In an isolated green-black wilderness
In the large patches of black swamp and plains, there was a single little inn standing alone in the center. The grey-white building looked just like a wooden toy house used for children’s games, in that it did not look steady at all.
Clint was sprawled on a pitch-black, broken-down Mech, holding something like a tweezer tool. He even had a few oily screws in his mouth, and was repairing his own Mech cockpit with an expression of intense concentration.
“Third screw on the left, tighten it again, and be careful of the energy circuits there, if you knock them askew, you’ll have to start all over again.”
Red Moon’s instructions kept coming, guiding Clint to quickly settle some of the minor problems the Mech had.
Amidst the clinking noises, Clint spat out the things in his mouth.
“Lord Red Moon, can this thing even be fixed? I’ve been working for a few days now, but it’s still exactly the same.”
“It was damaged too badly in the chase from before, so you got no choice. You should thank your lucky stars if it can even be fixed at all,” replied Red Moon exasperatedly. “Lonnie’s one is still in one piece, at the very least, so if this one really can’t, you’ll just have to make do. Oh, and there aren’t that many energy batteries for the energy furnace anymore, so you’ll need to find new batteries. This isn’t the city, where you can find many batteries anywhere. In the radiation belt, the hardest part is finding supplies, not just for people, but for Mechs as well.”
“Can’t we just toss them into your space, like last time?” asked Clint, confused.
“Of course not, you’ll be done for if your enemies reach you here. Unlike normal pilots, you’re the fast-growing type, your Willpower improved really quickly, but at the same time, when you’re not in your Mechs, you can’t use your Willpower at all,” reminded Red Moon. “Don’t tell me you forgot?”
“Of course not,” Clint pouted. The intense pain in his butt from before was still fresh in his mind, he did not know what happened, but he did not dare to recall such terrifying memories.
“Alright, hurry up,” Red Moon rushed him.
“Clint, it’s time to eat.” Just then, Baylon’s voice came from the inn below, she was wearing an apron hastily tied on with black cloth, and yelled as she walked out of the door.
“Let’s go, time to eat!”
Clint jumped out of the Mech. The Nine Mega Cannon Training Method had drastically strengthened his body, such that it was nothing for him to jump down from several meters up.
Once he entered the inn, in the small hall behind the front door, he saw two bowls of pale yellow thick soup on the table. They looked very average, but smelled very good. He had no idea what they were made of.
There was the aroma of meat and a faint smell of green grass in the air.
“Smells so good…” Clint took a deep breath, and when he saw that Baylon was ready with the ladle, his face instantly broke into a smile.
“Sorry, there’s nothing much left to eat anymore… There were just a few cans left, I used up the rest of our water to make this…” Baylon’s expression was pained as she said that.
“It’s okay, how much longer can our supplies last?” Clint sat down and immediately began to shovel the food into his mouth.
“Two more days…” Baylon lowered her head.
“!!??”
Clint instantly looked up, his expression incredulous.
“Although the rat meat that we made into jerky has been kept into Lord Red Moon’s space, we just don’t have enough water… And in the incident last time, the Mech filter system that we took out was taken away…” Baylon replied, her head lowered.
“Looking for food and water in the radiation belt is a very troublesome matter, but compared to being hunted, it’s still a lot easier…” Red Moon said calmly, having expected this a long time ago.
It placed most of its attention on Baylon, who was slowly sitting down.
“Lonnie.”
“Ah… huh?”
“You secretly asked about the second half of the training method for your brother, and I gave it all to you. But every training method in the world requires all of one’s undivided attention, in other words, one person can only choose one training method to resonate with in their lifetime. The others can only be their support. If your brother chooses this training method as his main, then when he builds a Mech in the future, he will require extremely, extremely high-level materials. And on this planet, such materials…”
“They don’t exist?” A hint of disappointment flashed through Baylon’s eyes. “My older brother… had always been stronger than me since we were young. No matter what happened, he would always be proud, fearless, advancing without hesitation…”
Red Moon and Clint did not say anything, and just looked at her quietly.
“He will surely have a way… He’ll make the best choice! I trust him to,” Baylon said determinedly.
“Sure, but even if he doesn’t choose this training method as his main, a lot of the contents in it will still work with his Willpower and benefit him,” said Red Moon consolingly. If at first he had released this training method to stabilize Garen, now he was truly and sincerely offering a solution.
“In this world, the best things are the ones that suit you. No matter how high-level the other stuff is, no matter strong, that will still be the strength of others. Your brother… he is a prodigy… so don’t worry.”
Baylon nodded. She never doubted that. As an older brother, Nono’s image had long ago left the deepest impressions in her heart.
The two of them picked up their bowls and drank their soup slowly. After they were done eating, Baylon cleared the plates and prepared to wash them.
Suddenly there was a faint rumble reaching them slowly from afar.
The floor began to tremble, and bolts of faint electricity spread from the distance like waves.
The two of them froze at almost the exact same time.
“That’s…!??” Clint’s heart began to tremble intensely despite himself.
“It’s Red-White!” Red Moon’s yell woke the two of them up. “Lonnie, get into the Mech!! Now!”
Clint’s Mech was not fixed yet, and could not move, so the only one that was intact now was Baylon’s Mech.
Baylon’s eyes first flashed with deep fear and hesitation.
“I… I…”
“You, you, my foot! If you don’t wanna die, get on the f*cking thing!!” Red Moon began to curse loudly.
In the midst of the yelling, Baylon was all dazed and confused. By the time she recovered, she was already sitting in the broken-up old patchwork Mech.
The Willpower produced by Bright Queen Jisaiya’s training method was like so many tiny spiders, constantly spitting out blue silk threads that spread from inside her body, connecting to the entire Mech from top to bottom.
“Get ready to move!” reminded Red Moon. “Lonnie, Clint and I are depending on you to protect us now. If you don’t want to die, fight! The opponent is not really a peak-level Red-White Mech, it’s just a straggling soldier on patrol. If you still can’t beat ’em, then we’re probably truly done for.”
“I… I can’t…” Baylon’s heart was pounding loudly. The heavy responsibility and pressure weighed down on her, to the point where she was struggling to breathe.
“Just do it with all your might. Even if you fail, no one will blame you.” Just then, Clint’s voice came from inside the Mech.
“My ass!! Move aside, you idiot, even if you got a death wish, I ain’t lived enough yet!” Red Moon interrupted Clint abruptly. “Punk-ass, if you can’t beat that small fry, both of y’all will run naked!!”
“R-r-r-run naked…!!!” Baylon’s little face instantly turned into a tomato with a whoomph.
On the distant horizon, a red-and-white humanoid Mech with a wolf’s head was flying at them at top speeds.
“Go–!!” With a sudden squeeze of Willpower, Baylon felt herself dashing forward. She was actually striding towards the opponent madly, the engine behind her exploding to life, and forcing the Mech to slowly shoot towards the enemy.
Aaaaaaahhh—-
She started screaming abruptly, as she watched the wolf-headed humanoid Mech come closer and closer, closer and closer.
“Where’d this junk bucket come from?” a hoarse woman’s voice said from within the other Mech.
Seeing that the Mechs were going to crash into each other, Baylon’s heart ran cold, and she tried to salvage the situation, flustered. But she had no idea how to react.
“Idiot! You don’t even know the basic movements!?” Red Moon’s voice began to howl.
For some reason, for a second there, it was as though Red Moon’s voice overlapped with another voice in her memory.
Baylon’s eyes suddenly lost focus, as though she had suddenly returned to the past, when she asked her brother to teach her basic combat skills.
“A Mech’s basic combat is actually just like a human’s own movements, the Will-powered Mechs can perfectly express any movement of the human body.” Nonosiva’s eyes were filled with contempt as he looked down on Baylon.
“Remember, Baylon, when it comes to fighting, it doesn’t matter who’s stronger, but it’s the person who can use the power correctly who wins. No matter how weak this person is, once the power is used right, the difference between them will also be like heaven and earth.”
“Just like right now.”
Whoosh!
Nono kicked out suddenly, his foot landing in Baylon’s stomach.
“What should you do?! Tell me!”
Bam! Mrgh…
Baylon hugged his stomach, and refused to let himself fall.
“Re-retreat.”
“Moron! Attack! Attack, damn you—-!!”
“Attack…”
The familiar scenes flashed through Baylon’s eyes. The Red-White Mech in the distance was actually also raising its right leg, stomping at her. This scene was somehow coincidentally just like the move her brother Nonosiva demonstrated back then. Her brother’s voice from not too long ago seemed to still be ringing in her ears.
“Defend? Retreat? Idiot!! Defending is so you can prolong your time to attack! Retreating is so that you can find a better angle to attack. All of this is for one aim only, and that is… to kill your opponent.”
Bam!!!
In that instant, the two Mechs crashed into each other. Baylon’s arms waved around, her fists smashing hard into her opponent’s head. At the same time, she twisted her waist, and somehow eerily dodged the Red-White Mech’s stomp.
These strange moves surprised both Clint and Red Moon, who were watching from a distance.
From afar, Baylon’s Mech looked like an expert acrobatic dancer, avoiding the opponent’s dangerous attacks while at the same time using a powerful, assassin-like fist technique.
“Baylon, that punk… Who is she mimicking…?” asked Red Moon softly, puzzled.
“Mimicking?” Clint was confused. “What’s that mean?”