Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

The long corridor was dim and narrow.

Due to severe interference from strong electromagnetic and high-frequency particles, the merchant ship's lighting system was also experiencing significant problems. The lights flickered on and off, the wiring hidden in the ducts sizzled, and occasionally even burst into electric sparks.

The complex internal passageways also harbored unpredictable dangers.

Yet under Wang Chen's psionic investigation, everything in the surrounding space was vividly presented in his perception, especially the presence of life.

So when a star pirate suddenly appeared at the corner ahead, armed with a weapon, Wang Chen was not surprised at all. Instead, he pulled the trigger in advance.

Sizzle!

The assault rifle in his hand suddenly fired a particle beam, instantly hitting the enemy dozens of meters away.

The star pirate who attempted to ambush Wang Chen did not even have the time to scream as the particle beam, infused with immense energy, pierced through his head, causing him to fall backward to the ground on the spot!

In this operation, Wang Chen carried the Raider-V high-energy particle gun with a caliber of 12.7mm, and its effective range reached up to 3000 meters, capable of penetrating 30mm alloy armor at close range.

The protective helmet worn by the slain star pirate could not withstand its attack at all.

Wang Chen continued to push forward.

His destination was the control room of the merchant ship. Initially, he was supposed to act in coordination with the special operations team. However, star pirates had equipped themselves with a powerful jammer, causing complete communication disruption.

In such a situation, Wang Chen could only act on his own.

The star pirates occupying the Safety were not a disorganized mob. With their warship destroyed and captured, this merchant ship and its crew became their only bargaining chip.

The star pirates also anticipated the possible response from the Imperial Army, so they deployed personnel and heavy firepower at key points in the main corridors inside the merchant ship!

It should be said that there was nothing wrong with their tactical strategy. In a strong interference environment, rescuers are very likely to fall into the traps preset by these star pirates, becoming targets for ambush and surprise attacks.

If the rescue force suffered heavy losses, the star pirates occupying the merchant ship would become even more fearless.

Unless the Imperial Army disregarded the consequences and sunk the merchant ship, they would inevitably find themselves in a dilemma!

But no matter how good the star pirates' plan was or how well prepared, under Wang Chen's psionic scan, the ambushers were exposed one by one, yet remained completely unaware of the impending doom.

Wang Chen directly advanced, regardless of the number of enemies, all falling under the scorching muzzle of the Raider-V.

Some star pirates did not even realize what was happening, being shot dead through the cabin wall.

Although the partitions inside the merchant ship were also made of alloy, they were designed to be lightweight, with a defense level at least five grades lower than military armor, allowing the Raider-V's particle beam to punch through easily.

Even the armed star pirates hiding behind them were shot through as well!

At a corner of a corridor, Wang Chen, who had just easily killed two armed star pirates, bent over to pick up a big, black and thick piece of equipment.

This was a handcrafted electromagnetic cannon with a caliber of 35mm, equipped with dual energy cartridges and a magazine holding five titanium-tungsten alloy shells, along with a laser sight indicator.

Although compared to the Imperial military products, the craftsmanship of this handheld electromagnetic cannon was quite crude, with a rough texture permeating its entire body, its lethality was definitely not to be underestimated.

Although the firing rate of the handheld electromagnetic cannon could not match the high-energy particle gun, in close combat, its power absolutely surpassed the latter, especially posing a significant threat to exoskeleton combat armor.

The H79 Martial Soldier Exoskeleton worn by Wang Chen could withstand a direct hit from the Raider-V high-energy particle gun, but taking a hit from a 35mm caliber titanium-tungsten alloy shell would result in grave injury if not death.

Because the impact force of the electromagnetic cannon was extremely strong, even if it failed to pierce H79's front armor, it could still shake the person inside to death!

The fact that the star pirates hijacking the merchant ship carried such weapons indicated that they were well-prepared for anti-special ops rescue.

Thinking this event happened merely 500,000 kilometers away from the TK043 Space Fortress, Wang Chen realized there must be more to the plot.

But that wasn't his immediate concern.

After continuously killing more than a dozen star pirates, Wang Chen smoothly reached outside the control cabin of the merchant ship.

The door of the control cabin was tightly shut, with the warning light on it constantly flashing red, indicating that the access control system had entered a lock-on state, preventing the door from being opened normally unless unlocked from the inside.

Wang Chen immediately raised the electromagnetic cannon he had acquired earlier and aimed it at the metal door in front of him, pulling the trigger.

Thud!

Accompanied by a muffled roar, a titanium-tungsten alloy shell instantly hit the center of the cabin door.

The area of the cabin door that was hit immediately caved in, producing dazzling sparks from the intense impact, with countless shattered fragments flying in all directions, many even hitting Wang Chen.

However, they were all deflected by the armor of the Martial Soldier Exoskeleton.

The first shell failed to penetrate the cabin door of the merchant ship's control room.

Wang Chen pulled the trigger again.

Firing the second shell, the third…

The impact point of each shot was exactly the same!

When the fourth titanium-tungsten alloy shell struck, an abrupt, twisted gap was torn open in the center of the cabin door, completely destroying the access control system, causing it to spark and crackle.

Wang Chen tossed aside the electromagnetic cannon, simultaneously turned on the auxiliary power of the Martial Soldier Exoskeleton to maximum power, then, along with the armor, charged like a cannonball at the half-ruined cabin door in front of him.

Bang!

The metal cabin door finally couldn't withstand the abuse and collapsed with a loud crash.

Wang Chen surged into the control cabin of the merchant ship.

At the moment he charged in, he drew the greatsword equipped to the Martial Soldier Exoskeleton and suddenly swung it in a horizontal slash toward the left, striking precisely at the neck of a star pirate.

This star pirate had been hiding on the left side of the cabin door and was caught off guard, his entire head along with his combat helmet severed!

The blood spurting from the severed neck sprayed onto the ceiling.

With his right hand holding the Raider-V, and his left gripping the greatsword, Wang Chen stepped on the fragments of the door, his cold, fierce gaze scanning each person inside through the visor of his helmet.

Before him, kneeling in rows of two or three dozen were crew members in uniform.

Behind them stood star pirates armed with weapons, each with a fierce gleam in their eyes, poised in a ready position.

There was also a tall, burly one-eyed star pirate with an ugly appearance, who raised his right hand holding a controller glowing red and shouted sharply, "Don't move, or I'll blow up this ship, and everyone will die!"

He was obviously trying to threaten Wang Chen, making him dare not act rashly.

Maybe stimulated by the tragic deaths of his companions, this guy, who was evidently the star pirate leader, showed a frenzied look, continuing to shout at Wang Chen, "Get on your knees, immediately, now!"

Wang Chen smiled.

-----------

PS: There are many things to deal with before the end of the year, so updates will be unstable. Please bear with us.