Chapter 17: White Terror, Section 7

It wasn’t the real Star Wars. What Black Hair was thinking of was actually just a movie—a masterpiece that had once sparked a sci-fi craze on Earth in the past. The interior of this warship was incredibly similar to that in the movie, filled with a strong sci-fi style. But it was merely similar. Black Hair shook his head vigorously, pushing those unrealistic thoughts out of his mind. Everyone knew that sci-fi movies were just fantasies; those designs couldn’t possibly be applied in reality. This warship could never be like the one in the movie.

“Let’s go, Blood Eyes. Stop marveling here. We still have a lot to do.” Patting Blood Eyes’ shoulder, Black Hair led the way to the other side of the hall.

Outside the warship, the battle raged on fiercely. Countless pirate mechs charged recklessly one after another, putting immense pressure on the two Droplet Warships. The dazzling white light never ceased for even a moment; every flash triggered a burst of flames. Yet even so, it couldn’t stop the pirates’ fervent attacks. Under Baroka’s leadership, these experienced pirates had changed their attack tactics, abandoning straight-line assaults in favor of multi-wave, arc-shaped approaches.

The results were evident. The pirates’ losses dropped significantly. The arc-shaped movement greatly enhanced their agility and made it harder for the Droplet Warships to aim accurately. By the time Black Hair entered the hall, the pirates had already succeeded in closing in on the two warships. It was as if swarms of ants were piling onto their massive bodies from all directions.

But no one could have imagined that these two peculiar warships possessed such terrifying combat power. Despite being in the dead angle of the large cannon, their close-range defense systems gave a harsh lesson to any pirates who dared to approach. Over 300 Pulse Rapid Cannons fired simultaneously, creating a dense web of fire around them. Five mechs, caught off guard, were instantly turned into balls of fire.

“Boom!”

The brilliant balls of fire exploded in the air, and the pirates’ pitiful screams still echoed in the air. Baroka’s anxious voice came through just in time.

“Captain, we can’t go on like this. Five more brothers have been killed. Let’s use the Galewind’s long-range artillery! If this continues, our brothers won’t be able to hold on!!”

“No.” Black Hair froze, his expression icy cold.

“Tell my subordinates not to attack hastily. Instead, speed up their movement to engage in close combat. As long as we can keep them occupied, that’s enough. The warships on the periphery should get ready to fire, but do not fire yet. Give me some time—just a little time!!”
“Understood, Captain,” Baroka replied helplessly.
Baroka and Black Hair communicated through the command channel, and Blood Pupil also had permission to receive this channel. So as soon as Black Hair’s voice faded, the assassin accelerated his pace once again.
He knew that this time he was determined to plunder this warship no matter what the cost. There was nothing that could stop his decision. To minimize losses, his only option was to help Black Hair speed up the plundering!!
The Dropship had a large exterior, but its interior rooms appeared extremely cramped, as if there wasn’t enough space. This puzzled Blood Pupil greatly. Along the way, he followed Black Hair into dozens of rooms, and the same phenomenon persisted. What surprised him even more was that after being inside the warship for so long, he hadn’t encountered a single sign of life. Not only was there no life, but there wasn’t even a basic internal defense system. Along their path, there were no defense bases, no guards, not even valves in place. It was like facing an unguarded city!!
“What’s going on?” Even Blood Pupil, who had seen much, was stunned.
“I don’t know,” Black Hair replied seriously as well. The scene before them clearly exceeded his understanding as well.
In fact, among the rooms they searched through, there were some special forbidden areas, such as the branch control systems for the cannons and the maintenance areas for the engine circuits. But no matter where they went, all they saw were the silent, self-operating machinery. There wasn’t a single sign of life. It was utterly surprising.
Could it be that this warship, like the Mason planet, was itself a living being?
This idea suddenly crossed Black Hair’s mind, but he immediately dismissed it. If that were the case, their arrival would have alerted the enemy long ago. How could it be that no guards had appeared yet?
“Let’s go—toward its core!!” Black Hair finally made up his mind.

If one wants to take control of a warship, seizing the enemy’s control center is undoubtedly the most direct and effective method. It’s also the technique Black Hair excels at. However, after the events on Mason Planet, he changed his mind. He realized that his ability had a major weakness… That was, if the enemy was an intelligent being, his control would force both sides into a deadly standoff! In other words, once he used his black threads to initiate mechanical control, his mind would be connected to the enemy’s. Under such circumstances, communication between him and the controlled party would be two-way and unrestricted. If it were just a mindless machine, everything would be fine. But if the enemy was intelligent, the opposite effect could occur—in severe cases, it might even turn him into an idiot! It was far too dangerous… Yet now, Black Hair had no other choice. His subordinates outside were still fighting desperately, and if he couldn’t take control of the warship in a short time, the consequences would be catastrophic. He didn’t want, nor could he allow, his subordinates’ sacrifices to be in vain. Both of them were experienced veterans, so their actions were extremely swift. From the moment Black Hair made his decision to when they found the warship’s control center, only ten minutes passed. Along the way, just like in the other rooms, there were no guards in sight. This only deepened their confusion and facilitated their actions. After passing through ten transfer stations and over sixty valves, and traversing five hundred-meter-long corridors, the two arrived at a huge valve. According to the internal structure diagram of the warship Black Hair had obtained, behind this valve lay the core of the Dropship. With a soft click, Black Hair’s blood-red mech stepped forward, raised its left hand, and pressed on a small box beside the valve. Countless black threads instantly surged out from the gaps in the mech’s left hand, piercing into the box like needles. Soon, silently, the massive valve opened. “Let’s go, Blood Eyes. Let’s see what these guys really look like.” Black Hair’s voice remained calm, as if facing an old friend, with no trace of tension. Influenced by him, Blood Eyes also relaxed. Shrugging casually and chuckling, he simply followed Black Hair into the huge valve.

Behind the valve was a long corridor, completely dark with no light at all. Without the built-in lighting of their mechs, they would likely have had no idea which way to go. As the two continued deeper, a glimmer of light suddenly appeared before their eyes.

Was that… the control center?

Blood-Pupil suddenly became excited. Soon, they would see their target for this mission. He wondered which faction this mysterious warship belonged to, and if some strange creature was waiting for them there.

He was right—what lay ahead was indeed the control center room, and that light was the ever-burning lamp inside. But for some reason, just as they were about to enter the room, the black-haired mech in front suddenly froze and stopped abruptly.

“What’s wrong, Head? Did you see something?” Blood-Pupil, feeling something was off, immediately asked.

But he received no reply. The black-haired mech seemed to turn into wood all of a sudden, showing no reaction to his words. It just stood there, motionless, neither moving forward nor backward.

Curious, Blood-Pupil focused his mind, and his mech stepped forward two steps, moving to the side to squeeze past the black-haired mech by half its body length, sticking its head out.

With a wider view, Blood-Pupil immediately saw the entire layout of the control center.

Well, it was a small room, seemingly only over 200 meters long. There were no consoles or vision crystals to monitor the surroundings of the warship—everything seemed extremely empty. Yet from the walls stretched countless thick pipes, entangled like the roots of an old tree. These pipes covered the entire room, so dense that it was impossible to count them. Each pipe emitted a constant white glow. As his gaze followed the pipes to their source…

Blood-Pupil gasped sharply!!!

God!! Oh, no!! What is that???

Even though Blood-Pupil had imagined countless times what the warship’s control center might look like, he never expected what he saw now!

A person!!

A naked person, with only the upper body visible, as the lower body was embedded in the wall!!

A dense network of tubes pierced into this person’s body from all directions, yet not a trace of blood was visible. The tubes wrapped around him like a zongzi, leaving only his shoulders and face exposed. His entire body was connected by tubes, even his head. His expression was calm, his eyes tightly closed, as if he were asleep. If it weren’t for his regular breathing pattern, Blood Pupil would have thought he was looking at a corpse!!
Just as Blood Pupil was shocked by what he saw, a trembling voice suddenly came from beside him…
“Monkey… is… is it you?”