"Die."
"Death..."
Xu Jie kept repeating the word.
Behind him, there was nothing but the void of the night sky and pale starlight.
Before him, more than twenty mechs of various shapes and types hovered.
He felt abandoned by the world, accompanied only by endless torment and pain.
I don't want to hate anymore.
But hatred pulls me,
It is the driving force for me to live.
His eyes had lost their spirit, staring blankly ahead,
Dozens of searchlights converged on his mech.
Swarms of missiles, trailing orange-red flames, tore through the night sky and exploded upon his piloted, eerie mech.
Several medium-sized combat mechs broke through the thick smoke, furiously punching his chassis, attempting to stop his advance.
More mechs surged forward,
They slashed and thrust with their multicolored beam swords,
Using every means possible,
Trying to make it stop.
It was all in vain.
Why...
Is it so painful...
...
Lan Jing coldly watched the dark, sooty mech before him, feeling a chill.
This mech was as if it had no head, its shoulders level, with only two dim yellow searchlights in the center of its shoulders, offering a faint distinction as its eyes.
It had no lower limbs, as if torn in half by some monstrous force, or perhaps it was an incomplete product.
Countless fine cables and components were exposed outside its waist armor,
But its four rear thrusters were exceptionally robust, constantly spewing earthy-brown flames, like an unknown will-o'-the-wisp burning in the darkness.
Overall, it looked like a half-broken wreck just pulled from the sea.
It was very strange and eerie.
It was hard to imagine how this mech operated.
Lan Jing looked at the Nightingale mech, wondering what the girl was thinking at that moment.
She appeared fragile, yet possessed such formidable strength.
In Xianxia, among the female mech pilots of combat mechs he had encountered, her skill ranked among the best.
She was even stronger than his former teammate, Tao Na.
There were too many mysteries surrounding her,
Just the fact that she had a custom mech without a known designation was noteworthy.
Coupled with her frosty demeanor, and her captivating, delicate mixed-race face,
It always stirred an impulse to protect her.
"Hey! What are you spacing out for?" a rough male voice called out.
Lan Jing suddenly snapped back to reality.
No one was around him anymore; the black mech was already close. All the soldiers were flying around its sides.
"Attack its bottom, that should be its weak point," someone advised.
Soon, two mechs flew towards the fractured bottom of the black mech.
As they reached the bottom, a deafening explosion, as if from the heavens, struck, making everyone's scalp tingle.
The black mech's bottom suddenly extended two thick mechanical limbs, opening giant hands, grabbing the two mechs, and quickly retracting them.
Everyone was stunned.
The screams of the two pilots suddenly echoed through the communicators,
The screams abruptly stopped,
The black mech's body violently vibrated, followed by another soul-shattering roar!
"Buzzz—!"
All the mech pilots, including Ye Ying, couldn't withstand the immense sound.
The sound was truly strange, as if wearing earmuffs; no matter how they covered their ears, they couldn't block it out.
When everyone recovered from their shock and looked up.
The black mech's waist had actually grown "flesh."
Ye Ying frowned and looked closely, only to realize that those were the two mechs that had been grabbed earlier.
The black mech had "digested" their outer armor and various components internally,
Rearranging and reassembling them into new lower limbs.
Then slowly extending them from its waist.
It was clear that two mechs were not enough.
Its two new legs had not yet "grown" limbs below the knees.
"Watch out! Don't get caught by it again!"
"Everyone is forbidden from approaching its underside; try to attack from the top and back!"
"Damn it, doesn't this thing have any weaknesses!"
Ye Ying was also stumped. She had experienced countless battles, big and small, and seen innumerable incredible scenes,
But never had she faced such a difficult situation.
"Combat mechs and light mechs will attack from the front, while ranged firepower flies to the rear and bombards its back thrusters!" someone, it was unclear who, was giving orders.
Everyone complied.
Ye Ying controlled her mech, adopted an attacking stance, and charged forward with two beam swords, slashing at it relentlessly.
There was no need to think about attack poses,
Because it wouldn't counter-attack.
All the long-range mechs gathered behind it, taking out their most specialized weapons, be it beam cannons, particle radiation guns, or full-body pod missile bays, or even six energy-absorbing counter-hand grenades held in their six arms,
Whatever they had, they used it.
All the long-range mechs fired simultaneously,
Red, pink, blue, yellow, multicolored remote ammunition streaked towards the black mech.
"Boom—Clang—Bang—"
A light as bright as day instantly illuminated, and waves of fierce heat followed the booming sounds,
Ye Ying calmly looked at the sky.
The black mech stood like a great mountain, blocking the various types of ammunition.
Light blazed behind it, and its shadow covered the night.
Then, thick black smoke enveloped its massive body,
And the pungent, strong smell of gunpowder wafted over.
...
Ah, it hurts so much...
Is it heartache, or physical pain...
I lost my heart, why does it hurt...
...
Everyone stopped their actions, expectant, eagerly awaiting the sight of its defeat after the smoke cleared.
But everyone was disappointed.
The black mech did not cease its movement.
On its rear thruster assembly, only bomb craters of various depths remained.
Not even a single weapon could penetrate its armor.
"No way, these are our most potent weapons."
"We are all elite mech pilots, piloting custom mechs. If even we can't budge it, I doubt anyone else can defeat it."
"It's too stable, request reinforcements."
"Hey, its target seems to be the command post on Tianxing Island, right?"
Prompted by someone, everyone turned to look at Tianxing Island.
At this moment, their position was only a dozen nautical miles from Tianxing Island.
At the current speed, the black mech would reach it in twenty minutes.
And Tianxing Island was the most prominent and crucial island in the entire Louhai campaign.
It was the southernmost island in the entire Louhai region, the Eternal岚 war zone.
"Hey! Everyone must stop it! We can't let it get within firing range!"
"It hasn't unleashed its killing techniques yet!"
"Its armor alone is terrifying, what should we do!"
"Fire another round at its leftmost thruster! No matter how many rounds, even if we exhaust all our weapons, we must stop it!"
"Notify the High Command as soon as possible and send more reinforcements, even if it means deploying all mechs, we must block it!"
All the long-range mechs took out their signature weapons again, regardless of coordination, and unleashed a torrent of fire at the leftmost thruster.
For a moment, it was like watching fireworks, with red explosions followed by yellow, and before a pink beam dissipated, a blue burst of light already erupted.
If ranged weapons were useless, close combat was even more hopeless.
The beam swords, which normally cut through steel like cutting vegetables, could not even sever a single screw on the opponent now.
"What material did it use! It's ridiculously hard!"
"Keep attacking! Don't give up!"
...
Ah, yes...
Because of you...
You flying insects only add to my pain!
I hurt so much...
...
Hong Lian Zhi Wu was staring at the screen, her expression grave.
Several scientists in neat white lab coats in front of her were hastily recording Xu Jie's various conditions.
"General, his psychological tolerance is reaching its limit. If this continues, he might..." A scientist turned his head and reported with a worried look.
"Might what?" Hong Lian Zhi Wu asked coldly.
"Either brain death or complete madness, a berserk state," the scientist replied seriously.
Hong Lian Zhi Wu chuckled lightly and said, "Wouldn't that be even better."
The scientist sighed and said, "We are not sure which possibility is more likely. Based on past experience, this is the most dangerous situation."
Another scientist turned and said to her, "General, please order a retreat. We have conducted ten thousand experiments, and everyone has invested a lot of effort in him. We don't want to see him die."
"General..." a third scientist turned and pleaded.
Hong Lian Zhi Wu's lips turned downwards slightly, a flicker of impatience flashed in her eyes, and she said softly, "My orders have never been defied."
All the scientists fell silent, turned around, and diligently continued their work.
Suddenly, the holographic screens in front of all the scientists lit up with large red exclamation marks,
Everyone's nerves tensed,
Even Hong Lian Zhi Wu's impassive heart trembled slightly.
[Berserk]
"Attention, experimental subject is going berserk! Synchronization rate is dropping, he may be consumed by the mech!"
[Alert, experimental subject's mental state is showing weakness, possibly entered the subconscious sea of the mind.]
"Wake him up! Don't let him die!"
[Attention, experimental subject is waking up.]
[Synchronization rate 100.01%...100.15%...100.58%......]
"What's happening?" Everyone stopped their actions, staring at the now-blue holographic image, their faces filled with disbelief.
On the battlefield at sea,
Ye Ying and the others were doing their best to stop the black mech.
The black mech began to tremble without warning, and the tremors intensified.
"What's happening? Is the attack finally effective?"
"Oh my god, it's finally showing results, it's shaking so violently, it must be about to be destroyed? Everyone, keep at it, take it down!"
Ye Ying frowned, her eyes narrowed as she stared at its chassis, silently calculating its vibration frequency.
Suddenly, a bad premonition struck her, "No..."
"No, run quickly!" Ye Ying suddenly shouted.
No one heeded her.
At this moment, the black mech's head, level with its shoulders, suddenly popped out.
From the bottom where its lower limbs had grown, five clawed hands shot out, seizing three enemy mechs before quickly retracting.
"This is bad..." Ye Ying sighed,
The ominous feeling in her heart intensified.