I Am a Salted Fish in the Interstellar Era - Chapter 32

Xie Yuyan didn’t enter the mecha. Instead, he simply waved his hand in the air, and numerous virtual screens popped up from the ring on his right index finger, enveloping him completely.

Xie Yuyan looked up at the “Judgment” in front of him and touched the ring on his right index finger again. The ring flashed with a faint light, and next to the “Judgment,” a twin-winged floater appeared and began to merge with it.

Once the floater was fully mounted on the “Judgment,” a huge airflow spread out in all directions. Xie Yuyan’s military uniform fluttered loudly, and his high ponytail tied at the back of his head swayed in the wind. The debris around them tumbled, and the continuous noise was especially clear in the dark night.

Xie Yuyan remained unmoved from the beginning to the end. He quietly observed the “Judgment” for three seconds, and the “Judgment” stayed quietly in front of him, seemingly awaiting his divine command.

Xie Yuyan moved, a virtual keyboard popped up in front of him, and his slender, fair fingers danced on it. Subsequently, the virtual screens in front of him began to scroll frantically, with data streaming past continuously. The previously immobile “Judgment” opened its eyes!

He vanished like a beam of light in front of Xie Yuyan, and the black and gold twin-winged floater on his back also began to shimmer with a subtle, understated gloss.

A simulation sandbox was established, and everything around the “Judgment” was displayed in front of Xie Yuyan. He seemed not to use any mental power, nor did he talk about consuming physical energy. The only thing visible was the afterimages of his ten fingers dancing on the virtual keyboard.

The “Judgment,” having reached its destination, alerted all the insectoids outside the hole. He was cold and solemn, throwing out light beam swords with both hands. He was like a streak of starlight winding through the night sky, leaving a trail of insectoid corpses wherever he passed.

At the same moment, the twin-winged floater named Naka began to charge energy. In just three minutes, the insectoids outside the hole were almost completely annihilated. The “Judgment” stood in the sky, retracting the light beam swords from his hands as Naka finished charging.

The “Judgment” raised his hands high, and Naka followed suit. Suddenly, the “Judgment” swung his hands down, and Naka shot out silver-white particle beams. The particle beams connected with the edge of the hole, causing the previously stabilizing hole to gradually fracture. The insectoids emerging from it were torn apart by the fracturing hole before they could even emit a roar.

Simultaneously, Xie Yuyan, standing atop a high building, felt a flush of red come over his pale face. He took a step back, the mental power covering the mecha ring visibly depleting. He gripped the collar of his uniform, his fingers trembling slightly as he pushed away the virtual keyboard and pulled over several virtual screens.

No one knows exactly what level of mental power and physical energy the commander of the Judgment Corps, Xie Yuyan, possesses. Some speculate he is SSS class, others guess SSS+, but these are mere speculations, never confirmed.

Xie Yuyan has been investigated by countless people and explored by many, but in these ten years, no one has ever seen him make a move. The more so, the more people associate him with strength and invincibility.

But who knows, Xie Yuyan doesn’t not act because he wants to put on airs; his mental power and physical energy are actually only at B level, even operating a regular mecha for work is quite strenuous for him.

The “Judgment” is a mecha specially made by Xie Liqin to suit his body, after years of modifications and calculations. Finally, mimicking the downgraded driving mode of Lancezell, they forcefully separated the core that required mental control, reverting to a centuries-old manual mecha control, allowing him to operate the “Judgment” from the outside.

Similarly, the power of the “Judgment” was reduced. It couldn’t exhibit the terrifying combat power of Lancezell; its main function was not offense, but defense.

If a Lancezell with an unlocked SSS-class driving mode were here, it wouldn’t need an external floater like Naka to tear the hole and make it collapse.

Xie Yuyan coughed lightly, a trace of fresh blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

He couldn’t help but sigh deeply.

It was indeed too much of a strain.

He pushed away several virtual screens, about to pull back the virtual keyboard, when suddenly he squinted his eyes. A faint green light illuminated around him, and an energy bullet silently shot at him was like hitting an invisible barrier, immediately covered and dissolved by crackling electricity at a visible speed.

The moment the energy bullet disappeared, the faint green light briefly brightened before fading away.

Xie Yuyan turned around and saw a dark figure standing beneath the collapsed building walls.

He slowly emerged from the darkness, wearing a black exoskeleton that nearly blended into the night.

He twirled the energy gun and holstered it at his waist, then raised his hands and started clapping, followed by a mechanical voice.

“As expected of the Judgment Corps’ commander Xie, even my specially modified energy gun can’t penetrate your defenses.”

The mechanical voice was stiff and unpleasant, but Xie Yuyan just coldly watched him without a word.

The other party didn’t mind, his right eye popping out a virtual screen, beginning to calibrate the distant “Judgment,” while continuing to speak in the mechanical, unpleasant voice.

“Never thought I’d encounter the ‘Judgment’ here, truly a fortunate event in life. But the way commander Xie controls the ‘Judgment’ is really eye-opening, not even needing to sit in the cockpit? How terrifying would that be on the battlefield?”

As is well known, mechas have evolved over thousands of years. The initially hand-operated mechas have long been phased out through the annals of time, having undergone three major reforms. The collaboration between AI and humans in piloting mechas was rendered obsolete during the third mecha reform, which took place three hundred years ago.

The third mecha reform introduced the concept of human mental power controlling the mecha core, ultimately establishing the modern practice of human mental control over mechas. The practical application of this theory has fully demonstrated that human mental control over the mecha core can unleash the mecha’s greatest power.

As he spoke, he clapped his hands and exclaimed, “Commander Xie is not only good-looking but his mecha is also aesthetically pleasing.”

Turning his head with a smirk, he looked at Xie Yuyan and said, “But how could you be so careless, wandering out here alone?”

“Who are you?” Xie Yuyan’s voice was cold and emotionless.

The person clad in a black exoskeleton suit, seeing Xie Yuyan’s composure, drew his energy gun and circled around him. He reached out, attempting to touch Xie Yuyan, but the pale green light that had vanished reappeared, firmly blocking him out and releasing dangerous green electrical arcs.

The man’s actions did not affect Xie Yuyan’s emotions. After the green electrical arcs disappeared, he exclaimed in surprise, “Is that the Graylight Shield from outside the Lierweya Fortress? It’s hard to imagine that the Graylight Shield, which protects the fortress, has been miniaturized to protect you. It seems your importance is on par with that of the Lierweya Fortress…”

He laughed as he spoke, snapping back the energy gun’s mechanism with a click, “I’m really curious about what kind of power source you have that can sustain the Graylight Shield’s operation. This thing is a power-consuming beast.”

After saying this, he fired several shots, but the energy bullets from the energy gun were all disintegrated by the Graylight Shield, leaving not even a trace behind.

Xie Yuyan stood perfectly protected within the Graylight Shield, as if everything outside had no effect on him.

After firing several shots to no effect, the person in the black exoskeleton became impatient, “As expected, it’s as difficult as the rumors say. Since the energy gun can’t deplete its energy, I’m sorry then…”

He was interrupted mid-sentence when his thumb brushed over the mecha ring on his index finger, and a black mecha appeared out of nowhere. He then jumped into the cockpit and opened the public channel, “Commander Xie, how about calling your ‘Judgment’ over for a play? It should be quite interesting.”

After ‘Judgment’ dealt with a hole, its dual-wing floaters began to recharge again.

Clearly, the man had intentionally appeared while ‘Judgment’ was immobilized, his words not truly seeking a confrontation with ‘Judgment’ but merely a taunt.

Xie Yuyan’s eyes flickered slightly as he lightly touched the virtual keyboard, pondering something.

The person who had already summoned the black mecha did not give him time to think, continuing arrogantly on the public channel, “It seems you’re quite confident in your Graylight Shield. Then, I must test whether this shield can really withstand the threat of a mecha!”

After speaking, he immediately pulled out the particle energy gun strapped to his thigh and fired at Xie Yuyan on the rooftop.

The massive energy beam struck the pale green light shield, which brightly shone in response. The originally pale green light turned darker under the stimulation of the energy beam, eventually becoming deep green. Despite this, the Graylight Shield showed no signs of disintegration.

Xie Yuyan remained motionless within the Graylight Shield, but the building he was standing on began to crumble and disintegrate under the tremendous energy of the energy beam.

‘Judgment’ had completed its second charge, and Xie Yuyan’s fingers lightly covered the virtual keyboard, ready to act, when the building supporting him collapsed with a loud boom under the threat of the energy beam’s power.

The sudden sensation of weightlessness made Xie Yuyan fall straight down, his hand falling from the virtual keyboard. He was unable to stabilize himself for a moment, and a taste of blood surged in his throat, his consciousness gradually blurring.

The Graylight Shield could protect Xie Yuyan from external attacks but not from gravity. Falling from the high building, he would hit the Graylight Shield with the force of gravity, causing damage almost as severe as hitting the ground directly.

At this moment, a frivolous voice suddenly appeared, “Little Beauty, open up your turtle shell.”

Xie Yuyan’s pupils contracted, and he saw a figure stepping on the broken debris, leaping towards him. Her posture was light, like a breeze.

The girl had a high ponytail just like his, and perhaps due to her young age, her face bore a trace of immaturity. However, her eyes were bright and clear, with her dark pupils reflecting thousands of stars, and her phoenix eyes sparkled with heroism when she smiled.

Her mouth wore an unserious smile, and the universe-renowned Graylight Shield was casually referred to as a turtle shell by her.