1TL: Here’s the part 2, Enjoy! 🤗The objects that fell out of the spatial tunnel quickly scattered, and once everyone saw what they were, their expressions changed drastically!
There were five mechas in total. Four of them were bright red, with a petal-like pattern imprinted on their bodies. That was… the insignia of the army led by Huo Lingqi!
The remaining mecha was pure black, with a unique design that made it taller and more imposing than the others. This was the mecha of the battlefield commander, the general!
Which meant the person inside this mecha was…
…Huo Lingqi!
Realizing this, Xu Yin’s expression hardened, and he immediately turned his gaze to the other objects that had fallen out alongside these five mechas.
It was nearly impossible to make out their shapes. They looked like a massive pile of trash, but the one distinguishing feature was their long, octopus-like tentacles. As soon as they hit the ground, they used their tentacles to steady themselves, and then their bodies hovered high in the air, screeching as they charged toward the five mechas!
—It was the enemy of Xing guos’, the Evolutionary Beasts!
The Evolutionary Beasts were violent, crazed creatures with a rapid mutation rate. They had an intense desire for aggression and a certain level of intelligence. They secreted a membrane that enveloped their bodies, allowing them to operate in a vacuum. Their adult forms were enormous, nearly the size of a standard mecha.
These creatures had been an unresolved problem for Anluo Xing Guo for decades, always lurking as a constant threat.
—There was little doubt that these three Evolutionary Beasts had jumped over from the battlefield along with Huo Lingqi and his army.
Xu Yin quickly recognized that one of the three Evolutionary Beasts was a King Beast.
It was, as he had once seen in class, even larger than the other Evolutionary Beasts. Its head was black, adorned with golden speckled patterns.
The King Beast was the most ferocious. At that moment, it was clashing with Huo Lingqi, while the general’s subordinates were tangled up with the other two Evolutionary Beasts, unable to find any opening to assist Huo Lingqi.
Xu Yin immediately made a decision. He turned and flew directly toward the King Beast!
Below, Yue Ming was nearly scared out of his wits: “Hurry and run, help me up, quick, quick!”
How could a spatial tunnel leading directly to the battlefield appear here? This didn’t make sense!
Spatial tunnels had to be deliberately opened beforehand—who had opened the one here on this planet?
But there was no time to consider these questions now. The Evolutionary Beasts’ tentacles struck the ground at will, causing cracks to form. Yue Ming and Hong Li couldn’t even find the time to hide!
In the air—
Xu Yin poured all his spiritual power into the mecha, instantly achieving full control.
Not far away, the King Beast, dodging Huo Lingqi’s mecha attacks, didn’t expect a cold wind to suddenly sweep up behind it!
In the next moment, the King Beast was struck on its back, letting out a piercing scream as it was sent flying toward Huo Lingqi’s direction!
Inside the black mecha, Huo Lingqi froze for a moment, his gaze fixed on the odd-looking mecha about twenty meters away. His eyes narrowed slightly, and the mecha’s left hand shot out a hand blade, swinging fiercely at the King Beast!
The King Beast quickly leapt, but its tentacles were all severed in one swift motion. It let out an enraged scream as it uncontrollably plummeted toward the ground!
Huo Lingqi’s black mecha lunged forward!
In the next instant, the King Beast was suspended mid-air.
Its body was pierced by two sharp blades from above and below.
—Xu Yin had teleported to the ground the moment the King Beast began to fall, waiting below.
He calmly retracted the only weapon on his mecha—an oddly shaped long sword—and looked up at the black mecha that was slowly descending to the ground.
On the other side, after the Evolutionary Beasts and Huo Lingqi’s team appeared, Lu Yuan and the others were left dumbfounded.
This moment of confusion caused the wildly swinging tentacles of the other two Evolutionary Beasts to crash toward them!
Fvck!
They were forced to be pulled into the battle!
Huo Lingqi’s four subordinates were also quite surprised. These mechas that had suddenly joined the battle looked tattered and not like those officially produced by the military. So who were the ones piloting them?
Why were they so eager to help fight the beasts?
Unfortunately, at this moment, they still didn’t know where they had ended up. The situation was so unusual that even if they had questions, they could only hold them in.
After a furious exchange of fire, the two Evolutionary Beasts were finally wiped out, and the mechas were able to land on the ground.
…
Then, the situation turned quite awkward.
Lu Yuan and the others followed and landed as well.
…Because, unfortunately, their mechas had sustained some damage during the battle, and they were having trouble staying airborne.
The group fell silent for a moment, looking at each other through the mecha’s glass.
Lu Yuan: …What’s the situation now? Should we still escape?
Yan Shu: I don’t know. The power system of our mecha seems to be malfunctioning.
Lu Yuan: Damn, Huo Lingqi’s gotten out of his mecha!
Indeed.
After the battle subsided, the ground was left in chaos.
There were numerous craters and cracks from the impact, and several chunks of Evolutionary Beast flesh had fallen to the ground.
Huo Lingqi was the first to exit his mecha.
He stepped out of the cockpit and used the hand of his mecha to land on the ground.
The man was dressed entirely in black, with a handsome face and sharp, cold features.
After landing, he walked straight up to the mecha piloted by Xu Yin and spoke in a deep voice, “My apologies for the trouble. I am Huo Lingqi, Commander of the 9th Legion of Anluo Xing Guo. I would like to thank you all for your assistance.”
Thirty meters away, Yue Ming, who had stumbled over to a hiding spot, broke into a cold sweat. He quickly patted one of his soldiers.
One of his legs was useless, and he couldn’t walk!
The soldier nodded quickly and lifted him, running with him in tow. Yue Ming put on a flattering smile, his voice preceding his arrival: “General Huo! General Huo, how did you end up here? Hello, hello, I am Yue Ming, the planetary official of this exiled planet!”
The words “exiled planet” reached Huo Lingqi’s ears, and his gaze shifted slightly.
He turned his body to look at Yue Ming.
After being set down by the soldier, Yue Ming dragged his injured leg and chuckled, “My apologies, it’s a bit embarrassing to admit, but these four mechas were made by some of the prisoners here. They secretly built them to escape, and we didn’t expect to run into you! Thankfully, we didn’t cause you any trouble. You and the soldiers of the 9th Legion are truly brave. Hahaha!”
Yue Ming was lying through his teeth, trying to downplay the role Xu Yin and the others had played in the battle. He thought that Huo Lingqi would likely take this opportunity to ignore their involvement, as the ones who had helped were prisoners. If he acknowledged their contribution, it would create an awkward situation for himself. After all, they were criminals—if they were credited with any success, it would be a problem for Huo Lingqi later on.
He hoped that everything would be swept under the rug: Huo Lingqi and his team would return to the battlefield to continue fighting their enemies, and Yue Ming would take Xu Yin and the others into custody, leaving them to be dealt with properly in prison. That way, everyone would stay out of each other’s way, and no one would interfere with anyone else. It would be perfect!
So, Yue Ming put on a smiling face and waited for Huo Lingqi’s response.
After giving him a cold glance, Huo Lingqi—without responding—turned back to look at the shabby mecha in front of him.
An unfamiliar feeling stirred within him.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he stared at the mecha. He spoke hoarsely, “Sir, may I ask you to come down so I can thank you personally?”
Yue Ming’s face darkened. He stepped forward to intervene but stumbled and collapsed face-first onto the ground with a loud cry, “Huo General—!”
In the next moment, the cockpit of the mecha opened, and a figure nimbly leaped onto the mecha’s hand.
Upon seeing this figure, Huo Lingqi’s expression changed entirely.
With a swift motion, he stepped aside, causing Yue Ming to crash to the ground once more, letting out another painful yell, “Ah!!”
Huo Lingqi then moved forward, his gaze intense as he watched the young man gracefully land from the mecha’s hand.
The young man smiled gently, his warm eyes meeting Huo Lingqi’s.
“General Huo, it’s a pleasure.”
*
Xu Yin thought to himself that his partner was certainly living up to expectations.
He had been considering that after escaping the planet, he might have to part ways with Lu Yuan and the others and try to find his way to the border battlefield. But to his surprise, his partner had come right to him.
Xu Yin smiled, and Huo Lingqi’s ears involuntarily flushed red.
It seemed like Huo Lingqi hadn’t expected his own reaction. After a few moments of awkward silence, he extended his hand.
Xu Yin: “?”
Is he asking for a handshake?
The corner of Xu Yin’s mouth lifted even higher.
After extending his own hand, he smiled as he shook Huo Lingqi’s.
Huo Lingqi’s ears turned even redder.
On the surface, however, he remained composed and polite, asking, “May I ask who you are, sir?”
At that moment, his four subordinates also disembarked from their mechas and, upon seeing Xu Yin, were stunned.
“Xu Yin?”
Huo Lingqi was momentarily stunned.
His subordinates were equally shocked. “Boss, this is Xu Yin, General Xu’s son!”
After a brief moment of surprise, Huo Lingqi’s expression quickly darkened.
“General Xu’s son?” But just now, the planetary officer had called him a criminal?
“Xu Yin, how… how did you end up here?” One of his subordinates looked confusedly at the writhing, groaning Yue Ming on the ground, then back at Xu Yin. “Where is General Xu?”
It seemed that Huo Lingqi and his army were completely unaware of what had happened to the Xu family.
Xu Yin quickly assessed the situation.
Huo Lingqi had been stationed on the border for years, and whenever battles occurred, he would be out of communication range with the star system. It was possible that the news of the Xu family’s tragedy had taken this long to reach him.
But explaining all of this would be too complicated. Xu Yin simply replied, “It’s a long story. But what about you? How did you end up here?”
“We were chasing the king beast to its lair,” one of Huo Lingqi’s subordinates explained, looking at Yue Ming with narrowed eyes. “It seems there’s a space tunnel connected to this place. The evolutionary beasts must have secretly tampered with it. We should be asking the planetary officers here what’s really going on.”
Yue Ming, still in pain and seeing the direction of the conversation shifting, scrambled to get up. “I don’t know! I don’t know anything! This has nothing to do with me! I didn’t collaborate with the evolutionary beasts!”
At this moment, Lu Yuan and the others also descended.
…The mechas couldn’t move, and they certainly couldn’t stay perched on top of them all day.
As for what to do next, they could only take it one step at a time.
When Huo Lingqi’s subordinates saw Lu Yuan and the others, they were even more astonished—Huo Lingqi, who had focused on military affairs for years, was likely unaware of this, but his subordinates, all from military families, were familiar with some of the high-ranking official families.
They were stunned.
How did Xu Yin and Lu Yuan end up on this exiled planet?
They had been cut off from the main star system for over three months. What exactly had happened?
Then, they quickly recalled that their own battle had been unusually perilous, and several of the evolutionary beasts’ actions seemed almost like they had been anticipating them.
Initially, they thought it was just luck that the evolutionary beasts had managed to predict their moves a few times, but now, considering the changes in the main star system, it seemed like someone was orchestrating it all.
…Thinking back on it, wasn’t it lucky that General Huo survived this battle?
Immediately, the subordinates’ faces darkened, and a murderous aura emanated from them.
These were veterans who had fought through countless battles, and when their normally relaxed demeanor disappeared, their expressions turned sharp and intimidating—Yue Ming couldn’t handle it!
He was already trembling uncontrollably!
Huo Lingqi turned his head and instructed his subordinates to immediately contact the main force still stationed on the battlefield: “They should be finishing up soon. After clearing the battlefield, send two teams here and let the rest return to base to rest. Contact me if anything comes up.”
“Understood!” his subordinate immediately responded, running back to the mecha.
After issuing the orders, Huo Lingqi turned his gaze back to Xu Yin and the others.
Yue Ming, trembling uncontrollably, stammered, “General, they, they really are criminals. You see, please don’t make things difficult for me. Let me take them back to the prison… What, what do you think?”
What should he do?
Feeling Huo Lingqi’s cold gaze, Yue Ming felt as if his life was in jeopardy.
Huo Lingqi’s voice was icy: “Handcuff the planetary official and interrogate him about the space tunnel exit.”
The subordinates sneered: “Yes!”
Yue Ming: “???”
Huo Lingqi then nodded to Xu Yin and the others, his tone softening: “Please come with us. I’ll have my subordinates take care of moving your mechas to the warehouse first. Is that alright?”
Lu Yuan and the others were stunned: “Oh, yes… that’s fine.”
Xu Yin smiled faintly.
Huo Lingqi turned his gaze toward him again, his eyes warm: “Please.”
Yue Ming: “???”
