Bone Blade sliced through several cables, and for a moment electric sparks burst out. Isaac’s right hand skewed, failing to grasp the opponent’s wrist.
Li Cheng’s eyes showed no fluctuations, his multi-threaded brain was desperately calculating all factors: the distance between the two, the height difference, joint sizes, the floor’s load-bearing capacity...
Eventually, all converged into one plan.
He stepped half a step forward with his right leg, tilting his upper body towards the back left, then twisting forward. As he twisted, his retracted left fist swung forward. Since the effective mass of the torso is much greater than the arm, in this low-gravity environment, it could unleash even greater power.
His fist hit Isaac’s jaw squarely, spinning violently on contact to further enhance the strength.
If this punch had hit a human, not to mention an Ordinary person without enhancements, even Leonardo from the previous Script Task who was Level Lv8 and had numerous modifications, would’ve had his jaw blown off, leaving only the upper row of teeth.
However, it was unclear what material the skeletal form of Isaac was made of; it merely tilted its head to the side, not even sustaining a Broken Bone.
His left hand holding the machete pushed forward rapidly, its palm scraping fiercely against the blade, sparking and crackling with electricity as it seized Li Cheng’s right arm, twisting it with the intention to break it.
Li Cheng immediately stomped on the ground. The magnetic boots he wore were counterfeit products made by Gray Rain, devoid of any real functionality. As he left the ground, in a low-gravity environment, he easily floated and spun, dissipating Isaac’s force.
The Bat Hook Claw Gun’s Cooling Time was three seconds, and by now it was ready once more. Floating in the air, Li Cheng released the handle of the rusty broadsword and shot the Hook Claw toward the ground, propelling himself again toward the red button.
As Captain, Isaac knew very well that there was no such person as Li Cheng on his ship. He let go of the machete and did not rush forward to stop him—obviously, he couldn’t run as fast as the Hook Gun could fly.
Instead, he drew a elaborately ornate Ceremonial Sword from his right waist and swung it diagonally.
In the real world, modern navies of various countries also equip a type of Ceremonial Sword, often used in sword-giving ceremonies, with no practical function.
Isaac’s Ceremonial Sword was clearly not just for show. The sword blade, trailing green luminescence, sliced through the air, continuously deforming in mid-flight, elongating like a whip toward the opponent’s body.
Li Cheng’s White Bone Armor sprayed out Death Curse Torrent to forcefully alter its trajectory, narrowly dodging the whip-like sword, but as a result, he was also driven away from that red button.
"Increase the power of the bridge’s air exchange fan!"
The harsh shout of the rabbit-eared deputy was faintly heard within the thick fog. As the air exchange fan whirred desperately, the originally dense fog inevitably thinned.
"An intruder? How did you sneak in?!"
The rabbit-eared deputy gritted her teeth, her gaze firmly fixed on Li Cheng, who was slowly getting up. She reached for the pistol at her waist and shouted to the surrounding guards, "Take down..."
"The" word froze in the throat of the rabbit-eared deputy. Gray Rain had, at some point and taking advantage of the dense fog, made her way behind the deputy, gripping the deputy’s neck. Her left hand turned into liquid metal, morphing and solidifying into a thin sharp needle, hovering at the side of the deputy’s temple.
Ignoring the deputy’s struggle, Gray Rain held her firmly in place and shouted sternly, "Or I’ll kill her!" Check latest chapters at Nov3lFɪre.ɴet
It seemed that the deputy held great prestige on the ship. Guards on the bridge, armed with rifles and guns, were at a loss, and their gazes turned to Captain Isaac.
The metal skull was silent for a moment. At this time, the Blood Eagle had just completed its first Space Jump, with the second jump still charging.
Hostile pirate ships were firing torpedoes and missiles like crazy. Most were blocked by the shattered hull or Energy Shield.
"SuperSpace Jump Engine, current charge at 31%."
"SuperSpace Jump Engine, current charge at 33%."
The Mechanical voice of the ship’s AI echoed in the bridge, and through the panoramic windows, one could clearly see a chain of apocalyptic explosions lighting up outside.
"I clearly remember every name and face of 7,829 crew members on the ship, as well as the more than 1,300 refugees I picked up from Zeluo’s homeworld and neighboring Planet A."
Isaac spoke slowly, his voice hoarse and gruff, "Who are you?"
Li Cheng’s eyelid twitched. This term had appeared several times. The first time was in the newspaper from the vending machine, the article was about a collective food poisoning incident among students at a local public school.
The second time was in the newspaper he got from the Mislead Room, which reported an explosion of a nuclear bomb in the city center by a group of unidentified terrorists.
He stood up, shook his sore and numb arms, and dismissed the Fog Concealment Skill bluntly, "Is Bilin A part of Zeluo civilization?"
Isaac tilted his head, uttering calmly: "You still haven’t answered my question."
"Who we are is not important. What is important is why you, as a pirate, would kindly rescue a group of refugees."
Li Cheng slowly pulled something out of thin air, saying, "As long as you answer my question, I won’t use this thing to destroy this ship."
The object he took out caused a stir on the bridge.
It was a pistol, in a futuristic sci-fi style, dark green in color, with scratches all over the triangular barrel, and a side of the gun body equipped with a broken glass sphere.
The crew were dumbfounded, "Isn’t that... the Captain’s?"
The pistol was extremely famous; everyone recognized it and instinctively looked to the left side of Isaac’s belt.
There also lay a pistol of the same model, nearly identical in every aspect, the difference being its glass sphere (also known as the Stable Superheavy Element Particle Collector) was intact.
Li Cheng did not attempt to convince Isaac, to inform him this was actually an illusion created by the Main Character Effect Room.
First, according to Gray Rain, Isaac had been missing for three months and had spent who knew how many years in the Main Character Effect Room, having been brainwashed far more severely than him.
Second... Taking out the pistol allowed Isaac to doubt the reality of this place himself, which would be much more effective.
As expected, upon seeing another Final Redemption, even the ever-calm and serious Isaac was slightly agitated, the faint blue flame in his eyes trembling slightly, "...What’s the deal with this gun? If I remember correctly, the Star Sea Casting Master Baladin only made one."
"Heh, you didn’t know?"
Li Cheng smiled slightly, "Baladin also has a brother named Balazhen, also a casting master, just not very famous. The two brothers once studied forging techniques together and separated when their mother remarried, summing up to ’A study that replaces needles, identified as: a mother’s economy.’
He also made a Final Redemption and gave it to me. The difference is, my gun is male, and yours is female."
All the crew were baffled, presumably in their era of the Interstellar Era, "Journey to the West" had not become widely popular, otherwise, someone would have come out and remarked, "They even distinguish between male and female? Do you think this is the Purple Gold Gourd of Golden Horn and Silver Horn? Go apologize to Master Li immediately!"
Only Gray Rain guessed that Li Cheng wanted to use the two Final Redemptions to arouse Isaac’s memories, to make him realize that this place is actually an illusion.
Unfortunately, after a brief silence, Isaac said, "The reason I saved the refugees of Zeluo civilization is simple. They were once my compatriots."
Being the owner of Final Redemption, Isaac knew every detail about the gun. Even though the glass sphere on the gun Li Cheng held was broken, it could still fire one last time.
In such a sealed environment as the bridge, it was enough to deal a devastating blow to the Blood Eagle. Therefore, he had to cooperate, "For some reason, I left that place and became a star pirate.
It was only when I received their message that I learned that Zeluo civilization was about to lose the Iron Plague War. These people onboard are the last sparks of civilization I was able to save."
"The Iron Plague War?"
Li Cheng caught the keyword, squinting his eyes, and asked, "What is that?"