The Last Sentinel

Fusang, Tokyo Bay.

Dark clouds loomed over the city, a howling wind raged, and waves dozens of stories high surged across the sea, roaring and crashing forward. Under the impact of these massive waves, the crude oil tankers, normally weighing tens of thousands of tons, spun wildly like duckweed in a storm. The sturdy hulls of the steel ships piled together, transforming into terrifying steel fists that slammed violently against the shore.

The coastal base defense line, which had been advertised countless times on television and claimed to be able to fight against S+ level sea monsters, collapsed and shattered instantly. The seawall was torn apart by steel ships, leaving visible trenches that stretched for tens of meters on the ground and extended more than a hundred meters into the ground.

Wherever the fissures and ravines reached, buildings were reduced to ruins, cars sank into craters, gas pipelines burst, and flames ignited the dense cluster of wooden buildings in Tokyo Bay. These old wooden structures, touted as embodying the spirit of craftsmanship, were instantly engulfed in flames.

The wind fuels the fire, and the fire gains power from the wind!

In an instant, the flames spread into a beautiful scene, with fiery ribbons adorning the crimson beach.

drip-

buzz-

On the ground and in the sky, several media helicopters tried to capture some footage, but even faster, from the shattered ravines of the coast, a dark fang and claw suddenly attacked, whistling as it instantly turned dozens of helicopters into fireworks, exploding with a deafening roar and dazzling brilliance.

A monster descended from the sky, its fury and savageness palpable!

On television screens in countless homes, the reporter's footage disappeared, leaving only the scene of the helicopter explosion and a black, dark steel blade that stood upright like a scimitar. It looked like the back of a shark, but it was sharper and stronger than a shark's fin!

The S-class monster's sharp black curved dorsal fin, as tall as a ten-story building, resembled a sharp giant plow, frantically carving furrows and ravines across the ground. In just a few moments, the ground cracked into countless fragments, and terrifying waves of dust and gales turned a neighborhood of tens of thousands of people into a living hell.

And this hell on earth is increasing exponentially, with death and despair filling the eyes of countless people.

"Where are the Atlantean mechs?! Why haven't they come to our aid yet?!"

Inside the Defense Agency, an officer with a mustache roared loudly.

The staff officer beside him cautiously said, "Sir, Atlantis said that of their three S-class mechs, two are dealing with the Area 51 rebellion, and one is patrolling the Bermuda Triangle. They don't have any extra S-class mechs to come to our aid."

"Baka!" The officer pointed at the screen. "We pay them so much protection money every year! Now they say they can't come! What are we supposed to do?"

The staff officer said, "Mr. Smith of Atlantis said that they have requested assistance from the Southern Heavenly Gate in the East, asking the Southern Heavenly Gate to send an S-class mech to aid Fusang and eliminate the monster."

The commander grabbed the staff officer by the collar, "Eastern reinforcements are coming to our aid! You idiot! Do you even know how much Eastern hates us?! Do you expect your enemy to send their most powerful mechs to support you and rescue you?"

The staff officer trembled and dared not utter a sound.

At that moment, a female secretary beside him cautiously said, "Sir, the Samurai Maru is still here. Perhaps we can send the Samurai Maru out to steer this monster to another area. At the very least, we shouldn't let it stay in the wealthy area of ​​Tokyo Bay."

The officer stared at the female secretary and sneered, "Does your family live in Tokyo Bay?"

The female secretary trembled under the gaze. "No, no, we've all followed the Defense Agency's requirements. Our families are all on other continents."

The officer spread his hands and said, "That's right. My family isn't here. In that case, what does the life or death of this place have to do with us?"

The female secretary said, "But, so many innocent lives..."

The officer's face was lined with wrinkles, and his eyes revealed a cold, disdainful glint. "The strong prey on the weak; that's the law of nature! It makes no difference whether they die of old age or at the hands of monsters!"

The female secretary asked, "Then, the [Samurai Maru]?"

The old commander said coldly, "【Samurai Maru】is the most likely candidate for advancement to S-class mecha in Japan. Without S-class mecha, Japan's genius club will forever remain a second-rate force. Only with S-class mecha can we stand on equal footing with the Eastern Southern Gate and the Western Atlantis!"

"Let me tell you bluntly, even if the entire Tokyo Bay falls, even if the entire island sinks, the [Samurai Maru] will not be deployed!"

Faced with the old commander's stern reprimand, all the staff officers in the command room lowered their heads and dared not utter a word.

Just then, there was a knock on the door.

The old officer turned around and said, "Come in!"

A staff officer rushed in, flustered. "Sir, the Southern Heavenly Gate of the East has started discussions about support. The Southern Heavenly Gate headquarters has issued an order for Luoyang, one of the two major bases in the East, to dispatch the Crimson Destruction mech to provide support!"

Upon hearing this, the deathly silent command center instantly erupted like a volcano, bursting with life.

"Is it true? Nantianmen actually issued an order? How is that possible!"

"Our relationship with the East isn't exactly one of mutual loathing, but it's more like we both want to bury each other. Why would they support us?"

"Gentlemen!" a young, excited, bespectacled staff officer roared. "Regardless, this is good news! As everyone knows, the Eastern Great Xia always has an ironclad discipline in executing orders; we would never be the type to rebel. Now that Nantianmen has given the order, Shen Du will definitely release the Crimson Destruction to provide support!"

"That's the [Crimson Destroyer]! Over the past twenty years, it has killed more than a handful of S-class monsters! And countless mutated monsters! It's the third-ranked mech among the four great mechs of Nantianmen!"

"With its arrival, I can already picture the monster being torn to pieces!"

At that moment, the old officer sitting in the front row adjusted his reading glasses and muttered, "I have never questioned the iron discipline of the soldiers of the Great Xia Dynasty in carrying out orders. It's just a pity that such powerful mechs came to support us. Isn't it a bit of a waste if they just killed the monster and left?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at the old commander.

The female secretary asked cautiously, "What does the boss mean?"

The old commander tapped his fingers lightly on the table, muttering to himself, "Monsters can appear an unlimited number of times, but the appearance of a weapon of mass destruction like the Eastern Great Xia's [Crimson Destruction] on our territory is a rare occurrence. Everyone remembers the [Crimson Destruction]'s predecessor, the [Crimson Storm]!"

These words caused the entire room to fall silent.

The Crimson Storm was the predecessor of the Crimson Destroyer, and its demise was ostensibly due to a monster attack.

In reality, it was not unrelated to the betrayal of his teammate, Alpha.

Back then, Nantianmen and Atlantis allied to quell the underwater rift. The Crimson Storm and Alpha were on a joint mission, but when fighting the monster, the Alpha crashed halfway due to some mechanical failure. Only the Crimson Storm arrived at the location on time. Thus, the Crimson Storm was left to face the S+ mutated monster alone and was killed by it.

The Alpha, which followed later, devoured the remaining engine energy fragments of the Crimson Storm, directly advancing from A+ to S-class, and then killed the monster to achieve victory.

Following this incident, relations between Nantianmen and Atlantis deteriorated rapidly, and the two sides even came to blows. Fortunately, the Containment Foundation mediated the conflict, preventing a complete showdown between the two sides.

This also revealed a secret to almost everyone: if an A+ mech wants to advance to S-class, or even the lower tier of S-class, there is a shortcut: directly devour fragments of the core module of an S-class mech!

The old commander's words undoubtedly served as a wake-up call for everyone. If the Crimson Destroyer had died in Japan, and Samurai Maru had devoured the energy engine mech core fragments of the Crimson Destroyer, then Samurai Maru could have advanced to S-rank!

The old commander's eyes grew even sharper, like swords that dared not be looked at directly. He said, word by word, "This is a rare opportunity that we must seize. Let the monster kill the [Crimson Destruction], whether [Samurai Maru] can transform, whether my Fusang can advance to a first-class power, the rise and fall of the Empire—all depend on this!"

The female secretary said cautiously, "But, sir, the Eastern Great Xia has come to support us. It's against the law and morality for us to betray our benefactor..."

The old commander said coldly, "When it comes to the dignity of the Empire, all morality can be set aside. If they really want to help us, they should give us the [Crimson Destruction] directly, along with the other three S-class mechs from the Southern Heavenly Gate! Let us take over the Great Xia Divine Continent, instead of having countless monsters constantly emerging from the seabed tectonic plates on this dilapidated island!"

"They were never our benefactors!"

Don't be moved by small favors!

"Only a sharp sword can secure safe territory!"

"It's time to sacrifice the [Crimson Destroyer] and achieve S-rank [Samurai Maru]!"

"The rise and fall of the empire hinges on this!"

The old commander's powerful words echoed in the huge command room. The staff officers and commanders were all filled with fervor and excitement, shouting loudly, "Ban Zai—!"