Chapter 12: The Thirty-first Pirate Gang, Section 4

Perhaps it was too much thinking at night, or maybe he was truly tired lately. Either way, Hei Fa had a very poor night’s sleep. He woke up many times in his dreams, finding his entire body drenched in sweat. The next day, he even failed to get up on time. By the time he arrived at the spectator stands, Xue Tong and Bai Li had already been waiting for him for a long time.
“Boss, I saw you sleeping soundly this morning, and since there were no matches scheduled for you, I didn’t wake you. Are you okay?” Xue Tong asked worriedly, noticing Hei Fa’s grim expression.
Shaking his head, Hei Fa sat down next to Xue Tong, his face pale as steel. The nightmares from the previous night still left him shaken. The scenes of his companions dying one after another in the dream felt like an invisible giant hand tightly gripping his soul, preventing him from breathing.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.” Sensing that his expression had puzzled those around him, Hei Fa turned his head and forced a smile at Xue Tong and Bai Li before focusing his attention back on the arena below.
“Has it started?”
“Yes, boss. Today is the last day of the battles. All are the most important matches. But sadly, because of your excessive killing in recent days, there aren’t many fighters left.” Xue Tong indeed showed a look of regret, though the smile in his eyes betrayed him.
It was only then that he realized many things he had once valued greatly were now insignificant. For example, this death arena—something he had once taken seriously—now seemed like a farce to him. The supposed fierce and powerful fighters all seemed as fragile as clay, easily defeated.
Regardless of the chaos in his mind, Hei Fa snapped his fingers at a maid nearby, asking for a glass of red wine, then focused on watching the battles. Perhaps because of his terrifying performance the previous day, the spectators in the stands kept turning their gaze his way. But he didn’t notice at all.
Because he saw that giant, over five meters tall alien mech.

It was the mech equipped with an impact module that he had seen in a corner of the arena at the beginning. Perhaps because it was making its official debut now, the mech’s exterior was covered with special armor and devices, making it appear even larger and more massive. Especially its shoulders were completely bulged outward, like two huge hills. Blackhair would never believe there were no special devices if told otherwise.

In contrast, its opponent was a rather ordinary magic mech with nothing distinctive about its appearance. It was armed with a standard machine gun. Standing in front of that giant mech, it looked like a child.

There was nothing else to do—after all, a normal mech was only four meters tall, while that giant mech far exceeded that height. Moreover, the Death Arena did not restrict fighters from modifying their mechs, so the opponent’s fighter could only accept their fate.

The only thing that could comfort him was that mech battles weren’t like ordinary fights. Besides equipment, a large part of success or failure depended on the technician’s skills. As long as the technician was skilled enough, it wasn’t impossible to defeat an opponent who was clearly stronger.

But that was just that—just a fantasy. Blackhair knew it.

Because he saw Link.

At that moment, this thin man was slowly climbing onto that giant mech. He turned his head and glanced toward the spectator stands, just meeting Blackhair’s gaze. Seeing Blackhair’s look, he suddenly grinned, revealing his snow-white teeth.

“Trying to show off?” Blackhair murmured, rubbing his chin.

“Boom!!”

The Death Arena battle began…

Almost right from the start, that ordinary mech displayed astonishing offensive capabilities. Under everyone’s eyes, a long stream of energy burst out from its back, as if it had been pushed hard, instantly accelerating to extreme speeds. It moved along the oval outer wall of the arena. At the same time, it raised its machine gun, and a barrage of bullets was fired in a continuous stream.

“Bang bang bang bang…” The intensely loud sounds came one after another, with such high frequency, exerting maximum firepower pressure. Deadly flames were violently unleashed, and countless red bullet showers formed a web of death, instantly enveloping the giant mech. Sparks caused by bullets hitting the armor filled the air, creating a beautiful human-shaped pattern.

“Great!!” The audience immediately became excited. Having witnessed the battle with Black Hair the previous day, they thought they would never see such an amazing display again. How could they not be thrilled to see it right from the start today? Although the combat style of ordinary mechs showed obvious signs of imitation, the audience didn’t care—as long as they could enjoy the exciting fights, what did imitation matter?

But Black Hair on the other side was shaking his head. Indeed, the attacks of the ordinary mechs were imitating the Rainbow Mist brothers who had fought him before. Yet it had forgotten that no one was coordinating with it here, and its ammunition resupply was by no means as fast as that of the Rainbow Mist brothers. Recklessly imitating tactics unsuited to itself could have unbearable consequences.

On top of that, facing such an extremely large special mech, it had chosen to attack right away without even attempting to probe first—a fatal flaw in itself.

“What bad luck, dying so soon,” Blood Pup muttered aside.

“Yes, what a stupid technician. Even stupider than Blood Pup,” Lily added, reaching out and tightly holding one of Black Hair’s arms.

Their conversation was quite abrupt; under normal circumstances, it would have drawn attention from the surrounding audience. But now, no one paid them any mind. Because that giant mech had moved.

As if exceeding its capacity, the massive mech’s movements were surprisingly sluggish. Its actions were slow and oppressive, yet it failed to exhibit the agility expected of a magic-guided mech. It simply turned slowly to face the hail of bullets flying toward it.

“Ding ding ding ding…” The bullets hitting its armor plates sent out countless sparks of admiration. Energy rifle bullets that could normally penetrate 300mm of homogeneous steel seemed to have no effect at all on it. Not only did they fail to cause significant damage, but they couldn’t even make it stagger.

What terrifying defense capabilities. The performance of the giant mech immediately sparked awe throughout the crowd, even drawing Black Hair’s attention.

Perhaps due to habit, Black Hair had designed few mechs that emphasized defense capabilities. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t do it. He had at least four or five plans to improve a mech’s defensive strength. Yet compared to what was before him, that giant mech didn’t fit any of those plans at all.

Like mechanical mechs, although magic mechs are known for their agility and precision, their errors are still astonishing. Of the seemingly countless bullets, less than 20% actually hit the giant mech. Many bullets missed entirely, shattering the ground around it into debris. Dust and smoke instantly erupted everywhere. Even the spectator walls not far behind the giant mech were riddled with holes.

Amid the dust, the mech’s eye crystals suddenly emitted a blood-red glow. Immediately afterward, it stretched out its hand and pulled out a similarly massive firearm from its backpack.

The long barrel, its dark color reflecting a faint blue light under the sunlight, along with its huge aiming device—almost as soon as this firearm appeared, gasps filled the air.

God, what is that?

“A heavy-duty sniper rifle. How is it possible?” The black-haired voice sounded like a whisper, yet it seemed to answer the questions in everyone’s mind.

After all, this wasn’t an ordinary weapon. Not only would magic mechs need a very high engine power to equip such a weapon, but even mechanical mechs would struggle. The massive size of the rifle brought about great weight, coupled with terrifying recoil when firing. Ordinary mechs couldn’t even hold it properly, let alone use it—unreinforced arms simply couldn’t withstand such force. Black-haired had even witnessed some mechs having their arms broken by the recoil after forcing themselves to use such weapons.

And that was a magic mech—how could it possess such a powerful engine? And how could its technicians endure the immense mental pressure from such a powerful engine?

This mystery left all the spectators puzzled.

Just then, the giant mech began its attack.

“Screech…” A harsh, piercing sound. The impact modules beneath its feet started spinning at high speed, sending sparks flying from both sides of its ankles. Its massive body quickly retreated without looking back. It went from stationary to top speed in an instant, instantly escaping the range of ordinary mechs.

Immediately afterward, it knelt on one knee, raising its huge sniper rifle…

“Bang!!” With the first shot, the legs of an ordinary mech exploded instantly, breaking off at the joints. The bullet continued its momentum, creating a large hole over three meters in diameter in the wall behind it.

“Bang!!!” The second shot blew the ordinary mech in two at the waist, sending its upper body flying out tragically. It still waved its arms frantically in the air.
“Bang!!!” The third shot neatly shattered the remaining upper half of the mech into pieces. A huge ball of fire erupted in the air, like a tiny sun.
With three shots, the entire area fell dead silent. The giant mech slowly stood up. With a stretch of its hand, its terrifying heavy sniper rifle disappeared into the backpack behind it. Immediately afterward, it turned around to face the contestant stands…
Extending a finger downward…