The two individual soldiers from the First Military Academy's Second Squad felt their bodies growing increasingly stiff from the cold. This couldn't go on...
So they decided to pilot their mechas to surface as quickly as possible.
If they couldn't beat Qilin underwater, surely they could do it above the surface? It wasn't like the enemy could stay submerged in the sea forever, right?
But how could Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra, who had received strict instructions from their own mecha engineer, let them leave so easily?
Each fired a hooked lasso. Trying to run? Get back here!
Xu Mo watched in despair as the surface, which had been well within reach, grew farther and farther away. Turning his head, he pressed the rocket launcher attack button on his mecha. Sorry, Qilin! You forced my hand!
Unexpectedly, Wang Tianwei fired a metal net at him right at that moment, made of an unknown material.
The rocket hit the metal net and exploded instantly!
Those on the surface could see a flash of white light underwater, followed by the two ships being pushed even further apart by the explosion's shockwave.
Huang Yan and Ye Yingxuan, who had been fighting in the air, were forced to pull back and observe the water. Lucas seized the opportunity to fire an anti-personnel missile at Huang Yan, but it was intercepted mid-air by an enemy rocket and exploded.
"Freak! Why are you always paying attention to me when you're fighting the captain!?"
Seeing Huang Yan's second rocket coming his way, Lucas quickly piloted his mecha to dodge.
Calculating the time, he couldn't help but sweat for his two teammates underwater.
"You two need to drag the battlefield into the air right now! Your mechas' waterproofing won't hold up!"
Xu Mo's attack was blocked, and he was constantly adjusting his angle to deal with Zhang Lyra's ramming. Where would he find the time to listen to his teammate's nonsense?
Was it that he didn't want to go up? Did it look like these three were willing to let them go?
Moreover, the enemy had barely used any firepower the entire time! It was as if they were going easy on them, which was incredibly frustrating!
Wang Kaiyu fired several grenades in a row, causing Wang Tianwei to lose several fishing nets at once.
"Brat! You don't know the value of things until you're the one paying! Goldfish, I'll move in close! You keep your distance and guard against their firepower!"
"Got it! They're moving slower and slower, probably freezing half to death! Sister Zebra, we need to end this quickly."
"Understood."
Wang Tianwei first stored the captured mutant cuttlefish into the temporary storage bay, then hit the accelerator and charged toward her little brother.
Wang Kaiyu was shivering uncontrollably in his cockpit. Seeing his sister approaching, he still wouldn't give up and tried to fire more shells.
It was just a grenade, couldn't she at least let him land one hit?
To his surprise, the submarine in front of him extended a mechanical arm right under his nose. Then, a familiar object slid past the front of his observation camera.
"???"
Wasn't that the gun barrel from his mecha?
Wait! That piece of white metal couldn't be his mecha's outer shell, could it?
The dismantling tool on Wang Tianwei's mechanical arm continued to spin at high speed.
"Outer shell, power connection system... Oh ho, Lucas even used an anti-corrosion coating?"
Wang Kaiyu finally remembered to defend himself, but by now the screen in front of him was entirely filled with the bright red word "MALFUNCTION"!
He barely managed two physical attacks before his sister's mechanical arm slapped his mecha hard on the head!
"Behave! Dismantling a mecha underwater is dangerous, don't you know that?"
After saying that, she fired another lasso at close range, tying him up even tighter.
"...???"
Wait! Sis!?
"Why are you talking in our squad's comms channel!?"
Wang Kaiyu felt like he had been slapped silly. Was the communication channel shared or something?
"Ah, crossed wires... Don't mind the details. Is there anything your dear older sister isn't allowed to hear!?"
Over there, Xu Mo couldn't bear to watch and tried to come to the rescue, but he was pinned down by two soldiers. His power system had already been smashed by Zhang Lyra, and seawater had seeped up to his calves.
"Captain! We can't hold on, we need backup down here."
Hearing Xu Mo's cry for help, Ye Yingxuan's mental barrier wavered for a split second.
In that very instant, Huang Yan seized the opportunity and struck.
A sharp, intense pain pierced Ye Yingxuan's mind, as if someone had driven an awl straight into his brain and twisted it 360 degrees...
"Argh!"
Seeing the white and blue mecha struggling to even stand, Lucas grew frantic. He simply transformed into a tank mid-air and fired three consecutive shots: Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Huang Yan! Don't push it too far!"
Huang Yan blocked all three shells, and his mental energy immediately pierced through.
"Hiss!! Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!"
"..."
Hearing his screams, Huang Yan finally eased up a bit.
"Don't touch our ship."
Ye Yingxuan's forehead was covered in cold sweat; even moving a finger was excruciatingly painful.
They had all trained together in the camp. When did this guy become capable of doing this?
Just a couple of days ago, he was being tortured half to death by Elizabeth's mental attacks, and now he had become a second Elizabeth?
Could he have been faking it back then? As expected of Qilin... so devious!!
The First Military Academy commander, always accustomed to fair and open competition, was furious.
"All units! Blow their ship to pieces!"
"Copy that!"
"Copy that!"
"..."
Wang Kaiyu heard the captain's orders, but all the weapons on his mecha had already been dismantled by his sister.
No wonder everyone said his sister was a once-in-a-century genius mecha engineer...
With this speed, he hadn't even seen Lucas do it this fast on land! And this was while he was actively trying to resist?
More and more seawater was flooding in, now reaching his waist, and his legs trembled uncontrollably.
Heh... just destroy me already.
Xu Mo was still firing continuously on his end. One or two shots actually slipped past and hit the Qilin team members.
But for some reason, his shells hitting that "underwater porcupine" felt like nothing more than a tickle? Aside from blowing off two gun barrels on her back, the enemy didn't even lose their balance?
Gritting his teeth, he fired the only heavy torpedo equipped on his mecha. Seeing this, Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra didn't dare take it head-on, and their rockets were a step too slow!
Boom!
The torpedo blew a massive hole in their ship!
"Hiss..."
"Now that's just playing dirty!"
Jian Jingyu also spoke up in the Second Squad's channel, flanking Xu Mo from the left alongside Zhang Lyra on the right.
"No more bombing, or we'll have Sister Zebra drag you all out and feed you to the star sharks!"
Xu Mo had initially felt quite a sense of accomplishment for hitting their ship, but the next second, the rapid-fire cannon on Jian Jingyu's mecha locked onto his energy core.
On the other side, all the weapons on the back of the "underwater porcupine" were revealed, every single muzzle aimed straight at his vitals...
Wang Tianwei's eerie voice echoed in his ears.
"Xu Mo, is it? Heh, you've got guts, kid! Equipping a heavy torpedo on your mecha? Just wait for me to dismantle it personally!"
