Feeling the concerned gazes of Eugen and the other shipgirls, Lin Lan smiled and looked at the silver-haired girl in front of him with a reassuring expression.
"Whether the resemblance to China is a coincidence or not, it's already history. The war between the Orlan Federation and the Natlan Empire ended a long time ago."
"Everything here was created by the Sirens."
Seeing that their commander wasn't emotionally shaken by the resemblance of this place to his homeland, all the shipgirls, including Eugen, let out a sigh of relief.
However, just as they continued toward the city center, a sudden burst of gunfire and explosions erupted from the sea of flames beside them.
The sounds of battle grew increasingly closer, and even the anguished screams of men could be heard.
"Someone is fighting over there! They're heading this way! Protect the commander!"
At Agir's command, all the shipgirls immediately aimed their turrets toward the inferno from where the sounds were coming.
Within seconds, a heavily damaged mech burst out of the flames, pushing through the rubble of a collapsed building.
Following this first mech, several more emerged one after another, their side-mounted machine guns continuously firing into the fire behind them.
Lin Lan's eyes widened when he saw the insignia on the sides of these mechs—an unmistakable battle-axe logo.
"The Battleaxe Military Industry!"
"It's shipgirls! Brothers, look! They're shipgirls! We're saved! We're saved!"
From the loudspeakers of the first mech that had emerged, the pilot's voice trembled with joy, as if he were on the verge of tears.
Following his outburst, the other mech pilots also noticed the girls standing in the fire-free zone of the street, their shipborne armaments at the ready.
"It's really them! The Navy has arrived! We're saved!"
"Ugh, I thought I'd never make it out of this hellhole… We didn't time travel, after all! This is all just an illusion, wuuuu..."
"Those damned Natlans… Our shipgirls are here! Now it's their turn to feel what it's like to be hunted down! Captain Zhang, watch from the heavens—our shipgirls are here, wuuu…"
Hearing the mech pilots sobbing with relief as if they'd just seen their saviors, Lin Lan was momentarily stunned, as were the Iron-Blood shipgirls beside him.
What kind of development was this?
Just as Lin Lan was about to ask how these Battleaxe mechs had ended up here, a sudden silver streak shot out from the flames!
The flash of silver was like a bolt of lightning, piercing straight through one of the Battleaxe mechs before embedding itself in the ground!
It all happened in an instant.
The object that had impaled the mech and driven into the earth was a silver spear, intricately engraved with dragon patterns.
"T-That thing's here! Brothers, get out of here with the commander—"
"Boom!"
Before the pilot of the impaled mech could finish speaking, his mech exploded.
"If you don't want to die, get out of the way!"
Seeing the spear, Lin Lan immediately realized who was hunting these mechs and shouted at the Battleaxe pilots.
They wasted no time.
Like obedient puppies recognizing their master, they immediately obeyed Lin Lan's command, retreating to the flanks of the Iron-Blood shipgirls and aiming their weapons toward the flames.
"Once the target is spotted, open fire at full force. The enemy is a Natlan Extremist."
Lin Lan's voice was grave as he addressed the shipgirls.
Earlier, on the ocean's surface, he had seen two Natlan Extremists defeat the Overlord mechs—one of them wielded a spear.
"Commander, that's the guy! That Natlan bastard killed so many of our comrades… and countless Orlan citizens..."
The closest Battleaxe pilot, a woman, spoke with deep hatred and fear as she relayed their tragic experiences to Lin Lan.
"I'll deal with you later. For now, let's take care of this guy first."
Just as Lin Lan finished speaking, a tall, gaunt figure slowly emerged from the flames.
"Why have you stopped running? Have you chosen to make a final stand?"
A hoarse voice rang out.
The spear embedded in the ground trembled violently, then suddenly shot up, transforming into a silver streak as it flew back into the figure's hand.
The man, a middle-aged Natlan Extremist, wore what remained of a tattered blue robe, his body covered in ash and soot.
He gripped the long spear with one hand as he steadily stepped out of the fire.
"Com-Commander! Don't look him in the eyes—they…"
The female pilot's voice trembled with terror as she tried to warn Lin Lan.
But the Natlan Extremist had already locked his gaze on Lin Lan, the one surrounded by the shipgirls. His brows furrowed slightly.
"Go!"
With a single, forceful word, the Extremist hurled his spear, which once again transformed into a silver streak, aimed directly at Lin Lan!
The spear flew at blinding speed, tearing through the air with unstoppable force.
Right in front of so many people—he was attempting to decapitate Lin Lan!
"A mere mortal dares to stand before us."
Natlan Extremist Su Hongquan smirked coldly.
Since the war began, he had executed countless Orlan officers with this very move.
Though to him, it was nothing more than a basic attack, it carried the weight of decades of spear mastery.
Upon reaching the pinnacle realm, even the simplest spear techniques, when imbued with the essence of the limit, radiated divine might powerful enough to pierce through everything.
What's more, that dragon-patterned spear was an extraordinary weapon, personally forged by a master of the Natran Royal Forge and bestowed upon him before the war.
With the power of this dragon-patterned spear, his killing intent reached an even greater level!
He had already envisioned the gruesome scene of the young Orlan officer before him getting his head pierced, along with the horror that would appear on the faces of those girls and mech pilots.
However, in the next second, the cold sneer on Su Hongquan's face froze.
The piercing cold gleam of his dragon-patterned spear, imbued with his ultimate intent… had actually failed to kill the target!
A three-layered, rotating, hexagonal, semi-transparent energy shield had blocked his spear in mid-air!
Although half of the dragon-patterned spear had penetrated the outermost layer of the energy shield, no matter how much of his ultimate intent he infused, the spear trembled violently but could advance no further.
That thick, triple-layered shield sent chills down Su Hongquan's back. A sense of despair rose within him.
Not even when facing the Overlord Mech had he felt this powerless.
The strike he prided himself on the most had become a joke in front of these Orlan people!
Standing at the center of the three-layered rotating Ironblood shield, Lin Lan clasped his hands behind his back, looking at Su Hongquan with a mocking smile.
Hipper, Prinz Eugen, and Blücher—the three Ironblood heavy cruiser girls—each raised an arm toward him.
These three thick energy shields were their exclusive abilities.
Guarding Shield, Unbreakable Shield, Unstoppable Love.
As frontline tanking heavy cruisers of Ironblood, each of them had the power to generate shields.
Even a Siren artillery shell couldn't break through a single layer of this shield—what made a mere pinnacle warrior think he could shatter all three?
If he could, then the entire Siren faction might as well pack up and retire.
"Something's wrong. These girls aren't normal. Are those terrifying mechanical dragons Orlan's new weapon? I have to go all out!"
Su Hongquan clenched his teeth and shut his eyes, attempting to retract his dragon-patterned spear so he could unleash his life-burning trump card.
Although he had already used ninety percent of his ultimate power to activate his spear intent domain against the Overlord Mech earlier,
Facing these terrifyingly powerful Orlan people now, he had no choice but to burn his essence blood to gain more ultimate power and reopen his domain.
However, just as he waited for the dragon-patterned spear to return, he found that no matter how he controlled it, the weapon simply refused to obey him. It didn't return at all.
"What the hell?!"
This absurdity made Su Hongquan snap his eyes open, looking toward his weapon.
What he saw shattered decades of his understanding. He even forgot to breathe.
In Natran martial arts, weapons used by practitioners fused with their will during battle, making them nearly impossible to be forcibly taken away.
Especially as a pinnacle warrior, his bond with his weapon was so strong that not even the Grand National Master could seize it at will.
But the scene before him made his blood boil with shock—he almost coughed up blood.
A silver-haired girl with red-dyed tips and golden dragon-like eyes, with a pair of small horns on her forehead, held his dragon-patterned spear in her hand as if it were nothing more than a toy.
"Heh heh, not bad for a toy. Though it's still inferior to Brunhilde's spear, I'd say it's barely passable."
Hearing this dragon-blooded girl casually appraise his personal weapon after snatching it away…
Su Hongquan finally lost his composure. He lunged forward, roaring in fury:
"You filthy dragon-blooded mongrel! Give me back my weapon!!!"
"Oh? I just made a few comments, and now you're losing your temper and resorting to personal attacks? Hahaha!"
Agir let out a playful laugh as the Ironblood battleship dragon floating beside her slowly aimed its massive cannon at the rapidly approaching middle-aged man.
"All units, open fire."
Hearing this fool dare to insult Agir, Lin Lan, who had originally planned to observe what other techniques a pinnacle warrior might have, instantly darkened his expression and gave the order for an indiscriminate bombardment.
The moment his command rang out, the Ironblood fleet and Battleaxe Military's mechs, whose main cannons and machine guns had long since been locked onto Su Hongquan, unleashed a full barrage.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The thunderous explosions from the battleship cannons and ammunition detonations sent ripples through the surrounding sea of flames.
The pinnacle warrior of Natran, now weaponless, let out an unwilling roar as he was consumed by the storm of Ironblood firepower.
His body was torn apart by the shockwaves and shrapnel, reduced to nothing but dust and embers, leaving no corpse behind.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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