Itâs hard to see shooting stars in Night Cityâ
In fact, because of light pollution, itâs difficult to see the clear starry sky throughout the city. Only in the Evil Land far from Night City can you properly appreciate the night sky, and you have to find a good day for it.
When V was still in Night City, she only saw the starry sky a few times. During her two-year wilderness life after joining Adkaduo, however, she saw it many times, but never a shooting star.
The entire military base was exploding. Through simple calculations, this round of explosions would precisely destroy some key structural load-bearing pillars, causing a systemic collapse that would eventually crush the military baseâs top layer communication array and data center under the rubble...
V felt like the whole world was sinking, yet she didnât immediately leave the tower...
Because that shooting star was so dazzling!
However, in the eyes of Washington and the Pentagon, everything was terrifying:
The detectorâs results on this device were quite strange, and due to the magnetohydrodynamic shell, radar detection was almost ineffective. The bizarre path completely baffled the supercomputers: the changes were happening too fast!
In fact, this was entirely because, under the control of Lille and Munemasa, the quantum computerâs calculations perfectly matched with the magnetohydrodynamic shell. For the defenders, it was passive interception, requiring aerodynamic prediction for a model that had never been input into the computerâ
For the attackers, everything was instantaneous; the computation load was beyond imagination, and even the trajectory might not be so perfect. Munemasa and Lille were merely trying to maintain balance, but it was almost impossible to predict!
Blue and white plasma traces tore through the night sky, everyone in Washington looked up at it, while the shock waves and detonations followed behind, roaring like a giant beast...
Swish!
The final stage acceleration occurred, the engine afterburners exploded violently, the flames, magnetohydrodynamic shell, and vortex completely enveloping the body, making the UFO look as if it opted not to decelerate before landing but to accelerate!
To those at the Space Air Force Base, this scene was especially terrifying:
The pierced air layers spread out in waves, the sky fracturing like a broken mirrorâ
This was a supersonic-level kinetic collision!
V finally snapped back and leaped down from the collapsing tower. Those drones and helicopters didnât even have time to fire before the apocalyptic impact scattered them all, taking them into this hellish explosion!
Boom!
The tower, which was slowly collapsing, was cut in half by the impact; the shell effortlessly pierced the tower, its descent momentum unceasing, trajectory unchanged, straight into the exploding base below!
The violent air currents rendered Vâs wingsuit useless. Fortunately, she sensed the spiderâs agitation before the collision and immediately shot Spider Silk towards a nearby building. Amid this violent impact, a small Spider Silk held her firm, as though in the midst of a raging storm!
"What the hell...this damn..."
The winds subsided, and the debris stopped scattering. V, clutching the Spider Silk, finally reached the wallâ
Their original plan was simply to use mechanics to induce a spontaneous internal collapse of the building, destroying facilities and equipment inside. After all, to blow up such a high-level base, youâd need truckloads of explosives, to begin with. Itâs a huge task.
But with this terrifying impact, the destructiveness reached a whole new level...
The entire ceiling collapsed, Military Technology corpses were everywhere, and ACPA armor was tilting awkwardly.
However, it was precisely because of this attack that V could more intuitively see how many people surrounded themâ
Escaping was simply a pipe dream.
The air was filled with the smell of melting steel, scorching air currents, shattering metal pipes, crumbling cement walls, twisting rebar. Amidst the ruins and smoke, V landed behind Mackinaw, with Jack kneeling on one knee on the ground, pieces of his armor pried open, the situation dire.
And coincidentally, that thingâs crash site was right in front of Jack, perfectly blocking the path of the advancing Military Technology, amidst fragments and wreckage of APCA armor...
Flames blazed fiercely, enemies rebuilt their defenses with roars, helicopters came streaming overhead, V even wondered if all of Washingtonâs soldiers had come...
But she was more concerned about another thing:
The smoke cleared, dust floated, sunlight pierced through the smoke, as if it had gained substance, spilling shard-like onto the earth before her.
The legend goes that wishing upon a shooting star is especially effective...
Vâs previous wish was: that man, who by chance came into her life, could miraculously reappear before her eyes.
This wish came true.
Clatterâ
Metal footsteps echoed on the floor as Lille emerged from the smoke.
"Looking so pitiful, seems like you canât do without me, little V."
"You..."
The reunion was so sudden, the person she longed for day and night appearing before her, bringing an overflow of yearning. But with only one heart, one doesnât know what to express first.
V suddenly didnât know what to say.
"Open fire!!!"
Sporadic warfare interrupted the reunion, Military Technology soldiersâ roars brought V back from her tangled thoughts, as the smoke was completely blown away by the shockwaves from gunfireâ
"Get out of the way!!"
Clack clack clack clackâ
A bizarre and peculiar metal-electronic sound suddenly resonated in the air, and it was then that people realized the dispersing smoke wasnât all due to the simultaneous gunfireâ
That suddenly appearing iron man rested one hand on the North America Legend pickup truck, an indescribable yet fearsome Energy Wave colored by the dust seemed to materialize, ultimately leading to something unfathomable:
That pickup truck, that pickup truck stood up!
[Detected a special vehicle suitable to become a Transformerâ]
[Consume Technology Points to transmit Spark Energy to create a Transformer. Note that your Spark reserve can only duplicate once.]
[Cross-dimensional Energy Allocation: Spark Energy]
[Deduct Technology Points: 50000]
[Current Technology Points: 40000]
[Transformer: Mackinaw Legend "Barley" has been created.]
[Description: A vehicle tempered a thousand times to a dangerous critical state, survived numerous evenly matched and perilous battles, and self-learned equipment replacement. Perhaps unlike other AIs, lacking an overly smart brain and skills, but with an understanding of its body beyond an average AI.]
[From the start, this AI was born for battle, focusing solely on self-control, its adherence to its frame makes it highly potent in becoming a Transformer.]
"Born for battle, forged in warfareâ"
Unique electronic synthesized sound echoed across the battlefield, as in the eyes of Military Technology, that now powerless and flaming pickup struck by missiles and artillery...rose up by itself!
"I am Shocking Thunder."
In the terrified eyes of Military Technology, this living metal machine casually peeled away part of the collapsed rooftop, huge metal panels and steel-concrete structures raining down, completely shielding against all gunfireâ
Even more terrifying was that this metal robotâs other hand glowed brilliantly...
Boom!
An electromagnetic bullet, as large as a human head, completely pierced their defense line, obliterating the suppression ACPA behind them!
Crashâ
The collapsed roof buried this team, the one closest to succeeding team entombed in ruins.
Bam.
Lille knocked on Barleyâs leg: "Whereâd you learn that?"
Barley scratched his head: "I donât know, I just had this desire."
Seems like the spark source came with its mysterious entrance lines.
Lille shrugged, single-handedly lifted V and patted Jack, both rising dazedly.
"Stop dawdling, did good, get ready to evacuate."