LSDWTWHA chapter 44

Chapter 43

The barrage of comments suddenly drew attention, and passersby began to discuss.

【What the hell is that! Did anyone get a good look?】

【Is that a modified starship? It looks so outrageous that I can’t tell what it’s been remodeled from.】

【Silver Dragon, White Scale Shark, I saw his competition data. Just a rookie who hasn’t played the game for long, part of the White Scale Guild.】

【I saw him compete at the arena a few days ago. His modified starship is shaped like a swift, and it really is fast. In the arena, he specialized in kite-flying tactics and has been on a winning streak lately, gaining quite the popularity.】

There were also supporters of other players who, seeing Su Su standing out alone, became a bit displeased: 【Come on, what’s the point of being fast? His starship looks light, and if it gets hit by a stray bullet or a meteor, he’ll probably be directly eliminated.】

【Exactly, don’t talk about his winning streak; he’s fighting from the bottom up and hasn’t even cracked the top fifty. Plus, everyone is preparing for this competition, and real experts wouldn’t waste time in the arena; he’s just taking the chance to bully lower-tier players.】

【Right? If he meets someone like ‘No Return’, one shot from ‘Flame’ will send him back to the respawn point.】

Qi Yue saw someone slandering her idol and instantly became upset, jumping into the barrage to initiate a war of words.

【What do you mean ‘fast’? Do you have any idea how much harder it is to control an S-ranked starship at that speed? Look at his turning, look at how precisely he dodges obstacles; a player with lesser skills would probably have already veered off course.】

【Calling him a bully? From what I know, the last opponent of White Scale Shark was Lord Demon King, who’s ranked sixth in the arena—@Nightmare Castle Guild, look, someone’s calling your guild master a noob.】

【Flame’s attacking power is high, but only if he can hit someone. You waiting for your main to catch up before you brag?】

Zheng Hui’s Phoenix was indeed not known for its speed. But as a top-tier S-ranked starship, its speed was still among the best after modifications.

After a brief gathering, his followers formed a team of twenty. This team, alongside more than a dozen other players, constituted the current second tier, gradually pulling away from the rest of the players behind them.

【Master, White Scale Shark has already pulled twenty star distances ahead of us. Aren’t we chasing?】 A player from the 【No Return Guild】, 【Five Spoon Ink】, reminded in the communication channel.

【Five Spoon Ink】 was a disciple of 【No Return】, who had joined the guild shortly after starting the game.

His piloting skills were taught by his master, and he joined the guild alongside him. His master was not just good at piloting starships; he was also adept at team command. He understood that his master was not just playing a game; he was aiming to enter the military through this.

【Five Spoon Ink】 had never witnessed a real starship battle. In his eyes, his master was the best pilot, and he believed his master would stand out in the competition and then catch the military’s attention to shine on the real battlefield.

He participated in this competition without ever thinking about winning a ranking; he just wanted to help his master secure first place. The other members in 【No Return’s】 team shared the same thoughts.

【Five Spoon Ink】 had learned from other guild members that White Scale Shark was once invited by his master to join their team, but he had refused and boasted about taking first place. So this time, he was determined to teach the other a lesson. Now that he saw the other stealing his master’s spotlight and taking the lead, he was even angrier.

【Ignore him, form the V formation.】

【No Return】 calmly gave the command, completely unaffected by Su Su’s temporary lead.

Under his command, the team slowly arranged themselves into a “V” shape, systematically altering their formation as they moved.

This formation significantly reduced the drag encountered by the starships in the back and minimized the overall fuel consumption.

Right. 【Five Spoon Ink】 felt reassured.

This was a long-distance race, and if fuel wasn’t managed properly, they might not even reach the finish line.

What did it matter if White Scale Shark was fast? The faster one runs, the quicker they consume fuel. A lighter ship isn’t always an absolute advantage. When faced with a gravitational field, lacking sufficient weight and balance means greater interference.

By then, if his fuel ran out, he might just crash straight in and be eliminated.

The gravitational field appeared quite swiftly, emerging not far after the races started.

When Su Su noticed that his starship began to veer off course, he realized there was a gravitational field ahead, and it seemed to cover quite a distance.

Without hesitation, Su Su turned and chose to fly around it. Although it added some distance, he didn’t have to fight against the gravitational flow, and calculated that this way he could save quite a bit of fuel and wouldn’t delay much time either.

Some starships, similar to Su Su, which were fast and lightweight, chose the same route as him, while heavier, more powerful ships opted to cut through the gravitational flow, shortening the distance between them and the ships ahead.

The most advantageous were the grouped starships. They crossed the gravitational flow in formation, maintaining stability while sacrificing little speed.

After a while, when Su Su finally made his way around, he discovered a team of twenty ahead.

The team from 【No Return】.

Su Su, however, had no other thoughts. Racing was all about back-and-forth competition; if he were running alone, what would be the point?

Su Su accelerated, preparing to overtake.

Unexpectedly, as he increased his speed, the team in front also sped up. Not only did they accelerate, but they also connected with each other in the form of energy beams, forming an energy net, seemingly waiting for him to crash into it.

The competition rules stated that players were not allowed to attack other ships, but that clearly did not extend to someone crashing into them. Forming an energy net to intercept a ship trying to overtake was also within the rule’s limits.

The range of the energy net formed by twenty ships was considerable. Su Su simply decided not to veer away and followed behind their formation, picking a comfortable position to catch a free ride.

“Master, we’ve caught him.”

【Five Spoon Ink】 felt a surge of pride as he watched the starship left with no choice but to follow in his guild’s wake, thinking, what good is speed if you have to obediently trail behind?

“Hmm.”

【No Return】 was well aware that Su Su just aimed to take advantage of their formation to conserve fuel.

However, as long as the opposing ship obediently followed, his objective had been achieved.

“Let him follow for a bit. After sixty star distances, shift to a pyramid formation; see that spatial rift marked on the map? Let Purgatory drag him in, and send him out here.”

Purgatory referred to the S-rated control starship, 【Purgatory】. Unlike 【Void】, which had only a pair of claws and was easy to escape from, 【Purgatory】 as a top-tier control ship had precise anchoring, binding targets to itself in an inescapable state, and with strong interference, it made the opposing ship temporarily non-operational. Its close combat prowess was terrifying.

“Don’t worry, Captain.”

The pilot of 【Purgatory】 grinned, not caring whether after dragging Su Su into the spatial rift, the other would be disqualified for making a rule violation.

Like 【Five Spoon Ink】, he hadn’t planned to break into the top ten in this competition. But unlike 【Five Spoon Ink】, 【No Return】 had promised him a hundred thousand, not in game currency, but real cash. As long as he completed the task assigned to him in this competition, it was way more lucrative than any prizes he could gain from it.

In a flash, the sixty star distances passed, and the starships forming a net before Su Su began to constrict around him in a pyramid shape, trapping his starship firmly in the center. Below him, 【Purgatory】 slowly approached.

Closer, even closer. The pilot of 【Purgatory】 excitedly focused on the coordinates, just waiting for the spatial rift to appear right below him before making his move.

He enjoyed this process, he liked to use chains to firmly lock down his peers, watching them struggle before mercilessly destroying them.

Of course, not in a place like the arena. In an arena setting, one-on-one matches, players with good skills would tend to avoid 【Purgatory】’s attack range. And even if they could lock them down, equally strong ships could employ various means to counter-attack.

He relished complex maps, spatial rifts, asteroid belts, and the trajectory of passing meteors. He took pleasure in using the terrain to eliminate controlled starships. That’s where 【Purgatory】 truly reigned supreme.

Hundreds of pitch-black arrows sliced through space, encircling Su Su’s starship from all directions. At the moment they were about to contact the starship, the arrows splintered open, transforming into claws that firmly secured Su Su’s starship.

The lightweight swift found itself ensnared, unable to break free. It was as if it were falling, dragged downwards by the hooks.

“You’re cheating!”

A message popped up on 【Purgatory】’s communication screen from 【White Scale Shark】’s accusation.

“Pfft—” The pilot laughed at the exclamation mark. He could almost see the flustered and helpless expression of the opposing pilot through such a brief accusation, bringing him genuine delight.

So naïve, thinking that just because the rules forbade something, it would never happen?

What if I’m cheating? I don’t care about being disqualified; what about you? Clearly possessing speed that surpasses everyone else, giving you an edge in this round, yet having to be pulled out of the race by me, resulting in a complete loss of this round’s performance.

Is it a surprise? Are you angry? Desperate?

The claws retracted, drawing the two starships together. Alarms blared sharply, signaling that they were about to crash into the spatial rift.

The pilot of 【Purgatory】 activated interference, rendering Su Su’s starship temporarily uncontrollable, then chose to accelerate, targeting the rift straightforwardly.

He squinted in pleasurable anticipation, his hands already off the control panel, his gaze fixed on the target.

Come on, let’s fall together.

You lose a round’s score, and I walk away with a hefty reward.

Just as the two starships were about to crash into the spatial rift, the silent swift suddenly moved.

Oh, the control time ended, the pilot of 【Purgatory】 thought, after all, being an S-ranked starship, the control period wasn’t long.

But it didn’t matter; a caged bird’s struggles are pointless.

The 【Silver Dragon】 cranked up its power to the maximum, sharp blades shot forth from its agile wings as the swift began to spin in the air. The blades glinted coldly, slicing precisely at the junction between the claws and chains, severing them.

What? This is impossible!

The pilot of 【Purgatory】 stared incredulously at the screen. What on earth was that? 【White Scale Shark】’s 【Silver Dragon】 wasn’t known for speed and long-range attacks, was it? Has he gone mad? Who would fit such flashy cutting blades onto their wings?

【Warning, about to crash into the spatial rift.】 Alarms lit up in a high-level red alert.

The pilot of 【Purgatory】 relaxed. The spatial rift was now almost within reach; an inevitable fall awaited. Too close—there was no time to change the direction now. Even if Su Su’s starship broke free from the claws, in such a short time, it would be impossible to regain direction; the powerful inertia would drag him straight into the spatial rift.

But things defied his expectations once again. The swift rotated into an oncoming position and collided lightly against 【Purgatory】, not a hard hit, more like stepping on a fallen leaf, and then adjusted its posture before igniting and accelerating, using the force to brush past the spatial rift and charge forward.

Leaving behind 【Purgatory】, like a dried leaf unable to escape Earth’s gravity, it fell irretrievably towards the spatial rift to be torn apart and crushed.

Su Su watched as 【Purgatory】 vanished, a grin spreading across his face. His shark teeth formed a bloodthirsty arc, his eyes brimming with malice, devoid of any trepidation that the other might have imagined.

The opposing pilot might not even have realized until elimination that Su Su’s tone in sending that sentence was neither anger nor fear, but excitement.

The thrill of discovering prey.

Since the other had played first, he couldn’t be said to have broken the rules by retaliating.

In fact, he quite enjoyed knocking other people’s starships out of the competition.