The shuttle flew all the way to the edge of the clouds, taking advantage of their cover, heading towards the Ameenia Port.
Reno picked up the communicator. "How's it going, Claire?"
"Everything's going smoothly. We've got help from an expert."
Upon hearing the word "expert," Reno immediately realized who she was talking about. Thinking of Palma's stubborn demeanor, he chuckled softly. "Since it's an expert, let's find a way to keep them."
Claire was astonished. "This is kidnapping! Reno, how could you suggest such a thing? It's not like you to say something like this!"
"Hey, Claire, don't make me sound so noble. I'm just considering everyone's interests... We need an excellent ship maintenance talent, right? This Mr. Palma seems pretty good."
"What about Miss Sarah and Mr. Russell Hill?" Claire asked.
"We also need excellent geneticists and investigators." Reno replied.
Claire smiled.
The laughter continued for a moment, then lowered suddenly.
Then she said, "You've changed, Johnny."
The use of the nickname "Johnny" warmed Reno's heart.
He replied, "I haven't changed, Claire. Sometimes we just have to make choices."
"But there are some choices you've never made." Claire said softly.
Reno felt a little embarrassed, glanced at Nora beside him, who remained expressionless.
Then Reno said, "Let's not talk about that. I'll be back as soon as possible."
Claire seemed to realize something and sighed softly.
Closing the communicator, Reno piloted the shuttle steadily. Passing through the sea of clouds, the shuttle entered the vast expanse of sky. From here, looking down at Earth, it was a deep blue, while the starry sky became clearer and more brilliant.
Space stations orbiting Earth, orbital satellites, ports, were scattered across the sky. From here, one could realize how crowded and busy the human sky had become.
The entire near-Earth orbit had been developed by humans into a city-like existence.
Various spacecraft shimmered in the starry sky, shuttling among them, as if strolling through a forest of stars, creating an unparalleled beauty.
At moments like this, people would be awed by the vastness of space and the glorious achievements of human technology. Even Reno and Nora, who had experienced the Star Sea Wars, would still be attracted, moved, and even touched by this unique beauty.
Reno piloted the shuttle slowly towards the primitive jungle composed of spacecraft. The bizarre shapes of the spacecraft rotated in the air, flashing unique and eerie lights in the starry sky.
"Interesting," Nora suddenly said.
"How so?" Reno asked casually.
Nora pointed outside the window. "That satellite spinning over there, I feel like it's watching us."
Following Nora's finger, Reno saw a satellite in the distance slowly rotating.
It looked like a giant eyeball, with a window in front, facing them directly.
"You say you feel like it's watching us?" Reno asked.
"It's rotating towards us. It could be a coincidence." Nora replied.
Reno thought for a moment, then suddenly steered the shuttle downward.
The satellite also began to turn downwards.
If it was a normal rotation, it wouldn't behave like this.
"It's tailing us. They've found us." Reno said in a low voice.
"What do we do now?" Nora asked urgently.
"We can't go to Ameenia. They'll find everyone through us!" Reno said, as the shuttle turned in another direction. At the same time, he shouted into the communicator, "Claire, you better hurry up. The Federation has found us. They're trying to trace you through me. We can't come over right now."
Claire's face turned pale. "Then what do you do?"
"I'll catch up with you before you jump. Before that, I need to assess the situation and make a decision." The shuttle began to fly at full speed towards another direction.
The onboard radar emitted beeping warnings, and a large number of red dots began to appear.
"What's happening?" Claire heard the alarm.
"It seems they've found out that we've found them." Reno said a mouthful.
Claire was in a panic.
After putting down the communicator, she rushed out and shouted, "Stop the loading immediately! Everyone get on board and prepare to leave."
"The job isn't finished yet!" Palma roared angrily.
"Finish it on board." Claire grabbed Palma and headed for the ship.
Realizing what he was facing, Palma screamed in terror, "No, you promised to let me go!"
"I promised to let them go, not you, Mr. Palma. We need an excellent maintenance engineer."
At the same time, a large group of shuttles appeared behind the shuttle, the same patrol group that had destroyed the Stark Mech earlier. Unlike before, this time the group was larger, with even heavier units.
Reno glanced at them, unconcerned, just accelerating forward. Just then, his terminal suddenly rang.
Glancing at the displayed number, the familiar yet unfamiliar prompt made Reno's lips curl into a smile.
He answered, "Speed Mathew?"
From the terminal came Mathew's sharp laughter, "Johnny Reno? I knew it was you up there. Only you could find our tracking, only you would want to distract us in that situation, only you would do all this. You're always like this, like a saint! But anyway, I'm so glad to hear your voice again, to know you're still lively and kicking. I'm so happy. I knew one day you'd fall into my hands, and now it's finally happened. This time, I've won!"
Reno replied calmly, "You've never won against me, Mathew. Not in the past, and not now."
"Do you really think you have any hope of turning the tables?" Mathew laughed heartily. "No, you're just talking tough. If you thought you could win, you wouldn't be trying to escape. But do you think that by doing so, I won't find your soldiers? I'll catch you first, and then I'll catch them!"
"You're mistaken, Mathew," Reno replied.
"What?" Mathew was taken aback. He could sense Reno's calm demeanor, devoid of any hint of desperation before the impending doom, which gave him an uneasy feeling.
Reno's voice came leisurely, "The reason I fled was indeed to avoid leading the pursuers to the ship, but that doesn't mean just anyone can make me fearful. In fact, when I saw that it was you and your troops chasing us, I breathed a sigh of relief, just like when I saw a light infantry guarding the Edward Hospital... I will annihilate them, just like I will annihilate you. Oh, by the way, I'm not a saint. I've already taken over five hundred lives. I wouldn't mind adding another five hundred."
Mathew's heart trembled slightly. "The Constabulary is not a light infantry. A few mechs won't be enough to handle us."
"Is that so?" Reno smiled. "Then what about this?"
He pressed a button on his terminal.
With that press, a sharp sound suddenly emanated from the Abradix, and the just closed door opened again.
Seeing this scene, Claire was first shocked, then showed a surprised expression. "The Angel is about to act!"
Then she saw the door only opened for a while and then stuck.
It was a closed-loop fault of the door, causing a problem with the automatic opening. Since it wasn't a core fault, the soldiers didn't have time to deal with it, but now it was causing trouble.
Claire shouted, "Open the door!"
All the soldiers dropped what they were doing and rushed over, starting to manually open the door. The heavy door gradually opened bit by bit as everyone exerted their efforts. Behind the door, it seemed like something was pounding on it, making loud banging noises.
"What's going on?" Palma looked somewhat dumbfounded.
He knew every part of the ship, so he quickly remembered what was behind the door.
As soon as he remembered, Palma's face suddenly changed, and he exclaimed in disbelief, "Mechs? This can't be!"
The door continued to slowly open. It was too heavy, so much so that it was almost impossible to open it manually, and the shaking from the inside became more intense.
"Put more effort into it!" Claire shouted.
"Open up!" the usually wild Tekos roared.
His muscles bulged, his arms as thick as trees, surging with mighty strength.
With both powerful hands pushing hard against the door, and with his feet exerting force, his boots and clothes burst open, even leaving deep footprints on the alloy deck. Under this immense force, the door finally opened, revealing the gigantic figure behind it.
It turned out to be a towering silver-white mech, towering like a mountain, lying in the cabin.
In front of it, the mechs Reno and his team had used before seemed like infants.
At the moment the door opened, electric currents passed through the mech, and the eyes of the mech's head, as large as city walls, suddenly opened.
"Roar!" The mech let out an angry roar towards the sky, then leaped out, rushing out of the starship, towards the outer space. Its huge body crushed everything in its path, charging towards the stars, towards the depths below.
At the same time, Reno piloted the shuttle like a lightning bolt, meeting the incoming mech head-on.
He flew straight up, and at the moment of collision, a huge passage opened in the mech's abdomen, and the shuttle rushed into the interior of the mech, disappearing without a trace.
The next moment, the eyes of the mountain-like mech lit up red.
Its right arm extended forward, and a giant laser sword appeared in its hand, slashing heavily towards the incoming group of shuttles!
Boom!
With that sword strike, a large burst of light and flame exploded in the sky.
"Space mech?" Mathew finally exclaimed in shock. "This can't be!"