Liang Xue's Secret

Inside the battlecruiser's hangar bay, ground crew members were busy conducting pre-combat checks on the mechs.

"Zhang Hu, are the mechs ready?"

Lin Fan, having just changed into his pilot suit, shouted as he entered the hangar bay.

"Commander, they're ready!"

"Good, get in, and follow me. We're going to rescue Deputy Liang!"

"What? Commander, we can go, but you..."

"Shut up, obey orders!"

Upon hearing that Lin Fan intended to lead the team himself to rescue Liang Xue, Zhang Hu immediately became anxious.

What if something happened to him?

Just as he was about to try and persuade Lin Fan, he was directly interrupted.

However, Zhang Hu still hesitated.

"Do you want me to put you in solitary confinement? What are you still standing there for? Let me tell you something, I have another nickname that no one else knows: Humanity's Strongest Mech Pilot!"

After saying that, Lin Fan flipped into a mech and closed the cockpit.

Lin Fan wasn't entirely bluffing. After completing the System's temporary mission 3, his Mech Piloting ability had reached A-Class. Among humans currently, he could be considered a top ace.

After all, ordinary humans' physical fitness couldn't compare to Lin Fan's. Even with great talent, they would still be affected by their physical condition and unable to perform at their peak.

Take reaction time, for example. The limit for ordinary humans was 100, while Lin Fan's was 350.

This meant that even A-Class mech pilots among humans would be weaker than Lin Fan, who was also A-Class, due to physical differences.

Zhang Hu, seeing Lin Fan enter the cockpit, also snapped back to reality. The commander was going? What else could they do?

He immediately signaled the other nine assembled pilots to get into their respective mechs.

Three minutes later, eleven mechs launched from the battlecruiser, rapidly flying towards Liang Xue's coordinates.

Meanwhile, the more than 2,000 Orc Rebel Army fighters that had already retreated clearly received the signal. Approximately 100 of these fighters directly turned around and flew towards Liang Xue's escape pod.

Lin Fan checked the tactical display. It would take about 10 minutes to reach Liang Xue's location. However, the Orc Rebel Army's fleet had already mobilized and was heading towards the 101st Task Force Fleet.

Who was Lin Fan? A human with a brain development rate of 24%. It wasn't just two tasks at once, but even three or four tasks simultaneously were not a problem for him.

While piloting his mech forward, Lin Fan simultaneously monitored the tactical display fixed in front of him and methodically issued orders to the fleet.

However, their current position was indeed not ideal. The chosen negotiation point was in a relatively open area within the asteroid belt, with not many environmental features to utilize.

But it wasn't entirely hopeless, as Lin Fan noticed significant issues with the Orc Rebel Army's fleet composition.

Firstly, there were only 2 battlecruisers, 10 aircraft carriers, and not many cruisers, only 16. The remaining 300-plus ships were destroyers and frigates.

It was highly likely that the battlecruiser captains were all confidantes of Adams, so the so-called First Prince's people could only infiltrate some smaller warships, led by destroyers and frigates.

Furthermore, the fleet's coordination was clearly poor, with even minor formation changes appearing messy.

However, Lin Fan mused that given this was a fleet temporarily assembled by infiltrators, its poor performance was entirely understandable.

"Fleet, form into an assault formation with the battlecruisers as the arrowhead. Advance at maximum speed and break through the center."

"I will rendezvous with the fleet en route!"

"Remember, concentrate your firepower to eliminate their only two battlecruisers first."

"Understood!" the tactical officer's voice came through the comms.

Subsequently, the 101st Task Force Fleet began to regroup. The battlecruisers were at the forefront, the aircraft carriers were in the center, and the cruisers, destroyers, and frigates were positioned to protect the carriers.

It was estimated that the entire fleet's formation rearrangement would be completed in ten minutes.

A few minutes later, inside the escape pod, Liang Xue was looking outside through the viewport.

What she saw made her heart sink halfway. She saw a squadron of Orc fighters with a red glow rapidly approaching her, and their onboard laser cannons had already lit up with energy charges.

Liang Xue knew that the fighters were about to fire, and her escape pod definitely wouldn't withstand a single shot.

At this moment, the first person Liang Xue thought of was Lin Fan, whom she somewhat disliked. The guy who said he'd marry her when they were kids but then didn't recognize her as an adult – what a scumbag.

She wondered if he would feel even a sliver of sadness after seeing her die, if he would remember who she was.

Thinking this, Liang Xue actually let out a slight smile, preparing to welcome her final moment.

However, as she looked out the window, she didn't see the red beam of light aimed at her. Instead, she saw a green beam flash from the left, directly piercing the fighter that was about to fire.

Immediately after, a mech appeared before her, completely filling her viewport.

"Who is it?"

Liang Xue couldn't help but ask herself this in her mind.

"Liang Xue, are you still alive!"

"Uh, I'm still here. I see the rescue mech now."

"Very good, put on your helmet and exit the pod. Get into the mech!"

"Understood!"

Lin Fan used himself to shield the escape pod while firing six consecutive shots, eliminating six approaching fighter jets.

"Zhang Hu, cover me! I'm going to pull Deputy Liang out!"

"Understood!"

When Lin Fan saw Zhang Hu arrive with ten mechs, he immediately called out.

Zhang Hu immediately made arrangements, leaving two mechs to protect Lin Fan while he led the other seven mechs towards the fighter jets that were continuously closing in.

The mech pilots on Lin Fan's flagship were no ordinary individuals; they were all at least A-Class, elite mech pilots within the fleet, specifically tasked with protecting the flagship.

Even an ordinary mech pilot could handle three to five fighter jets alone, let alone the elites led by Zhang Hu.

However, Zhang Hu was still greatly shocked by Lin Fan's performance just now.

First, he precisely killed a fighter jet from a distance that was about to attack the escape pod, and then, after approaching the escape pod, he fired six shots instantaneously without any pause, taking out six fighter jets.

Zhang Hu admitted that even though he was an elite, he couldn't achieve such incredible shooting, and he completely believed Lin Fan's words before the sortie that he was Humanity's Strongest Mech Pilot.

Seeing Liang Xue open the escape pod's hatch and float out, Lin Fan also turned around and opened the cockpit's canopy.

Although the cockpit only had one seat, the space was still quite generous, and having another person by his side wouldn't be a major issue.

Through the pilot's transparent helmet visor, Liang Xue saw someone who shouldn't have been there: Lin Fan.

Ten seconds later, Lin Fan closed the cockpit, turned his head to look, and found Liang Xue looking a bit dazed.

"Stop spacing out. You don't have a seatbelt to keep you secure. Hold on tight, we're still in combat!"

Liang Xue, snapping back to reality, straddled Lin Fan's front and hugged him tightly like an octopus.

Ugh... I did tell you to hold on tight, but this move is a bit too embarrassing...

Lin Fan really wanted to complain, but considering how good it felt, he decided to let it slide for now.

"Zhang Hu, retreat! Otherwise, we'll miss the battleship!"

Lin Fan turned, casually shot down two fighter jets with his laser gun, and shouted towards Zhang Hu.

"Yes! Commander, everyone retreat!"