Chapter 97: Why Are You In A Typhon!
Chekhov's Gun.
It was a well-known dramatic principle. If a loaded rifle hangs on the wall in the first act of a traditional three-act story, it absolutely must be fired by the third act. Conversely, if a gun is fired in the third act, its presence should have been clearly foreshadowed from the very beginning.
"Ai-chan, run a diagnostic," Rekka muttered, tapping a few invisible keys in the air. "Are both Thunderbolt and Typhon in combat-ready status?"
A cheerful, synthetic voice chimed immediately. "Boss, the internal systems for both units are completely stable! Ready for deployment at your command!"
"Very good..."
"Hold on a second." March 7th crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing with sudden suspicion as she stared at Rekka. "What exactly is a Typhon?"
Rekka did not even blink. "Typhon... just think of it as a massive robot. It serves as the destined arch-nemesis of Thunderbolt, only slightly weaker in overall specs. Basically, it is the big, evil villain mecha."
Just think of it as a Gundam.
"Thunderbolt's arch-nemesis?" Stelle's golden eyes practically lit up like twin spotlights. "Wow. We even have the classic rival mecha trope."
March 7th scratched her pink hair, her expression twisting into a knot of utter confusion. "So let me get this straight. You secretly built two giant robots, one good and one evil, just so they could put on a theatrical stage play one day?"
"Of course not. A smart man is simply prepared for any eventuality." Rekka held up a single index finger, a smug grin spreading across his face. "See? Isn't it coming in handy right at this exact moment?"
"I guess so," March 7th sighed, dropping her arms. "But what exactly are you planning to do with them?"
"Typhon, acting as our Devil Gundam, will naturally play the role of the ultimate villain. Then, right at the climax, Thunderbolt will descend from the heavens to deliver a righteous strike of justice."
"But here is the glaring problem," March 7th pointed out, gesturing vaguely at the space around them. "If these two big robots are the same size, they are only about a few stories tall, right? A few stories of metal is basically a tiny, microscopic shrimp compared to the Xianzhou Luofu!"
She had a point. The Xianzhou Luofu was a colossal flagship, boasting the mass and gravitational pull of an entire planet. A standard mecha fighting next to it would not even register as a speck of cosmic dust.
Rekka's grin only widened. "Who on earth told you their combat forms would not scale up?"
"...Huh?"
"Their true volume eclipses a planet. With the two of them clashing together in open space, the visual effect should be quite shocking."
Stelle's eyes were already shining like two miniature suns. She grabbed Rekka's sleeve, her voice trembling with barely contained gamer excitement. "You mean to tell me... in just a few moments, there will be two robots larger than planets having a fistfight right next to the Xianzhou?"
"Correct."
"And we are the ones who get to pilot them?"
"Correct."
Stelle stared out into the starry void, letting out a long, heavy sigh of deep sorrow. "What an absolute tragedy. Mr. Yang is missing out on a real-life Super Robot Wars."
"Alright, listen up," Rekka clapped his hands together, shifting into director mode. "March, you will play the hot-blooded, righteous Trailblazer of the Astral Express, March 7th. Stelle, drop the Celenova act. You are no longer an Emanator of Destruction; you are now the ruthless Typhon pilot. Silver Wolf will be on standby, responsible for crashing the battlefield later as the third Great Lord."
"Are you completely out of your mind?!" March 7th panicked, waving her hands frantically. "If those planet-sized things actually start fighting, wouldn't the Xianzhou get caught in the crossfire? We could destroy the whole ship!"
"Relax, I will have Ai-chan control the intensity limiters." Rekka waved her off with absolute, unshakable confidence. "Visual effects maxed out. Actual damage output? Zero. Just like when we fired the cannon earlier, it looks utterly terrifying, but in reality, it will not even singe a single hair on a Cloud Knight's head."
He turned his gaze toward the pink-haired archer. "March-senpai, are you ready? When Thunderbolt makes its grand entrance, you have to scream the most hot-blooded, righteous, and chuunibyou lines possible over the open mic!"
"Huh?! Me?!" March 7th pointed at her own nose, her jaw dropping in bewilderment. "Why me?! I do not know how to do that!"
"Because you were smiling the hardest when you were mashing the fire buttons earlier," Stelle added dryly from the side.
"You call that smiling?!" March 7th shrieked. "I was seriously carrying out a villainous mission under extreme duress!"
"Then simply change your character class right now and seriously carry out a righteous mission." Rekka patted her shoulder gently, his tone dripping with artificial sincerity. "I believe in you, March-senpai."
The repeated, targeted use of the word senpai struck March 7th directly in her weak point. Her panicked expression melted into a dazed, foolish giggle. She puffed out her chest.
"I... I get it! Say no more! Leave it to me!"
— — —
"Warning! Strong imaginary energy reaction detected in Sector Four!"
"Immediately report the target's mass and energy level!"
"Target mass... wait, the energy level is still climbing! Sir, it has already exceeded the planetary-level warning line!"
Inside the command center of the Xianzhou Luofu, alarms blared in a deafening chorus of red light. Outside the ship's atmospheric shield, the fabric of space warped and tore open.
A massive, god-like figure slowly emerged from the dark void.
The unit was completely coated in dark purple armor, its form jagged, menacing, and utterly terrifying. Countless purple energy tentacles extended from its heavily armored back, each one swaying slowly, hypnotically, in the vacuum of space. Thick, dark plating covered every inch of its colossal metal skeleton, while the massive thruster arrays on its legs spewed ghostly blue ion flames that illuminated the surrounding stars.
Its horned head hung low. Its optical sensors were tightly closed, making it look like an ancient deity locked in a deep sleep.
But in the very next second, twin crimson eyes snapped open, bleeding a sinister red light into the dark.
Typhon.
Without warning, the massive energy tentacles behind the giant purple robot lashed forward like a nest of striking vipers, aiming directly for the Luofu's shields.
Before they could connect, a blinding flash of white light erupted from the opposite side of the void. Another giant robot, gleaming in pristine white and gold armor, slammed into the tentacles, blocking the devastating strike with its bare mechanical hands!
"What the—?! Why are you in a Gundam!"
"Do not get in my way, you Trailblaze brat!"
Because the open mic settings had not been properly calibrated, the sheer volume of the broadcast nearly ruptured the eardrums of every single person on the Luofu.
Rekka winced, violently rubbing his ringing ears. "Ai-chan! The gain is way too high! The mic is clipping!"
He hurriedly whispered a string of rapid-fire adjustments to the AI. Although the crew had not moved an inch from their hiding spot in the container area, they could easily manipulate the open comms remotely while leaving the two colossal units on auto-pilot.
"Thunderbolt, launch!"
March 7th took a massive, shuddering breath, her sweet voice broadcasting across the entire star system through the open mic.
Her palms were completely slick with nervous sweat. Her heart hammered against her ribs. But the moment she remembered the hot-blooded, righteous chuunibyou lines Rekka had demanded, a rush of adrenaline flooded her brain. The words simply tore their way out of her throat.
"Your evil ambitions end right here! As long as the spirit of Trailblaze exists, I will never let you hurt another living soul!"
"Hehehe..." Stelle's voice echoed back, dripping with dark, cartoonish malice. "Naive. Do you honestly believe you possess the power to stop me?"
The giant purple unit suddenly flared its thrusters. It exerted a terrifying amount of force, its tentacles smashing toward Thunderbolt like a torrential rainstorm of pure energy. The white unit rolled nimbly through the vacuum of space, dodging the strikes with impossible grace. The sheer scale of the evasion made the scene look like a cinematic masterpiece.
The battle between Thunderbolt and Typhon rapidly escalated into pure chaos. The two mechanical gods grappled, collided, separated, and violently crashed into each other again across the starry expanse. Massive beam weapons fired back and forth, weaving into a dense, blinding net of crossfire. Every so often, the blinding light of a near-miss explosion rippled harmlessly across the Xianzhou's protective energy shield.
Visual effects maxed out.
Actual damage zero.
It was absolutely perfect.
Aboard the Luofu, Jing Yuan stood before the central command console. One hand rested casually behind his back, but a deep, visible crease formed between his brows. He stared intently at the clash of the two giant units on the holographic projection. Those two masses of imaginary energy were dense enough to make every single radar alarm on the ship scream for mercy, yet they were out there blasting each other in an extremely exaggerated, almost theatrical manner.
As for the energy reactions, they were certainly real. Two giant weapons, each as large as the Xianzhou itself, were brawling outside until their mechanical armor plates began to shatter and break apart.
"Go! Typhon!"
"Uwooooooah—!"
Stelle let out a visceral, throat-tearing mecha protagonist scream that echoed across the global broadcast at maximum volume.
Instead of a simple direct attack, Thunderbolt suddenly pulled back. A massive, blinding light spear materialized in the white mecha's shattered palm. The sheer intensity of the gathered energy looked entirely capable of shattering a star on the spot.
It was the ultimate technique: God-Slaying Thunderfire.
With a devastating thrust, Thunderbolt hurled the spear of light. It grazed the very edge of the Xianzhou's shields and struck Typhon directly in the shoulder, exploding into a brilliant, galaxy-spanning firework in the distant void.
Naturally, the Typhon that took the glancing blow had one of its massive mechanical arms completely blown off, sending chunks of planet-sized metal spinning away into the dark.
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