made everyone present freeze, as if it carried some mysterious power.

The Captain asked, "What did the Valkyrie say?"

"She said, 'Enough,'" a soldier replied quietly.

"Fire!" the Captain roared. "Break through her shield!"

Yang Ming sensed something was wrong. He turned and lunged toward the nearest parts crate, shouting with all his might, "Take cover!"

The soldiers were too slow to react.

The cracked shield around the Valkyrie suddenly shattered. Red Wave erupted from her forehead like a surging sea, instantly sweeping in every direction.

This time, the soldiers' minds weren't attacked, but their bodies were all flung into the air. The Energy Magazines on their Laser Guns, which should have been perfectly safe, exploded one after another. Two mechs that had just started up lost their balance and toppled backward.

The Captain fell into a pool of blood.

Only a few of the soldiers could still move.

Yang Ming glanced down the passage where the Landing Ship was docked and regretted assigning the "difficult" task of piloting a spacecraft to a doctor.

The Valkyrie, who had deliberately shattered her shield, now held a "Flashlight" in her hand.

With a hum, a pale red Lightsaber illuminated her girlish face. Her gaze fixed on Yang Ming, and a sick smile appeared at the corner of her mouth.

Reclaim.

Devour.

Become one.

Yang Ming sucked in a sharp breath and raised the Laser Gun that still worked, aiming at the Valkyrie's neck before pulling the trigger hard.

A Purple Ray flashed, but the Valkyrie's skin remained unharmed. A Transparent Film flowed over its surface.

If that's how it is!

Damn it! If that's how it has to be!

Yang Ming tossed the Laser Gun aside, reached into his Tactical Pack with his right hand, and pulled out... a pair of Goggles commonly used for electric welding and repairs.

Once he put them on, the edges of his vision did indeed warp slightly.

Just like the streamlined interface in the Abyss game!

Yes, this wasn't a game. He had no unlimited revives, and the margin for error in the fight ahead was practically zero. He had no teammates with whom he could coordinate professionally...

But here, right now!

Vumm—

Blue-white light reflected across Yang Ming's profile. His hands, gripping the Lightsaber hilt, no longer trembled.

All he wanted was a way to survive.

He was all in!