Long Yuan heard a series of shrill whistles. A multi-purpose infantry fighting vehicle to his front left had fired the last six multi-purpose missiles in its launcher.
At such close range, the hit rate was naturally encouraging: three missiles hit. One was deflected by the shield, and another glanced off the reactive armor without exploding. Fortunately, the last one still managed to inflict some damage on the Empire's bulky armored airship.
The airship's flight path tilted. Like a drunk, it lurched and veered toward the seven o'clock direction, where something was missing.
At that moment, three soldiers wearing nothing but protective suits jumped out of the missile vehicle and ran toward Long Yuan. For tank crews without mechs, Long Yuan in his heraldry mech was by far the most reassuring sight.
But before they had run more than a few steps, ion beams from an unknown direction tore through the infantry fighting vehicle's reactive armor. The energy cells and plasma mixed together in a blast of heat, adding a peculiar crackling to the explosion.
Then ion shells swept over like whips of light, scattering the smoke and fragments of reactive armor—and striking the fleeing crewmen. Two soldiers were hit by ion bursts hotter than a thousand degrees. Their protective suits failed, and their upper bodies were blasted into a mangled mass of flesh.
The last soldier had his legs blown off. He stopped moving and could only struggle into the nearest shell crater.
Long Yuan had no time to help his comrade. The dense barrage of roaring beams had changed targets and was now bearing down on him.
The Spirit Research Society warrior began to charge. He dragged his heraldry mech toward the source of the light whips. As he sprinted, he dodged and leaped again and again. The towering