Lu Xing wasn't sticking around!
He now profoundly understood just how terrifying a human wave tactic could be, and he also grasped why Honkai Beasts always gathered into legions before launching an offensive.
So long as they were still lower-tier Honkai Beasts.
No matter how strong they were individually, there was always the possibility of being overwhelmed by sheer numbers.
Two F-18s had already caused him considerable trouble; whether it was transforming his form or continuously using [Honkai Lance Projection], both were significant drains on his energy.
As for these new arrivals... as they steadily approached the city, their airframes, brimming with a sense of advanced technology yet unable to entirely shake off a blocky texture, allowed Lu Xing to easily identify their model:
An entire squadron (24 aircraft) of F-35 fighter jets!
These fighter jets had flown in from the eastern coast.
According to the intelligence Lu Xing had obtained, the eastern city clusters did not have an air force of this scale deployed. In fact, the number of fighter jets possessed by Australia's own military was a pitiful figure just over 100—that's right, 100 fighters was their limit, and less than half of those could even execute combat orders in a timely manner.
To expect them to dispatch an entire integrated squadron for a mission not on a primary front.
It was simply unrealistic.
In the entire world, the only nation probably willing to dispatch such a large number of F-35s for a single strike mission at once was Pretty Country.
"Hoo."
The night deepened.
A not-so-cold east wind gently brushed across the ground.
Lu Xing retracted all his Honkai energy back into his core—his horns and halo dimmed simultaneously.
If he relied solely on his physical strength, Lu Xing's speed would decrease significantly.
But in this state, unless he was directly sighted, no reconnaissance or targeting systems would be able to capture his trace.
Just as Lu Xing was preparing to扒件 a cloak from the corpse mountain below—Lu Xing felt a twinge of regret; he shouldn't have tossed away the damaged Ravenwing just for the sake of looking cool—bright beams of light, like divine punishment, descended from the cloud-covered night sky.
In an instant, day and night became indistinguishable!
"BOOM!!!"
———
It was a display of utterly roguish power.
Blazing white light tore across the sky.
A quarter of the F-35 squadron was directly vaporized—the path of the beams should have enveloped the entire formation, but the F-35 squadron, sensing the crisis, had managed to scatter just moments before impact.
However.
The attack launched against the fighter squadron was merely a casual swat from the behemoth that was slowly emerging from the sky.
The most severe damage.
Was inflicted upon the city, where a straight line several kilometers long was leveled by the beams—nearly a tenth of the urban area was destroyed in this single attack. Even by the most conservative estimate based on average distribution, twenty thousand lives had been extinguished in this one strike.
The F-35 squadron no longer approached the city.
The moment they were attacked, they had already switched to a "2-2" wingman formation and were charging towards the behemoth emerging from the dark clouds!
Lu Xing was dumbstruck with astonishment.
Because... he recognized this suddenly appearing ally!
[Emperor Guard Cruiser-class]
This was the massive, Lv.55 "Kun" that had been circling the Great Fissure!
"JIA!!"
Even from such a great distance.
Lu Xing could feel just how powerful the Cruiser-class became once it entered a combat state.
The furious roar it bellowed was like a tangible shockwave,竟然 blowing away rubble and gravel several kilometers away!
Immediately after.
Lu Xing truly witnessed the Cruiser-class's combat mode.
From its slowly opening, abyss-like maw, countless Shuttle-class Honkai Beasts, even more "slender" in build than Ranger-class beasts, spewed forth!
Their numbers... were incalculable!
In that instant.
Lu Xing mentally tagged his "colleague" with a clear label: a true aircraft carrier equipped with a large-caliber main cannon.
———
Now, there was a small problem.
That is... abandoning a comrade and leaving seemed rather inappropriate.
Although the two Honkai Beasts weren't familiar with each other at all, no matter what, it had come to help him escape—the Cruiser-class was not a Variant, and even if it possessed a certain degree of intelligence, it was definitely not enough to support it in crossing a portal to reinforce him on its own.
In other words.
Its appearance was likely ordered by the Ice Emperor.
But the meaning of this action—although Lu Xing wasn't sure if the Ice Emperor had understood his plan at the time, it should have at least been able to comprehend that this was a covert operation—sending such a colossal creature like the Cruiser-class over to cover his retreat, it just felt somewhat off.
"The Ice Emperor..."
"Could it... could it be suspicious of me?"
Red and purple fireworks bloomed in the sky.
Lu Xing, sitting cross-legged, gently rubbed his chin in thought—if the scene and his attire were different, it wouldn't be entirely out of place to mistake this for a fireworks festival.
In truth.
Lu Xing was judging the Emperor by his own (Honkai) beastly standards.
The Ice Emperor had expended great effort to send the Cruiser-class to the surface, not only to ensure that Lu Xing's plan could be carried out smoothly but also for his safety—after all, among all the Legion Leaders, Lu Xing was, on paper, the weakest.
As for why the Cruiser-class was chosen... among the three Emperor Guards, none were small enough in size to be considered "covert." The Cruiser-class, capable of soaring at an altitude of ten thousand meters, was already the hardest to detect among them.
"BOOM!!"
With yet another F-35 being destroyed by a collision with a Shuttle-class beast.
In the short span of two minutes, out of the full squadron of 24 fighter jets, less than half remained—but their combat achievements were not to be ignored either; the scale of the exceptionally large swarm of Shuttle-class beasts had visibly diminished by a significant amount.
As small Honkai Beasts.
The Shuttle-class were extremely agile in their movements, but their linear acceleration capability and defensive strength didn't seem to be much stronger than an ordinary Ranger-class.
Even the most common machine gun fire could bring them down in droves.
Simultaneously.
Lu Xing also noticed other issues—the assisting Cruiser-class didn't seem as formidable as he had imagined.
The Shuttle-class, fighting as individuals, lacked unified coordination.
The Cruiser-class, which should have been acting as the mothership commander, was completely pinned down by the F-35s—its massive body possessed defensive power commensurate with its size, but that was contingent on the Cruiser-class keeping its mouth shut.
The fighter squadron seemed to have engaged other Cruiser-class beasts before.
Any attempt to "open its mouth" to unleash a skill—not opening its mouth meant it couldn't fire that terrifyingly powerful beam—would be forcibly shut down by several missiles.
Some F-35s, having exhausted their air-to-air missiles, even charged directly above the Cruiser-class, dropping bombs at almost point-blank range!
As fighter pilots.
Perhaps pursuing excitement was in their nature.
Under such a reckless, life-or-death assault, the Cruiser-class, which should have held an absolute advantage, not only failed to swiftly eliminate the enemy but was instead firmly pinned down in the air.
"I have to go help..."
If the fight continued like this, the Cruiser-class would undoubtedly annihilate the F-35 squadron.
The problem was, these F-35s were likely Pretty Country's naval aviators. To say they had no support...
Just as Lu Xing was looking for an opportunity to make his move.
The F-35s, both those relentlessly attacking the Cruiser-class and those being pursued by the Shuttle-class beasts, suddenly scattered like startled birds and beasts, instantly distancing themselves from the Cruiser-class's position.
Before Lu Xing could even wonder what had happened.
Three dazzling starlights, trailing splendid "comet tails," descended from the sky!
Aimed directly at the Cruiser-class!
"BOOM!!!"