Fierce Battle

Bang!

Red light flared violently.

Yang Ming was sent flying by the light barrier, sailing over the heads of several soldiers before crashing heavily between two mechs.

"Captain Hanton!"

"Fire! Fire!"

Laser rounds erupted in a dense barrage. The red orbs around the Valkyrie rippled with overlapping distortions, momentarily halting her advance.

But the pale red shield, its principle unknown, remained solid.

Her gaze slowly withdrew from Yang Ming, fixing expressionlessly on the soldiers ahead. She raised her left hand, and two soldiers screamed as they slowly levitated.

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

Screams came from the corner. The soldiers who witnessed this turned pale, a string of curses spilling from their mouths.

Two Old Mechs, their chest turbines already lit, raised their fire-assist arms simultaneously. The cannons on those arms had completed three seconds of charge. The soldiers inside the cockpits no longer waited for orders; they locked onto the Valkyrie and pulled the triggers.

Wum, wum!

Two violet orbs erupted, striking the shield around the Valkyrie.

She was sent flying.

The two mechs took half a step back, stabilized their center of gravity, and began recharging their cannons.

"Break her shield! Requesting backup! Tail compartment requesting backup!"

The on-site commander's roar boosted morale. The soldiers' laser guns kept firing, and irregular hairline cracks appeared on the light wall around the Valkyrie.

Behind a few soldiers, "Hanton" staggered to his feet.

Yang Ming glared at the Valkyrie, then continued sprinting toward the two sealed doors.

Through the transparent doors, the outer bay hadn't fully closed yet. Yang Ming could clearly see—the small, flat box-like ship was sliding into the deep starry void, pushed by a faint blue ring of light, rapidly pulling away from this research vessel. Several humanoid ice sculptures floated near the outer bay doors, drifting further away.

Yang Ming flipped off the lifeboat outside the hatch. The men and women beside him who hadn't made it aboard were nearly in despair.

"Damn it! Doesn't this monster's shield consume energy?"

Screams came from behind and through the earpiece at the same time.

Yang Ming had just turned his head when he saw seven or eight Imperial Soldiers floating straight up. They struggled in midair, and seconds later, their heads burst.

Screams rose and fell.

This scene was enough to shatter the soldiers' will to fight.

Yang Ming's Adam's apple bobbed continuously. His breathing grew a little ragged.

Perhaps having confirmed that Yang Ming couldn't escape, or feeling threatened by the mech's cannon fire, the Valkyrie temporarily shifted her focus to the Imperial Soldiers here.

It was a complete massacre.

As she kept raising her left hand, the soldiers lost control one after another. The simulated gravity field couldn't hold their bodies. Their protective helmets became containers for their gray matter.

Can't stop here!

Yang Ming clenched his fists.

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

Yang Ming silently cursed Geglov's ancestors for eighteen generations, forcing his breathing steady. He took a small pouch of capsules from his pocket, pinched out two, crushed them, and swallowed.

Right, the landing craft. Only the advance landing craft and shipboard mechs could leave the research vessel now!

Yang Ming's eyes swept around, quickly spotting the access tube to the landing craft.

The indicator light on the tube was pale green.

Yes, that's it!

Yang Ming was about to dash over, but the moment he took a step, an invisible pressure crashed down on him.

His muscles suddenly went out of control. Yang Ming fell flat on the floor.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Valkyrie's right hand aimed at him, slowly pressing downward.

What is this?

Telekinetic control? Or interfering with the nervous system?

Had the Ancient God Lifeform evolved for hundreds of millions of years just for all these bizarre skills?

Yang Ming sucked in a sharp breath, pressed his hands against the floor, and his muscles slowly bulged. Veins popped on his forehead, neck, and arms. His upper body struggled off the ground, then slammed back down with a thud.

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

The Tactical Pack hanging on his chest clattered, but thankfully the safety ratings on those thrown weapons were decent.

Again!

"Hanton! Hanton!"

A familiar voice came from ahead. Yang Ming, still struggling to get up, looked up and spotted the female doctor crouching behind a parts crate.

Blonde Lina.

Not far away, laser beams and mech ion cannons flew wildly, along with the Valkyrie who had already effortlessly slaughtered over a dozen soldiers.

The slender female doctor's legs were trembling, yet she still rushed to Yang Ming's side; she tried to pull him up, but it felt like he was glued to the floor.

Dr. Lina's face was pale: "How can I help you, Hanton! Are you okay, Hanton!"

Yang Ming adjusted his breathing and said quickly, "The landing craft... can you fly a landing shuttle? I remember that landing craft can hold three or four people..."

"I, I've piloted a medical ship, if their operating systems are similar."

"The control panel is the same!"

Yang Ming stated the fact with certainty, though he didn't understand it himself.

He looked at the Valkyrie, who was closing in on the two mechs, and said in a low voice, "Go start the landing craft. I'll lure the Valkyrie away... Make sure to save me a spot, okay? Lina."

"O-okay," Dr. Lina nodded immediately, her voice trembling with panic as she choked up, "I'll definitely wait for you to come, Hanton."

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

Dr. Lina steadied her breath, crouched low, and ran toward the direction of the landing pod.

Yang Ming took another deep breath, as if struggling through an agonizing sit-up. He tried three times in a row, but only deepened the human-shaped dent in the floor.

The Imperial soldiers kept dwindling in number.

Through the earpiece came shouts—the captain was leading the last batch of soldiers on the ship to reinforce.

The Valkyrie raised her left hand, aiming at the two old mechs that had caused her considerable trouble.

The lifeboat in the tail compartment had already accelerated away in escape.

Only despair remained in the soldiers' eyes...

Likewise, despair wrapped around Yang Ming like the void of space, slowly extinguishing the fire in his eyes.

No.

He couldn't give up like this.

The Earth blew up and didn't kill me—why should I give up now?

There had to be a way.

'Child, try using your brain to control your body, instead of letting your nervous system repeat monotonous reflexes.'

A memory suddenly flashed through Yang Ming's mind—back when he was doing the Abyss class guidance quest, the Sword Master, who served countless players, gave a perfunctory beginner's tutorial.

'Focus your attention. This is the foundation of everything.'

'Try to call upon your body, feel your body, release the power hidden within it. Nature spent a full billion years paving the way for consciousness—don't underestimate it.'

Consciousness, right! Consciousness!

Consciousness wasn't just the firing of neurons;

It wasn't just the changing brainwaves under a scanner.

Yang Ming didn't know if he was going mad, but at this moment, he kept searching for that feeling, quickly sweeping away the distractions in his mind. Bracing his hands against the floor, he focused on only one thing—stand up. He had to stand up!

Then, little by little, inch by inch, he lifted his back off the ground.

Yang Ming's face twisted in a snarl.

Large patches of red appeared all over his skin—capillaries bursting one after another.

Suddenly!

Yang Ming shot to his feet, but couldn't stop his momentum and tumbled forward in a roll.

The Valkyrie's outstretched right hand seemed to be pushed aside by someone.

She frowned at Yang Ming, then reached out her right hand toward him again, pressing down hard!

A faint, light red shield appeared around Yang Ming, and he still stood firm.

A hint of confusion flickered in the Valkyrie's eyes.

Expressionless, Yang Ming hugged the laser gun slung across his chest, flicked the barrel on with his thumb, and pulled the trigger with his index finger.

Pew!

With a soft sound, a new source of firepower joined the battle!

The Valkyrie immediately lunged toward Yang Ming, but from the side, the glow of a mech cannon flared again.

A third and fourth mech had been activated in the corner. Their ion cannons, capable of punching straight through small ship armor, sent the Valkyrie flying back once more.

Yang Ming took the chance to run, continuously peppering the cracks in the Valkyrie's protective shield with his laser gun. He pulled two grenades from the tactical pack in front of him and hurled them straight at the Valkyrie.

His shots were incredibly precise.

When Yang Ming's focus reached its peak, it was as if an 8x scope appeared before his eyes—the gaps in the Valkyrie's shield instantly magnified several times.

He aimed right for the weakest points.

In the heat of battle, over a dozen figures burst out from the corridors on both sides—the captain and the first mate leading the remaining soldiers in reinforcement. A volley of laser guns opened fire on the Valkyrie in a frenzy.

Yang Ming kept watching the indicator light at the landing craft's hatch—the little green airplane icon that signaled the ship's systems had successfully activated still hadn't lit up.

Move faster, Lina!

The captain's voice came through the earpiece:

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

Damn it, where was this urgency before!

Yang Ming cursed under his breath, immediately sprinting toward the next cover point, but he never strayed far from the landing craft's hatch area.

Suddenly.

"Enough!"

That hoarse, furious female voice made everyone freeze mid-motion, as if it held some kind of supernatural power.

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

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

"Fire!" the captain roared. "Break through her barrier!"

Yang Ming already sensed something was wrong. He spun and dove toward the nearest crate of parts, shouting at full volume: "Find cover!"

The soldiers' reactions were ultimately too slow.

The Valkyrie's cracked protective barrier suddenly exploded outward, and from her forehead burst a wave-like Red Wave, sweeping in all directions in an instant.

This time, the soldiers' minds weren't attacked, but their bodies were flung away simultaneously. The energy magazines in their Laser Guns—supposedly perfectly safe—detonated one after another. Two mechs that had just started moving lost their balance and toppled backward.

The captain collapsed in a pool of blood.

Only a handful of soldiers could still move.

Yang Ming glanced at the passage leading to the Landing Ship, regretting a little that he'd entrusted the 'arduous' task of flying the ship to a doctor.

The Valkyrie, who had deliberately detonated her own barrier, now held a 'Flashlight' in her hand.

With a hum, a pale red Lightsaber illuminated her girlish face, and her gaze locked onto Yang Ming, a sick smile curling at the corner of her mouth.

Reclaim.

Devour.

Merge into one.

Yang Ming sucked in a sharp breath, raised his still-functional Laser Gun, aimed at the Valkyrie's neck, and pulled the trigger hard.

A Purple Ray flickered, but the Valkyrie's skin remained unharmed, a layer of Transparent Film flowing over its surface.

If that's how it is!

Damn it! If this is how it has to be!

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

Putting them on, the edges of his vision indeed showed a faint distortion.

Just like the clean interface of the Abyss game!

Yes, this wasn't a game. He had no infinite respawns. The margin for error in the coming fight was almost zero. There were no teammates to form a class synergy...

But here, at this moment—

Huum—

Blue-white light reflected off Yang Ming's face. His hands gripping the Lightsaber hilt no longer trembled.

All he wanted was a way to survive.

Time to go all out!