Chapter 56: Speechless

Upon hearing this, Zhao Ran quickly used her smart assist, and her wobbly mech quickly straightened up. She let out a long sigh and said,

“Finally saved.”

“Don’t rejoice too soon; the real trouble has just begun.”

Su Ming calmly reminded them.

“This is unbelievable. The battleship finally broke through, only to be blown up. What do we do now? Use the auxiliary thrusters to land directly at Manhawei Interstellar Airport?”

Chen Tong asked Su Ming, somewhat annoyed.

Just as Su Ming was about to answer Chen Tong, he suddenly saw three missiles heading towards them. He immediately raised his gun and swept.

“Watch out!”

Boom!

Two missiles were instantly blown up.

But the next second, Zhao Ran’s terrified scream rang out from Su Ming’s communication device.

“Ah!”

Su Ming was startled and turned his head to look.

Boom!

Zhao Ran’s mech was hit directly by a missile and exploded.

“Damn it.”

Chen Tong said, both shocked and angry.

Su Ming’s expression was also a bit solemn. This examination was even more brutal than he had imagined, so he decisively said to Chen Tong,

“Chen Tong, follow me. We won’t land directly at Manhawei Interstellar Military Airport. We’ll land on the edge of the nearby Manhawei Base City.”

“Can we do that? Will it deviate from the mission?”

“It’s fine. We’ll fight our way to Manhawei Interstellar Military Airport from the outside, to avoid dying as soon as we land. That place might have already fallen; going in would be a meat grinder battlefield.”

“Alright!”

Chen Tong no longer hesitated and immediately agreed.

Su Ming then adjusted his thrusters and descended towards the Base City next to Manhawei Interstellar Military Airport.

Looking down from high altitude at this moment, one could see the entire sky filled with crashing mechs. Some of these mechs, like Su Ming’s, descended towards the outskirts of the airport, while many others, being stubborn, landed directly at Manhawei Interstellar Military Airport.

Time passed by second by second.

Su Ming looked at the ground getting closer and closer, then shouted to Chen Tong,

“Auxiliary thrusters, maximum power deceleration!”

“Alright!”

Chen Tong immediately followed Su Ming’s instructions.

Hiss, hiss~

Accompanied by the injection of scorching flames, the falling speed of the two Iron Head mechs sharply decreased, then they crashed heavily into the city, where flames soared into the sky.

Boom!

With a spherical house being smashed to pieces, Su Ming successfully made an emergency landing.

He controlled his mech to forcefully crash through the debris of the house and walked out.

He saw Chen Tong, who had landed on his backside, still recovering on a nearby street.

“How are you? Are you alright?”

Su Ming walked over, extended his hand, and asked Chen Tong.

Inside the Iron Head mech’s cockpit, Chen Tong shook his head, reached out and grasped Su Ming’s hand, controlling his mech to stand up.

“I’m fine!”

At this moment, Su Ming entered a command, turned off the Iron Head mech’s smart assist system, and then said to Chen Tong,

“Turn off the smart assist system. Switch everything to manual priority.”

“Alright.”

Chen Tong was momentarily stunned, then responded.

Just then, whoosh, continuous rumbling sounds came.

Su Ming and Chen Tong immediately looked over nervously.

They saw black diamond-shaped metal pods, like raindrops, smashing onto the street next to Su Ming and them.

Crack!

Then, an exit opened in the diamond-shaped metal pod.

They saw students wearing first-generation exoskeleton armor, Iron Shell, and holding rifles, walk out one by one.

One tall male, holding his gun, looked around and said,

“Safe, no enemies.”

“Of course it’s safe. Didn’t you see there are two Iron Head mechs next to us?”

A male named Zhang Lie said enviously.

At this moment, the tall male, Chen Yu, turned his head to look at Su Ming and the other, saying with a very expressive look,

“Damn it! This is too much bullying, isn’t it? I should have known not to apply for ground combat. This is definitely cannon fodder. How awesome is it to pilot a mech!”

“What’s the use of saying all this now? It’s too late.”

Zhang Lie said with great envy.

“Forget it, there’s nothing we can do now. Let’s quickly go curry favor with these two big brothers and ask them to lead us to the Interstellar Military Airport.”

Chen Yu said helplessly to the students beside him.

“Mm-hmm.”

Everyone present agreed.

At this time, Zhang Lie also asked, somewhat confused,

“Why do we have to seize the Interstellar Military Airport? What’s so great about a broken airport?”

“Are you an idiot? If we don’t seize the Interstellar Military Airport, how will the battleships make emergency landings, and how will we evacuate and rescue the residents of the nearby Di Yan Star? Brother, how did you learn history?”

Chen Yu looked at Zhang Lie, dumbfounded. Anyone who had paid even a little attention in class wouldn’t ask such a question.

“I’m from the mechanical repair department. Why would I learn history?”

Zhang Lie replied carelessly.

“Damn it, you’re a mechanic?”

Chen Yu and the others asked with wide eyes.

“Yeah? Is there a problem?”

Zhang Lie asked, puzzled.

“Why aren’t you, a mechanic, dying on the ship? Why are you coming down in a landing pod? Isn’t this taking up a combat personnel slot? You’re going to die!”

Chen Yu angrily raised his gun at Zhang Lie.

“Bah, why should I die on the ship? I can fight with a gun too. What’s the difference?”

Zhang Lie said indignantly.

“Alright.”

Chen Yu was also startled. It seemed to make sense. Ground combat students weren’t necessarily much stronger than him.

Su Ming sighed as he watched these clowns. He said to Chen Tong,

“Let’s go!”

“Alright!”

Chen Tong was also helpless. They had looked quite decent when they first came out, but then they almost started arguing among themselves.

Just as Su Ming and the other were controlling their mechs to move forward, Chen Yu and the others suddenly reacted and quickly chased after Su Ming and them.

“Big brothers, wait for us.”

Su Ming ignored them, instead cautiously observing the surrounding environment.

Everywhere there were destroyed, collapsed buildings, piles of rubble, twisted and deformed vehicle wreckage scattered haphazardly, blocking the roads.

The air was filled with gunpowder smoke, lingering for a long time, as if shrouding the entire city in a haze.

Looking closely, one could see bloody, horrifying corpses beneath the ruins.

The entire city was covered by the shadow of death.

“Big brother, let’s fight alongside you. We can coordinate man-machine combat.”

At this moment, Chen Yu rushed to Su Ming’s side and eagerly requested.

Su Ming glanced at Chen Yu and said,

“You mean infantry-mech coordination, right?”

“Yes, we’ll clear the way and scout for you?”

Chen Yu said excitedly.

“Are you sure you can clear the way and scout for us? All your people are hiding behind us, aren’t they?”

Su Ming turned his head to look, saying helplessly.

Chen Yu was also slightly stunned. He turned his head and looked back, his expression also a bit strained. He could only laugh awkwardly and say,

“Big brother, this is an exam, not a real battlefield. Please bear with us. You have this big guy protecting you, but we are very fragile; we’ll die with one touch! Just let us follow you and score some points. Besides, there’s strength in numbers!”

“As you wish.”

Su Ming did not explicitly refuse. After all, what this guy said was true: there’s strength in numbers.

So Su Ming and Chen Tong advanced towards the airport.