The battlefield was thick with smoke. The acrid stench of burning and the reek of blood mingled together, burrowing straight into people's noses like living parasites and making them nauseous.
The arm that Crimson Typhoon had lost to the howitzer barrage sparked with electricity. As it moved, parts occasionally fell off and smashed into the ground, sending dust billowing and bricks shattering.
Cherno Alpha slowly spread its steel fists, then snapped them shut again. Immediately afterward, it smashed both fists together like a gorilla, displaying the terrifying power of its punches.
It then charged toward Fist Scorpion, which was likewise swinging its fists.
As the strongest overall Jaeger on the battlefield, Eureka Striker charged straight at Flowing Blade, which moved like a swimming dragon or python.
The sharp spike on Flowing Blade's head, pointed like a blade tip, came hurtling straight toward him. But Eureka's reaction speed was astonishing. With a fierce right hook, it knocked the attack off course, and the spike pierced through its upper right shoulder.
Cherno Alpha swung both fists directly into Fist Scorpion's head as the monster tried to throw a hook.
Crimson Typhoon followed close behind. Its two remaining arms immediately switched to the Thundercloud Formation. The alloy blades flashed into existence and reached their full speed within seconds, slashing across the body of the monster Fist Scorpion and carving out long blue trails of blood.
The one-sided slaughter on the ground continued.
Quan Tiehua's massive hand pierced straight through Little Hachika's features, grabbing it like a bowling ball. He pulled out its spine in one motion, then hurled it at the Little Hachikas still charging in the distance.
Everyone watching the footage saw this scene clearly. The almost savage brutality and sheer impact of the move made everyone's heart jolt.
At the scene, the remaining two hundred or so Little Hachikas witnessed this brutal sight with their own eyes. Some of those nearby even had their faces covered in blood.
They looked at the battlefield several kilometers away, where the monsters and Jaegers were fighting, then back at this place, where the iron-armored men were still advancing on them and slaughtering their comrades.
Their fear finally overwhelmed the frenzy brought on by the drugs. Everyone broke down sobbing, and the weapons in their hands fell to the ground.
They turned to flee, but their escape route had long since been sealed off!
Quilstein excitedly collected the heads that had been cut off intact, then had the Tech-Sergeant find several lengths of rebar and weld them onto the back of his Power Armour.
Just like the World Eaters, he hung the heads high in the air!
He even deliberately took out several bottles and jars, stuffing them with minced flesh and all kinds of bloody sludge gathered from the corpses covering the ground.
The genes in these skulls and pieces of flesh, which were slightly purer than those of the Imperium, would definitely interest the Mechanicus once they returned to the Imperium.
If they were made into servo-skulls... at any rate, they would be better than the skulls from the Loyalist Academy.
Unassuming yet luxurious; rigorously selected by the ancestors, the finest choice!
All the warriors watched this somewhat heretical behavior and attire with twitching mouths. But when they saw Quan Tiehua treating a head like a soccer ball, childlike in his delight, they were rendered speechless.
"Let's go!" Quan Tiehua said, then kicked the head with all his might. But instead of flying away as expected, it shattered into eight pieces.
The battle between the monsters and Jaegers behind them was drawing closer and closer. All the brothers quickly gathered their belongings.
At that moment, the two monsters fighting the Jaegers saw their targets retreating. They suddenly became frenzied.
"What happened? Why have they all become so agitated?"
"Not just agitated. Definitely agitated."
"I suspect they've been provoked!"
The pilots of the three Jaegers exchanged words, while everyone at Shattered Dome Base also noticed the situation.
Stark Pentecost looked at the scene transmitted by the satellite. "Could it be that these two monsters' real targets are this group of iron-armored men?"
Cai Tiantong was rapidly comparing various sets of data. After a while, he raised his head and said, "Commander! The data from the wormholes that appeared when these iron-armored men arrived basically matches the data from the monsters' wormholes!"
Stark Pentecost did not understand technology. Cai Tiantong habitually arranged the two sets of data into a simple, easy-to-understand comparison table.
Stark Pentecost studied the comparison on the table, then asked, "Why are their energy levels different?"
"That can't be analyzed at present. It's also possible that the wormhole technology—or the energy source—used by these iron-armored men is far more advanced than that used by the monsters! It's like how the gasoline used by an ordinary car can't be compared with the fuel used in military aviation."
"Send the Transport Aircraft to escort them immediately!" Stark Pentecost looked at the Transport Aircraft preparing to fly toward a safe area to land and await orders, then immediately issued the latest mission.
As the order was given, the Transport Aircraft began slowly turning and flew toward the Blood Angels, who were rapidly retreating.
But in the next second, a missile from an unknown source set off the alarms in the cockpits of all the Transport Aircraft.
The Transport Aircraft that had formed up instantly scattered in every direction like a swarm of flies struck by a palm.
At the same time, flares sprayed out from both sides of the aircraft. So many flares converged in one place that the missile slammed straight into them.
The enormous explosion and shock wave sent the Transport Aircraft, which had not yet fully dispersed, rocking in every direction. Some nearly crashed into the ground.
Stark Pentecost and the others naturally received the report as well. "What the hell happened? Where was this antiaircraft missile fired from?"
Cai Tiantong hurriedly mobilized the satellites to investigate. At last, he said, "Commander! This antiaircraft missile was deployed in the wilderness. We can't determine the exact location, but it was within twenty li of the nearest military camp."
"Whose military camp? Fusang's?"
"No, Commander! It was fired from Hengtian Base. In other words, it belongs to the American military."
"Can you confirm that the attack came from the American military?"
"I'm sorry, Commander. All of us concentrated most of our computing power on the battle between the Jaegers and monsters. We..."
"All right, I understand." Stark Pentecost helplessly waved a hand, cutting off what he was about to say.
And the facts proved that this antiaircraft missile had indeed been fired by the American military!
Furthermore, the order had been unanimously approved within just a few minutes by several representative senators, including the president.
Because once these Transport Aircraft picked up the iron-armored men equipped with such high-tech weapons and returned to Shattered Dome Base,
then, for Huaxia, that proverb would be perfectly proven true!
Those near the water get the moon first.
Before you continue