The Titanfall seemed prolonged in theory, but in reality, it happened almost instantaneously.
To the common eye, a massive silhouette plummeted downward like a meteor, crushing the Knight Paladin while also smashing the entire floor down, creating a metallic crater.
The cacophony of metal bursts sounded like 100,000 artillery shells detonating at once. Fortunately, everyone was wearing helmets; otherwise, it wouldn't just have been hearing loss at stake, but likely serious brain damage as well.
As Olivia stabilized after her landing, the pink tendrils that had previously tried to cling to her feet were swiftly dispatched with a brutal kick, silencing them completely.
The hall, which had previously felt spacious compared to the Knight, was now completely filled by the bulk of the Warlord Titan. Her head nearly brushed the ceiling, and those formerly looming doors, that had seemed magnificent to humans, barely reached the base of her feet.
Stunned by the shock of the impact, the others were momentarily at a loss about how to react, instinctively turning their gazes to Zhang Ge.
At that moment, Zhang Ge was reaching out to catch the pendant that had flown back into his palm, re-establishing his connection with Olivia.
"Olivia? What are you doing here?"
Amidst the clear sounds of mechanical operations, she pivoted her head downward, and her electronic eyes locked onto Zhang Ge. A deep, whale-like sound resonated from her massive chassis.
This sound had a gritty electronic quality, yet upon closer inspection, it resembled the resonating chorus of countless gears, echoing throughout the gilded hall.
For Zhang Ge, it felt as though he was hearing Olivia's heart speak:
"I had the little red-robed ones add some things for me."
Add some things?
Zhang Ge was puzzled.
Noticing his expression, Olivia tilted her body slightly, creating a gust of wind.
Then he saw what was behind her.
It was a large rectangular structure, made of various costly materials hastily attached as the outer shell. On either side of the rectangle were two nozzles still exhaling waves of heat.
He struggled to keep his composure.
You call that "some things"?
So, they gave the Warlord Titan a flight pack, did they? Well, well, well, how interesting.
The Adeptus Mechanicus certainly had the technology to make Titans fly... It's quite common to see transport ships flying around at kilometers in the atmosphere, so claiming they couldn't manage a Titan launch would be absurd.
The real issue, however, was that Titan technology could be traced back to the unification wars. Let alone an entire added system, not even a single screw could be modified without the most rigorous feasibility discussions and the most esteemed sage presiding over the matter. Even the machine spirit of a standard Titan could not express the desire to change.
You can be mad all you want, but no changes are happening.
There was always the option of dispatching servitors in batches to worship the Titans, praying and crying about which paint scratch had come from which glorious battle at which precise moment, and which gear had been soaked in which driver's blood during their service.
If the Titan was angry and crushed those servitors, they would simply send in another batch to continue the worship, treating it as stress-relief toys for the Titan. Over time, they could even set up a dedicated production line for them; it wouldn't matter—it was simply forbidden to change anything.
However, this inflexibility wasn't solely due to reverence for ancestral traditions but rather more pragmatic reasons.
In a confrontation involving Titans, even an atomic error or disturbance could result in a critical vulnerability.
There had once been a Titan that tracked a flaw at the atomic level in the armor of a traitorous Titan when it left the assembly line and attacked that weakness, obliterating the enemy in one shot.
But... given that Olivia was taking the initiative to speak, it seemed these issues wouldn't pose a problem.
In less than a day, she had performed "miracles" twice; first, she had foreseen the threat at the Nidhogg Nest, and then she'd transformed into a weapon to sever the aliens. Not to mention, even a sentinel machine would bow to a Warlord Titan.
More critically, she was an "untamed" Titan from an unknown era—she had no qualms deriding the Adeptus Mechanicus, and could just walk away if provoked.
This was her first time explicitly requesting anything from the Mechanicus. The local personnel surely hoped to find a way to formally integrate her into their ranks; they didn't fear her demands—they feared she had none at all.
In this context, the local High Magos, hailing from the somewhat rebellious Huangquan VIII, swiftly decided to make a heretical innovation and find some starship thrusters to add onto Olivia.
If someone later sought to punish him for this, so be it. At least he had enjoyed the experience of modifying a Titan and could continue doing so until he got shot.
Thus, the current situation developed.
Olivia now sported a flight pack branded with the philosophy of "Brute-Force Flight."
Zhang Ge thought, how the hell did you get up here so fast? Logically, while a Warlord Titan could descend from the outer shell to the tower's peak, it would normally take a considerable amount of time; how long had it been since he confirmed the situation?
But with this method, the timing matched up.
After staring for a while, Zhang Ge opened his mouth to say something, but felt he had nothing significant to contribute.
I thought Amilia was already enough of a powerhouse, but I didn't realize there were still greater champions around?
After a moment of silence, he added another line to the Book of Grudges, marking the Adeptus Mechanicus.
He organized his thoughts and said, "Uh... I see."
Wait a moment.
Zhang Ge suddenly realized what Olivia's arrival signified.
If a Warlord Titan descended upon the enemy's core position, wouldn't that mean his decapitation plan was directly transformed into a Decapitation Strike?
Originally, enemy reinforcements would pour in, and after he and his nearly 200 elite troops carried out the decapitation, they would become trapped on the warship, ultimately succumbing in glory against overwhelming odds.
Now the chaos-infested cannon fodder charging in would face not merely 200 elite skirmishers, but a Warlord Titan and her 200 "accessories."
Yet, even in such dire straits, Zhang Ge refused to abandon his thoughts. Instead, his mind raced to devise a solution:
"You go ahead and take care of anything with weapon barrels on those wrecks."
It wouldn't be a problem for the Warlord Titan to bully a support ship's anti-air guns, and she wouldn't fit into the corridors of the warship anyway, effectively redirecting her actions.
As for what came next?
The bounty of potential heads to be severed aboard this warship could easily exceed one. While they'd solved the issue with this suspected ritual-core Knight, judging by how efficiently personnel were being mobilized from within the ship, there should still be a unified commander aboard.
Think, the ship's bridge or the surrounding enemy captain.
The journey to the bridge would undoubtedly be fraught with peril, but there was still an opportunity for Zhang Ge.
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