As soon as Lin Qingyue finished speaking, it was like throwing a ladle of cold water into a pot of boiling oil, causing it to erupt instantly.
"Pilot... pilot mecha?!"
Xia Lian looked at the rows of mighty and majestic steel giants on the square, an uncontrollable blush creeping up her cheeks, her voice trembling.
This was mecha!
What Earthling could refuse this kind of romance engraved in their genes?
"Sis! I want that one! That biggest one!"
Lin Xiyue was not as reserved as Xia Lian. A fire lit up in her pupils, and she was so excited she almost jumped up.
Her finger pointed past the crowd, precisely aiming at the most burly steel beast in the center of the legion.
It was a mobile fortress, with a giant cannon on its shoulder and a tower shield in its hand, every angle filled with the aesthetics of violence.
Su Wan did not say anything.
Her actions were the best answer.
Her body moved slightly, her steps still elegant, but her gaze, like a precision-guided weapon locked onto a target, fell on a slender mecha in the formation, surrounded by ice-blue energy streams.
On the mecha's arms were not heavy cannons or swords, but complex and profound rune matrices.
Magic amplification model.
A stifled and rebellious inner self always needs a sufficiently gorgeous shell to unleash fully.
Lin Qingyue's lips curled upward, her gaze sweeping over all the mecha before finally settling on a unit that combined physical attack and magic amplification, equipped with an extra communication array and command module on its back.
She turned to Elena beside her and gave a slight nod.
"Lord Bishop, may we borrow the usage permissions for a moment?"
"Of course, Lady!"
Elena now regarded Lin Qingyue's words as a divine oracle. She raised the gear emblem high, her voice devout and fervent:
"The Guardian Legion will clear all obstacles for you!"
Permission granted.
Lin Xiyue was the first to lose her restraint, charging forward like a joyful little leopard and leaping to the feet of the heavy mecha in just a few steps.
The mecha's thick knee armor slid open silently, and a lifting platform slowly descended.
She stepped onto it without hesitation.
Su Wan's movements were not slow either.
After a brief moment of hesitation, Xia Lian ultimately couldn't resist this fatal temptation. Under Lin Qingyue's encouraging gaze, she quickly ran toward a reconnaissance mecha equipped with a steampunk-style heavy sniper rifle and shaped like a black panther in hunting mode.
The four of them entered their respective mecha, and the cockpit doors closed behind them.
The interior space was unexpectedly simple.
There was no complex console covered in buttons and control levers as imagined, only a circular Resonance Magic Circle in the center emitting a soft blue light.
Lin Xiyue curiously reached out and pressed her hand onto it.
Hummmm
Her consciousness was instantly pulled out, falling into a cold starlit sea composed of pure data and logic.
The torrent of information tried to overwhelm her mind, but in the next second, it was subdued and organized by an even stronger will.
In this moment, the deep rumble of the mecha's core engine became her heartbeat.
The indestructible alloy armor became her skin.
This hundred-ton steel giant became an extension of her flesh-and-blood body!
She had a thought.
The mecha's right arm rose accordingly, and five huge steel fingers flexed nimbly.
"Whoa!"
The young girl's exclamation came through the amplifier, turning into a loud electronic voice that echoed across the plaza.
Getting playful, she tried to wiggle her fingers.
On the plaza, the heavy mecha's giant mechanical palm synchronously made a precise gripping motion.
The wind pressure created by the closing palm made the gravel on the ground jump in terror.
"Sis! This is too good to use!"
Lin Xiyue's communication request connected to the channel, her voice filled with uncontrollable joy.
"I feel like I could punch a dragon to death!"
She controlled the mecha to lift the tower shield, which was taller than the main doors of the church, and then slammed it heavily onto the ground!
BOOM!
A world-shaking crash echoed as the entire plaza trembled violently.
The hard granite surface groaned under the unbearable weight, and devastating spiderweb cracks spread wildly outward from the shield's impact point.
"Xiyue! Don't wreck the house!" Lin Qingyue's scolding laugh came over the channel just in time.
"Hehe, the power was too strong, I couldn't hold it back." Lin Xiyue chuckled sheepishly, sighing with genuine amazement. "Sis, this thing is so much bigger and tougher than my [Blackstone's Protection]!"
On the other side, Su Wan's communication channel also lit up.
"The amplification effect... is beyond imagination."
Her voice remained cool and detached, but the slight tremor revealed the hidden turmoil in her heart.
On the plaza, the Mage-type mecha she piloted extended its right arm, the rune matrix in its palm glowing intensely.
Su Wan only tapped into a sliver of her own magic power.
Yet through the magic circle's geometric amplification, a terrifying blast of frigid air, enough to freeze the entire plaza, erupted!
The air froze instantly, coalescing in the mecha's hand into a translucent ice crystal greatsword tens of meters long!
The blade's surface refracted the sunlight, and a soul-chilling aura of absolute zero enveloped the entire field.
This power was more than ten times what she could achieve at full strength!
"How does it feel, Xia Lian?" Lin Qingyue's voice echoed on the public channel.
"Reporting to Captain!"
Xia Lian's voice sounded a bit ethereal, as if she were riding a rollercoaster for the first time.
"Th-this mobility... it's cheating!"
Before her words could even finish, the Cheetah-Type Mecha she piloted suddenly crouched low, its leg and back thrusters erupting with brilliant blue trails of flame!
Boom!
The mecha transformed into a blue afterimage that tore through the air, plowing two glaring scorched marks into the hard stone slabs. With a speed no mortal eye could capture, it performed a ballet of violent beauty across the plaza.
Finally, with the shriek of metal scraping metal, the mecha came to a perfect drifting halt.
It was as smooth as flowing water, pushed to the limit of speed.
Lin Qingyue smiled with satisfaction.
The Commander Mecha she piloted spread its arms, and the communication array on its back extended several deep blue wings of light.
A three-dimensional tactical map covering the entire city slowly unfolded within her mind.
The position and status of all Guardian Mechas in the city, the intensity of the firefight between the Insurgent Army and the Prophet's Direct Line, everything was now laid bare before her eyes.
The "Order" authority brought not just the right to pilot, but the command of the entire legion!
The four of them were now a mobile steel calamity!
"Alright, partners, warm-up is over."
Lin Qingyue's voice sounded over the channel, carrying a hint of pleasure from a plan perfectly executed.
"Next, let's go clear out the real 'trash' in this city."
-
In Winred City, inside an inconspicuous little church.
"Prophet" Cain was watching everything happening on the plaza through a massive Magic-Infused Crystal.
When Lin Qingyue won over his entire city garrison with just a few words, he was merely furious.
When that pink-haired woman began "preaching" to his Mecha Legion, he found it absurd.
But when he saw...
Saw the Steam Magic-Infused Legion, which he had spent countless efforts to control, not only defecting on the spot but being piloted by those four Chinese women as if they were new toys...
Saw Lin Xiyue controlling his favorite Heavy Shield model, excitedly smashing the plaza floor like a bratty child who just got a new hammer.
Saw Su Wan using his modified Spell Amplifier to effortlessly condense an Ice Crystal Greatsword that could shred a mecha.
Saw the pure joy, like children receiving their favorite gifts, radiating from each of their faces...
Cain's sanity completely snapped.
"Pfft!"
A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from his mouth, staining the precision control console before him a vivid crimson.
That face, which had always maintained a composed air of having everything under control, was now twisted like a demon from hell.
Humiliation!
An unerasable, monstrous humiliation!
This was no longer a matter of the plan failing.
This was like an enemy breaking into his home, smashing his most precious limited-edition figure to pieces, and then using the shards to carve the word "Idiot" into his face, stroke by stroke!
His meticulously designed "Genius Graveyard" plan hadn't even opened for business, yet he himself had become the biggest joke in this Dungeon!
"Lin... Qing... Yue..."
Cain's teeth ground together with a creak, each word squeezed through his gritted teeth, filled with a malice that could melt bone.
His crimson eyes stared intently at the crystal screen, at that Commander Mecha waving calmly to its teammates.
Anger, jealousy, resentment... all emotions finally converged into pure madness.
Since he couldn't have it...
Since his most perfect creation had been defiled...
Then... destroy it all!
Along with this damn Dungeon, along with these arrogant Chinese, entomb them all!
His hand trembled as he slammed down on a blood-red button protected by layers of Rune locks.
An invisible command, transmitted through a hidden channel, instantly reached the minds of those fanatics throughout the city who remained loyal to him.
"My children..."
Cain's voice, transformed into the twisted and hoarse whisper of a venomous snake, was filled with bewitching Magic Power.
"The time has come."
"Offer everything you have to the Mother Goddess."
"Ultimate Sacrifice!"