Chapter 510 - 481: No Turning Back

Boom!

The anti-tank missile hit right through the open armored hatch of the Mackinaw’s trunk!

With the magnitude of the weapon’s explosion inside, it was impossible for anyone to survive!

The vehicle, billowing black smoke, was surrounded by cars converging from all directions, like hyenas closing in on a wounded lion.

Hyenas can’t overpower a pride of lions, so they wait for an opportunity, for the lions to falter and reveal their weakness, only then do they bare their fangs—

So was this that moment?

Boom—

The wild roar of the engine didn’t stop, as the thunderous noise rose again!

Leaving the black smoke behind, the Mackinaw’s trunk armor was fully opened, revealing a massive power armor holding a Chroni Titanium Armor Plate that should have been fixed to the exterior of the body—

It was like a gigantic shield!

This Chroni Titanium armor was supposed to be attached to the exterior by electromagnetic armor, forming an outer armor layer. But with the system offline and the relay controller failing, they were all locked into mechanical clamps.

Quick-release designs were in place at side windows and such, but the rear end of the trunk was slightly different:

Besides the mechanical locks, the armor plates were strung together by a framework of three Chroni Titanium rods, which could be disassembled directly in emergencies!

As long as the person using it as a shield could withstand the impact of the explosion, it could indeed serve as a shield!

Jack, equipped with the XS-1 power armor, could do just that!

The linking components of these Chroni Titanium armor plates were more slender, their connections resembling chains more closely.

When the explosion occurred, the massive force was transmitted to these slender linking components. Their thinner, uniquely arranged materials gave way first, stretching and deforming to dissipate the thermal energy and kinetic force of the explosion.

But as an anti-armor weapon, even if the active defense bomb detonated its frontal combat part, its penetrating power was still unparalleled.

As the black smoke cleared, under the car’s body armor, the XS-1 power armor was seen still topped with a shield forged from Chroni Titanium.

However, this shield was mostly made from defective products that resulted from manufacturing, unsuitable for industrial components but perfect for binding together into a shield.

Penetration depth reached 8 centimeters, with a red-hot crater appearing on the surface of the shield; Jack could even feel the heat within the power armor.

Bang!

Jack dropped the body armor, this deformed armor module no longer aligning with the front armor, and the sides and top extended beyond the body, resting on the trunk, it looked more like a metallic trench.

The approaching cars cursed inwardly: so after all that, this vehicle really could withstand an anti-tank missile!

"Shit! They held up!"

"Then let’s fire another one..."

Thud!

Several 14mm shellless bullets simultaneously struck the vehicle’s front armor. Despite the questionable accuracy, the power of the bullets was significant. Although not as violent as the Hammer-30, if they hit the target head-on, each could penetrate 25 millimeters of homogeneous armor—

At such a close distance, these bullets even had a chance to penetrate 40 millimeters of homogeneous armor!

This thickness might not seem much, but many contestants didn’t have much choice: the armors they could afford were generally standard military grade. A moments inattention, and these could directly impair vehicle performance.

Even at the windshield position, the sports car could only carry 40 millimeters of armor—

And it was breached instantly!

The powerful shellless bullets penetrated the armor, the kinetic energy wrapped around the deforming armor plate, the sturdy armor crumpled under the impact, until one bullet punched through the wrinkled armor and exploded the driver’s shoulder!

A battlefield pharmaceutical called Vulcon was squeezed directly into the heart chamber from an implant attached to his heart. Accompanied by a powerful electric current, the pharmaceutical was instantly distributed to his extremities, fueling a blood frenzy at the site of the wound!

"We need to retreat!"

The co-driver, who had a narrow escape, screamed in horror—they were the fastest runners just now!

"There’s no turning back!"

The driver snapped back at his comrade, also conveying the outside scene observed by the panoramic Crystal Ball:

Cars at the end of the street were cramming into this logistics thoroughfare wide enough for six large trucks to pass simultaneously. It was noticeable that it was due to a bunch of tattooed madmen recklessly rampaging in heavy pickups like the Mackinaw on the side roads—

Practically herding them in, and it was the Valentino Gang!

The fight was fierce; maybe Valentino wasn’t gaining the upper hand, and judging solely by the fight, they were probably even at a disadvantage, but they were too fanatical!

As his companion took in the scene, he just managed to see a burly mercenary leap from a vehicle in a narrow lane, landing directly on a Valentino pickup. With a punch and two shots, he killed the gangster in the back of the pickup!

But one of the gang kids didn’t die immediately; instead, with both arms draped over the corner of the cargo bed, half fear, half excitement in his eyes, he shouted—

By the look of his mouth, it seemed like he was shouting...

"Witness me!"

Boom!

The battlefield was shrinking!

"We can’t run anymore!" the driver yelled, straining his voice as he twisted the steering wheel, "Explosives! Throw them out..."

Hisss!

The armor above their heads was suddenly torn open, the light from the explosion flooding in through the gap, and their expressions turned to despair in an instant.

...

V stood on top of the sports car, hacking wildly; blood sprayed from inside the vehicle as if she was gutting it alive!

Bang!

The covering fire provided by Jack whizzed past her, pushing back another vehicle that was ready to raise its rocket launcher. However, the bullets only deformed the armor—

V, realizing this, directly picked up a mercenary she had chopped to pieces and hurled him at the chase car behind!

Splat!

The corpse smashed onto the windshield, slathering it with a mixture of special electrolytes, and V’s Mantis Blade plunged deeply into the vehicle’s control panel. The sports car she had just trampled underfoot was now crushed into the vehicle blinded by smeared sensors—

The two vehicles collided into a mess and smashed into a roadside billboard, V leaping up high right before the crash!

At the same time, Jack lifted the Blast Ride and threw the motorcycle outright!

A rocket shot out from a high-rise building at the side of the road, but a proactive defensive bomb from Mackinaw shot out instantaneously, detonating the rocket mid-air!

Boom!

The explosion painted the street, and a sub-entity of Mackinaw took control of the vehicle, catching up with V’s landing point in an instant, the car catching V!

On the battlefield, the sound of Mackinaw’s damaged metal rang out:

"We need to deal with the gunner!" Lille conveyed the message "Look there!"

An Octopus Arm stretched out from the window of an armored panel, a strong light beam directly hitting the apartment building whose windows were all shattered:

Rustling silhouettes were moving between buildings, stocked with rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles!

"Understood!" V also roared, her body pressed against the motorcycle.

Mounted on both sides of the Blast Ride were lightweight exoskeletons designed for V, not integrated with too many functions, but fully equipped with a Spider Silk Emitter and Electrostatic Adhesion Gloves—

The blast propulsion engine on the motorcycle exploded instantaneously, and V’s synthetic leg muscles activated in sync. The enhanced Achilles tendons bore the hundreds of kilograms of thrust from the engine, launching her into the air!

Her white Spider Silk grabbed the building, and V swung into the structure in a flash!

"Mano!" Jack also ejected all his cooling parts, the magazine reloading automatically, "We..."

"Hold tight!"

Jack hadn’t finished speaking when Mackinaw already detected dangerous proximity:

Explosions, gunfire, engine roars, and screams all blended together on the street, making it difficult to notice particular situations without specialized auditory sensors and analyzers.

Mackinaw could handle it, though. In his perception, a vehicle with a decidedly powerful engine was hurtling at full speed toward the main road!

Whoosh—

The wind pressure from the explosion flew out as the Legend Mackinaw entered the junction.

When Jack saw an Armored Mackinaw charging straight at them, his first thought was: An Armored Mackinaw ramming into our Legend Mackinaw, are they out of their minds?

But the next scene made him dismiss the thought: several vehicles were sent flying because of the explosion behind that Mackinaw!

At last, the Armored Mackinaw smashed fiercely into the side of the Legend Mackinaw, with 5 tons crashing into 10 tons, causing severe displacement of the vehicles!

As the bodies of the cars entangled, Jack noticed something huge being towed by the Armored Mackinaw—

A Power Armor!

A Power Armor equipped with a Plasma Gun!