Up in the sky, inside the Black Tortoise, on the bridge.
Everyone watched the Gundam Frame tear through its opposition with devastating force, their faces filled with amazement.
Qin Feng was particularly excited, his eyes wide. "So cool! I'm applying to join the military when I get back. I want to pilot a robot like that too!"
Zhao Qi stared at the Gundam Frame with a stern face, lost in thought. Beside him, a curious Gu Yue nudged his waist twice with her elbow. "Captain, what are you thinking about?"
He shook his head and sighed. "I'm really getting old. No matter how I think about it, this thing just doesn't seem plausible."
He scratched his head in frustration. "Maybe I should retire."
"Don't say that, Captain," Gu Yue said. "We were hoping to learn more from you."
Natarle, her left arm and leg in casts, sat in the Captain's seat, a broad smile on her face as she listened to the praise for Zhou Tianming all around her. But her beautiful purple eyes remained fixed on the fighting Gundam Frame on the screen, ready to act at a moment's notice.
"Huh? Why isn't Zhou Tianming charging forward?"
Someone voiced their confusion, and the others looked to see that the Gundam Frame had stopped near the energy building, dealing with the Vines assailing it from all directions but not advancing. As they wondered, Li Chuang spoke up. "It seems Tian Ming is preparing to use the White Snake."
The others looked at him, puzzled.
Li Chuang smiled. "Just watch. The things that kid designs are truly born from fantastic ideas."
Looking back at the armaments the fighting Gundam Frame was using, the others couldn't help but nod.
Although the style was out of place, it had a strong East Asian flavor that they found more and more appealing the longer they watched.
"Zhou Tianming! Go for it!"
"Show those monsters what you've got!"
"Ooh!!!"
Cheers erupted on the bridge!
Below, the fighting Zhou Tianming seemed to sense something and looked up at the Black Tortoise in the sky, a positive, warm feeling washing over him. A smile touched his lips. "Can't let you guys see me make a fool of myself."
The Gundam Frame's arm swung, and the Black Snake Sword whistled as it bent and flexed like a whip or a snake, sweeping through the Vines.
Beneath its feet, the Xuanwu Shield-Black scattered Black Scales that clung to the surrounding Vines, while the main body flickered with electricity, deploying its Repulsion Field.
The Vines covered in Black Scales slowed drastically, as if seized by an invisible hand, freezing in place.
The next second, a black shadow swept past, and they were sliced in two.
As they fell, the Black Scales flew up and attached themselves to other Vines.
This cycle repeated, preventing them from getting anywhere near the Gundam Frame.
After a while, the extended Black Snake Sword suddenly retracted with a crisp mechanical sound, returning to the hand.
Zhou Tianming held the sword horizontally before him and saw that the black blade had now turned completely white. The screen in front of him also displayed that the Black Snake Sword was fully charged. The Gundam Frame's left hand picked up the scabbard hanging at its waist, and its right hand sheathed the Black Snake Sword.
The next second, the patterns on the scabbard lit up, and with a mechanical sound, the scabbard opened as a white light flared.
The Repulsion Field of the Xuanwu Shield at its feet went to full power, pushing back the mountain of Vines, while arcs of lightning flashed and danced, clearing the immediate vicinity.
It dashed forward, arriving directly in front of the energy building.
Faced with the 30-story-tall energy building, the Gundam Frame looked like a dwarf.
The Gundam Frame leaped high, raising the Black Snake Sword high over its head.
"White Snake!"
The magnetic field generator on the scabbard activated. The body of the Black Snake Sword shot out from the opened scabbard, rushing straight toward the sky as the energy stored within its white blade erupted.
The white blade formed the core, with the magnetic field generator shaping the constrained energy into a blade of light. A massive, 40-meter-long Beam Saber chopped down vertically toward the energy building. Vines, metal... everything in its path was vaporized.
From top to bottom, the 30-story building was cleaved down the middle. The blade pressed down, plunging into the ground and slicing open the earth beneath it.
The beam blade lasted for 10 seconds before abruptly vanishing. The air above the ground distorted from the intense heat, and at the edges of the cut, molten metal dripped like lava, glowing a brilliant red. The energy building, split in two, tilted to either side and collapsed with a deafening roar.
The black snake-like sword retracted. The scabbard shattered and slid off the Black Snake Sword, and even the blade's edge showed signs of melting.
"Looks like the materials still need to be changed. The energy conversion and release efficiency of the white phosphorus still needs further optimization."
As he pondered, Zhou Tianming looked down below.
At the end of the cleaved earth, inside the control room housing the nuclear energy source, countless Vines filled every gap.
"This is also a problem. Maybe I should just blow it up."
But after thinking about it, Zhou Tianming didn't dare to actually blow up the Satellite. He was doing a good deed, but an explosion would change the nature of his actions.
The Xuanwu Shield-Black emitted a magnetic force, pulling the Black Scales and scattering them onto the Vines inside the energy room. After confirming they had attached, it exerted a magnetic pull. The Vines were lifted as if by a pair of invisible hands, exposing gaps. The Gundam Frame swung its arm, and the Black Snake Sword plunged into one of the gaps. Like a precision scalpel, it hugged the metal exterior of the nuclear energy source, slicing away the Vines on its surface.
Its body swayed, and all the Vines it touched were torn apart. Due to the melted edge of the blade, they were shredded as if chewed, sending bits of biological tissue flying. A moment later, deprived of their energy supply, the Black Vines stopped regenerating. The sudden loss of power also caused them to wither, as if sucking themselves dry.
Large swathes of Vines became shriveled and desiccated, falling lifelessly to the ground.
Silence fell upon the Black Tortoise.
The scene of a sword cleaving a building was simply too fantastical.
But everyone's face was flushed with excitement.
"We won!"
Someone shouted, setting off a chain reaction.
The crowd cheered loudly.
The bridge was filled with sounds of celebration.
Natarle let out a long breath, a smile appearing on her face.
But soon, she noticed a spot below where the Vines were still full of life—GARMR&D Institute, Building 2.
The starting point of the incident, the place where the explosion had occurred.
She pressed the communicator. "Tian Ming, there's still an anomaly over at the institute. Be careful. I'll be ready to provide covering fire at any time."
Receiving the communication, Zhou Tianming rode the Xuanwu Shield over.
Everywhere he passed, the Vines turned to dust at the slightest stir of the air current. He arrived before the institute amidst billowing clouds of dust.
The remaining Vines seemed to shrink back in fear.
Standing before it, Zhou Tianming hacked into the institute's network, trying to find the core of the Vines, but the interference inside was so severe that not a single signal could get out. He sighed.
The Black Snake Sword in its hand extended, and the Gundam Frame swung it horizontally.
Zhou Tianming sliced the institute building open directly, following the Vines that spread within.
A simpler method would have been to just bombard the institute and blow it to smithereens, but Zhou Tianming, worried about triggering some unseen rule where the enemy wouldn't die without a confirmed body, decided it was safer to handle it personally.
The Gundam Frame's skeletal hand grabbed a bundle of Vines and pulled hard.
The ground trembled and bulged. Building debris fell to the sides, and a dark, carrot-like sphere over 5 meters in diameter was pulled out from underground. The moment it emerged, it let out a woman's shriek, a miserable wail.
Startled, Zhou Tianming took a closer look.
There was a woman on the sphere. Her body was bloated like a ball, and Black Vines grew from her limbs, abdomen, and head. The scene was horrifying, making Zhou Tianming's hair stand on end, but his eyes held a trace of pity.
Without a doubt, this was a tragic failure of a human experiment.
He raised the Black Snake Sword, its tip aimed at the sphere.
Just then, a figure darted out from the side. He spread his arms, shielding the sphere with his own body.
"St...op..."
As he spoke, blood gushed from his mouth.
The blade's tip halted. Zhou Tianming looked at the man and sighed.
Only a few strands of hair remained on his scalp. His flesh had melted, leaving him barely human-shaped. With every movement, his flesh would tear, spraying blood. "I will grant you both release."
Activating the external speaker, Zhou Tianming said, "It will be over in an instant."
The man, who resembled a lump of flesh, widened his bloodshot eyes. "Tian... Tian Ming!"
Stunned, Zhou Tianming couldn't recognize who this person was.
"Spare... her. She's... innocent. I beg..."
Letting out a breath, Zhou Tianming shook his head. "Living like this is more painful than death."
"How... would... you know!" the flesh-lump of a man's voice rose. "She just... wants to live!"
A look of sorrow crossed Zhou Tianming's face, but he remained silent.
"Clearly, you... you also fought to... survive back then. You understand... so why won't you... spare her!"
His eyes widened. Zhou Tianming thought of someone and cried out in disbelief, "Weber!"
"I... helped you... Now, help me..."
Recalling the previous battle and looking at the tragic scene around them, she had already become a threat.
Zhou Tianming resolutely refused. "I'm sorry, she cannot be allowed to live. If you can even call this living."
"She is still alive!" Weber roared, blood spraying from his entire body. "Why won't you help me!"
Weber's voice grew low. "Heh heh... If it were you, would you choose to die?"
Glancing at the ball of Vines, at the woman whose life was worse than death, Zhou Tianming shuddered, unable to imagine himself in such a state. "I would choose to die!"
"Liar!"
"I'm sorry." Zhou Tianming's face was filled with sorrow, but his eyes were firm.
Be free!
The Black Snake Sword fell. Weber threw himself onto the woman, holding her tightly.
The woman's eyes streamed tears of blood, and the surrounding Vines coiled back, embracing Weber tightly.
The tip of the sword pierced through them both. The vibrating blade tore their flesh to shreds, turning them into a bloody mist in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, a bolt of lightning struck down, vaporizing everything.
"Thank you..."
A gentle female voice seemed to echo in his ears.
Leaning back against his chair, Zhou Tianming looked up at the sky. "It's over..."
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