Steampunk Era: Mad Abield
Chapter 999: Section 647: Eastern Observations (Part 3)

Chapter 999: Section 647: Eastern Observations (Part 3)

On the modern battlefield, the role of Legendary figures has been continuously diminished. In the face of blessed armor-piercing bullets, the once-praiseworthy physical resilience of a Legendary is proving inadequate. Malin has taken down powerful Chaos units more than once with the weapon in his hands – Chaos Sorcerers, for instance. These spellcasters are like iron and steel against conventional cold weapons; anyone attempting to kill a Chaos Sorcerer with a steel weapon would need to be a Transcendent, otherwise even getting close would be no more than a fantasy.

But now, an ordinary mortal soldier, as long as there’s no obstacle blocking the view between him and the Chaos Sorcerer and he happens to have a blessed bullet in his rifle, can simply pull the trigger. The blessed bullet will soar across the open plain and burrow into the brain of the Chaos Sorcerer, who will remain entirely unaware of the incoming danger.

Thus, Malin himself avoids exposing his body to any Chaos firing line. After all, besides sharpshooters, there’s another type of combatant: that lucky bastard whose shot lands better simply because fortune favors him.

Thinking of this, Malin snapped his fingers. The intelligence from Salis indicated that those bow-legged Chaos forces were rushing into the pre-set spell formation zone Malin had constructed. Malin’s snap triggered sharp stone spikes that emerged from the ground, impaling the advancing Chaos troops en masse. The spikes then transformed into massive hands that pushed the impaled Chaos deep into the earth.

With a muffled explosion, the ground erupted immediately. The Chaos troops buried just now were hurled into the air along with dirt and rubble.

"The Chaos forces have breached!" Accompanied by the destruction of an allied machine gun nest in the distance, Malin heard the warning cry echo from behind.

I warned them—though those bow-legged bastards deserve death, it’s still unwise to underestimate their marksmanship and grenade-launcher accuracy.

Mana poked its head above the trenches, confirming a large group of Chaos was advancing on their left flank, about to charge into the trench.

Old Kay took a quick glance over the edge, then roared, ordering the soldiers to fix their bayonets.

Malin sighed. "If only we had a heavy mecha here – leveling its six-barreled gatling cannon for a few seconds would turn these bow-legged bastards and their friends into spare parts outright."

But Bippo began to shout.

"No, don’t call in your friends." Others might not understand, but Malin knew all too well Bippo’s situation. That kid had been marked with Chaos coordinates by Khorne. While staying near Malin could keep him from sliding further into Chaos, the little rascal, as a living coordinate, was acquainted with all manner of shady figures.

More than once, Malin had overheard him talking to some Chaos overlord on the other side, who always tried to convince Bippo to open a portal. Bippo refused every time.

Whenever that happened, Malin would entrust the coordinates to the Nameless. He’d usually show up personally to shut things down—and sometimes bring Khorne along for the ride, especially when it turned out to be Jianqi’s doing.

At times, members of Nameless’s faction would use Bippo’s coordinates to cross over. Usually, it was Prairie Elves chasing down fugitives. In such cases, Bippo would inform Malin, and once Malin confirmed, he’d provide the coordinates. The Elves often left Malin some top-tier loot in return—a manor ready for sale, bonds, or piles of precious metals, including gold and silver.

Bippo was still yelling.

Malin restrained himself and listened to the little one’s words.

"You’re saying you can summon the academy’s mecha directly?"

Bippo stretched his words, sounding incredibly pleased that Malin understood him.

"How are you calling them?" Malin inquired, curious.

And then he heard the little creature’s response.

A piercing, high-pitched sound followed—completely inaudible to normal humans. Only someone like Malin, with a sound range far surpassing human limits due to his half-blood nature, could hear it.

A teleportation portal formed in the rear shortly afterward.

......

The Dwarven Great Craftsman narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing the heavy mecha before him with admiration. This was Mecha No. 7, a heavy model developed from Mecha No. 4. It featured heavily armored, short and sturdy bipedal legs for stability. The cockpit, no longer the dangerous semi-open design of earlier models, was now an internal capsule accessed via a hatch on top. Utilizing shared-vision spell formations, the pilot could link directly to the 160-degree camera atop the mecha.

Mecha No. 7 boasted some of the most devastating weaponry ever conceived. Its right arm housed a dual-mounted, eight-barrel 30mm autocannon, capable of firing 240 shells per minute at full capacity.

Its left arm bore a massive 400mm howitzer, loaded with a single shell and a magazine storing two spares. To balance the weight, the left-side armor was 20mm thicker than the right. Strict operational guidelines governed its use, but regardless of the enemy, so long as they remained within the realm of physics, this colossal shell would wreak catastrophic destruction.

Below the howitzer, a state-of-the-art flamethrower was mounted.

With high-pressure propulsion and armor-encased fuel tanks, its range topped 200 meters. Utilizing advanced combustion technology, it burned for exceptionally long periods and could even ignite surfaces on water.

Additionally, its shoulders were equipped with two shotgun launchers, each capable of dispersing thousands of pellets in a massive fan-shaped area before the mecha. Although each launcher held only one shell, reloads could be handled by support teams using overhead cranes from the rear.

"You know, my old friend, a few years ago, when I saw Mecha No. 1, I thought it was the greatest creation I’d ever witnessed. But now, seeing this, it turns out Malin was right. He once told me I’d eventually regard Mecha No. 1 as a toy. And he wasn’t wrong—but I never expected that day to come so soon."