Planet of Sand and Oasis of Iron

Chapter 67: Pilots and pilots cannot be compared! (Defense Battle Part 67)

Anyone who invaded the Node City was marked as 'hostile' in the mercenary system. In theory, anyone who escaped from the mobile base, even those driving armored units, was counted as a kill.

Killing them would also earn him a kill bonus, but after thinking it over, Seifer decided not to fire.

Regardless of whether they are soft-hearted or not, the way these people are dressed and the scanning feedback they receive don't make them look like independent mercenaries at all. Instead, they look like... corporate mercenaries.

Unfortunately, there was no way to contact Laika and ask her to compare them, so Cypher could only leave the evidence.

If you rashly attack corporate mercenaries without understanding their stance and identity in this fight, who knows if you will be liquidated by the big companies.

It's better to be careful in this kind of world... Of course, the benefits of destroying armor are still solid.

Not only that, Sefer also marked a point on the electronic map, preparing to come and collect any possible spoils after the battle.

Who knows if it will be in time?

Then he continued to move forward, and suddenly looked at Dr. Mei who came to the main control cabin for some reason - she was holding a cup of steaming hot drink and seemed to be quite interested in the outside world.

"Then... Dr. Mei, do you have any advice for me?"

"No, I just want to see where you plan to drive the car and how much armor you can destroy with a single car."

Is this also a form of data collection, given that it's a completely new body structure? Or is there something else going on?
Not intending to ask, Seifer continued driving forward. When his threat scan passed a sand dune, he suddenly sounded the alarm - another car?

No, there are two!
He turned the turret without hesitation, and at this distance, Sefer received the signal.

"Hello! Are you here to transport the wounded? Please tell us how many wounded are on your vehicle, or briefly describe their condition!"

"Zi... No matter which side's wounded, we will do our best to help you!"

A field medical station? So close?

Seifer was stunned for a moment, then lowered the muzzle of his gun. As he carefully examined it, Dr. Mei took a sip of his drink. "It's probably the company's official medical vehicle. They always provide some paid services. Of course, sometimes they're free."

However, Cypher immediately jumped out of his seat and rushed out of the main control cabin, while keeping his vehicle alert - the main gun was aimed at the other vehicle.

At the same time, the unidentified vehicle parked not far to the side of the "medical vehicle" also started, but not to escape, but to open the hatch of the preparation room.

What a coincidence, Seifer also went to the maintenance room.

The vehicle was huge, but as he was running fast and was familiar with the place, Seifer quickly rushed into the maintenance room, jumped onto the cockpit in two or three steps, and after sitting in, he kept everything simple for inspection.

When Lin Shenxue received the news and checked in a hurry, the door of the maintenance room was already open, and shining sand was streaking across the outside of the vehicle. The body, which was slightly heavier than before, was immediately ejected from the maintenance rack.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he began to slide, drawing a beautiful arc on the sand and moving away from the moving vehicle. At the moment of leaving, Seifer dodged quickly and nimbly avoided a bullet shot at him.

"Nice skills... Tell me your code name. I'm Abian Corporation's corporate mercenary, 'Anomalocaris' B-4!"

The electromagnetic railgun on the opponent's machine emitted a slight heat as he sprinted straight towards Cypher, with a pistol mounted on his other hand to supplement his firepower - although it was called a pistol, it was actually no different from a hand cannon.

Cypher didn't understand what was mounted on the back of the dark red, shimmering machine, but he knew very well that a fully armed machine like this would not carry useless loads.

So he cautiously kept his distance, gliding at a higher speed than the opponent in an irregular manner, and still had time to reply: "Independent Mercenary Red Crossbow."

"It is not my wish to meet you on the battlefield, but unfortunately, I have a mission to complete, and I cannot allow a variable like you to go to the battlefield."

As the two machines clashed, the roar of gunfire rang out several times, and Cypher clearly felt that his opponent's machine seemed to be much more powerful than his own - but fighting could not rely entirely on the machine.

Just like a third-rate pilot flying a first-rate aircraft will be defeated in seconds, a first-rate pilot flying a third-rate aircraft can also let the opponent know that the difference in aircraft can be made up with technology!

With two random shots, Seifer rushed forward. The opponent obviously knew what he wanted to do - a close combat attack, so he immediately retreated.

Seizing this opportunity, Cypher's charge came to a screeching halt, even causing several of the opponent's anticipated shots to miss. He unleashed a powerful shot, already fully charged. The impact attack, which could have left a trail through the air, missed. The opponent's high-speed evasion caused the massive machine to swerve sideways, seemingly ignoring gravity, and land precisely.

But only the drivers know that the price of this crazy maneuver is that after completing the evasive advance, the inertia is forcibly offset by reverse thrust. The G-force at that moment is enough to kill a person eight times.

"That's it?"

"How about we get off the plane and fight with our fists?"

The two exchanged trash talk, circled the corporate vehicle, and then used the medical vehicle as a support. The opponent also felt it was difficult - how could such an old-generation machine keep up with his movements!

This thing has a poor thrust-to-weight ratio, and its maximum speed, evasion distance, and even attitude control are all lagging behind, but the pilot... the guy flying it, is he really a human?

Sadly not, but Cypher wouldn't say it.

After several exchanges, even Cypher dodged the two railguns on the man's shoulders several times, and dodged and jumped continuously, mocking the "Anomalocaris"'s operational deformation with his actions.

Finally, taking advantage of the moment of forced transformation, Seifer rushed forward again, limiting the number of times his opponent could dodge quickly and continuously.

In order to catch up, he even transferred all the output limits to the nozzle, and swung out the electric whip amid the man's continuous pistol fire.

"Sizzle——"

High-voltage, high-frequency current instantly wrapped around the opponent's body, and the body's originally flexible movements instantly stiffened... If it were before, Seifer could only get close and shoot, trying to use bullets to break through the thick cockpit shield.

But now... the auxiliary arm of his left arm installed the device on the bracket on his left arm. According to the battle plan that emerged in his mind, Seifer swung his left arm back suddenly, then swung it diagonally upwards, aiming at the machine.

Although he didn't know what kind of weapon this was, Anomalocaris' intuition told him that he couldn't let this guy do this!

He dodged with all his might, his body only managing to move a fraction of the way away, but that was just a tiny bit of distance...

"Buzz...Bang!!"

The strange device's cylindrical structure and the expansion mechanism behind it operated simultaneously. The fuel installed at the bottom of the "striker" roared, and the expanding air pressure acted on the striker - it suddenly stabbed out!
Faster than a moment, the firing pin shot out from the cylinder and instantly pierced through everything in its path.

Armor plates, transmission structures, energy pipelines, shock-absorbing linings, joints...

Everything was pierced through like butter, and at the end of the piercing, this unusual 'firing pin' was stuck in the front end of the launcher with a clang.

Cypher's machine kicked hard, and with the sound of metal colliding, the pierced body of the "Anomalocaris" fell to the ground, bursting into a lot of sparks.

During the communication, he coughed a few times: "But... scary guy, how can you control this..."

Cypher thought for a moment and raised his gun: "There's no need to tell you, because you've already lost."

"Wait a minute, my machine is already stuck, and I won't be able to get paid even if you fire more shots!"

——It seems to be the case. Seifer thought about it and put the firing pin that was slowly put into the ready state back into the rack.

Then he grabbed his electric whip and put it in the box, then lowered his head and asked him, "Do you need me to find a doctor for you?"

"Oh my, what are you saying... there's a medical vehicle right next to it!"

The people in this world are really weird. They were fighting for their lives just now, but once they are defeated but not dead, they become so open-minded?

After a few minutes, Cypher understood why.

Even if a corporate mercenary's machine is damaged, as long as he returns... he will be given a new one.

(End of this chapter)