The moment Huang Yan and He Siyu saw the shell stop mid-air, they didn't hesitate for even a second. They used their own psychic energy as a boost, and the others immediately followed suit.
Kes, realizing he had no choice but to take the hit, fell back on human instinct and tried to maneuver his mech out of the way to avoid the vital spot. How could Wang Tianwei let him get away with that? She yanked her grappling hook even tighter.
Kes had no other option. He withdrew the psychic energy he'd been spreading against the others and redirected it to attack Wang Tianwei.
"Don't think I won't actually hurt you just because the Leader gave you a pass!"
"Tsk!"
Wang Tianwei had three shields hovering over her head, but the pain was still excruciating. Yet she didn't back down a single step.
"Can't beat them so you pick on me? Been wanting to take you down a peg for a long time!"
She swallowed the blood rising in her throat and fired a grenade at point-blank range.
"Everyone get clear!"
Fu Xingyuan wasn't in a good position, so he quickly retreated.
Seeing this, Kes launched his grappling hook at her too, and in the blink of an eye, several shells were fired.
"Then nobody runs. Let's see who can take more!"
"Boom! Bang!"
The shells exploded almost at the same time, stunning everyone for a moment.
Zhang Lyra turned around and only saw a flash of fire and black smoke. Her voice trembled as she called out:
"Sister Zebra!?"
No way... Sister Zebra's mech should have solid defensive specs... but it's only a Grade A... Wait, isn't Sir Huang's psychic energy also backing her up?
As the smoke cleared—
A dark metallic barrier on the outside of Wang Tianwei's mech stood arched in front of her like a shield, while she herself held a long blade that had pierced through the shattered glass of the cockpit and skewered straight into the enemy mech's pilot cabin.
The shells had detonated outside her barrier and barely damaged the mech inside. Still, because she was so close by, she took a fair bit of impact.
As the enemy's psychic energy slowly dissipated, Wang Tianwei's agonized, unfocused gaze gradually sharpened back. With her free hand, she tiredly wiped at the blood trickling down from the corner of her eye and her nose. Then her vision cleared once more.
"Pfft, of course I can take more... Didn't see that coming, did you? Big sister's got a shield too."
She really thought a decade surviving the apocalypse meant nothing? Even if the pain drove her senseless, she'd still go for the headshot first!
With a twist of her long blade, the Alpha parasite entrenched in Kes's brain was shredded clean.
After that, Wang Tianwei didn't even dare retract the blade. She just let it drop along with Kes's falling mech.
"No freaking way! Wang Tianwei, that was insane! You okay!?"
Wu Pingzhuo shouted excitedly from far away. That reaction speed was no joke!
As he spoke, he fired a rocket at an enemy mech nearby. Man, she really showed off there—got everyone's blood pumping.
Only then did Wang Tianwei turn back to check on her own mech.
"Whew, no dents! Not here either! So expensive stuff really does have expensive reasons—money well spent."
"..."
Fu Xingyuan finally let out the breath he'd been holding.
"Sister Zebra, that move was frickin' awesome! Ahh, I should've recorded that for you!"
Jian Jingyu's voice was brimming with excitement—Flowing Gold really pulled its weight!
In that case, could that clump of stuff on his own mech be used the same way? He'd have to give it a try.
"Recording it or not doesn't matter anymore..."
Wang Tianwei once again felt that familiar psychic drain she got from doing mech work. She deftly pulled out a pouch of nutrient fluid and shoved it into her mouth.
That parasite said their Leader had spoken about her... So that's why it hadn't attacked her earlier?
Thinking about the fact that the parasite swarm had set their sights on her, Wang Tianwei felt a shiver run down her spine... What could the swarms possibly want with her?
"Wang Tianwei, come over to our side. I've got you covered."
He Siyu caught that her psychic energy was fading and immediately called out.
Wang Tianwei knew well that charging ahead in this state was way too dangerous, so she obediently moved over to the two commanders' midst and provided long-range fire support while everyone else finished things up piecemeal.
With the strongest psychic user dealt with, the remaining "safety officers" and aircraft still wouldn't let them go.
Wu Pingzhuo tried to replicate Zhang Lyra's earlier move, but no matter how many times he pried at the floor panel with his long blade, it wouldn't come off.
Jian Jingyu hurried over to help. Seeing this, he tapped twice next to it with a casual knuckle, and the floor panel popped right off.
"That actually worked!?"
"Yeah! Move it—my turn to shoot."
With a burst of explosions, the second aircraft came crashing down too, crushing a number of pursuing parasites beneath it.
"Are you guys here yet? We can't keep dragging this out—we need to get to the surface now!"
Wu Fangyu watched the parasites and mutant beasts closing in behind them and felt like the fire was practically licking at her eyebrows!
Why weren't these people here yet? We're they not already saying they'd turned the corner ages ago?!
"We're coming, we're coming! You guys head up first—we're almost there!"
Fu Xingyuan couldn't help but glance over at Jian Jingyu.
"...That's still quite a ways off, right?"
Jian Jingyu turned off the pin's comms button.
"They need a bit of hope to push past their limits. That's what tactical class says."
"You actually took tactical class?"
"Mhm, we all did."
Fu Xingyuan felt conflicted. Was it just him, or did this guy's brain seem to work brilliantly in fits and starts?
Valk had no clue this was Qilin's way of boosting morale, but hearing the words "almost there" definitely put a sliver of reassurance in his heart.
"Captain, the two other squads are nearly here!"
The four of them were being hit by concentrated psychic attacks, and all their facial orifices were bleeding to varying degrees.
By constantly keeping their distance from the swarms and star beasts behind them, they'd managed not to take more severe injuries so far.
But continuing to circle right in the danger zone was clearly no longer a viable game plan—the enemies had already mapped out the terrain, and their casualties were dropping with every pass.
At this rate, they'd really get caught.
"Let's get out first. Taylor, drill a hole!"
"Got it."
Taylor wasted no time. He aimed right for a crack in the rock wall above and fired.
The other three quickly brought out their cannons to provide cover fire. At this point they didn't care whether the cave collapsed at all—if the debris crushed those swarms and star beasts, all the better!
"BOOM!"
A massive gap exploded open above them, wide enough for two mechs to pass through side-by-side.
"Done!"
"Move!"
Several grappling hooks shot out. Everyone grabbed a backup rope and switched on the anti-gravity systems to ascend.
With their psychic energy, they held off the swarm surging up from below. Hiranuma Yusho had just gotten to the mouth of the hole when Wu Fangyu, who had already reached the surface, pulled him up.
Plenty of star beasts, too big to squeeze through the hole, were stuck inside the glacial cave—yet they still piled on top of one another, scrambling to crawl out.
Barry burst out to find a rescue aircraft almost skimming the ground right outside. It took three of his shells to tear through its fire-control conduit. After noticing what seemed to be only one pilot left inside, he switched from EM cannons to a rocket launcher for better armor penetration.
"BOOM!"
"Quick—Captain, our stuff might still be in there!"
Hiranuma Yusho was still firing shell after shell into the ice cave. Hearing this, he called out:
"Taylor, you cover the lower path!"
"Roger!"
Wu Fangyu ran over and, in a few swift moves, tore open the hatch of the rescue aircraft. Hiranuma Yusho only left his mech after using his psychic energy to confirm there were no living things inside. He then slipped into the cabin.
Before the match, they'd turned in their optical comps and backup storage orbs. Without a doubt, they'd be locked inside the central safe.
"See if you can crack it."
Wu Fangyu stepped forward and tried. Her brows wrinkled into a tight knot.
"No good, Captain. They never taught us that in school. I wonder if Sister Zebra knows how?"
