ABO Cadets

Chapter 033: Reemergence of the Black Dragon

When Brian returned to his bedroom, he began to sketch out the design of a mech, and suddenly there was a flash of inspiration in his mind—he wanted to make a healer-type mech for Snow.

(TN: I don't really know what kind of mech this is, but three different websites translated it as 'Therapeutic', I decided to just go with 'healer' as a more general term for it.)

The more Brian thought about it, the more excited he was, the inspiration in his mind was flowing like a spring, the shape of the mech armor was gradually forming in his mind and the first draft of the design was quickly drawn. He hasn't felt such an intensive burst of inspiration for a long time. The last time was when he first made Little Blue, now, it was that same feeling of inspiration that sparked into excitement and an irrefutable impulse to begin building it right away.

After he finished drawing the design, Brian looked at the silver humanoid 3D model of the mech in the optical projection. He thought about Snow's height and made some minor adjustments to reduce the height and size of the armor. Now, Snow will be able to move freely to his heart's content.

Taking into account the adjusted size of the mech, Brian carefully gauged the materials required to build it. In Little Blue's body, there is a storage space fitted with an abundance of materials and parts needed to make a mech, but the parts needed to build a healer-type mech were particularly specific, and the preexisting parts that Brian had before leaving home weren't going to cut it.

After giving it a thought, Brian connected to his home communication device.

Ten seconds later, in the Cepheus Star Constellation, the communicator to the Bayh household was connected.

The projection screen lit up and a simple and cozy room materialized. The face of a refined man dressed in proper nightclothes was sat upright in bed. The man took a quick glance at Brian and asked, "Brian, what's got you up so late?"

Brian gave a beaming smile: "Dad, you have been in good health, yeah? I've heard that the weather has started getting colder in the capital star ... "

Berg interrupted him: "Don't beat around the bush alright? What's been causing you problems at school?"

Brian: "......"

In his Dad's heart, he had already begun to imagine the worst-case scenarios.

Brian slyly touched his nose and said innocently: "I'm not in any trouble. Actually, I need your help to send some things over. I need some A-level parts. The parts on Po Military Star aren't good enough, I can't buy any high-quality parts here. Buying online is also no less troublesome. Anyways, Grandfather's storage room has a whole bunch of parts. I've sent the list over. Would you send me a follow-up another time? Oh! That's right... By the way, as long as it's no trouble, send me the original designs for the Vermillion Bird!"

(TN: I don't remember what the last translator translated this as, but apparently it's a star? This is the planet that the military school is on. However, I couldn't find a proper translation since it was only giving me things like 'Broken Military Star' so I kept it in Pinyin. If I go back and find what the previous translator translated it as I'll change it.)

(Another TN: The previous translator translated the mech Ling Yu (Lin Yuan's dad) used as 'Suzaku'. In the raws, it is Zhū Què, named after one of the 4 symbols of the Chinese Constellations. Suzaku is the same thing, just in Japanese. However, since the rest of the mechs had been translated into English, I decided to do the same for Suzaku and go with its English name of Vermillion Bird.)

Berg's face wrinkled as a slight frown appeared on his face, "I can send you the parts. But what do you want to do with the Vermillion Bird's design?"

Brian spoke with a smile on his face: " I want to study the manufacturing principle of an S-class machine! "

Berg coldly glanced at Brian. " Your current level is already pretty good for C-level. Do you really want to study S-level?

Brian, who was slighted by his father, smiled with a thick face: "This just proves that your son has great ambition! My ultimate goal is to create an S-class mech just like Grandpa! You should just give me the diagrams for the Vermillion Bird already, I know that the drawings are in your hands, allow me to accomplish this dream of mine, can't you let me study it?"

After a moment of silence, Berg, seeing no other option grudgingly nodded and said, "Alright then."

Brian immediately laughed. "That's great! Oh, yes... Father, is he not home?"

(TN: He is referring to his other dad.)

Berg faintly smiled and said: "Your father set off to the Po Military Star two days ago."

Brian was suspicious: "What is he doing here?"

Berg said: "Supervising this month's military exercises, and he will represent the military department to inspect your school. You'd better behave. Don't cause your father to lose face."

Brian hurriedly stood to attention and honored his Dad with a standard military salute: "I will do as you say!"

Berg merely glanced at this stupid son of his and immediately shut off the communicator.

The content of the next day's military training is a standard shooting training. This training focuses on fast-paced response-ability. There will be 1-10 targets in the shooting range that will appear simultaneously. It is necessary to shoot down the target quickly in the specified time to complete the task. Caesar and Brian have a one-time pass out of this test. After the two met at the entrance of the shooting gallery, the two of them started moving towards Sherman Forest.

In Little Blue's cockpit, Brian gingerly took out the demotion plans for the Vermillion Bird so that Caesar could look it over.

Caesar looked carefully and asked: "This plan has no problems right?"

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Brian spoke with high confidence: "Rest assured! My dad gave the original design of the Vermillion Bird to me this morning. I have studied it all thoroughly and modified it to fit this new plan. In accordance with my research, the chance of something going wrong during the conversion to a C-level is fairly low."

Caesar nodded with reassured confidence.

Brian inherited the genius of his grandfather and his father, he is truly very talented in the field of building mechs. Caesar believes wholeheartedly in the skillset of his close friend, otherwise, he would not dare to rashly agree to Vermillion Bird's request.

The two people were chatting when Little Blue's communication device suddenly turned on. "Master, White Feather sent out a communication request."

Brian was startled for a bit before he immediately connected to the communicator.

Almost at the same time from both sides of his ears, the sound of White Feather hopping nervously about is heard: "Master! Master! Someone is coming to the forest! Ah! Ah! It is a legion! The Hydra Legion! I have detected the Vanguard Unit of the Hydra Legion! They're heading this way as we speak, the main forces and the command carrier should also be behind us! What should I do? Should I immediately take Predecessor Vermillion Bird and run away?"

"......" Brian and Caesar turned face to face and stared at each other.

Caesar was puzzled: "Hydra Legion? Is your father on Po Military Star?"

Brian nodded his head. "Yes. Two days ago, he set off to take the Hydra Legion to the Po Military Star in order to supervise the upcoming military exercise... The Hydra Legion is most likely just patrolling the exercise site, and just happened to be passing by Sherman Forest?"

Caesar was silent for a moment, and he turned around and ordered: "White Feather, initiate all anti-detection systems, try to hide as best as you can, don't let them find you. Don't leave or act rashly, we will come over immediately!"

White Feather hurriedly and nervously said: "OK Master!"

Brian immediately adjusted the speed of Little Blue to the maximum, and the two men rushed toward Sherman Forest in the fastest direction!

***

The plain-looking man's attire was a green, creaseless, military uniform, it gave his tall build an undeniable air of strength. On the opening of his chest was an emblem fit with a hovering serpentine pattern, and on the top of his shoulders, he had four gleaming gold stars - this is one of the five four-star generals in the Empire, the head of the Hydra Legion, and Brian's father, General Drew Bayh.

Drew pulled out the 3D diagram of the entire Po star, pointing to a marked range, he softly spoke: "This military exercise is divided into three parts: grounded ambush, air combat support, emergency withdrawal. Of the three exercises, the grounded ambush is set to be located in Sherman Forest. The terrain of Sherman Forest is complex and varied. As the location for the ambush exercise, it just so happens that we can test the function of the newly developed snake-shaped mech."

Drew paused and looked towards the body of the man beside him seeking input.

The man standing to his side was the same height as him. He wears a neat black military uniform and the five gold stars placed side-by-side on his shoulders showcase his noble identity in the military. The man's handsome and indifferent face still has no expression. He calmly glanced at the topographic map in front of him and nodded faintly, saying, "You decide."

Drew smiled and let out a laugh as he said: "Since the Marshal personally came to Po Military Star, wouldn't it be better to watch the upcoming military exercise together?"

Rosen said: "No need, I believe you can command well... Besides, I came here for some personal matters."

Rosen had left the Glory Legion in the constellation of Cepheus, and tagged along with General Bayh, indeed for a private matter - Vermillion Bird had fled the museum.

He had been around Ling Yu for many years and had developed a long friendship, and his feelings for Vermillion Bird reflect that close sentiment. As Ling Yu's respected mech and partner, he regards Vermillion Bird with the same care and affection he had felt towards Ling Yu.

In the several years of fighting the hostile forces of the Strain Federation, the battles had reached their peak intensity after a very long time of fighting. The Secret Night Legion, as the strongest assault campaigning force in the empire, had been fighting against the enemy forces of the Strain Federation on the front line, although despite their outstanding military service and brilliance, they had also suffered heavy casualties.

The one to accompany Ling Yu at his side the longest was his mech, Vermillion Bird.

The Vermillion Bird had multiple previous instances of saving Ling Yu from countless dangerous and risky situations.

To Ling Yu, Vermillion Bird had an especially great significance. Vermillion Bird was not just a mech to him, but his dearest partner and friend. He greatly enjoyed staying with the Vermillion Bird and would always talk to the Vermillion Bird about his worries. Every time he chatted with Vermillion Bird, his face was always relaxed and purely happy.

In his heart... Perhaps the Vermillion Bird may have been more important than even himself?

During the time when he was arrested by the military, he specifically requested to bid farewell to Vermillion Bird... but he did not come to say goodbye to himself.

(TN: Rosen is referring to himself.)

Because of Ling Yu's crimes, the Vermillion Bird was implicated and sentenced to life imprisonment in captivity by the Mech Association.

If Vermillion Bird wanted to escape, any ordinary mech would be helpless to stop it. At that time, in order to arrest Vermillion Bird, the military used two S-class mechs - the Glory and the Phantom. These two S-class mechs joined hands to pursue and attack the Vermillion Bird. In the end, they successfully subdued it and were able to forcibly strip all of the energy from the Vermillion Bird and imprison it in the hidden room in the museum.

Towards these actions, Rosen had already filed a complaint against the ruling. However, at the time, he was only an ordinary general. Additionally, the Glory Legion at the time was only a second-grade support legion, and his personality was cold and unsociable. Despite his outstanding and celebrated military service, he had very few friends in the military. To make matters worse, the relationship between the military and military courts were just as terrible.

There was no way to protect his own omega, which is the greatest shame for an alpha. But more importantly, there was no way to protect Ling Yu, which was an even greater unspeakable anguish for Rosen.

Later on, Ling Yu had driven the Black Dragon which was then subsequently buried in the interstellar ruins. Rosen was disheartened bringing the Black Dragon's fragments and Ling Yu's personal belongings back to lay at the foot of the monument. In turn, he never visited the Vermillion Bird again.

He didn't properly protect its master. He didn't know how to tell it the cruel news that "Ling Yu had already passed away."

19 years had already gone by. It was completely outside of anyone's expectations for the Vermillion Bird to suddenly escape and even crash into the Burleigh Canyon.

Rosen's shock when he heard this news was simply indescribable.

There was barely an inkling of hesitation for him to ask the military to give him a few days off and then personally rush off to the Po Military Star to see what happened for himself.

Before Rosen left the constellation of Cepheus, he brought out the replica of the Black Dragon from the Mech Association.

Contrary to what many may think, the outer shell of the armor is not the most difficult part to assemble, the most difficult part is the intelligence center, especially the intelligence center of a class A or above. It is very troublesome to develop, so the method of copying and backing it up is widely spread among the military.

Ling Yu adamantly disagreed with this practice. He believed that since mech are given intelligence and possess IQ, they should be respected as such by human beings. Copying the intelligence center of a mech and just re-creating a new one after the armor is destroyed is just as ridiculous as picking up someone's genes and re-copying a living person after their death.

These sorts of remarks made by Ling Yu have long since been met with ridicule by many people in the Mech Association. Some people even said that his brain is faulty. The mechs are just a hunk of metal and data. Does it really need human respect? Is he crazy?

No matter how harshly he was ridiculed by others, Ling Yu has always insisted on adhering to his own opinion no matter what.

He did not leave a smart copy of the Vermillion Bird, because, in his heart, the original Vermillion Bird would be the only true one.

Perhaps in return for its master's trust and respect, among all of the S-class mechs, the Vermillion Bird is the most loyal and powerful one. When attacking the enemy, it was unstoppable. The imposing bright red color plastered on the outer layer even made a great number of people tremble whenever it came into view.

Back in the days when it fled, the military dispatched the Glory and the Phantom together to pursue and capture it into submission. During this, it could be clearly seen how independent and valiant the Vermillion Bird's spirituality was under the influence of Ling Yu.

Although Rosen had left the Black Dragon's replica in the Mech Association according to the regulations, in his heart he was actually supportive of Ling Yu's ideology.

After Ling Yu and the Black Dragon had been buried together in the interstellar ruins, Rosen had never once thought about resurrecting the Black Dragon in the past. In his heart, both the Black Dragon along with Ling Yu had departed the world.

He never would have thought, now for the Vermillion Bird... He had no choice but to violate the oath he had made in his heart and resurrect the replica of the Black Dragon.

Between the Black Dragon and the Vermillion Bird, they share a special bond as S-class mechs that can sense one another.

Thinking of the past, Rosen couldn't help but feel a sharp pain from the bottom of his heart, his brow faintly creased.

Drew saw that his look was pained. He immediately stopped talking about the military exercise and made a hand gesture to order his subordinates in the command room to leave. He then whispered: "You've come here for that Vermillion Bird thing?"

Rosen nodded. "Well, I want to see where the Vermillion Bird crashed."

Upon his wrist is a black space button fit with the brand-new S-Class mech, after Rosen brought out the Black Dragon's copy, Mr. Aston and a few assistants worked through the night to follow the previous design and model of the Black Dragon. A brand new mech was assembled, and the Black Dragon's smart hub was put into the new mech carrier.

This Black Dragon looks like it had been completely reborn and resurrected, compared to the old Black Dragon, the two were carbon copies of one another.

After a moment of silence, Drew said: "In a minute, you can reach the Sherman Forest. I will let the Vanguard of the Hydra Legion go to the forest to find a path first."

Rosen nodded. "Halt the Hydra command ship for a bit. I will take the Black Dragon to the Burleigh Canyon to take a look around."

Drew immediately ordered the Hydra command ship to suspend in the mid-air and open the hatch in the hold of the ship.

Rosen brought out the Black Dragon and left by himself.

The Black Dragon was seen plunging down from the sky, breaking through the vast layers of clouds, the huge, purely black armor was whirling through the air and covered the sky as if it was a full black cloud, it's mere presence caused a sense of intense pressure to fall upon the area. The ice-cold stream of air spurred on by the mech caused a tremendous tornado to form between the heavens and the earth. The birds and beasts in the surrounding area were alarmed by the major disturbance and scrambled to hide. The places where the Black Dragon flew past was like a raging storm!

***

After talking to itself for a while, it realized that to its side, the Vermillion Bird was still in a shutdown state, and White Feather began to feel somewhat hopeless. It gently and cautiously used its large white wings to carefully protect the Vermillion Bird from sight, it then opened the anti-detection system throughout the entirety of its body, and re-established connection to Little Blue's communication instrument.

"Master! Master! Master!"

Once again, Caesar, who heard the similar panicked sound of White Feathers voice jumping around, couldn't help but frown. "What happened this time?"

White Feather said vigorously: "I seem to have sensed that the Black Dragon! Is the Marshal also coming here? And wasn't the Black Dragon heroically sacrificed years ago? Why did it suddenly appear here?"

Caesar was shocked and said: "Black Dragon? Are you sure you saw it correctly?"

White Feather immediately replied with conviction: "Yes, there's no mistake! We are the mechs created specially by Mr. Aston. The principle of our systems is the same. There will be a reaction between all of us when the detection system is opened. It's too unfortunate! With the detection system on, I can sense it. But, once it opens the detection system, it will definitely sense me!"

Caesar glanced at Brian.

Brian nodded: "The mechs made by Grandpa do indeed have this kind of detection and sensing system. The Lion King, the Black Dragon, the Vermillion Bird, and the White Feather can sense each other's existence through this system. Even if the anti-detection system is activated, they won't be able to escape the detection of the other party. These four mechs sense each other and restrain each other, there is not much worth in seeing them fight."

Brian paused and said thoughtfully: "If Small White Feather really senses the existence of the Black Dragon, there is only one possibility - the Marshal also came and summoned the Black Dragon. Although the Black Dragon was sacrificed 19 years ago, its replica remains in the Mech Association. Perhaps it was because the Marshal was suspicious about the crashing of the Vermillion Bird that he awakened the replica of the Black Dragon?"

Caesar: "......"

Damn it! Hiding the Vermillion Bird in the Sherman Forest was a huge mistake!

Who would have thought that in order to supervise the military exercises, the Hydra Legion would pass right through such a remote area like Sherman Forest? Even more so, who would even dare think that not only has the Marshal come but he also brought the Black Dragon that was resurrected?!

Between Black Dragon, White Feather, and Vermillion Bird, there is even a shared sense between these first-rate mechs!

Caesar took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He turned back to White Feather and said: "White Feather, don't be nervous, even if Black Dragon really found you, with the Marshal's temperament he will not open fire! You must protect the Vermillion Bird, we'll be there soon!"

White Feather quickly replied: "Yes! Master! Rest assured! I will definitely protect Predecessor Vermillion Bird! In order to protect Predecessor Vermillion Bird, I will not hesitate to pay with my life, I will not hesitate..."

White Feather began to recite from memory the lines of a soap opera, and Caesar quickly shut down the communication device.

***

High up in the air, the pale golden pupils of the Black Dragon suddenly flashed gently, and the mechanized voice reverberated cooly inside the cockpit: "Master, an S-Class mech has been detected up ahead - White Feather - Target Position: Sherman Forest 172.63.18."

Rosen frowned slightly, "White Feather? What is Caesar doing in there?"

Black Dragon asked: "Do we need to go down?"

Rosen was silent for a moment. "Go to the Burleigh Canyon first and take a look at the place where the Vermillion Bird crashed."

"Understood."

The Black Dragon promptly sprang up and quickly flew to the direction of the Burleigh Canyon faster than the speed of light. From below, it was like a large expanse of a black cloud suddenly began hovering overhead, driving blasts of cold air and leaving a frightening pressure in its stead so terrifying that one would simply be unable to breathe.

The Black Dragon swooped downwards, taking Rosen directly to the bottom of Burleigh Canyon.

Many of the canyon's trees and rocks were heavily damaged and displaced. Obviously, two days ago, the Vermillion Bird slammed into the edge of the canyon when it fell, causing a large number of huge stones to fall to the canyon floor.

The bottom of the entire canyon was buried by a large number of rocks, but some small traces of red mech armor could vaguely be made out in the piles of stone.

Rosen softly ordered, "Black Dragon, clear up that pile of rocks!"

"Understood!"

Like before, it was a simple, one-word reply. Then, the Black Dragon immediately flew toward the mound of rocks. The long and solid tail swished in the air before in one solid movement swept across the mound of rocks, a majority of the stones were directly sent flying away particularly hard. One rock was even splintered off into pieces by it!

At the bottom of the canyon, there was dust floating in the air as far as the eye could see. The Black Dragon immediately took Rosen away from the shock of dust and the shards of rock and hovered over by the cliffs of the canyon.

After a while, the airborne dust finally settled on the ground, and their field of vision in front of them gradually became clear and open--

Finally, they were able to see what was under the freshly swept mound of rocks. There was a large number of red metal fragments that were buried, and now the red metal fragments gave off an illuminating glow and had a dazzling luster under the sunlight.

Rosen glanced over the debris on the ground, and said coldly: "This is not the Vermillion Bird."

- He saw through the guise with a mere glance.

The red mech fragments littered around the bottom of the canyon were just a slightly different color than the Vermillion Bird. Vermillion Bird's red is not the most commonly seen red, but a darker, deeper kind of crimson That deep shade of red didn't usually look all that dazzling under normal circumstances, but under the light, it looks as if the mech is being bathed in an ethereal blaze of fire.

He has known Ling Yu for many years, and he was just as familiar with Ling Yu's mech as his own mech.

Rosen looked at the red armor fragments, scowling slightly, and said coldly: "Vermillion Bird did not crash, Caesar is clearly lying - immediately go up to Sherman Forest, I need to check this out, What the hell is Caesar doing?!"