Running was easy enough.
But making a 3,200-ton mech run was anything but easy.
Xiao Shou felt an immense strain.
Mount Tai faced far too much resistance in the sea.
Even though the battlefield had been chosen near the coast, the water was still over sixty meters deep.
The seawater had already risen past Mount Tai's waist.
Fortunately, only the first few steps were difficult.
Once it built up momentum, running no longer took so much effort.
There was only a little over a thousand meters between Mount Tai and the kaiju Bladehead.
Mount Tai quickly reached Bladehead under its powerful stride.
War was about to erupt!
Just as Mount Tai was about to reach Bladehead, it leaped into the air.
Of course, given Mount Tai's weight, it could not jump very high.
But using its momentum to make a slight leap, it clenched its right fist and smashed it straight into Bladehead's shark-like head.
Bladehead had no time to evade and took the punch head-on, staggering back again and again.
Having landed the blow, Mount Tai naturally would not let this chance slip away. It pressed forward and struck upward with its left hand, hitting Bladehead beneath the jaw.
Bladehead roared furiously. Those two attacks naturally did not amount to much damage to it.
They only enraged it.
It had emerged completely unscathed from the firepower of those "little flying bugs" earlier, and nothing had been able to halt its advance.
Yet these two heavy blows had actually forced it back repeatedly.
Bladehead's eyes flared crimson as it roared and charged fiercely at Mount Tai.
"Watch that shark head!"
Bladehead thrust its sawblade-sharp head forward.
Mount Tai twisted slightly to evade the strike, its left arm tightly locking down the front of Bladehead's head.
Mount Tai's left arm was reinforced with nanoscopic telescoping material, allowing it to extend into a shield in critical moments.
That made it relatively thick, while its right arm was fitted entirely with weapon systems.
Holding Bladehead in place for a while was no problem.
"Activate the right-arm rocket thruster. Full power!"
A cannon-like device extended from Mount Tai's right elbow, except it faced backward.
The rocket thruster roared to life, blasting azure flames from its rear.
"Rocket thruster fully charged!"
"Heavy punch!"
Its right hand clenched into a fist, propelled by the rocket thruster's force, and slammed viciously into Bladehead's restrained shark head!
A visible shockwave erupted outward from Bladehead.
It stirred the ocean surface into swirling currents.
"Beautifully done!"
The people watching could not help shouting at the sight.
Mount Tai's attack in this exchange had flowed like water, one successful strike leading seamlessly into the next.
It was exhilarating to watch.
"Oh, Mount Tai, the eternal god!"
"My mom asked why I was kneeling to watch the livestream. Now she's kneeling with me!"
"I'm begging for Mount Tai's pilot by real name! I want to have his babies!"
"I wonder if Mount Tai's pilot is a woman. If she is, then... then I'm willing!"
"What the hell are you fantasizing about up there? Obviously, this job should be left to me, Wuhu's Wu Yanzu!"
People everywhere were thrilled to see Mount Tai display such might.
Cheers also rang out throughout the Dalian Shatterdome base.
Only Mao Shucheng, Zhu Qian, and Jin Rong wore grave expressions.
This was only the beginning.
A momentary advantage could not decide the outcome of a war.
Sure enough, just as Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan prepared to press their advantage, Bladehead broke free from Mount Tai's restraint.
It rammed Mount Tai into the air.
Before Mount Tai could struggle back to its feet, Bladehead pressed down on it again.
Its razor-sharp blade head scraped across Mount Tai's armor, throwing off violent sparks.
Fortunately, Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan reacted in time, bracing both arms firmly against Bladehead's advance.
Only then did they stop Bladehead from continuing its charge.
Otherwise, if that blade head kept pushing forward, it would likely slice through Mount Tai's entire chest.
Mount Tai's power system relied on the nuclear turbine engine in its chest.
Without power, Mount Tai would be nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.
Bladehead remained locked in place, continuing to threaten Mount Tai.
Mount Tai was currently powerless to do anything about it. The strength possessed by a Category 3 kaiju was incomparable to that of the previous monsters.
And Mount Tai's own weight was no match for Bladehead's either.
Mount Tai had fallen into a disadvantage in this contest and was pushed back again and again by Bladehead.
"Falcon Squadron, the escort unit, heed my order! Attack Bladehead's eyes and provide support to Mount Tai!"
"Falcon understood!"
The fighter escort group led by Colonel Lin Huixin scattered in all directions.
They targeted Bladehead's vital areas—its eyes, jaw, and more.
Though this firepower was little more than a drizzle to Bladehead, it inevitably caused it some trouble.
Its forward force weakened considerably, though it still did not let up.
But to Mount Tai, this was divine assistance.
It was enough to give it a brief moment to catch its breath while restrained.
At once, the nanoscopic telescoping mechanical system in its left arm activated, forming a shield from elbow to hand.
It used the shield to withstand Bladehead's force.
Its right hand was freed.
Its trump card was naturally its right arm, which carried most of its weapon systems.
"Activate the electromagnetic storm ring. Switch to electromagnetic particle cannon mode."
A ring of electromagnetic energy appeared around Mount Tai's right hand.
It looked as though it were wearing a blue bracelet.
Except this bracelet was rather costly in terms of life.
Mount Tai's left-hand shield blocked Bladehead's attack while its right hand pressed against Bladehead's heart.
It was located slightly above its abdomen.
That was the conclusion provided by the intelligence analysis team after scanning Bladehead's internal anatomy.
A cannon muzzle extended from its right palm and unleashed a barrage at Bladehead's heart.
Compared to electromagnetic pulse waves, the electromagnetic particle cannon was controllable, non-continuous, and capable of precision strikes.
Two fierce blasts struck Bladehead's heart, making it scream repeatedly in pain.
Bladehead was not stupid. It stopped wrestling with Mount Tai and used its left arm to shield its heart.
It took two steps back, then charged Mount Tai again, slamming hard into the shield and sending Mount Tai flying once more.
But this time, it did not press its advantage. Although it had managed to block the electromagnetic particle cannon's attack with its hand, its entire left arm had been blasted apart.
Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan were delighted at the sight. Bladehead's movements were hindered—wouldn't they be able to handle it however they pleased from here on out?
But before the two of them, the command center, and the people watching the live broadcast could celebrate—
A shocking scene unfolded.
Bladehead's empty left shoulder, still streaming blue blood, began to wriggle.
A new left arm grew back at a speed visible to the naked eye.
"Oh, shit! Is this monster impossible to kill?"
At PPDC headquarters in San Francisco, The U.S., those watching the battlefield broadcast could not help breaking into a cold sweat.
Commander Jonathan Williams also looked grave. The threat posed by Bladehead, this invading kaiju, was simply too great.
Not to mention Mount Tai, making its debut in battle—even the battle-hardened Wanderer and Explorer would probably be helpless against it.
Inside Mount Tai's cockpit, Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan were equally grim.
This Bladehead was truly no easy opponent!
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