MG - Chapter 368: Signal Restored (Patreon)

“So this is the psychic energy pulse device?” Derek Su circled the white spherical device.

Eden had already activated it moments ago.

Derek Su didn’t feel anything unusual, but Purple Lightning, standing beside him, suddenly shuddered as if something about it made her deeply uncomfortable.

“Yes. It’s a relatively basic defensive weapon designed to counter the Void Race. The entire Void Race develops and uses [Shadow Steel]. When this metal is incorporated into exoskeleton armor, it produces an effect similar to optical invisibility. The psychic energy pulse device generates a specific psychic energy frequency that disrupts the atomic structure of the metal atoms in Shadow Steel, causing equipment made with it to lose its optical invisibility.”

Eden closed her eyes and sensed her surroundings.

Aside from the psychic energy frequency coming from the device before her, she could feel three other frequencies transmitting toward one another.

Clearly, the other psychic energy pulse devices had also been activated.

That meant the Hunters would have nowhere left to hide.

The reason these Void scouts could overwhelm ordinary Mecha Girls was largely due to their optical invisibility.

Without it, in a one-on-one fight, they would at most be evenly matched with the Armed Forces Department’s Mecha Girls.

Rat-a-tat-tat!

Twelve helicopters flew overhead in formation.

Eden knew that with communications restored, the Armed Forces Department had already begun sweeping the entirety of Panlong Mountain.

The Armed Forces Department and Logistics Department Mecha Girls assigned to the Panlong Mountain event would also organize a counterattack immediately. Faced with such an overwhelming numerical advantage, the Hunters had no chance of escaping.

...

After activating the psychic energy pulse device, Derek Su and Purple Lightning continued following Eden up the mountain.

Not far from the entrance to Dragon Stone Road, they ran into Richard Cheng, who had just emerged carrying Ghost in his arms.

Seeing Ghost in such a miserable state only made Derek Su more anxious. He had been trying constantly to contact Stella and the rest of the Stella Club, but the signal was being restored in stages and still needed some time to stabilize. The waiting was the hardest part.

Just as she had done with Snowpeak, Eden injected Ghost with an activator.

Looking at Ghost’s nearly shattered body, Eden clenched her fists, her face tight with anger.

The logistics and healing Mecha Girls who had followed the coordinates to their location didn’t dare approach her. They stood at a distance, silent with fear.

“Governor, we’ve established contact with the space station. The signal has already been encrypted.”

A Mecha Girl from the Armed Forces Department hurried over to Eden and lowered her head, not daring to meet her furious gaze.

“Connect me to Serpens... No, connect me to Pegasus!”

“Yes.”

Before long, the connection to the Pegasus Space Station was established.

Eden made no attempt to keep the conversation private from Derek Su and Purple Lightning.

Tania’s magnetic voice came through the communicator. “Eden, what happened?”

A logistics Mecha Girl approached with an umbrella to shield Eden from the rain, but Eden stopped her with a look. She gestured toward Derek Su and Purple Lightning instead, and the logistics Mecha Girl obediently moved behind them and held the umbrella over their heads.

The treatment left both Derek Su and Purple Lightning somewhat overwhelmed.

The pounding rain made everything noisy, but Derek Su’s extraordinary senses still allowed him to make out most of the conversation.

“Panlong Mountain was attacked. From what I know so far, there’s a full squadron of Hunters. They also bombarded the Panlong Mountain Circuit with guided missiles and spatial collapse bombs. Casualties have already exceeded a thousand, and many of them are racers.”

A loud bang came from the other end.

It sounded like someone had slammed a fist down on a table.

“If they used collapse bombs, that means a warship got through. Serpens is responsible for the near-Earth defense line, right?”

Tania’s voice sank. “I’m sorry. If I’d verified things a few more times, maybe this attack could have been prevented.”

“This has nothing to do with you. Your mission is to hunt down the remaining Void forces. Everyone has their own responsibilities.

“Besides, the commander of Serpens wouldn’t have taken orders from you anyway.”

Silence fell on the other end.

After a long moment, Tania spoke again, her voice even lower than before. “I’m heading to the Serpens Space Station now. Don’t worry. That Void warship isn’t getting away.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Eden nodded.

She had contacted Tania precisely because she wanted her to destroy the Void warship.

Those cunning [Star Drivers] must have begun retreating the moment the signal was restored.

“One more thing.” Tania sounded hesitant. “Lucy Luo...”

“I don’t know yet,” Eden said. “But I placed a trigger-activated psychic energy shield at the summit. The Void bombarded the decoy first, which activated the shield. As long as Lucy Luo and Eternity stayed in the preparation area and didn’t wander off, they should be safe.”

“Okay.”

Tania said nothing more and immediately ended the call.

Eden switched off the communicator as well and tossed it into what appeared to be some kind of spatial storage equipment.

“Let’s keep moving,” she said, turning to Derek Su and Purple Lightning.

Just then, the communicator in Derek Su’s hand finally crackled with static.

His heart leaped, and he hurriedly raised it.

Stella’s voice immediately came through.

“Master? Master, are you there?”

“I-I’m here!”

Derek Su didn’t even notice that both his voice and Stella’s were trembling.

There was a brief pause on the other end. Then Stella burst into tears.

“Waaah! Master, I’m so glad you’re okay!

“Waaah, I-I’m with Imperial Scale right now... Rebel King, say something to Master!”

A burst of noise came through the communicator.

Then Derek Su heard Imperial Scale’s calm, steady voice.

“Master, I’m here.”

“Good, good. As long as you’re both okay.”

Derek Su’s entire body relaxed. The weight that had been pressing on his chest finally lifted.

“Hey! Derek Su, you’re treating Comet and me to dinner tonight!” another voice suddenly called out.

Derek Su had to think for a moment before remembering that it belonged to Caio Yang.

“If Comet and I hadn’t shown up in time, your two Mecha Girls would be scrap by now~”

Caio Yang still sounded as slick and carefree as ever.

“Who wants them to treat us to dinner?! Don’t you have money to buy your own food? I’m not going!”

That was Comet, followed by Caio Yang’s awkward laughter.

“Did you run into danger?” Derek Su asked urgently.

“Yeah. Three monsters wearing sheep-head helmets,” Caio Yang said. “How do I put it? They looked like some kind of high-tech water monkeys. You know what water monkeys are, right? Don’t tell me you don’t.”

Derek Su: “...”

Then they must have been three Hunters.

The thought sent a lingering chill through him.

According to Eden, the Hunters were definitely stronger than Stella and Imperial Scale.

After all, Stella and Imperial Scale were practically fresh recruits who hadn’t even left the barracks yet.

The Hunters, on the other hand, were proper soldiers who had fought in a real war, and they had optical invisibility on top of that. Just thinking about it was frightening.

Derek Su had no idea how Caio Yang and Comet had managed to save Stella and Imperial Scale from them.

“Have them report their coordinates. I’ll send someone over,” Eden quietly reminded him from beside him.

With Comet’s help, Caio Yang quickly provided their precise coordinates.

Derek Su remained in contact with Stella as he followed Eden and continued up the mountain.

Now, the only ones they still hadn’t heard from were the other Mecha Girls from the Stella Club.

Eden had said that the Void had bombarded the spectator stands near the starting line last, since there were no worthwhile targets there, and they had only dropped three spatial collapse bombs.

But until he knew for certain that everyone was safe, Derek Su could only pray silently...