Xingtian quickened his pace.
Even as his ruined body burned fiercely, Yu Xiao could still feel the surging energy rampaging through the machine!
With every step, countless drops of molten metal fell at Xingtian's feet, evaporating the waves rolling back toward shore.
"The battlefield is the only place a mecha belongs!"
Xingtian broke into a full-speed charge. Torrents of heat flowed through the gaps in his metal frame, and in that instant, it was as if he had returned to ten years ago.
"Come on!"
Amid the monsters' layered roars, Xingtian charged without hesitation toward the dazzling Fusion Entity!
A hulking Aggregate Beast charged straight at Xingtian, and Yu Xiao answered with a punch!
Thud!
The impact thundered across the world. Xingtian's searing blade plunged into the Aggregate Beast's hard skull, while his fist smashed its face into a pulp!
"Warning: wrist armor damaged by 31%!"
Six thick, spiked tails swept across the sea, raising a towering wave as they lashed toward Xingtian's chest!
Xingtian spread his arms and seized two of the tails, but the other four had already pierced his armor!
Szzzt!
But Xingtian didn't fall. Instead, he strained with both arms and used his own ferocious strength and the intense heat radiating from his body to tear off the two tails!
Then he swung both arms and used his wrist blades to sever the four tails embedded in his chest!
"Warning: chest armor damaged by 67%!"
Yu Xiao no longer cared about the warnings. He and Xingtian had become one!
Green liquid dripped from Xingtian's chest as he ran, ripping the spiked tails out of his armor!
The two Aggregate Beasts that had lost their tails went berserk and charged in Xingtian's direction.
"Warning: reactor destroyed. The frame is expected to dissolve in 5 minutes and 43 seconds!"
Yu Xiao had never felt so light. The surging power was about to burn him to nothing, but still—
Just as the two Aggregate Beasts were about to crash into Xingtian, the massive mecha actually left the ground and leaped forward!
His blade, warped by the heat until it bent, swept across both beasts' backs, carving two gashes dozens of meters long!
Rumble!
Xingtian hit the ground in a roll, sending up a huge wave. The few scraps of protective armor still clinging to his body fell away in the impact!
Including the two that had just been wounded across their backs, six Aggregate Beasts now surrounded Xingtian from all sides!
But Xingtian showed no fear. He charged straight at the two nearest beasts!
At that moment, Yu Xiao felt as if he had a body of his own again. The fifty-meter-tall mecha had grown so agile that it felt like a human body!
Before the two Aggregate Beasts could reach him with their claws, a pair of blazing steel hands had already seized their heads.
Thud!
Yu Xiao flexed both arms. His ten fingers dug into the beasts' flesh, and he slammed their heads together with brute force!
Boiling liquid metal and green beast blood sprayed through the air, like two cans of spilled drinks splashing across the deep-blue sea!
A howling wind swept past Yu Xiao from behind. Xingtian spun around and slashed his twisted wrist blade across the Aggregate Beast trying to ambush him!
"Roar!"
The moment the beast recoiled, Xingtian charged forward and struck a killing blow to its head!
Crack!
The battered wrist blade sliced through the Aggregate Beast's brain, but the blade itself remained lodged in its skull forever.
"Warning: Slayer wrist blade on left arm destroyed!"
At that moment, the remaining three Aggregate Beasts charged all at once!
Even though Yu Xiao shielded his waist with his hands, he still suffered a devastating blow!
"Warning: waist armor destroyed. Left arm frame damaged by 81%. Muscle-response unit unresponsive. Rebooting link..."
Yu Xiao didn't need to look to know his upper and lower body were barely connected, and his left arm was nothing but a lonely metal skeleton!
But he wasn't some electronic system. He was a conscious soul!
As long as Xingtian's reactor kept running, Yu Xiao could still control this steel body!
Thud!
Xingtian grabbed the head of the Aggregate Beast in front of him and drove his knee into it. With the almost-molten metal's scorching heat, he smashed its lower jaw into a pulp!
"Warning! Chest frame destroyed!"
Several spiked tails pierced Xingtian's back. One even burrowed into his out-of-control reactor, and in the blink of an eye, it melted away inside the runaway core!
The wrist blade on Yu Xiao's right arm had also melted by two-thirds. It could withstand only one more attack!
"Not yet!"
The next second, Xingtian suddenly grabbed one of the tails that had pierced him and kept pulling, drawing more and more of it out through his chest.
He could feel the strength inside him fading fast. It was a sign that the reactor was about to go dark.
"Aaaaaah!"
Yu Xiao let out a silent roar. Xingtian seized the spike at the end of the tail and drove it into the head of one of the Aggregate Beasts!
Then, heedless of his injuries, Xingtian wrapped both arms around the neck of the last Aggregate Beast and gripped its lower and upper jaws in either hand!
The beast's mouth began to split open bit by bit, green fluid surging in its throat.
Its claws frantically tore at every metal component on Xingtian's body, but nothing could make the hands gripping its head loosen, not even a fraction!
"Die!"
Xingtian wrenched with all his might, splitting the Aggregate Beast's head in two!
That drained the last of the reactor's energy.
All seven Aggregate Beasts had fallen before Xingtian. Only the still-growing Fusion Entity remained!
The system's warnings had long since gone silent for lack of power, and the last glimmer inside the reactor was fading.
Through Yu Xiao's blurred vision, the new Fusion Beast was nearing the end of its hatching. It was a monster twenty meters taller than him, with unimaginable energy gathering in its body.
If it hatched safely, it would all be over.
Xingtian's body swayed with every step, as if it might topple into the sea at any moment.
Clang!
The silver metal arm fell from Xingtian's shoulder and sank into the sea.
Xingtian's reactor had gone dark. Yu Xiao could only keep moving by drawing on the remaining energy as it melted his own body.
The sun sank toward the horizon, and the sea breeze carried a chill against Xingtian's unsteady steps.
Inside the hangar, Bai Ying knelt on the floor, her eyes wet with tears as she watched Xingtian's lonely silhouette approach the Fusion Entity, one step at a time.
"Fight until the very last moment."
The red wrist blade stopped in front of the Fusion Entity and fell still.
Yu Xiao had used up the last of his energy.
Like a giant statue, he remained forever frozen in that moment.
"General, an unidentified object is passing through the atmosphere and descending toward the offshore area outside the hangar!"
General Chen instantly suppressed his emotions and turned his attention to the monitor.
Boom!
After a sonic boom that shook the heavens, a massive black cube pierced through the clouds and plunged toward the sea like a meteor!
"Any signs of life or energy?" General Chen asked, keeping a wary eye on the cube on screen.
"None, General!"
"Then keep your eyes on the new Fusion Beast!" General Chen made his decision at once. "Divert half the firepower from the offshore area and open fire on the Fusion Entity!"
"But Xingtian..."
"No buts!"
General Chen knew the attack would hit the now-inactive Xingtian, but he had no choice.
"Wait..." The communications officer suddenly covered his headset. "They're back! They're back!"
In the distance, two towering figures raced in from the open sea toward the Fusion Entity.
"It's Crimson Hurricane and Raider!"
Rumble!
Before the communications officer had even finished speaking, a deafening explosion erupted outside the hangar!
Nine Golden Crow Fission Missiles launched from the array on Crimson Hurricane's chest. They split in midair into twenty-seven miniature homing missiles and hurtled straight toward the Fusion Beast!
When the smoke cleared, the Fusion Beast roared at the two mechas, dragging its shattered right forelimb behind it!
Its body was coated in viscous green fluid, and its tail had yet to fully extend. But its immense size was still enough to shock everyone in the command room.
"It forcibly interrupted its own hatching to withstand that missile barrage!" General Chen immediately understood the bizarre scene. "Crimson Hurricane, Raider, close in at full speed and attack the target!"
The six giant thrusters on Crimson Hurricane's back roared at full power, propelling the eighty-five-meter giant to an unbelievable speed!
In just a few seconds, Crimson Hurricane shot across the sea like a flying comet and charged at the Fusion Beast!
"Brother Jun, we'll handle this underdeveloped new species. You don't need to lift a finger!" The speaker was one of Crimson Hurricane's pilots, Meng Changqing.
In the blink of an eye, Crimson Hurricane was right in front of the Fusion Beast. He punched its enormous head!
Rumble!
The shockwave from that single punch sent towering waves surging across the sea!
The Fusion Beast staggered backward several steps, crashing into the now-inactive Xingtian and knocking him into the sea. A huge crack had appeared across its face!
"Don't fall over yet! I haven't even started trying!"
Crimson Hurricane's giant fist began to transform, exposing a turbine gearbox beneath its armor, alive with crackling electricity. Five strands of shape-memory alloy, connected to his fingertips, stretched out and compressed the immense energy layer by layer.
"Fifth gear, fully charged. A little gift for your birthday!" Meng Changqing threw the hook with all his might from inside the cockpit!
Bam!
The red fist, crackling with electricity, slammed straight into the Fusion Beast's head. The beast flew away like a rag doll struck by a speeding truck!
At that moment, Raider, racing at full speed, finally reached Crimson Hurricane. Both mechas looked toward the fallen Fusion Beast.
"That's a wrap. You're one step too late, Brother Jun." Meng Changqing made Crimson Hurricane shake out his fist, which was coated in glowing green fluid.
Raider didn't reply. He strode over to the fallen Fusion Beast and hauled it up out of the sea!
All that remained of the Fusion Beast was its sticky body. Its head had dissolved into a pool of sludge and dispersed into the sea, and the gash in its neck was horrifying to behold.
"It really has no signs of life," said Liu Zhenxuan, one of Raider's pilots, finally speaking up.
"After a punch like mine, no one could get back up." Crimson Hurricane flicked at the nonexistent "dust" on his shoulder.
"Save the boasting for after the defense battle."
Inside Crimson Hurricane's cockpit, Meng Changkong, the older brother, glanced at his younger brother, who obediently fell silent.
"General, let us take over the battle from here."
Before you continue