Life Game In Other World
Chapter 796: Sky Behemoth (Extended - for Monthly Votes)

Chapter 796: Chapter 796: Sky Behemoth (Extended Chapter for Monthly Votes)

Sky Behemoth

He Ao raised his head, staring at the huge shadow that seemed to blot out the sun.

Even Vian had only ’visited’ this terrifyingly huge thing in some secret bases.

This was the first time He Ao had seen it ’move.’

The enormous Floating Battleship took on a flattened shape, like a massive, stretched, flattened droplet of water, or a giant beast spreading its wings.

At the very front of this ’droplet’ there was a concave ’V’ shape, and in the middle of the concavity, there was a giant main cannon with a diameter of over ten meters that could adjust its pitch angle.

Countless small anti-aircraft guns dotted the ’beast’s’ body, and armed drones ranging from two to three meters in diameter swarmed around the behemoth like a dense cloud of bees; next to this giant, the fifteen-meter-long Dragon Cavalry Fighter seemed just like a slightly larger dragonfly.

This was one of the peak weapons the Federation could now produce, a B-level combat unit, the Sky Behemoth.

It was one of the Federation’s main weapons against B-level exotic beasts.

The power of the Sky Behemoth lay not only in its weapon systems but also in that it was a battle formation unto itself.

Normally, the Sky Behemoth would be accompanied by an elite combat team consisting of ten to fifteen Mechas, along with a variable number of D-level Dragon Cavalry low-altitude fighters, ranging from several to dozens.

In some larger battle formations, there would also be some Supersonic Fighter Jets.

It carried a large number of swarm drones controlled by its main computer, and it was a massive wireless transmitter by itself, emitting its own signals while also jamming other civilian or unauthorized signals.

In the centuries of the Federation’s history, the Sky Behemoth had helped humanity solve a great number of powerful exotic beasts and was one of the strongest weapons currently in the military arsenal.

As soon as he saw the military-grade signal jammer at the Withered Tree Bar, He Ao had a bad feeling, but the appearance of the Sky Behemoth still exceeded his estimates.

Such a thing was beyond the reach of ordinary consortia and even the City Defense Army; just the construction cost of a Sky Behemoth was as high as several tens of billions of federal coins, with maintenance costing millions annually, and operating it amounted to hundreds of thousands per minute.

Many small cities couldn’t afford such a colossal entity.

Even for large consortia, those who could both afford and maintain a Sky Behemoth were few.

Moreover, as a super-single item of the Yiwis Space System Company, there were thresholds for purchasing a Sky Behemoth.

Direct purchase was impossible; one must continuously spend hundreds of billions of federal coins with the Yiwis Space System Company, becoming their top-tier VIP customer, and then qualify for the bidding to buy the annual quota of the Sky Behemoth.

Furthermore, the Sky Behemoth was not sold separately, but as a complete combat unit, along with Mechas, drones, and Dragon Cavalry, in a bundled sale.

After such rigorous screening, only a few established consortia could possibly afford to buy a Sky Behemoth.

Some of the younger large consortia, like the overgrown-grass-covered Kajet Consortium, even if highly valued, did not have a Sky Behemoth in their Mercenary Corps.

However, compared to hiring a B-level Transcendent, the initial investment cost of a Sky Behemoth was far higher, which is why, apart from the Federation military, there weren’t many consortia that were actually willing to purchase one.

Taken as a whole, only those well-established consortia with deep pockets and qualifications would buy Sky Behemoths to balance the Transcendent power within the consortia.

Clearly, United Industries, which was only established twenty or thirty years ago, was not on this list of ’established consortia.’

Therefore, this Sky Behemoth was most likely loaned to United Industries for ’show’ by one of the established consortia.

Compared to a B-level Transcendent, the actual wear and tear on a Sky Behemoth were not so high, and it was even preferable to operate it occasionally since leaving it idle for too long could lead to more issues.

Moreover, its oppressive presence was much stronger than that of a B-level Transcendent.

With the dense shadows overwhelming him, He Ao’s expression turned somber.

United Industries had made a mistake that crossed an ’ethical boundary’; in principle, weapons like the Sky Behemoth were not allowed to enter cities.

A single mishap with such a weapon could lead to countless fatalities.

Luckily, judging from its appearance, this model of Sky Behemoth was not nuclear-powered but powered by ultra-high-capacity compressed batteries.

This model was larger, cheaper, and had lower maintenance costs, but at the same time had shorter endurance and fewer weapons.

It was dubbed a ’youth model.’

The designer of this Sky Behemoth probably intended for it to adapt to environments that normal nuclear reactors couldn’t handle, but He Ao believed, with high probability, that ’urban environments’ were not included in these.

And within the split second of He Ao’s thoughts, the Sky Behemoth in the sky seemed to have noticed his presence as well.

"’Seventh Force’?"

An aged voice rang out from the drones flitting through the sky, "What exactly are you trying to do?"

He Ao glanced through the gaps between the drones, spotting the black Mecha that had earlier escaped from under his control.

That machine had already darted behind the drones, likely syncing He Ao’s recent ’battle achievements’ with the Sky Behemoth’s Control Room through a special frequency.

The drones encircled He Ao completely but did not launch an immediate attack.

It was clear they were very wary of He Ao.

"The Seventh Force,"

Seeing that He Ao didn’t respond right away, the aged voice came through the drone again,

"I trust you have seen that we will soon restore order to this city. If you really wish to accomplish something here, surrender is your only choice. As long as you are willing to serve us, we can overlook all the incidents that occurred before."

The voice sounded lofty, backed by the giant Sky Behemoth, an invisible and oppressive shadow looming over everyone, "I believe you are well aware of the outcome when a feeble Fallen Angel mech faces the Sky Behemoth. If you choose to be our enemy, then you will be greeted by a fate of death and destruction."

He Ao was watching everything through the mech’s internal monitors, no longer having the strength to speak, nor wanting to speak here.

He slowly pushed the control stick.

The pristine white mech slowly raised its left hand.

"Are you going to surrender?"

The elderly voice boomed beneath the sky, looking down upon the creatures below, seemingly observing He Ao’s unmoving hand on the Longsword, "A reasonable amount of caution is permissible. I allow you to keep your weapon in hand, to surrender by raising just one hand."

Then, in the camera feeds of all drones, the palm of the pure white mech turned, its back facing outward, slowly bending its little finger, ring finger, index finger, and thumb.

Under the guise of this friendly gesture, the whole world seemed to become silent for a moment.

"Foolish and overconfident trash!"

The voice almost grated through the teeth of the drone.

Subsequently, the flying drones, like a torrential black tide from the abyss, spewed flames towards the pure white mech.

He Ao suddenly lifted the Knight’s sword in his hand, swept out with a single strike, destroying the approaching shells and turning them into blossoms of flame, then his figure broke through these flames, using the Knight’s sword to directly slash the wave-like drones in the sky, forging a gaping maw.

He then surged past the group of drones, continuing to fly upwards.

A Dragon Cavalry Fighter, positioned closely to He Ao, quickly rose up, launching a missile while dodging He Ao at the same time.

He Ao sliced through the missile with his sword, and amidst the flames of the explosion, flew out like a streak of light, bisecting the Dragon Cavalry Fighter in the air.

He then turned back to look at the drones that were catching up to him, adjusting the laser cannon in his right hand to continuous mode.

The dazzling laser traced the sky, then swept like a swung Magic Wand towards the right.

Countless drones shattered under this laser, their exploding fragments taking out other drones. In that instant, a wall of flames formed between He Ao and the drones behind him.

He Ao’s speed swiftly shot upward, charging straight at the massive object looming in the sky.

In that moment, two dark mechs charged up, blocking He Ao’s way.

One after another, He Ao smashed the cockpits of the two mechs.

The uncontrolled mechs fell to the ground, crashing at the border between the sea and the land.

This was already the edge of the Storm Sea; just a bit further, and He Ao could almost hear the roaring of the distant storm.

His figure continued to advance, rushing towards the Sky Behemoth that was towering in the air.

Vian didn’t have the blueprints for the Sky Behemoth, nor had he researched it. However, he had been to the Yiwis Space System company’s exhibition of the Sky Behemoth.

Even though the blonde saleswoman in black stockings at the Yiwis Space System hadn’t taken him to visit the core area of the Sky Behemoth, he had roughly guessed the location of the Control Room.

It should be right behind that massive main cannon.

Large weapons like the Sky Behemoth fear small, high-attack weapons getting close, so they come equipped with at least a dozen mechs to form a battle group.

A dozen mechs charging together, along with the drones and Dragon Cavalry, would make it difficult even for a B-level Transcendent to break through quickly.

But at this moment, He Ao looked around and saw that, aside from the two mechs he had just destroyed, along with the one that fled so fast, there were only three mechs left in the vicinity.

Clearly, the mech squadron dispatched to the Bishop’s Cathedral, which He Ao had eradicated, was the same one assigned to defend the Sky Behemoth.

The surrounding Dragon Cavalry Fighter Jets were also less than half of what they theoretically should have been.

······

United Industries seemed to have never considered that the Sky Behemoth could be subjected to a single-man assault, nor did they ever think that there was any danger to the Sky Behemoth.

So they easily dispatched the battle group meant to accompany the Sky Behemoth to do other tasks.

As He Ao got closer to the Sky Behemoth, openings started to appear underneath the enormous bulk, revealing the wells for the micro missile launchers.

Rows of micro missiles rained down on He Ao’s position like a torrential downpour. These missiles seemed to have tracking devices, trailing smoke as they madly surged towards He Ao.

He Ao immediately spun in midair, a rapid dive towards the sea below, then pulling up sharply near the surface of the water, once again ascending to the sky.

Some of the missiles couldn’t adapt to such high-maneuvering operations and exploded on the sea surface after losing their target, while others continued to pursue He Ao.

He Ao immediately turned around, raising his prepared laser cannon with his right hand, and with a sweeping motion, countless missiles were directly shattered under the laser’s irradiation, taking out the following missiles as well.

At this moment, an ear-piercing alarm suddenly sounded inside the mech’s cockpit.

He Ao looked up towards the sky.

In the forefront of that immense shadow, the massive main cannon, once pitch-black, was now filled with a glowing orange-red light.

A terrifying heatwave instantly spread through the dark space, illuminating the sky like the sun, dimming the stars in its wake.

Without hesitation, He Ao immediately pushed all the thrusters to full power, angling sharply into the sky.

Boom—

Accompanied by the thunderous sound of a cannon, the huge orange-red brilliance hit the surface of the sea where He Ao had just stood.

The calm sea water, upon touching the light, evaporated into countless bewildered puffs of white mist, leaving a vast hole hundreds of meters in diameter in the very spot where He Ao had been standing.

The moist seabed was exposed to the air, numerous fierce fish that swam in the water were seared into dried fish by the high temperature or were instantly cooked by the scalding steam.

A mining ship docked at the coastline, marked with the name of United Industries, was now only half intact, with molten iron glowing fiercely as it hung from the ship’s severed edge.

Immediately afterwards, the surging seawater violently backfilled, replenishing the dried seabed.

The colossus in the sky turned its cannon port, targeting He Ao, who was now floating in the air, once again beginning to build up energy.

This time, two more mechs rushed towards him, trying to stop He Ao.

This time He Ao quickly destroyed the mech’s control panel, then lifted his greatsword and thrust it into the back of the mech.

Along with a burst of flashing electricity, two energy cell compartments, holding energy cells, fell into He Ao’s hands.

Normally, forcibly dismantling a mech’s battery would directly trigger the battery’s stress response device, causing an explosion, so He Ao used his knowledge of the mech’s structure to remove the battery and its protective device together.

And in the instant he destroyed the mechs,

a barrage of missiles once again chased after He Ao.

He Ao dodged backward, his trajectory shining in the sky like a streak of light drawing several broken lines, then he plunged towards the ground.

Just before reaching the coastline, he turned and fired a laser cannon, destroying the missiles following behind him.

Then he descended, dismantling the energy cells from the two mechs he had just destroyed that lay on the shore.

Now he had four high-performance compressed energy cells.

He didn’t destroy their energy cells while dealing with those two mechs, thinking they might be useful later on.

If it wasn’t for the commander of United Industries directing these mechs to him in pairs, he wouldn’t have been able to manage this step so easily.

If it had been four or five mechs swarming him from the beginning, he would likely have had to destroy at least three cells, not to mention sustaining some damage himself.

Four cells might not be enough.

As He Ao dodged another wave of attacking drones, he bound the four energy cells together using metal strips he cut from the mech, holding them in his hand as he once again charged towards the sea.

At the same time, his speed rapidly increased.

After He Ao had destroyed four of the five mechs, the commander of United Industries no longer had more mechs to send to delay him.

So they dispatched all the surrounding drones and the Dragon Cavalry, like a dark cloud pressing down, attacking He Ao.

And that final mech that had fled from the cathedral was following behind the drones, mockingly launching stealth plasma cannon attacks on He Ao.

The number of drones was less.

Dodging an incoming plasma cannon shot, He Ao took a quick glance at the pursuing drone swarm.

The Sky Behemoth’s escort drones should have been more numerous; perhaps most had been redirected to other tasks.

The modifications Vili made were significant; with He Ao pushing it to the limit, this Fallen Angel mech’s speed was at least 130% of the other Fallen Angel mechs.

This allowed He Ao to trail the drones behind him while performing certain maneuvers.

And while He Ao was continuously dealing with the cannon fire from the drones behind him, the piercing alarm sounded once more inside the cockpit.

He Ao manipulated the control stick and swiftly turned in the sky, lifting the Knight’s sword in his hand and without hesitation charged into the unprepared drone swarm.

Shells hit the mech’s armor leaving trails of black smoke.

The massive main cannon seemed not to expect He Ao’s sudden retreat and quickly readjusted its barrel again.

It was in this moment that He Ao spotted the mech hidden among the drones; amidst its confused actions, he pierced the mech with his sword, taking it with him as he changed direction at a right angle, furiously flying into the sky.

Boom—

A dazzling brilliance illuminated beneath him, and in an instant, the drones, dense as dark clouds, melted away. The surging heatwave blasted He Ao along with the mech in the sky, leaving him adrift under the stars like a dandelion seed caught in the wind.

Some drones escaped control, rising frantically, charging towards the nearly uncontrollable pure white mech in the sky.

The grand main cannon lifted its muzzle, aiming at He Ao once more, beginning to charge up energy.

By this time, He Ao had flown higher than the Sky Behemoth.

He could see the colossal streamlined back of the Sky Behemoth and the obviously aged mechanical equipment on its back.

This behemoth, seemingly ancient, stood silent under the brilliant stars like a terrifying beast that had stepped right out of history, its massive cannon exuding an aura of death.

Compared to such an immense behemoth, the Fallen Angel mech seemed incredibly tiny and immature.

Under the brilliant stars, He Ao drew his Qi sword, then with a punch, struck the cockpit of the Hell Apostle mech he was holding.

The cockpit door shattered.

The hatch of the pure white Fallen Angel mech opened.

"Eve,"

He Ao stepped out from the control panel, and in the shimmering light of the cockpit, spoke softly, "It’s all yours now."

Then, with a burst of his last strength, he rushed to the hatch, leaped fiercely, his figure passing through the brilliance of the dazzling stars, traversing the distance between the two mechs, and jumping into the opened cockpit of the Hell Apostle mech.

The mech pilot was not yet dead, he watched in astonishment as He Ao leaped over, lifting a metal rod to charge at He Ao.

He Ao drew his pistol from his waist.

Bang—

Then, he reinserted the still-smoking pistol into his waistband, walked over to the driver who had been shot in the forehead and was falling backward, kicked the driver’s body aside, and took a seat in the pilot’s chair.

The mech hadn’t powered down yet; the pilot’s life authentication was still valid.

He Ao directly pulled the control stick, taking the whole Hell Apostle mech into flight.

The howling wind penetrated through the broken protective cover, brushing against his cheeks.

At that moment, the pure white Fallen Angel mech handed him four energy cells.

Without hesitation, He Ao embraced these four energy cells and charged straight for the Sky Behemoth’s main cannon, which was still charging up.

"Soldier? What are you doing?!!"

Countless identification codes were instantly sent to the interior of the Hell Apostle mech.

The Sky Behemoth didn’t immediately react to what had happened with the Hell Apostle mech.

He Ao ignored the inquiries, instead he pushed the control stick to its limit, activating the mech’s final power output.

The Sky Behemoth couldn’t allow anything thrown from a distance to get close, especially near the main cannon; it required a high-powered device to carry it there.

The Sky Behemoth’s moment of hesitation was brief. Soon, they recognized He Ao’s intention.

Numerous missiles were launched from the Sky Behemoth’s body, targeting the Hell Apostle mech.

He Ao activated all the anti-aircraft guns and long-range cannons, indiscriminately firing at the missiles approaching from all sides.

In that brief time, He Ao had managed to close the distance significantly.

The main cannon was now within arm’s reach; he could even feel the raging flames through the shattered opening.

Even as missiles hit the mech, He Ao didn’t hesitate; he relied on the mech’s endurance to charge further towards the massive cannon’s muzzle.

All this happened in a split second, even the drones chasing the Fallen Angel mech hadn’t had the time to turn their cannons.

In the moment just before entering the main cannon, He Ao leaped from the battered mech.

He drifted through the air like a falling leaf.

Eve...

Boom—

The pure white figure flew beneath him, deftly catching him in the cockpit.

Boom—

A violent explosion lit up the land.