But it was useless.
The deed was already done. I'd bowed and apologized—what else did you want me to do?
The host sat by the helicopter cabin door, strapped into a safety harness, her body turned sideways as she addressed the countless viewers before their screens:
"Dear viewers, although the Crimson Thunder Blade now belongs to the Celestial Dynasty, I'm sure everyone can tell that its original form was Sakurajima's Sakura Saber."
"And one of Crimson Thunder Blade's current pilots is our hero, Miss Koizumi Junko. If not for that accident back then, Miss Junko would probably still be piloting the Sakura Saber today..."
"Ahem, I've gone off topic. Dear viewers, please look—the Crimson Thunder Blade has already severed one of the incoming Serpent King Beast's fleshy wings, then followed up with a turning slash that heavily damaged its hind leg!"
"Beautiful! The Crimson Thunder Blade successfully pierced the inside of the Serpent King Beast's hind leg! The Serpent King Beast is down!"
"Oh no, the Serpent King Beast spat out venom! It dodged it! The Crimson Thunder Blade dodged it—it's simply too agile!"
"Dear viewers, I have some exciting news for everyone. The Crimson Thunder Blade may become one of the few Guardian God mechas in world history to slay a monster in its very first battle!"
"Wait! What was that?"
"The Crimson Thunder Blade evaded it! So fast!"
Over the sea, a beam-like blast instantly reached the battlefield. The destructive breath directly eroded the Serpent King Beast's body, melting a massive hole straight through it!
At that extremely dangerous moment, the Crimson Thunder Blade leaped forcefully to the side and dodged it perfectly.
But the monster meant to be the Crimson Thunder Blade's first kill had already been snatched away by someone else.
The Crimson Thunder Blade had become a hired hand for the first time.
This was its first experience as a hired hand, but it was foreseeable that it would not be the last.
My Range Lies Beyond Truth! 2
A blue fluorescent breath attack fired from beyond the big screen and struck the Serpent King Beast directly, melting a huge hole through its body and instantly killing it.
After a brief silence, Dr. Chen's voice quickly rang out in the Command Center:
"That's Godzilla's Breath! He must be nearby!"
"Godzilla came ashore at the base yesterday, wandered around once, then left. After entering the sea from a coastal area thirty kilometers away, he vanished without a trace."
"He didn't appear during the night either. I never expected him to show up here now."
Dr. Chen analyzed the situation calmly and observed carefully, her brows unconsciously knitting together.
Oh dear, the hypothesis didn't hold up.
At first, she had been certain that Beast King had nocturnal habits, hiding during the day and emerging at night.
But he had gone to sleep beside the base in the middle of the night, woken up in the morning to take a stroll, then entered the sea and disappeared.
When he reappeared, it was broad daylight.
Wasn't this schedule far too irregular?
Naturally, Dr. Chen did not know that Beast King had previously hidden by day and emerged by night, appearing punctually every dawn.
That was because someone had no choice but to take advantage of the dead of night to be a righteous hero in the darkness.
Now that he had the conditions, he certainly was not going to stay up in the middle of the night wandering around in search of little monsters.
Besides, he could now openly recruit a whole bunch of hired hands for himself. Beast King was practically drooling with delight.
The large screen, which had previously focused on the Crimson Thunder Blade and the Serpent King Beast, was swiftly zoomed out under control. Centered on the Serpent King Beast, it began to include the surrounding sea and environment in the display.
As the altitude increased, the Crimson Thunder Blade and the fallen, dead Serpent King Beast became tiny specks, yet Beast King's figure still did not appear.
Just as everyone suspected that Godzilla had fired one shot and left, diving back underwater—
The large screen suddenly zoomed out another great distance, finally discovering that proud, upright figure to the southeast.
But...
Once they glanced at the displayed distance in the bottom-right corner, no one felt quite so relaxed anymore.
The data officer wiped the sweat from his forehead and reported to Old Luo and the others:
"Beast King has been located. He is on the sea surface, southeast of the Serpent King Beast and the Crimson Thunder Blade."
After focusing on Godzilla, the large screen swiftly zoomed back in, displaying Beast King's full image.
Beast King was slowly closing his mouth, and a wisp of scorching smoke poured from it. He looked as if he had just fired a shot.
Without a doubt, that blue fluorescent breath attack which had struck and instantly killed the Serpent King Beast had come from Beast King!
In fact, they were old acquaintances by now, and everyone was very familiar with the appearance of Beast King's breath attack.
But at this moment, its significance was somewhat different.
Old Luo let out a breath and slowly asked:
"What is the straight-line distance between Beast King and the Serpent King Beast?"
The data officer carefully examined the displayed figures, afraid of reading them wrong:
"24.75 kilometers... nearly 25 kilometers!"
Old Luo's mouth twitched, and he nearly failed to hold back a curse.
Back then, the numerous experts at the base had analyzed the matter with great confidence, even listing a pile of mathematical models Old Luo could not understand.
Old Luo did not understand the details they discussed, but he remembered the conclusion those experts had given very clearly.
At the time, those experts had sworn that Beast King Godzilla's breath had a range of fifteen kilometers, and that its power would rapidly decline beyond that distance.
So what about now?
The reality was that Beast King's breath had not merely exceeded fifteen kilometers. It had extended its range by another ten kilometers, reaching twenty-five kilometers, and its power had not weakened much at all. It still blasted straight through the Serpent King Beast in one shot!
And you called that weakened power?
Your final report to the base said that beyond fifteen kilometers, a mecha's external armor could withstand it?
Why don't you try taking one, then?
Old Luo took two deep breaths, barely swallowing the old veteran's profane greetings, then said:
"This can actually be considered a good thing."
"Beast King Godzilla's attack range is much greater than we thought. He can achieve victory more easily when dealing with those monsters!"
Old Luo then added:
"Report the matter concerning the experts who participated in the discussion of Beast King's breath mathematical model to the mainland. I don't understand these academic matters, and I don't know whether they were pretending to understand or simply made an incorrect judgment."
"In any case, leave the final decision entirely to the mainland. I will not interfere."
"As for the experts who did not participate in that discussion, assign them all under Dr. Chen's command. Dr. Chen will arrange them uniformly. Outsiders should not interfere—leave it to professionals like Dr. Chen."
The Command Center fell quiet for a moment, and the atmosphere grew oppressive.
Old Luo's words sounded casual. It seemed as though there would be no punishment, with everything simply left to professionals on the mainland.
But in truth, this was no trivial matter.
If the final investigation showed that it had merely been a mistaken judgment, that would be fine—although a conclusion they had stated with such certainty having an error of nearly double was still absurd.
Perhaps it was even more than that, because no one dared claim they knew Beast King's limit now.
For an error in judgment like this, there would be punishment, but it would not be too serious. Usually, it would just be a minor punishment as a warning and a lesson.
But if there truly had been people pretending to understand...
There was nothing else to say. They would meet at the Military Court.
This was not Sakurajima, where a bow could let someone muddle through by acting cute.
Dr. Chen raised a brow. She had not expected that merely coming to watch the excitement would directly increase her authority by such a large amount.
She shrugged indifferently and did not care.
To truly capable people, positions and authority were trivial matters.
What they cared about and devoted themselves to was what they truly valued. Dr. Chen was that kind of person.
After stating the outcome, Old Luo fell silent and continued watching the large screen.
After killing the Serpent King Beast with a single shot from extreme range, Beast King moved his body as though stretching his limbs.
Then he slowly sank down, disappearing from everyone's sight once more.
Seeing this, Old Luo said with a hint of amusement:
"Looks like Beast King just woke up too. He probably sensed some monster activity. He truly hates monsters with a vengeance."
The previously stagnant atmosphere in the Command Center eased.
At that moment, Bai Qingxin switched over the mecha's internal communication:
"General Luo, it's pilot Luo Bing's communication."
After Old Luo accepted the call, he laughed heartily.
"Little Bing, your performance in your first battle was perfect. You were far better than I was back then."
Old Luo had a great deal of resentment toward certain so-called experts at the base, but he could not find the slightest fault with Luo Bing.
He had watched the entire battle from beginning to end. As a properly retired pilot, Old Luo was an expert among experts in this field.
He knew very well that if Beast King had not interfered, the Crimson Thunder Blade would have needed only a few more minutes to achieve its first monster kill!
By then, the Crimson Thunder Blade had already inflicted multiple bleeding wounds on the Serpent King Beast, even crippling one hind leg and cutting off its chance of escape.
If it had continued fighting at that pace, as long as it performed normally, it could have accumulated minor wounds and worn the Serpent King Beast to death within a few more minutes!
Luo Bing's bitter laugh came from the other side.
"Uncle Luo, the Serpent King Beast wasn't killed by the Crimson Thunder Blade. How should this deployment be counted?"
Strictly speaking, it would not have been a problem to paint a Gold Stripe on the Crimson Thunder Blade's shoulder.
But Old Luo thought it over and ultimately said:
"When you return, paint a Silver Star on its shoulder."
Luo Bing sighed, his voice filled with helplessness over having his kill stolen.
"I understand, Uncle Luo."
We've Received Professional Training 3
"Sigh... all right."
Luo Bing sighed and helplessly accepted reality.
If possible, he still wanted to shamelessly fight for the treatment that came with a Gold Stripe.
A mecha pilot's first deployment was divided into several grades.
Setting aside coordinated operations, losing a one-on-one fight against a monster—like Koizumi Junko—was one level of treatment.
Facing a monster alone in one's first battle but only barely driving it back was another level of treatment.
Then, piloting a mecha into battle for the first time and killing a monster was yet another level of treatment.
That was something worthy of being spread throughout the world, becoming the focus of public discussion worldwide for several days until it was replaced by the next major topic.
Luo Bing had no interest in becoming famous. The reason he wanted to improve his evaluation was to make his record shine even brighter.
Luo Bing was not especially interested in piloting the Ace Mecha stationed in the capital.
What he wanted more was to apply to pilot the overhauled Crimson Typhoon!
Before you continue