Forcefully Doting On You - v2c23

 

Chapter 55

All twenty-one mechas on the scene witnessed this event.

However, mecha fighters scattered in other directions didn't initially react. They saw the kingworm suddenly behaving strangely and became a bit nervous, preparing for an attack. But then they heard a somewhat anxious yet excited voice from Mu Cai coming through the communicator:

"I think I've taken control of this kingworm!"

The remaining nineteen mecha fighters focused their gaze and indeed saw the kingworm was moving in the 9 o'clock direction. The two mechas standing on top of it didn't make any other moves, only their standing together position seemed a bit off, causing them to feel left out.

Mu Cai speculated that when he had just extended his mental power to control the mecha, the kingworm underneath him was also controlled by the same mental power he released. This could possibly be the reason why the Zerg targeted him previously.

Having been controlled by the Zerg, and realizing that he could manipulate a mecha with his mental power, Billy figured out he might also control the bugs and decided to try to control Mu Cai. However, the situation with the Zerg queen was worrisome. Their preparations were insufficient, leading to the failed operation.

Luckily, their preparations were not enough...

With this thought in mind, Mu Cai directed the communicator and shouted, "Everyone, gather on top of this kingworm."

A series of unified replies quickly came through the communicator.

Standing on top of the kingworm was far safer and more efficient than piloting a mecha through a swarm of zergs.

As the conversation continued, Bai Ze expressed some dissatisfaction by squeezing Qingluan's waist.

Mu Cai's mental power was still covering Qingluan, and hence controlling the kingworm, so he naturally knew about Claire's furtive actions. It seemed the other party was feeling somewhat disgruntled again.

However, considering Claire's childish yet generally well-behaved tendencies of expressing dissatisfaction without speaking out, Mu Cai decided to reward this oversized 'baby.'

With Bai Ze in control and holding Qing Luan, Claire suddenly saw the curvaceous robotic arm of the mecha in his arms reaching towards his cockpit. The hand, notably smaller than a regular mecha's, landed above his cockpit, just like a pat on the head.

Claire couldn't help but laugh, "Cai Cai is really good to me..."

His voice was deep and husky, as if whispering sweet nothings by the communicator.

The other nineteen mecha fighters sharing the communicator: "..."

They felt being on top of this kingworm might not be the best idea after all.

As Mu Cai's face flushed in embarrassment, he remained silent until all the mecha fighters were on the Queen Bug's back. Then he calmly said, "Everyone cover me as I control the kingworm and advance towards the Zerg queen."

Currently, this kingworm was under Mu Cai's control. However, the brain bug controlling this portion of the formation seemed to have not noticed that one of its members had gone out of control and didn't send any troops after them. Mu Cai felt that this was likely due to the brain bug's low counting ability.

Given the era in which Mu Cai's world existed, many animals in nature besides humans could count, though most had a limit. For instance, crows could count but only up to three.

If four humans were in front of a crow and one of them left to steal from the crow's nest, the crow wouldn't even realize someone was missing. Mu Cai thought that the current behavior of the brain bug was probably similar to that of the crow, and he was the person who cleverly took the kingworm in preparation to ambush their nest.

Just as expected, due to the nature of the kingworm itself, they encountered few substantial obstacles along the way. Except for a swarm of flying bugs that caused some difficulties with an aerial attack, the rest of the bug species were crushed under the kingworm's trample.

Kingworms were rare, and the one Mu Cai controlled happened to be the last one in the previous  formation. Thus, their journey was exceptionally smooth until they closed in on the Zerg queen.

Based on the strength of the mental energy fluctuations, Mu Cai gradually adjusted the kingworm's route. Finally, when the mental energy fluctuations in Mu Cai's brain reached maximum, everyone else could see the gigantic body of the Zerg queen that was as huge as a little mountain.

The Zerg queen was lying on the ground, different from the rest of the species in that it didn't have any lethal limbs. Other than its massive abdomen, the Zerg queen only had a head, a short torso, and two vestigial foreclaws on the torso.

Its deep red shell and compound eyes were coldly gleaming under the grey sky of planet Kotal. The Zerg queen's abdomen was very prominent, extending a large bulge. Mu Cai could even see countless oval zerg eggs wrapped within the thin layer of skin; they were shifting towards its tail as the Zerg queen gave birth.

The huge body of the creature made the nearby zergs look much smaller in comparison.

It's a living target!

As Mu Cai thought about this, he immediately ordered, "Approach the Zerg queen, aim at her abdomen within the shell range, and fire!"

Unlike the minor skirmishes at the Imperial Mecha Academy, the military mecha fighters were equipped with small cannonballs due to their experience in performing precise breakthrough missions. These shells had considerable destructive power, but their range was limited, requiring a relatively close distance to be effective.

However, at this moment, the people on the giant bug were already feeling immense pressure as they watched the Zerg queen being surrounded by layers and layers of zergs.

Under Mu Cai's mental control, the giant kings moved without hesitation toward the direction of the Zerg queen.

The enemies were now up close. Even if the brain bugs weren't good at counting, they were very sensitive to humans in mechas approaching the Bug Queen.

After all, through generations of inherited memories, these bugs already knew that it was a strange-looking creature like this that seriously injured their queen 300 years ago!

As expected, the defense around the Zerg queen was the most numerous and fierce. There were layers of protection, impenetrable, and these bugs always struck first.

Standing on the giant bug, Mu Cai and others hadn't even reached the shell range distance to the Bug Queen yet when they were hit by a dense and relentless attack like raindrops. Fortunately, the kingworm's enormous body kept them safe — ordinary springtails and stinging zergs couldn't climb up and pose a threat.

However, the flying bugs and other kingworms that had arrived together were putting this team under pressure.

Although the kingworm beneath them was still within Mu Cai's control range and other zergs couldn't climb up to attack, when the other kingworms arrived, they adopted a pincer strategy, trying to overturn the bug directly, letting these tiny humans fall into the zerg pile for more attacks and trampling.

The ground beneath them was trembling unstably, and a horde of flying bugs in the sky cast a shadow like a storm cloud. The surrounding sounds of wing vibrations and zerg feet scraping on the ground filled their senses, leaving the mecha fighters only with the energy to deal with the flying bugs.

In such a noisy backdrop, a flash of an idea bubbled up in Mu Cai's mind.

He loudly gave an order through the communicator: "Everyone pay attention to my movements! Follow me!"

After saying that, he maneuvered his mecha, Qingluan, to leap onto the shell of another kingworm that was clashing with them. His mental power, through the shell of Qing Luan, transmitted to this giant bug and he directly ordered in his mind:

Stop!

Sure enough, this giant bug immediately ceased its action.

Now is the time!

Mu Cai shouted into the communicator: "Keep up!"

The mecha fighters who were initially dealing with the flying bugs on the back of the giant bug all paused. Claire was the first to follow and jumped to Mu Cai's side. Others quickly followed suit.

Under Mu Cai's control, the kingworm beneath him slowly turned and continued heading towards the queen.

The flying bugs above persisted in their pursuit, but Mu Cai could no longer pay them any mind. Twenty mecha fighters on the periphery withstood the immense pressure to protect him completely. All of Mu Cai's focus was on how to close the distance between the team and the Zerg queen.

As long as a kingworm appeared, he would control it, and all the people would follow him, leaping forward. The azure Qingluan was petite, like a sky blue phoenix dancing in the air, elegantly flapping its wings through the countless zergs.

This method was incredibly efficient. It didn't take long for the twenty mecha fighters to follow Qingluan into firing range.

No sooner had they landed on the king's beetle shell when Mu Cai didn't speak, but what came from the communication device was Claire's low command: "Fire!"

As his words fell, twenty mecha bullets were fired simultaneously, aiming directly at that bulging abdomen of the queen bug.

These bullets, researched and tested countless times by humans, were designed with great care. They were portable and could deal heavy damage to the bugs. One shot could severely injure the bug's shell, and after twenty rounds, the queen of bugs would undoubtedly be torn apart on the spot.

However, things didn't go as Mu Cai had hoped.

The moment the bullets were fired, the queen bug's small, deep-red head suddenly lifted and opened its mouth to roar silently. Mu Cai felt a powerful surge of mental energy in his brain and countless zergs suddenly piled up to form a thick wall in an instant.

The twenty cannonballs broke through several walls stacked with the bodies of bugs. At the last moment of the explosion, countless severed limbs splashed about, green blood spattered, but the queen bug remained unscathed.

Mu Cai frowned.

Mechas simply cannot compare to battleships. Although the shells carried by the mechas are small, the space and design of the mechas themselves dictate that they couldn't possibly carry a large number of these mass-destruction weapons.

Even the Qingluan, piloted by Mu Cai, is too small to carry any shells. As for the other twenty mechas, at most, each one only carries two.

This shot nearly depleted half of everyone's tricks up their sleeves, but it didn't have the expected effect. Naturally, the pilots in the cockpit were somewhat disappointed:

"Damn, these zergs reproduce way too fast!"

"We didn't hurt the Queen Bug, but we did injure a bunch of zergs. There're just too many of them to defeat!"

"Shall we try again? Maybe next time we'll strike gold."

"I'm afraid we'll just hit more bugs next time and then our shells will be depleted."

"..."

The voices coming over the intercom were soft, but when these whispers gathered, they sounded like the rustling of Zerg footprints on the ground.

Mu Cai felt somewhat challenged.

Especially since they were unsuccessful this time, the zergs on the other side had already begun a more intense counterattack.

Mu Cai quickly made up his mind, speaking into the intercom, "Let's try again."

As soon as these words were out, there was silence for a few seconds on the intercom. Then, Claire's voice seamlessly picked up, "Roger that."

Sensing that the others hadn't agreed immediately, Claire added, "You are the commander of this operation, and I will follow all your orders."

Of course, Mu Cai knew that Claire was merely securing the support of everyone else for him. Claire was a key member of the Léon family and held high prestige in the military. If Claire unconditionally supported him, then the others would likely follow his command as well.

However, after thinking about it, Mu Cai didn't want Claire to play the bad guy. He tried to explain concisely, "I need cover. The moment the shells attack the queen, I'll rush to her side."

This was a diversionary tactic. Everyone immediately understood and no longer thought that Mu Cai might be wasting the shells.

But before they could reply, Claire's voice came through the intercom again, "This is too reckless. This plan won't work."

The other nineteen mech fighters: "..."

Lord Claire, do you remember what you just said?! This change of opinion is way too fast.

Mu Cai knew what Claire was worried about – it was simply that he feared Mu Cai would face danger alone. However, under the current circumstances, only Mu Cai, operating the new type of mech with the highest speed and no shells, was the most suitable for a surprise attack.

The mission had to be completed by someone, and the faster it was completed, the better. After all, the human warships were still under attack from the bugs. The faster they moved, the less time it would take to rescue everyone.

Taking a rare firm stance, Mu Cai said, "I think this plan can work. Please follow my orders, Lord Claire."

Despite the urgent situation and the looming danger of the bug attacks, Claire couldn't help but be somewhat amused listening to Mu Cai's ethereal and pleasant voice as he spoke such serious words.

Even so, Claire still wanted to prevent what he felt should be prevented – this was a matter directly related to Mu Cai's safety, and he felt there was still room for discussion.

Unexpectedly, in the next moment, a soft whisper came through the intercom, "Can't you just pick me up after you've fired the shells? If you don't even have that much confidence, how can you be my alpha?"

This low, soft voice set Claire's blood boiling on the spot.

He couldn't help but speak up, "Cai Cai..."

However, Mu Cai's voice had already sounded from the communicator, "Get ready, launch the artillery shells!"

________________________

Author's Note:

19 mecha warriors sharing the communicator: Even though it's a journey for 21 people, we don't deserve to have names.

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