White stumbled down from the treadmill and then retched twice, tears almost coming to his eyes. "People? People! Are there any planets nearby? Even a teeny s.p.a.ce station would be okay, I've been wanting to step on solid ground even in my dreams. I don't want to eat icy cold compressed nutritional meals anymore, I'd take even blanched greens..."

The students, pus.h.i.+ng one another, all poked their heads out of the training room. Even Mint, who was resting in her bedroom, managed to scramble up. Having drifted in the vast, empty universe for over a month, their excitement to rejoin human society spilled out through their thrilled expressions and language. They looked like they wished the mech could warp into a giant hand and embrace their past journey away.

However, the grown ups' reactions weren't as friendly.

Monoeye Hawk pushed his door open abruptly, striding out of his room, his expression as dark as calmed waters. "What just happened?"

Jingheng Lin narrowed his eyes. "Bixing, report the a.r.s.enal's status to me."

"They're okay," Bixing Lu, who was already in the a.r.s.enal, replied automatically, "It's sealed pretty well, there's no problems with the a.r.s.enal's environment, ah......it's just that this program is quite slow, will it be too slow in actual combat?"

Finis.h.i.+ng, he suddenly registered reality, realizing that Lin had just called him by his name.

A buzz went through Bixing Lu's mind. Not too loud, but more like a mosquito pa.s.sing by. His eardrums jumped, Lu started  thinking that the gravity balancing system must have gone awry, as his feet felt light as feathers.

Lin never called him just by his name. Normally, it was his whole name--surname included. And when it was spoken sarcastically, anything that ranged from "Headmaster Lu" to "young master" was possible. When face to face, it was just "you".

Bixing Lu paused, and then asked dazily, "Do you need me to upgrade it for you?"

"Don't, just come back here." Jingheng Lin's voice sounded lower through the mech's broadcast system, "Activate the defense system."

Bixing Lu's head snapped up. A rumble went through the entire mech. The s.h.i.+eld was directly turned on to the highest setting and the two missiles were loaded.

Jingshu Huang asked, "B......Commodore Lin, what's happening? Is there something wrong with the communication signal?"

"Since humans entered the interstellar times, the most dangerous things in the universe were never black holes anymore," Monoeye Hawk said. "Remember, kids, what's more dangerous than black holes are humans."

"This is a regional communication signal. It's fast and strong, but it's only used for internal communication and cannot be used to contact anything outside of the region." Zhanlu explained as if he was teaching a science cla.s.s. "An internal communication-only network without an outer one is mostly seen in battle. Shutting off any communication with the outside is to hide oneself from being detected by any possible enemies, and the internal communication range is also their patrolling range, which means that we have already entered......"

Before he could finish his sentence, the mech trembled violently.

Jingheng Lin opened fire without warning, and a missile cut through the night sky, striking right into another one sneaking towards them. The remnants and rays impacted Beijing's defense system, sparks flying. A firework suddenly burst up in the blackness, illuminating its surroundings for a brief second.

At least sixty mechs surrounded them tightly, everyone looking much fiercer than "Beijing".

Giving them a missile as a welcoming gift on the first encounter——well, that definitely wasn't love at first sight.

Jingheng Lin and Monoeye Hawk looked at each other suspiciously, asking at the same time, "Is that one of your old enemies?"

Before they could start spitting at each other again, a voice hurriedly cut in, answering for both of them, "None of them are, can we first not fight with our own?"

Bixing Lu stood in the middle of them, separating them with his two hands. Though his right palm was indeed pressed on Monoeye Hawk's chest st.u.r.dily--even pus.h.i.+ng him two steps back--his outstretched right hand was still a few inches away from Jingheng Lin's chest, dangling in the air. His fingers twitched twice, not daring to push his palm forward the remaining few inches--this ex-commodore's s.h.i.+rt had the top three b.u.t.tons open!

Did he have to be so fed up with the Union Military Commitee's rigorous dress code back in Silver Fortress that he had to do this?

When he looked to the side and met Jingheng Lin's eyes, Bixing Lu pulled his hand back at lightning speed. He pretended like he was just going to fix his hair. Then he walked to the communication station like nothing had just happened.

Bixing Lu tethered his personal terminal to the communication station, typing in a string of code swiftly, "My dad's been quite peaceful in his business these years. He hasn't really gotten on anybody's bad side--Old guy, Lin's not like you, does he sound like those people that get into trouble all over the world?"

Monoeye Hawk snorted.

Jingheng Lin asked, "What are you doing?"

"I made this little thing a long time ago. It was originally meant to freeload internet during interstellar trips, but I'll try to see if it can also capture their internal network port." Bixing Lu spoke leisurely, but his fingers were so swift they were close to gliding, "Let's try to say hi first. It's probably just a misunderstanding, so can you two try peaceful means first before resorting to violent measures?"

Monoeye Hawk said coldly, "I'm never reasonable to b.i.t.c.hes that make the first move......"

Jingheng Lin replied, "Okay."

Monoeye Hawk immediately turned his words around. "......But with technical support, it's okay to try."

The fleet of mechs slowly approached towards them from the dark--like ghastly guards rising from an ancient tomb. The pit black muzzles were so close they were almost right before their eyes, and the edges of the mental network were already feeling the heavy pressure. Bixing Lu, without looking up even once, quickly connected to their inner network, whistling at his success.

The communication station's projector suddenly lit up, blinking open a third eye that scanned around silently. All the mechs hiding in the dark had nowhere to hide, showing their dotted locations on the screen. What surrounded them was not just a ring of mechs, but there was another troop lying in wait for them outside the circle. Three layers inside, three layers outside. Looking at it from the communication center, it was basically an angel cake.

This formation was clearly illogical, as mechs' speed and energy consumption rates were astronomical numbers compared to weapons on land, even the tiniest ones. This cramped formation also limited the mechs' mobility. The electromagnetic fields would even interfere with the mental networks, easily making mental networks unstable and operation errors occur.

And when someone blasted them with heavy gunfire, there would be no room to escape.

Unless this was directed at someone with trypophobia, this would have a terribly poor effect.

This seemingly collective chorus-formation for a fleet  was clearly not a regular army, and definitely not from mean and brutal interstellar pirates. They were more likely to be a loosely grouped temporary alliance here for a gang fight.

"Who's the one that just released a missile?" Jingheng Lin asked.

The extremely intelligent communication network automatically highlighted a mech on the other side bright yellow.

Bixing Lu asked, "Do we send it a communication request?"

"No," Jingheng Lin, "the one next to it."

White asked Zhanlu in a small voice, "Why?"

Zhanlu answered. "Because according to statistics, the one that makes the first move in a gang fight usually has a higher desire for show, and also likes to stay close to the leader more."

White was filled with questions about this Mr. Mech's inner world. "Why are you collecting statistics even on this!"

Between their words, the communication request was put through, and the communication station's screen flashed, a mech's interior appearing on it.

On the other side of the screen was a man in a dark gray formal suit. Tie clips, cufflinks, stud earrings and other stuff of this sorts covered him from head to toe. The jewelry radiated so bright it was too painful for one to look at it directly. His stature was abnormally slim, but it was paired with a gigantic head, like a golden, s.h.i.+ny beef ball plunked on a toothpick.

Beefball stared at Jingheng Lin coldly. "Whose scout are you?"

Right as Jingheng Lin was about to speak, Monoeye Hawk abruptly spoke.

Monoeye's first reaction to the man was shock. Then he leaned over to the communication center. "How's it you, Cow?"

The corners of Cow's eyes twitched. "Monoeye Hawk!"

"This b.a.s.t.a.r.d is a double crossing little s.h.i.+t that takes protection fees on smuggling pa.s.sages," Monoeye looked up and took a careful look at the mechs surrounding them, and abruptly started to curse, "Cow, it was me who sold you this batch of mechs. That's why I f.u.c.king thought that these were so familiar! You dare to blast me with my own things? You son of a b.i.t.c.h, you didn't even even pay the the final payment!"

Cow's expression was one of astonishment. "I heard that Planet Cayley was bombed into a f.u.c.king popcorn, so how are you still alive?"

"Wis.h.i.+ng for me to be dead? Too bad, I insist on not doing that," Monoeye Hawk grinned grotesquely, "The Eighth Galaxy was blasted into a honeycomb briquet, but it only missed me, your creditor! What, are you grateful of the heavens?"

Cow: "......"

Monoeye Hawk snarled, "Don't hide behind your lackeys like a f.u.c.king turtle, come over here and talk to me face to face!"

Cow glanced at Jingheng Lin. "I'm not going to, and you'd better not move, too, or my brothers' missiles might accidentally fly out."

Mental networks had limited ranges. For small mechs like Beijing, their networks' ranges were comparingly tiny, and were far smaller than ranges of short-range ballistic missiles in s.p.a.ce.

Although the enemy's side did only have an unorganized mob, they were very cautious, and kept their distance carefully. The mechs in the inner side of the circle were stopped right outside Beijing's mental network.

"Even you have today, huh," Cow surveyed Monoeye Hawk up and down, "What, your base was blasted into bits, and now you're a dog without a home and have to come to me to beg for food? Brother, begging for food isn't not allowed, I'm someone that's nostalgic. It's not that I can't take you in, but look at your att.i.tude."

Monoeye Hawk wanted to snicker. The Seven Galaxies were tight on weaponry regulations. Since this smuggler had no connections before, he wanted to get some from Monoeye Hawk. He asked people to say good things about him in front of Monoeye Hawk, and would kneel down and lick his feet if he could. Now that he was better off and rampant, he had a whole other att.i.tude.

"Not that I meant to hide it from you, but I did suffer some losses from that Ares psycho this time. We're all people from that time, we all hold harsh grudges against the Cayley Guard, don't we?" Monoeye Hawk suppressed his temper, " Let me tell you, that old crazy has his momentum, and he even has the *AUG's shadow behind him. If they actually take over the Eighth Galaxy, no one's going to have a good time anymore. I have weapon sources, you have your underground city, and we should all sit down and discuss all this. See if we can rally all the old brothers, and handle our old common foe."

*AUG: Anti Utopia Group

Cow's mouth twisted, showing an unimpressed fake smile. "You've said it yourself too, it's the underground city here. Before Prince Cayley came here, we were smelly pests in the sewers. Now that they're here, they have no intentions of cleaning out the sewers. I'm fine like this, why should I head for a certain death?"

"If I remember correctly, both your parents and your sister......your entire family died from the Rainbow Virus. When you came to ask me to use installments instead last time, you got drunk, and bawled on the table." Monoeye Hawk's voice was pressed low in his throat, "You said that your sister was just six then, that her entire body was festered, that blood and flesh dropped from her at every single touch. You said that they tossed her into an isolation box, dumped her into the incinerators when she was still alive......."

Hearing this, Cow put a palm to his forehead, laughing uncontrollably. He interrupted him, "Monoeye Hawk, Lu, how are you so naive? How do I get close to you if I don't gain your sympathy? I've been alone since I was young, grew up by pickpocketing and lying--parents and a younger sister? Ha, did I also tell you that my house had a small yard with two mid-sized dogs? Ain't that just so warm?"

Monoeye Hawk's jaw tightened fiercely.

Cow's expression then turned cold. "Sorry, but I'd rather spend a few more years of peace than try to find trouble. Lu, do you know that there are two types of people on this world that needs to die? One's the secretary, because he knows too much, and the other's the lender."

"You......" Monoeye Hawk growled.

Cow's grinned, showing a mouthful of white teeth. "Sorry, bye."

As he was still speaking, he abruptly cut off the communication on his side. The dozens of mechs on the inner side of the circle surrounding them aimed their muzzles at the same time. Ready for a big chorus, to blast their trapped tiny mech in the middle into bits.

Monoeye Hawk: "Son of a b.i.t.c.h!"

Bixing Lu suddenly looked over his shoulder at Zhanlu--as if he had felt something. Zhanlu's eyes were shut, his whole body almost an apparition. The heavy mech's mental network silently overlapped Beijing's, seeping out undetected like an invisible layer of ripples.

Right as the enemy was about to fire, the several dozen mechs in the frontline had their mental networks upheaved at the same time. The unstoppable invasion quickly swept over the entire row, more than sixty mechs' mental networks disconnected altogether. An entire field of pilots on the other side collapsed into a heap.

At the same time, the mechs closest to Cow was reverse controlled. A particle cannon shattered Cow's defense system and main transmitter. Eight loaded missiles were aimed, hanging above him, ready to fire.

Jingheng Lin pressed on his temples lightly. Under all the gaping gazes, he spoke, his voice extremely light.

"Contact them again," he said, "You can shout at them without having to hold back now, mate."