When the Second Defense Line was breached, Soap and the others' squad was the first to collapse...
The reason was simple: Soap had no idea how to operate a mecha. Not to mention that he had failed to completely devour Bernier's memories—even if he had, he still couldn't have become a mecha expert in such a short time. After all, Bernier had spent tens of thousands of years working at it, investing enormous effort from learning the basics to practicing timing. This wasn't a racial talent that could be acquired in just a few days...
Battle formations required seamless coordination. With the disparity in numbers, Billy had equipped every squad with only the bare minimum of personnel. The basic requirement was for the Mecha Warriors to perform at their usual limits, but Soap obviously couldn't meet that standard.
So almost immediately, his teammates were killed because of him...
Just when Grandpa and Soap thought they were done for, something strange happened...
The Mecha AI actually took over their manual controls and operated the mecha itself. In an instant, the clumsy mecha transformed into a combat master.
It weaved through countless monsters, quickly retreating to the edge of another squad and joining them, while also reinforcing their weak points. Every squad the AI-controlled mecha joined was able to hold out much longer. When that squad could no longer endure, the mecha would abandon it at the most suitable moment, retreat to the next defense line, and request to join another squad.
And so it kept retreating all the way to the Seventh Defense Line, remaining active until now...
Grandpa and Soap felt as though they had been watching a CG movie the entire time—tense and thrilling. In the end, they had even managed to slip back into the retreating main force.