War correspondents operate under perilous conditions, yet the rewards are just as high. They risk their lives to capture firsthand footage from the frontlines of conflict.
At this moment, the eyes of every journalist were fixed on a silver figure soaring through the sky. Without hesitation, they sprinted toward the battlefield.
"Is that a new type of Zerg? Or some other alien creature?"
Whatever it was, they were determined to capture every frame—each shot a potential front-page headline.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Commander Guo Ning, the man in charge of this operation, pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit a cigarette. He took a deep drag, then extinguished it beneath his boot, casting the butt aside.
His gaze swept over the shredded armored vehicles and fallen comrades. With grim resolve, he raised his assault rifle, ready to charge into battle alongside his soldiers against the oncoming swarm.
Suddenly, a heavy silver battle suit dropped from the sky, landing squarely in front of him.
Instinctively, Guo Ning raised his weapon, but before he could fire, it was wrenched from his hands and tossed aside. In the same breath, a grenade from his belt was snatched away.
"Catch you later!"
With that parting phrase, Su Xun activated the Iron Armor.
Whoosh!
Flames roared beneath his boots as he launched into the air, hurtling straight toward the Zerg.
The maneuver left Guo Ning utterly dumbfounded. "What the hell was that?"
"This prototype booster consumes energy way too fast," Su Xun muttered as he monitored the numbers flashing across the visor of his helmet. The suit was equipped with a semi-intelligent interface displaying real-time power levels.
He quickly realized that each use of the jet system consumed nearly a thirtieth of his total energy. Fortunately, once airborne, energy consumption decreased significantly.
In truth, the MK1 model wasn't capable of true flight. At best, it allowed for short-distance bursts and leap-assisted dives.
But that was more than enough for these Zerg.
Controlling the Iron Armor with deft precision, Su Xun activated the twin flamethrowers mounted beneath his arms. "If I want to reach those warrior bugs, I'll need to take out this big guy first."
He charged at a massive tank beetle.
The beast reacted instantly, lashing out with one of its elongated forelimbs.
Clang!
The strike collided with the suit, but Su Xun fired his thrusters just in time, using the momentum to evade the blow.
In a swift maneuver, he sidestepped behind the creature, raised his flamethrower, and unleashed a torrent of crimson fire.
The flames licked across the beetle's armored shell, eliciting a violent tremor from the creature as it dropped heavily to the ground.
Rooaaarrr!
Enraged, the tank beetle twisted its body toward him and opened its maw, spewing a jet of black fluid.
A spark flickered across its brow. In the blink of an eye, the liquid ignited and transformed into a stream of fire aimed straight at Su Xun.
But he had anticipated this. Engaging his thrusters, he dodged mid-air. The instant the beast gaped in confusion, he lobbed the grenade—previously pilfered from Guo Ning—straight into its mouth.
Gurgle… gurgle…
A strange rumble echoed from within the creature's belly.
"It's going to blow!"
Su Xun fired his jets again and launched himself skyward.
BOOM!
The tank beetle exploded in a fiery inferno, its remains engulfing a swath of warrior bugs in a burning cascade.
Hovering in mid-air, Su Xun gazed down at the destruction. "That beast was packing a serious amount of fuel."
At the same time, he thought to himself:
The Zerg in this world are far more formidable than those in Starship Troopers. In the movie, human weapons were enough to tear them apart. But here, even basic artillery struggles to penetrate the hide of a tank beetle.
Just then, a system notification echoed in his ears:
[Virtual Points +100]
[Virtual Points +10]
[Virtual Points +10]
...
Unbeknownst to Su Xun, his dazzling display had left the nearby alliance soldiers and journalists in complete awe.
"H-He took down a tank beetle with one grenade?!"
"What the hell? Even a thermobaric missile couldn't blow that thing apart!"
"That's impossible!"
As shocked murmurs rippled through the crowd, Guo Ning raised his hand, silencing them. "If I saw correctly, he threw a grenade straight into the mouth of that tank bug. Took it out from the inside!"
"I think you're right," a soldier beside him nodded emphatically.
"He knew its weak spot," Guo Ning added, his eyes narrowing.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"But…" Guo Ning paused, his voice low and cautious, "how did he know the tank bug's weakness? This is only the second time the Zerg have attacked us!"
Yeah… how did he know?
A stunned silence fell over the group.
"Is he not human?"
"Could he be an alien?"
"Maybe he's the Zerg's sworn enemy? Their natural predator? Someone—or something—with access to all their secrets?"
While wild speculation spread like wildfire, the surviving warrior bugs began to stir.
Ch-ch-ch!
Their attention had locked onto Su Xun.
Emotionless and relentless, the warrior bugs weren't driven by rage or curiosity—but by cold calculation. They perceived Su Xun as a monumental threat. His strength alone had disrupted their entire offensive.
Staring at the endless tide of bugs pouring from the abyss, Su Xun muttered under his breath, "The more, the merrier."
He activated his thrusters, launching into the air like a comet, soaring toward the chittering swarm. As he flew, the flamethrower module of his iron battle suit retracted, revealing a sleek rifle muzzle beneath his right arm—his plasma rifle.
A deadly weapon from Shadow Blade II, the plasma rifle harnessed superheated energy blobs—plasma—as its primary form of destruction.
Su Xun had barely arrived in this world when he exchanged for its blueprints. He reverse-engineered and refined the design, then built it directly into the first-gen battle armor, replacing the missile pod.
"If I'd managed to build a full-scale plasma cannon, I wouldn't need to bother with this mess. One blast would've erased the entire swarm. Time to work."
He dove straight into the horde, plasma fire erupting with unerring precision. Each glowing bolt struck a warrior bug's underbelly—their central nerve core. One after another, they fell lifeless to the ground, their weaknesses fully exposed.
"Quick, get more photos of that Iron Warrior!"
"What kind of insane tech is that? Unreal!"
"He's incredible. A true hero!"
"Look! More of them are crawling out from the rift!"
"They just keep coming!"
"It's endless!"
"He's charging in again—my god, he's swallowed by the swarm!"
"No—he's out! He's torn through them again!"
Reporters were broadcasting live from the battlefield, and everyone watching from home erupted in cheers.
Boom!
Just when all hope seemed lost for Z City, the tide shifted. Hope returned, and people roared with renewed spirit.
Someone posed the question that had been burning in everyone's mind:
"Aren't these bugs supposed to be insanely tough? I saw one earlier lose all its limbs and still kill a Union soldier!"
"That weapon… no way it's human-made. Is he really an alien?!"
"Why would an alien help us?"
"He must be here to save us!"
"Yes—he's our hero!"
"He's Iron Man! He's our Iron Man!"
…
The warrior bugs were stunned. Their formation shattered. They began retreating, huddling near the edge of the abyss, twitching their massive scythe-like limbs in confusion and fear.
Even the Union soldiers stood frozen in awe.
Guo Ning's eyes were wide as saucers. "Are those bugs made of paper?! What the hell kind of weapon is he using? One shot, one kill? One sweep and a whole swarm's gone?!"
But then he snapped out of it.
"Brothers! This is our chance! Pick up your weapons—avenge the fallen! CHARGE!"
With his battle cry echoing across the field, the soldiers raised their rifles and stormed the swarm, gunfire ripping through the air.
They didn't have plasma weapons—but they didn't need them. Su Xun had cracked the Zerg's armor. Their spirit was broken. And under the relentless barrage of bullets, the once-terrifying swarm collapsed into chaos. The tide had turned.
Su Xun glanced at the energy readout on his visor.
"Game over," he murmured.
A warning klaxon blared in his ears—his power reserves were nearly depleted.
After felling the last warrior bug beside him, he swiftly disengaged from the battlefield.
Now within the safety zone, Su Xun retracted his plasma rifle and turned to observe the human soldiers closing in on the dwindling remnants of the insect horde. Then, shifting focus, he began to assess the virtual points earned from this encounter.
"System, bring up the status panel."
A translucent interface flickered to life before him:
[Su Xun]
Combat Power:40
Equipment:Iron Armor Mk. I
Personal Attributes:
Strength: 8
Speed: 7
Endurance: 7
Intelligence: 30 (boosted by special traits)
Virtual Points: 550
(Average for ordinary humans: 5)
Special Trait: Clear Mind
Evolutionary Trait: None
Evolved Organs: None
He dismissed the panel and stood in silent contemplation. The last few lines lingered in his mind—how was he supposed to evolve? The system offered no guidance.
"No point dwelling on it. My priority now is upgrading the Iron Armor."
His attention returned to the virtual point tally.
"550 points… I wonder if that's enough to install a true AI system. Without one, this thing is just high-grade armor."
Though still standing amidst the battlefield, Su Xun didn't rush to open the exchange interface. He closed the system panel and instead turned his gaze toward the yawning chasm in the distance.
Under the unrelenting fire of the Allied forces, the remaining warrior bugs had fled back into the rift.
Su Xun narrowed his eyes.
"They knew how to avoid the anti-insect net… and they attacked in coordination from below. There must be a brain bug commanding them."
From the very beginning, he'd had a creeping sensation—
as if something had locked onto him.
"Could the brain bug be nearby?"