Among all the military equipment used by the Yi family and the enemy, Song Jin only discovered that the enemy had three Hawk-class warships using the 384 energy system. They were even being used as support ships—a complete waste of resources.

The mech serial numbers of the two had already become known to the enemy. They had attracted quite a few warrior mechs halfway through their flight. 07 couldn’t hold out much longer, and to save time, Song Jin continued to increase the speed of his attacks. He seemed to have no need to think about his path forward or how to break through and kill the enemy, fighting entirely on instinct.

The enemy forces retreated steadily under his rapid attacks. The number of warrior mechs closing in gradually decreased; they followed at a distance, not daring to rush forward recklessly. Li Xiao watched with his heart in his throat and frowned, trying to stop him: “Tone it down.”

Song Jin didn’t reduce his speed: “I’ve already toned it down a lot.”

Li Xiao: “…”

The hovering altitude of the Hawk-class warships was lower than the main combat units; they were used for repairing and replacing mechs for warriors damaged on the battlefield, functioning like mobile equipment supply stations. The closer they got, the more enemy forces there were.

When the Yi family soldiers who had been responsible for fighting these warrior mechs saw them retreating, they prepared to pursue their victory and push the front line further outward, so they followed. After flying a certain distance, they discovered two white competition mechs deep inside the enemy lines, pushing even further than their own vanguard troops at the very front.

The captain of the vanguard mech unit, who was the first to discover the situation, tried to connect to the channels of those two mechs. After several failures, he became restless.

“What is going on? Why aren’t you guys keeping an eye on the students?! How could you let them rush so far ahead?!”

The public channel signal was still unstable, and the voices of many people came through intermittently.

“Aren’t the students all guarding the observation towers?”

“Holy crap! They’re surrounded by dozens of warriors! I have too many enemies here to get over there!”

“My God, one of them is the Second Highness! Notify the command center quickly!”

“They broke through the enemy’s defensive line! The enemies in Area 78 have all been led away by them; it’s a good opportunity, Captain!”

“Did you contact the Highness? Hurry up, Captain, quit stalling.”

Under pressure from his subordinates, the captain of the Area 78 squad gritted his teeth and ordered over the public channel: “Squads one, two, and three of Area 78, continue pursuing and cover the Second Highness! Everyone else, support Area 79!”

Everyone: “Yes!”

In a situation where long-range weapons could not be used, the Yi family army’s ability to control their mechs and their team tactics were superior to the enemy’s. Even while being at a disadvantage in numbers, they managed to gradually gain an advantage. Not long after Area 78 broke through the defensive line, Area 79 followed, followed by Area 80… then 81…

The enemy’s defensive line faced collapse and was forced to continue retreating. Song Jin and Li Xiao only wanted to get some energy stones from the enemy, but they accidentally triggered a domino effect, accelerating the speed at which the Yi family army pushed the front line.

Hearing the sounds coming from behind, Li Xiao looked back to see a group of knights chasing after them, helping them clear out enemy forces. Voices came out intermittently from the public channel.

“Hi… Highness… This is the 3rd Legion mech unit. Please return immediately; leave the front line to us.”

The support had arrived; naturally, Li Xiao couldn’t refuse: “We need to get some energy stones. You guys come coordinate with us.”

The squad captain thought he had misheard and was anxious: “If you need energy stones, go to our supply ship! These are the enemy’s! You’ve gone the wrong way!”

The other members of the mech unit were silent for a long time after hearing this. The Second Highness wants energy stones, and as a result, he got lost and ran to the enemy camp for supplies? This… how is this a little cute?

“We didn’t go the wrong way.” Li Xiao quickly scanned the surrounding situation.

The nearest Hawk-class warship was being used as a supply station. Energy storage compartments were usually located very close to the hangar, making it convenient for front-line mechs to quickly replenish—this differed from the layout of standard warships. However, warriors used model 362 energy stones, not the same model as the warships; he didn’t know if the energy was stored together.

“Let’s split up. You go to the hangar; I’ll go to the conventional energy compartment at the tail.” Song Jin’s voice came over the channel.

His voice was very recognizable, and added to the labels of being a Shengya person and the Second Highness’s partner, very few Dansi people didn’t recognize him. The members of the mech unit subconsciously went to look for Song Jin’s position, happening to see that white mech perform a triple back-spin, instantly severing the circuitry of four warrior mechs, then immediately shifting the blade’s edge to block a warrior’s blade in front, leaping backward, and launching another set of fierce combo attacks.

Even the squad captain of the mech unit was surprised. Choosing to attack when one should be defending—he had never seen such an aggressive fighting style on the battlefield; it was too crazy! How much confidence in your own technique does one need to play like this? However, judging by the results, Song Jin certainly had the capital to play this way.

Time was limited, and not giving Li Xiao much time to think, he quickly gave several orders to the squad captain: “You are responsible for covering us. Get the energy stones and withdraw before their main force of reinforcements arrives.”

Protecting the Second Highness was a given, and it wouldn’t change based on whether they got the energy stones or not, but the squad captain still didn’t quite understand: “What energy stones are so important that they must be taken from here? It’s too dangerous!”

No matter how he thought about it, the Second Highness’s life was more valuable than energy stones!

Li Xiao: “Only here has them; it relates to whether the enemy’s light cannons can be successfully launched.”

The squad captain’s face changed. Thinking of how all mechs had suddenly become unable to fire bullets, he understood instantly. After acknowledging, he connected to the combat units in the surrounding sectors: “Is there any spare manpower? Come to me immediately to help!”

Furious voices from other squad captains came over the public channel—

“Where could there be spare people? Are you dreaming?”

“If it’s too strenuous, ease up a bit; adjusting people randomly will cause accidents.”

“Where have you all charged to? Don’t be too impatient!”

“Why do I see two students in the front?”

The squad captain didn’t listen to them continue: “Cut the crap?! Come over quickly to assist the Second Highness in completing the mission! If we can’t complete it, everyone is finished!”

There was a moment of silence on the public channel, followed by the serious voices of various squad captains.

“Arriving immediately!”

Soon, a small portion of personnel were pulled from various nearby sectors and quickly gathered to help clean up the warrior mechs that had gone to provide support. Charging near the Hawk-class warship, Song Jin turned his direction toward the tail of the warship, noticed the situation out of the corner of his eye, and asked Li Xiao: “How long can they hold out? Will they be okay?”

“The Dansi army may not be as good as Shengya’s, but—” Li Xiao flew straight toward the open hangar entrance, his mech performing several rolls in the air to avoid the rushing warriors, “—dealing with this kind of army of unknown origin is a piece of cake.”

Song Jin hummed a laugh: “You certainly have a lot of confidence in them.”

Li Xiao naturally had confidence. In his previous life, it was these people who won against Meng Jian’s coalition forces. If the army was already in a complete mess, no matter how strong his own ability was, he wouldn’t be able to save Dansi.

Meng Jian had channels to obtain the equipment and personnel configuration of the Yi family army this time, and he knew the Yi family army’s strength inside and out. Holding this intelligence was equivalent to controlling the entire situation, not to mention that there was a mole inside the Yi family army. Meng Jian had prepared very thoroughly for this operation, calculating that the Yi family army would lose. With the blessing of military equipment, the enemy was indeed better at fighting than the Yi family army, but now that they had lost all their weapons, that advantage was gone. Relying purely on technique and tactics, how could these people be better than an orthodox legion from the military academy?

There were many warriors flying out of the hangar entrance; as soon as they saw Li Xiao, they all surrounded him. Li Xiao locked onto the easiest angle to break through, increased his altitude sharply, and turned his long blade to pierce the nearest warrior, kicking it toward the other warriors who were chasing him. The speed was so fast that the warriors behind didn’t have time to dodge and were hit head-on, which in turn affected the other surrounding warriors. While they were adjusting, Li Xiao didn’t stop for a second, traced an arc in the air, dove into the hangar entrance, took advantage of some warriors flying out of the gates to blend in, and broke through three sets of gates to successfully enter the hangar.

The vast hangar was boundless, with war-damaged mechs and intact spare mechs stored in separate areas. Li Xiao quickly scanned the nearby structure and soon locked onto a row of mechs that were replenishing energy. That was the energy storage compartment. The white mech was too conspicuous; as soon as it entered the hangar, it attracted everyone’s attention. Li Xiao had only flown a short distance before he was besieged by a swarm of warriors. Li Xiao only needed to make them lose their ability to move or fight, specifically aiming at the arm circuitry and main circuitry when attacking. Blades slashed across the mech’s shell, sparks showering everywhere. Li Xiao was unstoppable; the enemy forces retreated steadily, unable to stop him even with human-wave tactics, and began to panic.

The public channel was in chaos.

“The enemy has broken into the supply ship, bring people over quickly!”

“It’s heading to the energy compartment, stop it!”

“Can’t stop it, can’t stop it at all!”

“We can’t get in, the enemy has surrounded the supply ship! You guys hold out for now!”

“Easy for you to say, we’re about to be crushed!”

“Number 2 energy compartment has also been infiltrated!”

On the other side, Song Jin, under the cover of the knights, entered from a hangar near the tail, which was basically empty. Ignoring the pile of warriors following him, Song Jin quickly bypassed various obstacles and headed straight for the tail energy compartment. Different models of warships had different internal plans, but the locations of the energy compartments were similar.

After going inside, Song Jin was even more certain that this Hawk-class warship was designed by imitating Shengya’s Flying Eagle V29, but that was a model from thirty years ago, which had been retired for over twenty years. Song Jin’s expression was terrifyingly cold. Things like warships wouldn’t flow into the private sector even if they were retired, and it was even less possible to publicly disclose the design drawings. As a hostile country that hadn’t established diplomatic relations, Shengya had never sold any weapons to Dansi. Being able to be similar to this extent, only one possibility remained—someone in the Shengya military had leaked the secret. No wonder they used the 384 energy system.

Near the energy compartment, the long blade in Song Jin’s hand performed a flourish, and he thrust the blade fiercely into the gap of the metal door. Under the electromagnetic bombardment, the warship’s AI had already lost its function and couldn’t control the opening and closing of the compartment door. In other words, this door wasn’t locked now. Song Jin increased his horsepower, turned the blade, and violently opened the compartment door. Before he had time to enter, the warriors behind caught up, their blade tips piercing right in front of him. Song Jin kicked a warrior’s long blade out of alignment, blocked other attacks, and stuck the mechanical hand into the gap of the door to push it open. The three warriors in front were caught in the aftermath and paused for a moment. Other warriors attacked Song Jin simultaneously, but just as the blade tips were about to touch him, the white mech suddenly flashed and disappeared in front of them.

“He entered the energy compartment!”

The warriors immediately chased inside. The energy stored in the energy storage compartment was clear at a glance. Song Jin had no time to worry about those warriors and quickly checked the energy types in each zone. He looked through them all and still didn’t find the 384-model energy stones. Song Jin clicked his tongue in frustration: “I don’t have it here; do you have it there?”

“I’m still looking.”

Li Xiao looked at the approaching energy compartment. “You get out of there first.”

To save time, Li Xiao avoided the entrance where mechs replenished energy and bypassed it in the other direction. Warriors didn’t need to replenish 384 energy; it couldn’t be placed at that entrance. Hundreds of warriors surrounded Li Xiao from different directions. Li Xiao moved toward the metal door while fighting, pried open the door with the tip of his blade, and flashed inside. Sure enough, he saw the storage area for 384 energy stones in this direction.

“Found it.”

Li Xiao was just about to fly toward that direction when the mech suddenly issued a warning sound.

[Energy is about to be exhausted.]

[System is unstable; to ensure the safety of the mechtician, please proceed to a maintenance point immediately.]

Li Xiao ignored the warning and flew toward the storage area. Noticing the movement behind him, he wanted to dodge to the side, but the mech had severe lag. With a bang, the warrior blade severed his right arm, and the long blade and arm fell together.

[Warning! Mech is about to stop running! Please proceed to a maintenance point immediately!]

Under the electromagnetic bombardment, being able to withstand the attacks of so many warriors—as a civilian mech, the quality was already top-notch. Li Xiao immediately made a judgment, landed his mech, and opened the safety buckle simultaneously. Staying in a mech without mobility was just waiting for death. This was a hangar, and there were as many mechs as one wanted. Li Xiao opened the emergency escape exit and jumped down. The next moment, the mech was pierced through by a group of warriors.

He ran out of the energy storage compartment, and the warriors chased after him, their blade tips constantly stabbing toward him. Li Xiao dodged calmly, scanned his surroundings, and locked onto the nearest target.

Enemy public channel—

“Who is going down to finish him?!”

“His skill is even more impressive than his mech technique; if you want to go, go yourself.”

“He doesn’t have a gun, what are you afraid of?”

“Do you know he doesn’t have a gun?”

“Stop arguing! I have a way.”

Li Xiao had just run near the target when he suddenly heard a roar, and the three gates of the hangar opened simultaneously. The strong suction force made Li Xiao’s body hang in the air, flying uncontrollably toward the outside of the compartment door. Li Xiao flew over ten meters in an instant, grabbed the mech shell on the side, and moved to a sheltered place while steadying his body against the gale.

07: [Energy is critical! I’ve increased the launch interval to five seconds, which is only enough to support three minutes!]

Li Xiao’s face went cold. He looked up at the mech cockpit ten meters away and climbed up along the mech’s arm. The mechticians among the warriors saw that they couldn’t kill Li Xiao even like this, and became anxious, continuing to hack toward him. Li Xiao grabbed the shell gap to dodge. Hearing 09’s prompt suddenly in his ear, he kicked off the mech shell and let go when the warriors made their move again. The strong wind force threw Li Xiao out of the compartment door in an instant.

Thousands of meters of altitude were below him, and Li Xiao’s body was tumbling in the gale as he fell. A shadow flashed by, unfolded, and moved to support Li Xiao from below. Accompanying the clack-clack of machinery, it wrapped Li Xiao inside.

09: [Am I fast?!]

Li Xiao steadied his body and turned his direction to rush into the hangar in an instant: “Very fast, extra meal.”

The warriors in the hangar thought Li Xiao finally couldn’t hold out anymore. Flying out like this, even if he didn’t die from the fall, he would collide with other mechs and be shattered to pieces. Before they could be happy, a blurry shadow flashed before their eyes. The next moment, they heard loud bangs, and all the warriors’ heads fell to the ground. The main circuitry was cut and exploded in flames; the operation interface was full of red warnings.

[Circuitry failure, system has stopped running.]

Warrior public channel—

“What happened?!”

“What just went by?!”

Li Xiao flew into the energy storage compartment, hearing 07’s countdown prompt in his ear.

“You move this way; it will be delivered immediately.”

The group of warrior mechticians in the hangar hadn’t figured out the situation when something flew past their eyes rapidly. When they looked, it was a huge piece of energy stone tied with chains.

07: [Only enough for one more time!]

Li Xiao flew rapidly toward 07 and simultaneously had 09 dial Yi Lian’s communication number.

Yi Lian: “Second Highness?”

Li Xiao: “The real-time battle plan starts in one minute.”

Yi Lian: “Received!”

Just in the nick of time, 07 landed on the energy stone.

[Energy is connected—]

[Electromagnetic cannon activating—]

07: [Master’s mech energy is about to be exhausted!]

Li Xiao turned his direction and flew toward Song Jin’s position.

“I have it covered on that side.”

At the tail of the warship, Song Jin was blocked in the hangar. The tools didn’t work, and he was preparing to retreat while fighting when he heard Li Xiao’s voice in his ear.

“I’m coming to pick you up now; you retreat outward first.”

Song Jin looked at the big group of arrogant warriors in front of him and suddenly smiled.

“Okay.”

Song Jin agreed with his mouth, but the long blade in his hand turned its direction, and he added his thrusters to the maximum and attacked—