When Xingtian pulled his giant axe free of the writhing tentacle, only a minute had passed since Lava and Yuan Zhen had spoken.
"Mary!"
Only then did Lava realize that, without its propulsion system, the White Angel had been reduced to just half a machine!
Lava drove his mech recklessly toward the fallen White Angel and turned over its half-destroyed body!
Bang!
Lava tore open the White Angel's armor and forced open the cockpit, cradling Mary, who was slumped over the controls, in his hand.
"Wake up, Mary!"
Covered in blood, Mary didn't respond to Lava's cries. She lay limp in the mech's cold palm like a puppet with its strings cut.
"Damn it!" Lava cursed. He opened his mech's cockpit and placed Mary inside.
[System switched to autopilot mode. Current tactical priority: evade at all costs]
The moment Mary was placed in the cockpit, Lava jumped down from the controls and carried the barely breathing Mary into the only escape pod.
[Weak vital signs detected in target. Emergency treatment in progress]
Looking at Mary's deathly pale face, Lava couldn't help clenching his fists.
Just as Lava was about to return to the controls, a howling rush of air swept down over the mech he was piloting!
At this critical moment, Lava activated the magnetic adhesion system on his combat suit, locking his feet firmly to the cockpit's alloy floor!
Thud!
A thunderous crash erupted beside Lava's mech. Its violent movement nearly flung him against the metal wall!
The shaking inside the cockpit had barely stopped when Lava released the magnetic lock and sprinted back to the controls, securing himself to the motion-synchronization rig once more.
"Ahhhhh!"
All four Vulcan cannons unleashed their dwindling reserve ammunition. Their blazing muzzles and bright flames lit up the mech's battle-scarred exterior.
Golden flashes pierced the tentacles before they could withdraw. A dense cluster of bullet holes burst open, releasing one cloud of green blood after another!
At that moment, Lava felt as though he had returned to the first time he'd picked up a gun.
Back then, war had ravaged his hometown, and the homeless refugees could die anywhere, any day.
War, famine, plague... lives as fragile as paper faced death at every turn.
Only after Lava had nearly lost everything did he finally decide to fight back.
He still remembered the voice that had echoed in his mind when he first pulled the trigger.
He would never let anyone take away anything he cherished again!
[Power limit unlocked]
All six missile launch ports fired a simultaneous salvo!
The next second, a series of brilliant explosions burst across the tentacles, now riddled with holes!
But before the black smoke could clear, a second salvo struck the writhing tentacles!
"Roar!"
At last, the tentacles, their surfaces charred black, exploded in midair. Chunks of flesh and revolting slime rained down into the sea!
[Remaining ammunition: 0]
The gun barrels, warped by the heat, slowly stopped turning. Metal shell casings clattered and rolled across the ground.
Lava gasped for breath at the controls, rage still blazing in his eyes.
The tentacles, smoking and spitting sparks, finally stopped twitching.
But he still hadn't done everything he could!
"Xingtian, we'll draw the tentacles away. Find an opening to attack!" Without waiting for Xingtian's response, Lava issued orders over the communications channel. "All units, spread out and initiate guerrilla tactics. Draw the tentacles' attention as much as possible!"
At Lava's command, the six remaining mechs immediately changed direction and spread out on either side of Xingtian!
They harassed the tentacles with long-range fire while keeping themselves closer to the monster than Xingtian was!
Sure enough, only three tentacles were now targeting Xingtian!
With the mobility devices on his body, Xingtian easily dodged every attack, then leaped into the air again and chopped one of the tentacles off!
"Roar!"
A nearly frenzied roar echoed along the entire coast!
But just then, the energy radars sounded another alarm!
Rumble!
Yu Xiao turned toward the wormhole where the thunderous noise had come from and saw four more tentacles emerging from it!
At the same time, all the tentacles changed from brown to red!
Lava watched helplessly as the tentacles, still not fully extended, curled in midair and launched a second attack at even greater speed!
"No!!"
A White Angel and another heavy mech failed to react to the sudden assault. Both were smashed into scrap that flew in every direction!
The tentacles' attacks had grown even more ferocious, and their numbers had been replenished.
That meant every mech could be struck twice or more in rapid succession!
"Fall back!"
As Yu Xiao shouted, Xingtian had already raised his giant axe and charged toward the open sea.
Only by doing this could he keep the mechs from sacrificing themselves for nothing.
Sure enough, every frenzied tentacle turned toward Xingtian as he charged and slammed down at him!
Thud, thud, thud!
One tentacle after another pounded at the fast-moving Xingtian. Before the surging waves could fully rise, the gigantic tentacles crashed down from above, smashing them into spray that fell back into the sea!
The blood-red turbine in the power core in Xingtian's chest spun rapidly, and all ten rocket nozzles stayed lit without a moment's pause!
The black figure darted back and forth across the sea, while shock waves and water surged against Xingtian's body!
But just as Xingtian swung his giant axe to cut off a tentacle, the unexpected happened.
Several massive tentacles wound around one another, twisting into a fist hundreds of meters across!
Bang!
With a deafening crash, Xingtian's body shot toward the coast like a meteor!
At the same time, the tangled tentacles instantly came apart, each one suffering damage from the black armor's counterattack!
[Warning: 40% of full-body armor damaged!]
Xingtian, almost embedded in a crater, braced himself against the rocks and struggled to stand.
Even with Yu Xiao's [Hardening] activated, he couldn't fully withstand that last blow!
The mechanical wings on Xingtian's back had been completely shattered, and the rocket nozzles at his abdomen and elbows were all destroyed.
Half of the black armor covering his body was gone, but new black scales were growing from the mechanical skeleton at a speed visible to the naked eye!
The black armor fed on the energy generated by the mech. To rebuild its defenses, Xingtian had diverted half his power to accelerate its growth!
He didn't know whether he could withstand a second attack without his mobility devices.
But if he didn't get back up, then everyone who had died for him would have died for nothing!
Xingtian strained with all his might to pull himself out of the crater, but with only half the power available to his core, he could barely keep his balance.
Thump!
Xingtian dropped to one knee in front of his giant axe.
He could hear the maddening roars and cheers in the distance, and he could feel the exhaustion, hope, and despair of the warriors behind him.
The battle-axe was within reach, yet Xingtian couldn't manage to grasp it.
"...Calling... we..."
"Request... currently..."
In a daze, several garbled voices suddenly rang in Yu Xiao's ears.
Then the voices grew clearer and clearer, and more and more people joined the conversation.
"The Red Fortress Legion has reached the target area. Commencing deployment!"
"The Canghai Longyin Legion has reached the target area. Deploying combat units!"
"The Golden Rainforest Legion has reached the target area. Selecting a landing zone!"
Yu Xiao heard that familiar young girl's voice.
"The Xuanse Cangqiong Legion has reached the target area, Xingtian. We're here!"
[Multiple large allied aerial units detected. Legions confirmed: Red Fortress, Canghai Longyin, Golden Rainforest, Xuanse Cangqiong]
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Countless sonic booms rang out across the pre-dawn sky.
[Allied mechs approaching]
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