212: Chapter 212 New Mechs Make a Powerful Debut, Acidic Zerg Retreat

The alarm continued to echo over the Medicinal Field, its red light sweeping in circles across the edges of the charred protective talisman plates.

Residual acid on the ground hissed, emitting green smoke. A few century-old spiritual plants had been corroded until only withered roots remained, and the soil had turned black and foul-smelling.

Chen Xiaodao stood before the mecha's cockpit door, his gloves half-fastened, and looked up toward the command tower.

"Are you ready?" Chen Wuwang's voice came through the headset, as calm as if he were asking what was for dinner.

"I'm waiting for your word." He pulled down his helmet visor, his fingertips hovering over the start button for half a second.

"Deploy."

The engine roared to life, and the nozzles on the back of the Iron Spine III Modified blasted out two jets of blue flame, sending the entire mecha shooting into the sky like an arrow released from a bow.

The moment its metal feet left the ground, the leaf-vein pattern on its shoulder armor pulsed, emitting a faint green glow.

Three hundred meters away, the edge of the insect hole twisted violently once more.

The ground split open, and a sticky, purple-black carapace broke through the soil as an acid beetle the size of a water vat crawled out.

Its six articulated limbs dug into the soil, and its dorsal glands pulsed. The next second, it sprayed a cloud of yellow-green liquid mist into the air.

"Target locked, distance four hundred, altitude eighty." Chen Xiaodao's fingers swept across the control screen. "Acid diffusion speed is seven meters per second, wind direction is east-southeast—"

"Stop analyzing," Chen Wuwang interrupted. "Go straight through it."

"What?"

"I said," Chen Wuwang's tone remained unchanged, "let it splash all over your face."

Chen Xiaodao gritted his teeth and pushed the control lever to the limit.

The mecha dove down, plunging straight into the center of the swarm, headlong into the acid mist filling the air.

The first wave of corrosive liquid poured down, crackling as it hit the chest armor like rain on a lotus leaf. It slid right off the curved surface, not leaving even a single white mark.

Data synchronized back to the command tower—structural integrity 100%, exterior temperature rise 0.2°C.

The corner of Chen Wuwang's mouth finally twitched.

"See that?" he said over the comms channel. "Their poison is only giving you a bath now."

"Hahaha!" Chen Xiaodao laughed, abruptly pulling up the mecha and flipping half a turn in the air. "Then let's have a good wash!"

He shook his right arm, and the dual-mounted oscillating saw on the back popped out, its high-frequency vibration emitting a piercing screech.

The mecha side-stepped to close the distance, and the saw blade sliced horizontally, cutting the beetle that had just finished spraying acid in half at the waist.

Yellow fluid splattered everywhere, vaporizing into ash the moment it touched the armor's surface.

The second and third beetles pounced one after another. Instead of retreating, Chen Xiaodao advanced, skimming over the top of the swarm at low altitude, his saw blade swinging left and right, hacking out a bloody path.

Severed limbs and viscera littered the ground, and a foul, fishy stench mixed with the smell of burning filled the air.

"High-level individual detected," Chen Wuwang said suddenly. "Three o'clock, the one with the ring patterns on its dorsal armor—it's the acid-producing hub."

The screen switched to a remote thermal image. A larger beetle was hiding behind the swarm, its abdomen pulsing repeatedly as if it were gathering energy.

"Leave it to me." Chen Xiaodao turned the mecha, applying full power.

But before he had flown fifty meters, the ground suddenly exploded!

Seven or eight beetles burst from the ground simultaneously, forming a fan-shaped encirclement, all tilting their heads back to spray acid.

This time, it wasn't scattered mist, but a high-pressure jet condensed into a column, screaming through the air as it lunged straight at the front of the mecha.

"Match the shield frequency!" Chen Wuwang roared.

Chen Xiaodao slammed his hands onto the control stick, and the Spiritual Qi on the surface of the mecha activated instantly. A blue-green protective film rippled with a halo of light.

The acid jets slammed into the shield, making a sound like boiling oil poured onto snow, yet they were held firmly at bay.

"Coating pressure is normal!" he shouted. "It can still hold!"

"Then stop holding," Chen Wuwang sneered. "Counterattack."

Chen Xiaodao kicked off the ground and leaped up, using the momentum to flip forward and drive the oscillating saw deep into the head joint of one of the beetles.

Sparks flew as metal grated against the hard shell. The saw blade tore downward, splitting the beetle's head in two.

He pulled the weapon out in one fluid motion and spun around, delivering a horizontal slash that cut another pouncing beetle into two symmetrical halves.

The swarm began to stir.

Their once-orderly advancing formation descended into chaos. The low-level beetles instinctively retreated, but the high-level individual with the ring patterns let out a sharp cry, forcibly suppressing their urge to flee and continuing to direct the spray.

"It's organizing a counterattack," Chen Wuwang said, staring at the data stream. "But it's afraid."

"I know." Chen Xiaodao panted heavily, sweat streaming down his temples. "It's not attacking anymore—it's fighting for its life."

As he spoke, he suddenly shut off the main thrusters.

The mecha plummeted vertically, slipping through a gap in the acid fire. When it was only ten meters from the ground, he ignited the thrusters, charging forward along the underbelly of the swarm.

This maneuver completely defied conventional tactics, and even Chen Wuwang's pupils contracted in the command tower.

"He's crazy…"

But the next second, he smiled.

Chen Xiaodao seized the opportunity. He deployed the small combat shield on his left arm to block a sneak attack from the side, while his right hand thrust the oscillating saw forward with full force, precisely hitting the connection point of the high-level beetle's abdominal glands.

With a crisp "click," the entire acid-producing organ was gouged out.

There was no explosion, no dazzling light.

The commander-level beetle froze in place, its antennae twitched twice, and it collapsed with a crash.

The swarm collapsed completely.

The remaining beetles fled in all directions. Some burrowed back into the ground, some collided blindly with their companions, and most fled frantically along the path they had come.

In just over a dozen breaths, the battlefield that had been filled with Killing Intent moments ago became empty and silent, leaving only burning wreckage and broken shells scattered across the ground.

The crisis on the perimeter of the Medicinal Field had been resolved.

Chen Xiaodao landed slowly, the mecha's feet making a dull thud as they struck the platform.

He unbuckled his seatbelt, removed his mask, and took a deep breath of air that was free of the smell of acid.

On the distant horizon, the last shadow of an insect disappeared into the dust.

"Back?" Chen Wuwang's voice sounded from behind him.

He had come down from the command tower at some point and was standing at the edge of the platform. His Mechanical Prosthetic Eye flickered with a faint blue light as he reviewed the battle logs page by page.

"Yeah." Chen Xiaodao jumped down from the mecha and patted its shoulder armor. "It held up."

"It did more than just hold up." Chen Wuwang walked over to the mecha and reached out to touch its chest armor. "It survived, and it won."

The two stood side by side, watching the sunset dye the entire Medicinal Field gold.

The charred land looked particularly stark, but it also meant one thing—they had held the line.

"They'll change their tactics next time," Chen Wuwang said suddenly.

"Then we'll adapt again," Chen Xiaodao grinned. "We have time, anyway."

Chen Wuwang didn't respond.

He looked up toward the depths of the main domain, where wisps of smoke could be seen rising faintly from the direction of the Alchemy Workshop.

He stood there for a moment, then turned and began to walk back.

"I'm going to check on the progress of the Medicinal Pill," he said.

Chen Xiaodao nodded but didn't move.

The wind blew across the Medicinal Field, kicking up a few ashes.

The mecha, having achieved the greatest merit, stood silently. The green patterns on its surface had not yet fully faded, as if it were still breathing.