"You say it."
"After this battle, please let me marry BT-7219!"
Cocolia's smile vanished.
At the same time, impassioned wolf howls and laughter erupted from the iron pilot formation, followed by a succession of "Me too, me too" statements.
"No! Next."
"Commander, I want to marry BT-7232!!!"
"Vetoed! All similar requests are completely vetoed! BT72 is a Titan mech, a mech! Do you people understand, can you be normal for once? Also, I can barely understand the men, but what are you few female soldiers howling along for? The voice system loaded into BT72 is a female voice, a female voice!"
"But Commander, she's a loli mech girl, a loli mech girl, eh!!!"
Cocolia's face darkened, and amid the soldiers' jubilant and cheerful voices, she began to regret making Anqi's fine-tuned original voice into the voice system in the first place.
"...Kuerla, when this is over, lead them in a run back to the base from where they started, and properly cool down their perverted hot-bloodedness."
"Understood, Commander!"
Kuerla said expressionlessly. From beginning to end, only she, the captain, remained consistently serious, completely devoid of any intention to join in the fun. Firstly, it was to maintain the persona of a aloof and cold officer; secondly, well, she was also Anqi—what was there to have a goddamn orgasm over when listening to her own voice?
Yet the liveliness proved fleeting. After a few minutes of nonsensical horseplay, as professional soldiers, the iron pilot formation began to focus on the specific details of the combat, raising questions from all directions regarding terrain, temperature, weather, and reinforcements.
Cocolia answered them one by one, adopted some of their opinions, and made slight temporary adjustments.
Last of all, the iron pilot formation left their final words, and the remote meeting concluded thus.
Chapter 42 - Anqi: Executing Protocol Zero
"Protocol One: Link to Iron Pilot."
"Neural link complete, self-test complete, no mechanical functional impairment or system errors detected."
"Iron pilot, Titan is ready. Our divine link synchronization rate has reached ninety-six percent."
"About to execute Protocol Two: Hold the Line."
The Titans reported their progress to the pilots in unison.
Yet the iron pilots who received the message focused their attention first on points that were rather bizarre and remarkably similar.
"Hahaha! The synchronization rate is up again! BT, our hearts are getting closer and closer!"
"Tch! Is it still not at one hundred percent?"
"Ura! The synchronization rate is as high as ninety-eight percent!"
Within the iron pilot formation, the synchronization rate seemed to be regarded by them as some sort of numerical value worthy of comparison and showing off. Although this tiny gap actually had no real impact on the pilots' ability to wield the Titans as extensions of their own arms, they relished it endlessly.
And the iron pilots' obsession actually made sense.
Which of the elites chosen by Cocolia Anqi to become iron pilots hadn't crawled their way out from the sacrifices of one comrade after another, out of blood and fire?
To such battle-hardened veterans on a crisis-ridden Honkai battlefield, a huge robot combining firepower, mobility, and super plate armor, equipped with an adorably cute smart voice that you could tease—and one that would sulk if teased too much—what kind of divine battlefield companion was this?
Comrade + Italian cannon + air support + remote fire support + protective fortress + healing cute thing; which soldier could possibly resist this thing?
Having answered the above questions, the iron pilots' abnormal enthusiasm became very easy to understand.
Of course, this was also a principle that the Anqis had gradually come to realize over the past two months of the integration period.
The iron pilots treated the Titan BT72 as a partner close to human; naturally, Anqi was also willing to treat them as friends.
"Iron pilot, considering the difficulty of this operation, a suggestion is hereby proposed: before setting out, is it necessary to execute Protocol Zero?"
"Huh? What is Protocol Zero?" ×35
"Protocol Zero, deleting browser history."
"****!" ×35
Although their responses varied and were filled with a multitude of unspeakable modal particles, the answer was unanimous.
Following this, Anqi could distinctly feel the morale of the iron pilot formation spike sharply, carrying an indomitable fighting spirit as if they had cast off their final misgivings.
"Entering the affected area of the blizzard; satellite vision can no longer help us. Next, according to the pre-assigned zones, disperse to execute search missions and locate the target at top speed—do not die, because at the celebration banquet, I will dance in cool black silk."
"Understood, Captain!" ×35
Listening to their unanimous and once-again enthusiastically soaring responses, Kuerla unknowingly curved the corners of her lips.
Anqi disliked socializing.
Or rather, this was a common ailment among a considerable portion of this generation of young people: a greater preference for staying in a corner, immersed in a world of their own liking.
Still, Anqi rather fancied this group of teammates who had been unruly and full of character upon first meeting, yet eagerly clung to her thighs after getting a beating.
The Honkai disaster was an accident; not even a ruler could predict the outbreak of a Honkai event unless they initiated it themselves. But sending this group of veterans directly into a Siberia Region battlefield that would normally require the full deployment of all Titan forces to control was, to a certain extent, a need dictated by the Anqis' own interests.
Therefore, she would protect them as much as possible.
"As you can see, starting from the vicinity of PD05 Base all the way to reaching the target operation route, the whole journey took thirty minutes, with an average speed of mach 5. And this was still under the condition of having to maintain smooth flight during the combat briefing discussion phase. If pushed to the limit, they can completely keep pace with intercontinental missiles."
"We have achieved epoch-making improvements in Honkai energy reserves. Thanks to this, in various aspects such as firepower, weight, defense, and mobility, our designers could almost give free rein to their imaginations—they can carry it all anyway."
"The anthropomorphization of the intelligent system is likewise an epoch-making advancement. Even if you two, Dr. Einstein and Dr. Tesla, came yourselves, you might not necessarily do much better than us."
"Please do not ask about the technical details; it is of great importance and inconvenient to easily disclose."
"Other theoretical data and actual effects were already pretty much covered in the document given to you previously. Today's battle will be the living proof of everything. Ladies and gentlemen, please look forward to this victory, and at the same time, please consider how much support can be provided to the Siberia Region afterward."
"The disaster came out of nowhere, and next I must go arrange other backup plans. Although I have confidence in the Titan BT72 and the iron pilot formation, we cannot be careless. After all, the safety of a million civilians is at stake, so I will take my leave now."
Cocolia casually waved her hand, her figure vanishing from the screen, leaving the various executors with a massive real-time satellite image and first-person combat footage from each of the Titan BT72 units.
Among the connected executors, several from the radical faction mostly wore composed, veteran expressions, as if they were fully confident regarding today's impromptu battlefield demonstration—though in reality, every last one of them was itching so badly inside that they wanted to talk to Cocolia and say, "Boss, seeing that we belong to the same faction, give us a discount and share this wave with us!"
As for the conservative faction, most wore grim expressions. The Titan autonomy, which served as the conservative faction's moat, had been breached, and the degree of the breach was somewhat heaven-defying; such an unfavorable fact was hard to accept. Especially Dr. Tesla, who still harbored resentment over Raiden Ryoma's downfall. Her aggressive momentum, lacking concrete proof and further stifled by the absurd performance of the Titan BT72, was choked right back down, and one could only imagine how distorted and irritable her expression was.
"If all this data is entirely factual, I will report the contribution made by Cocolia truthfully to the Sovereign, and grant her the accolades she deserves."
In the end, it was Dr. Einstein, the current representative figure of the conservative faction, who set the tone, completely abandoning the Changkong City issue she had initially intended to bring up as a talking point, replacing it with affirmation and praise.
Setting aside the ideological conflicts between factions, Cocolia was ultimately an Anti-Entropy executor, and the progress made in Titan technology was a tremendous contribution that benefited the entirety of Anti-Entropy.
With just this alone, even if Raiden Ryoma were exonerated later on, and even if the Changkong City incident were pinned on Cocolia, the conservative faction would have no way to find fault with her anymore—after all, it couldn't really be called frame-up either, as Raiden Ryoma did indeed have unauthorized fund misappropriation actions, and the Gem of Conquest was also originally placed inside Raiden Mei by Raiden Ryoma himself.
Both factions were culpable; neither needed to point fingers at the other.
Even the irritable Tesla understood that with the appearance of the Titan BT72 now, saying anything was useless, and the executors would no longer hold Cocolia accountable.
Amidst the raving blizzard that obscured the path ahead, Kuerla smiled with satisfaction.
The pressure inside Anti-Entropy has been relieved; congratulations to myself.
Don't be too hasty, there is still one last item. We need to fight this battle brilliantly enough to truly leave the conservative faction with nothing to say.
I'm counting on you, Kuerla.
Mhm, my positioning is that of a pure soldier; matters of fighting are best left to me and Titan Anqi.
Following about twenty minutes of comprehensive searching, the iron pilot formation unraveled the root of the disaster.
It wasn't a single Honkai Emperor about to evolve into an Emperor-class, but a full seven psycho-capable Honkai Emperors whose abilities complemented one another.
This was actually a matter for rejoicing. Whether it was Anti-Entropy or Schicksal, anyone who truly dealt with Honkai over the long term understood that there was a qualitative gap between Emperor-class and Honkai Emperors. The former were upper Honkai beasts, while the latter were merely lower Honkai beasts. One would rather fight a group of Honkai Emperors than face a single Emperor-class Honkai Beast.
"Triangular Formation, take your positions! The rest of the units, clear out the non-Emperor threats and provide support at any time! Take your positions, let's test their hardness and abilities first!"
"Understood!"
Giant mechs, like white giants crossing the blizzard, converged from different directions and then faced the Honkai Emperors directly in a three-to-one formation, pulling out the standard high-energy bombs on their shoulders one after another.
"Boom, boom, boom!"
Successive flashes of intense light covered the snowfield, swallowing the advancing Honkai beast horde.
Clear high-energy reactions appeared on the satellite map, and the thousands of square kilometers of white terrain covered by the snowstorm almost completely lit up.
Tesla: "What the f***! What kind of output capacity is this? Are there really only 36 mechs?"
Only those who made weapons truly understood the power of weapons. Dr. Tesla was perhaps the human who most clearly understood the unreasonableness of this kind of firepower.
Yet she, and all the researchers watching here, had not expected that the Titan BT72 relied not on epoch-making energy technology, but on Anqi's Imaginary Gateway.
The Imaginary Gateway functioned like a faucet, connected to the Imaginary World with its infinite volume of water. The Thousand-Person Ruler's faucet had a limited output capacity, but it depended on who it was compared against. In any case, the consumption of the vast majority of humans and mechs was far lower than Anqi's power supply efficiency.
And the Titan BT72's 16-meter-tall frame was spacious enough to carry a battery with both a massive capacity and output volume.
Thus, without requiring overly profound technology, as long as it was fine-tuned a few times, an "energy system" with terrifying output and enduring stamina was completed.
Five people collapsed in the office, and I'm feeling a bit uneasy. On top of that, I have to do at least two people's worth of work alone for the whole week, damn it. By the way, I recently discovered that this font thing is super interesting, and I unconsciously got addicted to changing fonts. Ah, pretty fonts are really ultra-kawaii. Why didn't I notice this before?
Chapter 43 - Kuerla's Decisive Action
"Rumble!"
Like thunder, like the wrath of gods, the terrifying high temperature and impact force actually disrupted the massive snowstorm shrouding a thousand kilometers.
Above the scorched earth riddled with craters, the small and medium-sized Honkai beasts that previously guarded the seven giant beasts were all obliterated into nothingness.
Only the seven Honkai Emperors—some resembling serpents, some bears, some birds, and others possessing unspeakable, bizarre shapes—successively stood back up from beneath the scorched earth, shaking their mountain-like massive bodies and raising their heads to look toward the sky.
In the air, the thirty-six snowy white giants put away the shell-launching devices on their shoulders. While nine of them dispersed to the edges in all directions, the rear thrusters of the remaining twenty-seven increased their power, resembling blue six-winged wings.
"Hoo—"
Kuerla gazed at the status data coming from each mech, let out a light breath, and said:
"High-energy mode requires cooling. All units, melee suppression, do not allow them to take another step forward!"
"Understood!"
The turbulent airflow seemed to suddenly freeze for an instant.
The next second, twenty-seven Titans charged into the enemy ranks like light and lightning, striking the massive Honkai beasts in a three-to-one pattern.
"Boom!"
Kuerla approached the enemy first, her steel armor iron fists carrying matchless impact force to strike directly at the giant serpent's lower jaw, forcing the beast gazing up at the sky to violently tilt its serpent body straight up.
Simultaneously, another Titan arrived above, wielding a greatsword in both hands and jamming it into that bloody maw—which could undoubtedly swallow a 16-meter Titan mech whole—forcibly propping open its serpent jaws.
"Scales are hard, are they? Let me see if your stomach and intestines can withstand the burn!"
The final Titan hovered in the high altitude, mechanical arms aimed at the giant serpent's oral cavity as silver-gray long shells emerged from them.
"Boom!"
Shell after shell bypassed the Titan propping open the jaws, flying straight into the giant serpent's belly.
The next second, the three Titans tacitly disengaged and distanced themselves from the giant serpent.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Muffled explosions rang out one after another from within the giant serpent's body, battering it until it thrashed about and smashed countless rocks and hills, its mouth continuously spewing flames, gunpowder smoke, and miserable roars.
Yet after the brief explosions ended, the giant serpent twitched its body and, just as it was about to raise its head to deal with these hateful big bugs, it spotted the traces of the enemy overhead.
A pair of massive blue energy wings spanned the sky, brewing terrifying power that caused the giant serpent to hiss with uneasy agitation.
It was Kuerla gripping a greatsword with both hands, aiming directly at the giant serpent's skull below. Behind her, two other Titans used all four limbs to brace against the rear of Kuerla's mech, unleashing the energy valves of their thrusters to a massive degree. The two wings spanning the sky were precisely the ones they formed.
"Unit Level 1 Reinforcement! Level 2 Reinforcement! Super Reinforcement!"
The three-stage mech reinforcement mode was executed in one go. The snowy white plate armor of Kuerla's Titan was covered with a faint layer of blue light, and the overall strength of the mech also reached the upper limit attainable by current technology and the Dominion Authority.
"Kill!"
With an explosive shout from Kuerla, she carried a strong killing intent thirsty for death.
The two mechs in the rear immediately outputted the maximum degree of propulsion power.
They delivered the attack to the giant serpent's head in virtually an instant, the metal greatsword piercing straight through the serpent's head as a terrifying impact burst forth.
"Boom!"
Before you continue