Stewart seemed like a restless guy. Seeing that Fatty wasn't talking, he turned around and chatted with another special soldier, his voice loud enough to be heard throughout the entire cabin.
"O'Neill, what's your ranking in War Fire now?"
Upon hearing the words "War Fire," Fatty immediately knew that these guys definitely spent their days mixed up in the war simulation network. He pricked up his ears to hear what O'Neill had to say.
O'Neill said, "Don't mention it; the rankings beyond ten thousand but before one hundred thousand are all about the same level. Most of our camp's scores are around eighty thousand. I'm the highest right now, over fifteen thousand!"
Stewart laughed heartily and said, "I'm better than you, almost breaking twelve thousand now!" Seeing O'Neill's unpleasant expression, Stewart pretended to console him, "Not bad, after all, it's an international network with over a billion participants. Being in the tens of thousands shows that our Fierce Tigers have some skills."
Lieutenant Company Commander O'Neill didn't seem to have much respect for this monstrous camp commander. He sneered and said, "Skills, my foot. Many experts haven't even arrived yet. This way, none of the top thousand are from Leray! It's a pity SM01314 disappeared after one match. If not, I'd estimate this guy could get into the top thousand."
Fatty was stunned and thought, "Why are they mentioning me? Have these guys fought against me?"
As soon as SM01314 was mentioned, the cabin immediately burst into an uproar. The special soldiers talked over each other, some cursing, some praising. The cursing was cruel and sarcastic, making Fatty feel bruised all over, while the praise was enthusiastic and generous, making Fatty beam with joy.
Stewart had likely suffered a loss against SM01314 and said angrily, "That guy isn't even human; damn it. Once, in the internal network, he used an engineer bomb to blow up an entire mountain section, burying me alive! Let that be, but in the international network, this guy at least stole twenty of my parts. Damn it, I investigated for a long time and still couldn't find out who he was. If I ever catch him... heh heh."
Tian Xingjian, terrified, looked at this monster's physique, his face twitching as he turned his head. What a narrow escape.
Under the fighter jets' escort, the transport ship started heading towards its destination. The cabin buzzed like a market. Tian Xingjian looked at these bragging Fierce Tiger special soldiers and for a moment didn't know where they got so much energy. It was as if they were going on a tour rather than heading to their first battlefield. The Fierce Tiger special soldiers indeed had some stuff.
More than an hour later, the ship captain's voice came over the transport ship's system broadcast, announcing that the transport ship would enter the target area in twenty minutes and reach the drop point in thirty minutes. Everyone was to prepare.
The cabin fell silent. The previously nonchalant soldiers got up to go to the toilet or sat there restlessly. Fatty inwardly laughed, "I thought your nerves were made of steel and your bladders were made of alloy. Turns out you're all just pretending to be tough."
Ten minutes later, everyone began to enter their mechs, waiting for the airdrop. These few minutes were the hardest to endure. Time seemed to stand still. The sounds of gunfire could already be heard inside the cabin. Several Federation teams had already infiltrated the outskirts of the Low Ridge Jungle, engaging in firefights with the Gazalin Empire Army. Explosions resounded, and the firelight painted the portholes of the transport ship red.
Tian Xingjian was the last to board his Mecha. As the green signal for airdrop lit up, the company of Fierce Tiger special soldiers were ejected one after another like dumplings from several launch ports. In the dusk sky, they looked like a handful of beans scattered forcefully, hundreds of mechas, each several meters tall, roaring toward the ground. As the thrusters increased in power, the roaring noise grew, with the Federation mechas in the sky quickly converging upon the first mecha's landing point, descending one after another and rapidly spreading out to form a warning line.
"Quick actions, everyone fulfilling their duties. The Fierce Tiger special soldiers' training is indeed very strict." Tian Xingjian watched these special soldiers, temporarily pulled from the Federation forces due to manpower shortages, from the air and felt a bit more assured.
With Tian Xingjian being the last to land, Stewart, the Fierce Tiger Camp Commander, gave an order, and nearly four hundred Warrior Leaders activated their stealth mode. Two squads of mechas advanced in vanguard positions, while squads on the left and right and the rear expanded about a kilometer out for the main force's protection. The Fierce Tiger Special Camp swiftly and silently began advancing toward the target.
Tian Xingjian closely monitored the map on the mechanical computer. This route would cross the flank of the Low Ridge Jungle and then cut into a cove deep within the forest along the ridge. According to the intelligence, Lieutenant Colonel John was certain that the enemy's frontline command center was hidden somewhere in that area. The cove was vast, and the exact location couldn't be pinpointed. Only through the special soldiers' search behind enemy lines could it be found.
Fatty smacked his lips; it sounded easy enough, but if it weren't for the urgent frontline situation forcing the Imperial Army to divert attention, the Federation's current air superiority, and the deployment of rarely-used intelligence personnel, even locating the enemy command center's general vicinity would be extremely challenging, especially that of an Imperial admiral's command center!
Even so, these temporary hidden command centers were usually concealed underground and had numerous decoy command centers scattered around, making the search very difficult. If they encountered the Mythical Army returning from Jialuo Mountain executing quarantine orders, it would be quite a spectacle.
The team quickly passed through the jungle around the landing center point and trekked uphill along a gentle slope. The Low Ridge Jungle, unlike the towering mountains of the High Ridge Jungle, was a hilly area with mounds like huge steamed buns everywhere, with only a few steep ridges in the central part.
Climbing onto the ridge, the dense jungle concealed the team's tracks. One mecha after another silently moved in stealth mode. In the distance, enormous explosions echoed, and intensive gunfire roared continuously. Fatty glanced to the left. On the horizon, the central battlefield was already ablaze, night had fallen entirely, and the low sky was intermittently illuminated by flashes of explosions.
Federation forces in all directions were maneuvering with command and plans, dividing and encircling the Imperial Army's main forces across nearly one hundred thousand square kilometers in various battlezones. The entire Miloke Star was already sounding the horn of the Federation Army's counteroffensive. In the encircled cities behind enemy lines, attacks were launched almost simultaneously. The Imperial Army, already stretched thin, could no longer use offensive tactics for deception. The Magician's secret was exposed. Now, with no unified command and no logistics and communications coordination, the Imperial Army could only make a dying struggle like caged beasts.
In the dark night, a drop of rain the size of a bean fell on the mecha, making a crisp sound. Quickly followed by countless rain drops falling densely, within seconds, Tian Xingjian's view turned into a world of water. Torrential rain poured down, beating the leaves with a crackle, and the ground gradually became muddy.