The King of Black Fog

Six people in total.

Four were clad in full-coverage exoskeleton armor, only the helmet's eyes were blue screens, holding man-high heavy weapons in their hands;

two controlled three-meter-tall small mechas.

Besides, there were six mechanical creatures, shaped like scorpions, very similar to those that initially attacked Li Changzhou, but not of the same model.

These mechanical creatures set up barriers, surrounding the entire house, making escape from any angle detectable—neither invisibility nor signal shielding would work.

Wen Carol indeed held high status; six soldiers were stopped by a maid outside, while another maid seemed to have gone to ask for instructions from a master who hadn't woken up yet.

"This level of chicken bones can definitely be chopped off," Li Changzhou confirmed.

"Don't rush," Yang Qinglan mused, "the soldiers outside aren't much, the key is how to conceal our identities."

"What do you suggest?" Li Changzhou asked.

Currently, there was no way to escape without fighting; they had to resolve the battle quickly and flee to the wilderness.

"Still thinking."

From the bed, Beia Triss asked Li Qianxia, "The small squad outside, their weapons could defeat a five-meter-class Mecha, and their armor could withstand missiles from a six-meter-class Mecha. Can you handle them?"

"Of course! We are the Shaolin Soccer team, skilled in kung fu! Those auto mechanics are no match for us!" Li Qianxia replied.

"..."

Actually, up to now, Beia Triss still hadn't understood what "Shaolin" was—a school?

She understood soccer; this world also had games and competitions where 'mechas shoot missiles into the opponent's base,' with mechas specifically tasked with intercepting missiles in front of the base.

"Start the mecha, the one in the garage," Yang Qinglan suddenly said.

"Hmm?"

"These people haven't charged in directly; it proves our identities haven't been exposed. Using the mecha to wipe them out could buy us some more time, and—"

She glanced at Beia Triss, continuing to explain, "The mecha can also shield us from a hail of bullets—in case the four of us are alright, but if the princess gets hit, she could die instantly, no time for treatment."

"No, no, no." Li Qianxia quickly said, "If I get hit in the head, there'd also be no time for treatment."

"Can't you just not get hit?" Li Changzhou retorted disdainfully.

"The way you say it, it's like asking 'why don't you rent out your family home'."

Li Changzhou ignored Li Qianxia's teasing and continued along Yang Qinglan's line of thought.

He said, "Using the mecha to cause a scene is very conspicuous, but at least it won't immediately lead them to us; in critical moments, if we encounter Imperial Mecha, we can still hold them off for a while—let's do this!"

Putting away the Emerald Bee Sword and King Cobra, he and Yang Qinglan stepped out of the room.

"Let's go, princess," Li Qianxia said to Beia Triss, who was sitting on the bed.

Beia Triss looked at her curiously.

"You've faced the Imperial Mecha personally; do you think you can defeat them?"

"Probab—ly not," Li Qianxia hesitated in her reply.

"Then why..." Beia Triss slowly changed her tone, "then why are you so driven? Why not despair? I don't understand."

"What's there to not understand?" Li Qianxia beamed brightly, "We simply don't want to die."

Beia Triss moved her lips but fell silent again.

They didn't want to die because they just had to complete the mission to return to their previous lives.

But for her, even after completing the mission and marrying the heir to the empire, it wasn't the life she wanted.

She wanted to die on the way there.

But she couldn't die, the Duchy needed her alive.

Beia Triss took a small breath and got out of bed, "Let's go!"

Li Qianxia slowly curled her smile away, being without parents and poor from a young age made her very sensitive to other people's thoughts.

She looked at the girl standing in front of her, about her own age.

On Earth, any girl or boy facing marriage pressures from their parents could refuse to study, resolutely remain academically unsuccessful, and thus never have to marry or have children for their whole life.

But in front of her was a princess of a Duchy...

[Side Mission Triggered: Princess Knight]

[Mission Content: Rescue the Princess]

[Note: There are many ways to perform a rescue, and the rewards vary depending on the method—death is the simplest rescue]

[...]

[Mission is non-repeatable]

[Based on Player Instincts - "Twins", Background - "Golden Branch Jade Leaf", this side mission is now shared with the other "Twin", the leader of the "Golden Branch Jade Leaf"]

"Uh..."

"What's wrong?" Beia Triss asked, looking puzzled at Li Qianxia.

"...I might get scolded by my brother."

The side mission was the least of her concerns, especially since Li Changzhou had previously made it clear to her not to develop excessive feelings for any historical character—back then, they didn't even know about the ship.

The two went to the living room, where Yang Qinglan was talking to the just-awakened Turquoise Pool, and Li Changzhou, standing aside, didn't scold her but glanced at her more than usual.

Li Qianxia shrank her shoulders, like when she once accidentally spilled water on her brother's math homework many years ago.

Turquoise Pool also agreed to the strategy of operating the Mecha and asked Wen Carol for the key—the bracelet.

While Wen Carol was dealing with the soldiers at the door, the five of them sneaked into the garage.

The eight-meter-tall Mecha, nearly three stories high, required one to look straight up when standing directly underneath it.

The start button was pressed, and a whoosh of air compression sounded as the cockpit opened.

The cockpit was not small, but not large enough for one person at the controls and four others around the pilot's seat, even if they curled up into a circle.

Unless one of them sat on the pilot's lap.

Hugging a sister to operate a Mecha is a routine operation (in cartoons), so it wasn't really a big deal.

Unfortunately, the pilot was not Li Changzhou.

"Who's going to drive?" Li Changzhou asked Yang Qinglan, Li Qianxia, and Turquoise Pool.

The three exchanged looks, and Turquoise Pool said, "I can't."

"Hmm?"

"I can't either," Li Qianxia said.

"What?"

"Me neither," Yang Qinglan said.

"It's a critical moment, the enemy is right outside, can you guys not joke around?" Li Changzhou was getting anxious.

"Believe it or not, hmph!" Turquoise Pool had the look of an upset girlfriend.

"Bro, we really can't," Li Qianxia was suddenly very obedient, just like when she had poured water on the homework and then offered snacks to her brother, "The three of us use a neural connection device for our Mecha, but this one—"

This one had a keyboard and joysticks, but no familiar neural connection device.

Li Changzhou looked at Yang Qinglan, who nodded in confirmation.

He then turned to the princess.

Beia Triss said:

"Manually operated mechas have been phased out from the battlefield, the military uses drones and mechas equipped with neural connection systems, but manually operated mechas are popular among civilians, some of whom even think they are more romantic and are highly sought after."

"No one asked you that, do you know how to operate it?"

"I... I remember there's an instruction manual." Beia Triss leaned down and pressed a few keys on the keyboard anticipated to have over 300 buttons.

An instruction manual popped up on the display, entitled: "MH-60LK Operating Instructions and Basic Maintenance Manual".

After opening the manual, Beia Triss stepped aside as if a gentleman pulling out a chair for a lady, compelling one to thank her involuntarily.

"..." Li Changzhou looked toward Turquoise Pool, "Call Caroline over, now's not the time to worry about involving civilians."

"I've put her in charge of dealing with the soldiers' search, and if we don't hurry up, the soldiers will break into the garage."

"How to hurry?" Li Changzhou asked.

Yang Qinglan's blue eyes swept over, and Li Changzhou fell into the cockpit: "Stop wasting time and study the manual quickly."

"Me?" Li Changzhou pointed at himself, looking up at the four beautiful women outside the cockpit.

He felt like he was being forced to dive into a well to retrieve an iron ball sunk at the bottom, or like he was being sent on a suicide mission to blow up cow dung, while these four people watched from a distance, indifferently.

"Don't expect you to be very proficient, just able to run it."

After a pause, Yang Qinglan added, "If you can learn it, I'll sit on your lap."

"Actually, I've wanted to try piloting a mecha for a long time," Li Changzhou's gaze shifted to the manual.

Fortunately, the game had at least provided them with the language and script of this world.

Yang Qinglan pressed her lips together, somewhat disdainful but also wanting to laugh.

Li Qianxia opened her mouth but didn't let out the words 'you're just lecherous,' afraid her brother, who was definitely not in a good mood, would scold her.

"Whether you learn it or not doesn't matter, facing an Imperial Mecha, even the strongest control skills are a waste of effort." Beia Triss's pessimism returned.

"You don't understand men, Princess." Li Changzhou matched the controls in the manual swiftly with the buttons on the machine.

His fingers fell and rose over the keys, setting up some standard operations in the simplest, most convenient way, somewhat like setting up quick upgrade keys in "League of Legends," allowing players to upgrade skills in the heat of battle.

The principle was basically the same, only the mecha's shortcuts were more complicated, and it wasn't just about moving fingers.

"Self-check program initiated."

"Energy reserve 100%."

"What's that sound?" the sound of a mecha walking in echoed.

"Machine readiness 85%, Warning: main weapon missing!"

"It's nothing, just the garage," Wen Carol answered.

For a civilian mecha, missing only the main weapon was hardly a problem.

"Open up!"

"Please wait, I'm getting the keys."

"Keys?"

"Yes, the smart recognition system broke recently, they have been supposed to come fix it, but the repair people keep stalling, claiming they need to repair military equipment..."

"Stop the chatter and fetch the keys!"

"Self-check completed."

"Done!" Li Changzhou stowed away the keyboard, gripped the control sticks, "Come in!"

"Are you sure it's really okay?" Turquoise Pool was skeptical.

Yang Qinglan jumped in, sitting across Li Changzhou's lap, while Li Qianxia also hugged Beia Triss and jumped in.

With no choice, Turquoise Pool squeezed herself in.

From outside looking in, one couldn't even see the pilot's seat; Li Changzhou was completely enveloped by women.

But he wasn't in the mood to feel these things now.

His feet on the pedals, the power furnace heart pumped out power as if pumping blood, his hands pushing the control sticks.

Boom!

The mecha staggered forward taking a step.

"There's someone inside!" The outside soldiers were alerted.

"This door blocks detection, use laser cutting! Hurry!"

Boom!

The mecha took another step forward.

"Can it work? If not, we might as well just run!"

Compared to trusting the technology, Turquoise Pool was actually more concerned about dignity; she'd rather be exposed than be squashed in the tiny cockpit like a cotton bud cleaning an ear.

Worst case, the princess gets killed, main mission fails, and with the other two white card players, they go after a black card player who also failed his mission.

"Sizzle—"

The garage door was penetrated by a laser.

Li Changzhou took a quick breath, no longer cautious, he pushed the control sticks resolutely.

Boom! Boom!

The mecha took large steps.

Li Changzhou glanced around, the optical sensor moving with his line of sight, the display showing two cars in the garage.

He muttered: "Operating the hands is releasing the buttons, swinging the control sticks, simultaneously..."

Turquoise Pool wanted to say something but, fearing that she would disrupt him, ended up asking Li Qianxia, whose body was half-overlapping hers.

"Is your brother really capable?"

"I don't know, but I know he's good at fixing radios, TVs, washing machines, and Subor game consoles.

"When we were kids, a village buddy's game console was smashed by his dad, my brother messed with it for a week and fixed it, but he was too lazy to stitch up the shell, it was just the motherboard left, so when inserting a card you had to..."

Crash!

The mecha swiped with both hands, and both the sedan and the SUV crashed into the garage door, pinning it down.

"Go to the exit!" the soldiers shouted.

Boom, boom, boom... Boom! Boom!

As Li Changzhou boosted the output from the power furnace, the mecha began to lightly run, the heavy exit door was directly blown away.

Clang!

The door crashed down on the road.

The brown mecha, like a giant, stood imposingly in front of the garage door, flashing blinding golden light under the rising sun.