#618Chapter 618: A graze? Damn it! Look at me pushing it all back!AI Model: gemini-2.5-flash
Chapter 618: Grazing shots? What grazing shots? Watch me deflect them all!
As the strongest player in the team, and also the Tank Master with the best driving skills, Cheng Tian naturally took the lead at the very front of the entire team, responsible for directly facing the all-out assault from the Martian camp.
Without the slightest difference from the stereotype, except for their very miniature size, the Martian flying saucers, unique single-soldier specifications in the Metal Slug worldview, appeared in groups in Cheng Tian's line of sight.
They were accompanied by a considerable number of meteor fragments with very erratic flight paths.
Compared to the Martians' small flying saucers, these meteor fragments were the more deadly threat.
In this zero-gravity cosmic space, even a slight force would cause the already erratically flying meteor fragments to immediately deviate from their path. If one's concentration wasn't high enough, or if one's hands and feet weren't coordinated enough to adapt to the brain's commands in time, a single-soldier obstacle-breaking rocket hit by one would be one step closer to complete disintegration.
In terms more easily understood by players, the Vulcan cannon on the Regular Army's single-soldier transport rockets was the M-bullet, commonly known as the "red bean gun" in Contra, while the lasers from the Martian flying saucers were the L-bullet, commonly known as the "laser gun" in Contra.
One side compensated for quality with quantity, while the other compensated for quantity with quality; their focuses were completely different.
Moreover, compared to the straightforward trajectory of the single-soldier rockets, the Martian flying saucers were clearly much freer in cosmic flight, evidently employing completely different technology that allowed them to adjust their angles at will while maintaining a relatively constant speed with the rockets, launching precise strikes from more difficult positions.
However, very soon, the Martians discovered that something was amiss.
Their highly penetrating laser beam attacks simply couldn't hit the invading Earthling rockets; they were all blocked by a huge spherical energy barrier, with only a partial shape becoming visible when the rays hit the barrier.
The Martians certainly possessed energy barrier technology, but it was clearly unnecessary to equip it on their small flying saucers.
However, the Earthlings also had energy barrier technology, which genuinely surprised the Martians.
Because the energy barrier could not only block laser beam attacks but also physically isolate impacts from meteor fragments, the Regular Army's small rockets, originally scattered around and having to fend off Martian attacks alone, spontaneously gathered around the barrier after discovering this situation.
Peculiarly, this barrier, while capable of blocking attacks from the Martians and even impacts from meteor fragments, posed no obstruction to these Regular Army rockets, easily accepting their presence.
The Martians, with their special communication techniques, immediately began to adjust their tactical strike policy.
Since the opponent was using an energy barrier, it meant there would be an energy limit to its use, so there was only one word for the countermeasure —
Concentrated fire!
Numerous Martian saucers, dispersed in other areas of the battlefield, all surged over after receiving the signal command, directing multi-angled laser beams at the barrier.
One round, two rounds, three rounds... N rounds!
Why isn't this shield breaking?! Is this some kind of infinite energy? When did Earthlings develop such technology?
The Martians felt unable to comprehend this phenomenon, but their confusion could not prevent the counterattack from the Regular Army.
A single small rocket's semi-automatic Vulcan cannon naturally had little power, but if the number increased to dozens or hundreds, sheer volume alone could overwhelm an opponent.
Even with a willingness to sacrifice, the instinct for survival would still drive Regular Army soldiers to instinctively dodge, which meant their vehicle evasion time originally far exceeded their attack time. But under the protection of this strange energy shield, being inside a mobile cover, they clearly had more leeway to aim and shoot.
And for some unknown reason, the soldiers clearly felt stronger and more energetic.
The laser barrage from the saucer swarm was terrifying, but the Vulcan cannon bullet barrage counterattack from the rocket swarm was equally impressive.
What the Martians found most incomprehensible was that this energy shield clearly blocked their own laser beams, yet it did not similarly obstruct the outpouring of Vulcan cannon bullets from the other side.
Could an energy shield also make biased judgments? Or was it actually only capable of blocking energy attacks... No, it clearly blocked even meteor fragments, so why was this happening?!
Many Martians' questions remained unanswered before they were engulfed by the dense barrage from the rocket swarm, turning into space debris.
At this moment, Cheng Tian, positioned at the very front of the entire rocket swarm, was intently observing the fluctuations in his blue bar, which was fluctuating quite dramatically.
The 'biased' energy shield in the Martians' eyes was Cheng Tian's professional skill, 'Guardian Barrier'.
Under normal circumstances, Cheng Tian would be unable to move when using this ability, but at this moment, he was in a vehicle, and in this zero-gravity cosmic space, the immobility effect was overridden by the unique combination of the current scene and the vehicle, even transforming into a mobile barrier that could move with the vehicle.
The Guardian Barrier, primarily responsible for blocking meteor fragments and laser strikes, had a theoretical HP capacity of 24600 points, corresponding to Cheng Tian's current 82 Spirit attribute and 2460 MP.
If it were merely over twenty thousand HP, it would have long been breached under the concentrated fire of the Martian flying saucers.
However, Cheng Tian also had the effect of MP recovery upon taking damage.
With 82 Spirit, a standard 6x multiplier resulted in 524.8 MP recovered per minute. Before ascending, Cheng Tian had already boosted his Holy Radiance Purification value to 100%, doubling MP recovery efficiency to 1049.6 MP.
Furthermore, due to being in cosmic space, Cheng Tian, possessing the 'Sun's Blessing' talent ability, was constantly exposed to direct sunlight. This doubled his MP recovery efficiency again, reaching 2099.2 MP per minute, or approximately 35 MP per second, which equated to 350 HP capacity for the barrier.
While the concentrated fire from the small flying saucers and the impact of meteor fragments would cause Cheng Tian's blue bar to plummet, based on the general characteristic of high damage and low frequency, the small flying saucers would always give Cheng Tian some breathing room after a round of shooting, and in just a few breaths, Cheng Tian's blue bar would visibly and rapidly rise.
Of course, relying purely on self-regeneration wouldn't be enough to withstand this scale of continuous concentrated fire, so a considerable amount of MP consumables like small and large blue potions and Dragon God's Ancient Water, which Cheng Tian had prepared in advance in his inventory, had already been heavily consumed.
But fortunately, the Regular Army soldiers sheltered by Cheng Tian's barrier, as well as the players specializing in aerial combat from the formerly hostile but now cooperative faction, also began to exert their strength. Their attacks were effectively reducing the number of small flying saucers, providing Cheng Tian with more opportunities to breathe and recover MP.
Thunder Beam, Floating Option, Valkyrie Variable Fighter, Super Contra Option, Fat Tiger and Suneo Options—the appearance of these elements suddenly made the originally tragic battlefield scene... even more bizarre!
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