Chapter 323: There's a Difference Between Reinforcements and Reinforcements
Eileen's Chosen Squad actually had a well-balanced personnel configuration.
For head-on combat, there was Mighty Tiger, piloting a 'Limit Breaker' of the same model as Brodia's; for long-range output, there was Eileen, seated in an 'Elf' of the same model as Repathos'.
Xiao Lan's 'Metroid', of the same model as Fodi's, was clearly designed for high-speed reconnaissance.
As for General Pan Feng, seated in an 'Admiral' of the same model as Guldin's, he was a very rare crowd-control and summoner specialist.
His Strategist Skill derivative, Eight Gates Golden Lock, could hard-control ordinary and boss units belonging to the enemy within the battlefield, though it had a range limit; if personnel were too dispersed, he could only selectively control a portion.
But under Azrael's command, the Gates scattered across the battlefield had all converged to support Cheng Tian, which gave Pan Feng the opportunity to control all the miscellaneous soldiers in one go.
As for his summoner role, it also came from a skill within the 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' world view.
As MP was deducted again, from the swirling yellow dust behind the Chosen Squad, 20 figures suddenly burst forth. These figures were all clad in standard Earth Federation Army protective suits, and armed with rocket launchers, Gatling guns, and other weapons capable of interfering with mechs to some extent —
Mech Skill: Ambush Formation.
Under normal circumstances, the troops Pan Feng summoned were 'Flying Knife Soldiers' who could attack both melee and ranged, but under the influence of the dungeon modifier, they had transformed into Earth Federation Assault Teams.
In this mech-dominated world, soldiers with only their flesh and blood bodies were at an absolute disadvantage, utterly defenseless against mechs.
Of course, as a veteran Black Iron-rank player, he had already deduced this from the modifiers, so this group of ambushers was primarily used for tactical operations.
Combined with the Eight Gates Golden Lock, which only affected ordinary and boss units but provided long-duration hard crowd control, forcibly prying open a few enemy Gates' cans should still be achievable.
But just at this moment, Aoko, still at the very top of the ruined skyscraper, raised her left hand's laser blade. Simultaneously, the Heart of Jellgard magic circle on her left hand and the two mental image crystals beside her also lit up brightly.
From behind the Innovation Army's ruined cover, accompanied by a large amount of dust, came the noisy sound of mech wheel mechanisms moving at high speed across the ground!
Soon, the source of the sound burst out from the dust... it was a group of Gates Enhanced models, all with silver paint!
A full thirty-six Silver Gates Enhanced models, seemingly enough to directly overturn the combat power on the field, charged madly towards the Earth Federation Army's direction in one go —
Mech Skill: prince's sword Silver Royal Guard * 3!
Previously, the combat power comparison between the two sides was 4 players + 4 protagonists against 4 players + 20 miscellaneous soldiers. With Cheng Tian's Heart Barrier interference, there was basically no personnel attrition, but in terms of superficial combat power, the Innovation Army was actually at a disadvantage.
In fact, Azrael had already prepared for the sacrifice of his mechanically modified subordinates when he dispatched the soldiers.
However, these sudden 36 charging Silver Enhanced Gates completely shifted the superficial combat power advantage to Cheng Tian's side.
Pan Feng first subconsciously looked at the 20 grunts he had summoned, then at the 36 Silver Enhanced Gates charging en masse —
The Admiral suddenly braked and turned, its tracked bipedal lower body carrying its heavy frame as it decisively retreated.
The Admiral, of the same model as Guldin's, only had a movement speed of 2☆, which, while comparable to the basic Gates, was slower than almost all his other companions.
As the old saying goes, when you encounter a beast in the wild, you don't need to run faster than the beast; you just need to run faster than your companions to survive. Pan Feng didn't want to be the one eaten in the old saying, so he decided to at least create some distance first.
It wasn't just Pan Feng; the rest of the Chosen Squad and the Blood Armor Squad were also startled by the sudden influx of rebel forces. Such a large number of Gates could overwhelm people even by sheer numbers.
Even the most hot-headed Jeff looked in the direction of the charging Silver Gates after hearing reconnaissance specialist Sarah's shout over the communicator, and then it was as if a large bucket of cold water had been poured over his head.
"Everyone retreat immediately! The Gates aren't fast, we can kite them using our mech and terrain advantages!"
Veteran team leader Glenn also immediately issued a retreat order upon seeing the situation.
However, what almost everyone didn't know was that these thirty-six Silver Gates that came as reinforcements were actually all show and no substance.
To be precise, the Silver Gates, which fully inherited the attributes of the Silver Guard, also only had 3 HP.
The Silver Gates were equivalent to the Silver Guard's horses; they would explode upon taking a single hit.
The reinforced exoskeleton on the Silver Gates' pilots was equivalent to the Silver Guard's knight armor, also only able to withstand one hit.
While possessing all the regular functions of an Enhanced Gates, they were so fragile that a single Gatling cannon shot could blow them up, making them incredibly deceptive.
This entire squad of fragile Gates, which would disappear after 5 minutes even if they weren't hit, was undoubtedly subjected to suppressive fire from the Blood Armor Squad and Chosen Squad's Gatling cannons as they retreated and fought.
The hit rate in the current chaotic situation was naturally very touching, not to mention Cheng Tian's Heart Barrier keeping up at all times.
But just at this moment, Cheng Tian, whose mental energy was focused on the Silver Gates Guard and the deployment of the Heart Barrier, felt a sudden tremor beneath his feet, accompanied by a sense of weightlessness. His entire Aoko mech fell directly into the ruined building, whose framework was still relatively intact.
Relying on his shared sensation with the mech, Cheng Tian, during the fall, managed to capture a glimpse of a spherical mech with a three-color paint scheme.
This was the Metroid piloted by Xiao Lan of the Chosen Squad, and it was Xiao Lan's Sticky Bomb that had blown open the floor beneath Cheng Tian's feet. This item was somewhat similar to Isaac's Bomb, Seven Treasures Bomb, etc., all bombs capable of explosive effects on walls and rocks.
Not only that, Xiao Lan herself and the mech she piloted were immune to the explosion of the Sticky Bomb, and she could also use the force of the explosion to propel herself to locations normally unreachable.
Seeing Cheng Tian's Aoko mech blown down by her, Xiao Lan disengaged her morph ball form and brought out the energy cannon of the same model as the energy armor mounted on her right arm, its muzzle beginning to glow.
However, the instant the ordinary energy cannon, capable of rapid fire, shot out, Cheng Tian's Aoko mech suddenly seemed to be covered in a shadow, becoming pitch black. Simultaneously, a purplish-black energy shield appeared without warning, completely enveloping Xiao Lan's Metroid. All the rapidly fired energy cannons were absorbed by the purple energy shield —
Nightmare Form: Binding Trap Barrier!
At the same time, a thick book materialized in Aoko's empty right hand and began to furiously flip its pages without any wind.
And Xiao Lan's energy armor began to furiously pop up crimson warning messages in her field of vision.