55: An airdrop is essentially putting yourself in an iron coffin and slamming you to the ground.

[Pan-Pacific Empire Position - Sector 7 - Command Post]

Rainwater streamed down Captain Kyle's Brass Diving Helmet, leaving distorted streaks across his vision.

The air was filled with the stench of rotting seaweed and the bitter smell of gun oil.

"There's something on the radar."

The communicator's voice trembled, tinged with an inexplicable fear.

"It's too fast! It's not a plane... it's... a meteor!"

Kyle looked up. What he saw was not a meteor.

They were three massive, pitch-black metal raptors, tearing through the heavy, lead-gray clouds.

Stormbird Heavy Landing Craft.

Their engine nozzles trailed black and red ionized wakes hundreds of meters long, emitting a shriek that sounded like the sky itself was being ripped open.

"Intercept! Anti-air guns!"

He roared, his voice hoarse.

The twin-barreled anti-aircraft autocannons on the ground began to roar, tracer rounds weaving a net in the sky.

But the flying craft were too fast, and their armor was too thick.

Several anti-aircraft shells struck the belly of one craft, but they only sparked harmlessly against the heavy Ceramite hull, utterly failing to alter its dive trajectory.

Boom!!!

The first Stormbird suddenly pulled up at an altitude less than a hundred meters above the ground.

Instead of dropping bombs, it opened its massive cargo bay doors.

Accompanied by the metallic clang of heavy magnetic locks disengaging, massive black cubes, humming with the distinctive sound of Anti-Gravity Decelerators, slammed heavily toward the ground.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The earth convulsed violently several times, like a rawhide drum struck hard by a giant hammer.

The shockwave, carrying high-temperature steam and mud, instantly overturned the surrounding ring of sandbags.

Kyle was thrown into the mud and water. He struggled to lift his head and, through his mud-caked goggles, finally saw what it was.

It was not a bomb.

It was an armored vehicle painted pitch black. Its tracks were deeply embedded in the mud, and its engine let out a hungry roar.

"Wha... what is this..."

Before he could react, the black steel behemoth started moving... [Astartes - Nero's Perspective]

Darkness. Vibration.

Nero sat inside the cabin of the obsidian Rhino Transport.

It was cramped in here.

Ten two-and-a-half-meter-tall giants wearing mk ii power armor were crammed into this iron box, shoulder plates knocking against shoulder plates, and Bolter barrels bumping against knee guards.

The air was thick with the potent smell of a new vehicle—anti-rust oil, lubricant, and the unique scorched scent of Ceramite baked by the engine's high heat.

"Impact confirmed."

"Track traction... good."

"Engine output... 100%."

The driver's indifferent voice sounded over the channel.

"All crew, prepare for breach."

There was no countdown.

RUMBLE!!!

The engine let out a bestial roar.

The massive torque erupted instantly, slamming Nero hard against the seatback.

The vehicle moved. No, it was "shot" out... [Pan-Pacific Position - Kyle's Perspective]

"Stop it! Fire!!"

Kyle shouted, his Pneumatic Gun firing wildly.

Nail-like bullets struck the front armor of the black war vehicle, making sharp "clanging" sounds before being mercilessly deflected.

Sparks flew, leaving only a few shallow white marks on the 60-millimeter thick composite Ceramite armor plate.

The vehicle did not slow down.

It didn't even fire a shot.

It simply charged straight ahead, brutally and unreasonably.

CRASH—!!!

The defensive fortifications, built from sandbags and scrap steel plates, collapsed instantly like a sandcastle under the impact of thirty tons of steel moving at eighty kilometers per hour.

The soldiers hiding behind didn't even have time to scream before they were either crushed into pulp by the tracks or sliced in half by flying steel plates.

The vehicle shook violently once, then continued its rampage forward, its tracks covered in shredded flesh and rags.

"Clang!"

The hydraulic locks on the rear hatch sprang open. The hatch slammed heavily onto the muddy ground, forming a ramp.

Nero was the first one to charge out.

In Kyle's vision, the black giant emerging from the iron box was impossibly tall.

Standing before these generally malnourished, approximately 1.7-meter-tall wasteland soldiers, the 2.5-meter-tall giant looked like a moving iron tower.

Rain streamed down the pitch-black power armor, and the symbol of the Twin-Headed Eagle looked horrifyingly fierce under the lightning.

The most terrifying thing was his eyes.

They were Tactical Goggles, emitting a faint green glow, devoid of any emotion, possessing only inhuman coldness.

Kyle wanted to raise his gun, but his hand wouldn't obey. His brain seemed frozen; a fear called "instinct" paralyzed him.

His vision couldn't even focus; he could only watch as the giant raised the enormous firearm in his hand.

Pffft!

A heavy machine gunner standing next to Kyle suddenly vanished.

Yes, vanished.

His upper body exploded instantly into a cloud of red mist, leaving only his two legs standing in place, the blood spurting from the severance point not yet having hit the ground.

That was a bolt shell. It drilled into the body and detonated inside the chest cavity.

"Aaaah!!!"

The surrounding soldiers broke. This wasn't war. This was a massacre.

The giant began to move.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

He moved so fast he left a blur behind him.

This sense of visual dislocation gave Kyle a strong feeling of vertigo.

It was like watching a main battle tank perform continuous serpentine maneuvers at the speed of an F1 race car!

The giant charged into the trench.

He didn't use his gun.

He simply used his Ceramite-covered hand to grab the helmet of a soldier trying to flee.

Crunch.

Like crushing a soda can.

The soldier didn't even let out a scream; his helmet and the head inside were crushed into an iron disc... [Holographic Operations Cabin]

Li Cang watched the scene on the screen, but did not smile.

Instead, his brow furrowed deeper.

On the screen, ten black arrows tore easily through the seemingly sturdy Pan-Pacific Empire defenses, like ten red-hot dinner knives slicing through butter.

Trailing those arrows were five larger "Predator" tanks with rotating turrets.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Anthis Autocannons on the Predator tanks began to unleash their power.

Each shell, the size of a fist, accurately pounded the enemy's bunkers and firing points.

Concrete walls were shattered, and heavy machine gun turrets were blown away.

"This is... systemic crushing."

Li Cang murmured to himself.

Although he was the Commander, the initiator of all this, he still felt a profound shock seeing these killing machines operating at full capacity from such a close perspective for the first time.

Too efficient.

Too ruthless.

This battlefield didn't feel like "humans" were fighting; it was industrial violence wearing human skin.

"Commander."

C-19's voice came through the communication channel.

He was currently standing at another landing site, a light tank he had just overturned with a Mars-Exclusive Cluster Demolition Mine beneath his feet.

"Landing zone cleared."

"Rhino Transports deployed."

"Please indicate next course of action."

Li Cang took a deep breath and cast his gaze toward the depths of the map.

The leviathan Land Carrier, which was frantically turning to aim its main cannon at the airdrop zone. It was like a moving mountain, obscuring the sky.

"All personnel board the vehicles."

Li Cang's command was cold and ruthless.

"Do not engage the infantry."

"These bullets are meaningless if there is no prey."

"Target: leviathan."

"Tear it... apart."