Everyone faced the colossal creature before them, whose size was already comparable to a T1 Small Starship!
They all felt as if Mount Tai were pressing down on them.
"Alert: Pilot of Unit Three, Black Knight Mecha Squad Two, unconscious." The prompt from the communication-assisted combat system sounded in their ears.
Zhao Chen glanced at the Thunder Beast Giant Insect and immediately ran toward the T2 Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech whose pilot had fallen unconscious after the attack. He tried to open the hatch, but no matter how hard he tried, it wouldn't budge.
"It must have been that heavy blow earlier—the hatch is deformed and jammed!" Chu Xuan's voice came from beside him. She had somehow made her way to Zhao Chen's side.
At that moment, the Thunder Beast was closing in on them, clearly treating the mech as its prey.
"Black Knight Mecha Squad Two, provide immediate support!" On the bridge of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser, which was closely monitoring the ground situation, orders were promptly issued to Mecha Squad Two.
At the time, Black Knight Mecha Squad One and Black Knight Mecha Squad Three were both engaged with large swarms of Zerg. Any slight redeployment risked losing control over the surging hordes.
But as luck would have it, just then, dozens of T2 Zerg Spiders descended simultaneously in the direction under the responsibility of Black Knight Mecha Squad Two.
On the bridge, Charlotte frowned. There were simply too many of these Zerg—it felt as though they could never be fully eliminated.
However, the starship weapons of the T3 Blizzard-class Light Interstellar Battlecruiser couldn't fire directly at the ground. Their power was too great, and the slightest misstep could result in friendly fire, harming Zhao Chen and the others while eliminating the Zerg.
The commander's safety remained the top priority. Just as Charlotte was about to order the Black Knight mecha squads to prioritize protecting the commander, Zhao Chen's voice came through the communication channel.
"Leave this Thunder Beast to me. Continue with your assigned combat tasks." As soon as Zhao Chen finished speaking, he placed his hand on the hatch of the T2 Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech once more.
This time, however, he wasn't trying to open it. Instead, he used his fingers to forcefully pry the hatch apart.
Crack... crack...
Chu Xuan stared in astonishment as the mech hatch gradually deformed and twisted, watching Zhao Chen's neck veins bulge with strain.
What kind of monstrous strength was this?
He could actually tear apart a mech with his bare hands?
Although she hadn't seen this model before, it was clearly a T2 mech!
Bang!
A piece of the hatch flew off, embedding itself like a dagger into the body of a distant Zerg. The creature struggled briefly before falling still.
"Huff... huff..." Zhao Chen gasped for breath. That mech hatch had truly been difficult to pry open.
With the hatch now torn open, he could see the unconscious female crew member in the pilot seat, blood seeping from her head. It appeared she had suffered a blow to the head earlier, causing her to lose consciousness.
Fortunately, her life wasn't in danger.
Zhao Chen lifted the female crew member out and handed her to Chu Xuan beside him. "Take care of her!"
"Ah... what about you?" Chu Xuan sensed that Zhao Chen had something else in mind. In the next moment, he climbed into the T2 Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech.
Fortunately, the cockpit was spacious enough to accommodate him in his Powered Exoskeleton Combat Armor, though it was somewhat uncomfortable.
Zhao Chen reactivated the mech.
The mech began its self-check.
Aside from the mecha's armor being severely damaged and the back armor missing, everything else was normal.
It could still continue fighting.
"Good thing I learned a bit of mecha piloting skills before," Zhao Chen revealed an almost crazed expression as he looked at the Thunder Beast now very close.
He immediately controlled the Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech and fired all remaining small missiles.
Boom boom boom
The small missiles exploded on the Thunder Beast's surface, blasting out bloody holes, but it was clear this Thunder Beast had strong defenses. Just these few small missiles alone couldn't kill it.
Instead, the Thunder Beast was enraged. It roared and charged toward Zhao Chen's mecha, each step like an earthquake.
Zhao Chen raised the laser cannon.
Bang bang bang bang
A shower of fiery projectiles landed on the Thunder Beast, but its sturdy zerg carapace made the laser cannon's attacks largely ineffective.
Seeing the Thunder Beast about to charge right in front of him.
Zhao Chen simply detached both laser cannons and activated the only melee weapon of the T2 Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech.
The Black Knight Lightsaber!
A black obsidian-colored lightsaber ejected from the arm armor of the T2 Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech.
Zhao Chen piloted the T2 Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech, swiftly advancing toward the Thunder Beast.
Like a warrior charging toward a beast!
The teachers and students from both academies watching from behind grew tense at this sight.
Senior Su Lan clenched her fists, biting her red lips, worried for a man for the first time.
Half a minute later!
Only the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground was heard.
The Thunder Beast's head fell to the ground, its remaining body weakly collapsing to the side.
And that pitch-black interstellar mecha, its entire body covered in green fluid, slowly walked back inside the defensive line.
After a few steps, it directly fell to the ground, stirring up a large cloud of dust.
"Cough cough cough..." Zhao Chen crawled out from the large hole in the back that he had torn open.
This T2 Black Knight-class Light Interstellar Combat Mech could no longer fight due to severe damage.
"Commander, the second batch of shuttles is preparing to land. Please prepare to evacuate immediately!"
At this moment, Zhao Chen received a piece of good news.
Six returning shuttles in the air landed again.
"Senior Su Lan, quickly take people to evacuate!" Zhao Chen shouted.
Senior Su Lan had been staring blankly at Zhao Chen's figure, but at his shout, she immediately snapped back to reality and began arranging the evacuation of the second batch.
Soon, the ten shuttles were almost fully packed, but there were still about fifty to sixty people remaining on the ground.
Exactly one more shuttle trip was needed.
"Chu Xuan, Senior Su Lan. You board first!" Zhao Chen told Chu Xuan and Senior Su Lan to board first.
But both Chu Xuan and Senior Su Lan firmly shook their heads.
Senior Su Lan said resolutely, "I'll leave with the last batch!"
Chu Xuan raised her head confidently, saying, "I am an Imperial Army soldier. How can I leave when the teachers and students haven't completely evacuated yet?"
Seeing them so stubborn, Zhao Chen said nothing more.
"Black Knight Mecha Squad, contract the defensive perimeter. Hold on for three more minutes, and we can retreat!" Zhao Chen shouted in the communication channel.
"Commander, there are too many zerg around. We can handle the big ones, but the small ones are getting everywhere—it's really troublesome," the mecha squad leader said.
"Leave the small Zerg to me, you guys handle the big ones." Zhao Chen said, glancing around. He spotted a thick steel pipe among the starship wreckage, walked over, and tore it right out.
Tearing apart a T3 starship with his bare hands—Zhao Chen might just be the first person to do so.
"All of you, hide in this area, understand!" Zhao Chen ordered Chu Xuan, Su Lan, and the remaining teachers and students from both academies to take cover in a corner.
This corner was backed against the starship wreckage, with only one opening, making it easy to defend but hard to attack.
Zhao Chen stood alone at the opening, shouldering the steel pipe.
He glanced at his C-level Mission.
[Zerg Killed: 829]
[Time Remaining: 3 minutes 11 seconds]
Still a bit short of a thousand.
"Come on, bring me more little darlings. I haven't had enough fun yet." A hint of bloodthirsty madness flashed in Zhao Chen's eyes.
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