Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 168: The Dismantled ECS System

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Yao Yuan’s combat jet focus-fired on a monster warship. It exploded in a shower of green goo and broken flesh. Some had even splattered on Yao Yuan’s combat jet. Yao Yuan wasn’t worried, because they weren’t corrosive and the ECS system wasn’t affected by the appearance of these liquids. It twisted the light around the entire combat jet, including the splattered marks.

Due to the success of their previous war, many pilots, including the new Homo Evolutis, gained confidence this time around. Some of them even conducted the guerilla strike successfully.

The monster army decreased greatly in number. When the troopers went closer to the mother nest, it finally retaliated.

Many small monsters flew out from within the mother nest. Their size and shape suggested that they were still growing and unformed. In fact, they didn’t even appear to have combat ability. They floated aimlessly around the mother nest. Before the troopers could give a proper reaction, the monster warships shot at the clot of tiny monsters, taking them down.

This was repeated multiple times, forming a large expanse of monster carcasses around the mother nest.

"What is it doing? Suicide? But why..."

Yao Yuan couldn’t understand what was happening, but he knew they didn’t have the time to idle. The monster army behind them was inching closer and closer to the Hope’s planet. Yao Yuan had no choice but to lead the troopers onwards.

However, right before they entered the field of tiny monster bodies, a series of conjectures and images flashed across Yao Yuan’s mind. He hurriedly used his Anima power to order, "Everyone, spread out!"

Then Yao Yuan’s combat jet did a corkscrew spin and turned back the other side.

However, the troopers’ locations had already been exposed. More than 10 monster warships aimed their Gaussian cannons at the troopers’ general direction and almost instantly, 10 silhouettes of Space Combat Jet Prototype 003s appeared in space. This was the electromagnetic shield in action.

The more responsive among the troopers had followed Yao Yuan out and found themselves safe more than 10 kilometers away; however, the Gaussian cannons weren’t slow themselves. Under the focus fire of more than a million Gaussian cannons, about 3 combat jets exploded.

"Damn! They’re nullifying the ECS system through this method! How many monsters dud they have to sacrifice to make this work?!" Yao Yuan was livid. The 0 fatality rate the troopers had been maintaining suddenly shot up to 3. What was worse was they had to go through the body field and thus expose themselves, or the mission would not succeed!

Yao Yuan sighed and used his Anima power to give a firm order. "Every 3 jets will form a unit. Don’t waste time on the monster army heading towards the planet, leave them to Major Guang Zhen and the defense unit. Focus on the mother nest! Keep on fighting until either your jet is damaged or you’re incapacitated! Attack!"

Yao Yuan knew full well what his order meant. He had left Guang Zhen with millions upon millions of alien monsters to deal with, and simultaneously, more than half of the troopers might end up dead... However, he knew they had reached a stage of no return. Giving up was not an option!

Yao Yuan roared, pushed his jet to its maximum acceleration, and shot towards the mother nest.

When his jet crossed into the field, the warships trained their cannons his way. Yao Yuan activated all his powers and then his world fell silent.

Yao Yuan felt all the malice that was directed at him, and the dangers warnings crowded his mind. However, he also saw the warship’s weakness... There was inconspicuous protrusions on their backs, and every few seconds, they would light up. It should be the monster’s power source...

Yao Yuan’s combat jet had reached an impressive 150 kilometers per second in acceleration and it was still increasing. It was at a stage where the scenery flew past in a flash even for the Homo Evolutis. Mankind’s anatomy was not created to handle super acceleration like this; even with the electromagnetic growth field, it was pushing it.

There were 2 distinct combat jet models. Their maximum speeds were indeed 200 kilometers and 150 kilometers per second, but those numbers, like many numbers in science, were just placeholders...

Generally speaking, the common speed for the combat jet was at 80 to 100 kilometers per second. For many, this would hinder their capability because they wouldn’t be able to respond fast enough to issue any attack.

Of course, the Homo Evolutis, especially the Perceptors, Seekers, and Diviners, were the exception. They could rely on their superhuman power to assimilate to such high speed.

Yao Yuan... was activating all his power like how he did on the warship husk when he was confronted by the group of alien robots. Under such a state, his reflex response could only be described as being nonhuman...

100 kilometers per second, 150 kilometers per second, 200 kilometers per second...

Yao Yuan’s jet kept climbing in speed. He zipped through space like a flash of lighting. Even though his location was exposed, the monsters couldn’t catch up to his speed... He was too fast for the monsters to handle!

He fired off a series of Gaussian bullets.

In less than 10 seconds, he had racked up more than 100 kills. He was unstoppable. He broke through enemy ranks, not caring whether his fellow troopers could even keep up with him. The 4 gleaming spots on the mother nest then came into his vision. Pulsating with a light that was visible to the naked eye, these were where the 4 polymerized reactors were located. Yao Yuan intended to destroy them!

However...

Security around that area was extremely tight. Throngs of monster swamped Yao Yuan’s jet when they saw him approaching. They closed in on him from every side.

"Get lost!"

Yao Yuan kept pressing the fire button. One monster after another shattered into pieces, but the space they left behind was quickly taken over by others... There were simply too many of them; it was a number beyond mankind’s comprehension...

Yao Yuan’s jet shook at it rammed through the wall of monsters and came through the other side. The monsters that stood in the way were shredded into pieces, but his jet was greatly damaged. The front end of his jet started sparking and the jet body was dented in many places. One of its particle fluxes started to flutter before eclipsing. The jet’s speed started to take a nose dive...

"Is this the end?"

Yao Yuan clenched his teeth, refusing to back down. He didn’t want to die just like that. He wanted to keep fighting to lead humanity to a brighter future. More than that, he still had many places he wanted to see and the people that he wanted to see them with... The girl that he had laid his hands harshly on and the woman that she reminded him of...

"Damaged combat jets, please return to the Hope for repairs. The rest keep on going. Harass the monsters to reduce their numbers!"

Yao Yuan turned to lead about 30 smoking jets back to the Hope. They were going to change for new jets.

On the way back, his mind was fogged by the memory of a girl who stood expressionlessly beside a red-colored combat jet. When no one was looking, she carved her lover’s name into the jet’s wing...