Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!

"Does he have confidence?"

If they could win, the commander-in-chief did not want to return with a defeat.

"..."

Silence.

The question was whether the mech pilot who made the decision on his own had confidence, and at this moment, anyone who dared to guarantee that would have to bear the bet themselves.

No one dared to make the guarantee. Enjoy new tales from My Virtual Library Empire

The commander-in-chief narrowed his eyes, and his gray stubble beard also showed a hint of hesitation.

Trust?

Or to play it safe?

Bai E?

This name, he was well aware of.

Born of artificial humans but achieving a leap no artificial human had before, Bai E became an existence with equal opportunities as natural humans.

Not only did he have Carlos's full confidence, but even Hamilton, who regarded artificial humans as dirt, spoke highly of him.

It seemed even the neutral faction Dewa also held goodwill towards him.

In many actions he had previously participated in, he performed brilliantly, accomplishing in a short time what other warriors could not imagine in a lifetime, thus directly exchanging his military merits for a precious vial of Gene Optimization Solution.

Geniuses certainly have their moments of arrogance, and the regrets they cause are often far greater than those of mediocrities.

But trusting in those shining geniuses can also create incredibly dazzling miracles.

"Order the mech combat team..." the commander-in-chief spoke slowly, "full-speed support! I believe in our soldiers, they will not let down their homeland."

The mech commander was slightly startled, then responded vigorously, "Yes, sir!"

...

"Hiss~"

Waves of heat from the Flamethrower surged violently from both arms, the core's high temperature burning the stubborn bugs that clung to the gaps, preventing detachment from the mech, causing them to fall like raindrops from its legs.

The mech flipped through the air, and the charred bug corpses littered the ground.

This was the bug race's last line of defense, and of course, Bai E could not allow his mech to carry these encumbrances for a decapitating strike.

One step forward, and he would be facing the artillery beast, and farther away, three red giants were still striding over.

Their movements were slow, but their steps were large.

[...Countdown: 2 minutes 17 seconds.]

Glancing at the timer on the dashboard, Bai E knew that the true combat time he had left was far less than this.

"Zing!"

The war blade unsheathed, and the metal war blade made from Octium alloy reflected a sharp gleam in the sunlight.

A nearby common artillery bug turned its barrel, aiming the single-barreled biological cannon at the massive entity just a stone's throw away, with worm-like projectiles writhing eagerly inside.

"Putt!"

A flash of the blade, and the bug was bisected.

The shoulder-mounted rotary machine gun began to spin, a torrent of flames unleashing a fierce metal storm. The endless tide of worker bugs and bee bugs composed of the bug race was ripped apart by the blue and white painted mech, as the metallic war machine lightly descended from the sky...

A combat mech was far more than just the poor armaments used in training, as countless weapons of mass destruction armed this towering Titan-class mech to the teeth.

A forward roll, and the long sword in hand already swept towards the lower limb of the beast trying to dodge.

"Puff!"

The war blade slashed through, and the limb gushed blood.

[The basic Titan-class armed mech you are piloting used a proficient weapon attack to hit the target, "Specialty — Mechanical Rhythm" experience +1.]

[You caused 50 points of slashing damage to the target!]@@novelbin@@

[Current "Specialty — Mechanical Rhythm" experience 218/2000, when it reaches 2000 points you can master "Specialty — Mechanical Rhythm (5/7 level)".]

[Based on the effect of your attack, you gain the following information—]

[??? (Bug Race): Health 2350 (+5/S)/3000; Defensive Power: 500 (100); Attack Power (Type: Bludgeoning) 600~???; Traits: Giant Beast Template, Trait: Thickened Armor, Trait: Symbiotic Weapon—Shatter Cannon, Trait: Organ Absorption; Mobility: 10%...]

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The colossal beast had already suffered considerable injuries; the unified barrage from the military's V3 rocket vehicles wasn't as futile as it appeared on the surface.

But beneath the colossus, Bai E saw numerous shriveled bodies of worker bugs and bee bugs.

Whether from analyzing the wounds or recalling from memory, Bai E could confirm that it was neither his doing... nor the masterpiece of the missile volleys launched by the V3 rocket vehicles.

It could only have been the beast itself... that trait known as "Organ Absorption," which had absorbed the biomass from the smaller bugs nearby, converting it into the materials needed to restore its own health points.

Unfortunately, the enemy's health was continuously recovering; fortunately... this was an opponent that could be defeated.

The drop rate panel could only show the approximate level of the opponent; it still took actual combat information for Bai E to analyze how to defeat the opponent.

The beast's defensive power astonishingly showed two levels of defense, one at 100, the other at 500.

This clearly indicated that there was a significant difference between the defense of the back and lower limbs, providing a special hint and coinciding with everyone's observations of the colossal beast.

"Pfft!"

Facing Bai E who had rushed toward it, the beast did not just wait to be defeated.

Only upon getting close did Bai E realize that on each of the beast's arm-like appendages, located closest to the head, there was a gun-like biological structure.

And at that moment, the biological gun muzzles aimed at the mecha piloted by Bai E and Rose, violently spraying out two puddles of earthy yellow pus.

"Hiss~"

The sound of corrosion immediately arose from the right thigh of the mecha; even though Bai E reacted instantly, the mecha's massive size still made it difficult to completely dodge.

"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~"

A not-so-sharp alarm sounded in the cockpit, reminding them of the potency of the corrosive acid, which clearly wasn't as terrifying as the beast's other method of attack — the Shatter Cannon. Up against the most advanced material that humanity could currently produce — Octonary Alloy — it could only achieve a certain degree of erosion.

Tiny worms surged in the sticky fluid, attempting to burrow deeper into the mecha.

It was a minor degree but persistent.

"Don't mind the acid."

Bai E glanced at the information displayed on the mecha control panel and immediately made a decision.

It wasn't that the mecha was completely immune, but in the short span of a few minutes, the acid wouldn't affect the mecha enough to interfere with its movements.

And these few minutes were critical to deciding the outcome of the war.

"Buzz~"

The combat blade whirred, slicing through the air.

Bai E aimed at one of the beast's lower limbs that was already injured, where the flesh was charred black, clearly damaged in the previous bombardment.

However, as the combat blade swept across, it was slightly off target.

The white lower limbs were also the beast's weak points, but the unaffected parts of the chitin armor still possessed the defensive power it was supposed to have.

Even though it couldn't fully block the combat blade's strike, it still mitigated some of the damage.

[Your attack has caused 30 points of slashing damage to the target!]

"Off target?" Rose asked subconsciously, somewhat surprised.

In her mind, Bai E never made mistakes at crucial moments.

"Yes." Bai E frowned tightly, finding the reason—

No matter how much the mecha resembled the human body, it was ultimately not a human body.

Controlling a weapon through an external object was never as direct as using one's own body.

The hand that controlled the mecha to grasp the combat blade always had a strange sense of detachment, and there was an elusive feeling regarding the precision of control over the angle, direction, and force of the blade.

It was sufficient to bully his mech pilot teammates, who were equally inexperienced, in everyday practice, but on a real battlefield where every millimeter mattered, the control was utterly unreliable.

One important reason for this was the conversion rate of mechanical rhythm; however, Bai E's own Level 2 Light Firearms Specialization also limited his current performance.

With a flash in his eyes, Bai E mentally allocated his points—

[Payment: 1412 combat experience points.]

[You have learned "Level 4 Light Firearms Specialization," and concurrently received 2 latent points.]

[Light Firearms Specialization (Level 4): Attack speed +12%, Armor Penetration +4%, Perception Break (Special) +2%.]

[Detection of character's current "Level 4 Light Firearms Specialization," skill tree unlocked: Magic Blade, Lightfoot Dance.]

[Current unlock requirements: General/Combat experience *1000 (cost doubles for each additional skill of the same level unlocked), Latent Points *2 (fixed).]

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