Rosen's retort clearly jolted Sun Zheng Tang awake. The fury on his face gradually faded, replaced by doubt.
"You mean... it isn't Generation 6?" Sun Zheng Tang questioned with a frown. "But judging by its size and build, Viper is absolutely a Generation 6 Kaiju."
"No. Size and build aren't what matter most." Rosen immediately explained. "We all know that Command Authority is the most important classification marker."
Meanwhile, the fierce battle on the television screen continued. After knocking FL down, Viper immediately pounced after it. Fortunately, FL activated the Tesla Electromagnetic Barrier on its left arm in time. An irregular azure electromagnetic shield instantly formed over the sea. The powerful current not only repelled Viper's attack, but also shocked it into shrieking.
"Watch closely." Rosen suddenly narrowed his eyes and spoke seriously.
Viper let out several shrieks on the screen. The Raptor and the Goshawk, which had been locked in fierce battles with other mechs nearby, actually showed signs of moving closer. Half of the Raptor's face had been blown away by triple cannon fire. It unleashed a dragon-tail sweep, and Huangshan on its back failed to hold on in time, tumbling head over heels. The Goshawk, covered in countless torn wounds, even risked its life to break out of the encirclement of two mechs and rapidly approached Viper.
Rosen's point had been fully proven—only a higher-level Kaiju could command lower-level Kaiju to coordinate in battle. Having dealt with them for so many years, Sun Zheng Tang naturally knew that.
Right now, Viper was clearly ordering the Raptor and the Goshawk to surround their targets.
"Damn... it really is." Sun Zheng Tang's expression tightened in alarm as he stared tensely at the screen. "How did you notice that?"
"I... I wasn't sure either," Rosen replied hesitantly.
"Huh? You guessed before?" Sun Zheng Tang turned toward Rosen in surprise.
"You could say that."
Rosen was not lying.
All his earlier deductions had come from his now extraordinary eyes.
By now, Rosen was certain that he had used Kunlun's eyes—
Whenever his eyes felt a burning heat, all kinds of data flooded into his brain through them: real-time temperature, humidity, wind speed, brightness, enemy positions, possible movements, even the direction of attacks in the next second—there was simply too much. At first, his brain could not process the data as quickly as it came in. Now, however, the patterns were gradually becoming clear.
Just like before. Three seconds before Viper burst from the water, Rosen had already detected it. Yet when it truly appeared before his eyes, Rosen felt a sudden palpitation.
Rosen did not know where that feeling came from, but it definitely was not fear of Kaiju. I haven't been afraid of those things since I was five.
It was not fear. More accurately... was it awe? An instinctive kind of awe?
Just as humans instinctively feared creatures larger than themselves, creatures with enormous fangs.
Rosen suddenly found it absurd—could a steel-bodied mech actually have something it feared?
But a few seconds later, he could no longer laugh.
"Could Viper..." Rosen seemed to remember something. He stared wide-eyed at the screen, his words more like muttering to himself. "Generation 8 Kaiju?"
"What did you say?" Sun Zheng Tang thought he had misheard and could not help asking.
"What kind of Kaiju could make a Generation 7 Kaiju feel afraid?"
"That would be..."
The two looked at each other, then gave the answer at the same time.
"Generation 8."
Rosen's expression immediately darkened. He held out his hand to Sun Zheng Tang.
"Give me your communicator. I need to contact the Command Center!" Rosen roared. "Right now! Immediately!"
The elites inside Shatterdome had naturally noticed it as well.
Lin Yin, Jiang Tianzheng, and Su Luoxia, the pilot of Tianshan, were the first three to notice Viper's abnormality.
"Just now..." Su Luoxia, who had remained in Tianshan's cockpit and was ready to deploy at any moment, spoke. Her voice reached the Command Center through the communicator. "Did that snake command the dog and the bird?"
"Yes." Lin Yin confirmed it as well. "Viper does possess Command Authority."
Jiang Tianzheng no longer hesitated upon hearing that. He immediately ordered the combat readiness level raised to its highest state.
"Reassess the Kaiju levels: two Level 7s, one unknown level." Jiang Tianzheng did not pause, issuing order after order. "Get Dr. Newton here immediately. No Level 8 Kaiju has ever appeared before. We must confirm the situation."
At the same time, scene after harrowing scene appeared on the Command Center's main screen—after being used more than ten times in succession, FL's Tesla Electromagnetic Barrier was clearly losing power. Viper grew bolder and bolder, beginning to attack the barrier's weak points and slamming FL backward again and again.
The other mechs had not yet managed to reach the area, while Viper was simply too fast. FL did not dare use the 609MM Heavy Cannon recklessly. He could only use his iron fists to counterattack Viper while the barrier still held.
FL's attacks scraped several chunks of flesh from Viper's spine, but Viper's movements did not slow in the slightest. It was as though FL's defensive counterattacks were nothing more than child's play.
Viper flicked its pitch-black tongue and accelerated further. It plunged into the Pacific Ocean, then shot up from between FL's legs. With a sweep of its tail, it easily tore through the mech warrior's defensive stance. Despite being a light mech, FL could not dodge in time and was struck repeatedly. Seizing the chance, the Kaiju immediately coiled around FL's right arm and gave a fierce yank—the joint between FL's upper and lower right arm instantly became mangled. The once-mighty 609MM cannon barrel could now only hang limply from the remains of its right arm.
Tang Jia had intended to make one final gamble. He used his left hand to support the severed right arm, intending to fire 609MM shells and restrict Viper's movement. But Tang Jia suddenly discovered that the two remaining 609MM shells had slipped out through the breach at the elbow and fallen into the Pacific Ocean.
With its most powerful main weapon rendered useless, FL had reached the end of the road—
He would not last more than a few minutes.
Fortunately, Anshan held the line nearby. Angie Beckett unleashed her full might. She took Yajiao from Changbai's hand, first sweeping the Goshawk off its feet, then actually shoving Changbai forward and activating every rocket thruster on her back!
Boom—
The two mechs completed a magnificent midair relay. Changbai flew across half the battlefield to FL's side, descending like a divine soldier from the heavens!
Amid Sethi's roar, the Qionghua tactical module on Changbai's right hand immediately transformed. A heavy axe appeared in Changbai's right hand!
"You beast!" Sethi's furious curse came through the communicator.
"Die for me!"
Changbai raised its right arm and flashed it across the Kaiju's midsection—before Viper could react, it was instantly severed in two at the abdomen!
"Yes!!!" Cheers immediately erupted in the Command Center. At that moment, everyone had forgotten what kind of person Sethi was—as long as he could save humanity.
But Viper suddenly displayed something strange—its severed rear half did not immediately go still like a cut snake. Instead, it thrashed violently before Changbai!
Even stranger, its front half seemed completely unaffected. It shook its head, rapidly circled around Changbai, and continued attacking FL!
"Damn?" Sethi's curse was filled with disbelief—but he had no time to marvel. Changbai immediately encountered a new problem.
The severed rear half had actually come alive!
At the end of the rear half, a "snake face" identical to the one on the front half had grown out!
The halved Viper 2 flicked its pitch-black tongue and immediately launched a ferocious assault against the panicked Changbai!
"What the hell is this thing?!" Changbai lost its balance and was instantly knocked onto the surface of the Pacific Ocean by Viper 2!
Before you continue