Chapter 466 – A Pilot Without a Mecha

There was a moment when the Scarred Woman felt like she had been thrown into a rapidly spinning washing machine drum.

She desperately tried to exert her mental power, but the mecha beneath her was completely out of control.

The connection between her mental power and the Mecha Core was like a kite string stretched to its limit, snapping one thread at a time.

A force akin to a hurricane’s roar and a tsunami’s pressure, twisting and crushing, ravaged the mecha’s surface. The Scarred Woman could hear the groaning of her mecha, buckling under the strain.

“Dammit!”

Her eyes turned bloodshot as she grit her teeth, growling lowly, trying to break free from this force.

But by then, the force had already penetrated the mecha, reaching the cockpit.

The Scarred Woman’s eyes widened as she watched the special Modulation Liquid, which served as the last layer of protection, contort and deform like a water balloon being mercilessly squeezed by an invisible hand.

Finally, after deforming to an extreme…

It exploded with a bang.

Without any protection, the aftershocks of that force poured in like a flood, slamming brutally into the Scarred Woman.

In just an instant.

“Crack, crack-“

Her entire body twisted, accompanied by the continuous sound of breaking bones, collapsing into an extremely awkward and uncomfortable position within the cockpit, staring blankly at the ceiling.

The overwhelming tide of pain and shock engulfed her.

At this moment, her mind went completely blank.

She couldn’t understand what had gone wrong.

How could the prey that was a helpless lamb just a moment ago suddenly transform into a beast more terrifying than a flood?

As a level four pilot, how could she be crushed in just one encounter?

“Whoosh-“

In the Blue Falcon Type 4 mecha, Lu Yuan exhaled a deep breath. His swollen arms, which had been hanging naturally, slowly returned to normal. His calm gaze fell on the black mecha in front of him, now barely recognizable from its original form.

A pile of scrap metal.

A pool of sludge!

Even Lu Yuan couldn’t help but marvel at the cruelty and power of this move he had just created on the spot.

“The special amplification effect of [Rhythm of the Wind], combined with the Grandmaster-level divine elephant style martial arts, seems to have triggered a mystical chemical reaction, unleashing such unbelievable Strength…”

Lu Yuan blinked, savoring the sensation he had felt during his recent maneuver.

Under the mental power amplification of [Rhythm of the Wind], he had a sudden impulse to incorporate certain techniques from [Wind Spirit Sword Shadow] or [Wind Demon Frenzied Axe] into [Grandmaster divine elephant style, Heaven and Earth Reversal], a lethal move specifically aimed at large opponents.

The result was surprisingly good.

In [Wind Demon Frenzied Axe], there are techniques to manipulate air currents with mental power to form a crushing force.

Combined with [Heaven and Earth Reversal], which already included shaking, compressing, and throwing Strength, it added the “wind demon’s” crushing force, achieving an Effect where-

The level four Mecha in front of him, seemingly modified from a level four “Skull Crusher,” had almost no resistance and was taken down in one blow.

The entire Mecha looked like it had been spun a hundred times in a high-speed washing machine drum, now on the verge of being scrapped.

“[Wind Demon Heaven and Earth Reversal]…”

“The power is indeed impressive, but the downside is quite clear: this move can only engage effectively in close-quarter combat to harness its full potential.”

In Mecha battles, where long-range weapons are common-even close-range cold weapons are used-there’s a lot of limitation.

It can only be considered a surprise move.

Lu Yuan thought to himself as he walked step by step towards the black Mecha slumped on the ground.

Reaching the nearly ruined Mecha, Lu Yuan extended his hand, slowly tearing open the cockpit at its chest.

Inside was a hideous woman, twisted like a pretzel, her face full of scars, revealed before Lu Yuan.

“So ugly…”

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but sigh, then extended two fingers, picking her up like an ant for a closer look.

Recalling how this ugly being had been chasing him with a spiked club, calling him “darling” every chance she got, sent shivers down his spine.

Lu Yuan hesitated repeatedly, pondering over his next move.

After half a minute, Lu Yuan finally made up his mind.

The chest area of the Blue Falcon Type 4 Mecha silently cracked open, revealing a massive gap.

From this gap, numerous black tentacles, resembling octopus legs, extended swiftly toward the woman’s body.

“What… what are you doing?!”

“Who are you?!”

The heavily injured Scarred Woman had been resigned to her fate, ready to face death. But suddenly witnessing a bizarre, terrifying mouth appear inexplicably on the Mecha in front of her made her scream in terror. Despite her almost immobile state, she started to struggle.

Lu Yuan ignored the woman’s screams and struggles, slowly moving her toward his “mouth.”

He, too, was under significant psychological pressure.

“Devouring humans” was one thing, but devouring such an ugly “human”-it was difficult to muster the willpower.

After a mental struggle, Lu Yuan gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and swallowed the woman whole.

Almost the moment she “entered his mouth,” he activated the [devouring] skill. Surprisingly, the process wasn’t as nauseating as he had imagined.

However, once the devouring was complete, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but lean against a nearby tree, retching for a while.

“Next time, I can’t devour something so ugly… it’s as disgusting as swallowing a fly,” Lu Yuan muttered to himself with a complex expression.

After saying this, he closed his eyes and began to silently digest everything he had just consumed from the woman.

This was Lu Yuan’s second time devouring a life form.

The most obvious gain was the progress bar of the [devouring] skill, moving upward by about one-tenth.

Then there was the Life Energy.

Estimating roughly, the Life Energy contained within a level four pilot was equivalent to the benefits derived from absorbing dozens of tons of waste ore.

“Buzz-“

After completing the absorption, Lu Yuan felt a slight tremor in his mind, with his mental power increasing several times.

He glanced at the attribute panel.

Sure enough, the intelligence attribute, which had been stuck at first limit break 29 points, successfully broke through to the second limit break of 30 points.

The other three basic skills also showed slight improvements.

“It’s like eating an incredibly nutritious mystical fruit…”

Lu Yuan’s expression was slightly complex.

He had to admit, after experiencing the benefits of absorbing a life form, it would indeed be challenging for most people to resist the temptation of rapidly increasing power and not become addicted to it.

However, upon reflection, he realized that perhaps only he had such concerns. He was the only person who had acquired the Talent of the Spirit Devourer Clan later in life. For the regular members of the Spirit Devourer Clan, evolving and strengthening by consuming other life forms was as natural as the survival of the fittest in the wild.

Shaking his head to dismiss these chaotic thoughts, Lu Yuan began to process the memories of the Scarred Woman.

From her memories, he discovered that she came from a space pirate organization on Planet Lirva known as the “demon grease pirate.”

This pirate organization was almost entirely composed of women, and their leader was a level 7 pilot nicknamed “Iron Rose.”

The strength of “demon grease pirate” wasn’t weak; they ranked among the top five pirate forces on Planet Lirva. Besides their usual looting, they occasionally took on missions similar to mercenaries and assassins, although their trustworthiness was not guaranteed.

For instance, this time, the miners, led by Wolf, had paid the Scarred Woman and her companion to eliminate Lu Yuan and Lu Feng. However, from the Scarred Woman’s memories, it was evident that they had originally planned to kill Lu Yuan and then capture Wolf and the others, squeezing out any remaining value before packaging them for the slave market.

After quickly scanning through the Scarred Woman’s memories, Lu Yuan proceeded to devour and absorb her scrapped Mecha as well.

Aside from the Scarred Woman herself, her Mecha was also a significant gain for Lu Yuan in this battle.

It must be said, the Spirit Devourer Clan truly deserved the title of the universe’s foremost masters of resource utilization. Every opponent they defeated or killed was perfectly recycled, with every inheritance used to enhance the Spirit Devourer Clan’s own Strength.

“Crunch, crunch-“

As Lu Yuan devoured the entire “Skull Crusher” Mecha, his Mecha form expanded.

It retained the shape of the Blue Falcon Type 4 Mecha, but its color deepened, and its size increased to about 1.5 times the original.

It stood a full large circle taller than a typical Blue Falcon Type 4 Mecha.

“Crack, crack, crack-“

Lu Yuan slowly stretched his new Mecha body, feeling the enhancement in its attributes.

Then, he slowly drew two heavy black giant axes from his back, gripping them firmly in his hands.

This size, paired with the giant axe weapons, appeared harmonious and not out of place. The current form bore a significant resemblance to when he transformed into his elephant deity asura form. Having just broken through to level three in mental power, he found the control over this Mecha body to be quite intuitive, making him feel comfortable.

“I’m back…”

Lu Yuan slightly tilted his head up, letting the sunlight piercing through the trees fall upon his face.

“The feeling I once had… it’s slowly returning…”

After murmuring these words, Lu Yuan opened his eyes.

Holding the Dual Axes, he strode confidently back in the direction he came from.

…

“Boom!”

A massive energy beam slammed into the ground, sending waves of dust flying.

From within the dust cloud, a nimble figure darted out, swiftly heading toward a distant location.

However, before the figure could move far, a low, oppressive whooshing sound followed closely.

“Bang!” It struck the spot where the figure was.

A deep crater, several meters deep and over ten meters wide, appeared on the ground.

Lu Feng’s figure emerged in disarray at another location. He slowly wiped a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth, caused by the shock to his internal organs, and coldly stared at the black Mecha in front of him, armed with a spiked club in one hand and an energy cannon in the other.

“You’re pretty good at dodging…”

The black Skull Crusher tilted its head and looked at Lu Feng, a mocking voice emanating from within the Mecha.

“Not bad for a level 5 Expert. But why haven’t you summoned your Mecha?”

“Is it because you haven’t had the chance… or do you not have one at all?”

Inside the Skull Crusher Mecha, a woman with greasy braids sneered at Lu Feng.

The battle between man and machine had been going on for a while, and she had almost figured out her opponent’s capabilities.

Indeed, he was a level 5 Expert in consciousness power. His skills, reactions… all top-notch.

But this “Expert,” for some unknown reason, seemingly didn’t have his Mecha with him.

Otherwise, after all this time, he would have at least tried to summon his Mecha.

A pilot without a Mecha…

Doesn’t even compare to a toothless tiger.

What was supposed to be a suspenseful battle instantly turned into a one-sided game controlled by the woman.

Her companion was still chasing another target and hadn’t returned, so the Braided Woman was in no hurry.

Opportunities to toy with and crush a level 5 Mecha Expert like this didn’t come around often, and she intended to savor it.

“Let me guess… where will you dodge next?”

The Braided Woman raised the energy cannon in her right hand, aiming its sights at Lu Feng, with the cannon’s mouth swaying slowly.

Suddenly, the cannon blazed, and an energy beam shot out fiercely.

As expected, Lu Feng’s body abruptly leaped up.

The Braided Woman sneered, controlling her Mecha to charge aggressively, the spiked club in her left hand striking at him ruthlessly.

It was as if an adult was raising a club to thrash a pitiful stray dog!

However, faced with this pincer movement and premeditated ambush, Lu Feng did not retreat. His airborne body twisted bizarrely against human anatomy logic.

His body narrowly grazed past the sharp spikes of the club, then incredibly darted straight like an arrow aimed at the Braided Woman’s face.

“You dare come at me?”

Inside the mecha cockpit, the Braided Woman was not afraid; instead, she laughed heartily.

“You fool, do you think you can take on a Mecha with just your body?”

To her, it was more ridiculous and laughable than trying to smash a rock with an egg.

Yet, as she laughed, her pupils suddenly contracted sharply.

She saw Lu Feng, hurtling towards her, lean forward midair, making a motion as if he were about to vomit.

Immediately after, Lu Feng spewed a jet of pitch-black water, tinged with dark green.

The black-green stream struck the cockpit area of the Mecha’s head, instantly piercing the Mecha’s protective force field and eroding the exterior beneath, producing a rapid “sizzle” of corrosion.

“Damn it!”

The Braided Woman was startled, instinctively swinging her arms to swat Lu Feng away.

Her body quickly retreated.

“Severe damage to the cockpit exterior… severe damage to the cockpit exterior…”

A cold, synthetic voice echoed in her ears.

With a grim expression, the Braided Woman used her mental power to assess the damaged, corroded areas of her Mecha, cursing under her breath.

“What the hell is that?”

“A Cyborg?!”

If she hadn’t experienced it herself, it would be hard to believe that a prestigious level four Mecha could be damaged by what was essentially a “spit.”

If there had been more of that “spit,” or if its corrosive power had been stronger, it could have breached the cockpit, putting her in mortal danger.

Thinking about the repair costs she would face after this battle put the Braided Woman in an incredibly foul mood.

Her face twisted with killing intent; she no longer had any desire to keep toying with him.

“Die already!”

Seizing the moment while Lu Feng was still disoriented from her earlier attack, the Braided Woman activated her consciousness power. The fearsome and domineering Skull Crusher twisted its body and charged at the figure fallen on the ground at supersonic speed.