Helping Others

Roaring waves, firing mechs, severed tentacles, roaring behemoths.

When a pure beam of light descended from the heavens, piercing the monster and the wormhole it was blasting towards, everything froze.

It was a deafening clamor, and also the silence of all things perishing.

The starlight rising from the sea suddenly froze mid-air, then, with gravity reversed, plunged back into the collapsing wormhole.

Fission energy capable of destroying the entire land bloomed like an infinitely growing white flower, as if taking root on the planet's surface.

Blinding light continuously climbed towards the sky, yet was ceaselessly pulled into the vortex.

The destructive shockwave hurled all the seawater within several miles into the air, revealing the pockmarked seabed.

Dozens of mechs were flung towards the shore like bowling balls, unable to move.

Even the transport fleet hovering in the sky, affected by the violent airflow, swayed and deviated from its original position.

Splash!

Ten seconds later, the seawater rained down like a celestial river.

This was the first sound everyone heard.

[Warning, 50% of full body armor damaged!]

Xing Tian struggled to stand up from the deep pit and looked at the spot where the behemoth should have been.

The wormhole had vanished, and the behemoth was nowhere to be seen.

The golden sun rose from the horizon, dispelling the gloomy clouds. Sunlight shone on the devastated coastline, warming the battered mechs.

"Wormhole collapsed, energy reaction has disappeared." Yuan Zhen picked up the communicator and announced the outcome on the public channel.

"Everyone, we succeeded."

No one cheered. No one erupted in excitement.

There was only the heavy breathing of exhausted people.

On the transport ships, many people removed their headsets, covered their faces, and collapsed into their seats.

On the shore, most pilots gazed at the shimmering sea, reluctant to get up for a long time.

It was a complex mix of emotions: joy, relief, regret, fatigue...

They had just resolved a major crisis, and this operation would undoubtedly become a monument in the history of the war.

However, the war was not over.

The behemoth Leviathan still lurked in the center of the boundless sea, like a sword hanging over humanity's neck, a constant reminder that danger had not passed.

But no matter what, humanity had temporarily gained an advantage.

Now, it was time to return.

Four hours later.

Gan Country, Cangyue City, First Branch of the Watcher Alliance.

Five large legion-class transport ships were docked on the vast tarmac. Among the bustling crowds, engineering vehicles and drones could still be seen.

There weren't enough hangars to accommodate dozens of mechs simultaneously, so the maintenance crew simply left the mechs in the transport ships' makeshift hangars and took the engineering vehicles aboard for repairs.

However, beneath this busy scene, everyone harbored an irrepressible curiosity and urge.

A few minutes later, the scene everyone had been anticipating finally appeared.

The massive hangar doors of the Xuanse Cangqiong transport ship opened, and two mechs, one black and one white, emerged from their respective makeshift hangars.

A pilot no one had ever heard of, and a mech with self-awareness.

Either one would have been major news, let alone both appearing together – it was practically a miracle!

Instantly, the surging crowd began to discuss.

"I heard that little girl never even went to pilot academy. I don't know where Xuanse Cangqiong got the guts to let her pilot a mech?"

"You don't know about that. She was personally recruited by General Chen, and she even set the record for the highest neural synchronization rate!"

"Look at her. She used the new mech she got halfway through the mission as if it were nothing, piloting it better than someone at our base who trained for half a year."

"Are you guys focusing on the wrong thing? Even if the girl is a genius, she's still human. Where are you going to find a mech that acts on its own?"

"That's just the auto-pilot function, isn't it? Third-generation mechs all have that!"

"Shut up. Auto-pilot still requires the pilot to achieve neural synchronization with the mech first. Xing Tian is genuinely pilotless, it has its own consciousness!"

"Oh my god… Monsters are already a headache, and now even mechs are becoming sentient? Good thing he's on our side."

Yu Xiao's receiver picked up all these conversations clearly.

However, the one next to him clearly hadn't heard a single word.

"How did you become like this?" Bai Ying was very curious about what had happened to Xing Tian.

"You can think of it as me merging with two other mechs," Yu Xiao offered a relatively common explanation.

"Ah! You have this function too… So are you Xing Tian, Cobra, or Scorpion right now?"

"Those two mechs don't have self-awareness; I'm just… controlling their bodies…" Yu Xiao almost got himself tangled up and quickly changed the subject. "Just knowing I'm Xing Tian is enough. What about you? How did you get here on a transport ship, and with a new mech?"

"The escape pod has a built-in signal broadcast. After you threw me out, I ran into a transport ship from Xuanse Cangqiong." Bai Ying narrated calmly. "Then I found out that after General Chen received Gao Tianzhi's call, he immediately contacted his friends in Omega."

"Friends in Omega?"

"Yes, the Vice President of the Hall of Omniscience, one of Omega's founders, Yuan Zhen, Dr. Yuan."

Yu Xiao was internally impressed!

So General Chen knew top management from Omega all along!

He originally thought Xuanse Cangqiong had offended Chris, and thus Omega, but it turned out Chris had offended a friend of his own superior!

No wonder General Chen dared to leave Xing Tian at the base. As expected, people in those positions are all seasoned veterans…

"As for the transport ship, every legion actually has one. But Xuanse Cangqiong is tight on budget; operating it costs a lot, so they haven't used it much… However, knowing we had an urgent matter, General Chen immediately ordered one to be sent."

"What about your new mech? It can't be another hidden treasure from the base, can it?" This was the question Yu Xiao cared about most – if the base had this mech, why would they need his old bones to protect everyone?

"This mech… Dr. Yuan lent it to Xuanse Cangqiong after learning we were in trouble in the Silent Graveyard." Bai Ying hesitated, which was rare. "She said the mech is still in its development phase and lacks combat data, so she's lending it to us for use, which will also help her make adjustments later."

Well, she certainly went all out to help!

Experimental mechs like this cost far more than standardized, mature mechs. If she could even lend this out, Yu Xiao would believe they were more than just friends, perhaps even siblings separated at birth.

But that thought vanished from Yu Xiao's mind in less than a second.

He didn't believe in good things falling from the sky. If a pie were to hit him, it would definitely come with a price.

If Yu Xiao guessed correctly, Xuanse Cangqiong must have something that interested Yuan Zhen.

Thinking of this, his scalp tingled.

Because the first thing that came to his mind was himself.