Chapter 157: Just One Look at This Pilot and You Can Tell He's Going to Crash

The Visitors were truly peerless when it came to acting as overbearing creators.

Goodness knows what those jellyfish-like beings had programmed into Zagi back in the day.

That was very likely the root cause that led to Zagi’s descent into darkness and subsequent rampage.

With time gradually growing tighter now, continually letting the Requiem absorb negative memories was simply not a sustainable solution.

Thinking up to this point, Qiao Zhe pondered internally on how to resolve this issue.

Meanwhile, at the battlefield.

The tentacles atop Pedleon’s head spun rapidly, and several high-heat, high-powered fireballs were instantly unleashed!

Seeing this, Jojo leaped gracefully into the air, dodging the fireballs while executing an aerial somersault, and delivered a powerful flying kick!

His large silver foot struck squarely on Pedleon’s head, sending the beast staggering back with a heavy thud.

A burst of sparks erupted from its head, and its two tentacles snapped off, falling to the ground.

However, the moment Jojo looked over, the tentacles on Pedleon’s head regenerated completely.

Mizorogi’s expression tightened inwardly.

The sensation of kicking Pedleon just now felt as though he had struck a mass of liquid, with the majority of the impact having been absorbed and negated.

At that moment, Pedleon whipped its arms forward, sending its long, whip-like tentacles lashing through the air in a rapid assault!

Jojo nimbly dodged and weaved past the attack, raising his leg to sweep horizontally and strike the beast’s neck with a solid thud, yet Pedleon merely swayed slightly.

Immediately afterward, Pedleon swung both arms, its whips dancing through the air as it launched a continuous barrage at Jojo.

The silver giant executed a series of evasive maneuvers while the whip-like tentacles smashed into the ground, producing thunderous booms.

The more Mizorogi fought, the more depressed he felt. Since when were large Beasts so damn difficult to deal with?

Seizing an opportunity to create some distance, Jojo flew up into the midair and flicked his wrist, hurling a Slash Ray.

The high-speed rotating beam of light flew straight forward and struck Pedleon’s arm, slicing it cleanly off.

However, after a brief moment of liquid undulation, Pedleon’s severed arm reattached itself to its body and fully regenerated.

This one was different from the original Pedleon.

Uncontrolled by Zagi, this Space Beast possessed an astonishing rate of evolution that far surpassed that of the original Pedleon.

Such a liquid-based Space Beast was inherently unstable, capable of shifting its form into various shapes using its fluid body.

The tentacles on its head served as its organs for analysis and learning.

Spotting Jojo airborne, Pedleon expelled a dense cloud of mist from its back!

Simultaneously,

four Chestris fighters soared into the area.

Takatsuki and Shiori were flying together, with Takatsuki at the controls while Shiori occupied the copilot seat.

At that moment, Kira Sawa’s voice rang out over the communication channel: "The target is surrounded by explosive gas. Attack now while Jojo is clear of the area!"

"All right! Watch me!" Takatsuki piloted Chestris No. 4 closer, reminding Shiori behind him, "Aim carefully, Shiori, don't miss!"

Hearing this, Shiori puffed out her cheeks and retorted, "I don't need you to remind me!"

Flicking open the fighter’s targeting reticle, Shiori pressed the attack button without hesitation.

Dozens of spider missiles launched, scattering from various angles as they streaked toward the dense fog.

The other three fighters initiated their attacks at the same time.

Blue-white laser beams, megaton cannons, and other energy blasts all converged and bombarded the mist indiscriminately!

The expelled mist detonated instantly upon impact, erupting into towering, mushroom-shaped pillars of fire that blazed fiercely!

Takatsuki watched the spectacle with an excited expression. With an explosion of this magnitude, that Space Beast surely had to be dead, right?

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Kira Sawa’s warning echoed through the comms: "Everyone, pay attention! The target is still alive!"

"What?" Takatsuki’s face twisted in astonishment.

Not even an explosion of that scale could kill the Space Beast?

Whoosh!

A disc-like object burst straight out of the raging inferno!

Pedeon had transformed into its flight mode, with a gelatinous defensive membrane enveloping its body that deflected every single one of the earlier explosions.

Bursting from the flames, Pedleon charged directly toward Takatsuki’s Chestris No. 4!

Realizing the danger, Takatsuki hurriedly scrambled to maneuver the fighter out of the way.

The Chestris fighters were exceptionally fast and theoretically should have been able to evade it, but perhaps due to Takatsuki sharing a face with Shinjo, the rear of the fighter was grazed by Pedleon, erupting in a shower of brilliant sparks.

Metaphysics was a difficult thing to explain; alarms began blaring inside the cockpit as various components sparked and sputtered violently.

"Ah, what are you doing?!" Shiori shrieked, her face turning deathly pale. Seeing the fighter begin to pitch downward toward a crash, she frantically shouted, "Quickly stabilize the craft and get it back to normal!"

"I'm trying my best here!" Takatsuki yanked desperately at the control stick, though it was evidently having little effect.

To make matters worse, after evading the other fighters' attacks, Pedleon fired a follow-up high-heat thermal fireball straight at Chestris No. 4.

The fireball struck the fighter dead-on, enveloping it in black smoke and spelling certain doom. Only the sheer durability of the hull's materials prevented it from blowing up instantly.

Even so, Chestris No. 4 plummeted toward the ground below, its communications severed due to system failure.

Shiori frantically hammered the ejection seat button, but nothing happened. "It's over! The ejection mechanism is jammed!"

"Damn it! Switch to manual mode! Leave everything to me!" Takatsuki kept pounding away at the buttons.

"I've already let go." Shiori wore an expression of complete resignation.

"Shiori." After a flurry of frantic and chaotic operations, Takatsuki’s tone betrayed a hint of sheer panic. "It still doesn't seem to be working..."

Just as the two of them exchanged glances and opened their mouths to scream, a blue-white rescue beam shot through the air!

Jojo projected the rescue beam, which passed through the cockpit of Chestris No. 4, enveloping both Takatsuki and Shiori within a protective cocoon of light energy that safely pulled them in.

The beam carried the pair right into the palm of Jojo's hand.

Chestris No. 4 crashed straight into the earth, slamming down with a thunderous impact as plumes of black smoke billowed upward.

This was their very first time fighting a Space Beast, and Takatsuki had already managed to crash his fighter.

Jojo glanced down at the pair in his palm. You really lived up to that face of yours, Shinjo.

Raising his hand, he used the rescue beam to gently transport the two to a safe area in the distance.

Turning his gaze back to Pedleon, he saw that Kira Sawa and the others were keeping the beast occupied.

Pedeon was protected by a layer of defensive film, causing all the attacks from the fighters to simply bounce off its surface.

Flying in close, Jojo extended his hand as his entire body radiated a brilliant red energy!

Aura Afterimage: emitting a crimson radiance from his entire body, he projected telekinetic light from his palm, capable of freezing enemy movement!

Pedeon, which had been darting erratically through the air, suddenly froze in place.

Jojo swung his arm back to gather energy, then hurled a crimson destruction energy sphere!

Boom!

Pedeon was blasted downward toward the surface.

"Cease fire temporarily!" Kira Sawa gave the order upon seeing this, preventing any friendly fire incidents involving Jojo.

Slamming into the ground, Pedleon reverted from its flight mode back to its original form.

The red light on Jojo's body vanished at that moment. Combining telekinetic energy and light energy between his palms, he swept his arm through the air, unleashing a massive tornado straight toward Pedleon!

The powerful pulling force of the tornado swept Pedleon up before slamming it ruthlessly back into the earth, while his telekinetic energy reinforced the soil in the area, rendering the beast unable to break free.

At that instant, sparks of lightning crackled across Jojo’s arms. As blue energy surged around him, he abruptly formed an L-shape with his arms, releasing the Layered Ray Storm!

The blue-and-white beam struck Pedleon, turning its entire body translucent before it dissolved into particles carried away by the wind, until it was completely eradicated.

However, Jojo had overlooked one crucial detail: his current physical form was that of Mizorogi, and without employing the Ripple technique, his personal energy reserves were severely lacking.

Timer sound effects echoed continuously.

The Y-shaped red energy core on his chest flashed to warn him that the host body was nearing its absolute limit.

Fortunately, Pedleon had been dealt with—he just hadn't managed to unlock a new form in time.

Jojo's body transformed into a flash of light, touching down on the ground as the power receded back into the Evolver.

Mizorogi was drenched in sweat, his legs turning to jelly the moment he reverted to human form, causing him to stagger and nearly collapse.

"Does turning into a giant really drain this much stamina?"