Chapter 017: Sparring

On November 9, the Panama City base was closed.

This was the fourth base to be shut down. So far, half of the global Jaeger bases had been closed, with the other half remaining.

The United Nations decided to close the remaining four bases within a month.

All the funds freed up were poured into the construction of space shuttles.

Faced with this situation, aside from a few Jaeger fanatics, most people silently accepted the UN's decision. In reality, even if they didn't accept it, there was nothing they could do.

Such was the times.

Moreover, the UN high command never cared about the opinions of these people.

In fact, even Stacker Pentecost, the supreme commander of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, accepted the order and submitted an application to become a space shuttle pilot.

Thus, those below had even less say.

For Stacker, as long as he could kill kaiju, it didn't matter where—whether in the Pan Pacific Defense Corps or as a space shuttle pilot, it was fine.

Because he lived solely to kill kaiju.

He was born into a family of self-employed parents. His father, Obadiah, and mother, Vivian, were both bar singers. He had a younger sister, Luca. In 1995, his father got into a fight with the bar owner over wages and was killed in the brawl.

At the time, twelve-year-old Stacker beat the owner and his men half to death and burned the bar to the ground.

This scene was witnessed by a passing officer, who saw the boy's iron-blooded potential. Before the police arrived, Stacker and his sister were taken away by the officer.

Later, they joined the Royal Air Force, and both siblings became pilots stationed at St. Andrews Air Defense Station.

But unfortunately, in 2013, the kaiju invaded.

The pilots were scrambled, including his sister. In that battle, humanity suffered a crushing defeat, and his sister was killed on the spot.

Upon hearing the news, Stacker went into shock on the spot.

After waking up, Stacker channeled all his hatred onto the kaiju, vowing to eliminate them and give his sister justice. Later, he joined the Pan Pacific Defense Corps and became a Jaeger pilot.

However, in 2016, a kaiju codenamed Demon Witch landed in Tokyo, and Stacker and his partner piloted Coyote Tango to engage the enemy.

But during the battle, his Jaeger was severely damaged, and worse, his partner was seriously injured and lost consciousness.

At the critical moment, Stacker had to pilot the Jaeger alone, fighting fiercely against Demon Witch for several hours.

When Stacker was about to collapse, Demon Witch was distracted by a running Japanese little girl and abandoned the Jaeger to chase her.

Taking this opportunity, Stacker piloted Coyote Tango to kill Demon Witch and save the little girl.

However, because of this incident, Stacker suffered severe brain damage and could no longer pilot a Jaeger.

Left with no choice, Stacker switched to a desk job. Unexpectedly, he climbed step by step to the position of commander.

When the UN closed the Jaeger bases, Stacker had argued vehemently with the UN high command, insisting that Jaegers were the only effective weapon against kaiju.

But after the space shuttles appeared, Stacker immediately changed his view.

Not only did he abandon the Jaegers, but he also submitted a transfer application.

Because he realized that while he couldn't pilot a Jaeger, he could fly a shuttle and kill kaiju.

Jaegers and such, let the past be past.

Thus, without his opposition as supreme commander, the closure of Jaeger bases proceeded even more smoothly.

Even Wang Bo hadn't expected this.

In fact, he currently had no spare energy to pay attention to these matters.

Still in the Sahara Desert.

With a huge roar, Wang Bo saw Diana, surrounded by lightning, charging toward him at high speed, reaching him in less than a second.

Diana swung the Sword of Hephaestus in her hand and unhesitatingly slashed at his neck.

Wang Bo dared not be careless; he quickly dodged the Sword of Hephaestus while firing two laser beams from his eyes.

Diana raised her shield to block the lasers, and Wang Bo took the opportunity to teleport behind her and kicked out.

Bang!

Like a ball, Diana was kicked by Wang Bo over a thousand meters away, flying beyond the sky, even piercing through a cloud layer, leaving a huge hole.

A few seconds later, bolts of lightning fell from the sky, crashing down on Wang Bo's head.

Wang Bo swiftly moved through the air, dodging left and right, easily evading these terrifying thunderbolts.

Then Diana flew back, landing with a thud on the ground, her beautiful eyes gleaming as if a thunderstorm raged within.

Bolts of lightning burst from her skin, shooting toward Wang Bo like thunder spears.

Wang Bo teleported again, evading the rain of thunder spears, and reappeared behind Diana, repeating his tactic with a kick. But this time Diana reacted, quickly turning and blocking the blow with her shield.

A dull thud rang out, and the desert beneath their feet sent out an invisible shockwave.

Yellow sand billowed into the air.

Diana's Sword of Hephaestus slashed out swiftly. This sword, forged by the god Hephaestus and capable of cutting at the subatomic level, was in no way inferior to legendary artifacts.

Even if it was not as good as Gungnir, it was no worse than the legendary demon sword or holy sword.

Wang Bo dared not let such a weapon strike his body.

The moment the Sword of Hephaestus swung out, he teleported again behind Diana and punched her in the back.

Diana was sent flying hundreds of meters, leaving a long trench on the ground.

“You lose.”

Wang Bo did not press the attack but stopped instead.

This was their umpteenth fight.

Waiting for the kaiju invasion was boring, so Diana wanted to spar with Wang Bo, hoping to tap into greater potential.

On the other hand, she refused to admit defeat.

Losing to Wang Bo last time bothered Diana, so she intended to fight him again to avenge her defeat.

But they had fought several times, and the result was always Diana's loss.

This time was no exception.

After getting up from the ground, Diana shook off the yellow sand and couldn't help but sigh. From these fights, she was clearly at an overwhelming disadvantage.

It seemed that defeating Wang Bo was not something that could be accomplished overnight.