Tide of Flames

--June 16, 2043, 8:30 AM--

Jiang Tianzheng's code names were always highly distinctive. "Raptor" and "Golden Eagle" had been born barely an hour ago, yet news of them had already spread far and wide through the media.

Every employee in the Shatterdome had come to know these two monsters. One resembled a crocodile, while the other had the body of a golden eagle—at this moment, under the "watchful eyes" of countless aircraft, warships, and satellites, they were speeding toward the waters near the South China Sea.

In the live feed, the 230-meter-long, 20,000-ton Raptor rose and fell upon the Pacific Ocean. The spray it kicked up formed enormous waves over ten meters high. From above, it looked as though the legendary battleship Yamato had returned to the world.

It said nothing and simply charged onward, like a silent assassin.

The other monster, Golden Eagle, was clearly far less docile. At 180 meters long, it circled through the sky, continuously screeching warnings at the fighter jets around it not to approach carelessly—three fighters had already died by its hand. The remaining aircraft had long since exhausted their ammunition; some had turned back, while others cautiously trailed more than ten kilometers behind it. At the same time, several missile destroyers from Pacific Rim nations shadowed the monsters from afar on both sides. No one dared make a rash move.

There might even be a third or fourth monster... but no one was afraid. Everyone believed that their conviction was far stronger than their enemies.

Jiang Tianzheng's orders came one after another. The monsters would reach the South China Sea within forty-eight hours and, at the latest, arrive in the waters south of Hong Kong within seventy-two. By then, even if they did not attack Hong Kong, Hong Kong's Jaeger pilots would have to sortie against them. Jiang Tianzheng also had to launch a counterattack on the Breach on schedule, making the speedy repair of Kunlun and Shandong especially crucial.

Shandong would not be easy to repair. Its entire right-arm power system had been destroyed by Kunlun, with damage even reaching the silicon-based compound skeleton beneath it. Moreover, the eighth-generation Jaegers had only entered service recently, so there were few spare parts available, making repairs extremely difficult.

Fortunately, Kunlun had not been badly damaged. Only several internal power torque units had been compromised, and since this was its first deployment, it had a complete supply of spare parts. More than two hundred workers had spent only thirty-six hours largely restoring Kunlun—

Now, with its silver paintwork, it stood towering once again in the sixth Jaeger hangar, as good as new.

The good news kept coming. Inside the Hong Kong Shatterdome, all eleven Jaegers other than Shandong had entered combat readiness.

"Kunlun," "Anshan," "Changbai," "Taihang," "Huangshan," "FL," "Dongting," "Luoyang," "Helan," "Tianshan," "Hengduan."

The colorful Jaegers had gathered together, eager for a peak confrontation of steel and flesh against the monsters that dared challenge them.

But there was bad news as well.

--June 17, 2043, 3:30 PM--

The reconnaissance units responsible for tracking the monsters sent back intelligence confirming the existence of a third monster—a black "Viper," roughly 150 meters long. That was its code name.

It had no limbs and moved like a snake by twisting its body, traveling at astonishing speed.

This was a three-pronged assault. Just as Jiang Tianzheng had predicted, the three monsters passed through the Bashi Channel, completely ignoring Taiwan and the Philippines as they headed straight for Hong Kong!

Once word spread that they would be deploying, the atmosphere throughout the Shatterdome grew even more heated. People pulled themselves together and encouraged one another. The maintenance teams began working overtime to conduct pre-battle inspections on the Jaegers, most of them voluntarily—some were so excited that they stayed awake all night.

The pilots were no different.

Lin Yin was deeply dissatisfied. Her right hand was injured, so neither she nor Shandong could deploy.

"Rosen..."

Lin Yin's expression darkened as she repeatedly muttered the name. Whenever she thought of him, her teeth itched with hatred. Ever since he had joined Raleigh Beckett's school, he had never caused a moment's peace. He and Sethi relied on their talent to look down on everyone else, constantly causing trouble.

Three years ago, he had even provoked her. And now, he was the culprit behind her injured right hand—Lin Yin did not have the slightest favorable impression of him.

Lin Yin's father had been an Air Force colonel. While he was alive, he had once told her: the most important thing for a soldier was obeying orders, followed by discipline. A group of disciplined soldiers could form an invincible army; no matter how many undisciplined soldiers gathered together, they would only be a disorganized mob.

With the kind of discipline Rosen and Sethi had, they were completely unfit to be pilots. Lin Yin thought, even if Rosen had changed... he still was not qualified.

"Big sister, what's wrong?"

Only then did Angie's worried voice finally pull Lin Yin out of her thoughts.

At that moment, the two were conducting a simulated battle, and Lin Yin had lost focus.

"It's nothing, it's nothing..." Lin Yin adjusted herself slightly. "I just got distracted for a moment."

"Distracted?" Angie suddenly smiled. "Big sister gets distracted too? That's rare."

Looking at that smile, Lin Yin suddenly felt nostalgic—she had been the same way in the past, always using a smile to conceal the tension in her heart. She could sense a familiar aura coming from Angie: nervousness, unease, fear, full of suspicion and conflict. Angie was only fifteen and had received nothing but professional pilot training; she understood nothing else. Even though she had already killed three monsters, those influences could not be erased in a short time. Lin Yin understood that all too well.

"Are you afraid?" Lin Yin turned toward Angie and gave her a reassuring smile—she had never smiled like that at anyone else.

At the sight of it, Angie's original smile melted away like ice and snow. Tears visibly welled at the corners of her eyes, and her body trembled slightly.

"Big sister... I... will I die? Like my mom and dad?" Angie choked and paused. "I want to avenge them... but before every battle... I'm so scared. I'm afraid I'll never come back..."

Ah. Lin Yin sighed inwardly. Angie was too young. Though she possessed the talent to save the world, placing such a burden on a fifteen-year-old girl truly was inhumane.

"Silly girl, don't forget that your precious Anshan will protect you." Lin Yin could not help stepping down from the simulator and pinching Angie's cheek. "And me, and Marshal Jiang Tianzheng, and those unreliable big brothers. Maybe even..."

At that point, Lin Yin paused mischievously, then said with a teasing look, "Maybe your Prince Charming? Who could that be?"

The little girl's reaction was indeed quite distinctive. Angie's face instantly reddened all the way to her ears, and she raised her hands, repeatedly trying to explain herself.

But Lin Yin put on an "I understand" expression and patted Angie on the head. Angie's incoherent protests immediately dropped in volume as if someone had pressed a volume button. In the end, she merely blushed and fell silent.

"Big sister..." Angie suddenly asked timidly, "Is there someone you like?"

"Me?" Lin Yin was somewhat surprised. She had not expected Angie to ask such a question. Looking down, she saw Angie gazing at her eagerly, seemingly truly waiting for an answer.

"Maybe." Lin Yin smiled and answered frankly, "But he hasn't appeared for a year."

"Who is it, then?"

"It's you, silly."

"How have I not appeared for a year... Big sister, you're teasing me again!"

The two abandoned their simulated battle and began fooling around, while the somewhat solemn and tense atmosphere from before gradually faded away...

Meanwhile, the other pilots were also making their own preparations.

Training, meditation, simulated combat, reading newspapers, investigating monsters, sleeping...

In short, everything they did was for one thing.

Only one thought remained in everyone's mind.

--June 18, 2043, 3:35 AM--

The Tide of Flames was about to arrive.