As Ye Ying's voice landed, everyone adjusted their seating to a more formal posture, looked up, and faced forward with calm expressions.
Ye Ying, serving as captain for the first time, felt a surge of excitement and was unsure of what to say.
The quieter the atmosphere, the faster Ye Ying's heart beat. She let out a soft breath and said, "Our intelligence is insufficient at the moment. We need to wait for reliable information from the intelligence department. On the other hand, I've decided to capture some Black Star mech pilots and interrogate them for Gu Ya's whereabouts."
"Tsk!" An untimely, arrogant voice chimed in.
Qiao Weiwei rolled her eyes dismissively and looked aside, saying, "Do you think we've been lazing around this past month? We started acting long ago. None of the Black Star mech pilots we captured knew anything."
"If we're going to capture anyone, it should be someone like Honglian Zhiwu. Gu Ya was captured by her. Besides Shen Jingming, I don't think anyone here has the strength to defeat that woman."
Ye Ying lightly ground her molars, her gaze calm as she looked at the speaking Qiao Weiwei. She pressed her right thumb deeply into the flesh of her index finger, releasing her tension and dissatisfaction.
After half a minute, Ye Ying began again, "Then let's continue our operations until we capture a Black Star mech pilot who knows the situation. With Shen Jingming's participation, we should proceed smoothly."
"But we can't just rely on Shen Jingming; everyone needs to put in one hundred percent effort."
Qiao Weiwei snorted coldly, saying dismissively, "Captain Ye, look at them. Some are injured, and one is bedridden. Just us? Sigh, isn't it better to stay put and wait for the intelligence department's notification?"
Following that, Qiao Weiwei muttered under her breath, "I don't know how you fought before. Don't you know that fighting means death?"
Everyone, including Shen Jingming, the God of War who had always been indifferent, detached, and engrossed in playing a holographic game, felt embarrassed for the new captain, Ye Ying.
During the first meeting of the new Iron Eagle Third Team, the youngest, Qiao Weiwei, had already presented a difficult challenge to the new captain, showing defiance. Now, everyone eagerly awaited how Ye Ying would deal with her.
In the old Iron Eagle Third Team, Gu Ya had personally supervised Qiao Weiwei to hand-copy ten copies of military discipline before she grudgingly suppressed her arrogant demeanor.
Facing the pampered and petulant Qiao Weiwei's provocation, Ye Ying calmly replied, "Of course, I know that fighting means death. But without sacrifice, there can be no victory. We cannot sit and wait for death. As I said, continue with the capture mission."
"All combat-ready members, rest for two hours, pack enough food and water for the next week, and depart the city for combat."
Liu Feng smiled sheepishly and raised his left arm to Ye Ying. His broken arm had not yet recovered, and he could not pilot a mech at the moment.
Tao Na also looked at Ye Ying with embarrassment, her expression unspoken.
Ye Ying tacitly agreed to their request for rest.
This left only Ye Ying, Shen Jingming, and Qiao Weiwei available for combat.
"Meeting adjourned." As Ye Ying's voice fell, everyone filed out of the conference room in an orderly fashion.
The three mech pilots gathered in the hangar behind the base camp building.
Ye Ying, fully prepared for combat, waited with a calm expression.
Shen Jingming, wearing his old pilot suit and carrying a simple small backpack, walked slowly into the hangar, his head bowed as he played the holographic game on his wristband. He seemed completely indifferent to the operation.
Qiao Weiwei ran quickly into the hangar and shouted to those behind her. A small transport mech slowly flew into the hangar and positioned itself near the cockpit of the Wuji Zhihong. Staff standing on the mech's operating platform moved several large bags from the transport mech's cargo hold into the Wuji Zhihong's cockpit.
After supervising the loading, Qiao Weiwei nodded in satisfaction, then turned her gaze to Ye Ying. Her smile instantly turned into jealousy as she whispered, "I didn't expect Ye Ying to be so beautiful. I have no chance against her. I wonder how Gu Ya managed to trick her into liking him. Hmph, if it were me, I would definitely string Gu Ya along."
Noticing Ye Ying looking in her direction, Qiao Weiwei haughtily tossed her head, grabbed the mech's lifting handle, flew to the outside of the cockpit, and nimbly climbed in.
Ye Ying turned to Shen Jingming beside her and calmly asked, "Where is your mech?"
Shen Jingming, still looking at his holographic game, pointed to a very inconspicuous black medium-sized mech in the furthest part of the hangar without looking up, saying casually, "Black Inferno."
Ye Ying nodded. She then noticed his deflated backpack and softly asked, "Are you only bringing this much? We're expected to be in combat for a week. What will you do if your supplies run out?"
"Hmm?" Shen Jingming looked up at Ye Ying, then flicked his head towards the Wuji Zhihong, saying, "Isn't Qiao Weiwei here? She's brought so much stuff, she definitely won't eat it all. We can also snatch it from the enemy."
After speaking, Shen Jingming lowered his head and continued playing his game, walking towards his mech.
Looking at this nonchalant man, Ye Ying felt a sense of aversion. He seemed to care about nothing, only the game on his wristband.
Furthermore, his slovenly appearance, greasy hair, and an unidentifiable foul odor emanating from him made Ye Ying want to flee.
She had lived in Yadayah for a long time and had never been so disheveled.
She hoped this seemingly unreliable man was truly as formidable as the legends claimed.
As many cities outside were still trapped by enemy encirclements, the satellite mech coverage was incomplete.
The three mech pilots of the Iron Eagle Third Team searched the Xianxia continent for three days without encountering any enemies.
On the fourth day, they finally discovered a Black Star army constructing underground military fortifications in a range of mountains stretching for hundreds of kilometers.
Hundreds of Xianxia people were enslaved, coming and going from the entrance of a cave leading underground, building fortifications for them.
Several engineering mechs flew in from a distance, transporting construction materials into the underground.
"Damn it!" Qiao Weiwei said fiercely, "They invade our land and enslave Xianxia people! Destroy them!"
As Ye Ying and the other two discovered the enemy, the enemy also discovered them.
Twenty enemy mechs quickly took to the air and sped towards the members of the Iron Eagle Third Team.
Due to the presence of Xianxia hostages, combat could not be conducted around the fortifications to avoid accidental casualties.
Ye Ying softly told herself, "If you see hostages being killed, remain calm, and don't let Susan Lei emerge."
Susan Lei's personality represented revenge. Upon witnessing the slaughter of the weak, Ye Ying would instinctively unleash vengeful anger. It was the sight of hostages being killed at Fuchong Mountain that nearly allowed Susan Lei to take over her body.
If it were merely simple revenge, it would be fine, but Susan Lei's personality was extremely unrestrained, and letting her out would lead to endless trouble.
The battle took place in the sky five kilometers away from the underground fortifications.
The twenty enemy mechs flying towards them turned and fled before they could even approach Ye Ying and the other two.
Qiao Weiwei turned her head in surprise to look behind her.
Shen Jingming's mech, "Black Inferno," with whom communication was minimal, held an extremely ugly and peculiar weapon in both hands.
Dozens of thick, long black metal tentacles crawled out from the mech's body, converging in its hands, twisting into one, forming a writhing "sword." It was called a sword, but it had no blade, and its tip was a forked tentacle. It looked like a stick covered in black maggots held in hand.
"Oh? That saves trouble," Shen Jingming muttered.
It was indeed outrageous that a single weapon had scared off the enemy mechs.
Just as everyone thought the battle was over and were preparing to rescue the Xianxia hostages and capture some Black Star high-ranking officials for interrogation, five more enemy mechs flew out from the underground fortifications.
One of these enemy mechs was covered in black spikes, the longest of which were over ten meters long. It also wielded two short beam daggers in its hands, resembling a flying hedgehog.
Judging by its appearance alone, it was a Black Star's super-high-combat-power mech.
"Oh?" Shen Jingming's voice came through the communicator, lazy yet cautious, "It's here."
"What are you saying? What's here? Don't speak in half-sentences!" Qiao Weiwei shouted.
Compared to Qiao Weiwei's boisterousness, Ye Ying and Shen Jingming simultaneously felt a sense of pressure from the enemy. These few mechs were not to be trifled with!
Before Ye Ying could issue an attack order, Shen Jingming had already controlled his mech to charge forward. The force of the tentacle sword in Black Inferno's hands gradually increased, eventually forming an utterly disgusting tentacle club.
Shen Jingming calmly and sinisterly shouted, "Ten Thousand Poisonous Spikes, come and take your life."