IMAO Chapter 98.1

I would like to add a disclaimer that I hate fight scenes so I am not familiar with a lot of terminologies, especially weapon-related terms. If you see any inaccuracies, let me know, or let it go.

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The surroundings were engulfed in raging flames. The moment the mecha in the hall activated, its engine roared with a deafening noise.

Aina’s tense heart eased slightly. She was sitting inside the mecha, but not in the pilot’s seat. While it was a bit cramped, her anxious heart had settled somewhat.

The young man in the pilot’s seat operated the mecha skillfully. He had clearly already mastered this machine. Even though he seemed unfamiliar with this particular mecha from Chris at first, he quickly got the hang of it.

Aina swallowed and tried to make herself as small as possible to minimize the space she took up, worried about interfering with his operation.

After the two mechas strode out of the hall, they instantly took flight, bursting forth at an astounding speed and performing high-speed frequency shifts between the city buildings.

Looking down from this height, raging fires burned everywhere on the ground. Collapsed buildings were scattered about, corpses littered the ground, and the entire city was like a sea of blood.

Flying overhead in the mecha, they could see even more bodies, corpses sprawled everywhere. The first wave of airstrikes didn’t kill many people, since the Blood Moon Army mainly targeted North Rio’s wealthiest northern district. The northern district occupied nearly half of North Rio’s total area, but besides some wealthy merchants and their servants, the population density was low.

However, when mechas and fighters from the northern district scattered to other areas and exchanged fire with Blood Moon fighters, stray shots caused massive civilian casualties!

This wasn’t a Federation Thunder Fighter, but fortunately, the mecha’s operating system wasn’t too different. Jiang Yuan quickly got the hang of it. After flying at high speed for a while—

Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong stopped simultaneously in mid-air. Jiang Yuan activated the external speaker system and called out to the five black mechas with blood-red moons painted on them flying toward them: “Please don’t attack! We’re not from North Mali. We’re just tourists passing through.

“We won’t participate in any of your internal conflicts or help either side. Please let us pass.”

But the soldiers ignored his plea. The five mechas immediately launched missiles. Jiang Yuan quickly fired the mecha’s scatter shots to intercept the incoming missiles mid-air. The scatter shots and missiles collided in violent explosions, bursting into fiery blooms in the sky!

As Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong dealt with the stray shots flying through the air, the five mechas seemed to realize bombs couldn’t hit them.

One of the mechas switched to using a laser gun!

BOOM—

The mecha under Jiang Yuan’s control swiftly drew the gun at its waist!

One shot!

Two shots!

Three shots!

…

Under the rain-like laser assault, the mechas controlled by Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong moved like ghosts. Using only high-frequency shifts and dual-rail sliding steps, they dodged most of the attacks, while necessary attacks were avoided with precise counter-shots!

Aurelius held his breath. After watching the series of maneuvers from the two opposing mechas, he realized their pilots were far more skilled than ordinary fighters.

Aurelius let out a long breath, but instead of retreating, he reported the situation to his superior and continued leading his squad’s attack.

“Hey, say something, would you stop chasing us? We really aren’t North Mali people, we’re from the Federation!” Ji Rong said while continuing to defend.

Although their attacks were meant to destroy their mechas, during these three minutes of combat, they had only defended without attacking. Attacking would mean getting involved in the battle!

Aurelius sneered at their words. Today, all the fleeing cowards claimed to be foreigners. There were too many saying the same thing. Yet when they defeated them, some pilots inside those cockpits were indeed foreigners, but they were just mercenaries hired from abroad by those bastards.

Most of the guards weren’t North Mali people, but—

They were still accomplices and deserved punishment!

“Captain… should we continue attacking?”

“Attack! Blood Moon will bless us!”

“Charge!”

Seeing ranged attacks were useless, the five mechas quickly closed in on Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong under Aurelius’s command, aiming for close combat!

Jiang Yuan controlled his mecha to draw the mechanical blade at its waist, and Ji Rong did the same!

BOOM BOOM BOOM—

The five mechas attacked in coordination.

As the mechas clashed, the collision of mechanical blades sparked intense flares. But the storm-like assault from five mechas was easily blocked by the two strange mechas.

The two mechas moved like ghosts. Aurelius’s breath stopped. They were no match…

But their opponents hadn’t dealt any fatal blows. Aurelius was starting to believe what the two mechas had said.

He issued another command—

“BOOM—”

An enemy attacked from behind. Jiang Yuan didn’t give them a chance. Instead, he dodged sideways, reversing his mechanical blade behind him, then slashing upward. With a flash of light, the attacking mecha’s mechanical arm was cut clean off, crashing heavily to the ground as exposed wires crackled with electricity.

Watching this, the attacking enemy was instantly terrified. One more reverse strike and his mecha would explode! Fear instantly crawled up his spine!

He was done for!

Their entire squad might be wiped out here!

BOOM.

Another explosion sounded in the distance.

Jiang Yuan stopped attacking them.

“Please stop chasing us. We really aren’t North Mali people. We’re Federation citizens. We’re here on a stopover aboard the Princess of the Night. People below will get hurt if we keep fighting!”

Jiang Yuan emphasized again during the battle.

Not attacking the black Blood Moon mecha was something Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong had planned from the start. Getting involved in combat would mark them as participants in the war, but they were just foreigners. Their only goal was to escort people into the slums!

However, they had anticipated being attacked, given the constant fighting between mechas on both sides.

“If we were really your enemies, how long do you think you could hold out against us with your current strength?” Jiang Yuan said, glancing at the mechas opposite them.

All across North Mali, flames raged, and broken mechas littered the ground. By now, countless mechas and warships had been destroyed.

As they spoke, the mecha that had attacked them from behind quickly widened the distance between them.

After retreating out of attack range, Milu leaned against his mecha’s position. “Captain Aurelius… they really might not be those bastards…”

Milu felt dizzy, his head still rattled from the mecha’s earlier vibrations.

“No, they definitely are. They’re just trying to trick us into letting them go! Those bastards must die. If it weren’t for them, North Mali would never have ended up like this!”

An enraged voice burst through the comms, its owner continuing to speak with intense resentment.

“It’s possible.” Aurelius hesitated for a moment. Their orders were clear. They couldn’t let any warship or mecha leave North Mali. Who knew if the people they were hunting were hiding among them?

“You really expect us to believe you’re not the enemy just because you say so?” Aurelius said coldly, his voice low. “I’ll give you one chance. Leave your mechas, come out, and prove your identity. We guarantee your safety.”

…

Jiang Yuan’s expression shifted. Abandoning their mechas was absolutely not an option. Without them, they’d be sitting ducks.

“That’s impossible,” Jiang Yuan frowned slightly. “We need the mechas to escort our people into the slums.”

“We can’t let any mecha or warship leave this area,” Aurelius replied immediately, his voice frigid.

Inside the mecha cockpit:

“What should we do? Should we attack?” Jiang Yuan hesitated.

Ji Rong’s voice came through: “No, if we attack them, we’ll likely become their targets. Let’s find a way to shake them off first, then look for the instructor and the others.”

Jiang Yuan: “Alright.”

Attacking would be simple, but losing their pursuers would be difficult. Given the current delicate situation, Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong did not want to provoke the Blood Moon group…

Jiang Yuan sighed silently. They couldn’t risk leading these tails straight to He Chuan and his group. A stray shot from the battle could easily kill them all.

Whoosh-

Seven mechas faced off in mid-air. Suddenly, two of them fired up their engines, bursting away at incredible speed and shooting into the cloud layer!

“After them!”

Aurelius shouted urgently, “Report: We’re pursuing two white mechas. The pilots are highly skilled and claim to be Federation tourists. Requesting backup!”

“9231 received, en route!”

“7892 received, coming now!”

The roar of mecha engines was deafening.

“They’re too fast!” Milu struggled to keep up from behind. With his mecha missing an arm, his speed was severely limited.

He wasn’t the only one. None of his companions could match the speed of those two. The pair seemed to be doing it deliberately. Anyone could fly at high speed through the air, but the problem was the massive flocks of birds. At such speeds, even a single bird strike could throw a mecha off balance!

Milu had honestly lost the will to chase these two. Against any other target, their small squad’s teamwork would have taken them down by now. Deep down, he believed what those two had said earlier…

But… North Mali had too many foreigners, and many of them were accomplices to those bastards…

Sixty years ago, many North Mali government officials were assassinated one after another by foreign mercenaries hired by those same bastards!

Milu looked down at the ground below, where a fence cordoned off an area filled with old gray-black concrete buildings. Although untouched by war, they were dilapidated beyond recognition, a dark mass of decay.

If only…

If those people hadn’t died, perhaps North Mali wouldn’t be like this today.

Milu’s eyes reddened, as if dust had gotten in them.

“For victory!”

“For North Mali!”

Milu suddenly shouted, tears streaming down his face unbidden. He wiped them away and piloted his mecha, staying close to his squad!

“Milu, you idiot, are you crying? Did those two scare you with their attack? Are you afraid?” a voice teased.

“No… I’m not afraid,” Milu said quietly. “I just thought of my father.”

“Haha, alright,” the speaker continued, “Victory will be ours! In two days at most, we’ll achieve victory!”

“We’ll create our dream nation.”

The man’s voice, mixed with the explosions, crying, and chaos outside, filled them with hope.

Create our dream nation.

Milu licked his cracked lips and pressed forward with the attack force!

BOOM-

Three more mechas appeared in view, making Jiang Yuan frown.

“Your squad’s pretty weak, huh? Five people and you still can’t handle two mechas?” A man’s irritating voice came through the comms, his tone carrying a hint of amusement as he mocked them.

“Lucas, shut your stinking mouth. If you’re so capable, shoot them down yourself!” Aurelius raised his eyebrows in annoyance at the newcomer Lucas.

Lucas let out a laugh.

Aim!

Fire!

The gun sparked as it fired, and the missile shot straight toward Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong. Jiang Yuan tilted sideways, pushing the engine to maximum altitude, away from the ground. The missile followed them into the air.

Then Jiang Yuan fired his laser gun, the beam meeting the missile mid-air. The instant explosion scattered shrapnel everywhere.

“Strange…” Lucas frowned. These two enemies had dodged several attacks, and each time they would climb to a high altitude. After watching their maneuvers, he dropped his earlier contempt. These two were definitely no amateurs…

Two minutes later, Aina, who had been curled up inside the mecha, looked increasingly troubled. On the screen, she spotted three more fighters appearing, which meant eleven mechas were now pursuing them!

What could they do?

Even though these two young pilots were skilled, they had absolutely no chance against eleven mechas.

“Stop following us! We really aren’t from North Mali!” Jiang Yuan tried reasoning with their pursuers, exasperated.

“I already said, if you surrender, we won’t harm you,” Aurelius said flatly. Now with eleven of them, even these formidable mechas were no match!

“We have eleven mechas here. You must realize you can’t win. If you surrender now, my earlier offer still stands.”

“You’d better listen now.”

Aurelius couldn’t help but smirk. Earlier he’d been worried, but with reinforcements arriving, he was completely at ease, even pleased. Good thing these two had kept pretending to be foreigners without attacking them. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have lasted until backup arrived; some of their five comrades might have been injured.

“Damn it, why won’t they listen!” Jiang Yuan couldn’t help but curse.

“Let’s beat them up and break through together. This isn’t working. We’ll just attract more and more people. We need to shake them off quickly,” Ji Rong frowned in displeasure, his voice turning deeper.

Jiang Yuan grunted in agreement. “Okay!”

Ji Rong drew his mechanical blade, gripping the handle as he coolly observed the eleven different models of mechas surrounding them.

Lasers fired continuously, trying to shoot down the non-black mechas, all eleven coordinating their attack.

The eleven mechas moved!

The two mechas moved as well. One of them drew its laser gun, precisely calculating trajectories and firing precise shots into the air. In split seconds, these laser beams collided and exploded mid-air!

“Damn!” Lucas frowned. Even such concentrated laser fire couldn’t hit these two.

Laser after laser fired, but they still couldn’t land a hit. “What the hell is with these guys?”

Attacking again, Lucas moved in for a sneak attack, when suddenly he froze. Just as he was about to strike, the other mecha accelerated to extreme speed, shifting frequencies as it charged right up to his face, its massive shadow looming over him!

The next moment, the mecha grabbed his arm and unleashed a barrage of devastating attacks. Before Lucas could react, his mecha was already in pieces. In the midst of the intense close combat, he was sent spinning away, and his mechanical blade was forcibly ripped from his waist!

Ji Rong held two blades and didn’t hesitate before charging at the nearest mecha!

Sparks flew everywhere!

The attacked mecha didn’t even have a chance to shoot back and was forced to retreat repeatedly.

One hit!

Two hits!

Three hits!

…

Eighteen hits!

The explosive series of attacks grew increasingly powerful, making the mecha tremble from the impact!

Another mecha was sent flying!

BOOM-

That mecha crashed heavily onto the top of a building, falling several floors with gravity before getting wedged in the structure!

One after another…

Mechas were attacked and fell in succession. But since the blades didn’t hit vital spots, there were no explosions.

The two mechas were like tigers descending from the mountain, while they were like a flock of sheep!

“Damn!” Witnessing this scene, Aurelius couldn’t help but curse. These attacks were terrifyingly fierce. Although they were all trained pilots, they were completely outmatched!

How could such experts exist?!

CLANG!

Was it finally his turn?

A mecha suddenly charged right up to him with the same explosive attacks. Aurelius felt his mecha swaying like a leaf in a violent storm, rocking left and right!

BOOM!

The massive force sent his mecha flying, instantly losing balance!

“GO!” Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong shouted simultaneously!

Having scattered all eleven mechas into disarray, the two quickly fired up their engines with one thought – RUN!

CLANG!

Finally, they stopped!

After regaining balance, Aurelius heard his subordinate Milu say quietly through the comm: “Captain, should we continue pursuing?”

“Pursue my ass! You want us to chase them to our deaths?” Aurelius cursed. These two could thrash them within minutes. They were obviously no ordinary people. Even when surrounded by their three squadrons, their mechas remained undamaged.

Milu breathed a sigh of relief. “Captain, I think they really might be foreign tourists… With their strength, they could have killed us all, but they didn’t… Since we’re not chasing them anymore, what should we do now?”

Aurelius frowned. Those two had countless opportunities to kill them earlier, but they only defended when necessary, even when they easily defeated all eleven of them just now. He was starting to believe what they said.

“Help the other squadrons. Spread the word about these two mechas to everyone else. Don’t let our people chase after them. These two are incredibly strong. Just because they haven’t killed anyone now doesn’t mean they won’t if we keep pursuing them.” Aurelius made his decision after some thought.

After informing his comrades, Aurelius didn’t forget to report to his superior.

Seeing Aurelius’s battle records, the man with graying temples frowned and said after a moment’s thought, “Leave it to me. I’ll send people to track them and assess their situation.”

“Yes, sir!” Aurelius responded.

After ending the communication, beside the man with graying temples stood a dignified-looking woman wearing white gentleman’s gloves. Her eyes were as clear as autumn waters. She said softly, “Track them, but don’t attack. If we confirm they’re telling the truth, let them enter the slums.”

“Yes, commander!” The gray-templed man respectfully replied and immediately began making arrangements.

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