MRG Chapter 60: Counterattack

Translator: Kii

“The wormhole in Sweiman officially appeared twenty-five minutes ago…”

Deputy Levi stood in the middle of the room, reporting the situation at Sweiman to Light.

Twenty-five minutes ago…

Light dazedly looked at the terminal. Mu Chen had called nineteen minutes and fifty-two seconds ago, just when something had happened in Sweiman.

But what was he doing at that time?

He was still on a mission on the “Eagle,” and all communication equipment was turned off during the mission, so he missed Mu Chen’s most crucial call.

Now, Mu Chen’s phone couldn’t be reached at all, even the lieutenant he had arranged to be with couldn’t be contacted.

And just now, they tried to track the chip on Mu Chen’s terminal, trying to use it to determine the other party’s location.

However, the receiver’s signal was completely lost.

“Signal Lost” only indicated just one possibility—Mu Chen’s terminal was completely broken.

As for why it was broken, Light really didn’t want to think about the reasons. Just thinking in that direction made him feel his throat was being strangled and he couldn’t breathe.

Deputy General Levi’s voice felt a bit distant, intermittently entering his ears. “According to the latest intelligence obtained by the research base just now, the scale of the Sweiman wormhole this time is much smaller than the other four. It is estimated that the first wave of Zergs will not exceed 200. The magnetic field signal over there is also very unstable. It doesn’t seem to be a channel opened specifically for launching an attack. It is a bit like an experimental prototype. The people of Doyle Star appear to be conducting some sort of test. Uncovering the mystery may become an opportunity for us to conquer or even eliminate the wormhole…”

“And that concludes the entire situation of the Sweiman wormhole.”

Light moved his closed lips. “Understood.”

Deputy Levi looked at the pale complexion of the person in front of him and asked tentatively, “General, do you want to take a rest? Go and sleep for half an hour. If there is an emergency, I will notify you immediately. Sweiman’s reinforcement will arrive soon. Everything is under control at the moment.”

It was now past five in the morning in the capital. Yesterday, Light stayed up all night to carry out the mission of destroying the Zerg nests and had not rested until now,

The key point was that Levi saw that Light’s current condition wasn’t all that good. He could understand the other party’s worry and anxiousness. After all, the General’s fiancé was at the Sweiman Warehouse. If he continued on like this, his health would decline.

Light looked up at him. “No need.”

Light was silent for a moment before asking, “Do…do you want to eat something?”

“No need.” Light shook his head, his voice sounding hoarse. “Let me know immediately once there is news.”

“Yes, sir.”

Light left the office and closed the door.

Only Light was left in the spacious office.

He was sitting in the office chair, yet it was as if he was trapped in a man-eating quagmire, sinking deeper and deeper.

At first, it was his puppy, then his mother, and now it was Mu Chen…

Why has things turned out like this?

When Light was twelve years old, his mother Caroline died of a cold-related illness. She wasn’t very old when she died.

At the time, a new disease broke out in the Oz Empire, and no medicine could cure it. The severity of the infection varied for each infected patient due to the difference in their own immunity.

At the time, Light also caught it. After half a month, he fully recovered from it. Caroline, on the other hand, unfortunately died of multiple complications.

Since then, he fell into a vicious cycle of self-blame, even if the young prince didn’t explicitly show it.

Mu Chen was a precious pearl he held dearly. Light didn’t want him to be in harm’s way, so he tried to keep him in a safe and warm harbor.

How could someone who graduated first in their class from the military academy not be outstanding?

But he just had a selfish motive; he doesn’t want the other party to take risks in dangerous places.

Just as Light had always believed, if he just tried a little harder, he could have prevented those tragedies from happening.

At this moment, Light hunched over, his elbows resting on his knees, and his hands covering his face. His wide-opened amber eyes looked empty and lifeless. Through the gaps of his fingers, he saw pools of blood slowly seeped out on the smooth floor, mingled with the pungent smell of the sea breeze.

His pupils suddenly contracted, and cold sweat seemed as if it was about to drip down from his forehead.

Light loosened his hands and kept backing away. He blinked hard, and the bloodstain on the ground disappeared, returning to its smooth appearance. Then, he realized that everything he had just seen was just an illusion.

Light’s chest undulated, breathing deeply a few times in an attempt to calm down his emotions.

It had never crossed his mind that his very own selfishness would harm Mu Chen…

He thought of the last conversation the two of them had.

Mu Chen had applied to be transferred to the Mecha Corps himself.

He told him, “No.”

Why did he say that?

For the past eighteen years, as a supreme commander of the base, Light had almost never made any major mistakes in his decisions. He had always been a fair, impartial, and decisive decision-maker.

Only this once, he wanted to put his merman somewhere safe out of selfishness. Now he knew he was wrong, but why must he be punished with Mu Chen’s life…

Why?

Why must things turn out like this?

Light’s usually neat blond hair was now messily scattered across his forehead, his eyes were bloodshot, and his knuckles were turning pale from gripping too hard.

He felt discomfort in his stomach. Perhaps it was because he had just thrown up, or perhaps it was because he hadn’t eaten in a long time, but now what remained inside was an empty burning sensation.

Light reached his hand over to cover his stomach, obviously in pain.

But he was like a marionette without a soul, not feeling a single ounce of pain.

……

Sweiman Warehouse.

Mu Chen looked at the broken terminal chip on the ground, a burst of anger ignited in his eyes.

He dodged several bullets, pushing back the Zerg that had just rushed toward him.

Cliff vigilantly scanned the inside of the warehouse, then said in a stern voice, “There are at least five in here!”

Mu Chen’s eyes were only focused on the huge mecha at the end of the container. He ran towards it with all his might and handed the task of reconnaissance to Cliff. “Report the location!”

Cliff looked at the Zerg that rushed out of the pile of scrapped metal racks. “Left front! Ten o’clock position!”

Bang!

Mu Chen shot it in the head, the black fluid splashed on his white T-shirt. The Zerg let out an ear-screeching howl. It slowed down a beat due to the huge recoil, and Mu Chen took advantage of this gap to jump in, crossed the obstacle in front, and flipped straight to the feet of “Old Booker.”

Doyle Star’s Zergs were similar to cockroaches—creatures with extremely tenacious vitality. They have astonishing mobility and could kill by instinct even with severe nerve damage. If its head wasn’t smashed into pulp by bullets, they would still have amazing speed and explosive power.

In a blink of an eye, the two Zergs that were shot to the ground, got up once again and rushed quickly toward Mu Chen.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Son of a b*tch, come here!” Cliff opened fire at them, using the firepower to cover Mu Chen.

The moment Mu Chen removed the black cloth, he was greeted with a smelly Zerg’s face that pounced towards him, swinging its sharp scythe at him.

He nimbly went down to avoid the other party’s attack. The Zerg’s giant scythe stabbed the ground, making a big hole. Then, Mu Chen fired several shots at its flank.

Plop!

Fluid splashed out.

“F*ck…”

Mu Chen couldn’t help but swear due to the stench. He rolled away from the Zerg’s belly.

Seeing that Cliff’s firepower cover was almost unable to withstand the Zergs rushing towards him, Mu Chen jumped and climbed on “Old Booker’s” mechanical arm. He relied on his amazing arm strength to support himself and climb up.

The Zergs below immediately stretched out their tentacles to hold “Old Booker’s” legs in an attempt to climb up along the legs of the mecha.

Although they were ugly-looking, their moves were as agile as goats.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Mu Chen fired at them. After firing until he used up his last bullet, he smashed the gun directly at them before opening the hatch.

The moment he went inside, there was a loud “bang” sound—a humongous Zerg pounced on the cockpit glass.

Through the cockpit glass, Mu Chen vaguely saw himself eighteen years ago. He was hiding behind a reef, the blood-filled water wrapped around him. The Zergs’ scythe pierced the bodies of his fellow clansmen and removed their heads, their blood dying the sea red.

When escaping, he asked his aunt why they didn’t resist. His aunt just cried, holding Mu Chen in her arms. Perhaps it was to avoid causing the child to feel sad, she used a very tactful method of telling Mu Chen—because they don’t have any weapons, they couldn’t resist.

But from that moment forward, Mu Chen understood one thing.

To have the choice to resist when danger comes, one must always have a blade in their hand.

At this moment, looking at the ugly Zergs rushing towards him, his blue eyes lit up with sparks. Mu Chen pressed the button to start the mental connection, and the glaring fluorescent light enveloped him in an instance.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

There was a loud banging sound coming from the iron gate in front of Cliff, and the heavy iron door was deformed and dented due to the violent hits of the Zergs.

He knew this door wouldn’t be able to last for long.

Cliff held a T-type grenade in his hand, his fingers pressed on the buckle, with a look of fearlessness on his face.

Under such a close distance, once it exploded, he also wouldn’t be able to survive…

Boom!

At this moment, a bright white light hit him.

Cliff slowly turned around and saw the lit up cockpit of “Old Booker,” which for a moment made the darkness seem like it was morning.

The heavy mecha strode with firm steps, stepping on dust as it came over. After eighteen years, “Old Booker” raised the heavy in its hand once again.

Mu Chen yelled in the walkie-talkie, “Get behind me!”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

Cliff dashed fast toward the other side of the warehouse. Sometimes he couldn’t help but marvel at the wonders of these mechanical legs.

In the next second—

Along with the sound of the iron door falling, a surging tide of Zergs, like an ocean current, came rushing into Warehouse B.

The metal outer shell above “Old Booker’s” mechanical arms popped open; two heavy machine guns came up. Mu Chen took aim at the center of the group of Zergs and fired several rockets in succession.

Boom!

Amidst the thick, acrid smoke, the blasted Zergs lay toppled on the ground, their fluids splattering everywhere as they exposed their vulnerable underbellies, unable to move anymore.

This was a killing machine made to restrain the Zergs. It was bulky and brutal, and its methods were crude and barbaric.

Fighting violence with violence, and blood with blood.

Unit 01—T-001 relied on its two machine guns and its indestructible metal shell to crack open the shells of these barbarians in the most primitive way.

Seizing the moment when the Zerg tide’s formation was disrupted, Mu Chen lifted the leg and stomped down hard. The spikes on the boot sole crushed their shells, just like stepping on cockroaches. For a while, the warehouse was filled with the sound of shells, exploding, and black fluid splashed out.

Cliff, who witnessed everything, covered his opened mouth. “It’s really a loss for the empire if you don’t pilot mechas.”

Mu Chen lightly chuckled. “I’ve already heard these words before.”

In that ten minute interval, the surging Zerg swarm lost at least one-thirds of its combat effectiveness.

This steel giant was like a god of war descending from the sky—whenever it passed by, the Zergs had nowhere to hide.

Beep, beep.

But at such a crucial moment, a [Running out of fuel] warning message suddenly popped up on Mu Chen’s control panel.

The indicator showed that he had less than five percent of fuel left.

Mu Chen’s pupils slightly trembled…

To notify him now made this warning seem almost laughably inadequate.

The warning sound came toward him along with a strong sense of weightlessness…

Mu Chen knitted his brows, and harshly pulled at the control lever. Relying on its last bit of energy, “Old Booker” knelt on one knee to support its heavy body so that it wouldn’t fall over completely.

Immediately afterwards—

The bright light of the cockpit completely turned dark. There was dead silence all around.

Mu Chen noticed that the fuel had been completely exhausted now.

Hearing the rustling sound coming from outside again, his lips trembled, and the strands of hair wet with sweat stuck to his cheeks. Mu Chen pursed his lips, unable to stop himself from laughing.

“You did your best, Your Highness.”

Cliff’s voice came from the other end of the walkie-talkie. He slowly closed his eyes.

“It’s an honor to have worked together with you. If…”

Suddenly, a glaring light entered his tightly closed eyes.

Cliff couldn’t help but open them, and his quivering pupils reflected a burst of intense light.

In the explosive flames, he saw two fiery red mechas leading a team of bombers breaking straight in from the roof.

The mecha army flying from Sweiman City had finally arrived at this very moment. From the moment they received the rescue signal, it took a total of eighteen minutes and forty-seven seconds, which was much faster than anyone had anticipated.

The new mecha’s dual arms were mounted with machine guns, the flames spurting out the muzzles were like wildfire, devouring those black Zergs.

The raging inferno illuminated the entire warehouse, as well as the steel giant half-kneeling on the corner with all its energy exhausted.

“Old Booker” had once again completed its mission.