"Mech JD1456M, fall back"

Just then, a fierce wind suddenly swept through the forest.

Merlin instantly felt a surge of danger from behind. Without hesitation, he stashed away the entire carcass of the Sharpfang rat and instinctively stepped back. The ground beside him exploded as a gigantic green tendril burst from the depths of the forest, shattering the earth.

The others only reacted to the sudden event, turning their attention toward the object.

A mutated, enormous vine, its blue roots covered in barbs, shot out from the forest at an incredibly fast pace, bringing with it gusts of wind. It struck the ground, creating several fissures, and after a brief pause, it withdrew and loomed over the nearby mechs.

A serious warning popped up in the mechs' display: 'Pollution level exceeded'.

Nick froze in shock. "3500 pollution level!? What kind of monster is this!?"

The vine didn't give them time to react. Quickly assessing the situation, it charged at Merlin's mech. Merlin narrowly avoided the vine's attack, only for the ground beside him to be fractured.

"To the woods!!" Nick shouted.

Merlin dodged another attack from the vine and looked in the direction Nick pointed. He saw several more tendrils shooting out from the dark forest, heading straight for them.

It was clear these tendrils emerged from deep within the polluted area, their roots not originating from here but rather chasing something.

Merlin immediately thought of the rat outbreak. The real reason those rats were fleeing outward was probably these tendrils.

The attack was sudden. Nick and the others were caught off guard and slammed into the buildings behind them by the tendrils, triggering damage warnings on their mechs.

"Are you okay?!" Merlin asked.

Nick replied with difficulty, "Man, getting whipped by this thing hurts like hell. The front plate of my mech is cracked!"

Merlin's eyes darkened slightly. The attacking force of this thing was strong, on a completely different level from the high-tier Sharpfang rats... With the strength of his current mech, it probably couldn't withstand three hits from these tendrils.

He quickly scanned the various indicators in the cockpit, briefly assessing the remaining energy of his mech.

This was becoming tricky. If he were alone, it might be manageable, but with three nearby mechs running low on energy, the remaining energy in his mech was only enough for a half-hour of full-on attack or defense.

As Merlin pondered his next move, an unfamiliar, sharp, and rapid voice broke through the distress channel, "Mech JD1456M, fall back."

In an instant—

A blast from an energy cannon, coming from behind Merlin, soared over him and struck the vine directly in front.

Seizing the moment, Merlin used his railgun to pin the vine down. Unable to retreat, the vine took two direct hits from the energy cannon.

"12 o'clock." The voice in the distress channel spoke again.

Merlin activated his light blade, striking the vine behind him with a backhand blow. The very next second, another energy cannon shot hit the vine, severing it completely.

With the addition of another person to the team, Merlin felt a bit of relief. Not wasting the opportunity, he advanced, cutting through several tendrils as the newcomer forced them back.

Behind him, the injured Nick finally caught up, noticing a faint mech signal on the edge of the radar map, "Uh, are you part of the rescue team?"

Before he could finish, the vines, losing their suppression from the fire, went wild again.

Merlin: "9 o'clock!"

The new mech pilot didn't hesitate, firing a cannon shot that hit the vine squarely.

Merlin, switching to his light blade, advanced. The energy-covered blade became incredibly sharp, cutting through the scattered tendrils on the side.

"Can it be cut off?" the unfamiliar voice asked.

"We can cut off the branches, but not the main two," Merlin replied. Upon seeing new shoots sprouting from the cut sections of the tendrils, he added, "...It can regenerate!"

The unfamiliar voice responded, "The main body isn't here."

Those tendrils stretching from the forest had their real main body located deep within the Banute area.

The two main tendrils, with the rest being merely offshoots, could quickly regenerate the cut branches, making it impossible to completely sever them.

The others in the channel remained silent, overwhelmed by the exchange between the two. Nick was especially baffled, unable to join the battle. The tendrils moved too swiftly for their reaction time.

"How do we deal with this thing ?!"

"Can't kill 'em all. Once we run out of energy, we're toast."

Regenerating pollutants... that's no easy foe.

Amidst the anxious voices of others, Merlin then asked, "Weapons?"

After a brief pause, the unfamiliar voice replied, "Primary weapon: sniper cannon. Secondary weapon: energy cannon."

Merlin: "You didn't bring any control weapons?"

The voice decisively said, "No."

Nick grew even more anxious. So, their combat capability was down to three cannons and a blade!? The only control weapon was a short-range railgun... How were they supposed to deal with this thing!?

B-grade mechs have a clear weakness: the two weapons they carry have relatively low attack power. Merlin chose this mech because it was equipped with a controlled weapon, the magnetic cannon, and an attack weapon, the light blade. These were sufficient against smaller pollutants... but not necessarily against what they face now.

He piloted a close-combat mech, while the other was equipped for long-range combat.

But two long-range weapons changed the game.

Seeing Nick and the others had retreated to a safer, higher ground, Merlin said, "You lead the attack, I'll support you. Set up the sniper cannon."

After a pause, the unfamiliar voice chuckled, "Are you sure about using the sniper cannon for the main attack? I recall you only brought a light blade and magnetic cannon, with no defensive weapons."

"I'm sure."

The next second, the B-grade mech darted out, one hand wielding the light blade and the other setting up the magnetic cannon, delivering a head-on heavy blow to the tendrils.

From a distance, atop an abandoned building deep within the Banute area, a gray mech stood at the building's summit. Surrounded by ruins overtaken by greenery, the gray mech switched weapons, setting up a sniper cannon, with the battlefield in the forest coming into view.

Inside the cockpit, a woman in a black coat, her face stern, manipulated the sniper cannon to charge without hesitation. She watched with interest the close-combat mech in her viewfinder. In about 3 seconds, the energy fluctuation in front of the sniper cannon emitted intense heat.

The next second, the sniper cannon unleashed a beam of light!

In the forest, Merlin seemed to sense something, firing the magnetic cannon at the vine. Using the recoil of the magnetic cannon, the mech soared upwards, evading the sniper shot from afar.

Boom—As the aftermath dissipated, Merlin swiftly swung his light blade, cleanly making another cut, and coldly said, "Continue."

The woman chuckled, her movements crisp and decisive.

That initial wave of cooperation was all about her syncing with the close-combat mech.

But from the moment she set up the sniper cannon, the roles reversed, and the primary attack shifted. In the unprotected wilderness, her attacks could hit other mechs too, with the sniper cannon's faster speed and stronger attack capability.

The B-grade mech's movements were precise, utilizing the charging time of the magnetic cannon and the brief repelling force of the light blade, providing perfect control for her, and creating opportunities to hit the target.

Inside that B-grade mech was a pilot with exceptionally good operating consciousness.

Atop the building, the gray mech's sniper cannon charged again.

The woman said, "6 o'clock."

The next sniper shot followed, Merlin stepped back to dodge and again hit the vine.

Their cooperation, back and forth, felt surprisingly in sync with the simplicity of their communication.

Hidden behind the ruins, Nick and the others were stunned. They watched as the distant sniper cannon continuously attacked this way, with the B-grade mech within the firing range dodging the attacks time after time.

This firepower suppression slowed the regeneration of the two tendrils. As higher-order pollutants with simple intelligence, the tendrils retreated about ten meters deeper when facing the relentless assault continued.

After 5 minutes, the tendrils could no longer withstand the barrage and swiftly retreated into the depths.

The sniper fire ceased, and Merlin stopped as well.

Simultaneously, Merlin noticed that the signal of the distant mech vanished from the radar screen, and the pilot also left the communication channel.

Merlin's gaze deepened as he looked towards the perilous depths of the Banute pollution zone, contemplative.

After a long while, noticing the silence of gunfire, Nick and the others finally came to their senses, peeking out from behind the building, whispering, "...Is it over?"

There was no response in the channel, and they emerged from the reeking white smoke.

By this time, the pollution area management bureau's personnel, having noticed the exchange of gunfire within the polluted zone, arrived belatedly. They had initially been drawn by Nick and the others' distress signal, only to find the area in shambles upon their arrival.

"The deep zone is very dangerous. We're evacuating immediately!" said the leader of the rescue team.

Seeing the rescuers, Nick sighed in relief, "Finally! You've arrived."

The rescuers, observing the destruction, gasped, "How many of you are there? Did you kill all these Sharpfang rats?"

"There were three of us here, and there was another mech below... and one of your rescue team guys," Nick started to explain, but then he noticed that, amidst the battlefield's wreckage, only the charred tendrils remained, with no sign of the B-grade mech or the signals of the two mechs that had been in the distress channel.

Nick: "...Where's my bro!?"

Meanwhile, the management bureau personnel were deep in thought, standing together and pondering over their detection systems. Before they had arrived, they detected a spike in pollution values, reaching 6000, but upon arrival, they only found the corpses of Fang Rats, with no other sources of pollution visible.

"Was it just Sharpfang rats that appeared here?" one of the bureau personnel asked.

A mech pilot casually replied, "Not just that, there was also a high-tier Sharpfang rat that the big guy who saved us killed."

Hearing this, a bureau member urgently asked, "A high-tier Sharpfang rat!? Where's the corpse?"

Nick, sensing something was off, noticed the unusual expression on the bureau personnel's faces. "...A crystal? I think it dropped, but that Sharpfang rat was only B-grade. My bro took it down in just a couple of hits."

"Are you sure?" the bureau personnel asked again.

Nick nodded, "Sure. Otherwise, how could we have managed? Look at the state we're in."

After speaking, one of the rescue team members gestured to another, who quickly left with a communicator.

Nick and his friends went to take care of their mech, still looking back as they walked away.

"What's up, Nick? Neck bothering you?" his friend asked.

Nick covered his mouth, "Keep it down, don't talk nonsense. And don't mention anything about big bro to them."