Chapter 24: Lizard Slayer

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Mu stepped forward elegantly, as if strolling leisurely through a garden, giving no signs of what he was about to do. One of his arms wielded a seven-meter long titanium pole, pointed at an angle towards the feasting iron lizard.

The lizard’s brown body was covered with a thick layer of powdery blue scales. It rose, as if aware of somebody approaching with an intention to kill, and its blood red eyes locked onto Mu Shang. Ye Chong, despite sitting inside Mu Shang’s cabin, felt a cold shudder.

The lizard looked fearsome enough lying around its meal; now that it raised its head, it looked like an armor-clad hill, casting a large shadow on the ground.

Mu Shang kept his thoughts to himself, silently observing the beast from where it stood, as though he was God looking down arrogantly from high above, and the lizard was but an insignificant ant.

The lizard behaved cautiously, as though sensing the dangers ahead. It scratched the earth with its forelegs repeatedly and growled.

Ye Chong was viewing the exchange from an entirely different perspective. With his helmet on, he could see his surroundings from various angles thanks to Mu Shang’s numerously concealed cameras. A seamless integration with the photon processor meant that Ye Chong felt as though he was not in the cabin, but right in front of the lizard itself.

Ye Chong gaped, for this… This was too amazing! Although Ye Chong had gone through NR Training and piloted a few mechs, not one of them could compare to Mu Shang – all the other mechs could only show the external view from multiple display screens.

For the very first time, Ye Chong thought of Mu Shang’s origins as shrouded in mystery.

Before he could reflect any further, his view abruptly changed, and a rotating hologram of the iron lizard appeared before him, until a beep was sounded. The hologram was overlaid with a network of tiny squares and a square below the lizard’s chin turned red.

Ye Chong heard an unfamiliar electrically synthesized voice declare, “Scanning completed, target confirmed!”

Mu leapt from a tall mountain of trash, silent like a bat. If the full moon was behind the mech, one might mistake it as a Prince from the orbiting natural satellite in all its elegance and reserve, fatally alluring.

Can a mech have human qualities? Ye Chong could not believe his eyes, but the events were unfolding right before him, and the truth was undeniable.

Suddenly, his vision shifted, and Ye Chong found himself staring right into the lizard’s eyes. Ye Chong felt his heart race – at this distance, he could even make out the peculiar patterns on the lizard’s scales.

If anyone were there to witness what had happened, they would have described it as an inexplicable event – Mu Shang was in mid-air as he suddenly vanished, and appeared just as unexpectedly to the side of the lizard’s head. It was as if the mech broke the rules of space and time, appearing and disappearing at will.

That was why Ye Chong suddenly found the lizard right before him.

The lizard was also surprised; its large head raised, and its hind legs stepped back.

Right when the lizard raised its head, there was a flash of silver – the titanium pole’s sharp end drew a silver arc in the air, reflecting light off its tip. Mu had swung the pole fast and steady, and the wind shrieked as though the weapon had damaged the fabric of space itself.

SHIICK! The pole penetrated deep into the lizard’s exposed throat. The iron lizard’s eyes widened, its maroon eyes fixed on Mu. The mech did not return the gesture, but retreated to about twenty meters away from the lizard and observed his work.

The lizard seemed to come a realization of what had happened. It whined piercingly in vain, its voice echoing through mountains of trash, until it fell silent. The lizard’s huge eyes were devoid of life, as the creature was finally dead. Saliva mixed with blood drooled from the edges of its mouth, trickling out from the inch-wide gaps between its teeth onto the ground.

This was the first time Ye Chong witnessed Mu’s true strength! And it was strong as hell!

Ye Chong could not forget that fatal blow from the titanium pole – that scene with the silver arc coupled with the whiz from the weapon’s swing through the air kept playing in his head over and over again.

He did not really hear Mu asking him to start peeling the scales, as he was still very much distracted and was in a daze.

It took him awhile to shake off the euphoria and began removing the lizard’s scales.

Ye Chong spoke as he worked, “Mu, that stab of yours was perfect! Absolutely perfect!”

Mu was unmoved. “Perfect? Far from it! That stab was lacking something that is most important!”

Ye Chong was baffled, as his hands stopped working. “What’s this most important thing?”

Mu stopped working too, and patiently explained, “It’s the spirit! Although that stab of mine was perfect in terms of power, angle and opportunity, it still lacked spirit, or rather, it lacked a soul! While I do not know who said this, but it was stored in my memory chip. I believe there must be something right about this statement. However, I had been unable to grasp what it is. My skills have already utilized the potential of today’s photon processors to its maximum, but in end, I am not human! This soul thing seemed to be something unique to humans!”

“Spirit…” Ye Chong murmured, as he fell into deep thought. All this while, he had thought himself to be an able mech pilot, and his battles seemed to prove the point. But watching Mu’s attack earlier made him realize that he still had much to catch up with – as he was, he could not possibly evade that stabbing attack. However, Ye Chong kept himself optimistic. Being discouraged and feeling inferior would not help him – Ye Chong believed that, with hard work, he could achieve and even surpass Mu’s abilities!

Mu lifted a piece of lizard scale and bended it here and there. “Not bad! Its strength is at 8.12, and its resilience is between 7.0 and 7.2. Such solid material coupled with high resilience is sure a rare find!”

The scale was placed on the ground, and Mu directed his right arm at it. A silver glow zoomed towards the scale, and Ye Chong heard a slight thump, as dust around the scale was sent flying in waves away from the center, where the scale lay.

Mu picked up the scale – besides a little mark at its center, the scale was largely untouched. Mu nodded approvingly. “This is good material. Ye, let us not waste any of it!”

Ye Chong agreed. “Of course, we might not come across something as good as this again!” There were cracks spreading outwards like spiderwebs where the scale laid, and Ye Chong shuddered internally.

The pair removed all the scales from the lizard’s body. Ye Chong bet that the creature had never been so naked before! He had also collected bottles of the iron lizard’s blood. Of course, he was also curious as to how the meat tasted like, and so Ye Chong severed off its front limb and brought it home, reluctantly leaving the rest of the lizard’s huge carcass behind. Tsk tsk, too bad I need to get out of this place quick, or your meat would have lasted me a good long time!

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