138. Armor Core
Boom!
Before he finished speaking, a surge of fire erupted from the tracks ahead.
"Brake!"
Li Aozi shouted, then dived into the carriage, picked up Snow, and dragged Du Zexin into the locomotive.
Zhou Liefeng reacted even faster. As the explosive shell fell, he had already started braking, but stopping the massive armored train wasn't easy. He could only keep the locomotive on track. After a violent shake, the locomotive hit the broken track, nearly throwing everyone into the air.
The heavy locomotive passed through the explosion's smoke, pressing down on the rails. The armored train, much heavier than a regular train, cut through the shattered, irregular breaks, sparking and screeching loudly but miraculously stayed on track.
However, the following carriages weren't so lucky. Seeing all passengers evacuated, Zhou Liefeng disconnected the links with the rear carriages in time.
Clang—
The massive carriages derailed, collapsing outward like a landslide, buried in the blizzard and smoke.
"Did someone attack us with artillery!?"
Li Aozi dragged Du Zexin to a corner, looked up at the broken tracks, and squinted his eyes.
"No, it's a missile!"
Zhou Liefeng, experienced and sure:
"If it were artillery, it wouldn't have such mobility. Only hypersonic missiles could do this."
Before he finished speaking, a beeping alarm sounded from Du Zexin. His face changed. "AI's targeting radar warning! We've been locked on!"
"Stop the train!" Li Aozi said. "We can't evade the missiles, just stop. Comrade Zhou Liefeng, contact the Subway Brotherhood, tell them the Four Nations attacked you."
"Understood."
Zhou Liefeng agreed, steadily stopping the train. He opened the emergency communicator and spoke in code:
"October calling Zero, October calling Zero."
"Zero received, describe your situation."
"Invasion occurred, the raiders are women."
"Received, first-level alert, October, take a break and await resupply."
As Zhou Liefeng put down the emergency communicator, Li Aozi raised both hands, picked up a green smoke grenade from the train, and waved it in the air, signaling surrender.
Red and green signal lights lit up in the air, the inverted triangle-shaped surveillance camera head slightly moved, and the thermal imaging camera quickly captured the ground signal, processed it into a color image, and transmitted it to the mobile armor's pilot.
"The target vehicle has stopped, one person disembarked, unarmed, indicating surrender."
Mechanic Yin Xifeng pushed aside the tactical goggles and coldly reported:
"Captain Uzdar, please give instructions."
"No need for more words."
Active military officer Captain Uzdar • Dixie of the 73rd Armored Brigade Special Mobile Team of the Frost-Plated National Defense Army said calmly.
"Our mission target is alive or dead, but living is always more valuable."
"Yes, yes, alive or dead—I understand your meaning, Captain. It's convenient to kill directly, but when the Governor of Law IV says it, it's different."
Gunner Kailin • Lam chewed gum:
"This is an opportunity to please the Governor of Law IV—we might get extra allowances or even citizenship in Twin Star City."
"What's the capital's citizenship worth compared to the favor of the Governor of Law IV? Even a 90-year property villa is much cheaper." Mechanic Yin Xifeng joked.
"Just curious, who is it that requires us active-duty soldiers to take action?"
Gunner Kailin clicked her tongue in surprise:
"This isn't an ordinary Frost-Plated man—leaking secrets? Treason?"
"Maybe both."
The woman with a flame-shaped scar on her face sneered:
"We've reached the target airspace, drop in—Shengnan, give them a warning."
"Understood."
Short-haired Zhang Shengnan gripped the control stick, expressionless:
"Confirmed operation code: Subway Fall."
"Starting drop operation now."
"MA-20 'Wolverine' Mobile Armor, Uzdar's crew—launch!"
Buzz!
The 54-ton mobile armor quickly transformed, the head flipped inward, hidden in the tank turret-like body. The legs compressed, turning the body into a surfboard-like shape.
Its arms retracted the missile pods, stored in the cabin, allowing the stealth wave-absorbing material to fully function—though intercepting an armored train didn't require radar camouflage, the cautious female soldiers took the opportunity to check the machine and equipment conditions.
The massive rotorcraft quickly released the magnets, the nuclear-powered reactor adjusted to operational mode, and the thrusters behind it spouted sky-blue flames, launching downward.
The feeling of free fall was familiar to the crew members. Captain Uzdar calmly said, "Deploy parachutes at low altitude."
"Yes, ma'am."
Zhang Shengnan gripped the control stick tightly, skillfully maneuvering the armor's body. She turned off the altitude alarm and only opened the parachute at a suitable low-altitude range.
Whoosh—
The white parachutes bloomed, the Wolverine instantly transformed into a semi-humanoid form, the leg thrusters gently spitting flames to slow down. Then, suddenly, Zhang Shengnan cut the parachute cords, and the mobile armor crashed into the ground like a black steel fortress.
Boom!
White frost and yellow sand splashed up. In an instant, the 12-meter-tall heavy armor completed a hard landing, and the armor chassis' air cushion greatly alleviated the impact.
Li Aozi and the others were nearly buried by the flying dust and snow. He quickly assessed the opponent's equipment level.
Mobile armor, a pure war weapon, usually paired with mechanized infantry for assaults and large-scale battles.
In the cold and harsh environment of the outside world, sending out fighter jets was suicidal. The Air and Space Forces and Strategic Support Units couldn't provide air superiority and long-range missile strikes, giving rise to such deformed war machines.
It looked nothing like a person, more like a rooster without a neck but with arms, standing on large rocket-propelled cushions, with a simple and crude modular design, no anti-gravity system, making maintenance much easier.
Mobile armor was equipment, not a monster, with no level, but its threat could be judged by its workmanship and weapon load.
Compared to the future 'Harriers' and 'Night Owls' that would be active in the Tianhuan invasion and the Frost-Plated civil war, the 'Wolverine' was a poor product of the period when Frost-Plated's military budget was drastically cut.
Its design was extremely simple and crude, using the tank-era crew mode: the captain commanded, the gunner operated the weapon system, the mechanic handled communications and reconnaissance, and the driver controlled the movement.
Later, it was found that with an auxiliary AI, a fire control system, and a remote operations center, one driver could control the mobile armor, making the four-person crew unnecessary.
The Wolverine was mainly for fire support, hence it lacked close combat weapons. Its main weapons included a 40mm autocannon and a power shield. Li Aozi saw missile pods on its arms and a large rocket launcher on its back. Two anti-infantry Gatling guns were mounted on its chest armor.
The cost of such heavy armament was its poor avionics system and phased array radar, with minimal electronic warfare resistance.
Despite the rough workmanship, this level of equipment, as long as it wasn't hit by a large number of artillery and anti-vehicle teams, could cause a massacre without a Beta-rank's power to stop it.
"Another smooth landing."
Uzdar praised and opened the broadcast, calling out to the ground units:
"Are you Li Aozi? You look much older than in the photos. But it's wise to surrender facing mobile armor."
She said, raising the Wolverine's massive gun barrel, aiming at Li Aozi.
"I surrender!"
Li Aozi shouted loudly:
"I have given up resistance. Ladies of Frost-Plated, please spare me and treat me according to international law."
"Tch—this level?"
The gunner said disdainfully:
"From the mission records, I thought he was tough, but he surrendered at the sight of mobile armor. Boring!"
Uzdar's eyes flickered. She signaled the driver to move the barrel away but secretly aimed the anti-infantry Vulcan cannon at Li Aozi.
Even if the information said he killed a Beta-rank transcendent, the Vulcan cannon's 9,000 rounds per minute could shred an unarmored target.
"We're just here to stop the train."
Uzdar said calmly:
"Next, we wait for Law IV's agents to control you."
During the conversation, a female voice came over the channel:
"I'm Law IV agent Nimotin. We've arrived in the airspace and are about to parachute."
"So slow, you battlefield rookies. Are you riding snails?" The mechanic mocked.
Nimotin was clearly unhappy. Although they were from different systems, soldiers weren't much higher than agents. This wasn't Tianhuan.
Besides, the changing weather of the outside world made long-distance flying extremely dangerous. They risked their lives to follow, so why were these soldiers so arrogant?
Taking a deep breath, Nimotin explained:
"Sorry, we encountered a storm on the way and had to pause—"
"No need for excuses. Dealing with a Beta-rank target so slowly, it seems Law IV should abolish some positions."
The mechanic sneered, disdainfully replying before cutting off the communication.
Zhang Shengnan deployed a laser tripwire, preventing the locomotive from escaping. As usual, this was a simple task, with the only difficulty being low-altitude parachuting and blocking the target.
Now, they just had to wait for the Law IV female agents to control the target.
However, Uzdar sensed something wrong. She stared at the enlarged image of Li Aozi on the screen, quietly feeling, and squinted her eyes, saying:
"I'm curious, how did you, an Alpha-rank, kill a Beta-rank?"
"Is there a reward for telling? Like letting me go?"
Li Aozi smiled, seemingly not resisting at all. Surprisingly, he had a strong charm, his few words dispelling the crew's hostility.
Uzdar wasn't fooled, but such a handsome man was rare in Frost-Plated. She nodded slightly, her gaze wavering, then smiled softly:
"Sorry, buddy, you're under arrest."
"But if you cooperate, I might give you a personal reward."
"Hey, Captain, don't hog him." The gunner licked her lips. "Such tender meat, I've never tasted... hey, buddy, spend a night with us, we'll plead for you!"
"Really?" Li Aozi seemed tempted, his gaze shifting as if deciding. His extraordinary [Charisma] amplified this, lighting up the crew's eyes, from the mature captain to the cold driver.
"Really~~~" The gunner blinked.
"Though it violates military regulations... it's not impossible." Yin Xifeng flirtatiously flipped her hair.
"Deal." The cold Zhang Shengnan was eager, uttering one word.
Li Aozi smiled:
"Hahaha—I won't go."
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