A Chemist's Interstellar Saga
Chapter 179: Drexel’s Moment

Chapter 179: Drexel’s Moment

Arix’s vision started to blur; she had lost track of how many insectoids she had taken down. Gasping for breath, she glanced over at Drexel, who looked just as exhausted. She clenched her fists and pressed on. She knew she couldn’t afford to collapse. If she did, her brother and Zephyr would be left to fend off the swarm alone, making victory for the Alliance mecha team seem almost impossible.

Another Empire mecha team member fell after a few intense moments.

However, the relief was short-lived as Zephyr also went down, leaving only Drexel and a barely-standing Arix still in the fight.

"Arix, don’t push yourself too hard," Drexel urged, noticing her mecha’s unsteady movements. He was panting heavily but still in good enough shape to potentially secure their win.

Too tired to respond, Arix simply shook her head and kept moving, cutting down more insectoids.

The siblings’ relentless determination left the military mechas, who had once doubted them, speechless.

"Maybe we owe them an apology," one pilot murmured, guilt creeping into his voice.

"Fighting until they drop... not even seasoned soldiers can always do that. And they’re just students," another pilot added, his voice thick with emotion.

"Damn, god to admit these kids were even better than their fathers and grandfathers," a soldier exclaimed, wiping away tears as he watched them.

The captain of the military mecha team observed the siblings with a newfound respect, his earlier disdain turning into admiration.

The final showdown between the Empire and Alliance mecha teams was at hand.

Arix glanced at the remaining two opponents from the Empire’s side, knowing she needed to outlast at least one more to tip the balance in their favor.

But things don’t always go as planned.

Suddenly, Arix felt a sharp pain in her chest, and her already fatigued body lost all strength. Her mecha, Star Dust, lurched forward, but Drexel quickly caught her.

"Arix!" Drexel called out, his voice filled with worry.

Arix couldn’t speak, the pain in her chest was too intense.

She looked pale and was clutching her chest, curled up in the cockpit. She didn’t know what was happening, but a sense of dread washed over her.

"Dad..." Arix whispered hoarsely, not knowing why she said it. An image flashed in her mind—a scene deep in space, where it seemed like a catastrophe was unfolding.

Countless terrifying insectoids were chasing after someone.

Thaddeus had a split second to decide whether to climb into Shadow Blade’s cockpit, but instead, he chose to save Sylis, who was in immediate danger.

In a cruel twist, an insectoid struck Thaddeus from behind, piercing his head.

Using the last of his strength, he shoved Sylis toward safety, but Thaddeus himself plummeted into the abyss below, blood streaming from his wound.

Down in the depths, countless insectoids waited, mouths agape, ready to finish him off.

"Dad!" Arix screamed, her voice choked with despair.

Her eyes were bloodshot, veins popping with stress, and she spat out a mouthful of blood before losing consciousness.

As darkness took over, time seemed to slow. From her heart, a Psychic Incarnation emerged. Its emerald eyes brimmed with sorrow. With a gentle sigh, the creature faded away, leaving a lingering sense of melancholy in the air.

Two military mecha pilots swiftly took Arix away. Drexel shot a worried look in Arix’s direction but quickly turned his focus back to battling the insectoids.

A lingering doubt tickled the back of his mind, ’Did I hear Arix call out "Dad" earlier?’

’Was Arix feeling too desperate, or just too much pain?’ The more Drexel pondered, the more it seemed possible. This realization drove him to fight even harder, determined to avenge Arix’s distress.

Meanwhile, the Empire mecha team noticed the chaos among the Alliance forces.

"Serves them right," Kares sneered, watching another Alliance pilot go down. "Those Alliance scum deserve it."

Galen, a pure-blood merman, asked innocently, "Are we going to use the drugs again later?"

Kares, annoyed by Galen’s naivety, replied with a sneer, "Why bother? They’ve only got one pilot left, and we have two. We’ve got this in the bag."

"Oh, shoot. Forgot that," Galen sighed in relief, glad they wouldn’t have to deal with the harsh side effects of the drug.

As another ten minutes ticked by, Galen began to falter. He chimed in again, "I can’t hold out much longer." His body felt heavy, and his head throbbed. All he wanted was to return to the sea and rest.

Kares cursed under his breath. Glancing at the Alliance team, he saw Drexel, piloting the Blue Raven mecha, still cutting through the insectoids without showing any signs of slowing down.

Determination hardened in Kares’ eyes, and he finally gave in, "Take the drug!"

With hesitation, Galen pulled out a red pill from his Space Button and swallowed it.

Immediately, his psychic and physical strength surged back, and he resumed fighting the insectoids with renewed vigor.

Not long after, Kares also hit his limit. He reluctantly took out a red pill and gulped it down.

They needed that mineral-rich planet to boost the Dragonkin Legion’s strength. Losing wasn’t an option.

Unaware of the Empire team’s cheating, Drexel only noticed that Kares seemed stronger than before.

It was lucky Drexel had recently leveled up his physical abilities at the Empire, or he might not have lasted this long.

Drexel was slowly reaching his breaking point. He glanced over at the Empire team, who still fought on tirelessly.

The comparison was stark, and despair began to creep in inside Drexel; the odds of his winning seemed slim.

Drexel thought about his fallen teammates and his sister, who had cried out for their father in a moment of desperation.

Losing wasn’t an option.

This wasn’t just about the 10 billion astracredits for him now; it was about protecting his friends and his sister. This battle was one they absolutely couldn’t afford to lose.

"Sheer! I need your help," Drexel finally called out to his Psychic Incarnation, feeling his strength waning.

In his psychic realm, Sheer slowly opened his eyes. The two big eyes glowed with a deep and intimidating majesty.

"Worry not, Drexel, I’ll help you," Sheer responded calmly.

Drexel allowed himself a slight smile as he surrendered to sleep.

...

When "Drexel" woke up again in Blue Raven, one of his eyes had turned a deep red, and a pair of animal ears had appeared on his head.

"Drexel" stretched, a wild grin spreading across his face. "It’s been a while since I’ve had some fun. Let’s show these insectoids what we’re made of."

Blue Raven surged with renewed energy, extending the range of its energy blade from 20 meters to 50 meters.

With fewer insectoids attacking, the Blue Raven mecha even started hunting them down.

This odd behavior made Kares from the Empire mecha team suspicious, thinking Drexel might have taken some kind of drug.

If he hadn’t taken the drug himself, Kares would definitely report Drexel.

However, knowing both he and Galen had taken the drug, Kares dismissed the thought begrudgingly.

After another half hour, the drug’s side effects hit hard. Both Kares and Galen vomited blood and passed out simultaneously.

With the Empire mecha team down, the Alliance mecha team was declared the winner.

Vesryn, looking displeased, turned to Sykes and said, "Your team cheated. How else could someone almost defeated suddenly come back to life?"

"It sounds more like you’re talking about your own team," Sykes retorted with a cold smile.

Vesryn’s face flushed with anger before he finally sneered, "Lucky for you!"

Vesryn then piloted his mecha away, his retreat looking somewhat like a hasty escape.

Sykes sneered but let it go, focusing instead on the fact that they had won.

Turning his attention to Drexel, who was still battling the insectoids, Sykes felt a pang of worry.

Whether Drexel had taken drugs or not, he knew Drexel must have paid some price to keep going this long.

Sykes quickly pressed a few buttons on his headset, inputting a special code to access the communication channel of Drexel’s mecha team.

"Drexel, that’s enough! We’ve already won," Sykes shouted firmly.

"Drexel," now controlled by Sheer, clicked his tongue in disappointment as he heard Sykes’ voice in his headset.

Reluctantly, he retreated back into the psychic world.

As soon as Sheer withdrew, the Blue Raven mecha crumpled, but Sykes, having anticipated this, caught the falling mecha just in time.

Sykes personally escorted Drexel to the medical bay, then waited outside, anxiously hoping for updates on the team’s condition.

Just as he was about to check on Drexel, his opticomputer beeped with an incoming call. He glanced at the screen and casually accepted the video call.

The moment the call connected, the officer on the screen urgently asked, "Is Arix with you? You must bring her back immediately! Admiral Thaddeus is critically ill!"

Sykes stared at the screen, disbelief and shock written all over his face. "How could this happen?! Weren’t there level-eight mecha protecting them? What went wrong?"