The thought had barely crossed Lin Lan's mind when the massive mech's shattered body rapidly expanded in his field of vision!
"Dodge! Get out of the way!"
He immediately shouted into the communicator, ordering the shipgirls to scatter.
He wasn't sure if this was an illusion, but the oppressive force of the two massive mech fragments plummeting from the sky was anything but fake.
Just then, a scornful chuckle from Agir came through the communicator.
Lin Lan watched as the massive black-and-red Iron Blood dragon beside Agir suddenly raised its head and braced itself against the falling mech wreckage.
"Screech!"
The collision between Agir's rigging dragon and the massive falling mech sent a bone-chilling metallic screech across the battlefield.
Despite its sheer tonnage, the mech was forcefully caught in midair by the Iron Blood dragon.
The impact forced the dragon's body to sink lower into the sea, creating massive waves in its wake.
The deafening sound of metal grinding against metal made Lin Lan's face go pale.
This didn't feel like an illusion at all.
Somehow, the Sirens had managed to recreate the battlefield from over a hundred years ago—between the Orlan Federation and the Natlan Empire—inside this Mirror Sea!
Lin Lan recognized the enormous white mech instantly.
In that war, only one type of aerial mech had existed—the Orlan Federation's legendary national defense weapon, the Overlord Mech.
And as for the lone swordsman in midair... there was no doubt about it—he was a Natlan Limiter.
Before Lin Lan could issue orders, the icy voice of the Limiter echoed from above:
"You all… shall be—"
His gaze was condescending as he raised his sword to strike down these unknown intruders.
But before he could even finish his sentence, the deafening roar of anti-air cannons erupted from the fleet below!
"Tch, mere artillery? Laughable—wh—ARGH!"
The Natlan Limiter had initially looked upon the incoming barrage with contempt, casually swinging his sword to conjure a blue wind barrier around himself.
But before he could react, the torrential anti-air shells completely shattered the barrier, engulfing him in a storm of explosions and tearing his body apart.
"Fire! Keep firing! I want to see just how strong these Limiters are!"
"Let's see them try to act tough against my girls' +12 and +13 gold twin-mounted 113mm anti-air cannons!"
Lin Lan had given the order to fire the moment he heard the words shall be.
In the game, these twin-mounted 113mm AA guns—rarity gold—were top-tier anti-air weapons, only outclassed by the ultra-rare rainbow-grade weapons.
Because of their round shape in the equipment illustrations, players affectionately nicknamed them Golden Pancakes.
The instant Lin Lan gave the order, the entire fleet—including Akashi—locked onto the Natlan warrior and opened fire.
Akashi, in particular, the little merchant, had outfitted herself with three whole Golden Pancakes...
This was a Mirror Sea battlefield.
Lin Lan didn't care who was right or wrong—anyone who posed a threat to him was a Siren pawn and would be dealt with accordingly.
That blue sword energy from earlier had made his scalp tingle. There was no way he was going to let the enemy finish their sentence—attack first, think later!
Yet, as Lin Lan nervously watched the black smoke cloud in the sky, bracing for a counterattack...
A robotic, gender-neutral voice crackled through the static from a nearby wreckage:
"Lieyun... scanning. Natlan Limiter Ji Hengyi... no life signs detected. Confirmed dead."
Lin Lan turned toward the source of the voice—it was coming from the severed head of the Overlord Mech.
The mech's head alone was almost twice his height. Its twin electronic blue eyes flickered intermittently, seemingly on the verge of shutting down permanently due to critical damage.
"Alright, he's dead. Cease fire."
Lin Lan activated his Elemental Vision and confirmed that there was indeed nothing left of the Limiter before addressing his fleet.
"Huh? That's it? That guy died just like that? He wasn't even tougher than the Siren carrier aircraft!"
Admiral Hipper's voice was filled with both shock and disdain as the fleet's anti-air barrage came to a halt.
She wasn't wrong, though.
In the Red Maple Naval Academy textbooks, these Limiters were described as gods among mortals—how could one be taken down so easily?
But after a moment of thought, Lin Lan realized it actually made sense.
No matter how strong a Natlan Limiter was, could they be tougher than the Sirens' humanoid Executors?
The Orlan Federation's mechs and fleets had been crushed like insects by the Sirens' mass-produced forces.
The Natlan Empire couldn't have fared much better.
In the end, they were all just lambs waiting to be slaughtered by the Sirens—experimental subjects for whatever twisted plans they had.
Lin Lan's shipgirls, on the other hand, had been battling the Sirens for years. Their rigging weapons were designed specifically to withstand Siren firepower.
Taking down these so-called Limiters was no different from taking down a Siren Executor.
The only thing to watch out for was the kind of abilities they had—like that terrifying blue sword energy from earlier.
But Lin Lan doubted the Limiters could use those attacks frequently. Whether or not they could even damage shipgirl rigging remained to be seen.
Meanwhile, the battles in the other two regions of the sky had reached their conclusions as well.
Both Limiters had emerged victorious against their respective Overlord Mechs, but neither had come out unscathed.
One had lost an arm to the mech's massive energy blade, blood gushing from the wound.
The other had been battered by a swarm of homing missiles, his body covered in burns and wounds, barely able to stay airborne.
Seeing this, Lin Lan came to a realization.
Not all Limiters were as weak as Ji Hengyi—but they weren't all godlike warriors either.
Unlike the Overlord Mechs, which were mechanical constructs with consistent parameters, the Limiters were flesh-and-blood warriors who had trained for years with different styles and weapons.
This was evident in their choice of arms—one wielded a spear, while the other carried a massive zanbato blade.
"Commander, what's our next move? Radar isn't picking up any Siren activity in this area."
Agir's voice pulled Lin Lan out of his thoughts.
Siren technology was practically cheating in the Mirror Sea—radar was rarely reliable.
And this battlefield was completely unfamiliar. Lin Lan wasn't sure where to even start looking for the Sirens.
As he pondered, watching the two wounded Limiters stagger toward the burning ancient city in the distance...
The Overlord Mech—still held up by the Iron Blood dragon—suddenly turned its head and locked its gaze onto him.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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