Please support the translation by reading the translation and commenting on otakutl official site.
Thank you.
Everyone from Otaku Translation
Chapter 19: Return to Base
As Byron stared at her in shock, a distant bang broke the silence. The cabin door of the Scorpion armored transport helicopter swung open, and a few Marines jumped out in twos and threes. Leading them was the bald leader, his face livid and blood streaming down from a wound on his forehead, flowing along his temples and staining his entire visage. From afar, he looked utterly miserable.
It was clear that even they didn’t understand the scene before them. Most of the Marines instinctively raised their weapons toward the snarling Zerg Queen in the distance. The bald leader, however, was taken aback when his eyes swept over the three figures slowly approaching.
“It's Tang Yan! He's alive!”
“F-fire... fire!” The combined fear of the Zerg Queen, the chaos of the Scorpion helicopter crash, and the confusion of the situation weighed heavily on them like a crushing mountain. Finally, someone couldn’t resist and pulled the trigger.
Bullets tore through the air, roaring toward the Zerg Queen.
Clink, clank!
The rifle rounds ricocheted harmlessly off her armored carapace, leaving nothing but sparks.
Given the toughness of the Zerg Queen’s shell, these standard-issue rounds—unable to even penetrate a Zergling’s scales—were laughably ineffective.
Hearing the gunfire, Byron and Housen panicked, spinning around. Before they could raise their weapons to retaliate, they saw Tang Fang, walking ahead of them, snap his fingers.
Less than 30 meters from the helicopter, the desert sands churned violently. Suddenly, a gray blur erupted from the ground, leaping several meters in a single bound. In the blink of an eye, a blood-curdling scream pierced the air. A Marine on the fringe of the group had his chest torn open by razor-sharp claws, spraying blood like a rainstorm onto the comrades behind him.
One after another, the sands roiled as more Zerglings emerged, swift and lethal, tearing through the Marines like wolves in a flock of sheep. Screams echoed across the battlefield as chaos engulfed the scene.
In Starcraft II, even heavily armored Terran Marines fell easily under a Zergling swarm. These poorly equipped soldiers stood no chance. Within mere seconds, the twenty-plus Marines were slaughtered, leaving no survivors. The bald leader had his neck bitten through, and his head rolled into the sand, forming a grisly, blood-soaked spectacle.
Arroz watched on with calm eyes, his expression as stiff as ever.
Byron and Housen were dumbstruck, cold sweat dripping from their foreheads. This wasn’t a battle—it was a massacre. Where did these monsters come from, and what was their connection to Tang Fang?
Zhou Ai regarded them both coldly, offering no explanations.
Once the Zerglings had finished the slaughter, they burrowed back into the sand, disappearing without a trace. The Zerg Queen, moving sluggishly, retreated behind a nearby rocky outcrop and vanished from sight. Though the two men still didn’t understand the situation, it seemed their lives were temporarily spared.
Ignoring the carnage around him, Tang Fang walked over to the Scorpion helicopter. He examined the auxiliary thruster, still emitting smoke, and then the cockpit, buried nose-first into the sand. His brows furrowed slightly.
The helicopter was down. How would they return to base? Walking back wasn’t an option—the planet’s thunderstorms at night were deadly. Even with control over the Zerg swarm, he couldn’t withstand the hostile environment of Planet 5.
Then an idea struck him, and two Zerg Queens appeared behind the helicopter. Using the auxiliary limbs on their shoulders, they lifted the nearly 20-meter-wide vehicle out of the sand pit with ease.
Looking through a gaping hole in the fuselage, Tang Fang could see that sand had nearly filled the cockpit. The left-side pilot had a massive hole in his chest, pierced through by a sharp object, and had been dead for some time. The right-side pilot, showing no visible wounds, had likely suffocated to death; the sand and his purple-tinged face were enough to confirm it.
The control panel’s display still blinked with red warning signals. After a closer inspection, Tang Fang saw the system diagnostics report: the auxiliary thruster was destroyed, and the hydraulic system had suffered impact damage. However, the engine, flight controls, and communication systems were still functional.
In his previous life, he was just a low-level corporate employee. Tang Yan was an ordinary soldier and had no training in aircraft repair. Turning to the stunned group nearby, he called out: “Any of you know how to fix a helicopter?”
“I do,” said Zhou Ai and Byron in unison.
“The diagnostic report shows damage to the thrusters and hydraulics. Come take a look and see if you can fix it.”
The two exchanged a glance before walking over. As they passed Tang Fang, Byron hesitated, as though wanting to ask something. But seeing the twenty-plus corpses sprawled in the sand, he wisely chose silence. His years as a pirate had taught him that knowing too much could be fatal.
Tang Fang didn’t intend to kill them to silence them. While he showed no mercy to his enemies, he wasn’t bloodthirsty. First, the three posed no direct threat to him. Second, for people targeted by the Empire, he’d prefer that they stay alive.
As for whether they would reveal his ability to control Zerg, who would believe it? A human commanding alien bugs? Especially coming from three convicts?
Besides, Tang Fang had saved them twice now. Despite their unsavory pasts, Byron and Housen seemed to be men of honor. Betraying their savior wasn’t something they’d likely do.
While Tang Fang pondered, Byron and Zhou Ai had already begun repairing the helicopter. Even Housen and Eva joined the effort. Meanwhile, Arroz walked over to the bald leader’s corpse, rummaged through his uniform, and retrieved a box of cheap cigars. He lit one, taking a long drag with satisfaction.
“What’s your plan once the helicopter is fixed?”
Tang Fang declined the cigar Arroz offered and replied flatly, “Return to base.”
“Back to base?” Arroz’s eyes lit up with a sly glint, and a smirk tugged at his lips. “Heh, looks like there’s more excitement to come.”
“Only if you don’t die first,” Tang Fang retorted, glancing at the helicopter, where the auxiliary thruster had just been replaced. Dusting off his boots, he climbed into the cabin.
Arroz exhaled a puff of smoke, savoring it, then followed with an amused grin.
The corpses in the cockpit had already been thrown out onto a sand dune by Housen. Zhou Ai sat in the pilot’s seat, running diagnostics, while Byron adjusted the navigation systems. Behind them, Housen and Eva waited silently. When Tang Fang entered, all eyes turned to him.
“Is it fixed?”
Zhou Ai nodded.
“Good. Start the engines. Let’s head back to base.”
Byron and the others, though mentally prepared, still felt their stomachs sink. Returning to base with their criminal status was tantamount to walking into a lion’s den. Yet seeing Zhou Ai and Arroz’s calm demeanor, they felt slightly reassured. Clearly, these two had some kind of plan.
Moreover, regardless of his sincerity, the fact that he had saved the three of them twice in a row made it unreasonable and unnecessary for him to scheme against them.
Staying here would only lead to death—if not from a thunderstorm, then eventually from thirst or starvation. It was better to risk it all, follow him back to the base, and act according to the circumstances.
Their reasoning was sound, but they overlooked one thing: Zhou Ai and Arroz actually had no idea what Tang Fang was up to. The reason the two of them remained silent and uninvolved was entirely due to the trust they had developed in him after experiencing the series of events underground.
---
With blue flames roaring from the thrusters, the helicopter left a faint trail of smoke in the air as it flew eastward, shrinking into a black speck on the horizon.
Please vote for this novel at
If you would like to support this translation, you may choose any one of the options below.
How to find a list of chapters
Please find the chapter label next to your favorite translator's name, and click the label.
No comments:
Post a Comment