Counterfeit Hero

Chapter 1316: Chapter 64: Lofty Mountains and Rugged Peaks (8)

”Fatty, everything is ready.” The little kid climbed up the small hill and sat next to Fatty.

The air among the mountains was cold and fresh. The sunlight slanted gently on the slope where the two were sitting, offering a faint warmth. The little boy’s beautiful golden curls were so dirty that their color was indistinguishable, and his small clothes and pants were smeared with mud. Fatty wasn’t much better off; his bandit army uniform could be tossed directly into the trash.

”Yeah.” Fatty nodded and continued to stare blankly at the mountain below.

The mountain was filled with Jiepeng Mecha, advancing steadily. The last battle would commence in no more than ten minutes.

Counting the reinforcing troops, the chance of survival for their squad was no more than thirty percent.

”Are you really planning to go through with it?” The little kid chewed on a blade of grass, gazing worriedly at the Jiepeng Forces on the opposite hill.

”Do you have any other ideas?” Fatty didn’t even turn his head.

”No.” The little kid sighed, ”I just don’t get why you’re trying so hard. This isn’t Leray; the planet will keep turning without you. You’re clearly scared to death, yet you’re still pretending to be a hero.”

Pretending to be a hero? Fatty glared angrily at the little kid. But as soon as his eyes widened, they dimmed. Although among the warriors, including several Mechanical Gods, he seemed calm and collected. Yet the little brat knew him well...

How long had it been since he last felt fear?

Was it because he now possessed skills and a bandit army capable of preserving his life, or because he had grown accustomed to this life of teetering between life and death?

Both, and neither.

From the elevator at the pirate base to Mars Free Port, from the Longbow Star System to Canglang Star, he was like a racing dog racing out of the gate, desperately chasing the mechanical rabbit that was always faster than him. Oblivious to everything around him.

He simply hadn’t had the time to be afraid.

”You could run away yourself,” the little kid asked, ”I just don’t get why you’re holding on here. Whether you’re here or not, won’t the result be the same?”

”Not the same.” Fatty shook his head.

”What’s different?” The little kid couldn’t understand; human nature is truly a mysterious thing. He felt that just analyzing Fatty every day would cause his program to have logic errors.

”It’s just not the same.” Fatty thought for a long time, unable to explain, and continued to shake his head.

”If you die...” The little kid looked at Fatty with concern, sighed deeply, and hesitated...

”Don’t worry, your termination program is with the old man...” Fatty rubbed the little kid’s head.

Artificial Intelligence was both a treasure and a bomb for all human civilization. The originally contained destruction program chip was bound to Fatty, and the program would start once it detected his life signals completely vanished. But, a year ago, he had already handed these over to Boswell.

For Fatty, the little kid had become a part of his life. He no longer wanted to control such a thing, binding the little kid’s existence to himself.

And Boswell, was setting up restriction rules for Pipi.

Only rules could grant Pipi true freedom. Otherwise, binding it to anyone would be unfair.

”No, I’m not talking about that...” The little kid shook his head, hesitating, ”I meant, when you agreed to get me a female AI, who will I find to fulfill it?!”

A leaf drifted by, and the two of them exchanged a big-eyed stare.

This was a serious issue.

”How about I share half of my inflatable doll with you?” Fatty suggested hesitantly.

”The brand new collector’s edition?!” The little kid asked suspiciously.

Fatty nodded, pained.

”Deal!” The little kid declared, ”No reneging! If you die and break your promise, Lord Fart will tell Ann Lei and the others.”

Fatty suddenly burst into laughter, his eyes feeling warm.

He realized that sometimes, AI could be pretty darn clumsy!

He stood up, looking at the Jiepeng Forces accelerating their pace in the valley below, taking a deep breath.

The silhouettes of thirty million Leray Warriors charging towards the enemy, Hamilton, Brown, Snyder, and the faces of various warriors who once fought alongside him, along with the destroyed cities and photos of massacred towns... everything over the past four years played out in his mind like movie scenes.

”Scared?” The little kid looked at Fatty.

”Pfft! When a man dies, his soul flies to the heavens. If not dead, living for a million years.” Fatty, pale-faced, spat fiercely, turning towards the assembled troops, ”When has Master Fatty ever been scared!”

***************************************************************************

The public live broadcast had yet to start. But the front-line footage had already relayed to the screens at the Allied Command Center.

The command post was silent.

Watching the ant-like red Mecha under the towering snow-peaked mountains, and then looking at the densely packed, ever-approaching Jiepeng Mecha before them, the stark visual contrast left every general present feeling breathless.

Over a hundred Mecha opposing nearly three thousand of Jiepeng’s elite Mechanical Warriors, even with ten War Gods and Twelfth Generation Mecha, it was an impossible task to complete!

Margaret stood behind Hastings, watching from the electronic ship’s high-altitude camera as Fatty rose to walk towards the assembled warriors, fingers unknowingly gripping Hastings’ arm tightly.

”It’s kind of embarrassing...” Fatty’s voice came into the command hall, ”I can’t even remember how many times I’ve escaped. They say those old guys in the command are going to broadcast this live...”

The generals looked at each other, on screen, Fatty’s words evoked a burst of laughter among the warriors.

Over a hundred ragged, filthy men, wearing exhaustion etched deeply into their faces, stood quietly in the forest, squinting in the sunlight filtered through the leaves, looking at this officer who allegedly fled over twenty times within half a year, each time catching the last ship out.

”I don’t know what kind of hard battle we’ll face today...” Fatty surveyed the warriors around him, seeing all those bright eyes suddenly felt a fire ignite in his chest, blood boiling.

”I just know that we hundred or so, are going to charge an enemy twenty or thirty times our size; that’s damn thrilling!”

Fatty’s voice echoed through the valley.

”At this moment, I have no grand speeches to make. I think, I don’t need to give any pre-battle pep talk. I just want to say, every single person here is a man among men, a true hero. So...”

In the jungle, there was silence. On the Hermo Carrier, there was silence. In the command center millions of light years away, there was silence. Everyone was waiting for Fatty’s final words.

Fatty didn’t speak. He walked up to the warriors and hugged each one of them.

————

Anthony...

Both of them hugged tightly.

————

The strength of the Jiepeng 2nd Armored Division had been fully utilized by that division commander of theirs. During these three days of escape, it felt like being a fish trapped in a fishing net. No matter how much strength I had, no matter how I tried, how I struggled, I just couldn’t break through this sturdy net.

And now, the net had tightened.

————

Li Weiguo, this kid’s eyes were a bit red, not at all in line with his usually bold personality...

————

The Allied Frontline Command Center had done its best. You have to know, although the Allies had won victory in the Northern Mountain Region, wiping out a large number of Jiepeng Army, on this planet, Jiepeng and the Suss Allied Army still had more than seventy divisions, and their sphere of influence still spanned the entire planet. They still had a large number of land-based fighters and missile bases.

The Battle of Canglang Star had just begun.

————

Padoc, this is a red-haired kid with a babyface that makes Master Fatty quite envious. Fair-skinned and tender.

A good hug.

————

After losing the Northern Mountain Region, the Jiepeng people had already reacted and started to strike everywhere, seizing important strategic locations. Mikami Yuto’s fleet had also shaken off the entanglement of the Allied Fleet and was moving to threaten Canglang Star space.

Under such circumstances, the frontline command center mobilized over a thousand fighters and assembled thirty medium-sized transport ships. The impact on other directions was imaginable.

Everything was for the sake of these more than a hundred people in front of us.

————

Baz?

When the hell did this bastard cut in line here?

This guy grinned, and a casual hug was enough.

————

The success or failure of the rescue depended solely on the last five minutes. Five minutes, perhaps in a person’s life, is no more than the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, just one among countless inadvertent five minutes. But for this unit, for myself, for the transport ships risking their lives to land from the sky, it was a matter of life and death in those five minutes.

After the transport ships entered the anti-aircraft zone, the decoy missiles released by the fighters and their forced suppression could only hold for a few minutes. The transport ship’s energy shield could extend this time to ten minutes. However, after ten minutes, the transport ships were still high in the air. Even at the fastest descent speed, they couldn’t reach the height necessary for Mecha air-dropping.

Not to mention the remaining five minutes, even if it’s just one minute left, it’s fatal. The transport ship’s protective armor could absolutely not forcefully sustain the remaining time.

————

Hagrove, the old guy has a strong grip, but his smell was getting unbearable. Master Fatty hadn’t bathed either, but he didn’t stink like him.

————

If I can’t guarantee the last five minutes, this rescue mission will eventually turn into a disaster.

This battle was the most dangerous one I had ever experienced.

No sacrifice, no victory. At this point, the meaning of that phrase was profoundly deep.

This wasn’t treating human lives like grass. It wasn’t pushing warriors ruthlessly to their deaths for the sake of victory and accolades.

In this battle, the Suicide Camp had made sacrifices, Admiral Li Hongwu had made sacrifices, and these pilots and warriors who came to rescue were all making sacrifices without hesitation.

If we calculated interests, there wouldn’t have been a Suicide Camp, nor would there be this mission. Everything that happened in the Northern Mountain Region wouldn’t have occurred.

Such a sacrifice was a true sacrifice, and such a victory was a true victory.

Fatty hugged each of the warriors one by one.

”Survive!” Fatty ended the pre-battle mobilization crisply, waved to the warriors, and jumped onto the Mecha.

One by one, the cockpit covers closed, and each Mecha activated combat mode, extending its limbs.

At the foot of the mountain, the Jiepeng Forces had already begun to accelerate.

.

.

. In the next Chapter, I’ve already written more than a thousand words. I originally wanted to post them together, but I’ll send out this Chapter tonight first. There might be another Chapter later. Maybe two Chapters. Anyway, I’m not planning to go out during the day. Just typing.

.

. (To be continued. For more Chapters, please log on to www.qidian.com, support the author, support genuine reading!)