The words 'General Ling' reverberated like thunder across the entire battlefield, jolting everyone's hearts. The two sides which had been at each other's throats abruptly stopped fighting, looking up at the mecha which had appeared so unexpectedly.
This mecha was much bigger and grander than the imperial mecha. The imperial mecha, which was already one size bigger than regular mecha, was just like a petite maiden, appearing extremely feeble in comparison. It possessed a classic and simple outer form unlike other mecha. The blazing phoenix totem on its chest and the five stars symbolizing its nationality emblazoned on its right arm could be clearly seen by everyone present.
All of this stirred up everyone on the battlefield. The warriors of the Huaxia Federation were shouting in excitement, uncoordinated chants of 'General Ling' slowly merging into a unified chorus ... they were suffused with joy, and there were even many warriors who had tears streaming down their faces as they cheered.
In contrast, the flames of arrogance stoked by the reinforcement of the imperial operator were instantly dampened. Some mecha operators were even so terrified that they began to retreat — it was clear to see how nerve-wracking the emergence of this mecha was to them.
If it could be said that the battlefield had previously been plunged into silence by the appearance of the two imperial mecha, then the appearance of this mecha had caused the entire battle to freeze. The enemies, in particular, were scared stiff.This was because everyone knew the identity behind this mecha who had suddenly descended upon the battlefield to block the imperial mecha's horrific attack. He was one of the twelve god-class operators of the Federation, the god-class operator termed to be the strongest in the future — he was one of the ten great generals of the Huaxia Federation, Ling Xiao!
Ling Xiao's reputation did not only echo throughout Huaxia; he was an awe-inspiring existence across the whole world. The enemies knew very well that the moment they made any wrong move, Ling Xiao would definitely eliminate them in a heartbeat. Against such an ultimate weapon, they had no chance of victory.
In the ground command centre, the commander there gave himself a hard slap as soon as he saw Ling Xiao suddenly appear. The sharp pain woke him up, and he began laughing wildly even as his eyes began to redden. Mumbling to himself, he said, "General Ling has really come. He's here, he's here ... victory will inevitably be ours, the Huaxia Federation's!" That final phrase was shouted at top volume. It was clear to see how much he had struggled and suffered in the battle thus far. And now, he could finally let it all out.
This cry of his jolted all the other staff in the command centre out of their stunned stupor. They immediately began to dance and cheer — within the span of a few short minutes, they had risen from the pits of despair to having hope again. Several officers with weaker hearts even slumped to the ground, unable to get up in the interim as they both cried and laughed in relief.
Rushing onto the scene, Ling Xiao's gaze had turned instantly to where Ling Lan lived on campus. When he saw thick clouds of smoke billowing from the dormitory district and the chaos and destruction within it, his gaze turned cold as he realised he had still been a step too late.
Ling Xiao's heart was filled with frustration and anxiety; he did not know whether his daughter was alright. Though typically calm, he finally could not suppress the killing intent in his heart. Without hesitation, he raised the gun in his hands and aimed it at the imperial mecha who had caused this terrible scene.
He absolutely would not allow this imperial mecha who may have harmed his precious daughter to escape his grasp. He would make the other pay the price in blood!"Ling Xiao, you cannot do this." The imperial operator sensed a great threat; he knew that the other's killing intent had been invoked. Once one entered the imperial realm, they would be able to sense an opponent's killing intent.
The imperial operator knew very well that he was no match for a god-class operator. Against a god-class operator, other than rivals of the same rank, the only other way to deal with them was to rely on a considerable number of fearless imperial operators to employ mutual destruction methods ... perhaps then there would still be some chance of injuring the other. Take a good look — that's only to injure, not destroy. At their level, no miraculous cross-level upset was possible.
"If you kill me, you'll violate the international joint declaration," barked the imperial operator.
"Since the moment you first chose to open fire and shoot, you have already lost the right to say that to me," replied Ling Xiao coldly. Anyone who dared touch his daughter should be prepared to die.
Ling Xiao pulled the trigger without hesitation, and a pale blue beam shot out from the muzzle of the gun, heading straight for the opponent's mecha.
The imperial operator instantly kicked his mecha into flash evasion. In the blink of an eye, the imperial mecha had already dashed several hundred metres from his original location. Everyone on the ground saw the imperial mecha evade the beam Ling Xiao had shot. However, just as the Federation warriors were about to sigh and the enemy cheer, the very next second, everything changed. Everyone stared in silent stupefaction at the imperial mecha, unable to make any sound.
The right arm of the imperial mecha which had already flashed a hundred or so metres away had actually been destroyed. That massive Line of Oblivion which had been hoisted on his right shoulder slipped due to the loss of support to crash heavily into the ground, making a loud crash.
What in the world had happened? Very soon, some of the mecha operators with quick minds quickly realised that the imperial mecha's right arm must have been destroyed by that beam Ling Xiao had shot. But, how had the beam which had already been evaded still manage to strike the imperial mecha's arm?
Almost everyone was unable to figure it out, completely baffled, because they did not believe that their eyes could have been mistaken. Only Tang Yu's gaze flashed, a trace of confusion on his brow despite having some vague flash of comprehension that he just could not put words to.
Only the imperial operator who had been shot knew exactly how he had been hit. When the opponent had fired, he had used the highest form of shooting skill —— Temporal Shadow!
Temporal Shadow was actually a form of illusion — that is, the speed and the beam of light seen by the attacker were in fact all fake. In other words, when Ling Xiao had shot, the opponent had already fallen victim to a kind of misperception; this was an ability that only god-class operators could possess. The imperial operator only understood because he had once received some guidance from a god-class operator in his own country. The imperial operator felt that he might have already been hit even before he evaded — it's just that he had only noticed it after he evaded.
This was a god-class operator — he had no way to resist! The imperial operator finally experienced the same helplessness ace operators felt when they faced him ... Before he could regain his mental balance, a dark shadow had already appeared in front of him.
Pow pow pow pow! Four beams of cold light flashed by and in the next second, the imperial mecha's sole remaining left arm had been sliced cleanly off. The final blow of the sword pierced mercilessly through the imperial mecha's cockpit. With Ling Xiao's capabilities, he could certainly have finished off the opponent in one blow. However, it would be hard to quell Ling Xiao's rage with just one blow ...
The imperial mecha, who had strutted around proudly, terrorizing the entire battlefield, was eliminated so efficiently — everyone present at the scene was gobsmacked. Although they had always known that god-class mecha were ultimate weapons of the human world, that was after all just a legend. Many warriors would never witness a god-class mecha operator in battle all their lives, and so they would never truly comprehend what that description truly meant. Right then, after truly seeing a god-class operator in action, they finally understood why only god-class mecha were called the ultimate weapons of the human world ... the imperial mecha which had so frightened them was nothing before the god-class mecha. Like any other mecha before a god-class mecha, its existence was at the level of an ant.
Ling Xiao's rage was not appeased by destroying one imperial mecha; in the next moment, he had already appeared in the air above the armoured troops.
"Activate Divine Punishment system!" His own daughter's life hung in the balance because of these intruders. Ling Xiao's heart was surging with killing intent — without hesitation, he unleashed the god-class mecha's most fearsome weapon, the Divine Punishment system.
"Command received by , Divine Punishment activated!" In less than a second, twelve beautiful wings unfurled from god-class mecha 's back — the wings absorbed energy rapidly, reaching its peak level in the blink of an eye.
"Fire!" Ling Xiao said icily as he pressed the trigger in his hands without mercy. Twelve beams of light swept towards the enemy formations held off by the armoured troops, leaving white spots in everyone's vision for several seconds ... when the light faded and everyone's vision returned to normal, twelve lanes of white space had been carved into the ground. In the spaces, there was no longer any sign of mecha, not even debris — it was as if the mecha had been instantly vaporized.
This devastating firepower once again drove the point home on why god-class mecha were called the ultimate weapons of the human world — nothing could stand in the way of this power.
One round of Divine Punishment had almost wiped out half of the enemy mecha; the entire enemy camp suddenly appeared so empty and insubstantial. Ling Xiao's rage was only slightly alleviated; ending his attack, he once more teleported to hover in the air and decisively took charge of the general military-wide commlink and ordered, "All forces, attack! Clear the battlefield!" Since they dared to invade, then they should be prepared to die — Ling Xiao had never intended for any of these enemies to leave the planet alive.
"Yes, sir!" At Ling Xiao's command, all of the Huaxian soldiers responded spiritedly. They had been lifted from despair to hope over the course of a few minutes, and had now seen the budding fruit of victory from the heights of hope. Right then, they were fully motivated — the frustration from fighting at a disadvantage, completely overpowered, had finally disappeared. All of the warriors were bursting with energy, leaping towards those remaining enemy mecha like a pack of hungry wolves ...
While everyone charged at the remaining enemies, only Tang Yu flew towards Ling Xiao, shouting, "General Ling, there is still one more imperial mecha. He has already infiltrated the military academy ..."
Ling Xiao had already been planning to go check on Ling Lan in the dormitory district. Hearing what Tang Yu said, his heart clenched — for the other imperial mecha to let go of the obvious battle merits here to secretly infiltrate the school, what exactly was the other after?
Ling Xiao had the same thought as Ling Lan. The very first thing that came to mind was — could it be that his daughter's actions at the Swift Dragon base had been exposed? However, Ling Xiao very quickly eliminated this possibility. Although he had been staying at the military academy for the past period of time, he had still remained well-informed of the situation on the outside. There had been no sign at all that the Caesar Empire had sensed anything new ...
Suddenly, Ling Xiao's face shifted subtly, and in the very next second, he had vanished from Tang Yu's sight. Only his words echoed in the air, "Leave it to me!"
Ling Xiao unstintingly expended his mecha's power to utilize the Divine Wind system. Just a moment before, he had received a message from his daughter. The message consisted of only a set of coordinates, along with one word: Help!
Ling Xiao was consumed with worry and rage — he could almost guarantee that that last bloody imperial mecha must be at those coordinates!
"Lan-er, hold on for another 5 seconds. Daddy will be there soon~!" Ling Xiao was very confident that he would definitely be able to rush to the scene within 5 seconds using the Divine Wind system. However, he also knew that, up against an imperial mecha, 5 seconds could very well already decide whether his daughter would live or die ...
