Practical Combat

Su Ming ran toward Training Mecha No. 3, while Minke and Chen Tong charged toward the remaining No. 4 and No. 5 training mecha.

The four of them swiftly stepped onto the mechanical tiles and entered the cockpits of the training mecha.

Just as Su Ming had adjusted his seat and activated the safety harness, preparing to start the mecha, he suddenly felt the phone in his pocket vibrating nonstop.

Su Ming pulled his phone from his pocket, only to find that his mother was calling. She had already called several times, so he answered.

"Hello?"

"Oh, my son, you finally answered! Are you all right? Your father and I were worried sick!"

Zhao Ning's anxious voice carried a hint of sobbing.

"I'm fine. I'm perfectly safe inside this lump of metal."

"Lump of metal?"

"The training mecha!"

Su Ming gave her a brief explanation.

"That's my son! So clever!"

Su Yuan hurried over to the phone and spoke with immense delight.

"Father, Mother, I can't talk to you any longer. I'm going to fight and rescue people."

"What? Don't go! It's dangerous!"

"Goodbye."

Su Ming directly ended the call.

At that moment, Tang Yan started his mecha first and asked, "Is everyone ready?"

Minke and Chen Tong started their mecha in succession and answered, "Ready!"

However, Su Ming's mecha still had not started. Tang Yan and the other two looked at him in confusion and asked, "Su Ming, why haven't you started yet?"

"Sorry, something came up. I'm ready now!"

Su Ming hurriedly started his mecha as he replied.

Tang Yan let out a slight breath and said solemnly, "Remember what I told you. Until the battle is over, no one is allowed to open the cockpit. As mecha pilots, the mecha is your most important body!"

"Understood!"

Su Ming and the others nodded one after another.

"Move!"

After giving his instructions, Tang Yan controlled his mecha and strode outside.

Su Ming and the other two followed.

Clang, clang, clang~

Tang Yan controlled his mecha and quickly charged out of the gate. After going some distance, he suddenly sensed that something was wrong.

He turned his head left and right, but couldn't see Su Ming and the other two.

Tang Yan turned around to look behind him, only to see Su Ming and the other two trudging along slowly.

"Hey, take your time. We're pressed for time, so I'm going ahead!"

Tang Yan truly had no time to wait for them. The situation over there was already extremely urgent.

"Okay."

Su Ming and the other two answered at the same time.

Tang Yan's gaze sharpened, and his entire bearing changed, revealing a cold, battle-hardened killing intent. He then pushed the power control lever forward.

Boom~

The twin thrusters on the back of the Iron Head Mecha erupted with blazing flames.

The entire Iron Head Mecha took off at ultra-low altitude, its movements incredibly practiced and cool.

"Wow, Teacher is amazing!"

Minke was completely stunned.

"Tch, what's so surprising? Teacher Tang Yan served in a regular frontline mecha corps for more than ten years. He's a veteran who retired from the front lines. Not just anyone can teach a mecha class."

Chen Tong snorted.

"Enough with that. Let's hurry. It'll be hilarious if the battle is over by the time we arrive."

Su Ming controlled the training mecha and gradually increased its speed, while Minke and Chen Tong awkwardly maneuvered their mecha to follow.

Just then, the artificial sun that had dimmed suddenly lit up again. Night instantly turned into day as the Thirteenth District carried out an artificial adjustment between daylight and darkness.

Su Ming was somewhat shaken as he watched this scene. The artificial sun was truly useful—their field of vision instantly became incredibly broad.

Unfortunately, it couldn't switch intelligently and had to be changed manually.

Compared with an intelligent switch, the manual change was slightly slower and had delayed them a little.

Although it was only a brief delay, sometimes that could be fatal.

If they could switch it the moment the alarm sounded, many fewer people would probably die. But there was nothing they could do about it.

Su Ming took a slight breath, pulled his thoughts back, and focused entirely on controlling the mecha forward.

Several minutes later, Su Ming and the other two arrived outside the dormitory building. The area had become even more chaotic, with deformed rats and parasitic creatures everywhere.

Terrified screams and cries of agony rose one after another.

Although Teacher Tang Yan had arrived in his mecha, along with some additional reinforcement soldiers, the situation was still extremely grim.

"We're going in!"

Su Ming spoke to Minke while controlling his mecha.

"Okay!"

Minke and Chen Tong answered at the same time.

The three of them immediately spread out while controlling their mecha.

At that moment, not far away, five female students were cornered against the dormitory wall by seven parasitic creatures. The creatures bared their mouths at them, drops of black blood dripping down.

"No, don't come any closer!"

A girl with short blue hair, delicate features, and strawberry-bear pajamas cried out in extreme terror.

Unfortunately, the parasitic creatures paid no attention. Instead, they became even more violent. Just as they were about to charge forward, a black shadow engulfed them, and the creatures instinctively raised their heads.

Boom!

Su Ming controlled his mecha and descended from the sky, smashing down.

Blood and chunks of flesh sprayed everywhere!

Four parasitic creatures were crushed flat, while the other three were blasted away.

Anxious to save the people, Su Ming had used the thrusters for the first time and failed to control the force properly. The operation went wrong, causing the entire mecha to tilt heavily. Instead of landing on both feet, it crashed down face-first.

After crushing the parasitic creatures, the training mecha's enormous inertia forced it to scrape across the ground and slide toward the female students.

"Ah~"

The five female students had not even had time to celebrate their rescue when they saw the massive training mecha sliding toward them in a shower of sparks. Their faces turned pale with terror.

Inside the cockpit, Su Ming watched the approaching junior students and desperately pulled the control lever, making the mecha press both hands hard against the ground.

Screech, screech~

The five girls squeezed their eyes shut in terror, awaiting the death that was about to come.

But several seconds passed, and none of them felt any pain. Trembling, they opened their eyes and saw that the enormous training mecha had stopped right in front of them by the narrowest margin, only thirty centimeters away.

"Wuwu, we're saved."

The tears that the short-haired, delicate girl had been holding back finally spilled down her cheeks.

Inside the cockpit, Su Ming wore a helpless expression. The real machine was indeed difficult to operate. In particular, he had discovered that this training mecha was extremely unresponsive because of its age.

He had originally intended to stomp down with one foot, but instead ended up sprawled face-first like a dog eating dirt, nearly taking out his own classmates as well. Fortunately, he had stopped without incident, so the problem was not too serious.

"Ah!"

At that moment, the three parasitic creatures that had been blasted away climbed angrily to their feet and charged at Su Ming.

Su Ming shakily controlled the mecha to stand up, then raised its hand and slapped straight down!

Smack!

The three parasitic creatures were flattened instantly.