"0.5 seconds!"
While Creuset's subordinates were still stunned by the MA transforming into an MS, Creuset himself focused on the key point with widened pupils.
What was so surprising about an MA transforming into an MS? They had already encountered the transformable frame called X303 in the stolen Aegis Gundam. Even PLANT was currently researching this transformation technology. But the key points were the transformation time and fluidity displayed by this East Asian Army's Gundam!
Since Creuset had led the team that stole the Aegis Gundam, and it was his subordinate who piloted it, he knew the Aegis Gundam's transformation inside out.
Here, Creuset could confidently say one thing for certain: compared to this East Asian Army's Gundam before them, the Aegis Gundam wasn't quite trash, but it wasn't far from it.
Taking advantage of Wang Hu chasing after the Gene and CGUE, Creuset quickly reviewed the recorded footage.
He saw that the moment his subordinate's Gene dodged the Wang Hu Gundam, just as the Gene tried to seize the opportunity to deliver a killing blow to the Gundam passing beneath it...
"Faster than lightning" would be an understatement; "swift as thunder" would be more appropriate.
The Gundam piloted by Wang Hu completed the entire transformation smoothly within 0.5 seconds, then seamlessly drew the Beam Sabers ejected from both sides of its waist skirt armor.
With two swift strokes, it sliced the Gene into pieces!
"Flight speed, transformation time, Beam Saber output!"
After quickly watching the recorded footage, Creuset suddenly looked up and carefully examined Wang Hu, who was currently preying on their MS forces like a hungry tiger.
"His weaknesses have been compensated for."
Gritting his teeth until they creaked, Creuset felt a wave of disappointment in his heart.
If Wang Hu were still piloting the Qilin, then under the tactics he had tailor-made for him, even without his command, his subordinates could have restrained Wang Hu. But now?
Thirty-one Mobile Suits were being chased around by Wang Hu alone like herding ducks!
"Damn it, what kind of monstrous machine is this?!"
Inside the Duel Gundam, Yzak was kicked by Wang Hu. In the violently shaking cockpit, even the usually proud Yzak couldn't help but pessimistically admit:
Although his Duel Gundam also bore the Gundam name, whether it was due to the machine's performance or the pilot's skill... in any case, they were completely outmatched in battle against the East Asian Army's Wang Hu and his machine!
"Yzak, are you okay?" The Buster Gundam caught the kicked Duel Gundam, and Dearka asked with concern.
"I'm fine!" Yzak shook his head in response. Then, in his field of vision, a massive red Beam Saber came slashing down.
"Dodge!" Yzak shouted, quickly kicking away the Buster Gundam that had caught him, then hurriedly raised his shield to block the enemy's strike.
Little did he know the enemy's move was merely a feint.
"Thump!" As Wang Hu approached Yzak, he delivered another flying kick, heavily stomping on the shield that almost completely covered the front of the Duel Gundam.
Using Yzak's Duel Gundam as a stepping stone, Wang Hu leaped high into the air, executing a flawless backflip.
"Boom, boom, boom."
No one had anticipated this move, so the attacks from the Gene and CGUE chasing Wang Hu inadvertently struck their ally, the Duel Gundam.
"Boom, boom, boom."
Three explosions, three bursts of flame—Wang Hu completed his backflip with a perfect score of 999.
Raising his high-output Beam Rifle mid-air, he swiftly blasted the three Mobile Suits pursuing him into oblivion.
"You bastard!" Yzak, covered in dust and grit, burned with rage. Being overpowered in combat didn't faze him, nor did poor performance in battle.
After all, he'd faced plenty of humiliating situations since his debut. But witnessing comrades die before his eyes, time and time again—that was unacceptable!
Yzak would rather die himself than see another comrade fall.
"Yzak!" The Buster Gundam flew over, accompanied by several Genes.
"Let's coordinate an attack!"
Dearka called out to his friend, not waiting for a response before opening the missile launch pods on both shoulders.
Twelve missiles streaked toward Wang Hu, trailing long plumes of smoke. Dearka then raised his shotgun, ready to use its spread to block Wang Hu's potential evasion routes.
While Dearka fought hard, the Genes beside him weren't idle either.
Some followed behind the missiles, others dodged the shotgun's trajectory.
Grouped in threes, the Genes raised their guns and swords—if their skills and weapons were lacking, they'd overwhelm him with numbers!
"Whoosh!"
Dearka and the others, hoping to execute a coordinated strike, froze in disbelief. Before their eyes, Wang Hu's Mobile Suit transformed into a Mobile Armor.
Accelerating on the spot without any extra movements, this simple response rendered all of Dearka's attacks useless.
Whether missiles or shotgun blasts, they were no match for Wang Hu's speed.
Without giving Dearka and his team time to recover, Wang Hu, who had just flown away, instantly circled back.
"Zing, zing, zing."
From the sides of the now Mobile Armor-form machine, where the skirt armor would be in Mobile Suit mode, two small Beam Cannons extended.
Wang Hu hovered overhead, unleashing a barrage of beam attacks at the Genes, effortlessly adding three more kills to his tally with a laugh.
"Impossible, right?" Stunned by Wang Hu's incredible speed, Dearka flew to Yzak's side, standing back-to-back with him.
"Wasn't that supposed to be a Beam Saber?"
Dearka could swear—he was absolutely certain—those so-called two small Beam Cannons were actually the enemy's Beam Sabers!
How could they function as beam guns after switching to Mobile Armor mode?
"Allied Forces technology? No, it must be the East Asian Army's unique technique!"
Yzak had no interest in discussing such matters with Dearka. His eyes frantically tracked Wang Hu's movements.
Watching that angular, sharply designed Gundam, brimming with aggressive posture, he could only think of one thing: how to kill the enemy or be killed by him!
"All units, regroup and form a battle formation to engage the enemy."
At this critical moment, Creuset—who had been cunningly staying on the sidelines collecting data—finally remembered his duty.
Arriving belatedly, Creuset issued commands to all his subordinates, directing them to form a wall centered around himself.
Through his observation, Creuset concluded that against Wang Hu's new mobile suit which lacked wired-control gunpods, they could still win by leveraging their numerical advantage through steady and methodical tactics.
"Dearka, maintain continuous bombardment. Don't worry about hitting the target directly—just keep Wang Hu from being able to stop moving."
"Yzak, take all the CGUEs and form four-member teams for close-quarters combat. Be careful to avoid friendly fire from Dearka."
"The remaining Genes will coordinate with me for long-range suppression and covering fire, while also providing support to our allies."
His confident and magnetic voice steadied the slightly restless morale of their forces on the battlefield. Creuset positioned himself at the forefront of their formation and was the first to deploy the Dragoons from his back.
To be fair, Creuset was exceptionally skilled in one-on-one combat, but his command abilities were equally formidable.
Following Creuset's instructions, a relentless barrage of fire was directed at Wang Hu. The masked man, in particular, issued targeted commands to individual subordinates.
Though his micromanagement might seem similar to that of a certain commissioner—such as ordering a machine gun to shift five centimeters to the left—the commissioner's actions often invited ridicule, whereas Creuset's commands repeatedly yielded remarkable results.
For instance, on several occasions during his flight, Wang Hu nearly flew straight into the shifting net of fire, adjusted precisely as per Creuset's instructions.
"It's working, it's working!"
"As long as we follow Captain Creuset's orders, we can win!"
Fully immersed in the battle, under Creuset's command, Dearka and the others began to see a glimmer of victory.
"Hmph."
Several of Wang Hu's attempts to break through were thwarted by the forces under Creuset's command. Inside the cockpit of the Gundam delivered by Zhang Hongyun, Wang Hu grew increasingly adept at handling the mobile suit after some time piloting it.
Narrowing his eyes to conceal the cold gleam within, he fixed his gaze on Creuset, positioned at the center of the enemy formation.
The mobile suit, named Zeta Gundam, suddenly accelerated under Wang Hu's control and charged forward!
"Trying to break through with brute force?"
Creuset's expression turned grave, not a hint of carelessness in his eyes. The entire situation seemed to be under his control, but he wasn't naive enough to believe that their earlier performance alone could suppress the opponent.
Simply because the enemy was Wang Hu!
"Dearka, open fire," he called out to Dearka, who possessed the strongest firepower in their main force.
"Understood." Without a second thought, Dearka assembled his weapon upon hearing Creuset's command.
Aiming at Wang Hu, who was flying in a straight line, he unleashed a full-power beam torrent.
If the enemy didn't evade this attack!
Dearka was supremely confident that even if the red nose of that mobile suit was incredibly durable, it wouldn't withstand his bombardment.
Facing the incoming beam torrent, Wang Hu tilted his mobile suit slightly, allowing the torrent to pass just beneath the abdomen of his machine by a hair's breadth.
"Yzak, lead the charge."
Just as Wang Hu evaded Dearka's attack, the second wave of Creuset's planned assault arrived.
"Die, Wang Hu!" Coordinating with the assault team beside him, Yzak drew his beam saber, raised his shield, and charged forward.
Forming a rectangular encirclement, CGUEs, Genes, and the Duel attempted to block Wang Hu with their shields from all directions—above, below, front, back, left, and right.
No matter which direction the friendly forces collided with Wang Hu, even the slightest delay would be enough.
They were confident they could use their shields to pin down Wang Hu, then stab him to death through the gaps between the shields!
This tactic had proven repeatedly effective in the previous battles!
Wang Hu had chosen to retreat several times when facing their encirclement!
"Heh." Wang Hu chuckled lightly at this, pulling out a Beam Saber from his skirt armor. He raised his hand and threw the saber in a spinning motion.
"Hahaha, are you out of ideas?" Yzak laughed, watching the Beam Saber Wang Hu had thrown like a dart, spinning like a windmill. He assumed Wang Hu had resorted to such a pointless move out of desperation.
After all, who would be foolish enough to run into a Beam Saber? Especially one with such poor accuracy?
Wang Hu, if you're going to throw it, at least aim properly! What's the point of throwing it outside the gap of the MS encircling you?
"Dodge it!" Just as Yzak thought Wang Hu had lost his touch, Creuset, standing in the formation, shouted loudly.
"Captain Creuset?" Yzak looked at Wang Hu, who was now drawing his gun at such close range, and responded in confusion to his captain's warning from behind.
"Who is he trying to aim at?" Staring at the gleaming muzzle of Wang Hu's gun, Yzak could only focus on this question.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" In fact, the question Yzak was pondering was completely unnecessary. Wang Hu's gun wasn't aimed at any of the surrounding MS.
Instead, the muzzle was lowered, and the beams fired from it were directed at the Beam Saber he had just thrown!
"Is Wang Hu insane?" Yzak raised his shield to press against Wang Hu, which should have been a satisfying moment.
But for some reason, his sense of unease grew stronger and stronger.
"Dodge, Yzak!" At that moment, his friend Dearka began shouting as well.
"Why is everyone telling me to dodge?" His shield made contact with the Gundam piloted by Wang Hu.
And it wasn't just Yzak making contact—the other CGUEs had made contact too.
"Isn't this our victory?"
(End of Chapter)