Chapter 31

When he was about halfway to the other side and was about to fall, he activated the thrusters and boosted himself to the other side of the crevice.

This left the pilot of the Trailblazer-type mech dumbfounded. He had been a pilot for several years and he had never witnessed such a move before. Before he could react, the breastplate of the Reaper opened again, and the Particle Compression Cannon began to condense.

"FUCK!" cursed the pilot in the Trailblazer-type mech as his scalp tingled. Just a few moments ago, his team leader had been crippled by this thing, a memory etched vividly in his mind.

In desperation and unable to interrupt Ajax's attack due to his lack of long-range weapons, he could only throw the energy ax in his hand and transform his left arm into a shied in hopes of being able to survive such a devastating blow.

However, a red beam of light shot out, and the flying energy ax instantly evaporated into the air. The shield of the Knight-Level Trailblazer-type mech took a direct hit, but it didn't matter as a half-meter hole was carved through the front of its shield and cockpit before coming out of its back near its left arm. The pilot let out a guttural scream that sent shivers down Ajax's spine. The left side of his body from the top left of his stomach to his left shoulder was gone and scorched.

The pilot looked down as he saw his heart slide out and just hang. "Fuck fuck fuck fuck, I don't want to die yet," he said as the sound of his voice dropped with every word. With his remaining strength, he reached for a picture in his cockpit of a man and a brown-haired little girl about 4 years old. As he grasped it in his hand he said his final words: "Who will..... take care of.... my.... baby... girl...." 

Although he was a little far away, Ajax was able to hear the man's last as the Trailblazer-type mech may have been out of commission, yet its speakers were still working. Ajax fell into a trance as he looked down at his trembling hands and asked himself "What.....what have I d-"

"TOOWOGWONGWONNGG" The sound of a shell ricocheting off his cockpit armor quickly snapped him out of his shocked state as the Roscoe-type mech that had been left behind opened fire, and its sniper shot pushed Ajax back a little. 

"MAURICE! YOU MOTHERFUCKER I'M GOING TO KILL Y-" The Roscoe-type pilot had his screams cut short as Ajax fired a single shot from his rifle from over 200 meters away that left 2 12-inch holes at the top section of the mech's cockpit. The first was obviously at the front of the cockpit while the second hole was at the back of the cockpit. The second hole dripped with blood as the pilot's head exploded, leaving a stiff headless corpse at the helm and decorating the cockpit with brain matter.

Ajax had single-handedly reversed the situation on the battlefield. The remaining members of Hell's League were being slaughtered and desperately tried to run for their lives, including the only remaining mech who had witnessed this single mech kill a Parallax-Level mech with ease and heard the deaths of his comrades in the two Knight-Level mechs through their comms.

But how could Ajax let them escape? After making his way back he quickly lined up a shot on the last mech who dodged at the last second. Although Ajax missed his kill shot, a 12-inch hole was made in the bottom left side of the Knight-Level mech's cockpit. This shot immobilized the mech's left leg and also tore off the pilot's left leg.

The mech toppled forward and fell on some of its comrades, crushing them. As the pilot screamed in pain, Ajax used his Vulcan cannon located on his mech's nape and turned the fleeing enemies into a paste. The members of the rescue team were amazed at their savior's efficiency.

Ajax made his way toward the crippled mech whose pilot was still screaming in pain and turned it over so the other pilot was facing the afternoon sky. "I-I-I-I'm sorry...P-P-Please spar-"

"BOOM" Ajax cut his pleas short as he fired his rifle point-blank into the cockpit, killing the pilot, or as Ajax told himself, putting him out of his misery.

The members of the rescue team stared at Ajax after the battle, disbelief was evident on their faces. Ajax had single-handedly taken down four enemy mechs. What kind of feat was this? At least, such tales were unheard of in the triangular border.

The members of the third wave of rescue teams were even more astounded. In a moment of crisis, they had requested backup from the base. The opponent's Parallax-Level mech was too strong, they couldn't hold their ground.

But Bomen had assured them that a single very skilled pilot had been sent there and would arrive soon, asking them to hold on for a while.

At the time, they were somewhat angered, thinking it was Bomen's excuse for not wanting to rescue them. With dozens of enemies and only a few mechs, what difference could one person make? However, Ajax proved their thoughts wrong.

The pilots of the rescue team felt inferior to Ajax.

Ajax didn't care about what these people were thinking. After eliminating all nearby threats, he confirmed his position and started making his way in the direction where the transport team was surrounded.

That was the primary goal of his mission, and he was also curious about the local products Bomen had mentioned. However, he was too late. By the time he arrived, all members of the transport team had been killed.

The Viper Mercenaries who ambushed the transport team likely knew in advance that Ajax and others were coming. They retreated long ago without taking any of the goods.

Seeing the mangled corpses strewn across the ground, the operators of the Lazoole Society were furious, urging Ajax to lead them in pursuit, vowing to drive out the remnants of the Viper Mercenary Group and avenge their fallen comrades.

But Ajax ignored their requests and opened a box. Ajax shook his head as he glanced at the potent hallucinogenic drugs inside. He had no idea of where the enemy had gone or how long it had been since they left, chasing would be nothing but a waste of time.

Even if he knew, he wouldn't pursue them. This terrain was a mess, and without scouting assistance or air support, the chances of being ambushed again at any time were astronomical.

Moreover, he felt that there was something off about this situation, especially since the Viper Mercenaries killed the transport team but didn't take any of the goods.

Placing these boxes in the market would be worth more than one million eddies at least, indicating a lack of interest toward them. It wasn't right to assume that they were blocking the rescue team to besiege the city because the enemies in charge of blocking weren't strong enough.

It seemed that whether they ambushed the transport team or blocked the rescue team, it was all a ploy to delay time, draw attention, and achieve other purposes. But what was their actual purpose? Ajax decided to not waste any time pondering such things, he would seek answers fromBomen and other experts when he returned to base.

Just as Ajax was about to have someone clean up the battlefield and retrieve the corpses, and goods, a terrifying thought suddenly struck him, breaking him into a cold sweat.

"Monkey! Come in Monkey!" Ajax shouted.

"I'm here, sir." Monkey raised his hand and hurried over, having just driven the transport truck to the location.

"Contact the camp through your Vox and ask Bomen to set off an alert and get ready to defend the base! NOW!"

"I can't get through to them. I tried twice, but for some reason, I couldn't." Monkey shook his head while showing Ajax his Vox.

"FUCK!" Ajax hammered a destroyed car next to him.

"What's the matter? Did something happen?" Monkey became anxious.

His admiration for Ajax was through the roof as of now. If something made Ajax anxious, then it must be something serious.

The surrounding operators stopped what they were doing and gathered around.

"Our home may have been attacked," Ajax said solemnly.

"You mean, you believe our base has been attacked?!" Monkey panicked, and the surrounding operators also started to feel desperate. They had only been out for less than two hours, how could something happen to their base?

"Well, I hope I'm wrong, but I believe it has," Ajax said in a heavy tone.

It was all a plot, from the moment the transport team was attacked by the Viper Mercenaries, they were just trying to lure out forces to weaken the defense of the base. Then the Hell's League sent another team to block the camp's reinforcements, forcing Bomen to send a second and third wave of reinforcements until the camp was pretty much defenseless.

Now Ajax knew why there were so few members from the Hell's League ambushing them. Their large force must have been near the camp awaiting orders to attack. By now, the fight had probably already started. The signal of the camp had been jammed, and the operators who were out couldn't be notified. It was an identical attack to the one that had been carried out against Bomen yesterday.

"Is the boss in danger? What should we do?" The only pilot with an undamaged mecha asked Ajax.

"LISTEN UP! Those of you who are low on ammo stay back to treat the wounded and gather our product. The rest of you are coming with me. MOVE IT!" Ajax quickly divided the forces and moved out, not caring if these men would follow his commands or not.