"Help! Help!" Nakano Osamu’s wails tore through the air, "Sister! Sister save me! Sister!"
"5! 4! 3! 2!——" Suzuki Shinji counted down aloud.
Asa Katsuragi was in agony.
Suzuki Shinji pulled the trigger, blowing Nakano Osamu’s head apart. His screams stopped abruptly, his body twitched violently, and then collapsed limply to the ground, his blood mingling with brain matter on the floor, creating a gruesome crimson painting.
After shooting the hostage, Suzuki Shinji felt a trace of strangeness. As he counted down, he was anxious, based on previous similar experiences, he would usually be shot dead instantly, his gun would be damaged, or he would go soft and give up on harming the hostage. He usually wouldn’t get to count down from 5 and successfully fire his weapon, but he had actually done it this time.
Suzuki Shinji kicked Nakano Osamu’s corpse and gestured grandly.
"Suzuki Group!" he bellowed, "Prepare to take back our turf!"
"Prepare for the assault!" Members of the Suzuki Group were pumped up, their spirits high, ready to surge forward.
Asa Katsuragi painfully clutched her hair.
"I can’t stay here any longer," she turned to Xu Yang, "I’m going to make a move too."
"Go ahead." Xu Yang silently observed the situation of the White Shuttle Machine.
The conflict between the Katsuragi Gang and the Suzuki Group couldn’t decisively influence the outcome of the battle.
The White Shuttle Machine and its crew were the key to victory or defeat.
He kept trying to crack the shuttle’s network module. There were traces to follow, but it would take over 30 minutes to deal with it. It integrated many of the Lighthouse Core’s cutting-edge technologies, making it tougher than any target Xu Yang had cracked before, and with it as a barrier, he could not directly interfere with the people inside.
It still had the firepower of four Hovering Cannons for self-defense, making it too troublesome to handle, especially since the Blue Phoenix had been shot down.
Up to this point, their most dreaded enemy—the mysterious Witch Mireya—had remained unseen, hiding within the shuttle.
As long as she wasn’t dealt with, they had to proceed with extreme caution. For every moment Witch Mireya remained hidden, they were unable to truly take action. Being in the sight of Witch Mireya meant annihilation, yet she stayed hidden inside the shuttle machine, refusing to come out herself.
Farosa pursed her lips; Mireya could control minds, so she dared not send any witches to attack the opponent, nor did she want to confront Mireya face to face.
Meanwhile, Lila had already climbed to a suitable room in a nearby uninhabited apartment building. From a window, she set up her rifle and aimed at the Suzuki Group and the White Shuttle Machine beside them.
"Master, I’m ready," Lila said through her high-powered scope, her crosshairs fixed on Suzuki Shinji’s head, "At your command, Suzuki Shinji will be killed."
"No need," Xu Yang replied with Digital Mind, "Suzuki Shinji is a small fry, save the bullets for the witch."
"Yes," Lila agreed. She kept her finger on the trigger, ready to shoot at any moment, shifting her scope from Suzuki Shinji’s head toward the White Shuttle Machine, which had remained still up until now, a sinister specter possibly lurking inside.
Witch confrontations must be handled with utmost care; it is a battle rule where the offensive greatly outweighs the defense. Once a witch releases her Magic Power, the other witch will often suffer irreversible damage.
The same applied to the current situation; if they could attack the psychic witch first, the odds would swing in Xu Yang’s favor.
Conversely, if the psychic witch first influenced the minds of their members, what awaited them was colossal loss. Psychic magic is mysterious and difficult to counter.
Nestor Corporation was, after all, still too young. Lila couldn’t help but feel the importance of enhancing the company’s overall strength. They needed more combat robots, more Battle Witches, more employees, and smart devices to gain an advantage in round after round of conflict, not only to preserve themselves but also to contest for interests.
A deafening gunshot rang out.
The White Shuttle was hit by a powerful bullet. Its energy shield was penetrated, its rear engine destroyed, and it burst into flames, threatening to explode at any moment. Eight members of the Pale Legion wearing personal armor rapidly jumped out of the cabin, performing tactical maneuvers to evade as the shuttle hurtled toward the ground. The unstable humming of the craft’s body, though not yet shattered, indicated it was out of control.
What happened? Lila was stunned. She hadn’t even fired yet.
Lila has taken down the shuttle! Xu Yang couldn’t help but cheer internally. This was how they should fight, no, this was the only way to fight.
"How is that possible!" Suzuki Shinji turned and screamed, "The shuttle has been..."
Witch Mireya looked unsettled, hiding inside her armor, praying not to be discovered. Without the shuttle’s cover, she was now in grave danger.
meters away, Rolo knelt in an alley. Blowing a shrill whistle, amplified by his helmet, he had taken down larger war machines than the Lighthouse Core using this anti-material rifle. To him, the small craft was as fragile as a coconut shell.
The Lighthouse Core, hypocrisy, false morality, media control, consortium, isolation, arrogance... they thought themselves invincible. Rolo cycled the bolt of the S-400 "Iron Inkstone," the cartridge casing ejected outside. It was Blackfire’s turn to give them a lesson on what war truly meant.
"Record it as material for advertising!" Huang Feng held a heavy smart terminal, excitedly capturing the entire process, "Special offer at 888,800 a piece!"
A40 was eager to join in, eyeing the crew members fleeing from the shuttle.
"I’m going in!" Its eye tubes turned red.
Rolo, without a word, dropped his rifle, grabbed A40 and Huang Feng with one hand each, yanking them aside as bullets whizzed through the air. The Pale Legion had spotted the attackers and were retaliating.
"Which one is this Witch Mireya they mentioned! They all look the same." A40 shouted, observing the enemy, "Let me at her to strike her down!"
Not just them, Xu Yang and Lila also had similar thoughts racing through their minds.
Although the unknown attack had forced them down from the shuttle, these soldiers of the Pale Legion wore identical personal armors, indistinguishable in appearance, as if mass-produced from the same mold, making it impossible to discern any special traits among them.
From her sniping point outside the apartment, Lila believed she could identify her.
It was dangerous to actively release magic power for sensing, but it was necessary to find and kill the psychic witch for Farosa to step forward and clean up. Lila saw all of Farosa’s vigilance and unease.
Without taking out the psychic witch, Farosa would not dare to make a move.
Could Farosa do it? Farosa would never dare to confront a formidable enemy head-on like she would!
Everyone was working hard; she needed to push herself even more...
Finger on the trigger, Lila held her breath, focused, and actively scanned while she aimed and released magic power, observing these eight soldiers dressed in identical armor. Witch Mireya was surely among them.
Search and annihilate—
For everyone, for the master, bring home victory!