Chapter 11: The Terrifying EMP – Section 7

The deafening explosion was so powerful that it seemed even the ground trembled. The pirate spectators near the arena were thrown to the ground by the shock. As everyone stared in shock, a huge black silhouette suddenly emerged from the smoke. Its speed was so fast that it was impossible to make out its shape.

But there was no need to see it clearly—anyone would know that there could only be one such massive figure emerging from there. It was the Black-Haired Nightmare.

Hong’s pupils constricted sharply as an intense sense of danger seized his heart. Instantly, every hair on his body stood on end. Without hesitation, his mech charged forward, its machine gun spewing long streams of fire.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The intense gunfire wasn’t sporadic anymore—it was continuous, aimed at covering for his brother behind him as he changed magazines. As the elder brother, Hong had no choice but to fight back desperately. Though the sense of danger grew even more intense, he had no alternative. He couldn’t even dodge sideways. He simply fired all his remaining ammunition while charging full force. His left hand, which had been empty, suddenly reached into his backpack, and when it came out, several dark objects were in his fingers. He immediately threw them out.

“Boom!!”

Plumes of smoke rose into the air. A large amount of soil and debris was lifted into the sky by the immense force. The hard ground heaved, and countless flying fragments covered Black-Haired Nightmare’s path forward. Everyone was stunned by such terrifying destructive power. They never expected that simple shooting mech to carry high-explosive grenades typically used in actual wars!

God, was this still a duel? This was practically a battlefield!

These grenades weren’t the small ones used by individual soldiers—they were high-powered lethal weapons for mechs! Each grenade had enough force to blow apart a two-story building. Even in actual wars, they were rarely used due to their excessive destructiveness and risk of harming innocents. If not for the ample space in the arena and the grenades exploding right in the center, even the pirate spectators would have been caught in the blast.

That idiot mech is done for. That thought suddenly flashed through everyone’s minds.

“Huh!!”

Before this realization could leave their minds, a dark figure suddenly burst forth from the smoke. Its massive body spun at high speed, like a top, moving along bizarre trajectories that defied normal physics as it rushed toward Rainbow’s mech. Wherever it passed, the ground was torn apart by the high-pressure impact, forming deep trenches.

How is this possible!?

With eyes wide in disbelief, Rainbow could hardly believe what he was seeing. Was that mech really a ghost, capable of moving through such dense debris without any damage? It made no sense!!

In shock, Rainbow screamed like a madman, pouring all his remaining firepower at that figure in his heightened state of excitement. The intense gunfire and flying bullets instantly created a web of destruction, annihilating everything within range.

But this time, his attacks no longer had the desired effect. Nightmare’s trajectory was simply too strange, completely beyond his expectations. His advance calculations were utterly useless in the face of such bizarre movements. Rainbow could even see the sparks generated as his bullets grazed the edge of the enemy mech.

“Huh…” A sudden gust of wind swept by. In just a few moments, the dark figure had reached Rainbow’s face. Its rapid rotation hadn’t yet stabilized when a monstrous hand seemed to emerge from nowhere, grabbing his right arm holding the gun.

“Bang!!”

A loud explosion!!

Amidst the screams of the pirate spectators, Rainbow’s right arm exploded as if buried under dozens of kilograms of explosives. Shards of metal and debris flew everywhere in a parabolic arc, making it seem as though his left arm had suddenly disappeared.

“What was that!?” On the podium, the chairman, who had been watching Nightmare’s movements, frowned sharply and suddenly asked aloud.

Unfortunately, no one could answer him. Perhaps because Blackhair’s attack method was too bizarre, everyone felt as if they were dreaming, unable to understand how Blackhair had attacked. To them, it seemed like Nightmare merely touched the enemy, and its right arm exploded and vanished instantly.

“Magic! Is it ancient magic!?” One of the senators shouted in panic.

“What’s that?” Hong in the cockpit was equally stunned. Still acting on instinct, he continued to control the mecha. With a soft click, he despairedly realized that his ammunition was also completely depleted. At that moment, the other hand of the black demon suddenly appeared in his vision crystal, rapidly enlarging… Just then… “Bang bang bang bang!” Intense gunfire erupted again. Countless sharp bursts of bullets appeared instantly on the side of Hong’s mecha, like deadly killer bees, frantically attacking Nightmare. The black-haired man in the cockpit snorted coldly. With a motion of the control lever, Nightmare immediately abandoned its prey; the impact modules beneath its feet emitted a shrill noise as the entire machine rotated and retreated. It was that strange trajectory again! At the same time, Lan’s mecha appeared on the black-haired man’s screen. Perhaps because she saw her brother injured, Lan had completely lost her mind. She didn’t care about the danger of being killed instantly by the black-haired man. The machine guns in both of her hands spewed long streams of fire as she rushed forward at high speed, acting like a madman. “Brother!! Let’s take him down together!” The young boy’s voice was filled with hesitation and fear, stirring excitement among the spectators. The pirates’ cheers and shouts resounded once more, turning the entire arena into a frenzy. “Go on, kid! Kill that idiot!” “Yeah, go ahead! We’ve all bet on you two brothers. If you lose, I’ll kill you!!” Kill me? Are you idiots? In Nightmare’s cockpit, the black-haired man rolled his eyes at the noise and smirked in contempt. Whether it was the mecha or the skills, this wasn’t even a match at the same level. You see, that strange trajectory used to dodge the bullets wasn’t accidental—it was a technique called reverse spiral. It utilized the ultra-high stability of the six-legged limbs to perform irregular, chaotic maneuvers. This technique was already rare even on Earth in the past. Besides requiring special leg structures, the skill level of the operator was the most crucial factor—extremely difficult to master. Yet, this maneuver was a nightmare for all gun-based weapons. Any shooting theory based on ballistics prediction or lead time calculations was useless against it. Although this technique placed too much strain on the operator’s body to be used continuously, it was more than enough to deal with these two brothers. Moreover, Nightmare’s built-in shotgun module was precisely the weapon best suited to utilize this technique.

With a sneer, Nightmare’s figure resembled a giant spider, drawing a perfect arc in an instant and throwing all the flying bullets behind it. Its extreme speed made it impossible for Lan to aim at all. He could only watch helplessly as the mech in front of him grew larger and larger… until a palm reached out.

“Lan!!” Hong’s voice sounded like a wail. The damaged one-armed mech rushed in front of Nightmare as if insane. Four dark objects appeared on its hand.

“I will never allow you to hurt my brother! Never!!”

“Die with me!!”

“No!!” Lan behind him was equally shocked. He rushed towards his brother’s mech without hesitation.

In an instant, all three mechs in the arena rushed towards the same point. Once the explosive grenades were activated, there was no doubt they would all perish together!!

“Amazing!!” The audience stood up in excitement. Everyone’s face showed enthusiasm.

“Fantastic!” The chairman slammed his fist on the armrest of his chair, his eyes gleaming with a bloodthirsty light.

“Stupid!!” The black-haired man snorted coldly. A cold glint flashed in his eyes as his right hand immediately landed on a button marked with a triangular symbol in the lower right corner of the screen.

EMP system, activated!!

“Click!!” Under everyone’s gaze, the triangular backpack behind Nightmare suddenly bulged out, protruding completely from its back. It then rotated slightly, emitting a sound like a camera shutter—clear and brief. Three sharp corners simultaneously emitted a strange blue light!!

In an instant, the entire world seemed to come to a halt!!

Without any warning, Hong suddenly found his mech completely out of control. The engine core went out instantly, and all functions stopped. Then everything went dark before his eyes, and the vision crystal also stopped working.

“What!?” Extreme terror seized Hong’s heart. At that moment, he couldn’t understand what was happening. Only a deep despair rooted in his bones surged up.

But to the audience in the arena, it was a different scene.

All they saw was the triangular backpack behind Nightmare suddenly rotating, after which the mechs of the two brothers stopped immediately. It was as if the two puppets had lost all power. Lan’s mech even fell to the ground due to the sudden loss of power, rolling until it landed at Hong’s feet.

On the other hand, the nightmare was like a true demon, instantly appearing beside the two of them. Countless dark shadows emerged from its hands and covered their left arms, right arms, left legs, right legs, and… their heads!!
“Bang!”