Everyone assumed Mansfield would try to break through, but in the art of war, deception is key. Unexpectedly, he made a sudden, deadly strike.

It was too sudden. Reiko wanted to pull back urgently, yet knew she couldn't. Not even a chance to switch tactics in this split second. In this life-or-death moment, she had no time to consider much. She controlled Shield Strike to burst into secondary frequency acceleration, hoping to evade the incoming attack with the aid of momentum.

As the saying goes, couples are inseparable even in the underworld. Mansfield didn't expect this lady to be tougher than a man, willing to die with him? He immediately reduced the power of his mecha by a fraction.

Boom! The two mechas made contact. One could only imagine the violent collision that would happen the next second -– but before that could happen, an unexpected sniper shot had already approached. An alarm suddenly sounded within Shield Strike.

Whoosh...

In the next moment, flames erupted from both super soldiers. No one knew exactly what happened.

"Hey sis? Sis..." Lily hesitated for half a second, unable to accept what she saw. Almost at full speed, she rushed into the explosion area.

Meanwhile, Mirami instantly focused her attention on the other end of the battlefield. She hadn't expected the presence of a hidden sniper. No wonder she had a strange feeling. Close combat is vulnerable to snipers, damn it! She should have thought of Heinsilio's existence sooner. She made a big mistake! Without a word, Mirami prompted her red mecha to chase in that direction.

"Sis, answer me, are you okay?" Shield strike appeared in disarray, making Lily completely panicked. Although Shield Strike didn't explode on the spot, the nearly scrapped body and the disassembled armor were undoubtedly worrying.

That single shot would have been fatal for anyone else, but for Reiko, as one of the 12 stars with the strongest defense awareness, her aggressive protective skills were on par with that of Revenge Shadow Rider. This was Feng Yi's personal opinion, unknown to others.

"I'm fine, there's a sniper hiding here, we need to retreat for now." To Lily's rare relief, she heard her sister's response.

On the contrary, Mansfield, now almost drained of energy, was also taking his chances. Surrounded by enemy soldiers, he couldn't afford to be in a stalemate. He pretended to be on an offense for a retreat. Unexpectedly, a sniper appeared out of nowhere halfway. He wasn't even aware of the presence of Heinsilio from his own alliance. Humph! It seemed like his style. This man would choose to leave no traces for a successful sniper attack, and neither his allies nor enemies would be aware of his movements.

But now he needed to appreciate the opportunity created by Heinsilio. It was this moment that he decided to defeat the opponent in one fell swoop. The previously breakout-bound Mansfield oddly rushed to a sudden U-turn, hurtling back into the fray.

Reiko said she would retreat, but she immediately charged forward, her movements equal to the former's.

What was going on? Weren't they supposed to retreat? Lily was a bit confused about Reiko's move but she wouldn't let her sister charge alone. She controlled the Light Number and met it head-on.

Mansfield was taken aback. He hadn't expected Reiko's mecha to be alright. Fighting 1v2 without stamina was undoubtedly a recipe for disaster. Time to leave.

A view from the screen showed the pure white mecha just charging out, supposed to be on a killing spree, suddenly staggered halfway around and charged back. But seeing Reiko unharmed halfway, he charged out again with a serpentine movement escaping...

Damn! Lily exploded. Was this guy sick or something? Why the fake blows? Or was it just to be cute?

As soon as Shield Strike saw the opponent turning around, it immediately took a detour. Her retreat was a real retreat; what she did previously was just a bluff. She didn't expect to fool Mansfield, who was at the end of his tether. "Lily, let's go." As one of the 12 Stars, Reiko was now retreating.

On the other side, the desperately pursuing Mirami couldn't find any trace of Heinsilio anywhere. The battlefield was too chaotic. She soon lost track of him, as if he had completely disappeared from this world after firing that shot. Helplessly, Mirami had to return. Right now, she had moved too far away.

It was apparent that Mansfield had given it his all in the fight against her, completely unaware of Heinsilio's presence. Otherwise, he would've created a shooter environment for Heinsilio. Those seemingly intentional or unintentional movements could not deceive a professionally trained super soldier. It must be said, Heinsilio was indeed a highly dangerous presence.

At present, the standoff between the federal and Saudi forces was escalating, with the intensity by no means inferior to the former. However, neither side had dispatched mechas. Instead they were conducting large-scale group air battles at a rapid pace. It was clear that both commanders had great confidence in themselves. It was clear the other side was not afraid of Emily, and Emily was equally unafraid of the other party—on the group fleet air battle, which is entirely different from mecha battle, far more emphasis was on the personal ability and overall awareness of the commander. You wouldn't choose a group air battle unless you had absolute confidence in yourself.

After all, a mecha battle involves actual combat damage, with both sides suffering casualties. But air combat is not like this. The arrangement of firepower, the changes in formation, the speed of evolution, the opposition and interference of intelligence, the speed of issuing effective orders and the awareness of the difference in enemy and friendly strength all are crucial. On the air battle command, there has even been a situation of zero casualties and total victory. Either you win easily, or you lose terribly. This is a rare case where the commander's abilities differ greatly, but it also reflects the uncertainty involved.

Now, the federal and Saudi fleets have become locked in a deadly embrace, like two long dragons entwining and biting each other. Numerous space fighters are protecting the fleet. Later on, the Federation succeeded in opening a gap in the Saudi fleet. Under electronic interference, 500 Saudi warships were completely isolated, like cutting off a slab of meat.

In front of the imaging device, Amelia's fingers flew across the keys, and a string of macro commands were delivered to the secondary fleet at breakneck speed. Numerous combat staff around were elaborating and handling.

"Report to the Admiral, General Hagrid requests to communicate with you."

"Can't you see I'm busy, wait."

"The situation is critical."

"Colonel Neo, take over for me."

"As you wish."

Hagrid's virtual projection quickly appeared on the light screen. Under the dark brim of his hat, his face was too gloomy to see clearly. "Admiral Emily, our situation is precarious, and I hope you will swiftly dispatch Red Cloak for backup support."

It was evident Hagrid wasn't joking but Emily had to be responsible for her own safety. She said, "Please share the situation with me, General Hagrid."

Hagrid did not hesitate, explaining that Raymond had confronted Jiu Ling and he was struggling. Hence, he asked for support from the Federation's Red Cloak. Towards the end, Hagrid stressed that Jiu Ling was capable of battling with Revenge Shadow Rider. Although she couldn't stop Revenge Shadow Rider, someone capable of fighting with the Revenge Shadow Rider would be... Reading between the lines, Hagrid was indirectly admitting that Raymond might not win against Jiu Ling.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.