"Tianming... are you really sure about this?"
Murrue asked with concern. Though she didn't fully understand the mechanics of the Strike Suit's special abilities, she could vaguely sense that this method required some expenditure from Lu Tianming himself.
Thus she worried... whether asking Lu Tianming to perform another miracle might cause harm to him.
"If I don't do it, who else can? No need to worry, just send the Sword Pack over."
Lu Tianming replied with a light laugh, attempting to ease Murrue's tension.
Hearing this, Murrue nodded. Since he himself said so... she shouldn't be overly sentimental.
She immediately opened the maintenance bay and issued the command:
"Equip the Manta Ray with the Sword Pack and deliver it to the Strike Suit immediately!"
——————————————————
After the communication ended, Lu Tianming had already piloted the Strike Suit to wait near the Archangel's catapult channel. Having now entered the gravity well, the Manta Ray likely couldn't resist gravity for extensive movement with its independent power, so he needed to calculate the timing precisely for the backpack exchange.
"Hmph... Yzak and his crew aren't so brave after all. They don't dare approach once we enter the gravity well."
Xia Chuan resisted the gravity while stabilizing his mobile suit, casually watching the distant four aces who had stopped advancing, his tone mocking.
Currently, those mobile suits were damaged with reduced output. Once truly caught by gravity, it would be difficult for them to escape, let alone safely enter the atmosphere... Thus, facing the descending Archangel, they had already hesitated.
"But this works out well, less interference... Attention, the Archangel's catapult channel is opening!"
Lu Tianming smiled, then his expression suddenly turned serious.
Hearing this, Xia Chuan fell silent, focusing his attention on the timing.
The Archangel's catapult hatch swiftly opened, and a crimson machine figure shot out under electromagnetic acceleration, heading straight for the Strike Suit—it was the flight platform named Manta Ray!
"Manta Ray connection successful, Sword Pack ready for launch!"
"Wired Backpack connection released, backpack successfully detached from main body!"
Lu Tianming and Xia Chuan each controlled their parts. No sooner had the previous backpack slot emptied than the Sword Pack was precisely ejected. With a skilled "build up" from Xia Chuan, the scattered components were all attracted and linked to the main body.
Seeing the fully replenished energy, Lu Tianming breathed a sigh of relief, but then tensed up again—while the backpack exchange was successfully completed, the most crucial part was the final resonance.
He took a deep breath, his tense voice trembling with excitement:
"Using the lines we practiced before—no problem, right?"
Xia Chuan snorted lightly. If he had a free hand, he'd probably be patting his chest in assurance:
"Don't worry, no matter what lines you use, your old man here can seamlessly match them!"
Hearing Xia Chuan's enthusiastic tone, Lu Tianming naturally didn't hesitate any longer—their Resonance Level smoothly broke through 70% as if flowing water, and then Lu Tianming shouted in a resonant voice:
"Psychokinesis Barrier! Domination Ball!"
A Lightning Ball suddenly materialized in the Strike Suit's hand with a fierce cry and was hurled directly at the falling Laurasia-class battleship.
The tiny Lightning Ball exploded the moment it touched the Laurasia-class, forming a massive electromagnetic cage that enveloped the entire battleship.
Real-time Resonance Level—80%
"Z-O-Sword, launch!"
"Tronium Engine, though we don't have one... but full power output anyway!"
Xia Chuan followed up immediately, gripping the Armor Schneider named 'Gunblade' with determined eyes, displaying an utterly unreasonable attitude of "I say it's a ZO sword, so it is a ZO sword."
As if to demonstrate that his engine was truly at full power, Xia Chuan willfully activated the Wings of Light—far more dazzling than during the Heliopolis incident, they spread out like a curtain of radiance.
Simultaneously, a faint golden light began emanating from within the Strike Suit.
Real-time Resonance Level—90%
At this moment, both Lu Tianming and Xia Chuan looked up simultaneously as golden light flashed through the Strike Suit's head monitor.
"Ultimate Move! Heaven and Earth—Psychokinesis! Shattering Sword!"
Their simultaneous shouts instantly became the final key to unleashing their power. With that cry, the light beneath the Mobile Suit ceased hiding, overflowing completely to gild the entire armor.
Meanwhile, the golden light continued spreading, transforming into green flashes upon reaching the sword—the green light rapidly expanded like a fountain, ultimately coalescing into a genuine Armor Schneider hundreds of meters long!
"Psychokinesis—Shatter!"
As Lu Tianming unreasonably shoved the control stick all the way forward, the Strike Suit in space violently swung this heaven-defying blade.
Inside the Laurasia-class battleship, Captain Addis stared dumbfounded at the light blade as long as an entire Armor Schneider. He initially thought about ordering the battleship to self-destruct—to serve some final purpose before being severed.
But upon second thought... such an effort would likely be nothing but futile struggle.
He sighed softly, withdrawing that last desperate thought, and returned to his captain's chair to quietly await the descending light blade.
Truth be told, he had prepared himself before the battle—prepared to be used as Creuset's second ace in the hole. After all, this battle had cost too much, and if they still failed, someone would need to take responsibility.
The four G Series pilots were all well-connected young masters, and Creuset was Chairman Patrick's favorite... Among the survivors, he was the most suitable scapegoat.
Rather than bearing false accusations, it was better to leave behind a heroic name as a martyr who died for his country.
Watching the light blade descend before his eyes, Addis sighed softly as if accepting his fate, quietly awaiting the light to engulf him.
Before that, he looked down at his military uniform, smiled self-mockingly, and left behind his final words that no one would hear:
"If only I could be reborn in an era of peace."
——————————————————————
As the Strike Suit in the sky slowly descended onto the Archangel under gravity's pull, all the glowing effects on the suit gradually faded away, even the colors on the PS Armor disappearing along with them.
There was no other reason—the previous move had completely drained the Strike Suit's power, cutting the battery from full to zero with a single sword strike.
Yet given the current situation, it could be considered worth the cost—the Laurasia-class ship had been cleaved in half, now truly incapable of crashing into the Archangel.
No sooner had Lu Tianming returned to the Archangel than he thought everything was over, only to see Murrue inexplicably send him a map.
"The Archangel has now deviated from the route to Alaska... We can still make one final adjustment to the landing point."
"Choose a location that benefits your plan."
Murrue's text message followed closely—likely because this information wasn't suitable for public vocal transmission, she had quietly sent it in writing.
Seeing this message, Tianming understood—after the previous meeting had tested his 'prophecies,' Murrue had begun shifting to support his plan.
After a quick review, Tianming swiftly made a decision.
Since the opportunity presented itself—he would go meet that Desert Tiger, and the ORB princess who was currently opposing him.