First Battle

"Enemy attack! All personnel immediately enter a first-level combat state!"

What? Enemy attack!

Keiko was stunned by the sudden event.

She quickly took a look at her interface and saw that on the small map, the green light spots began to spread out quickly, and a red light spot rushed into the team abruptly, and it was near Keiko's own blue arrow!

The earth trembled, and Keiko clearly felt that the armored vehicle she was riding in was shaking violently.

The terrified and angry yell of the driver came from the headset.

"Damn it, damn it! It's a Ferocious Earth Dragon!"

"Second Lieutenant, get out of the car!"

At the same time, Antonio's anxious voice sounded in Keiko's ears.

Before Keiko could react, Antonio had already rushed to the car door, ready to open the door and go out.

However, it was too late.

With a loud noise, a huge black spike pierced the car's roof straight into Antonio's back. Fortunately, Antonio dodged in time, and the thorns just missed him by an inch, leaving a small wound on his body.

It eventually hit the deepest part of the car, which happened to be the position of the oxygen cylinder, and the precious oxygen leaked out immediately.

Keiko's nose was less than three centimeters away from the huge spike, which nearly split Keiko's head in half.

Thump! Thump!

Keiko broke into a cold sweat, her body trembled involuntarily, and she froze in place for a while due to the strong impact.

"Hu…hu…hu…"

Her heart pounded so hard and her breathing became more labored.

The creature slowly retrieved its huge black spike, leaving a terrifying giant hole in the car's roof.

The intense sound of firing artillery exploded in her eardrums like firecrackers being lit nearby and the shrill scream made the hairs on Keiko's back rise.

"Second Lieutenant! Run!!!"

Keiko bit the tip of her tongue fiercely, bleeding directly from the bite. The severe pain caused her to finally get rid of the stiffness and trembling. Without waiting for a second, she struggled to get up from the seat and threw her body towards the door.

The moment she fell out of the armored car, a black spike suddenly emerged from the ground and penetrated the entire vehicle from bottom to top, straight up ten meters high into the sky.

Keiko fell to the ground fiercely, and after rolling three laps, she finally released her momentum. The wound on her left arm that had just recently recovered was opened again. She also could hear a cracking sound in her ankle and be slightly numbed.

She knelt on the ground, panting heavily.

She looked up at the scene in front of her and took a deep breath.

A huge and terrifyingly ugly black centipede was standing straight against their armored vehicle.

The part that was exposed to the ground was more than ten meters long and most of its body was buried under the ground.

The densely packed sharp claws on both sides of the body were clad in red and black stripes, and its hard shell was cold and frightening. Seeing this beast, Keiko felt goosebumps rise on her skin.

"Fuck!"

After a brief fright, Keiko quickly forced herself to calm down, and her brain quickly started to think of a plan.

At the same time, she made her first judgment.

She swiftly snatched her submachine gun from the holster in the back, advancing forward with the gun in hand, and quickly circled to the right side of the monster.

ROAARRR!!!

The piercing screams from the monster continued to sound.

When the monster destroyed the armored vehicle where Keiko was, the explosion of the armored vehicle also caused damage to it.

The Centipede blasted the armored car angrily, and the huge armored car fell from the air with sparks, smashing towards another armored car behind.

Fortunately, most of the soldiers had responded in a timely manner, so no one became a victim of its ruthless attack.

When the armored vehicles collided with each other, they suddenly exploded, igniting a sea of ​​fire.

At that moment, Keiko was blitzing around in the blazing fire, while looking up at the monster barraged under intense artillery fire from several armored vehicles around her.

Two of the three nearby mechas were obstructed on their way due to various reasons and could not get close to the monster, so they could only shoot from a distance.

TRATATATA!

Keiko raised the submachine gun in her hand while running and greeted the monster with a flurry of bullets.

But none of them had inflicted injury to the monster.

She cursed inwardly and stopped shooting, as she didn't want to continue wasting bullets, and put the gun back in the holster.

The data flow mask in front of Keiko was scanning the monster in all directions. Soon the monster's information was automatically displayed on the screen.

This monster is called the "Ferocious Earth Dragon" and it belongs to a species of earth tribe in the Zerg race.

It was good at burrowing in the soil and could often complete surprise attacks on humans.

Moreover, it was extremely aggressive.

As long as it encounters a human being, it will automatically launch an attack unconditionally.

Even if it is injured and maimed, it will never escape.

Although it looks very similar to a centipede, this monster was actually a giant earthworm covered with armor spikes. Due to its size, people eventually called it "Earth Dragon" instead. The Ferocious Earth Dragon often acted in groups, usually three or four in a pack at the most.

Keiko was concerned that this beast was not the only one, and that the other was still lurking nearby in the ground.

Dealing with an earth dragon was just like dealing with a real earthworm. Since it belonged to the Annelida phylum, the most efficient way to kill it was to slice it apart vertically, splitting it into left and right parts. If you cut its body horizontally, it will only make it divided into two beings and wouldn't die.

And the fact that the Ferocious Earth Dragon had an armor-like exoskeleton covering its body made it harder for ordinary artillery and bullet weapons to damage or even kill one.

Even if the attacks blew up its body, its body would split up instantaneously.

Only when the mecha could get close enough to slash it at point-blank range with a sharp electromagnetic mecha knife would it be killed with a guarantee.

Keiko skimmed the monster information and etched it into her memory.

While she was running, she also paid attention to the surrounding terrain. The roads nearby were narrow and the forest was densely packed, making it hard for mechas and armored vehicles to maneuver within.

Furthermore, the surrounding area is densely forested, which is easily ignited by the spark of a firing weapon and spreads throughout the area like a sea of fire.

Keiko's expression turned grim. This battle was the hardest battle she ever had throughout her life.

Trees had collapsed in succession, and some were falling towards the side of the road where the soldiers were gathering. The soldiers dodge from left to right, causing the entire team to be split into sections. The road for reinforcements was blocked, and the situation was extremely unfavorable.

Near Keiko's armored vehicle, there were three mechas: two Sieg Mk.2 mechas, one of which belonged to Lieutenant Lu Diyun, and another one belonged to Lieutenant Seol-Hyun Ae, and the last mecha was a Sieg Mk.1 mecha piloted by a sergeant.

Unfortunately, Lieutenant Lu Diyun's mecha was hampered by the collapsed towering trees and couldn't make it to her location in a short time; another mecha was stopped by the exploding armored vehicle, and only Seol-Hyun Ae's mecha was nearby.

The calm command voice of Lieutenant Lu Diyun is coming from the earphones:

"All the combat forces close to Lieutenant Seol-Hyun Ae's position gathered to support her. Lieutenant Seol-Hyun Ae, do your best to hold it back! I'll be there in 20 seconds!"

As he gave his command, Lu Diyun was already driving the mecha towards their position and forcefully tore down the tree trunks that were getting in his way.

"Yes!" Seol-Hyun Ae's voice was grave.

At the same time, she pulled out the mecha knife and tried to get close to the frenzied dragon.

She opened the chat channel with Keiko and asked anxiously, "Keiko-chan! How are you? Are you all right?"

Keiko was running fast in the direction of Seol-Hyun Ae's mecha when she heard Seol-Hyun Ae's voice on her intercom, and then she immediately replied.

"I'm fine. Focus on dealing with the beast. I'll find a way to help you!"

"Second lieutenant!" At the same time, Antonio's voice appeared. The voice sounded a little bit rough, like someone who was out of breath.

Keiko glanced at the small map and found that Antonio was chasing after her from behind.

She looked back and found that his steps were very staggered, so she said sternly, "Antonio! Go and find the logistics vehicle to replace the oxygen cylinder!"

"Second lieutenant, what are you doing?" Antonio asked solemnly.

"Go! This is an order!"

Keiko did not answer him and just gave him an order. No matter how stubborn this sergeant was, with his obedient personality and neutral lawful alignment, he definitely wouldn't defy his superior's order.

Then, she turned her head and continued to run forward without looking back.