Chapter 591: Return IV

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The mech was well preserved. Aside from the damages it received, the other parts did not look like they had aged much. Of the Three Aristocratic Families, Ye Chong was most familiar with mechs from the Ye Family. He had piloted many of the Ye Family’s mechs. With the exception of Ye Yin’s mech, he had used even a Mandate class mech, Moon King. Most of the Ye Family’s disciples could not hope to compare with him.

This mech, however, did not look like a familiar model. Ye Chong could, of course, ascertain that it was no ordinary mech. From the thick layer of dust and soil covering it, he knew that the mech had been here for a very long time. Thus, this mech must be a very old model of the Ye Family. It was only natural that he had not seen it before.

The pilot cabin was heavily damaged, so it was easy to open the hatch and enter. Of course, only someone crazily strong like Ye Chong could lift the damaged pilot cabin hatch up easily with his bare hands.

Ye Chong and Rui Bing entered the pilot cabin while Sha Ya waited outside. It was a tight fit for both Ye Chong and Rui Bing inside the pilot cabin.

The controls inside the mech’s pilot cabin were arranged very differently compared to modern day mechs. This was further proof of the mech’s age. On the pilot seat was a pile of skeletons, probably the pilot’s. Ye Chong and Rui Bing carefully avoided the skeletons, but Ye Chong could not help but notice that there were many broken bones in the pile. The mech pilot must have suffered grave injuries before death.

Ye Chong’s attention finally went to the control console, which was completely intact. Usually, the control console would have a memory chip that automatically recorded all information on the mech, including holographic recording. By inspecting the contents of this chip, one could know all about the mech.

Mechs from the Three Aristocratic Families were guarded with proprietary technology. Only a person of the Ye Family’s bloodline could access a mech of the Ye Family. Ye Chong had seen how it worked with Moon King. He did not know why he had Ye Family blood, but Ye Luo’s test suggested that he did.

The second time was easier. Ye Chong took out his dagger and made a small cut on his finger. He pressed a drop of blood onto the control console. Rui Bing watched Ye Chong quietly, feeling sorry for him.

“Identity authentication is successful. Access granted.” A bionic voice suddenly spoke up, surprising them both.

Ye Chong was not surprised by the fact that he was granted access, but he was surprised by the mech’s energy cell capacity. After so many years, the mech still had power! Since when was energy cell technology so advanced? He found it odd, but kept his curiosity contained while he began to look through contents of the mech’s memory chip.

Zip! Suddenly, the holographic screen lit up.

“Shang, prepare for battle!” The first words that came from the video on the holographic screen caught Ye Chong completely off guard. Shang. He did know if this “Shang” was the same one as his friend. “Perhaps they share the same name,” Ye Chong thought to himself. The man who said those words sounded cautious.

Ye Chong continued watching the video.

“Wah, what’s that monster, it’s so ugly!”

That comment hit Ye Chong like a lightning bolt. His body froze as he stared at the holographic screen.

Shang! That was definitely Shang’s voice! Ye Chong could not believe his ears. How was Shang related to this mech? He thought of Mu and Shang’s mysterious past and how he lost his memories. All of that remained a mystery so far. Shang had said that Mu’s consciousness had emerged after his. Before Mu was born, Shang was the only consciousness in his body.

Could it be … This was his chance to know about Shang’s origins. Ye Chong’s heart raced.

“Haha!” The man laughed easily. “Shang, as usual, I’m the striker, you’re the defense! I’m doing all the heavy lifting here, so you better to look after my wife and son, Shang!”

“Stop blabbering! Lil’ Luo Luo, can’t you just get to it already?” Shang sounded lazy and insolent.

“Wife, watch how your husband kill this monster! Son, don’t you dare pee in your mother’s lap.” The man sounded proud of himself.

A woman hidden from view laughed softly.

Suddenly, a creature appeared on the holographic screen. A red-tailed beast! Ye Chong’s gaze focused on the animal. He hit the pause button to freeze the video.

One, two, three … Ye Chong counted to himself … There were eight fingers! Ye Chong’s heart skipped a beat. Eight fingers. He had only seen one eight-fingered red-tailed beast, and that was the most powerful one he had ever encountered. Could this red-tailed beast be the same one that he saw?

Ye Chong could not be sure.

As the video continued, the image began to shake violently. The red-tailed beast was constantly shifting around the mech, coming in closer and then moving away again. Ye Chong believed that this was probably some battle strategy of the mech pilot.

After a while, Ye Chong was able to gauge the mech pilot’s abilities. He was very strong! Not considering the mech’s capabilities, Ye Chong thought that this man was at least on the same level as Ye Family’s ace, Ye Yin. No, this mech pilot was probably stronger than even him. He was obviously more experienced than Ye Yin.

Even Ye Chong himself only had a 50-50 chance of defeating this mech pilot. However, since Ye Chong had Celest, he was sure he would be able to best this mech pilot. Celest had much better specs than this old mech. Besides, after its upgrade, Celest had become much stronger than before. If they used the same mech, Ye Chong believed that he would be on about the same level as this mech pilot.

Ye Chong saw the date indicated on the video, and found that it was recorded 26 years ago! To have this level of ability 26 years ago was amazing! 26 years was a long time for a mech pilot who could learn fast, enough to have several breakthroughs at least.

The mech pilot was strong! Ye Chong felt deep respect for him, as he would for anyone who proved to be strong.

“The Three Aristocratic Families are no longer what they used to be,” Ye Chong thought to himself as he continued to watch the 26-year-old recording.

However, what did it matter to him? He did not care about the Three Aristocratic Families. Ye Chong did not know where that thought came from. Even though he was of the Ye Family bloodline, he never felt anything special for the Ye Family.

Lil’ Luo Luo … Ye Chong suddenly recalled the legendary Ye Family’s ace 20 years ago – Ye Luo. Could this man be Ye Luo? Ye Chong thought it highly likely. Perhaps only the Ye Family’s ace could reach this level. Ye Chong never expected himself to one day think of this so-called Ye Family’s ace, someone he was inspired by and thought highly of, to be just another opponent of equal strength.

Only the strong would have this level of confidence in their own abilities. Such was Ye Chong’s situation.

Ye Chong continued to watch the holographic recording.

The battle was intense. This red-tailed beast was very strong. Ye Chong thought many times that the mech pilot could hurt it, but the creature easily avoided these attacks. Ye Chong imagined the battle himself. If he was in the mech pilot’s position, fighting against this eight-fingered red-tailed beast, could he win?

Ye Chong studied the holographic screen closely, not noticing the sweat that was already forming on his forehead. Rui Bing looked at Ye Chong worriedly, but bit down on her lip and forced herself to keep quiet.

More and more sweat formed on Ye Chong’s forehead, which then rolled down his neck.

Suddenly, Ye Chong’s breathing turned shorter. His eyes gleamed meaningfully. Ye Chong’s body jolted as he broke out of his trance. Ye Chong panted heavily, but his eyes showed that he was now calm and collected as usual.

Rui Bing heaved a sigh of relief.

“This red-tailed beast is powerful,” Ye Chong plainly. He looked back at the holographic screen. The red-tailed beast had a firm upper hand. If it was not a red-tailed beast, Ye Chong would have thought it had parapsychic abilities. The animal fought like Xi Feng Tribe’s mentalists, with the ability to predict its enemy’s next move. Compared to the mentalists, however, it was far stronger.

Even Xi Feng Tribe’s Huang Jiming, their so-called ace, would have a hard time dealing with this creature’s attacks, much less normal mentalists.

The battle soon turned critical.

Shang’s lazy demeanor was replaced with great solemnity. He provided support fire from behind Ye Luo. With his assistance, the battle came to a stalemate.

The animal was able to evade even Shang’s gunfire. Ye Chong’s expression was somber. Shang was inferior to Mu when it came to combat, but the difference was very slight. Ye Chong had never seen any mech pilot able to best the mech.

However, this battle recording showed that the combined effort of Ye Chong and Shang was only just enough to hold the eight-fingered red-tailed beast at bay.

It was a terrifying though! A chill went up Ye Chong’s spine.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep