Chapter Seventy-One: Tug-of-War

Ace stood on the shoulder of the metallic giant, his face twisted into a mocking sneer as he looked down on the struggling Wendy below. “I admit your strength, but you’ve failed to truly unleash its full potential.”

Wendy burst from the sand, tumbling until she finally landed at the water’s edge, unsteady and stumbling backward. Even one metal robot was beyond what she could handle—now Ace, a formidable opponent in his own right, had joined the fray.

Spitting out the gritty sand, Wendy wiped her cheek with the back of her hand. Her violet eyes glittered, as sharp and cold as a drawn blade. “So you built this monstrosity—what exactly do you hope to achieve?”

Ace seemed in high spirits. Perched on the giant’s shoulder, he kept glancing toward the distant Hokkaido branch, aglow with lights—a city that never slept. “We have no other intentions. We simply wish to test the performance of our newly developed ‘External Armor.’” He patted the massive metal figure beside him.

“See this?” Ace rapped his knuckles on the metal hull. “It’s the result of nearly a decade of research by the Alliance—another step forward in the evolution of humankind. As you can see, it possesses abilities beyond anything we imagined. This is only the first prototype, yet it already surpasses your wildest expectations.”

“What? Evolution?” Wendy stared, wide-eyed, at the hulk of metal before her. “You call this thing evolution?”

“Are you serious? Do you really think this is what evolution means?” Wendy spat, furious. Ace shook his head, retorting, “Is it not? This fellow was once powerless, but you saw it yourself—even you can’t stop it now. We’ve given an ordinary person the power of a god!”

Spreading his arms wide, Ace let out a hearty laugh. “This is an evolution without discrimination—everyone can gain tremendous power. No longer limited to a select few, but spread across the entire human race!”

But Wendy scoffed at Ace’s vision. She spat and said, “Never mind whether this hulking lump of metal counts as evolution—just look at the thing! Are you suggesting that, in the future, every person on Earth will be wrapped in metal and grow into faceless monsters, seventy or eighty meters tall?”

Ace had no desire to argue further. He pointed toward the distant Hokkaido branch. “Serpent’s Fang, the thing you hate lies there. Now go—go and destroy it.”

“Ace! You’re starting a war!” Wendy shouted in shock and anger. The metallic giant was already moving, its footfalls shaking the ground, while shattered metal from the sea gathered from all directions, causing the colossus to grow ever taller.

“War has never left us,” Ace replied coldly. “Have you grown too complacent, forgotten the terror of special forces?” He commanded the metal giant forward, marching toward the city across the strait.

“United Task Force, intercept that thing!” Wendy shouted after being blown back, her voice carrying over the roar of battle. Hundreds of white streaks flashed through the sky—warriors of the United Task Force, riding simple flight devices, weapons aimed at the metal behemoth below.

“Everyone, fire!” At Wendy’s command, countless beams interlaced, forming a web of light that struck the giant relentlessly. But its defenses were beyond all expectations—the moment attacks struck, they were instantly neutralized.

“Report: we can’t pierce the enemy’s shield,” the task force leader reported. Wendy gritted her teeth. “Where’s the Mech Division? What happened to those autonomous combat robots you bragged about the other day?”

“Reporting, ma’am—local electromagnetic interference is severe, seriously impacting the Mech Division’s targeting and control. Furthermore, this metal man seems to consume all metals. Until we understand its abilities, command has ordered the Mech Division to stand down.” The leader’s voice was firm. Wendy spat in disgust. “I knew it—those overhyped Mech Divisions are just for show. Useless when it counts.”

“Mech Division, useless. In battle, rely on yourself.” Tita’s monotone sounded behind Wendy; she knew her comrade had arrived. “Where’s Koyoru? Is she alright?”

“Koyoru, badly wounded. Not life-threatening. Hospital. Under treatment,” Tita replied in her difficult-to-understand way, assuring Wendy that Koyoru Mochizuki was out of danger. Relieved, Wendy thought to herself that though the Hokkaido branch hospital couldn’t compare to Headquarters, treating broken bones was well within their abilities.

Wendy’s heart had just settled when three flight devices touched down behind her—Amayuki Tenwa arrived, bringing Zhao Yu and Shuichi Uehara.

“What on earth is that thing? I saw it from miles away,” Amayuki exclaimed, staring up at the metallic giant, blue sparks leaping from her temples. She was still riding the thrill of recent battle.

“No time for explanations,” Wendy said. “That thing is heading for the city—we must stop it. Everyone, assist me.” She drew a deep breath, lifting the Star of Violet Glory in her hand. Suddenly, Tita spoke.

“This, for you. Tita, fetched it.” Without another word, she tossed Wendy a slender sword. Wendy caught it, delighted. “Well done, Tita! Thank you for bringing me the ‘Fallen Wing Chapter.’”

“Fight, together. Tita, happy.” Wendy laughed. “Good—together, we’ll stop this brute.”

…

Angela tilted her head, watching Xie Liu’s every move with eyes like rubies, filled with confusion and curiosity.

Xie Liu was energetically assembling parts, collecting broken weapons and remnants of flight devices scattered across the ground. Using a damaged thermal weapon to melt metal, he hammered the scraps into the shapes he needed, embedding them into the remains of a nearly ruined motherboard.

“Angela, tell me the connection method for microgravity circuits…”

“Angela, tell me the wiring for the audio decomposition circuit…”

“Angela, tell me…”

The two worked together in perfect harmony. With Angela’s help, Xie Liu soon pieced together a small device resembling a glow stick. He examined it for a long moment. “Oh, it’s done! I can’t believe I found all the right materials—how lucky.” He weighed the metal rod in his hand, a satisfied smile on his face. “Now, to add the power source.”

No sooner had he spoken than Angela quietly handed him a small battery. Xie Liu paused in surprise—it was clearly pried from the energy core of some weapon. He knew only too well how difficult it was to extract; a certain Lin Yang had nearly been driven to tears attempting the same.

Looking at Angela’s dirty, even bloodied little hands, Xie Liu felt a pang of guilt.

He took the battery, connected the terminals, and was about to speak when Angela handed him a roll of insulating tape she’d found somewhere.

“Uh…” Xie Liu hesitated for a long time, glancing back and forth between the tape and Angela’s sheepish, smiling face. “Thank you,” he murmured, affixing the battery to the end of the metal rod.

“Angela, do you know what I’m making?” he asked. Angela shook her head, then nodded quickly, still saying nothing.

“Never mind—who knows what’s going on in that little head of yours?” Xie Liu tapped Angela’s forehead lightly. The girl clutched the spot, her big eyes brimming with wounded innocence, as if to ask, why did you hit me?

“Want to know what this is?” Xie Liu waved the odd device. “I call it a Rotary Sonic Resonance Interferometer.”

Angela, defeated by the bombastic name, tried to repeat it quietly, but soon forgot, gazing up at Xie Liu with a look of helplessness.

“Haha, can’t remember, can you? I’ll say it again—listen closely, it’s called the Accelerated Adaptive… Uh, no, wait, what was it again?” Xie Liu faltered, then laughed awkwardly. “Let’s just call it the Interferometer.”

Without waiting for Angela’s response, he grabbed her hand. “Come on, let’s go take down that S-class special operative.”

…

Ace stood steadily on the giant’s shoulder, guiding the behemoth toward the Hokkaido branch. Though each step was slow, the stride covered dozens of meters; on average, its speed was astonishing.

“All Special Forces Alliance units, cover the metal cyborg at all costs!” Ace commanded from his perch. Behind him, a fleet of aircraft poured in through a gap in the defenses, bombarding the Hokkaido branch’s shield.

The two sides waged a fierce tug-of-war around the eighty-meter-tall colossus. Fire lines crisscrossed the sky, the air ionized into a spectrum of colors by the intense heat. Plasmas rained down, boiling the sea below.

“United Task Force, attack!” After repelling the first assault, reinforcements from other United Task Force units within the Hokkaido branch arrived, quickly shoring up their lines. The two sides clashed savagely at the mouth of the strait.

“Fight, fight!” Ace laughed. This time, the Special Forces Alliance had deployed a full commando company and five full combat teams—a total of 5,100 soldiers. It was a massive mobilization not seen in years, drawing on the forces of two strongholds to seize the entire Hokkaido branch in one blow.

In contrast, the fighting strength of the Fantasia City side was stretched thin—scrambling together only two thousand from the United Task Force and a thousand city guards.

“Far East reinforcements are on the way—three thousand from the Huaxia branch are en route!” Reports reached the Hokkaido command center, leading them to an erroneous conclusion: the reinforcements were close.

“All units, attack! The reinforcements will be here soon—we can wipe them out!” The command center issued the order after contacting the frontline. Wendy, the highest-ranking officer at the front, nearly smashed her communicator in frustration. “Those upper echelons who only command from bunkers! They’re sending us to our deaths!”

Wendy looked up, anxiety etched on her face, as the metallic giant drew ever closer. Her strong brows knitted deeply, forming a pronounced furrow.