Super Mothership
However, Golden Dagger's furious roar could not be turned into actual combat power.
The moment the two sides clashed, Golden Dagger noticed that the blue dots representing his own forces on the tactical display were disappearing at an alarming rate.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
After just one exchange, explosions erupted throughout the Gold Coin Pirates' mech formation. Their front line, battered by the assault, caved in immediately as the ferocious Ryan warriors tore a gaping hole straight through it.
"Quick! Hold the line!"
"Damn it! Those are at least Bronze-class mech pilots! We need reinforcements!"
"I'm pinned down! Wingman! Damn it, where's my wingman?! Help me!"
"Don't break formation! The front line, hold your ground!"
"..."
Listening to the frantic cries echoing over the combat channel, Golden Dagger's expression darkened.
In terms of pure combat ability, the Gold Coin Pirates were universally acknowledged as the weakest of the Seven Great Pirate Crews.
It wasn't because their equipment was inferior or their personnel lacked quality. On the contrary, they possessed some of the finest equipment available. As for their troops... at the very least, they were paid the highest salaries, so their individual quality was by no means poor.
The real problem was that they simply lacked combat experience compared to the other major pirate crews. They were often mockingly referred to as "pampered soldiers among a band of ruthless outlaws."
Although the Gold Coin Pirates had initially built their bloody fortune through robbery and plunder, they had soon found a far more profitable path. Thanks to Golden Dagger's vast network of connections and exceptional business acumen, they had established an enormous underground black-market empire with influence stretching in every direction.
Why toil away ambushing travelers when you could sit comfortably at home fencing stolen goods? Other pirate crews could only envy them.
Having such an easy source of income also meant their "attendance rate" in actual combat was far lower than the other pirate crews. Their experience in large-scale military engagements was sorely lacking, and compared to the others, they were missing that fearless, battle-hardened spirit.
Moreover, the Gold Coin Pirates' elite forces had all been deployed to defend the other three fronts. The reserve mech corps assigned to defend the eastern front had combat effectiveness that was, predictably, far inferior.
On the other hand, the Ryan race had always been renowned for their natural talent in combat. Their fighting techniques and reflexes were exceptionally sharp, making them born mech warriors. Otherwise, after their defeat, the Woolf Empire would never have selected them as a vassal race.
Now, with abundant weapons, excellent equipment, and unwavering faith, how could these warriors possibly be compared to the mercenaries who had once fought merely for the Locke Consortium?
Not only were the Ryan warriors individually stronger than their opponents, but in terms of teamwork and discipline, they completely outclassed the freewheeling pirates.
They operated in three-man squads.
One attacked head-on.
One provided support.
The third waited patiently for the perfect opportunity to strike.
Whenever someone found themselves in danger, comrades from the flanks would immediately launch attacks to rescue them. If anyone was injured, they were instantly covered and allowed to retreat behind the lines to restore their shields.
Their offensives came in relentless waves. Allies advanced from every direction, their formations tight and disciplined, advancing and retreating with flawless coordination. Like razor-sharp blades, they methodically divided the enemy mech formations apart before annihilating them piece by piece.
"A2 through A13 squads, assemble! Launch the charge in one minute! B2 through B13 squads, provide covering fire..."
"Attention all combat units in Sector E67. Concentrated bombardment will begin in ten seconds. Evade immediately..."
"Squad N3 has taken excessive losses. Merge with Squad N4 and coordinate attacks on the designated enemy targets..."
"J2 through J30 squads, provide fire support for Sector F34 in ten seconds..."
Combat prompts continuously rang through Spartacus' earpiece.
Keeping watch in every direction, he cut down every enemy attempting to block his path while constantly repositioning according to the tactical instructions, coordinating with the main force to split apart the enemy formation.
Although the Hammer of Destruction mechs were still equipped with fairly standard hardware, the intelligent systems installed in every unit had already been upgraded and optimized by Nie Yun, then connected to Codename's tactical data-sharing platform.
This tactical platform not only enjoyed the computing power of the massive Lunar Computing Center, but also received tactical support from the Earth Defense Force's elite strategic command staff.
The bravest soldiers.
The most precise battlefield simulations.
A professional military command structure.
Although only thirty thousand mechs were participating in the battle, and their hardware might not rival the better-equipped Gold Coin Pirates, they were backed by Earth's entire military system. In terms of software, command, and battlefield coordination, they surpassed the far less professional pirate force by an overwhelming margin.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The blazing explosions steadily spread deeper into the pirate base.
As more and more Gold Coin Pirate mechs were destroyed, the already demoralized pirates—who were being attacked from all four directions—began showing signs of collapsing completely under a single overwhelming offensive.
"Damn it! A bunch of useless idiots!"
As the situation deteriorated further, Golden Dagger's face had grown so dark it looked as though water could drip from it.
It was just an obscure little pirate crew.
All they'd obtained were several tens of thousands of mechs.
Yet they had somehow unleashed such astonishing combat power. Fighting them felt like facing an army of perfectly coordinated killing machines.
The mechs alone were one thing...
But where had Ghost Captain found so many fearless elite pilots?
He had never imagined that, while he wasn't paying attention, such a terrifying new force would emerge within the Shattered Star Region.
If the Ghost Pirates had possessed sufficient foundations—especially the crucial warships—their overall strength would likely have rivaled that of the Seven Great Pirate Crews...
Seeing enemy mechs drawing dangerously close to the core asteroid where he was stationed, Golden Dagger glared coldly at the subordinate who had been so confident moments earlier.
"Do I have to teach you what to do?"
"Y-Yes, sir! I'll... I'll activate the shield immediately!" the subordinate stammered, snapping to attention with cold sweat pouring down his face.
As the order was issued, the blast doors connecting the four surrounding asteroids slowly began to close.
With a sharp hiss, the atmosphere inside the passageways was vented into space. The corridors then retracted from both sides, severing the only remaining physical links.
Now isolated like a lonely island, the core asteroid emitted a deep "Hummm..."
An immense surge of energy burst forth, violently disturbing the surrounding electromagnetic field and creating arcs of electricity across the vacuum.
Moments later, a gigantic blue energy shield slowly enveloped the entire asteroid.
...
Turning to glance at the blast doors closing behind it, a single Chainsaw Maniac's crimson eyes flashed before it continued deeper into the asteroid.
At the same time, one powered armor unit after another—already secretly taken over by Nie Yun—continued advancing under the guise of being friendly forces.
Before long, they converged at the entrance of a spacious corridor, forming a strike team of eleven units.
Standing guard at the entrance were two Gold Coin Pirates wearing full-body powered armor, both armed to the teeth.
Beside them stood two noticeably more advanced combat robots, silently on alert.
Seeing the group of Chainsaw Maniacs marching straight toward the corridor without slowing down in the slightest, the two guards exchanged puzzled glances.
One of them immediately raised his rifle and stepped forward to block their path.
"Hey! Stop! Don't you know this area belongs to us? Who programmed your patrol zone identification?"
Hearing that, the leading Chainsaw Maniac tilted its head.
Then, using its projection device, it displayed a single line of text.
"Don't shoot. We're on the same side."
The guards: "..."
Since when did their own Chainsaw Maniacs come with floating subtitles?
Both men sensed something was off.
Just as they were about to speak—
"Bzzzt!" "Bzzzt!"
They instinctively turned around.
To their horror, two more Chainsaw Maniacs had somehow appeared behind the two combat robots.
Huge spinning chainsaws protruded from their chests, piercing straight through the machines.
"Bzzzzz!"
The chainsaws continued roaring as they spun violently, producing an ear-piercing screech of grinding metal.
Having never received an attack command, the combat robots merely stood there in confusion, electrical sparks bursting wildly across their bodies as they trembled helplessly.
A moment later, seven or eight Chainsaw Maniacs swarmed forward.
Without a word, they raised their chainsaws and hacked away relentlessly.
For a brief moment, metal parts flew everywhere while oil splattered across the floor.
When it was over, nothing remained except two mangled heaps of twisted limbs and shattered components.
The group of red-eyed Chainsaw Maniacs slowly raised their heads...
...and looked toward the two Gold Coin Pirates.
Gulp...
Covered in cold sweat, the two men swallowed hard.
Wasn't it supposed to be "Don't shoot, we're on the same side"?
Who said anything about not using chainsaws?
"Mommy!!"
"Run!!"
Ignoring the two terrified cannon fodder fleeing in panic, the eleven Chainsaw Maniacs broke into a sprint, activated their shields, and thundered into the corridor.
The passage wasn't particularly long, but a portion of the garrison was stationed inside.
Upon discovering the intruders, they immediately moved to intercept them.
Four combat robots charged forward first, opening fire the instant they came within range.
Nie Yun's thoughts stirred.
The eleven controlled powered armor units instantly rearranged themselves into a 4-3-3-1 formation.
A projection suddenly appeared above the head of the rearmost Chainsaw Maniac.
"Quarterback!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Enemy gunfire rained down upon the four front-line Chainsaw Maniacs, their shield values plummeting like waterfalls.
It was obvious that, in terms of individual combat capability, the two sides weren't even on the same level.
But Nie Yun had never intended to defeat them head-on.
While charging forward, tiny silver spiders suddenly emerged from every part of the ten front-line Chainsaw Maniacs.
The little creatures scampered rapidly across the battlefield before leaping onto the Quarterback, eventually gathering in its right palm.
Before long, they formed a rapidly spinning silver vortex, visible even to the naked eye.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four tremendous collisions echoed through the corridor.
Eight mechanical bodies slammed violently into one another, their tremendous momentum knocking them all sprawling onto the floor.
The remaining seven Chainsaw Maniacs simply leaped over the enemies locked in grapples and continued accelerating forward.
Another wave of defenders rushed in.
They too were grabbed and held in place, allowing the rest of the strike force to continue charging.
Working together flawlessly, the assault team maintained its breakneck advance.
As they pressed onward, the number of surviving Chainsaw Maniacs steadily dwindled.
But they drew ever closer to the doors of the Central Control Room.
Meanwhile, piercing alarms had already begun blaring throughout the entire control center.
"What's going on?!" Golden Dagger shouted in alarm.
"A... a group of intruders somehow hacked over a dozen Chainsaw Maniacs! They're advancing toward the Central Control Room!"
"Damn it! Who said everything was foolproof?!" Golden Dagger roared, grabbing the subordinate by the collar.
He quickly realized this wasn't the time to vent his anger.
"Quick! Close the control room blast doors!"
As the massive superalloy doors slowly began sliding shut, Nie Yun had only a single Quarterback remaining.
There was still nearly a hundred meters between him and the entrance.
Its shield was nearly depleted.
At least seven or eight enemies still stood in the way.
Just as it seemed certain to be sealed outside...
Nie Yun suddenly stamped down hard with his left foot while drawing his right arm far behind him.
Bang!
Driven by tremendous momentum, the powered armor continued sliding forward.
Its entire body shifted into the classic posture of a baseball pitcher.
Leg raised.
Waist twisted.
Shoulder driving downward.
Meanwhile, the silver vortex in its right palm had already condensed into a perfectly spherical silver ball.
"Witness my ultimate throwing technique... Super Spiral Bug Sphere!"
Whoosh!
The silver sphere tore through the air, spinning at incredible speed.
Almost simultaneously, the Quarterback that had completed its mission was ripped apart by the incoming barrage of enemy fire.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Though metallic in appearance, the silver sphere possessed astonishing elasticity.
It ricocheted off the ceiling, floor, and walls at blinding speed, bouncing wildly in every direction.
Moving so quickly that it was impossible to intercept, it streaked past one enemy after another like a silver afterimage.
Finally—
Just a split second before the superalloy blast doors completely closed—
It slipped perfectly through the last remaining gap into the Central Control Room.
BOOM!
The massive alloy doors, over five meters thick, slammed shut with a deafening crash.
However...
Golden Dagger stared at the silver sphere that had landed squarely atop the control console before him.
Still spinning slightly from the force of its flight, faint wisps of white steam continued rising from its surface.
A bone-chilling cold instantly shot from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head...
TL Note- Trap?
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