What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 45

Chapter 45: Siege

Shu Qiong was stunned for a moment, nearly losing her train of thought thanks to Yan Xiangyu’s charm. However, she quickly refocused and asked, “How is the weapon I designed for you working out?”

She had spent considerable effort designing a morphing whip for Yan Xiangyu. The material combined extremely tough memory alloy with a rare biological composite. It was composed of interlocking joints, and its barbs weren’t just for offense—they were designed for structural interlocking. The whip’s second form functioned as a pointed spear; its transformative nature allowed it to adapt to various scenarios with fluid offense and defense.

“Very smooth,” Yan Xiangyu replied. This wasn’t just sentimental flattery; Shu Qiong truly possessed a gift for mecha design. It was hard to believe this was her first time independently designing a mecha weapon.

Shu Qiong nodded, briefly explaining her design logic. Just then, Jin Yan’s voice drifted over from a distance. Unable to locate Shu Qiong’s silhouette or connect to a private channel, Jin Yan and Qin Liang were using their mechas’ external loudspeakers to try and strike up a long-distance chat.

“You ran away just like that?” Jin Yan called out, scanning the area and using her blade to beat back the surrounding tall grass and branches, testing for their location. “That’s not very honorable of you, running away after firing just two shots?”

Shu Qiong watched the two of them slowly walking away with their backs turned. Once the distance was sufficient, she raised her arm and opened fire.

Pop, pop!

Two consecutive shots hit Qin Liang, but they didn’t cause much trouble for the “turret” pilot. Qin Liang spun around instantly, her muzzles primed: “Found you!”

A wave of heat blasted Shu Qiong’s previous hiding spot, but it hit nothing. She had relocated the moment she fired. Simultaneously, Qin Liang heard Jin Yan let out a short gasp as the screech of metal impact rang out behind her. She turned back hurriedly to see a pointed spear jammed into the joint of Jin Yan’s mecha. At the other end of the spear, Yan Xiangyu applied torque to her wrist, rotating the spear and actually prying a few parts loose.

Though they were non-essential parts, it was still alarming. Jin Yan’s cannons let out a synchronized volley toward Yan Xiangyu, blowing apart the ground and the nearby stone walls and trees. Seeing the retaliation, Yan Xiangyu pulled her weapon out and performed a low roll, retreating behind cover without lingering for a second.

Qin Liang moved to help, but three bullets slammed into her in succession. They displayed exquisite precision and control, aiming specifically for her arm joints and punching visible pits into the armor. Yan Xiangyu’s silhouette vanished quickly. Jin Yan wanted to give chase but realized with helpless frustration that she couldn’t keep up. Her mecha was too heavy; under high load, her speed couldn’t match Yan Xiangyu’s. She rationally abandoned the pursuit.

Realizing Shu Qiong’s plan, Jin Yan felt like laughing: “Daughter, if you want to play a war of attrition with us, I can certainly play along.”

Shu Qiong repeated her process of firing and relocating, connecting to Jin Yan’s channel to state her price: “Give us six energy blocks and one-third of your ammo, and we’ll stop harassing you.”

Jin Yan started squawking immediately: “Since when do people try to pull a fast one like this?”

There was no response, as Shu Qiong had already cut the channel to prevent Jin Yan from using it to triangulate her position. Before Jin Yan could even think over the proposal, her viewport went dark. Yan Xiangyu’s spear struck again, this time aiming for the mecha’s forehead. Under the fierce assault, the primary visual sensor was destroyed.

Jin Yan calmly activated the auxiliary sensors and, alongside Qin Liang, responded to the harassment with a barrage from their array of dark cannon muzzles.

After an unknown amount of back-and-forth, a laser blast unexpectedly slammed into Jin Yan. Unlike the previous probing attacks, this one hit with massive force. The young miss gasped in shock: “No way, Daughter, you—”

Immediately after, Shu Qiong finally connected to her channel: “That wasn’t me.”

A new voice emerged in the channel: “Why are you guys fighting so sluggishly?”

Jin Yan went silent. After a long pause, she grumbled accusingly to Shu Qiong, “How did you manage to lead her here!”

Shu Qiong used a “not my problem” tone: “I told you, if you agreed to our terms earlier, everyone would be happy.”

Fang Yingying fired two more rounds, her tone ambiguous: “You sound quite reluctant. Don’t want to see me?”

Jin Yan yelled in disbelief: “Nobody likes being beaten up!”

Fang Yingying appeared to be a total lone wolf with no need for teammates. Her combat style was exceptionally aggressive, carrying a distinct “take them down with me” flair. During one clash, she actually sacrificed half an arm to literally tear off two of Jin Yan’s high-power cannons. Shu Qiong watched, dumbfounded. However, this significantly reduced the pressure on her and Yan Xiangyu.

As the fight continued, yet another new voice entered the channel.

“Sister, who are you guys ganging up on? Count me in!” Lin Mi’s voice sounded exhilarated as she joined the fray. “I was wondering why the supply crates in the arena were all empty. Turns out the resources were being monopolized!”

Jin Yan fell into total despair. She realized that in the eyes of the others, she and Qin Liang were like two pieces of slightly prickly but absolutely mouth-watering fat—especially since this “fat,” while covered in thorns, was slow. As long as the opponents had numbers and time, they would eventually wear them down.

With more people, the battle became louder, making it impossible to hide. This would undoubtedly draw even more people into the fray; the longer it dragged on, the worse it was for them. Lin Mi’s arrival turned the battle into a “no-sportsmanlike-conduct” four-on-two. She immediately drew her large blade and slashed toward Qin Liang with unstoppable momentum. Her movements were swift, her silhouette agile as she dodged shells. As she passed Yan Xiangyu, she abruptly stuck out a leg to trip her.

Yan Xiangyu was prepared, swinging her whip toward Lin Mi’s lower leg, intent on capturing the person who had tried to sabotage her.

Shu Qiong, watching this: “…Can you two please put aside your past grudges for a moment?”

Yan Xiangyu let out a “Heh”: “Xiao Qiong, you saw it. She stuck her leg out first.”

Lin Mi laughed playfully: “Sister, I was just joking.”

With that, the two of them began competing to see who could reach Qin Liang first, as if the person who landed the most effective blow would be the winner. In just a few seconds, they exchanged several blows mid-transit.

Qin Liang fired wildly at them: “Are you guys even reasonable? What did I do to anyone!”

Shu Qiong reconnected to the channel, using a “this is for your own good” tone: “Ahem, my condition still stands. Compromise early for peace, and everyone stays happy.” She checked the time and added, “The match still has a long way to go. Why waste your time dying here?”

Fang Yingying didn’t speak. Her movements were sharp, placing immense pressure on the pseudo-soldier/true-commander Jin Yan, who began deeply reflecting on whether she had offended Fang in a past life. Yan Xiangyu didn’t speak either, being the first to land the most significant damage on Qin Liang so far before giving Lin Mi a pointed look.

Just as Lin Mi was about to show off her own skills, Jin Yan and Qin Liang turned on their external speakers and sorrowfully voiced their surrender. Lin Mi hesitated and stopped her movements.

Shu Qiong made an “Oh” sound: “It’s a deal then. For Yan Xiangyu and me, you owe us six energy blocks and one-third of your ammo.”

Yan Xiangyu raised her whip in agreement.

Fang Yingying: “I don’t need ammo. Give me four energy blocks.”

Lin Mi looked around, feeling that this group was masterfully exploitative. Following the trend of gaining “new experiences,” she added: “I’m not greedy either. Just give me four energy blocks.”

Jin Yan nearly spat blood. Not greedy?

Qin Liang sighed gloomily. After a quick discussion with Jin Yan in their private channel, she said, “We don’t have much stock left either. We can give each of you three energy blocks at most.”

Shu Qiong said without hesitation: “Deal.”

“…” Jin Yan suddenly felt like she had been scammed.

Shu Qiong raised an eyebrow inside her cockpit and finally stepped out from behind cover, standing beside Yan Xiangyu. “A deal’s a deal.”

As they watched Jin Yan and Qin Liang grumblingly and stingily dig out the supplies, the observers were finally satisfied and prepared to leave.

However, at that moment, a sudden change occurred.

Yan Xiangyu was the first to notice. She saw small black dots appearing in the sky. These dots grew larger and larger, approaching at an uncalculable speed.

Drones from the arena?

No, the drones in the area were all pre-set by the instructors. It was impossible for that many to be deployed mid-match. A sense of unease grew stronger. Just as she was about to warn Shu Qiong, her ears caught intermittent words from the public channel, mixed with the static of electrical interference.

The person speaking on the public channel was one of the instructors Shu Qiong had learned from during training. The instructor’s breathing was heavy, and her tone was urgent: “Everyone, find cover immediately! Do not run around. Wait for instructor rescue… the assessment is suspended, everything is suspended… stay where you are… crackle…”

The voice cut off abruptly. Everything returned to a terrifying silence.

Shu Qiong tentatively spoke in the private channel and found that they could still communicate.

“The signal from the base’s main station has been jammed,” Jin Yan said solemnly, her previous joking tone completely gone. “Our arena is far from the base, and every mecha has a small signal receiver, so the private channel still works for now.”

Yan Xiangyu looked up: “Look at the sky.”

Shu Qiong followed her gaze and saw the black dots growing rapidly in her vision, emitting a strange sound that the human ear couldn’t hear, but the mecha’s acoustic sensors could detect. As they got closer, she finally saw what they were.

They were numerous strange insects with massive wing membranes, carrying honeycomb-like spheres beneath them. Countless smaller insects crawled in and out of the holes in the spheres, a sight that made her skin crawl with physiological disgust.

As they neared, a dense swarm of insects flew out from the honeycombs like a massive, conjured hand, diving down to crush, consume, and contaminate all living things below.

Yan Xiangyu suddenly reached out and grabbed Shu Qiong, pulling her behind a piece of cover. Both of them activated their jammers and optical cloaks, watching the unfolding disaster with shock and uncertainty.

How could this be happening?

Although Base Star was remote, it was still within the peaceful zone. Most importantly, it housed numerous facilities and equipment vital to the military, meaning it was garrisoned year-round by rotating troops who served as instructors.

Shu Qiong suddenly remembered that not long ago, the original instructors had all left Base Star due to an emergency recall.

At this very moment, on the massive Base Star, the armed forces were unexpectedly vacant.