If the hexagonal barrier that could flash across the entire field still had a chance of being misjudged, then this appearance of holy light plus a barrier was undoubtedly something only Cheng Tian, the Heart Priest, could conjure.
And Cheng Tian, relying on this seemingly fierce but actually superficial Storm Strong Strike—which upon contact revealed itself to be all show—deduced that Eileen not only recognized him but was also signaling that she knew of his existence.
This Storm Strong Strike looked powerful, but its actual damage and force were very ordinary; an arrow shot at Cheng Tian's barrier not only caused little damage but its additional multi-segment damage judgment caused Cheng Tian's magic recovery rate to skyrocket.
The two sides were currently in opposing factions, which ironically allowed them to perform actions that would be impossible if they were allies.
Their secret signal had connected.
However, they currently had no idea how to make contact afterward, and based on her trust in Cheng Tian as the "spoiler," Eileen felt it best not to act rashly when unnecessary; it would be soon enough to decide after Cheng Tian sent a message.
Yet, as expected, Cheng Tian, who successfully blocked the weak Storm Strike, was completely unscathed, and displayed abilities far beyond conventional understanding, becoming the most conspicuous presence on the battlefield at this moment.
From the implanted settings, both the Earth Federation and the Laia Reform Army knew that player mercenaries could use mechs to unleash special abilities, but Cheng Tian's exhibited super barrier ability was too eye-catching, and it immediately linked him to the ubiquitous regular hexagonal barrier in the minds of both allies and enemies.
In an instant, Glenn, the muscular captain of the Red Shield Squad, and Azrael, the leader of the Reform Army commanding remotely, simultaneously made their decisions.
Eliminate Cheng Tian!
Protect Cheng Tian!
Aside from the player community, who clearly couldn't be commanded with strict obedience, both the Red Shield Squad and the Reform Army's interception squad immediately converged on Cheng Tian's position.
Only if Cheng Tian died could the Blood Armor Squad effectively kill enemies and break through!
And as long as Cheng Tian lived, the interception squad could further delay the enemy's advance!
Cheng Tian instantly became the core target of this offensive and defensive battle.
The players were a bit slow to react but also followed suit.
Suddenly, the battle zones, which had been individual skirmishes, shrank, but this also led to more intense conflicts.
The various unique mech techniques derived from "mech combat" by players also began to emerge.
The Gates D, piloted by the female Yautja, retreated into the shadows, and then the paint on its surface underwent drastic changes, beginning to blend with its surroundings—
Mech Technique: Optical Camouflage, skill blueprint from "Alien vs. Predator."
The female Yautja, Hyena, who followed the hunter path and excelled in assassination, chose to conceal her figure, her shoulder cannon primed and ready.
The Gates LB, piloted by Cyborg Zero, had its left-hand lightsaber change form into a sharp triangular shape—
Mech Technique: Z-Saber, weapon blueprint from "Mega Man Zero."
With the Z-Saber's enhancement, the Gates LB's laser sword attack power and armor-piercing capability more than doubled, gaining enough power to cleave through ordinary armor in a single strike.
Meanwhile, the talkative Husky-man, Wolfman, tightened the Gates' Iron Fist at his waist, which then emitted a sound loud enough to trigger detectors; when fully charged, Wolfman punched forward, and instantly, a spiraling energy cannon composed of yellow and blue energy erupted from his fist, effortlessly blasting through all obstacles in its path—
Mech Technique: Charged Spiral Cannon, weapon blueprint from "Contra: Hard Corps."
In the original work, the charged hand cannon of the protagonist werewolf Fang was incredibly powerful, and Wolfman's hand cannon, after enhancement, was even more formidable.
But to Wolfman's great surprise, his Charged Spiral Cannon was met by an equally high-energy wave from the opposite direction; the two clashed in mid-air, stalemated for a while, and then exploded violently!
At the edge of Wolfman's vision, a medium-sized third-generation mech, with the same Brody-type appearance but painted orange-yellow, maintained a posture of pushing its palms forward, one up and one down—
Mech Technique: Haoh Shokoken, skill blueprint from "Art of Fighting."
The player ID piloting this mech was "Fierce Tiger," a melee combat player who successfully apprenticed at the "Kyokugenryu Dojo" in the "Art of Fighting" dungeon and received personal instruction from Ryo Sakazaki (Ryo Sakazaki), showing great talent.
Although he knew nothing about piloting a mech, with the blessing of the mech combat entry and the assistance of the humanoid mech for spatial allocation, he had tried his best to reproduce Kyokugenryu Karate in mech techniques.
Judging from the successful energy clash, the power reproduction was quite good.
Incidentally, many people know Ryo Sakazaki and Kyokugenryu from the "King of Fighters" series, but in fact, SNK's King of Fighters is a hodgepodge, with many characters introduced from other worldviews.
The Sakazaki family comes from "Art of Fighting," the Terry and Andy brothers and Mai Shiranui, who even crossed over into the "Street Fighter" universe, are from "Fatal Fury," Ralf and Clark of the Ikari Warriors are the protagonists of "Ikari Warriors," and Athena and Sie Kensou of the Psycho Soldiers also have ancestors appearing in the 2D side-scrolling game "Athena."
During the vacuum created by the energy clash, a Foddy-type mech, painted in red, yellow, and purple, rolled at high speed like a ball, crashing directly into the wall on the ground floor of the ruined building where Cheng Tian was, but it bounced off like a real ball; subsequently, a sticky bomb was left on the impacted wall.
Accompanied by a not-too-violent explosion, the wall broke, and the sphere smoothly turned and re-entered, rolling and climbing up the damaged staircase—
Mech Technique: Morph Ball + Sticky Bomb, armament blueprint from "Metroid."
The player ID piloting this mech was "Xiaolan," who had already donned a skin-tight energy suit before piloting the mech.
Almost simultaneously, the last player of the Chosen Squad made their move.
The player piloting a heavy mech similar to the Guldin moved slowly but raised a melee weapon resembling a Green Dragon Crescent Blade in their hand, and magical fluctuations appeared around their body.
The next second, eight large Chinese characters—"Xiu, Sheng, Shang, Du, Jing, Si, Jing, Kai" (Rest, Life, Harm, Stop, View, Death, Shock, Open)—fell upon the heads of all the Gates mechs of the Reform Army's miscellaneous troops; all the miscellaneous troops seemed to be frozen, suddenly losing their forward momentum—
Mech Technique: Eight Gates Golden Lock!
The player ID "General Pan Feng," who activated the general's skill Eight Gates Golden Lock, pinning all enemy miscellaneous troops in place, let out a long sigh of relief in his General's mech.