C9 Three Blade Style

Gu Xian's tension mounted as he sensed a stirring in the darkness.

"Ding!"

The sound of a crisp chime made his heart leap.

A round, black High Explosive Mine was hurled into the elevator, and he barely managed to dart out in time.

His armor was thin, lacking an energy barrier for protection, leaving him vulnerable to the mine's destructive force.

Who was responsible? And why was there a High Explosive Mine here?

The question was fleeting as Gu Xian shifted into combat mode, certain that something was amiss.

"Boom!"

The elevator erupted in a violent explosion, the sound reverberating through the building with a heart-stopping echo.

Flames burst from the now-empty shaft, instantly reducing the elevator to shrapnel.

Alloy fragments glittered briefly before vanishing into the void.

Gu Xian's forceps-shaped clamp shot out, securing itself around a steel pillar shrouded in shadow.

For a brief moment, the fire illuminated the darkness, revealing six mechas encircling him, all identical, decked in the standard red and blue of police mechas—a model he didn't recognize.

Could it be the Security Department? But why would B-183's Security Department be after him?

There was no time to ponder as the darkness was abruptly pierced by a multitude of crimson laser beams.

"Primordial!" The laser rifle's beams rained down on the area, thick and fast, depleting the energy cartridge in two seconds, each Primordial discharging at least two hundred beams.

The steel was no match for the onslaught, riddled with holes as if it were mere paper.

Gu Xian, propelled by the forceps-shaped clamp, skimmed the ground at breakneck speed, his saw's rotation accelerating.

Despite the lethal threat of each laser beam, he moved with ease, his eyes betraying neither panic nor fear, only a profound sense of confidence and serenity.

With the clamp retracted and the Mocha wheel in hand, he found his bearings in the darkness and stealthily launched the wheel.

"Buzz!"

The saw's contact with the C-type alloy sparked a blaze, illuminating the darkness and inadvertently revealing the pioneer's position.

Radar functionality was hindered inside the all-steel structure, rendering it useless in the heat of close-quarters combat.

"Boom!" Gu Xian heard a dull thud but remained unfazed.

He was ensnared in an alloy net, standard issue for the police, designed to immobilize mechas. Trapped within it, even a pioneer like him couldn't budge.

Yet, he harbored no concern and made no attempt to move.

Five alloy nets were launched almost simultaneously, the sparks from their deployment still fading.

"Got him!"

"No, he's not here."

The beam illuminated the alloy net, revealing only the Aegis, now missing a leg.

The Mocha III struggled to slice through the fifty-centimeter thick armor. Gu Xian, however, targeted the mecha's leg joints, not its armor.

The towering Aegis stood eighteen meters tall. Gu Xian stayed low, using the forceps-shaped clamp for swift movement. He dodged laser beams and then manipulated the clamp to guide his saw, completing his maneuver.

Gu Xian withdrew the saw and vanished back into the shadows.

"Damn it!" The Aegis, now legless, crashed to the ground with a resounding boom, leaving a gaping hole where it fell.

The steel skyscraper moaned, and the remaining five mechas converged on their fallen comrade, drawing their laser rifles and beginning to charge.

Gu Xian, concealed in the darkness, resembled a bristling, arch-backed wildcat.

The police mechas tightened their formation, preparing for a ranged assault.

Gu Xian quickly deduced their strategy.

Retreat was not an option.

The thought crystallized in his mind.

Despite the unknown dangers outside, fleeing would only lead to an inevitable ambush. The current battlefield favored him, but a drawn-out fight was out of the question.

The police were momentarily disoriented, but once they collected themselves and used radar to pinpoint his location, they would execute a precise strike. Even if Gu Xian managed to flee, inflicting significant damage would be unlikely.

The only choice was to strike first.

With resolve, Gu Xian decided.

The Glowing Laser Cutter's red beam hummed to life, swiftly transforming into an intense, overcharged white light.

In the training camp scenario, each battle with the camp's pioneers pushed the Glowing Laser into overload. This was Gu Xian's debut using it in live combat.

Uncertain of the overloaded Glowing Laser's endurance, Gu Xian watched as the pioneer charged at him in a flash. "Hit them with a sweeping strike over there!" the captain of Team A commanded.

They swiftly swapped out the Primordial's energy cartridge. Those precious few seconds were all they needed.

Gu Xian dashed to their side, flicked his wrist, and the forceps-shaped clamp latched onto an Aegis. Leveraging the clamp's power, the pioneer's speed surged to nearly triple.

The Aegis pilot, caught off balance, let out a startled cry as his vision swam and his chest felt the impact of a heavy blow, accompanied by a thunderous boom.

The pioneer's legs slammed into his chest, using the recoil to launch forward while the Molten Light sliced through his elbow joint.

Protected by armored plating, the cockpit was resistant to the Molten Light's feeble power. Cutting was a struggle, and time was of the essence for Gu Xian.

The hand of the Aegis holding the alloy knife dropped, severed. Gu Xian, gripping the forceps-shaped clamp, swung like on a pendulum from the front to the back of the mech, the Molten Light severing another elbow joint, while simultaneously kicking an alloy knife away.

One of the six Aegis mechs was ensnared by alloy nets, two others were swiftly disabled, and an alloy knife was sent flying.

The last two mechs couldn't keep up with the frenetic pace of battle. The older model pioneers, now amidst the fray, resembled tigers plunging into a flock of sheep. In hand-to-hand combat, they stood no chance against Gu Xian.

Just then, with a hiss, the Molten Light's white glow dimmed. Having only sliced through two joints, the overdrive mode had pushed it to its operational limit.

"He's out of laser swords!" Team A's leader exclaimed, elated to the point of tears, his pulse racing until his vision blurred.

Suddenly, a teammate's cry rang out, "No, stop him!"

Stop what?

The team leader's eyes tracked the Bladedge's movements, just in time to see him discard the Molten Light. With a roll, he snatched up Aegis's hand that had fallen to the ground.

It wasn't Aegis's hand that mattered, but the alloy knife it still clutched.

The knife gleamed with a chilling light as it thrust straight for the leader's cockpit.

The leader, his heart skipping a beat, instinctively raised his hand.

With a "ding," he parried the Bladedge's attack.

The main engine thundered, the auxiliary engine correcting the Bladedge's trajectory. Gu Xian, using the momentum, spun and slashed at the leader's cockpit again.

The leader hadn't anticipated this move. As he realized it was too late to block, a voice urgently shouted, "Boss, activate the energy barrier!"

Trusting his teammate as if by second nature, he instantly engaged the energy barrier.

"Ding!" A High Explosive Mine landed before him.

"Boom!" The explosion erupted, sending sparks in every direction.

Safely ensconced within the energy barrier, the leader was shielded from the shockwave and flames, the blast debris halted by the thick armor.

Gu Xian was successfully repelled.

His Bladedge's armor was no match for the High Explosive Mine.

"Drop the energy barrier, use the High Explosive Mines, pair it with the Primordial!" The leader's mind raced, glimpsing victory.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!" High Explosive Mines were hurled one after another.

"Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!" Laser beams streaked through the air, leaving scorching trails.

As the Bladedge was driven back, the team erupted in cheers.

But then, the Bladedge's forceps-shaped clamp twitched, latching onto something in the shadows.

With a swift pull, it reeled the object back in.

"What is that? What on earth?"

They saw clearly now—it was the two alloy knives previously lost in battle.

Stunned, they watched as the Bladedge wielded an alloy knife in each hand, while another dangled from the forceps-shaped clamp, swaying gently.

What was this? A three-knife technique?

The Bladedge might have looked intimidating, but it was all for show.

After the team leader devised a new strategy, his ambition blazed with fiery determination. "Brothers, he's nothing but a sitting duck. Trap him with High Explosive Mines to cut off his escape. Primordial will provide covering fire. Radar, lock onto his position and don't let him charge us. I refuse to believe he can do anything about it."

The response from the group was thunderous.

A shiver of fear ran through them.

The Blazers' recent actions had left them drenched in cold sweat, their bodies still quivering.

With a clearer assessment of both sides' capabilities, the team leader's plan emerged as the clear path to victory.

In this scenario, they couldn't fathom how the Blazers could survive.

The prospect of triumph transformed their residual fear into fierce determination.

"Take him down!"

"Kill the bastard, and the bounty's mine!"

"That scared the hell out of me. Get ready, everyone. Primordial, prepare for a Triple Shot. I'm leading the first assault."

"I've got the second round!"

"Target locked. All systems go!"

"Let's move, move!" the leader bellowed.

In the midst of their coordination, High Explosive Mines were hurled into position.

The pioneer's gray-white chassis weaved through the minefield, seeking refuge.

He evaded the lethal radius of the mines, and the shrapnel that followed barely scratched Gu Xian.

He closed in rapidly.

With the energy magazine reloaded, the first volley of fire was unleashed on cue.

"Swoosh! Swoosh!"

A torrent of light rained down, the spectacle deafening.

The steel structure, built to withstand mecha combat, shuddered beneath the barrage.

"He won't escape this!"

"My mines have cut off his retreat!"

"Brothers, we've got this..." The leader's proclamation was cut short as the unfolding scene brought their elation to a sudden halt.

As the laser beams shot forth, the pioneer's alloy knife whirled into action.

Three alloy knives conjured an impenetrable shield, deflecting the onslaught of laser beams with ease.

The Alpha alloy knives were unyielding; not one of the four hundred laser beams from the Primordials could breach the whirling barrier.

It's noteworthy that the third alloy knife wielded by the forceps-shaped clamp was as nimble as a fish, a most valuable combat skill Gu Xian had mastered during his time at the training camp.

"Holy shit!" The team leader was horrified, his battle not yet over, as a shiver ran down his spine and his hairs stood on end.

"What in the world is this freak?!" he yelled. "Stop using the third phase! Fire! Fire everything!"

Aside from the two Primordial mechs that had just finished firing and were reloading their energy magazines, the other four unleashed a volley of red laser beams almost simultaneously.

Eight hundred laser beams converged into a short, stout river of intensity, hurtling towards them under their watchful, hopeful eyes.

The pioneer continued his relentless advance, moving with an eerie grace that allowed him to evade the barrage of laser beams. For those he couldn't sidestep, the Alpha alloy knife offered a harsh lesson, just as before.

Soon, the remaining Primordials joined the fray.

The air was thick with laser beams, and High Explosive Mines repeatedly pushed the pioneer back.

But the hearts of Team A grew increasingly cold.

They hadn't inflicted a scratch on him. What kind of monster was this?

Was this even the pioneer anymore? Or was it a Gold Level mech masquerading in the pioneer's guise?