Azur Lane Mobile Front.

"Joan of Arc, ignore that tree for now and try attacking Akagi. I don't believe she can withstand your attack."

"Zhenhai, you also prepare to target Akagi. If Joan of Arc's attack doesn't have any negative consequences, then you follow suit."

Immediately afterward, Rob also issued orders to the other ships present, except for Yixian and Anshan, which required close-range combat to unleash their ultimate attacks.

"I understand, Commander."

In the blink of an eye, the battlefield has transformed into a situation where the company is responsible for drawing aggro, while the rest prepare to unleash their attacks.

As for the Sakura Empire's ships, they weren't going out to fight anyway; they were just attending a festival. Who would carry so much ammunition for no reason?

After fighting for so long, we've almost run out of ammo.

Akagi's eerie flames made anyone wanting to get close to him think twice about how long they could burn.

Joan of Arc flew in the opposite direction from the Enterprise and then locked her destructive rifle onto Akagi.

Fortunately, Rob made a shrewd choice when selecting his mobile suit, opting for the Wing Gundam from the EW timeline. Otherwise, this thing would have been a genuine Rob three-shot.

After a sound characteristic of the W series Gundam, a massive beam of light, unlike anything that could be fired by a single soldier unit, shot straight toward Akagi.

The scorching beam of light distorted the surrounding light, and a bright beam of light that stretched across the night sky shone directly on the flame shield that Akagi had erected.

The dark red flames, just like before, tried to devour the beam of light.

However, this time, the unscientific power output of the destroying rifle taught these flames a good lesson in what it means to be powerful enough to send bricks flying.

The speed at which Akagi's flames consumed everything was completely outmatched by Joan of Arc's beam of light.

Left with no other choice, Akagi had to turn her attention away from the company, and the fiery behemoth had to change its target, making Joan of Arc its primary objective.

With the attack imminent, Joan of Arc made full use of the Wing Gundam's design—to escape in one hit.

Joan of Arc stopped attacking and immediately accelerated away from the previous area.

All that remained was an empty magazine from the destroyed rifle.

Having missed her target, Akagi was clearly unwilling to let Joan of Arc go so easily. She piloted the ship-based aircraft constructed of flames, and together with the giant fire beasts, launched attacks on Joan of Arc from multiple directions.

Because nearly half of their firepower was diverted to deal with Joan of Arc, the pressure on the company was immediately reduced significantly.

"Zhenhai, attack!"

Currently, Akagi is facing attacks from two directions, and under the conscious manipulation of the Enterprise and Joan of Arc, the distance between the two sides is widening.

This left Akagi's central position wide open, giving the White Trojan an excellent firing window.

The torrent of Mijia particles descended from the sky like divine punishment.

Having dispersed its flames, Akagi was completely unprepared for this attack and was instantly engulfed by the impact of particles.

On the battlefield, everyone stared intently at the location of Akagi.

Having been attacked head-on by a battleship, she should be finished now, right?

As if sensing the expectant gazes of the crowd, the attack that had been chasing Joan of Arc and Enterprise suddenly stopped.

It was as if Akagi had been fatally attacked and was unable to control the situation.

However, everyone clearly underestimated Akagi, or rather, Akagi who had already completed the meta-transformation.

Although her memory and perception have not fully recovered yet, she is now an enemy of the same level as Kaohsiung, whom Rob encountered back then.

Moreover, she also has the Divine Tree behind her for support.

After the aftershocks of the attack subsided, what appeared before everyone's eyes was Akagi, who was now covered in bruises.

Not only were the ship's equipment completely destroyed, but even the limbs of Akagi showed some damage.

There is usually only one reason for this: the ship has suffered damage far exceeding its capacity.

However, black auras began to emanate from the sacred tree, converging towards Akagi.

Visibly, Akagi's wounds are healing.

The Sakura Empire's ships all turned to look at Nagato in disbelief, their eyes filled with the same question—this thing has this function?

"Alright, it seems that if we want to get rid of Akagi, we can't let the tree behind her be allowed to grow."

Chapter 177: An Unexpected Person

Akagi showed Robo through her actions that when raiding bosses, you have to follow the mechanics properly and not try to skip the steps, because that's unacceptable.

Now Rob is thinking about another problem.

If Akagi is already so eerie, then could this even more eerie tree also have some kind of mechanism?

With this in mind, Rob specifically consulted an expert in this field—Nagato.

Then, Changmeng said, "I can't get there!"

Well, as expected of someone pioneering a new field, you have to experiment with all the mechanisms yourself.

Just as Rob was racking his brains over the mutated Sacred Tree of Akagi, an unexpected "guest" suddenly appeared at the originally bustling Tenyu Kaido Festival.

"here..."

Kaohsiung Meta, having received information from the Observer, learned that at this point in time, the Sakura Empire is about to begin a new Tenyu Kaido Festival.

Suddenly, memories of the destruction of his world flooded back.

Although Kaohsiung Meta didn't show much interest in the matter at the time, she rushed over immediately after the observer left.

At the festival, apart from Kaohsiung Meta herself, no one else was seen.

Only the plates of leftover food on the table told her about the commotion that had occurred there before.

Following her memories, Kaohsiung Meta walked briskly towards the place where the festival's final ceremony was held.

She didn't have much time to stay at this point in time.

Apart from some apparent chaos at the ceremony site, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

The Sea Stone, the starting point for the destruction of the Sakura Empire world where Kaohsiung Meta is located, lies quietly on the altar.

"The sacred stone... it's not even guarded anymore?"

"What exactly happened here?"

Kaohsiung Meta cautiously looked around, the unusual signs seeming to be just the surface, a "joke" played on her by an observer.

"No matter what, the divine stone must be destroyed!"

After a thorough inspection, Kaohsiung Meta did not find any traps or anything like that.

So she walked up to the altar and looked at the stone with a complicated expression.

With a "clang," the sharp blade was drawn.

A flash of cold light, and the sacred stone, which was of utmost importance to Sakura Empire, was neatly divided into two parts by Meta's sword.

However, after doing all this, Kaohsiung Meta stared blankly at the stone in front of him, so much so that he forgot to sheathe his knife.

"fake?"

"Hehehe~ That's right~ This isn't the Sea God Stone, is it?"

A familiar burst of laughter came from the side, and a pair of fair and delicate hands wrapped around Kaohsiung Meta's mature waist.

Kaohsiung Meta frowned, and a flash of cold light appeared in the blade in his hand as he immediately created a sword shadow around himself.

"Oh dear, don't react so strongly!"

The hand encircling Kaohsiung Meta vanished instantly before the blade reached it.

Then, the observer appeared on the altar, pointing at the "Sea God Stone" that had been split in two.

"What are you plotting now?"

Ever since discovering that the Hai Ruo Divine Stone was fake, Kaohsiung Meta has felt like it has been tricked again.

Right now, the culprit is right in front of them, and Kaohsiung Meta immediately wants to go up and teach the observer a lesson.

"Hey, hey, hey~ Don't do it! Because of some accidents before, this is the only container I have left in this area!"

Contrary to expectations, the observer reached out and blocked Kaohsiung Meta's next move, putting on a pitiful look that, combined with the siren's alluring face, actually made it seem convincing.

However, even Kaohsiung Meta, who knew exactly what the Observer was, unconsciously tightened his grip on the katana.

"Ahem~ The matter of the divine stone was indeed not my fault."

The observer stretched out his bare white foot and kicked the Sea God Stone in front of him away, then sat cross-legged in that spot.

She continued, "But hey~ there's something really funny happening here now~"

"It's over by the Sacred Tree, hmm, I remember that's what the little animals call it..."

"Akagi, she's become a meta-transformer~"

Upon hearing this, Meta's eyes immediately flashed with a chilling light, and she gripped her katana tightly.

The cold blade was placed directly against the observer's neck; in fact, a tiny bit had already cut into the observer's skin.

"It's not my fault~ You know, there are some things I won't lie about."

The observer was completely unconcerned about the imminent killing intent, and simply watched Kaohsiung Meta with a smile on his face.

After exchanging a glance with the observer, Meta Kaohsiung silently sheathed his katana.

As the observer watched Kaohsiung Meta's departing figure, the smile on his face grew even brighter.

...

On the other side of the Sacred Tree, Robo's head was even more aching after just one round of figuring out the mechanics.

"This game is unplayable. This is ridiculous! Why does this tree have something that looks like the Yata no Kagami from Akatsuki?!"

If there hadn't been a table in front of Rob, he would have really performed a standard table-flipping act right now.

Just now, under Rob's orders, Baltimore, Unicorn, and Joan of Arc, who had not yet drawn any hatred, conducted shooting tests on the Sacred Tree with different outputs.

As a result, without exception, all attacks were bounced back.

"Why didn't I know this thing was so powerful when I came here last time!"

Rob rubbed his hair until it became a complete bird's nest.

There are effective ways to attack the Sacred Tree; physical cannonballs can effectively damage it.

However, now, the only physical shells left here are Richelieu and the Enterprise.

Even if these two fight, they can't recover health as quickly as the Divine Tree.

Yes, the black light spots used to repair Akagi can also be used to repair the Sacred Tree itself.

However, according to Changmeng's description, this ability should come at the cost of the soul resting in the Sacred Tree.

Then Luo Bo asked Chang Meng how many souls were inside the Sacred Tree.

Then, Changmeng's comment that it was probably several decades old directly sank Rob.

On the sea, Akagi's attacks continued to relentlessly pursue Enterprise and Joan of Arc.

Before an effective solution is found, no one dares to act rashly, because at this point, every bullet fired is one less bullet available.

Yixian and Anshan had suggested that they let them go up and give it a try.

However, given the current situation, Rob really doesn't dare to gamble.

And so, the progress of the Akagi Meta Annihilation Operation was stuck.

Chapter 178: It's customary for bosses we've defeated to reappear and join our side.

As time went by, unbeknownst to everyone, Akagi's eyes became increasingly clear.

If Rob and his team had been fighting mindless bosses all along, then if this dragged on any longer, they would have to fight a boss with brains.

"That shouldn't be the case. There must be something I haven't considered."

Rob, Zhenhai, and the head maid discussed strategies for defeating Akagi Meta.

It seems that all the strategies point to the method of concentrated attack with a large number of physical shells.

However, this is precisely what Rob lacks.

"Understood, I need twelve Viper tanks!"

At that very moment, Luo had an epiphany.