Chapter 323: Magnificent Warship Connoisseur
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Shangguan Ce understood his old brother Ren Xingbei's personnel very clearly.
Ning Feng, captain of Tide Berserker, was one of the youngest commanding officers of a crystal warship in the federal army. He was only 37 years old and a Building Foundation Cultivator. But he also happened to be a 'Warship Connoisseur' with a lot of potential.
Warship Connoisseur was a special career for admin-type Cultivators who boasted magnificent soul power as well as superb computational, analytical, and collaborating capabilities.
When they entered into the cockpit of a crystal warship and extended their telepathic thoughts into the mainframe crystal processor, their will would be transmitted to every corner of the warship by the enhancement of the crystal processor. The gargantuan steel beast would be at their disposal like their own arms and legs.
There would be a huge difference between the combat ability of a crystal warship with a Warship Connoisseur and that of a crystal warship without one.
A strong Warship Connoisseur could even control hundreds of railguns and thousands of power rune arrays on a crystal warship simultaneously and do perfect dodging and attacking movements. The warship seemed to be part of their body. The most complicated movements were as easy as the blinking of eyes for them.
In the era of the Star Ocean Imperium, countless outstanding Warship Connoisseurs had emerged.
The legendary Warship Connoisseurs who had arrived at the peak of Cultivation could maneuver a star fortress that was even larger than a planet by themselves and fight the Demon Emperor with hundreds of thousands of railguns firing at the same time.
Warship Connoisseurs of the Star Glory Federation were of course far from their fabulous predecessors. But they had been playing a crucial part in the five hundred years of bloody war against the demon clan.
Take Ning Feng for example. Although he was just at the Building Foundation Stage, his strength would be as intimidating as that of a Core Formation Stage Cultivator when he entered Tide Berserker and joined with the warship.
Three months ago, the Fifth Fleet encountered a beast tide commanded by two demon kings.
Ning Feng's Tide Berserker was the first to respond and lead the charge.
Although it was seriously damaged, the beast tide was torn into two halves by its unstoppable thrust, which created a good opportunity for the siege and attack later.
In the battle later, Ning Feng blew one of the two demon kings with 'Heaven Splitters', the main gun of the warship, into pieces, which made him a distinguished figure in the military.
Picking such an ace captain to deal with four insignificant MP crystal suits… It seemed that Ren Xingbei regarded the sham battle as a summit confrontation between warship advocates and crystal suit advocates, too.
Lightnings and sparks were dancing in Shangguan Ce's eyes.
The purpose of the sham battle as a bidding procedure was to show the power of crystal suits for warship advocates.
If the candidate challenging the crystal suits was too weak, the warship advocates might not be persuaded by the outcome, and there was bound to be further quarrels in the future.
But if a skilled captain such as Ning Feng came to examine the quality of the MP crystal suits, no one would have any doubts about the test's validity.
But how far could the four MP crystal suits go?
Suddenly, Li Yao's dangerous smile popped up in Shangguan Ce's brain.
'I can guess a thing or two about the tactics and limits about the other three crystal suits.
'However, Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, Vulture Li Yao, where are your limits?'
…
At 9:05 p.m. Cultivators of Deep Sea University, Star Nebula University and Grand Desolate War Institution, as well as the Cultivators from the three major sword-training sects walked into the command center.
After they learned the details of the sham battle, especially when they knew that the crystal warship taking part in the battle would be Tide Berserker steered by Ning Feng, the faces of all the Cultivators couldn't look more awful.
Although they were competitors, they felt a subtle sense of camaraderie now.
If all the four crystal suits were to be captured by the crystal warship within several hours, there wouldn't be a winner even if you were the last to be seized.
The military hadn't revealed to them as to how many crystal suits they would purchase. If the performance of the test-takers was too unsatisfactory and the military decided that they would only purchase a few hundred pieces, it would hardly be a victory for them.
Then again, if one of the crystal suits was amazing enough to play hide-and-seek with the crystal warship for more than ten hours, or even a day and a night, the potential of crystal suits would definitely be proved. Crystal suits would definitely be able to win more favor in the military, which would be a great help for the promotion of other MP crystal suit models, too.
More importantly, for Sword Torrent and Mournful Mist, their designing purposes were different from Tiger King's and Mystic Skeleton's from their conception, which could be compared to the relationship between assault rifles and sniper rifles.
Since their purposes were different, their competition with the other two crystal suits was not fierce. Their chances of winning were slim, but as long as they could do their best in the sham battle and leave a deep impression on the audience by showing their own specialties thoroughly, it would be enough.
Supernova Jiang Sheng and Yuan Manqiu were still at loggerheads.
However, when Ren Xingbei appeared in front of them, the flames in their eyes changed direction and aimed at the commander of the Fifth Fleet at the same time.
The temperature inside the commanding center immediately rose by twenty degrees.
Other than those in the commanding center, top military officers in the military bases all over the Star Glory Federation, as well as high-level Cultivators from Deep Sea University, Star Nebula University, Grand Desolate War Institution, and all other important sects, were all paying close attention to the match, the ultimate confrontation between crystal suits and crystal warships.
It was destined to be a sleepless night.
…
At 10:11 p.m. in the station of the Fifth Fleet, Tide Berserker was doing last-minute checks before taking off.
"Captain Ning, let's show them who we are! These brats are too outrageous! Nothing but four MP crystal suits, and they want to swagger around and poop on our head?"
"Brother Feng, we have every faith in you. You'll definitely capture all of them within ten hours."
"Old Ning, I've bet Old Xing and his lot that you will seize all the four running rabbits in less than ten hours! I'm going to be in serious trouble if you fail me!"
Almost a hundred soldiers of the Fifth Fleet, including captains, vice captains, experienced mechanics and ordinary marines, surrounded an officer whose uniform was full of creases.
The officer's hair was in such a mess that it seemed that it hadn't been washed for at least three months. His chin was bristly. His eyes were drowsy, as if he were in a constant trance. Even in such a thrilling atmosphere, he still yawned one time after another.
He was Colonel Ning Feng, a Warship Connoisseur, one of the best captains in the military and the commanding officer of Tide Berserker.
Faced with the excited soldiers of the Fifth Fleet, Ning Feng scratched his ear and smacked his lips. But without saying anything, he walked onto his warship lazily.
The moment he went on the bridge of the warship, he seemed to turn into someone else. With a quiver, he was entirely awakened.
His sleepy eyes just now were brimming with radiating vigor, like those of a cat which was hunting at night.
In the federal army, Ning Feng had been given the nickname 'Drunk Cat'.
Even a demon king would have to run away like a rat when faced with the Drunk Cat.
Inside the cockpit in the middle of the warship, there was a translucent controlling capsule in which Ning Feng lay in and closed his eyes.
Crimson liquid flowed out from the bottom of the capsule and rose up rapidly, before it filled up the capsule and drowned him shortly.
Right then, Ning Feng's eyes were opened suddenly, from which black brightness was beaming out, making his eyes as deep and vast as the night sky.
With the enhancement of the mainframe crystal processor, his soul expanded to every corner of the warship.
Countless information, data, and images surged into his mind.
Every power rune array, every Taiyi Lightning Railgun, and every armed shuttle, seemed to have turned into his limbs and teeth. The power rune arrays shivered briefly, blinking with the rhythm of his heartbeat and breath.
He was no longer a trivial human being. He was Tide Berserker, a steel beast that was hundreds of meters long.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
With a telepathic thought, the anti-gravity power rune arrays started functioning, roaring like a cascading waterfall.
After a shiver, Tide Berserker took off amidst the applause of the soldiers below. Colorful brilliance was dancing around the warship, making it look like a ferocious dragon.
"Ten hours?"
Ning Feng squinted and scoffed, "Five hours, tops. The four rabbits will never be able to run out of my palm!"
…
At 11:45 p.m. a small carrier was staggering in the sky above the mountains.
It was a thunderstorm weather. One could not even distinguish one's own fingers with the hand right in front of the eyes. Only when the lightning occurred could the steep hills and dark forests be seen.
This was the biggest mountainous zone in the west of the federation. Hills, cliffs, streams, caves, and underground rivers together constituted a complicated territory.
The fifty square kilometers would the battleground for the match to come.
For the sake of fairness, the military had arranged an artificial thunderstorm in the battleground.
Thunder, lightning, and heavy rain would twist the spiritual waves from the crystal suits and block the detection of the crystal warship so that they could run away more easily.
However, the thunderstorm would only last five hours.
The weather would clear before dawn.
Inside the carrier, the four Exos had put on their crystal suits, each with a kit behind him which had a space of around two cubic meters.
The kit was the latest transportation magical equipment developed by the military named 'Floating Supplier'.
It was carved with anti-gravity rune arrays and power rune arrays and was maneuvered by a mini crystal processor. It would fly closely behind a soldier in peacetime. When the soldier was engaged in a combat, the kit would dash away until it was safe to return.
Floating Supplier was designed to be a replacement of marching backpacks. It would neither burden the soldiers when they were walking nor affect the agility of the soldiers when they were fighting. The military was planning to make it a piece of standard magical equipment for the federal army in the future.
Today, the four Exos were provided with four prototypes of such magical equipment in which they could store any supplies and magical equipment that they deemed necessary.
"Hoooo!"
At 11:59 p.m., the airdrop platform on the bottom of the carrier opened slowly. Raging wind immediately crashed into the cabin, growling and howling.
"Last minute check. Prepare to land!"