area51novel Chapter 2: Slaying the Demon Bullet, and Asking for Directions Along the Way
Chapter 2: Slaying the Demon Bullet, and Asking for Directions Along the Way
"Where did this stray dog come from? How dare it touch my Kruze team's machines!"
A cold and arrogant voice came through the public channel.
Before he could finish speaking, an orange-yellow figure descended from the sky like a ghost and crashed heavily in front of Ling Yu!
It was that Zeon with the special markings painted on its shoulder!
"Miguel Ayman! He's here so fast?" Ling Yu's pupils contracted.
The opponent gave him no chance to breathe. The 76mm heavy machine gun spat out fire instantly, its trajectory precise and ruthless, blocking all of Ling Yu's evasive routes.
This is the dominant fighting style of elite drivers.
However, from Amuro Ray's perspective, this impenetrable barrage appears as if in slow motion, full of flaws.
"Too slow."
Ling Yu didn't even touch the dodge stick; he simply pushed the control stick slightly while simultaneously launching a reverse jet from the nozzles under his feet within milliseconds.
"Squeak—"
Amidst the ear-piercing metallic scraping sound, the battle-damaged Gene, who should have been riddled with holes, mimicked an inexplicable "Z" shape, drawing two bizarre arcs along the ground.
All the bullets missed their mark.
"WTF?!"
An incredulous gasp rang out from Miguel's cockpit.
This kind of ground-hugging maneuver is impossible for a normal Zeon's balance system to achieve; forcing it will only cause the machine to lose control and fall.
Who is this guy?!
Ling Yu had no interest in answering his questions.
"So what if you're driving a special machine? What's with the arrogance? Watch me push it back with my Zeon!"
He shouted out a famous line from a certain chuunibyou (middle school syndrome) teenager in his mind while pushing the control stick.
The entire Gene was like a wild beast awakening.
Instead of retreating, they advanced and charged towards Miguel.
"court death!"
Miguel roared, put away his rifle, drew his MA-M3 heavy cleaver from his back, and slashed at Miguel.
The blade brought with it a scorching wind, determined to cut this arrogant and dilapidated Gene in two.
when--
The two heavy swords collided violently in mid-air, bursting into dazzling sparks.
The collision of forces caused Ling Yu's battle-damaged Zeon to shake violently, and alarms blared in the cockpit.
"As expected, the machine's performance is still far too inferior..." Ling Yu gritted his teeth.
"Hmph, that's enough, you stray dog!"
Miguel grinned maliciously, using the increased power of his engine to press down on Ling Yu's blade and advance step by step.
He could almost see the scene of him splitting the other party, along with the convertible cockpit, in two.
However, at that moment, Ling Yu smiled.
"You think that's all?"
He abruptly released his right hand from the knife, letting the other's blade press down.
Miguel was stunned. Was this... giving up?
wrong!
In the instant he was stunned, Ling Yu’s Gene suddenly raised his left leg and kicked Miguel’s knee joint.
boom.
The kick was swift and powerful, causing Miguel's machine to stagger, and the forward-pressing blade immediately deviated from its trajectory.
Right now.
Ling Yu's Gene twisted his body in an incredible posture, and his right hand, which had just loosened its grip, grasped the falling hilt of the knife again with lightning speed.
Using the centrifugal force of the rotating machine, the heavy slashing blade drew a perfect crescent arc.
"Oh no!" Miguel was terrified.
He wanted to back away, but it was too late.
puff-
The blazing blade precisely severed his left arm, the one holding the gun.
At the break, electric sparks erupted wildly.
The series of operations were executed flawlessly and at an extreme speed.
[Ding! Amuro Ray (first generation ver.) proficiency +10%! System points +200!]
"pretty!"
Ling Yu roared excitedly, and before Miguel could regain his footing, he manipulated the lame Gene to pounce again.
The heavy slashing blade transformed into streaks of cold light, relentlessly attacking all the weak points of Miguel's body, including its joints and sensors.
when!when!when!
For a moment, only the deafening clang of clashing steel and the flying sparks remained on the battlefield.
A battle-damaged Zeon with its cockpit open was chasing after an elite special equipment machine and hacking away at it.
The scene was extremely bizarre.
Meanwhile, on the mothership Gamov.
Xiao Ran's brows were furrowed into a deep frown.
On his tactics screen, the dot of light for [Anomaly-01]
In a frenzied yet precise way,
Miguel Eman is one of the trump cards in suppressing ZAFT.
"Impossible... Absolutely impossible!"
The adjutant beside him was dumbfounded.
"Captain Miguel... is being suppressed? The opponent is using a mass-produced machine that's almost scrapped?"
Xiao Ran did not answer.
His brain was racing, and countless data streams were scrolling wildly across the analysis interface of the ZAFT Armory System.
"Predicted wear and tear rate: 97%".
"Pilot's reaction speed: exceeds the theoretical peak by 315%".
"Tactical choice: Optimal solution achievement rate: 100%"
Each cold, hard number points to an absurd conclusion.
"This is not something a natural person could do..." Xiao Ran muttered to himself.
He suddenly raised his head, a terrifying glint flashing in his eyes.
"Order Captain Kruze to immediately halt the original plan! Capture [Anomaly-01] alive at all costs!"
I suspect... that wasn't a pilot, but a drone secretly developed by the Earth Alliance and equipped with a "combat-learning AI"!
"A...perfect weapon of war with self-awareness!"
On the battlefield.
"Bastard! Bastard! Bastard!"
Miguel has completely gone mad!
His driving skills, which he was so proud of, were like a three-year-old's scribbles in front of the other party—childish and laughable.
No matter what move he makes, the other party seems to be able to predict it in advance and always manages to deliver a fatal blow to his most vulnerable spot.
"You despicable Natural, I'm going to kill you!"
Miguel recklessly activated the thrusters to create distance between himself and Ling Yu, then raised his remaining right hand to fire a heavy machine gun at Ling Yu with a frenzy.
"Still not giving up? Then you've already chosen a path to your death!"
Ling Yu let out a low roar, and his heavy slashing sword danced in front of him, creating a screen of light that deflected all the incoming bullets.
Immediately afterwards, he made a gesture that nearly made Miguel's eyes pop out of their sockets.
He actually... voluntarily threw away the heavy cleaver in his hand, and the single eye of the monitor dimmed.
"You dare look down on me?! Huh?"
Miguel was initially furious, but then overjoyed, thinking that the opponent had run out of energy. He immediately stopped firing and rushed forward at full speed, ready to deliver the final blow.
However, a cold smile curled at the corner of Ling Yu's lips.
"They've taken the bait."
Just as the two machines were about to collide, Ling Yu's Gene suddenly crouched down, like a cheetah hunting its prey, its right mechanical arm spreading its five fingers and gripping the ground tightly.
creak-
The immense inertia caused the machine to carve a deep trench in the ground, which then passed right under Miguel's crotch.
In the instant they passed each other, Ling Yu, controlling Gene, picked up the heavy slashing sword that had fallen from the enemy aircraft he had just slashed down.
"Goodbye, Twilight's Magic Bullet".
puff--
A fatal blow from below
The heavy slashing blade precisely pierced through the cockpit of Miguel's special machine from behind.
The orange-yellow Gene froze on the spot, the red light in his single eye slowly fading.
[Ding! Emergency mission completed, rating S++! You have surpassed mere survival and achieved a counterattack!]
[Congratulations, pilot, for eliminating the elite unit "Twilight's Magic Bullet"!]
[Task rewards are being calculated...]
[1. Received 3000 system points!]
[2. Unlocked Gacha Pool: [Trajectory of the Red Comet (Beginner)], SSR Card: Char Aznable (0079ver) has been added to the gacha pool]
[3. Obtained special loot: [Miguel Ayman's Data Chip (Encrypted)], now stored in the system inventory.]
A series of system notification sounds jolted Ling Yu, who had been exhausted.
Char!
There are three red draws now.
However, before he could finish celebrating, a sudden wave of dizziness and weakness washed over him.
Ten minutes of "substitute playing" time,
It's all gone.
"Well……"
Ling Yu slumped in his chair, panting heavily, feeling completely drained.
At that moment, a new and powerful signal source appeared on the radar.
A mobile suit painted in white, blue, and red, wielding a high-energy beam rifle, stood silently not far away, its dark muzzle...
It was right in front of his battered Gene.
Strike Gundam.
Inside the cockpit, Kira Yamato, who had just escaped death, stared in disbelief at the dramatic scene before him.
What? You're saying a Natural used a crappy Zeon to kill another Elite Zeon?
Are you the adjuster or am I the adjuster?
Are they really treating ZAFT like a Japanese person?
He swallowed hard, his hands trembling as he opened the public chat channel and asked the question that had been weighing on his mind for so long:
“Who…who are you?”
Ling Yu looked up at the brand-new Gundam, then at his own tattered clothes, and sighed.
He opened the public channel and spoke in an extremely weak yet somewhat cynical tone:
"Excuse me, can I ask for directions?"
"Is the Archangel still accepting passengers? I'm in a hurry to get on board."