Chapter 352 - 327: Critical Battle Mode

The Celtic Wanderer had burned up all its fuel.

With the fuel exhausted, the ship would lose speed. No matter how powerful the agents or soldiers, or how high-ranking the officials, in the ocean, they were just a lone leaf adrift.

Now, everyone on the ship had become lambs awaiting slaughter.

Not everyone on the ship was a combatant, but they all knew the importance of this transport mission—

Stopping a ship transporting crucial cargo would have obvious dire consequences.

Clint walked briskly toward the deck and sensed the nervousness of the young agent behind him, whose hand trembled as he grasped his gun. He stopped and spoke earnestly:

"Relax, tension leads to gun misfires. Recall what you learned at the academy, relax your muscles."

"Alright..." The young agent took a deep breath. "Who are those people? How can they mobilize the Navy of Mei Country?"

"I don’t know, but I know this: that’s why we must ensure this cargo’s safety. If we fail, what they can mobilize might not just be two naval frigates."

Clint reached out and pushed the door, taking a deep breath himself—

Those were warships; they weren’t problems that could be solved by individual combat prowess.

But at the moment, individual combat prowess was all he had.

Huff!

Stepping over the threshold, the sea breeze howled. Clint focused his gaze and saw that the warships were already very close.

No need for binoculars; the two frigates were clearly positioned on either side and to the rear of the cargo ship!

But the situation seemed a bit off?

Wreckage floated behind the frigates on the ocean, blood and leaked oil spread across the water, reflecting a peculiar light under the sun...

As Clint wondered what was happening, an explosive fire suddenly erupted from the faster moving warship!

Bang!

Fragments of shattered metal flew off the superstructure of the frigate, splashing into the sea, explaining where the wreckage on the water’s surface had come from!

Ship horns blared as the frigates drew closer. Clint saw what seemed to be several humans sliding and jumping impossibly on the metal walls...

Explosions continued, bullets soared, and debris rained down.

"What is that?"

The young agent was dumbfounded.

Clint remained silent.

He didn’t know either.

But the warships were still advancing, soon they would be side by side.

They would soon find out what was happening.

Just then, the radio crackled.

[Screeching sound—]

[Celtic Wanderer, prepare to execute mid-sea resupply.]

...

"Fuck!!"

Eric had already ventured deep into the superstructure, hurrying through narrow ship corridors to reach the lower spaces.

He was followed by several fully armed naval soldiers, utilizing the terrain to fend off those Super Soldiers—

Yes, in his view, they were Super Soldiers. Super Soldiers on drugs were Super Soldiers, and of course, those wearing advanced exoskeletons were also Super Soldiers!

The hundred-meter deck, without the firepower support from the Iron Soldiers, made them sitting ducks, so Eric immediately decided to move below deck.

Gunfire continued behind him as Eric knocked on his combat tablet while walking—

Inside was a central control system developed by Tony for these soldiers, allowing the Commander to control the soldiers in real time and understand the battlefield situation.

But the Iron Soldiers had lost contact after being pierced by those tactical knives!

"Damn it, wasn’t this supposed to be the most advanced AI? It crashed right away?"

The so-called advanced machines couldn’t even handle a face-off, getting outmatched instantly!

The lights flickered, stimulating the nerves of him and his soldiers, some of whom couldn’t even maintain their movement accuracy in this environment!

[Chz...]

[Fault analysis completed, implant virus cleared]

[Current status analysis: 8 Iron Soldiers offline, recommendation to deploy more soldiers.]

[Firepower exceeded expectations, confirmed.]

[Battle scenario out of control, confirmed.]

[Special electronic warfare equipment, confirmed.]

[Warning: Enemy possesses advanced electronic warfare equipment, primary combat mode is insufficient, recommend using Critical Battle Mode.]

"What the hell? Critical Battle Mode?"

[Critical Battle Mode will allow AI full control of combat robots to enhance combat capability and resist invasions]

[Battle AI will adjust, improve, and evolve in real time based on battlefield conditions to control the situation when the Commander is unable to.]

[This mode carries risks, potentially causing irreversible hardware damage...]

Bang!

A ricochet grazed his cheek, prompting him to take a few steps forward, pressing against the wall as he yelled at the tablet:

"If it’s that powerful..."

Eric stopped mid-sentence as he suddenly heard a "hissing" sound near his ear.

With his experience as a special intelligence soldier, he instantly recognized the sound of thermal cutting explosives...

They were going to breach the wall!

"Why didn’t they use them earlier!" Eric roared angrily, vaulted over a railing, and jumped down!

Meanwhile, in the vision of those soldiers still holding their positions, sparks suddenly appeared on the sturdy metal walls on both sides—

Aluminum powder reacted quickly with the oxidizing agent, creating a temperature exceeding 2500 degrees Celsius, almost no metal could remain solid at this temperature!

The sparks were flying as the metal melted, like someone was drawing a square on the wall with a cutting machine...

Boom!

A burst of fire, and the lights went out completely!

The walls on both sides of the corridor exploded instantly, turning the narrow defensive terrain into a disastrous open field, bullets penetrating the smoke and accurately hitting the unlucky ones!

Helmeted, exoskeleton-wearing soldiers pushed onward, undeterred by smoke and fire. The dark corridor resounded with gunshots, the sounds of bullets penetrating bodies, and the dull thuds of metal striking flesh.

A few seconds later.

The gunfire stopped.

The tablet lay in the corridor, covered in smoke and residue, its screen flickering.

[Critical Battle Mode final authorization:]

[Top clearance authorization... failed.]

[Network interference detected, verifying battlefield commander authentication.]

[Battlefield Commander: Eric Stevenson authorization, confirmed.]

[Critical Battle Mode activated, AI core initialized.]

Hiss.

The screen sparked briefly, then went completely dark.

Whoosh!

Several Atlas soldiers moved quickly and orderly through the corridor, heading toward the compartments they needed to control.

The distinctive metal sound of exoskeletons hitting the ground echoed, and Frank’s scanner locked onto the tablet on the floor.

[Frank: Found a... tablet, possibly the control terminal for those robots.]

[Frank: Skye? Boss? Can you hear me?]

[Screeching sound—]

[Long-range communication disrupted, attempting to restore.]

He drew out a data knife and inserted it into the tablet’s charging port.

The indicator on the data knife handle turned from green to yellow, signifying an ongoing breach.

But this time, the usually unstoppable data knife malfunctioned—

Pop!

The tablet emitted black smoke once more, the indicator turning red, with no useful information appearing on Frank’s HUD.

[Hack failed, reason: this device contains no viable data.]

[Data knife overloaded, please replace voltage core.]

Frank frowned, retrieving a small spherical core from his auxiliary equipment pouch, about the same size as the knife handle, and replaced it.

[Operations Communication Channel]

[Frank: Report status.]

[ATLS—006: Engine room controlled.]

[ATLS—008: Cargo hold controlled.]

[ATLS—004: Weapons control room secured.]

[ATLS—014: Second group combat ended, three wounded, administered emergency medical aid, still combat-capable.]

[ATLS—007: Communications device controlled, device takeover completed, approaching target cargo ship, contact?]

[Frank: Tell them to prepare for mid-sea resupply.]

[Received.]

Had the electronic interference stopped?

Frank frowned; with the electronic interference device off, what was now disrupting them?

In his memory, this model warship should carry four small boats, with the lower cargo hold likely equipped with mid-sea resupply equipment.

They couldn’t take the warship, but they sure could take the fuel.

The final step was to use these boats to leave the frigate, take the fuel, and leave the ship to the pirates’ fate.

But... the current situation felt odd.

The lower deck of this frigate had been modified, with clear temporary adjustment marks on the cables, structure, and layout inside.

These areas were supposed to hold more supplies, weapons, ammunition, and other military necessities, but now, only traces of previous cargo placement could be seen on the ground.

The space had likely been cleared to place those robots.

[Frank: Second group, report status of lower deck control.]

[ATLS—013: Proceeding smoothly, no anomalies, transferring fuel.]

Was he being overly cautious?

Zap!

Sparks suddenly flashed in the darkness, dazzling in the night vision.

Click... click...

Some mechanical clanking sounds resonated in the darkness.

Indeed, something was amiss.

...

[Skye: Lost contact, boss.]

Lille raised an eyebrow at this message.

The appearance of Iron Soldiers had caught him off guard, but fortunately, his side had the advantage of a surprise attack, and the Iron Soldiers’ firepower advantage was limited on the ship.

But now, the situation had heated up, and he’d done all he could.

The rest... he could only hope Frank’s team successfully completed their mission.

Because he still had other matters to attend to.

[Christopher: Boss... still not used to that title.]

[Christopher: I’ve found an abandoned village on the Latovia border to hide in.]