LSDWTWHA chapter 24

Chapter 23

Just a few minutes before Su Su returned to the game, in a live streaming room on StarNet, a broadcaster named “Star Pirate Leader” was enthusiastically calling out, “Wow, there’s a new beginner’s starship here, so arrogant, daring not to return to the space station and just stay in the wild! Does it not know that the wilderness is our territory as star pirates? Let’s go teach them a lesson!”

The “Star Pirate Leader” also used a virtual image, a rugged-faced figure with a pirate eye patch. He wore a mischievous smile as he opened his arsenal and interacted with his fans: “Come on, where should we attack first? It’s all up to you.”

A flurry of bullet comments filled the screen.

“Mecha propulsion platform? I see that’s the most mentioned in the comments. You guys are so bad, not even giving someone a chance to escape. Hehe, I like it.” As the “Star Pirate Leader” spoke, he aimed at the mecha propulsion platform on Su Su’s starship through his scope.

Su Su checked the damaged areas.

The most severely damaged part was indeed the mecha propulsion platform, which was almost completely destroyed.

The mecha is generally used in close-combat situations when starships engage; additionally, if a starship is completely destroyed, a mecha can also serve as an escape method for the ship’s soldiers, helping them flee the combat zone and launch a distress signal while waiting for rescue.

Unfortunately, this was of no use to Su Su, as he was the only pilot in his starship and had no mecha equipped.

Su Su opened his view, seeing that the starship attacking him was more than twice the size of the one he was currently piloting.

The dark muzzle of the starship’s cannon was now aiming at his ammunition storage, preparing for its next attack.

Su Su pulled down the control stick, and the starship that had been in standby mode immediately powered up, with bluish-purple tails of fire spraying out as the starship traced a long arc against the dark sky.

The pursuing starship followed closely behind, relentlessly chasing after Su Su’s starship.

The bombardment rained down like flying fire.

Su Su quickly maneuvered the control stick with one hand while rapidly tapping out a series of commands with the other.

The initial model clumsily followed Su Su’s maneuvers to evade, managing to find a route of escape through the enemy’s concentrated fire.

As Su Su moved forward, a communication popped up on the main control screen.

Su Su answered it immediately, and a bearded uncle with an eye patch appeared on the screen.

“Are you a newcomer? Not bad at piloting! Interested in joining my ‘Star Pirates’ squad?”

“You just attacked my starship?” Su Su stared at the individual directly.

“Yep, my starship is pretty cool, right?” The “Star Pirate Leader” boasted. “If you surrender now, I’ll let you go. You haven’t experienced the game’s death penalty mechanism, have you? You’d end up locked in a solo training camp, with ten hours of basic operation training before you can leave.”

“Why did you attack me?” Su Su asked, confused.

“What does it matter why? If I want to attack, I just do it. What, you think you’re going to get revenge?” The “Star Pirate Leader” said mockingly, as if certain that Su Su wouldn’t have the guts.

“Hm. Get ready, I’m going to counterattack.” Su Su replied seriously.

“Hahahahaha,” the “Star Pirate Leader” laughed. “You’re really funny! What are you going to counterattack with, that newbie starship gifted by the game?”

Su Su didn’t laugh; he hung up the communication.

He pulled the control stick, and the starship turned sharply in the air.

“Boom!” Su Su’s starship only carried basic ammunition; he calculated the angle and fired, but the cannonball merely bounced off the hard outer shell of the enemy starship without causing any damage.

However, the enemy seemed to be enraged by this nearly provocative action, and more intense cannon fire rained down towards Su Su.

Su Su pressed his lips together and turned to flee.

The enemy’s starship closely followed, adding a communication: “You’re done for.”

Su Su raised his lips, revealing a victorious smile, and continued to race ahead without looking back.

The enemy’s cannon fire was extremely dense. Su Su dodged left and right, maneuvering swiftly. Unfortunately, the low-level starship had limited sensitivity, and soon it was pushed to its limits.

The enemy’s starship was evidently more powerful, and during the high-speed chase, it still had the energy to intensify its fire, mounting a fiercer attack as it pressured Su Su to his limit.

Too slow, too slow! Su Su could clearly see the trajectory of the enemy’s cannonballs and predict the best escape route, but the mecha’s response in his hands was too slow, and his maneuvers were always half a beat behind.

If only he could operate it without manual controls! A fleeting thought crossed Su Su’s mind.

[Detecting mental force strength, aligning connection requirements, activating mental force driving mode for you.]

The scene before Su Su changed again. He felt as if he had fused with the starship. Through the starship’s sensors, he could directly perceive everything around him, rather than waiting for signals to be converted into text and images.

With a thought, the starship adjusted its movements like a serpent, avoiding the “Star Pirate Leader’s” attacks with ease.

Is this the mental force connection? Su Su felt excited, as if he had become the very essence of the mecha—a fish swimming in the universe.

This action felt far more natural than using a control console. Many actions that only existed in his imagination could now be easily executed.

“Did it all dodge?” The “Star Pirate Leader” was slightly bewildered. The training starship was only given to newcomers who had registered accounts for less than three days, after which it would be replaced with a combat starship gifted by the system. In this game, each person has a single account; it was impossible for an expert to use a new account to bully the unskilled. Yet, the evasion sequences just performed were anything but typical for a beginner.

Was it just luck? Or did the opponent originally have a background in piloting starships? This seemed unlikely; what kind of piloting enthusiast would come to the game to play as a newbie?

People in the live stream began to question the “Star Pirate Leader’s” skills: [Is this your level? Being toyed with by a beginner’s starship.]

[This broadcaster’s skills are like this? I could beat you with my eyes closed. Unsubscribed.]

[LMAO, a seasoned gaming broadcaster getting schooled by a newbie.]

The viewer numbers in the “Star Pirate Leader’s” streaming room kept increasing, but the number of followers seemed to be dropping.

The “Star Pirate Leader” became anxious. He needed to show this newcomer who was boss today; otherwise, he would be a laughingstock in the streaming community the next day.

Su Su changed direction, heading toward a small asteroid belt. He had already played through this area in the afternoon; it was littered with debris and planetary fragments, and making even the slightest mistake would result in collision and destruction.

Su Su entered the asteroid belt without decelerating.

Su Su loved this kind of excitement; he enjoyed the thrill of racing between life and death, feeling the shivering sensation of extreme escape.

The advantage of his small starship was amplified in this area, as Su Su’s ship was clearly more agile than the “Star Pirate Leader’s.”

“Ha, trying to use the terrain to shake me off? That’s seeking your own death!” The “Star Pirate Leader” contained his anxiety and continued to chase.

At this moment, both starships reached speeds of 180 star distances. At such a speed, traversing the rocky belt even made the experienced veteran pay heightened attention.

But the cramped terrain also pushed Su Su into a dead end. The “Star Pirate Leader” unleashed a wave of concentrated cannon fire, followed by floating debris, almost sealing off all of Su Su’s options for evasion.

The “Star Pirate Leader” could already envision the starship exploding into fireworks ahead. He leaned back in his chair, satisfied, and said, “This newcomer certainly has a talent for piloting, but ultimately lacks experience. He probably thinks he can shake me off with terrain like this, but in reality, he’s just cornered himself…”

His words were abruptly interrupted: “Impossible!”

On the operational screen before him, the starship darted like a spirit snake, quickly weaving through to find an opening, suddenly leaping like a fish, performing a rapid spin, altering its course by eighty degrees, rushing straight toward the “Star Pirate Leader’s” starship under the rain of fire.

The “Star Pirate Leader” cursed, “Is he desperate enough to want to go out with me?”

Su Su’s eyes fixated on the direction of the “Star Pirate Leader’s” starship.

The distance between them was quickly closing.

In about five seconds, they would collide—such terrifying speed combined with a violent impact would detonate the ammunition storage on both starships, causing them both to disintegrate.

Three seconds.

But Su Su didn’t actually intend to collide; he was certain the enemy would dodge.

Two seconds.

The “Star Pirate Leader’s” starship reacted, one of its auxiliary wings blasting powerful jets of flame, diverting its trajectory by fifteen degrees, just enough to narrowly evade the collision.

One second.

Su Su’s starship flew past almost brushing against the “Star Pirate Leader’s,” and from the perspective of the starship’s sensors, he could see every detail of the enemy’s paintwork. Su Su issued the attack command.

At the instant they crossed paths, Su Su’s starship’s heavy cannon targeted the “Star Pirate Leader’s” ship, unleashing a volley of thick projectiles that struck devastatingly against the enemy vessel.

“Ha, this maneuver really impressed me! It seems the opponent isn’t a true newbie after all; likely, there’s an expert with piloting skills in the game bullying beginners. But my starship has top-notch defenses, and even a close-range bombardment from a newbie’s starship can only cause minor damage,” the “Star Pirate Leader” said, still unnerved by the earlier near-collision but firmly believing Su Su couldn’t be a novice.

With the skills displayed moments ago, he thought the audience wouldn’t excessively blame him for his failure, and he no longer intended to pursue Su Su. He would wait for them to narrowly pass each other, then leave the asteroid belt and end this confrontation.

However, the next moment, the “Star Pirate Leader” heard a piercing alarm: [Starship about to collide with debris, please adjust your course immediately.]

How could this be? He had clearly adjusted his direction to leave.

It was the heavy bombardment! The bombardment from the opponent wasn’t meant to injure him but to adjust his flight angle, sending him crashing into the debris.

So that’s how it is! The enemy had never intended to escape or take them both out; his ammunition couldn’t damage his own ship, so he had long thought of crashing into the debris to take revenge.

He had led himself here, using the earlier impact to force himself to adjust his direction, and then used the heavy fire to correct his angle.

This seemed a bit fantastical, but in reality, the opponent had perfectly predicted all his actions and successfully executed their plan.

The person named “Shark Name Is Really Hard Ahhhhh” could never be a newbie; what an incredible existence he had collided with.

The “Star Pirate Leader” understood the sequence of events, but it was already too late. The fuel used for the emergency boost had just been consumed while evading Su Su’s starship; now, with the starship’s speed exceeding 200, he couldn’t adjust course again before the collision.

The asteroid belt erupted into a dazzling explosion, as if celebrating the victor.