Midnight Ghostfire

Outside the door, the crowd was packed shoulder to shoulder. Rosen looked closely and saw that a large 3D television in the center of the residential area was broadcasting the news.

"The Kaiju attacking Singapore City, codenamed Gravekeeper, has been defeated. It fell less than one kilometer from Singapore's main urban district."

As the host continued talking at length, footage filmed from above—probably from a helicopter—appeared on the screen.

Rosen could not help shoving through the crowd and moving closer to the screen.

In the footage, the Kaiju codenamed Gravekeeper had just come ashore on Singapore's west coast. Rosen took one look and identified it as a standard Category 7 Kaiju. It was over two hundred meters long and around seventy meters tall, with the common four-legged reptilian form.

Not far behind it, Rosen spotted a plume of smoke.

"Gravekeeper defeated a Singapore Jaeger during its landing. This is already the third Jaeger destroyed this month," the host continued.

The helicopter gave the smoke a close-up. It was a Jaeger slowly sinking into the shallows. Rosen immediately recognized him from his deep blue paint job—he was Challenge Pioneer, the only seventh-generation Naval Jaeger among Singapore's two Jaegers. Rosen remembered seeing this Jaeger in Singapore's recruitment ads, but the aging machine had now become a heap of scrap metal.

The scene then shifted. Standing before Gravekeeper was Singapore's only remaining Land Jaeger—a new purple-painted seventh-generation Jaeger, Midnight Ghostfire.

"Isn't that Midnight Ghostfire?" Mike's voice suddenly sounded beside Rosen's ear, nearly making him jump. "Midnight Ghostfire and Gravekeeper really are quite a fitting pair."

As Mike spoke, Midnight Ghostfire and Gravekeeper had already clashed. The two giants fought fiercely on the continental shelf shallows near Singapore City.

Though calling it a clash was being generous. To Rosen, it looked more like walking a dog.

Midnight Ghostfire was definitely the strangest Jaeger in Rosen's memory. To save money, Singapore had stubbornly followed Britain's "small ship, big guns" strategy from World War II. They had mounted the overwhelming firepower of a heavy Jaeger onto the light Jaeger Midnight Ghostfire. To maintain balance, they had replaced Midnight Ghostfire's feet with treads, installed four large rocket boosters on his shoulders and lower back, and made him look more like a tank with arms. A massive energy tank filled with molten steel and propellant fuel was also fixed to his back.

Midnight Ghostfire's arms—though calling them cannon barrels would have been more appropriate—were both equipped with powerful Liquid Metal Injectors. They could continuously draw from the energy tank on his back and spray molten steel at temperatures as high as 3,800 degrees Celsius, at a maximum rate of ten tons per second. While that temperature could hardly kill a Kaiju, it was the best way to reduce contamination from Kaiju blood.

Once the molten steel solidified and completely trapped the Kaiju, Midnight Ghostfire would send it to heaven with the terrifying Million Volt High-Pressure Electromagnetic Blade in his right hand—

Of course, that was only the battle sequence people imagined. In real combat, Kaiju were not targets, and actual battles often differed wildly from simulator results. Those who loved flaunting their simulation scores usually came to no good end, like Rosen before.

On the television screen, Midnight Ghostfire sprayed scorching molten steel while using his high-speed treads and boosters to circle the Kaiju without pause. The treads should not have been underestimated. On this muddy shoal, treads paired with boosters were simply the perfect combination.

The tactic was highly effective. Their speeds were utterly incomparable. With four streams of acceleration flames blasting from behind him, Midnight Ghostfire easily toyed with Gravekeeper.

Large amounts of scorching molten steel rained down across the Kaiju's back, scalding him until he howled. Rosen could almost smell the scent of roasted meat through the screen.

But as the battle dragged on, the flaws in the tactic gradually emerged—it was too simplistic, and it took far too long.

A Kaiju's intelligence was nearly on par with a human's. After being toyed with for so long, he knew what he needed to do.

With an enraged roar, Gravekeeper raised his thick tail, more than seventy meters long. As he swayed his head and tail, he seemed to be judging Midnight Ghostfire's direction of movement.

Then—it came crashing down!

After a deafening boom, the shockwave first created a mudslide mixed with seawater, instantly swallowing Midnight Ghostfire. Then a small mushroom cloud of vapor rose on the screen. Sand and gravel scattered by the violent wind even flew hundreds of meters into the air, battering the helicopter until it shook wildly.

"WTF? That was brutal."

Mike stared wide-eyed and smacked his lips. Rosen also frowned deeply. The once-noisy hall fell utterly silent at the sight.

Midnight Ghostfire was done for. He was only a light Jaeger. Even if he survived, he would be severely damaged, Rosen thought.

However, when the smoke and dust dispersed, the scene that followed gave everyone some comfort.

Midnight Ghostfire had not gone down, but his purple chassis was now covered in damage, with arcs of electricity crackling everywhere. His left tread seemed to have snapped, and the boosters on his back could no longer spit flames. He was stuck in a depression, unable to move.

Boom, boom, boom...

The sound of Midnight Ghostfire's engine spinning uselessly came from the screen, and everyone's hearts sank once more.

It was as if they could feel the pilot's despair through the screen. A light Jaeger that had lost its mobility... was as good as dead.

Yet Midnight Ghostfire's next move looked incredibly strange. His right hand underwent a mechanical transformation, and the high-pressure Electromagnetic Blade immediately sprang out from beneath his armor.

What was he trying to do?

A question mark appeared in the minds of everyone before the television.

Only Rosen's eyes flickered as he murmured under his breath.

"He wants to cripple himself."

Just as Rosen had predicted, Midnight Ghostfire swung his right hand and actually severed the connection between his left tread and his chassis!

Though he had cut off one of his own limbs, he had regained his freedom.

One of Synaptic Link technology's greatest drawbacks was shared sensation. In other words, the damage suffered by a Jaeger would be transmitted to its pilot as physical pain. Thinking of that, Rosen could not help feeling deep respect for Midnight Ghostfire's pilot.

Having lost power on one side, Midnight Ghostfire was bound to be at a huge disadvantage. But his pilot was clearly no ordinary man. Before the Kaiju could close in again, Midnight Ghostfire swept the sea surface wildly with the Liquid Metal Injector in his palm!

Sizzle!!----

The seawater instantly boiled, and an overwhelming blanket of steam nearly engulfed the entire sea!

Then a burst of dense impacts and cutting sounds came from within the mist. After that, everything fell silent.

Who had won?

Just as everyone was speculating, the host revealed the answer.

"Although Midnight Ghostfire displayed formidable combat ability, he was ultimately no match for the Kaiju. His right tread was damaged during the battle, leaving him unable to fight. After suffering severe injuries, Gravekeeper continued advancing toward Singapore City."

A wave of regretful sighs immediately rose from the crowd.