796: Chapter 796: Sky Behemoth (Extended Chapter for Monthly Votes) 796: Chapter 796: Sky Behemoth (Extended Chapter for Monthly Votes) Sky Behemoth
He Ao raised his head, staring at the huge shadow that seed to blot out the sun.
Even Vian had only ‘visited’ this terrifyingly huge thing in so secret bases.
This was the first ti He Ao had seen it ‘move.’
The enormous Floating Battleship took on a flattened shape, like a massive, stretched, flattened droplet of water, or a giant beast spreading its wings.
At the very front of this ‘droplet’ there was a concave ‘V’ shape, and in the middle of the concavity, there was a giant main cannon with a diater of over ten ters that could adjust its pitch angle.
Countless small anti-aircraft guns dotted the ‘beast’s’ body, and ard drones ranging from two to three ters in diater sward around the behemoth like a dense cloud of bees; next to this giant, the fifteen-ter-long Dragon Cavalry Fighter seed just like a slightly larger dragonfly.
This was one of the peak weapons the Federation could now produce, a B-level combat unit, the Sky Behemoth.
It was one of the Federation’s main weapons against B-level exotic beasts.
The power of the Sky Behemoth lay not only in its weapon systems but also in that it was a battle formation unto itself.
Normally, the Sky Behemoth would be accompanied by an elite combat team consisting of ten to fifteen chas, along with a variable number of D-level Dragon Cavalry low-altitude fighters, ranging from several to dozens.
In so larger battle formations, there would also be so Supersonic Fighter Jets.
It carried a large number of swarm drones controlled by its main computer, and it was a massive wireless transmitter by itself, emitting its own signals while also jamming other civilian or unauthorized signals.
In the centuries of the Federation’s history, the Sky Behemoth had helped humanity solve a great number of powerful exotic beasts and was one of the strongest weapons currently in the military arsenal.
As soon as he saw the military-grade signal jamr at the Withered Tree Bar, He Ao had a bad feeling, but the appearance of the Sky Behemoth still exceeded his estimates.
Such a thing was beyond the reach of ordinary consortia and even the City Defense Army; just the construction cost of a Sky Behemoth was as high as several tens of billions of federal coins, with maintenance costing millions annually, and operating it amounted to hundreds of thousands per minute.
Many small cities couldn’t afford such a colossal entity.
Even for large consortia, those who could both afford and maintain a Sky Behemoth were few.
Moreover, as a super-single item of the Yiwis Space System Company, there were thresholds for purchasing a Sky Behemoth.
Direct purchase was impossible; one must continuously spend hundreds of billions of federal coins with the Yiwis Space System Company, becoming their top-tier VIP custor, and then qualify for the bidding to buy the annual quota of the Sky Behemoth.
Furthermore, the Sky Behemoth was not sold separately, but as a complete combat unit, along with chas, drones, and Dragon Cavalry, in a bundled sale.
After such rigorous screening, only a few established consortia could possibly afford to buy a Sky Behemoth.
So of the younger large consortia, like the overgrown-grass-covered Kajet Consortium, even if highly valued, did not have a Sky Behemoth in their rcenary Corps.
However, compared to hiring a B-level Transcendent, the initial investnt cost of a Sky Behemoth was far higher, which is why, apart from the Federation military, there weren’t many consortia that were actually willing to purchase one.
Taken as a whole, only those well-established consortia with deep pockets and qualifications would buy Sky Behemoths to balance the Transcendent power within the consortia.
Clearly, United Industries, which was only established twenty or thirty years ago, was not on this list of ‘established consortia.’
Therefore, this Sky Behemoth was most likely loaned to United Industries for ‘show’ by one of the established consortia.
Compared to a B-level Transcendent, the actual wear and tear on a Sky Behemoth were not so high, and it was even preferable to operate it occasionally since leaving it idle for too long could lead to more issues.
Moreover, its oppressive presence was much stronger than that of a B-level Transcendent.
With the dense shadows overwhelming him, He Ao’s expression turned somber.
United Industries had made a mistake that crossed an ‘ethical boundary’; in principle, weapons like the Sky Behemoth were not allowed to enter cities.
A single mishap with such a weapon could lead to countless fatalities.
Luckily, judging from its appearance, this model of Sky Behemoth was not nuclear-powered but powered by ultra-high-capacity compressed batteries.
This model was larger, cheaper, and had lower maintenance costs, but at the sa ti had shorter endurance and fewer weapons.
It was dubbed a ‘youth model.’
The designer of this Sky Behemoth probably intended for it to adapt to environnts that normal nuclear reactors couldn’t handle, but He Ao believed, with high probability, that ‘urban environnts’ were not included in these.
And within the split second of He Ao’s thoughts, the Sky Behemoth in the sky seed to have noticed his presence as well.
“‘Seventh Force’?”
An aged voice rang out from the drones flitting through the sky, “What exactly are you trying to do?”
He Ao glanced through the gaps between the drones, spotting the black cha that had earlier escaped from under his control.
That machine had already darted behind the drones, likely syncing He Ao’s recent ‘battle achievents’ with the Sky Behemoth’s Control Room through a special frequency.
The drones encircled He Ao completely but did not launch an imdiate attack.
It was clear they were very wary of He Ao.
“The Seventh Force,”
Seeing that He Ao didn’t respond right away, the aged voice ca through the drone again,
“I trust you have seen that we will soon restore order to this city.
If you really wish to accomplish sothing here, surrender is your only choice.
As long as you are willing to serve us, we can overlook all the incidents that occurred before.”
The voice sounded lofty, backed by the giant Sky Behemoth, an invisible and oppressive shadow looming over everyone, “I believe you are well aware of the outco when a feeble Fallen Angel ch faces the Sky Behemoth.
If you choose to be our enemy, then you will be greeted by a fate of death and destruction.”
He Ao was watching everything through the ch’s internal monitors, no longer having the strength to speak, nor wanting to speak here.
He slowly pushed the control stick.
The pristine white ch slowly raised its left hand.
“Are you going to surrender?”
The elderly voice bood beneath the sky, looking down upon the creatures below, seemingly observing He Ao’s unmoving hand on the Longsword, “A reasonable amount of caution is permissible.
I allow you to keep your weapon in hand, to surrender by raising just one hand.”
Then, in the cara feeds of all drones, the palm of the pure white ch turned, its back facing outward, slowly bending its little finger, ring finger, index finger, and thumb.
Under the guise of this friendly gesture, the whole world seed to beco silent for a mont.
“Foolish and overconfident trash!”
The voice almost grated through the teeth of the drone.
Subsequently, the flying drones, like a torrential black tide from the abyss, spewed flas towards the pure white ch.
He Ao suddenly lifted the Knight’s sword in his hand, swept out with a single strike, destroying the approaching shells and turning them into blossoms of fla, then his figure broke through these flas, using the Knight’s sword to directly slash the wave-like drones in the sky, forging a gaping maw.
He then surged past the group of drones, continuing to fly upwards.
A Dragon Cavalry Fighter, positioned closely to He Ao, quickly rose up, launching a missile while dodging He Ao at the sa ti.
He Ao sliced through the missile with his sword, and amidst the flas of the explosion, flew out like a streak of light, bisecting the Dragon Cavalry Fighter in the air.
He then turned back to look at the drones that were catching up to him, adjusting the laser cannon in his right hand to continuous mode.
The dazzling laser traced the sky, then swept like a swung Magic Wand towards the right.
Countless drones shattered under this laser, their exploding fragnts taking out other drones.
In that instant, a wall of flas ford between He Ao and the drones behind him.
He Ao’s speed swiftly shot upward, charging straight at the massive object looming in the sky.
In that mont, two dark chs charged up, blocking He Ao’s way.
One after another, He Ao smashed the cockpits of the two chs.
The uncontrolled chs fell to the ground, crashing at the border between the sea and the land.
This was already the edge of the Storm Sea; just a bit further, and He Ao could almost hear the roaring of the distant storm.
His figure continued to advance, rushing towards the Sky Behemoth that was towering in the air.
Vian didn’t have the blueprints for the Sky Behemoth, nor had he researched it.
However, he had been to the Yiwis Space System company’s exhibition of the Sky Behemoth.
Even though the blonde saleswoman in black stockings at the Yiwis Space System hadn’t taken him to visit the core area of the Sky Behemoth, he had roughly guessed the location of the Control Room.
It should be right behind that massive main cannon.
Large weapons like the Sky Behemoth fear small, high-attack weapons getting close, so they co equipped with at least a dozen chs to form a battle group.
A dozen chs charging together, along with the drones and Dragon Cavalry, would make it difficult even for a B-level Transcendent to break through quickly.
But at this mont, He Ao looked around and saw that, aside from the two chs he had just destroyed, along with the one that fled so fast, there were only three chs left in the vicinity.
Clearly, the ch squadron dispatched to the Bishop’s Cathedral, which He Ao had eradicated, was the sa one assigned to defend the Sky Behemoth.
The surrounding Dragon Cavalry Fighter Jets were also less than half of what they theoretically should have been.
······
United Industries seed to have never considered that the Sky Behemoth could be subjected to a single-man assault, nor did they ever think that there was any danger to the Sky Behemoth.
So they easily dispatched the battle group ant to accompany the Sky Behemoth to do other tasks.
As He Ao got closer to the Sky Behemoth, openings started to appear underneath the enormous bulk, revealing the wells for the micro missile launchers.
Rows of micro missiles rained down on He Ao’s position like a torrential downpour.
These missiles seed to have tracking devices, trailing smoke as they madly surged towards He Ao.
He Ao imdiately spun in midair, a rapid dive towards the sea below, then pulling up sharply near the surface of the water, once again ascending to the sky.
So of the missiles couldn’t adapt to such high-maneuvering operations and exploded on the sea surface after losing their target, while others continued to pursue He Ao.
He Ao imdiately turned around, raising his prepared laser cannon with his right hand, and with a sweeping motion, countless missiles were directly shattered under the laser’s irradiation, taking out the following missiles as well.
At this mont, an ear-piercing alarm suddenly sounded inside the ch’s cockpit.
He Ao looked up towards the sky.
In the forefront of that imnse shadow, the massive main cannon, once pitch-black, was now filled with a glowing orange-red light.
A terrifying heatwave instantly spread through the dark space, illuminating the sky like the sun, dimming the stars in its wake.
Without hesitation, He Ao imdiately pushed all the thrusters to full power, angling sharply into the sky.
Boom—
Accompanied by the thunderous sound of a cannon, the huge orange-red brilliance hit the surface of the sea where He Ao had just stood.
The calm sea water, upon touching the light, evaporated into countless bewildered puffs of white mist, leaving a vast hole hundreds of ters in diater in the very spot where He Ao had been standing.
The moist seabed was exposed to the air, nurous fierce fish that swam in the water were seared into dried fish by the high temperature or were instantly cooked by the scalding steam.
A mining ship docked at the coastline, marked with the na of United Industries, was now only half intact, with molten iron glowing fiercely as it hung from the ship’s severed edge.
Imdiately afterwards, the surging seawater violently backfilled, replenishing the dried seabed.
The colossus in the sky turned its cannon port, targeting He Ao, who was now floating in the air, once again beginning to build up energy.
This ti, two more chs rushed towards him, trying to stop He Ao.
This ti He Ao quickly destroyed the ch’s control panel, then lifted his greatsword and thrust it into the back of the ch.
Along with a burst of flashing electricity, two energy cell compartnts, holding energy cells, fell into He Ao’s hands.
Normally, forcibly dismantling a ch’s battery would directly trigger the battery’s stress response device, causing an explosion, so He Ao used his knowledge of the ch’s structure to remove the battery and its protective device together.
And in the instant he destroyed the chs,
a barrage of missiles once again chased after He Ao.
He Ao dodged backward, his trajectory shining in the sky like a streak of light drawing several broken lines, then he plunged towards the ground.
Just before reaching the coastline, he turned and fired a laser cannon, destroying the missiles following behind him.
Then he descended, dismantling the energy cells from the two chs he had just destroyed that lay on the shore.
Now he had four high-performance compressed energy cells.
He didn’t destroy their energy cells while dealing with those two chs, thinking they might be useful later on.
If it wasn’t for the commander of United Industries directing these chs to him in pairs, he wouldn’t have been able to manage this step so easily.
If it had been four or five chs swarming him from the beginning, he would likely have had to destroy at least three cells, not to ntion sustaining so damage himself.
Four cells might not be enough.
As He Ao dodged another wave of attacking drones, he bound the four energy cells together using tal strips he cut from the ch, holding them in his hand as he once again charged towards the sea.
At the sa ti, his speed rapidly increased.
After He Ao had destroyed four of the five chs, the commander of United Industries no longer had more chs to send to delay him.
So they dispatched all the surrounding drones and the Dragon Cavalry, like a dark cloud pressing down, attacking He Ao.
And that final ch that had fled from the cathedral was following behind the drones, mockingly launching stealth plasma cannon attacks on He Ao.
The number of drones was less.
Dodging an incoming plasma cannon shot, He Ao took a quick glance at the pursuing drone swarm.
The Sky Behemoth’s escort drones should have been more nurous; perhaps most had been redirected to other tasks.
The modifications Vili made were significant; with He Ao pushing it to the limit, this Fallen Angel ch’s speed was at least 130% of the other Fallen Angel chs.
This allowed He Ao to trail the drones behind him while performing certain maneuvers.
And while He Ao was continuously dealing with the cannon fire from the drones behind him, the piercing alarm sounded once more inside the cockpit.
He Ao manipulated the control stick and swiftly turned in the sky, lifting the Knight’s sword in his hand and without hesitation charged into the unprepared drone swarm.
Shells hit the ch’s armor leaving trails of black smoke.
The massive main cannon seed not to expect He Ao’s sudden retreat and quickly readjusted its barrel again.
It was in this mont that He Ao spotted the ch hidden among the drones; amidst its confused actions, he pierced the ch with his sword, taking it with him as he changed direction at a right angle, furiously flying into the sky.
Boom—
A dazzling brilliance illuminated beneath him, and in an instant, the drones, dense as dark clouds, lted away.
The surging heatwave blasted He Ao along with the ch in the sky, leaving him adrift under the stars like a dandelion seed caught in the wind.
So drones escaped control, rising frantically, charging towards the nearly uncontrollable pure white ch in the sky.
The grand main cannon lifted its muzzle, aiming at He Ao once more, beginning to charge up energy.
By this ti, He Ao had flown higher than the Sky Behemoth.
He could see the colossal streamlined back of the Sky Behemoth and the obviously aged chanical equipnt on its back.
This behemoth, seemingly ancient, stood silent under the brilliant stars like a terrifying beast that had stepped right out of history, its massive cannon exuding an aura of death.
Compared to such an imnse behemoth, the Fallen Angel ch seed incredibly tiny and immature.
Under the brilliant stars, He Ao drew his Qi sword, then with a punch, struck the cockpit of the Hell Apostle ch he was holding.
The cockpit door shattered.
The hatch of the pure white Fallen Angel ch opened.
“Eve,”
He Ao stepped out from the control panel, and in the shimring light of the cockpit, spoke softly, “It’s all yours now.”
Then, with a burst of his last strength, he rushed to the hatch, leaped fiercely, his figure passing through the brilliance of the dazzling stars, traversing the distance between the two chs, and jumping into the opened cockpit of the Hell Apostle ch.
The ch pilot was not yet dead, he watched in astonishnt as He Ao leaped over, lifting a tal rod to charge at He Ao.
He Ao drew his pistol from his waist.
Bang—
Then, he reinserted the still-smoking pistol into his waistband, walked over to the driver who had been shot in the forehead and was falling backward, kicked the driver’s body aside, and took a seat in the pilot’s chair.
The ch hadn’t powered down yet; the pilot’s life authentication was still valid.
He Ao directly pulled the control stick, taking the whole Hell Apostle ch into flight.
The howling wind penetrated through the broken protective cover, brushing against his cheeks.
At that mont, the pure white Fallen Angel ch handed him four energy cells.
Without hesitation, He Ao embraced these four energy cells and charged straight for the Sky Behemoth’s main cannon, which was still charging up.
“Soldier?
What are you doing?!!”
Countless identification codes were instantly sent to the interior of the Hell Apostle ch.
The Sky Behemoth didn’t imdiately react to what had happened with the Hell Apostle ch.
He Ao ignored the inquiries, instead he pushed the control stick to its limit, activating the ch’s final power output.
The Sky Behemoth couldn’t allow anything thrown from a distance to get close, especially near the main cannon; it required a high-powered device to carry it there.
The Sky Behemoth’s mont of hesitation was brief.
Soon, they recognized He Ao’s intention.
Nurous missiles were launched from the Sky Behemoth’s body, targeting the Hell Apostle ch.
He Ao activated all the anti-aircraft guns and long-range cannons, indiscriminately firing at the missiles approaching from all sides.
In that brief ti, He Ao had managed to close the distance significantly.
The main cannon was now within arm’s reach; he could even feel the raging flas through the shattered opening.
Even as missiles hit the ch, He Ao didn’t hesitate; he relied on the ch’s endurance to charge further towards the massive cannon’s muzzle.
All this happened in a split second, even the drones chasing the Fallen Angel ch hadn’t had the ti to turn their cannons.
In the mont just before entering the main cannon, He Ao leaped from the battered ch.
He drifted through the air like a falling leaf.
Eve…
Boom—
The pure white figure flew beneath him, deftly catching him in the cockpit.
Boom—
A violent explosion lit up the land.
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