ABFMV Chapter 55

What shocked the commander even more was what he saw in the center of the hall—several alloy containers filled with crystal bombs.

Enough to blow the entire Research Center to pieces.

“Suppress their fire! Everyone, open fire immediately! Don’t give them time to handle those crystal bombs!”

The commander’s voice roared through the comms. In an instant, all rescue-unit mechas raised their weapons and locked onto the mechas controlled by the Red Flame Gang.

Gunfire erupted across the entire Research Center, explosions lighting up the sky.

Some of the hostages, unable to handle the chaos, screamed in panic, throwing the scene into even greater disorder.

But the Red Flame Gang didn’t just sit there and wait to die. They took control of the stolen Research Center mechas and launched a counterattack.

Missiles of every type burst from their launchers, streaking toward the rescue squad with ear-splitting shrieks.

Very quickly, the rescue team’s disadvantage became painfully clear.

They were already outnumbered, and the enemy’s machines—brand-new, high-performance mechas built by the Research Center—completely outclassed their standard models.

Xu Linlang immediately saw how bad the situation was. She’d played enough simulation games to understand just how devastating crystal bombs could be. And with the rescue squad clearly being pushed back, she drew a sharp breath.

Now, she and Qi Ye had become targets too.

One of the Red Flame mechas swung its wide blade, aiming straight for the co-pilot’s seat.

Xu Linlang instinctively ducked, but the black mecha’s twin blades crossed in front of her, blocking the attack entirely.

In the same instant, Qi Ye spotted an opening. Power surged through the black mecha as it lunged forward.

The two machines closed in until only ten meters separated them.

The enemy pilot clearly hadn’t expected Qi Ye to go on the offensive. Thinking he was staying on defense, the pilot had launched a series of wide, aggressive attacks—and now had to switch mid-swing to a downward slash.

But what the black mecha did next defied belief. With a burst of thrust, it sprang into the air, slipping past every strike, and landed squarely behind its opponent.

Qi Ye’s movements were lightning fast and without hesitation. The moment the black mecha touched down, it spun and slashed—the twin blades carving a massive gash across the enemy’s back armor.

The other Red Flame mechas reacted immediately, closing in on Qi Ye from all directions.

Xu Linlang couldn’t help but hold her breath, her hands tightening unconsciously.

Qi Ye drove the mecha straight through the encirclement, knocking aside two or three enemy machines before charging at the crimson command mecha that had been giving the orders.

At that moment, the twin blades of the black mecha crackled with arcs of blue energy, sparking with bursts of orange-red light.

The commander on the comms narrowed his eyes as he watched.

That kind of attack consumed a massive amount of energy—and required absolute precision in control. Even many experienced officers wouldn’t dare use it lightly.

Qi Ye was clearly powerful, but even so, this was a bold gamble.

If he couldn’t take down the enemy within two minutes, his mecha’s power reserves would be completely drained. This had to be a swift, decisive strike.

But two minutes—to defeat more than a dozen high-grade mechas?

Still, the pilot in the black mecha remained calm and unshaken. His maneuvers were crisp and precise, every motion clean and under perfect control.

He drove the twin blades forward, stabbing hard at the crimson mecha’s joint assembly.

Since these machines were all new prototypes from the Research Center—never officially field-tested—they were bound to have minor design flaws.

Tiny flaws, yes, but on a battlefield, those details could mean the difference between life and death.

And the crimson mecha’s biggest weakness was its exposed electro-control bearing.

If Qi Ye could destroy that, the machine’s balance system would collapse entirely.

He struck—and the result was immediate.

The crimson mecha’s knee joint froze up, unable to bend properly. Its movements became clumsy and uneven. The pilot inside tried desperately to stabilize it.

But Qi Ye had already pulled back just far enough, giving him no chance to recover—then lunged forward again to attack.