Chapter 127: That's Right, You Are the Final Piece of the Puzzle!

Archie said, “It’s time for you to show your ultimate skills, my ace pilot!”

Chief Engineer Lant looked at Louis with great anticipation, while his assistant brought over a suit and a bulky glass helmet resembling a giant can.

Louis twitched the corner of his mouth. “Do I really have to wear this?”

Several ace pilots nearby crossed their arms and looked over arrogantly. One little Yordle even scratched his crotch—if you don’t wear the suit, how do you expect to pilot the mech?

“Of course!” the chief engineer shouted sharply. “That’s what makes it cool!”

“Fine...” Louis looked conflicted as he eyed the hideously punk-style tight suit and the equally ugly punk-style diving glass helmet.

It seemed like the helmet was mandatory, huh? Probably something special inside the cockpit.

Sighing, Louis picked up the helmet. Just as he was about to put on this foolish-looking helmet, he saw the ace pilot from Lant’s faction take off his helmet and wipe the sweat from his brow—it was too hot.

Apparently, wearing the helmet and suit was optional—but, as the Yordles and goblins said, it was cool that way.

“Screw that!” Louis shouted, then threw the damn helmet to the ground.

Amid the engineers’ noisy screams and protests, Louis pushed away those insisting he wear the helmet, then beckoned to Lant’s ace pilot. The pilot responded with a nimble spin and began dancing wildly, dizzying the little Yordle pilot inside.

Once he adjusted to the dizziness, the pilot realized Louis had appeared beside him.

“Resonance! He’s resonating with Lant’s ace!” the engineers shouted. “He can merge with Lant’s ace!”

The ace pilots gasped in astonishment. “Could it be that he is the missing piece in the Human Completion Project?”

“Merge now! Merge now!”

“Watch closely!”

“Completion my foot! Don’t insult my EVA!”

Louis cursed fiercely, then, to the shock of the pilots nearby, snatched the game controller from the pilot’s hand and tossed it to the ground. “No more tight suits when piloting mechs! No more closing your eyes and raising your arms like that—got it? And definitely no scratching your crotch!”

Under Louis’s fierce glare, the little Yordle pilot nodded nervously. Then they saw seventeen or eighteen magic circles suddenly appear on Lant’s ace’s crystal array.

Louis adjusted the magic circles according to the data stored in the memory crystal, then modified some runes, completely revamping Lant’s ace’s magic supply.

Next, he summoned two energy magic arrays specially designed to supply magic power, inserted both hands, and a narration appeared before his eyes.

[You have resonated with Lant’s ace...]

[You have merged with Lant’s ace...]

[Your magic power has increased by 500+]

[Louis]

[Magic Power: 570+]

[Mana: 5700+]

“So much magic power, even a brick could fly! Why bother with a thruster?” Louis flicked his fingers, manipulating this giant puppet. A powerful surge of magic rippled through the crystal array, followed by a flash of electricity flickering around Lant’s ace’s body. The massive punk mech slowly rose from the ground.

Suddenly, the electric current intensified, and Lant’s ace was hurled forward like an invisible electromagnetic cannon shot, soaring toward the sky above the sea.

Watching the colossal machine, it astonishingly flew toward the clouds at nearly the speed of a biplane glider. The engineers all dropped their jaws—what on earth was this thing?

This was Lant’s ace?

And why was the smokestack not spewing black smoke or steam?

The many Yordle and goblin mages were equally baffled. Even the top-level mage, Sakura Bell, craned her neck—what kind of magic was this?

“Damn it, big lizard! I told you only he in the whole world could pilot this thing!” Archie shouted, holding a cigarette, pointing at Lant’s ace disappearing into the sky. “What are you waiting for? Activate the base’s anti-air defenses! Fire at it—no more talk, just shoot! It’s invincible right now!”

Louis continued accelerating the giant mech with magnetic fields until it broke the sound barrier with a loud bang and pierced the cloud layer.

The immense thrust pinned the Yordle pilot to the seat, his face a mixture of shock and confusion—he remembered this thing could only fly a few dozen meters high at most.

Before he could say anything, he saw the artillery along the coastline all aimed at them, beams of fire streaking toward their position. Frightened, he grabbed the controller, trying to press the button labeled “Protection Spell.”

But before he could straighten up, under Louis’s control, Lant’s ace executed several sharp angular turns at full speed, tracing a droplet-like path that dodged every incoming projectile.

Then, with incredible velocity, it dove toward the sea, skimming the surface, heading straight for the target ships.

At that moment, colorful bubbles suddenly rose from the sea around the target ships, flying toward Lant’s ace.

Seeing those bubbles, Louis blinked hard and suddenly understood why the mages were so stunned after the parade—muggles had used machines to wield magic!

These Yordle engineers were geniuses!

He kept moving without pause, dodging the numerous colorful bubbles, then raised the cannon barrel and fired dozens of shells at the target ships—each hit sinking one in moments.

But before he could fire a second volley at another target, he noticed the barrels behind him heating up; one even exploded.

Suspended far from the second target, Louis swayed left and right to dodge water bombs while raising Lant’s ace’s arm. The Vulcan cannon spun rapidly, spewing a long tongue of fire.

Amid the rapid gunfire, wood from the second target flew into the air, the ship quickly riddled with holes. The deck was utterly ruined, and even the sails had been shot away.

The large circular saw on Lant’s ace’s arm suddenly whirred to life amid an electric current, spinning wildly. It dodged bubbles around the target at a strange angle, then sliced through the ship, cutting it in two.

By the time the saw passed through, it had heated red-hot, and the ship was engulfed in roaring flames—if it were a fire dragon, it would surely have been cleaved in two.

The circular saw then flew back along a sharp triangular trajectory, caught by Lant’s ace’s hand.

The Yordle pilot looked up blankly at Louis. “Is... is this Lant’s ace?”

“No,” Louis said, lighting a cigar and taking a puff. “It’s called EVA.”

...

Sakura Bell, smoking her pipe, watched the battle replay in Archie’s crystal ball, unable to suppress a slight twitch at the corner of her mouth.

“Absolutely badass!” Lilith shouted excitedly, stars sparkling in her eyes. “Ace pilot!”

By then, Louis was already flying Lant’s ace back to base, with the Yordles and goblins cheering wildly.

The massive mech thundered to the ground, joints clicking as steam billowed out, shrouding the base in mist. The colossal Lant’s ace seemed to stand atop the clouds.

Then, with a clattering noise, its parts began to fall apart—its arms and many cannons on its back dropped off.

[Note B. [I Defy the Mages!] (13)]

[You seem to have defeated Lant’s ace in another way.]

Louis was dumbfounded.

This is bad, really bad.

Louis, oh Louis, why do you always have to show off?

I told you not to pilot this thing!

I said this thing was a ticking time bomb!

Now it just blew up on you!

How much is this going to cost?

Grabbing the little Yordle pilot by the collar, Louis hurried back to ground level.

“Uh, can this thing even be repaired?” Louis looked awkwardly at Chief Engineer Lant.

“Don’t worry,” the Yordle engineers calmly recorded data in their notebooks, saying matter-of-factly, “It always falls apart.”

“??? Always falls apart? What does that mean?”

Does this thing really just fall apart all the time?! Can I rest easy? I’m the pilot!

“Hey, don’t worry, Louis,” Chief Engineer Lant reassured him. “No need to fret. It didn’t catch fire this time. It’ll be fixed soon.”

Louis looked up at the disassembled Lant’s ace, mouth agape. “Did you say... catch fire?”

This really is a ticking time bomb!

“You got that right, Louis!” the engineers gave him thumbs up. “You’re the final piece of this project’s puzzle!”

...

Please consider giving me a recommendation vote.