Buyers and Tactics

Yu Xiao hadn't bought a powerful mech component. With only 10,000 Evolution Points, he could afford just one item.

Even if he equipped Xingtian with a powerful weapon, he couldn't be sure that a single piece of gear would be enough to take on the entire horde.

So he chose something with better value for money, something he could keep using: mech fusion.

This item didn't even need to be delivered. Xingtian's power core already had this function; it just needed to be unlocked.

[Item Name: Mech Fusion]

[Item Description: Unlocks the corresponding power core permissions, allowing the mech to rapidly install components onto itself through direct material assimilation]

[Note: This function can be used to devour other mechs controlled by mech spirits, as well as components in an "unclaimed" state]

[Price: 10,000]

Aboard the Truth, a woman in a blue lab coat looked down from the night sky at the firelit coastline below.

"Dr. Yuan, if we don't pull Molten Lava and the others back now, it'll be too late." Poison Scorpion stood in the command room doorway, her face etched with anxiety.

Dr. Yuan didn't answer. She rested her hands casually near the pockets of her coat, her sky-blue eyes still fixed on the holographic digital model taking shape—the system was calculating what the Level 5 monster truly looked like.

"Our original mission was only to capture Xingtian. The other mech legions can handle the monster horde, too..." Poison Scorpion grew more and more anxious. She was just about to step toward Dr. Yuan.

"You're only worried about your Demon Scorpion, aren't you?"

Dr. Yuan's words stopped Poison Scorpion's foot in midair.

"Ever since Chris returned from Xuanse Cangqiong, I've noticed how unusually interested he is in Xingtian." Dr. Yuan didn't turn around. "If the thing that fell from Eden really was just space debris, as he claimed in his report, then his story doesn't match Nina's."

Poison Scorpion slowly lowered her foot. Cold sweat had already soaked through her combat suit.

"After Chris learned that Xingtian was coming to the Silent Graveyard for an upgrade, he used Omega's name to buy the component General Chen had reserved. He also ordered Gao Tianzhi to hold Xingtian in place until Omega arrived to retrieve it."

Dr. Yuan finally turned around and smiled at Poison Scorpion.

"I'm guessing you never expected me to show up instead of Chris, did you?"

Thud!

Poison Scorpion had backed into the alloy wall. There was nowhere left to retreat.

"Dr. Yuan, please, let me explain. I..."

"There's nothing to explain. You were following Omega's orders. The real culprit is Chris, who deceived his superiors and concealed the truth from his subordinates." Dr. Yuan casually brushed back her black hair. "Besides, I performed your sister's surgery. I know you're worried about her condition."

Poison Scorpion finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.

"But you need to understand: to the monsters, everyone is prey." Dr. Yuan's tone shifted. "Omega and every other mech legion have a duty to stop them, no matter the cost."

As Poison Scorpion looked into Dr. Yuan's deep blue eyes, she felt as if she'd fallen into an icy abyss.

"Neither the Truth nor the Truth Defenders will retreat before the other legions arrive." Dr. Yuan turned away again, looking toward the flames on the coastline, bright enough to set the night sky ablaze.

"If the monsters want to come ashore, they'll have to cross over our corpses."

On the coast, Molten Lava led the mechs in steadily tightening their defensive line.

He understood what the doctor aboard the Truth wanted, but his years as a mercenary always made self-preservation his first instinct when danger struck.

But when he saw the three Level 4 monsters, he knew there was no way he'd make it off this beach alive today.

All he could do now was shorten the line and rebuild it into a tighter formation with denser firepower.

Mary and the other two White Angels stood at the very back of the formation. White Angels could fight while continually repairing damaged mechs, keeping the entire formation in action.

"I don't need to tell you what orders Dr. Yuan will give us. If you want to take an escape pod, do it now. Soon, it'll be too late." Molten Lava stopped. The formation had reached its ideal defensive position.

The Truth Defenders had thirteen mechs in total. Not one of them started the escape pod launch sequence.

Inside his cockpit, Molten Lava rubbed his dry, tired eyes.

Even back when he was a mercenary, his codename had been Molten Lava. Later, when war broke out and Omega recruited him, he gave his mech the same name.

He'd chosen the codename partly to keep his real identity secret, and partly because it made him easy to remember.

But more than a decade had passed, and no one had called him by his real name in years.

"Good. Deploy in the planned formation and get ready to engage the Level 4 monsters!" Molten Lava cleared his mind and fixed his eyes on the enormous shapes out at sea.

"Understood!"

Twelve voices answered him in perfect unison.

Just then, Mary, at the back of the formation, sensed a strange humming from behind her.

When she turned, she was startled to see that three damaged mechs had somehow lined up behind them.

The oldest of them, Xingtian, stood in the middle. Demon Scorpion and Cobra stood to its left and right.

The next moment, a black fluid seeped from Xingtian's power core—something Mary had never seen before. In the blink of an eye, it had completely engulfed Xingtian.

Then the black fluid crept along Xingtian's arms and spread over the bodies of Cobra and Demon Scorpion!

The strange humming came from Xingtian's bizarre power core!

Aboard the Truth, everyone's attention shifted to Xingtian. No one knew what it was doing, but they'd never seen anything like it.

"Doctor, should we tell Molten Lava and the others to stop Xingtian?" The adjutant walked respectfully to Dr. Yuan's side.

"No, leave it. I think I understand now why Chris was so interested in Xingtian." Dr. Yuan narrowed her eyes, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly. "It's no longer the mech I designed."

On the coast, Molten Lava had just received Dr. Yuan's order not to interfere.

He turned his attention back to the three monsters that had reached the shallows.

"Roar!"

When the Thunderclap at the front let out a roar that made everyone's hair stand on end, all the charging Level 3 monsters stopped.

An ominous feeling swirled in Molten Lava's heart. He'd never heard of a monster that could command its own kind!

The Thunderclap's golden eyes passed over Molten Lava and the heavy mechs standing beside him, fixing on the three White Angels.

At that moment, Mary saw what looked like two blazing suns before her eyes!

"Roar!"

The Thunderclap roared a second time.

The briefly halted horde surged forward once more!

"Change formation!"

Molten Lava immediately issued the order.

The chaotic horde had gathered into several groups, launching a full assault from multiple directions!

The monsters were using tactics!