Volume 15 Gray Fog Forest Chapter 787 Mission: Searching for Valentina
"Bang!!!"
A loud noise suddenly came from the foot - the corpse that was pressed to the ground by the force of space and could not move actually broke through the floor and fell into the cabin on the bottom floor.
Only then did Ke Lan realize that he had overlooked a problem: when the power of the Erosion increased to a certain level, although it was still unable to resist Ze Luo's spatial power, the alloy battleship plate was no longer as indestructible to it as before.
"Chase!"
The ground suddenly sank, and the terrifying force of space tore open the alloy plate that was more than one meter thick like tearing paper, instantly creating a hole with a diameter of two meters under Ke Lan's feet.
The next level down the corridor is the battleship's armory. In addition to the ammunition locked in the storage compartments, several large hangars are also filled with tactical mechas used for landing battles and carrier-based aircraft that did not have time to take off.
Thanks to the protection of the magnetic levitation base, most of these mechas and carrier-based aircraft are still relatively well preserved. Even the VF-2000 "Pirate Flag" convertible fighter that was fixed on the electromagnetic catapult was not thrown out when the battleship crashed to the ground.
The freed corpse had already run hundreds of meters in less than half a second. It pushed its feet hard on the ground, leaving two half-palm-deep footprints on the metal floor. It then used the explosive force to leap into the air nearly 20 meters high, and with its arms stretched out, it grabbed a protruding frame on the top of the hangar.
Erosion flipped in the air, and its claw-like fingers directly penetrated the top partition. Its entire body clung to the ceiling of the hangar and crawled quickly like a gecko.
It seemed to be able to sense the changes in space. Every time Ke Lan drove the force of space to approach the Eclipse, it would run in the opposite direction in advance. In just a few seconds, the Eclipse had moved to the top of the VF-2000 fixed on the catapult.
Then, Erosion loosened his fingers and fell straight next to VF-2000 with a loud bang.
"Could it be that after this guy becomes like this...he can still fly a fighter jet?" Ke Lan couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
The VF series fighter is the first transformable fighter to be put into actual combat in the history of Ark. It is different from the Type 24 "Guards" mecha that appeared in the Leviathan siege - the transformation function of the VF series fighter is not complete. Although it has a certain landing combat capability, few pilots will use this function... In the pilot circle of that era, there has always been a joke circulating: "Vikings are worse than chickens when they land."
The names of the VF series of fighters basically come from things related to the Nordic pirates of the old era, and these Nordic pirates are also called "Vikings". Over time, the VF series of fighters have added the name of "Viking fighter".
The reason why it is called "Viking Fighter" instead of "Viking Mech" is simply because the combat capability of the VF series fighter after transformation and landing is too poor. Whether in terms of mobility, firepower or defense, it is not as good as the land-based tactical mecha that costs only one-fifth of it or even less... Even its designer later admitted that the transformation design of the Viking fighter was very immature... But even so, in that era when there was a lack of reliable general-purpose carrier-based mecha, the Viking fighter was still produced at least 500 units, and laid a solid technical foundation for the later transformable mecha.
Although so many shortcomings of the Viking fighter have been mentioned, in that era, those who could fly the Viking fighter were all ace pilots in the team... The operation of this type of convertible fighter is extremely complicated, and the driving feel is completely different from that of conventional fighters. Ordinary pilots simply cannot control this advanced weapon.
Even if this corpse was once the pilot of a Viking fighter, it is now "dead", and the only thing driving it is a trace of obsession left over from its lifetime... It is impossible that even the muscle memory of flying a fighter jet has been retained, right?
"We can't let this guy touch the Viking fighter!" Ke Lan's heart tightened - he was not worried that the Viking fighter would pose a threat to him, but because the driving engine of the Viking fighter was not the crystal engine that was commonly seen later, but a small nuclear fission reactor...
This small nuclear fission reactor gives the Viking fighter an extremely exaggerated endurance, and also gives the Viking fighter pilot a trump card to die together with the enemy - when the fighter is seriously damaged and it has been confirmed that it cannot leave the battlefield, the pilot can unlock the reactor's limiter through the biological lock and directly transform the fighter into a nuclear bomb.
This made Ke Lan a little cautious... With Ze Luo's protection, he was not worried that the Viking fighter would self-detonate and hurt him, but it was too late to inform Sanshisan and Mo Jue now.
They were not far from the hangar, and once the nuclear fission reactor of the Viking fighter was detonated, they would definitely be caught in the nuclear explosion.
Even the "Shaojiang modified" frigate can be sunk by a small tactical nuclear warhead detonated inside the ship, not to mention that the reactor explosion of the Viking fighter is far more powerful than the small tactical nuclear warhead carried by a single soldier.
However, the distance between Eclipse and Ke Lan was more than 200 meters, which was beyond the limit of Ze Luo's ability. Ke Lan had no time to stop Eclipse from getting into the cockpit of the Viking fighter...
At this moment, Ke Lan suddenly thought of an idea and used the power of space to violently "dismantle" the cluster laser launcher hanging under the wing of a nearby fighter plane. With the help of Ze Luo, Ke Lan instantly repaired the activation device of the laser launcher and cracked the authentication procedure. He roughly stuffed two energy crystals into the energy conversion device of the laser launcher. He then carried the laser launcher like a rocket launcher and "pulled" the "trigger".
Few things are faster than light. At the same time Ke Lan activated the laser launcher, the dazzling beam of light had already hit the cockpit of the Viking fighter, directly melting two large holes through the operating panel and the driver's seat.
The corpse was obviously stunned for a moment, then let out an angry growl at Ke Lan, but it was responded by a second cluster laser.
The physical strength of the Erosion Corpse was indeed amazing. The shot failed to penetrate it, but only burned its chest into a mess. A pungent smell accompanied by rising white smoke filled the hangar.
After firing two shots, this cluster laser launcher was completely scrapped, but Ke Lan's goal had been achieved. He threw away the launcher that was deformed by the high temperature and rushed forward in one step.
Before the man got close, an invisible heavy punch had already landed on the body of the Erosion Corpse. This time, Ke Lan learned his lesson. After knocking the opponent down, he did not use the unidirectional space force to press him to the ground as before. Instead, he created a 360-degree all-round space cage with no dead angles and locked the Erosion Corpse in it.
To be precise, it cannot be considered a cage, but rather a "straitjacket". The solid spatial barrier sticks tightly to the body of the Erosion Corpse, as if it had been coated with a layer of fixed coating, preventing it from even making subtle movements like moving its little finger or blinking its eyes.
Anyway, the Erosion Corpse didn't need to breathe, so Ke Lan didn't have to worry about suffocating it. He simply picked up the Erosion Corpse, which had turned into a "sculpture", with one hand , dragged it into a single-person lifeboat, and threw it in.
"Next, we have to find a way to find Valentina... To be honest, among the missing people, if we have to rank them in terms of their probability of reaching the core area, I think she will most likely be at the bottom."
"Because of her personality?" Ze Luo asked.
"Well, her experience and personality can easily lead her to extreme ways of thinking... The end result is that she constantly chooses solutions with self-destructive tendencies... She often did this when she participated in the mecha competition before. She is lucky to be alive today. Although the situation has improved after meeting us, this psychological shadow cannot be eliminated in a day or two."
"You are actually very worried about her, right?" Ze Luo asked again. Although her tone was always emotionless and calm, for some reason, Ke Lan smelled a hint of jealousy in it.
This girl seems to have a very strong possessiveness... I don't know where she learned it from. Maybe after I go back this time, I should select the books and movies and TV shows for her to read. Otherwise, it will be troublesome if she develops yandere traits in the future... Ke Lan thought to herself.
"I'm worried about everyone in the team," Ke Lan replied, "but my mind tells me that the best way for me to find them is to wait for them in the core area of the Gray Mist Forest...so no matter how anxious I am, I can't show it."
"But the situation is different now." Ke Lan continued, "From the information revealed by this eroded corpse, the thing in the core area of the Gray Mist Forest should be the 'hive city' it mentioned. But apart from these two words, we know nothing about the hive city. Even the archives that only members of the Undead Crew have the right to view have never mentioned this term. If we can obtain some relevant information before arriving at this hive city, then we can take the initiative into our own hands."
"Then how are you going to find Valentina and the Blasphemer mecha?" Ze Luo asked again, "You said it yourself, you have no way to find them under the interference of the forest, otherwise you would have gone to find them long ago."
"With the help of some tools." Ke Lan tapped the floor with the tip of his boot a few times, "For example, this 'Genoa'."
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"What? You want to drive this battleship to find other people?" Thirty-three looked at Ke Lan and couldn't help but widen his eyes. "I don't know if you are crazy or I am crazy... Let's not talk about whether you can make this battleship fly into the sky. Have you forgotten why this battleship crashed twice?"
"I know." Ke Lan nodded, looking indifferent.
"You know? Do you have a solution?" Sanshisan and Ke Lan looked at each other, their tones extremely serious.
As a member of the special forces who often carries out difficult missions, Sanshisan also knows that in desperate situations, he must resort to unexpected and risky tactics to have a chance of overcoming difficulties... This is not the first time he has gambled his life, but since it is a gamble, he will only bet when there is a possibility of winning - and in his opinion, driving this battleship is no different from committing suicide.
An entire fleet and thousands of experienced officers and soldiers were defeated here... Now, with only the wreckage of a battleship that had crashed twice and was broken beyond repair, and a few of them, they wanted to accomplish what thousands of people couldn't do before. Is this possible?
It is true that Ke Lan and Ze Luo's individual combat capabilities are very strong, so strong that it seems like they are cheating...but no matter how strong the individual combat capabilities are, as long as they are not strong enough to cause a qualitative change, it is difficult for one person to change anything on a large-scale battlefield - except for decapitation operations.
But the problem is that those biological weapons have no "leader" for Ke Lan and his team to carry out the decapitation operation. What controls them is the "will" of the forest. If they want to decapitate them, they have to uproot the entire forest...
Ze Luo's spatial power is almost invulnerable, but the range she can protect is only a hundred meters in radius. If she protects the bridge, she cannot protect the power compartment and the engine. If she protects the engine, she cannot take care of the bridge... Unless she can expand the space barrier to the point of wrapping up the entire battleship, otherwise, operating the battleship within the range of the gray fog forest is completely seeking death.
"If you're asking about those biological weapons, I really can't come up with a good solution right now." Ke Lan said honestly.
"Since you can't come up with a solution, I think what you said before was nonsense." Thirty-three frowned and said, "You know better than me that after you cut off the connection between the two warships and the Gray Mist Forest, the biological weapons that turned around and attacked the warships sank the Genoa again in less than three minutes... Do you think we can find Valentina in three minutes?"
Thirty-three went on to say, "Under the thick fog and the treetops, you won't be able to find her in thirty minutes, let alone three minutes... Once you get out of the fog, you'll have to face an endless amount of biological weapons that emerge from the fog... Do you think you'll have a chance to find her in that situation?"
"I think you may have misunderstood me..." Ke Lan smiled, "From the beginning to the end, I never said that I wanted to steer this battleship above the thick fog."
"So... so what are you planning to do...?!" Thirty-three was stunned, the corners of his mouth twitching involuntarily, "Flying in the tree canopy?"
"Well, the combat record of the Shaojiang Kai frigate gave me some inspiration. If they hadn't been invaded by biological weapons before, they would have had a great chance of reaching the core area of the Gray Mist Forest... Although the wood of the Mist Tree is hard, it is still not enough to pose a hindrance to the steel body of the warship."
