The distance of five hundred meters was just a matter of a seconds for the power armor sliding forward.
The vortex engine emitted an eerie blue arc light, which turned the power armor into a meteor-like trajectory on the rundown highway. The moment he entered the mall, Jiang Chen retracted the wheels, adjusted the direction of his vortex engine while at the same time, stepped onto the escalator, then flew upstairs.
The Hummingbird drone had locked the coordinates of the three people and closely followed them. Based on the directions sent to Jiang Chenâs tactical eyepiece, he could clearly see the three people flee towards the emergency exit tunnel on the third floor.
He grabbed onto the guardrail and flipped onto the third-floor platform.
âDAMN IT! HEâS CATCHING UP!â One of the soldiers heard the noise behind him and cursed out loud. Without any attempt to take cover, he fired at the small drones behind them. But unfortunately, the bullets did not hit anything and only left a string of bullet holes in the wall.
âWe are being caught by the drones. If we donât get rid of those things, itâs useless for us to escape.â Another soldier gave up altogether, unfolded the shield at the entrance of the tunnel, and mounted the light machine gun. Go up, âIâll hold him here. Fu*k... what kind of armor is that, I havenât seen it before.â
âPan Asiaâs X-1 experimental-type power armor... It is most likely a mass-produced type that has completed development. âGerrardâs eyes were hazy as he gritted his teeth. âYou canât hold him here and we canât outrun the power armor. We can only get rid of the trouble here!â
When Jiang Chen saw the targets were no longer running away, a mischievous smile emerged as the corner of his lips slightly curved up. He waved his right hand, and a drone terminal emerged from the storage dimension and slammed heavily on the dusty floor. Accompanied by the sound of air leakage, the aluminum alloy panels popped up on all sides and exposed the honeycomb-shaped holes underneath.
Hummingbird drones rushed out from their hive and formed a dense attack formation in the air. The sheer number of drones almost filled the entire space.
Different from the Hummingbirds who followed the three people before, these drones were not equipped with heat-seeking cameras, but attack turrets...
âWhat is he waiting for?â
âMaybe he is waiting for reinforcements...â A smile of mockery gradually appeared on Gerrardâs face. His eyes, fixated on the end of the tunnel, gleamed with a look of fierceness, âOur fighter is already on the way, so we can just let him waitââ
But halfway through his sentence, the calm and collected expression that said things were under control was gradually replaced by panic and disbelief.
He didnât know when the countless drones filled the gaps outside the windows like dark clouds. The muzzles of the attack turrets and the red dots under the muzzles had sealed all their escape routes.
Gerrard had no doubt that as long as NAC decided that it was time for him to go, he would be turned into a sieve the next second.
There was no point in resisting.
Gerrard gulped down, then put his gun on the ground.
While he responded to the peculiar look from his comrades, Gerrard secretly eyed them before he slowly rose his hands above his head and stepped out from cover.
âI surrender.â
To surrender was just an attempt to buy time.
Their fighter was going to arrive at the battlefield from the âfleetâ in half a minute. By that time, they could squeeze this power armor to death as easily as they would squeeze a mosquito.
The soldiers read the message from their commanderâs eyes, looked at each other before they put down their weapons one after another, and walked out from behind the cover with their hands over their heads.
Their opponent seemed to approve their surrender, and they heard footsteps from down the tunnel.
When Gerrard saw the power armor, his pupils constricted slightly.
If he was only skeptical at the beginning, he was 100% certain that this was the legendary X-1 power armor, and the final design model completed by NAC designers.
âAre you the little mouse hiding in the back and making trouble?â Jiang Chen grinned as he looked at the three people with their hands raised above their heads. He set the drones to surround the three people and put the rifle on his shoulder, then he raised his chin up while he looked at Gerrard, âWhatâs your name.â
âGerrard,â Gerrardâs eyes moved, âYou set the bomb on Gris?â
âYes,â Jiang Chen smiled nonchalantly, âThe bottle caps inside were real, but the box was stuffed with explosives. This thing seemed to be called a cap explosive, and I learned it from those mercenaries.â
Not long after Gris entered the theatre, he estimated the time before he pressed the detonation button. However, he didnât expect these people would wear kinetic skeletons. This âhuman bombâ only killed himself, and none of the others were injured. The lethality of this weapon simply made Jiang Chen speechless.
Jiang Chen paused for a moment, then looked at Gerrard before he continued, âFrom your equipment, you shouldnât belong to any forces on the West Coast. Iâm curious how we provoked you.â
âYour existence is a hidden danger,â Gerrard stared at Jiang Chen with gloom on his face, and said word by word, âIt doesnât matter if anyone else rules the West Coast. We will eventually correct their mistakes and bring them to the right path. And you, in our eyes, are a group of invaders!â
âThe invaders? In other words, are you loyal to NATO? Or a certain NATO-affiliated force?â Jiang Chen raised his eyebrows and laughed, âBut speaking of being the invader, if I remember correctly, you started the war first.â
Whether the discarded pre-war newspapers or the virtual reality program in Fallout Shelter 005 all clearly depict the day when World War Three broke out. The naval battle between Bohai aircraft carrier and Obama aircraft carrier in the East China Sea directly pushed the conflict between the two sides to the brink of no return. Afterward, the Godâs Cane shattered Wanghaiâs Holy Shield and the orbital airborne troopsâ landing fully demonstrated the fact that Pan-Asia Cooperation was on the defensive side from the very start.
But it was pointless to discuss this now. The war had ended twenty years ago, and the world government had been gone for more than a decade. Bathed in this afterglow full of radiation, it was pale and meaningless for anyone to claim to be the righteous ruler.
âIt was you who used bloody means to suppress the revolutionaries in Singapore,â Jiang Chen didnât expect Gerrard to retort immediately, âWe have clearly warned you before, and you took our warnings as deaf ears.â
âWell, Iâm not here to listen to your nonsense,â Jiang Chen said impatiently, then pointed his gun at Gerrard. âNow, turn around and go downstairs from the emergency exit tunnel behind you. I probably only need one or two prisoners. If anyone is here to plays tricks, Iâll just shoot.â
When Gerrard realized that Jiang Chen was not going to argue with him, it made him anxious. The reason why he spoke so much was to buy time, but the man in front of him clearly had no interest in this topic. This made him feel defeated and frustrated as if there was nothing he could do.
âYouâll be last,â Jiang Chen poked the muzzle against Gerrardâs back and looked at the other two soldiers, âYou go first-â
But at this very moment, a violent engine roar tore through the air right outside of the window
The screaming bullets rained down and shredded the drones outside to pieces.
A fighter with a streamlined fuselage flexibly flipped the movable tail and pointed its ignited engine downward. At the same time, the two wings on both sides of the fuselage changed their shape to a position that allowed for horizontal hovering and steadily hovered over the window on the third floor.
Jiang Chen was surprised for a second, then he gazed out the window.
When he saw the dark gun turret, his pupils constricted...