Star Rank Hunter

Chapter 421: What a Ferocious Fatty

The energy shield enveloping Central City melted away layer by layer. It was no longer a sealed battlefield.

Figures clad in black Armor flew over on hoverboards to provide cover for the people along the moat.

A massive white sphere plummeted from the sky, smashing right into a group of security guards. Every impact left a crater, and the guards struck down never got back up.

After rolling through the crowd of enemies, the white sphere barreled toward Cillin. Sections of black Armor materialized across its body. Although the plating didn’t cover it completely, it shielded the vital areas. Bullets pinged harmlessly off the Armor, and laser blasts failed to leave much of a mark.

As it neared Cillin, the white sphere leapt into the air and rapidly unfurled. Two figures emerged from within. Now fully extended, the white fatty darted around Cillin with a speed that completely belied its massive size, flattening any guards who dared approach. Occasionally, it would leap up, snatch a low-flying fighter jet by the wing, and smash it into the ground. The semi-circular ears on its furry head twitched continuously, remaining on high alert for any new threats.

“What a ferocious fatty!” everyone witnessing the spectacle marveled in unison.

The two figures escorted out by Snowball also wore Armor similar to Cillin’s, but their builds were those of young children. The petite figure darting around the white fatty wielded a bizarre gun, much like Cillin’s own weapon. Every time she fired, several guards collapsed.

The other small figure fought in the thick of the guards with long, razor-sharp claws, entirely holding his own.

“Those are...”

Max stared at the newcomers in sheer disbelief. These people did not belong to their Legion, nor were they from any of the three allied Legions.

“They’re from the 11th Team.”

“What?” Max asked. He was busy firing his weapon amid wave after wave of explosions. Even over the communicator, they had to scream at the top of their lungs just to be heard, so he had completely missed what Knight had just said.

“Vanguard Eleventh Squadron, Cillin’s team. Friendly forces,” Knight explained again.

Max still didn’t catch the first half of that, but he heard the last two words loud and clear. Friendly forces. That was all he needed to know.

He didn’t care who they were; as long as they weren’t the enemy, it was fine.

The bridges connecting Central City to the outside had been retracted long ago. However, the river beasts had surfaced, linking together to form a pontoon bridge so Max and his group could cross. Although some of the men had hoverboards or other flight gear, none of them took to the air. Staying grounded and maintaining their current formation was simply much safer.

Central City was completely overrun by the planetary guards. Max and his men had to escape the city limits first and await reinforcements.

A violent tremor suddenly rocked Central City. Fortress-like structures tore their way out of the ground, completely toppling the original buildings and residential blocks that had stood in their way.

Soldiers resembling the security guards poured out from within. Alongside the personnel emerged a steady stream of fighter jets and combat vehicles.

This place had been a military base all along, one that had remained hidden deep underground for years.

Elsewhere, Cillin glanced at the sky beyond the city. Massive warships were breaching the planet’s atmosphere. Under heavy enemy fire, their descent was anything but smooth. The ground quaked violently as they touched down, shattering the earth and sending massive boulders flying. The impact kicked up colossal clouds of dust, blanketing the entire area in a thick gray haze.

However, heavy Land Combat Armor soon rolled out from the haze one after another. Artillery fire blasted outward from within the dust cloud, the blinding debris doing nothing to impede their aim.

Up above, waves of fighter jets tore through the atmosphere and streaked toward the battlefield.

Boom! Boom! Boom! The jets flashed past in the blink of an eye. In that split second, they unleashed a devastating barrage of concentrated firepower, instantly vaporizing the guards in their biochemical beastman forms into clouds of bloody mist before they could even attempt to dodge.

The forces that had accompanied Hulandu and remained stationed outside the planet had finally arrived to provide support.

Wheeze, who had been bouncing wildly around Cillin, suddenly froze. His ears flicked as he locked onto a specific direction in the distance.

Over there, an object plummeted from the sky at breakneck speed, directly stomping a security guard fighter jet out of the air.

It was a snow-white Cyborg Lifeform standing over ten meters tall.

“Meow-damn it! Why is that stinky rat here?!” Wheeze’s eyes went wide.

It was far too arrogant, actually daring to appear on a battlefield like this in its true form. It treated the surrounding combat vehicles and fighter jets like cheap toys, casually swatting them aside and stomping them into scrap metal.

“Cillin, I’m going to play!” Refusing to be outdone, Wheeze bolted on all fours toward the direction the others were retreating, charging straight into the swarm of guards and combat vehicles pouring out of the newly formed fortresses.

Wheeze sprinted forward, nimbly dodging the incoming artillery fire. In truth, with his speed, getting a lock-on was nearly impossible, making the attacks trivial to avoid. As he closed the distance, Wheeze leapt high into the air just as two fighter jets swooped in. His trajectory perfectly threaded the needle between the two aircraft.

Mid-leap, Wheeze rapidly transformed. His massive mechanical beast form spun through the air, his extended claws whirling like a giant fan blade that shredded the two passing fighter jets into metal ribbons. Bursting through the wreckage, Wheeze crashed down onto a combat vehicle, flattening it like a pancake. In the next second, he bounded twenty meters away and began stomping another vehicle into dust.

The two Cyborg Lifeforms turned it into a competition to see who could crush the most targets. Soon enough, their rampage devolved into a massive snowball fight between the two of them. Hooking their tails, they would snatch up passing combat vehicles or soaring fighter jets and hurl them at one another. Wherever they ran, they would casually grab tanks and hurl them like toys. To these two Cyborg Lifeforms, this battlefield really was nothing more than a giant amusement park. Here, they could swat planes out of the sky, chuck armored vehicles, stomp people flat, and wreak absolute havoc to their hearts’ content—all without getting yelled at or having to pay a single cent in damages.

Having already crossed the river safely, Lung and the others watched the two behemoths bounding around and tearing Central City apart.

“Those two have actually been waiting for this moment for a long time, haven’t they?” Lung joked.

Cillin remained noncommittal, though he was absolutely certain Yin Wushe had been waiting for this moment for a very long time. The old man was probably hiding in some dark corner right now, eagerly watching the two mechanical beasts play in Central City.

A squad of soldiers in combat uniforms rushed over, exchanged a few quick words with Max, and immediately escorted them away. Cillin called Tang Qiuqiu and the others over, and they all left together.

When the Vanguard Eleventh Squadron arrived on the planet, they had descended in aircraft, leaving their starships stationed out in space. Since the military warships and combat squads that had been on standby outside the planet were now pouring into the atmosphere, the skies were utterly swarming with military and security guard aircraft. Eudy had been worried that bringing their starships in would make them a target for both sides, especially since the 11th Team hadn’t officially coordinated with the military forces yet.

After receiving Cillin’s signal, the 11th Team members providing air cover also withdrew, flying back toward their aircraft.

Once the military forces made planetfall, they quickly locked down a sector to serve as a temporary stronghold. The squad of soldiers had been sent to escort Knight and the others back to this secure location, where Hulandu and Zweig Feihang were already waiting.

It seemed the representatives sent by the First, Third, Fourth, and Seventh Legions hadn’t come to negotiate empty-handed. The four Legions had made ample preparations. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have had such a fully equipped combat force standing by. It was highly likely that even more reinforcements were currently en route.

Cillin led the 11th Team members into the stronghold. Since Ci Jincheng and Knight had already given the military a heads-up, they met no resistance. The 11th Team’s aircraft landed in the stronghold’s clearing, followed shortly by several more of their fighter jets. Eudy stepped out of his aircraft, clad in Armor. Right behind him emerged Mo Heng, dressed in a full hazmat suit.

Cillin hurried over to him.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

Seeing that Mo Heng’s complexion looked healthy behind his transparent visor, Cillin finally let out a sigh of relief.

Mo Heng scowled, clearly displeased by Cillin’s question.

“What? Are you the only one allowed to come? This old man isn’t permitted to show up?”

“No, it’s just that you...”

Mo Heng waved a hand to cut Cillin off.

“I lived through plenty of things like this when I was young. You don’t need to worry about me.”

‘How could I not worry?!’ Cillin muttered to himself. This was a battlefield, yes, but lurking beneath the surface of this conflict was a terrifying, unknown virus. One could easily get infected at any moment without even realizing it. Furthermore, the Emperor in the palm of Cillin’s hand was reacting with increasing intensity, which meant there was absolutely more than one Dream Tapir in the vicinity. But under these chaotic conditions, their detection equipment was either completely destroyed or malfunctioning. It was entirely useless.

Hazmat suits weren’t omnipotent. Many soldiers had torn suits, cracked visors, or penetrating wounds—all gaping vulnerabilities for infection.

While Cillin and Mo Heng were talking, Max hurried over. Knight had sent him to fetch Cillin, but before he could even open his mouth, he caught sight of the face behind the transparent visor.

Snap! He threw a crisp military salute.

“Greetings, Elder Mo!”

Mo Heng looked at the man standing before him.

“Oh, I remember you. Lieutenant Max... no, it’s Colonel Max now.”

‘Why on earth is Elder Mo traveling with Vanguard Hunters?’ Max wondered to himself.

But there was no time for Max to dwell on the mystery. He relayed Knight’s message to Cillin and politely invited Mo Heng to come along as well. Now that they had crossed paths, they couldn’t possibly just leave the elder standing there.

Cillin nodded. After briefing Eudy and the rest of the team, he and Mo Heng followed Max into a medium-sized aircraft.

Inside the aircraft, Knight and the others were seated in grim silence. The atmosphere was incredibly heavy. Both Zweig Feihang and Hulandu had suffered gunshot wounds. The injuries weren’t fatal, but their complexions were ghastly pale.

When Cillin walked in, Hulandu was in the middle of speaking.

“The main reason we came so fully prepared was because of someone’s suggestion. Honestly, all this preparation was just meant to be a precaution, but I never expected him to be dead right. Even though we all believed the chances of an all-out war breaking out were incredibly slim, that theory has now been proven completely true.”

“Someone’s suggestion? Who?” Knight asked.

Hulandu simply shook his head, refusing to answer.

“Cough, cough... cough...”

Hulandu coughed violently until he hacked up a mouthful of blood. Beside him, Zweig Feihang, who had been resting with his eyes closed, raised a hand to touch his nose. When he looked at his fingers, they were smeared with thick, sticky blood—and the bleeding was only getting worse, as though it simply couldn’t be stopped.