Startling Thunder: Flash

Inside the train carriage, when the passengers saw that human-faced monster bird crash into one of the deployment bays, they all cried out in alarm.

"My God, that thing actually targeted the deployment bay."

"No, no, did you notice? It first used flames to distract the other three mechs, then crashed into the deployment bay. It did that so 'Blazing Flame' and the others wouldn't have a chance to stop it."

"Is this really a giant beast? It's way too intelligent!"

People began discussing it animatedly.

Luo Yan recalled that when they had been in the Forbidden Land, Wei Fenghua had said that even mid-tier giant beasts already possessed intelligence.

In that case, it didn't seem strange that an Upper-tier Giant Beast would know some tactics.

Even an Upper-tier Giant Beast was already like this.

He really didn't know how terrifying the higher-level ones would be, such as that Overlord Level beast in the Forbidden Land.

At that moment, the people cried out in alarm again.

It turned out that the monster bird was frantically tearing at the hatch. Before the hatch had fully opened, it thrust one of its wings through the gap.

Then the wing began to tremble at high frequency.

Luo Yan immediately recalled the powder that had shaken loose from its wings earlier, as well as the high-temperature flames ignited by it.

Sure enough.

After the monster bird shook for a while,

a flash of fire appeared inside the deployment bay. Then Blazing Flame surged forth, spraying out through the gaps in the bay.

The monster bird immediately beat its wings and rose into the air.

The next second, the deployment bay suddenly bulged, its metal warping.

Boom!

With a deafening roar, the entire deployment bay exploded. Flames erupted, and a mech staggered out from within.

The mech's outer armor had visibly melted and warped. Sparks leaped from its various circuits, and amid a succession of secondary explosions, fragments of the mech continued to shoot outward.

The mech eventually dropped to one knee and stopped moving. Amid the raging flames, it left the viewers with nothing but a blurry black silhouette.

Inside the carriage of the Undercity train,

people forgot to breathe.

Several young girls even covered their mouths, tears welling in their eyes.

The scene was simply too tragic.

The pilot inside the mech had not even had a chance to escape.

He had been burned alive in the cockpit.

Zeng Shan stared at the screen and murmured, "Perhaps when we become mecha pilots, we'll meet the same fate one day."

Luo Yan remained silent.

Only after the deployment bay exploded did the hatches of the other two deployment bays open. The mechs inside stepped out.

One of the mechs had a sleek design, with dark blue as its primary color and sharp red lines accenting its frame.

It was Di Zheng's mech: Blue Edge!

Zeng Shan recognized it too. "Commander Di is going out personally?"

The moment Blue Edge appeared, it immediately raised a sniper rifle almost as long as the mech was tall.

The rifle had a black-and-blue finish. Its barrel was thirteen meters long, with an energy channel running along each side.

At that moment, the energy channels quickly lit up and filled, causing a deep-blue pattern to illuminate along the rifle's barrel.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The rifle fired three shots in rapid succession.

High in the sky,

the monster bird had no time to react. Its left wing was struck by a round and exploded, sending feathers flying in all directions.

It immediately lost its balance and fell.

Inside the carriage,

Zeng Shan pointed excitedly at the rifle Di Zheng was using on the screen and said to Luo Yan,

"That's 'Thunderlight'!"

"A special electromagnetic sniper rifle designed specifically for giant beasts. It can use special warheads driven by Primal Energy, including armor-piercing rounds, high-explosive rounds, incendiary rounds, and more."

"It's also a 'heavy weapon'!"

Luo Yan nodded slightly. He was more interested in Di Zheng's next move.

On the screen, the monster bird had lost its balance and was tumbling toward the ground.

Di Zheng had already abandoned the sniper rifle. Blue Edge lowered its center of gravity and leaned its upper body as far forward as possible. Its right hand grasped the hilt of the long sword resting at its left hip.

Boom!

A burst of Bright Yellow Light suddenly erupted from the mech. Primal Energy surged and burst upward.

Even through the screen, Luo Yan could almost feel the force of that impact.

"Opening the Essence Gate..."

Luo Yan spoke softly. Clearly, Di Zheng had already used the Soul Gate Opening secret technique.

He was using a secret technique to increase his explosive power and attack strength.

At the same time,

a storm whipped up around Blue Edge. A tornado spiraled into the sky, its momentum overwhelming.

Zeng Shan shouted, "It's 'Windwalk'!"

"Commander Di's Divine Treasure!"

Through his studies during this period, Luo Yan already knew that Di Zheng's Windwalk could increase his speed and improve his agility.

The faster the speed, the greater the striking force.

Di Zheng's Windwalk could allow the mech to move at supersonic speed. It was easy to imagine how terrifying the attack power would be when he swung his sword at that speed.

What was more, he had also used a secret technique!

A Divine Treasure combined with a secret technique.

Di Zheng was going all out from the moment he attacked!

On the screen, the monster bird was about to hit the ground.

At the same time,

Blue Edge finally drew the long sword from its hip.

As the sword left its sheath, electric snakes seemed to dance along its blade.

All the mech's engines roared. Its feet slammed against the ground, and Blue Edge moved!

Boom!

Amid a crisp sonic boom, a visible Shockwave exploded outward in every direction.

Blue Edge burst out from the center of the Shockwave.

It moved so fast that the mech's movements could not be seen at all.

On the screen, Luo Yan only saw Blue Edge's silhouette blur.

Then it vanished from the screen.

In the image,

only a blue trail resembling Thunderlight remained.

It split the screen in two.

The camera rapidly shifted, pointing toward the monster bird.

In that direction,

the streak of Thunderlight swept across the monster bird.

The monster bird's body was immediately flung away out of control. Countless feathers and splashes of blood scattered across the sky.

After it barely managed to steady itself in midair, a massive gash could be seen across its abdomen.

The wound was so large and deep that it nearly split the monster bird's body in two.

At that moment, blood and organs gushed out of the wound without pause.

The monster bird desperately beat its wings, trying to escape, but after only a few flaps, its body tumbled uncontrollably toward the ground.

It fell into the distant forest, crushing one stretch of trees after another.

Only then did people see Blue Edge sheathe its sword and turn around.

Under the sunlight, the mech glittered as though a celestial god had descended to earth.

"Startling Thunder: Flash!"

Pointing at the screen, Zeng Shan shouted, "Did you see that?"

"Old Luo, that was Commander Di's finishing move!"

"That was damn cool!"

Although Luo Yan did not respond, his pupils widened slightly, and his chest rose and fell with force.

He knew that Startling Thunder: Flash was a derived technique of the Combat Skill Startling Thunder.

But he had not expected

it to be so dazzling.

So overwhelming.

With one strike, it had slain an Upper-tier Giant Beast!

Watching Di Zheng's mech on the screen, a powerful thought surged through Luo Yan's heart.

He wanted to learn more advanced derived Combat Skills too.

He wanted to be like Di Zheng and slay giant beasts on the Battlefield!

With a soft click, the carriage's fluorescent lights came on. The power had been restored.

A broadcast also sounded from the screen: "The threat has been neutralized. Jambu Realm Space is closing. Power in the Undercity has been restored. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience."

"The light-rail train will now resume normal operation. We wish everyone a pleasant Sunday."

As the broadcast played, the light-rail train slowly started moving.

Outside the windows, the lights in the Undercity's buildings flickered back on one after another. Before long, everything had returned to normal.

Looking at the simulated dusk projected by the holographic panels across the Undercity's dome, bathing the city in peaceful light,

who could have imagined that a brutal and dangerous battle had just taken place on the surface?

Events like this

could happen at any time as long as Jambu Realm Space remained open.

And once giant beasts invaded underground, the Undercity's current prosperity would be like a candle flame—extinguished by a single breath.

P.S. Five updates again today. Please give me some votes and a little motivation, everyone!