Golden light flickered across the whale's belly. Though Zhou Tianming didn't know what would happen, he remained vigilant, concentrating his mind to prepare for the coming threat.
With only 107 points of Mental Power remaining, his senses had dulled somewhat, but his 271-point mental limit still granted him exceptional danger perception. His brow twitched as the Vermilion Bird's left wing suddenly flared with intense light, the mobile suit swiftly dodging sideways.
Zhou Tianming saw nothing, yet he knew his previous position had been attacked.
"Spatial-type attacks! So this is that move!"
Golden spheres of light began flashing continuously across the whale's abdomen now.
Even Zhou Tianming's expression changed. The Feather Plumes scattered as the Vermilion Bird's main body retreated along an erratic trajectory.
No sound. No visible feedback whatsoever.
Relying entirely on danger perception to evade, Zhou Tianming frequently took hits when failing to gauge the attack's range.
Three Feather Plumes were lost, and the tip of the Vermilion Bird's right wing had been "bitten off."
Sweat beaded on his forehead, lips pressed tightly together.
The remaining Feather Plumes returned to the wings, serving as boosters to push the Vermilion Bird into Overdrive.
The whale remained motionless like an angler waiting patiently, while the Vermilion Bird had no choice but to dart about unpredictably—sometimes charging straight ahead, sometimes stopping abruptly to sidestep, sometimes moving in rapid, irregular patterns.
The intense G-forces from such high-speed maneuvers overwhelmed even Zhou Tianming, the Ultimate Coordinator. A metallic taste filled his mouth as he spat blood, chest throbbing with dull pain. The helmet interior reeked of blood, floating crimson droplets obscuring his vision. During a brief lull in evasive actions, Zhou Tianming tore off the helmet.
Aboard the Black Tortoise, Natarle hammered at her keyboard: "White Rabbit! Run the calculations quickly. That whale can't possibly sustain these attacks without pause—there must be a pattern!"
Though Natarle didn't understand spatial attacks or this unknown whale lifeform, her mind contained vast weapons data.
All weapons had basic parameters—attack frequency, effective range, firing intervals. She visualized a theoretical weapon in her mind, using Zhou Tianming's combat data for comparison and extrapolation, then relied on White Rabbit for more precise computations.
Natarle's voice suddenly came through in the dodging Vermilion Bird's cockpit: "The whale's abdominal light spheres flash at half-second intervals with an initial spherical attack range of 10 meters. Every additional half-second increases the sphere's radius by 5 meters."
Zhou Tianming grinned, shouting: "Natarle! I could kiss you right now!"
On the Black Tortoise's bridge, Natarle's face flushed crimson. "This is hardly the time! Focus!" she snapped in flustered anger.
The Vermilion Bird abruptly ceased its erratic dodging and charged straight at the whale.
The whale oriented itself vertically, head up and tail down, its belly flashing with continuous light spheres.
But armed with Natarle's data, Zhou Tianming's evasive maneuvers grew increasingly precise.
At first, he was "bitten" a few times, losing one [Feather Plume] and some of his main armor. But he immediately activated [Analyze], constructing a model in his mind. The previously invisible attacks became clear to his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, he closed in on the whale and activated [Bloodlust].
The Vermilion Bird's main body and the scattered [Feather Plumes] simultaneously struck at the whale.
Just as the attack was about to land, a woman's humming suddenly echoed in Zhou Tianming's ears.
"What?"
The whale's tendril-like wings shimmered with golden light.
In that split second of distraction, he passed right through the whale's body.
Looking back, the whale remained completely unharmed.
Without hesitation, he dodged the spatial attacks while controlling the [Feather Plumes] to pierce through the whale's body repeatedly.
The red trails left by the [Feather Plumes] resembled fine threads, weaving in and out of the whale's form like a needle through fabric.
But Zhou Tianming showed no signs of joy.
None of his attacks had any effect.
The woman's humming in his ears grew clearer now, grating on his nerves at this critical moment.
The stalemate lasted over ten minutes—neither could land a hit on the other.
Zhou Tianming had already realized that when the whale's tendril-like wings lit up, it entered a state of intangibility akin to Uchiha Obito's ability. But he had no way to counter it. The whale's attacks were also spatial in nature, and unlike Obito, it didn't need to materialize to strike.
Seeing the Vermilion Bird's energy reserves down to just one-third, even the usually calm Zhou Tianming felt the pressure mounting. His mind raced for a solution. Suddenly, in the pitch-black cosmic space, a golden light flared before the whale, and a circular portal expanded from a tiny point.
Is it leaving?
Zhou Tianming's focus wavered slightly. Though frustrated, he truly had no way to finish it off.
"Tian Ming! Don't let the whale enter! It'll distort our cognition—once it's inside, we'll forget everything about it!"
His heart lurched.
A cognitive attack!
Like Cthulhu?!
[Bloodlust] activated again as the Vermilion Bird, infused with Mental Power, charged straight at the whale.
The attack passed right through.
The whale remained intangible.
Helpless, Zhou Tianming could only watch as it leisurely swam into the portal.
The woman's humming grew louder in his ears, so irritating that he couldn't help but roar, "Shut up!"
As if scolded, the voice gradually faded.
His thoughts raced.
If Mental Power could attack the enemy, could it also defend against cognitive assaults?
The portal was shrinking. With no time to deliberate, Zhou Tianming activated [Iron Wall], enveloping his mind in an invisible barrier of Mental Power. The portal vanished, and the cosmic space returned to darkness and silence.
The annoying humming also disappeared.
"Tian Ming? You're back?"
Natarle's confused voice reached him.
[Iron Wall] had indeed blocked the cognitive attack, but now Zhou Tianming felt a chill run down his spine.
Natarle, seeing the Vermilion Bird's cockpit filled with floating crimson blood and Zhou Tianming's bloodshot eyes, was momentarily startled but quickly went on alert:
"Enemies? White Rabbit! Battle stations, level one!"
Scanning their surroundings warily, Zhou Tianming said, "Natarle, the enemy is an extraterrestrial lifeform..."
After his explanation, Natarle only looked more bewildered.
Frowning, Zhou Tianming sensed something amiss. "What's wrong?"
"What did you just say? I didn't understand any of it."
His lips pressed into a thin line, his expression darkening.
Even the information itself had been distorted. If that's the case, how could they even leave any records behind?
How should humanity deal with such creatures?
Suddenly, it felt like lightning struck his mind.
Mental Power! Mental Power! Mental Power!
In this situation... so the natural enemy of these whales are Newtypes?
Yes, Newtypes who can spontaneously utilize Mental Power can perceive spatial attacks, harm the whales, and defend against cognitive-based assaults. The realization dawned on him, but a thread of despair lingered.
Humanity simply doesn't have enough Newtypes to counter it. Moreover, any individual Newtypes who emerge might face the same treatment as in the UC world. Even if a Newtype discovered the whale and spoke of it, due to the cognitive attack, they'd either be incomprehensible or labeled insane. It's practically a dead end.
Zhou Tianming himself wasn't a Newtype. The reason he could perform similar feats was due to Mental Commands—an ability that couldn't possibly be widespread. At that moment, he felt the effects of [Iron Wall] beginning to fade. Time was running out.
He couldn't tell whether the whale had left or was lying dormant within the space.
Instinctively, he wanted to renew [Iron Wall], but suddenly, a sense of defeat washed over him.
What did it matter if he remembered?
His mental capacity was limited—he couldn't sustain it for long. Without a way to eliminate the enemy, death was inevitable.
Just give up.
Maybe the enemy had already left. Maybe he was just scaring himself.
Evidence 01 had appeared long ago, yet Earth remained unharmed.
Just give up...
The thought sank in.
"Tian Ming." Natarle's worried voice called out. "Are you alright?"
His spirits lifted.
He couldn't give up!
He was the one who brought Natarle here—he had to get her back safely!
Baring his teeth in a grin, he replied, "I'm fine."
"Your injuries..."
"Don't worry. I'll protect you."
"?" Confusion.
Zhou Tianming didn't explain, steeling himself instead.
Then, the vanished female humming returned, growing from faint to strong, as if right beside his ear.
What was that?
Before he could ponder, golden light flared—the duration of Iron Wall had just ended.
Startled, Zhou Tianming immediately tried to renew [Iron Wall], but realized his memories hadn't disappeared.
It dawned on him then—the cognitive attack seemed to be a passive ability. As long as the "hole" remained open, it wouldn't activate.
"An enemy?! Are we fighting it?"
Though her memories had vanished, Natarle quickly pieced it together, though her expression was grim. "It erases memories?"
Round two—begin!