War Is About to Begin

For the next half month, Xiao Shou spent his days in hell...

Zhu Qian never joked around.

If he told you to train, he would truly train you to death.

Furthermore, the instructor supervising Xiao Shou was Colonel Lin Huixin.

Lin Huixin appeared refined and gentle, but if you thought he was truly like that, you were sorely mistaken.

How many soldiers were truly gentle and refined?

"Train harder! You're already out of breath after a five-kilometer armed cross-country run, you're a disgrace to warriors!"

"You need to know where you are! This is the Jaeger Combat Department! A military base where the nation's most cutting-edge technology is gathered!"

"Who are you! A Jaeger pilot! The pilot of 'Taishan'! Dalian! The safety of the entire nation rests on your shoulders! How can you bear such a heavy responsibility if you're like this!"

In short, after a morning of training under Colonel Lin Huixin's ear-splitting instructions, Xiao Shou wore an expression of utter despair.

Mornings were for physical training, afternoons for combat, and evenings for neural synchrony.

It was a thoroughly planned schedule.

If he had a choice, Xiao Shou would have preferred to go back to fighting small Kaiju in the virtual world.

During lunch, Xie Yushan couldn't help but chuckle when she saw Xiao Shou looking so dispirited.

"Alright, perk up. Your combat training this afternoon has been canceled!"

"Huh?"

"'Taishan's' laser weapons have been installed. The Commander wants us to go take a look."

Hearing this, Xiao Shou immediately straightened his back.

If you're talking about that, I'm not sleepy anymore.

He had been eyeing the two laser swords on 'Wanderer' for a long time.

Honestly, how many people weren't captivated by laser swords?

Xiao Shou was certainly completely won over.

After lunch and a quick shower, Xiao Shou, burning with impatience, headed to the Shatterdome base's main hall.

His training for the past few days had all been on the training grounds outside the base.

He hadn't been involved in the modification work on 'Taishan'.

He was very much looking forward to it now.

Xie Yushan felt the same, though she tried her best to maintain a poker face and appear indifferent.

All pretense was like nothing before neural synchrony.

In front of the hall.

'Taishan' stood proudly on the central platform, Bay 1, in the very center of the hall.

It was like a deity, protecting humanity.

Its mighty and majestic body perfectly embodied the meaning of "strength."

The damage 'Taishan' sustained in its previous battle with 'Bladehead' had already been completely repaired.

It still looked as majestic as ever.

At the foot of 'Taishan', Mao Shucheng and Dr. Herman were chatting about something.

Mao Shucheng had returned the day after Xiao Shou did.

He just needed to finalize the establishment of the Shatterdome base in Hong Kong.

He wasn't a supervisor, so there was no need for him to stay and oversee the base's completion.

This was a key national project, and no one dared to engage in fraud or deception here.

Once the funding and manpower issues were resolved, Mao Shucheng was beaming.

He looked like he had even grown back quite a bit of hair.

What's more, with strong national support, the second Jaeger could officially be put on the agenda.

This Jaeger would be unprecedented, as it would require neural synchrony connection from three pilots to activate.

Its equipped weaponry would be even more advanced, and its power source would differ from the "old Jaegers."

The flexibility of its joint mechanisms would allow it to perform various high-difficulty attack maneuvers.

It was a design with a distinctly Chinese style.

Currently, the various components of the Jaeger were undergoing urgent processing in different factories.

The original plan was to assemble it in Changzhou.

Crimson Typhoon will serve as the guardian of the Hong Kong Shatterdome.

With these arrangements made, Mao Shucheng rushed back to Dalian.

In Xiao Shou's words, this was his battlefield.

A soldier never leaves his battlefield.

Although his battlefield would soon be moving south...

Seeing Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan arrive, Mao Shucheng and Dr. Herman stopped their conversation.

"Due to some difficulties in the manufacturing process for the Mo Dao, we've decided to replace it with laser weaponry. Dr. Herman will now demonstrate for you."

Dr. Herman didn't hesitate and stepped forward, activating the holographic projector.

A Jaeger identical to "Taishan" was projected before them, albeit at a smaller scale.

The holographic "Taishan" seemed to come alive, automatically switching through various weapon demonstrations.

The particle cannon, electromagnetic gravity device, rocket boosters, and nano-retractable device all operated normally.

When it came to the Mo Dao, the hilt extracted from its leg was only about ten meters long, a significant modification.

The previous Mo Dao had a twenty-two-meter hilt and a twenty-two-meter blade, a one-to-one ratio.

Now, the hilt was considerably shorter, making it more convenient to carry.

A flash of electricity appeared on "Taishan's" hands, and the laser version of the Mo Dao sprang out.

Similar to the "Wanderer's" laser sword, "Taishan's" laser sword was over thirty meters long, though its hilt was longer than the "Wanderer's."

Its deep blue color, like the sky, was a prompt for more, or rather, a death warrant.

"'Taishan's' arms are equipped with small electromagnetic stimulators that excite a specific substance to generate the laser. The energy reserves from the particle cannon and electromagnetic gravity device are used to stabilize the laser sword's shape."

Dr. Herman did his best to explain the principles behind the laser weaponry's application on "Taishan" in simple, easy-to-understand terms to Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan.

This gave Xiao Shou some insight. He had always assumed the particle cannon was a weapon that charged up on the spot, never realizing it drew from pre-stored energy.

No wonder he had insufficient energy to attack a second time after using the electromagnetic gravity device in the virtual world.

It turned out the energy had already been depleted.

Just as Dr. Herman was discussing the laser weaponry with Xiao Shou and Xie Yushan, a secretary hurried over, interrupting them.

"Dr. Herman, this is an urgent communication from PPDC headquarters for you!"

Dr. Herman's heart sank. Urgent communications from headquarters never brought good news.

In any case, it certainly wasn't General Jonathan missing him and wanting to chat.

"Hello, is this Dr. Herman? A massive energy signature has been detected from the wormhole on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, very close to our California and Oregon states!"