Chapter 367 Deliberate

The surveillance drone floated around them, diligently performing its duties.

Xia Xinyan took a special look at the Fat Guy’s livestream; it was still ongoing. Perhaps because of the appearance of Morning Light, the viewers had been filled with some hope. However, even the well-meaning suggestions from the audience were typically conservative. Some were just here to watch the chaos, urging them to charge in and get it over with.

It made sense; after all, the enemy had casually captured everyone in the village and nearly all those who had come to resolve the problem. And just now, Morning Light had mentioned that the opposing force was numerous and powerful, making it quite difficult for just Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo to handle.

But isn’t facing the impossible also a sort of fun?

Moreover, this was an opportunity for Ling Mo.

Not just to declare the strength of the Chicks to the outsiders, but more importantly, to prove his strength to Xia Jincang and the Summer Family.

To prove that he had the ability to protect Xinyan.

This might even lay a brick on his proposal plan.

Xia Xinyan had no clue what Ling Mo was thinking, but since he wanted to go, she certainly wouldn’t stop him.

Because they had enough trump cards to be this cocky, not just Monica, but… her own abilities as well.

And Ling Mo’s strength was definitely not to be underestimated.

So there was nothing to hesitate about.

Taking a light breath, Ling Mo checked the damage to his battle armor and led the way into the valley, “Xinyan, just follow me.”

Xia Xinyan bit her lip and responded, “Okay~”

She felt that Ling Mo was really treating her like a child, always shielding her from everything, and she had this feeling like she was a talisman.

Hmm… actually, this feeling isn’t too bad.

Once they entered the valley, the first enemy they encountered was a familiar face—the six-armed giant baby.

Noticing someone approaching, the giant baby, who had been sitting there playing rock-paper-scissors with itself, immediately stood up and let out an angry roar as it seemed ready to charge over and fight—

Then Ling Mo casually manifested a new mecha by his side—and it was holding a giant energy blade.

The Tianji AI immediately transferred to the mecha, getting into a combat stance.

Ling Mo and Xia Xinyan noticed that the six-armed giant baby looked momentarily dazed.

Then it turned and ran away: “Ahhhhhhh—!”

Xia Xinyan: “…”

Ling Mo couldn’t help but smirk: “Maybe we scared it into a trauma.”

At least with this guy, he could quite clearly experience the level of intelligence shared by those infected with abilities—if that was called evolution, he’d rather be a plain old human for life.

However, the commotion caused by that guy served its purpose; the two didn’t get much deeper before they encountered their first official opponents—a group of… well, they might still be called human beings.

It’s worth mentioning that most of these guys had swollen bodies, and even a height of two meters was considered short among these children of freedom. At least in terms of height, Ling Mo and Xia Xinyan were at a disadvantage against them.

This must be the so-called height oppression.

But… the mecha was taller than them.

“Xinyan,” Ling Mo immediately turned to Xia Xinyan, “It’s not safe outside, get in the mecha with me.”

Xia Xinyan paused: “Wait… hey! I said wait!”

—Ling Mo didn’t give her a chance to protest at all; he swiftly picked her up and took her into the mecha’s cockpit.

While nervously saying, “There’s no time, they’re coming at us!”

Then, Xia Xinyan found herself sitting on his lap as he started operating the mecha.

The cockpit was still as cramped as ever, to the point that the two were practically pressed together. Considering it might affect Ling Mo’s vision, Xia Xinyan had to lean as much as possible into his embrace.

She felt that Ling Mo was doing this on purpose.

This guy… had completely forgotten about their agreement.

But in the current situation, she really didn’t have a way to argue, so she could only awkwardly huddle in his arms, watching him fight.

The valley was flanked by sheer cliffs, and using explosive weapons here could easily cause a collapse, so Ling Mo rarely went for the big blow and instead turned into a close combat fighter.

Then he showed this group of freedom kids what a combat master looked like.

After all, having been beaten countless times in dungeons to patch up that shortcoming, his biggest weakness had been close-quarters combat before he became a bomb thrower, so he’d been diligently practicing close combat techniques during that time. Although he rarely had to use it now, when it truly came to it, his strength was absolutely worthy of being a master level.

Not to mention, with Tianji’s AI providing assistance, it almost perfectly corrected Ling Mo’s few slight openings. The advantage of steel against flesh became thoroughly crushing, so in this first encounter, Ling Mo turned them all into mulch.

Of course, one major reason was that these opponents weren’t too bright. Even Ling Mo had to admit their abilities were a bit tricky, but they just didn’t know how to use them—that was like having a high-precision rifle and only using it to slap people; they could bring out less than one-tenth of their potential, even giving him a guilty feeling, like he was fishing unlawfully.

And none of this was noticed by Xia Xinyan.

Because throughout the fight, she was working hard not to get thrown out.

Close combat in a mecha inevitably involved a lot of big movements, and the experience transmitted to the cockpit felt much like riding a roller coaster. Moreover, she hadn’t fastened her seatbelt, so the only way to keep her body steady was to cling tightly to Ling Mo.

She was increasingly convinced Ling Mo was doing this on purpose.

Only after the battle ended, seeing the heaps of corpses on the ground, did Ling Mo put away his energy blade and temporarily hand over control of the mecha to Tianji, while he thoughtfully buckled Xia Xinyan into her seat: “Sorry… it was too hasty just now.”

With this, the two were completely secured together—no need for Xia Xinyan to struggle anymore.

But that made her feel even more awkward.

She stayed silent for a moment before she couldn’t help but ask, “Were you doing it on purpose?”

“Doing what on purpose?” Ling Mo feigned ignorance.

“Doing it on purpose…” Xia Xinyan couldn’t articulate anymore.

How could she say it? Did he intentionally make the cockpit so small just so he could hug her like this?

But even she had to admit that bringing her up into the mecha was indeed the best choice, and moreover, aside from that point, there was really nothing wrong with Ling Mo’s actions. So if she said it like that, wouldn’t that make her seem rather… self-indulgent?

Especially in front of Ling Mo, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

So, after a moment of struggle, she turned her head away, “It’s nothing.”

Forget it, now was not the time for that; she should discuss things with Ling Mo properly later.

Hmm.

Noticing her reaction, Ling Mo’s smile deepened a bit.