Chapter 111: Need for Speed

While I raced toward the Rong's Tower in a Titan…though racing might be the wrong word because my Titan was pretty slow…, I contacted the army bomb disposal unit and quickly informed them of what was going on.

"Are you sure?" the chief of the bomb disposal unit asked me skeptically. "Where did you get the information from?"

"From Bu Fan."

"And can he be trusted?"

"I trust him, at least. And he has lots of connections to the underworld, so I don't see why it's so surprising that he will be able to unearth intelligence regarding a criminal plot."

I didn't tell them the truth. It would place my accomplices in trouble. Bu Fan would know how to handle it when they interrogated it later – he had the knowledge and skills to cover his tracks and deal with the authorities. On the other hand, I didn't, so there was no point in me faking or fabricating anything. Bu Fan also knew I would direct the authorities to him anyway, so he would be prepared for it. Otherwise he wouldn't have told me about this in the first place.

"I see."

"Look, if you don't believe me, then I'll deal with the tankers on my own. But I can't guarantee the safety of everyone in the vicinity when they go off."

"How do you plan to deal with the tankers and the explosions?" the chief of the bomb disposal unit asked, his voice full of doubt. "It's not like you have the training…"

"Have you forgotten who I am?" I asked with a smirk as I pushed up my gleaming glasses. "I was the one who invented the energy shields."

I managed to reach the commercial district, plodding over the road in my Titan. Cars swerved and honked their horns at me, the drivers spitting expletives when thy caught sight of my towering war walker. I ignored them and continued marching my machine forward, taking care not to accidentally step on any of the smaller vehicles.

My objective was to save as many lives as possible. It would be absurd if I accidentally trampled upon the poor drivers and passengers, killing them before the tankers went off.

"Hey! Get off the road!"

"What is a war walker doing here?!"

"Is the army conducting some kind of exercise? Why didn't they say anything?"

That reminded me. Since I was wandering about in this district, I might as well evacuate as many people as possible. Flicking on the loudspeakers, I began announcing loudly.

"All residents, please evacuate! We have received reports that there will be an attack here! Probably in the form of a bomb or some explosive device. Please get away from Rong's Tower! Move to a safe distance to avoid the blast!"

My announcement was not very well received. Even as I strode past braked cars and parked trucks, the drivers, passengers and even pedestrians stared at me in disbelief.

"Bomb attack? Really?"

"Are they filming a movie or something? But I don't see any cameras or film crew around."

"What's going on? Is this real?"

"This is not a drill! This is real! It's not a film! Please evacuate!" I hollered, but the people around the road continued to mill around, gaping at my Titan in awe. Perhaps the century of peace and quiet had numbed people's alert and fear to the point they couldn't believe that an attack was imminent. Never mind we literally had the cruise missile attack another part of the city about a month ago.

Then again, most of the people here didn't even witness the cruise missile hitting the plaza and blowing up a crowd of fangirls. It was understandable that they were detached from reality, so sunken in their own bubbles that they would find an assault hard to believe.

Damn it. If they didn't move, then the number of possible victims to get dragged into this mess would increase. I really hated those greedy, murderous and corrupted CEOs and their board members. How could they even think of involving innocent people in their subterfuge and revenge? This was downright nonsensical!

"Go! Now!" I bellowed, but they continued gawking at me. In fact, the majority of them were whipping out their smartphones to film the whole event and post a video of my striding war walker on social media or video websites.

Damn it, just what the hell were these people thinking?!

I took a deep breath and ignored them for now. Thankfully, they weren't so detached from the situation to the point where they could still scatter and move out of the way when my Titan passed by, ducking under the legs and scampering away. Good. At least I wouldn't be accidentally crushing anyone under ninety tons of steel, titanium and adamantium.

Then I saw the first tanker. It was speeding toward Rong's Tower, barging past stopped cars and plowing them out of the way. Drivers yelped and passengers screamed, with several unfortunate pedestrians diving out of the way when the hapless cars were sent spinning onto the pavement. The driver of the tanker was cackling madly, his eyes glazed over as he stared at the skyscraper. It was obvious that he was on drugs.

What the fuck did the three conglomerates do to him?

That wasn't important. For now, I had to focus on the present and prevent the bastard from crashing his tanker into the building ahead. As was reported, his tanker was hauling a container packed full of inflammable natural gases, usually used as fuel for backup generators or cooking. The bright red and orange inflammable warning signs were stickered across the gleaming, silver tanker, a visible display of danger.

At that moment, the people in the district realized that I was telling the truth the whole time. That it wasn't an act, this wasn't a movie, and the assault was real. Screaming, they fled in panic, flowing past the legs of my war walker. Several looked up and shrieked in horror when they saw the menacing shape of my Titan, but they retained enough of their wits to not run in the opposite direction – where the tanker was.

Plotting a course atop my holographic screen, I had my Titan launch itself toward the road. I was somehow able to intercept the tanker before it could reach within a few hundred meters of Rong's Tower, barreling into the tanker and knocking it aside. The long, heavy vehicle toppled to its side, its wheels still spinning.

"You bastard!" the driver roared, frantically twisting his steering wheel in an attempt to get his vehicle back right up. To no avail of course. I crushed one of the frames with the massive leg of the Titan, separating the driver's compartment from the rest of the tanker. In a swift, vicious motion, I kicked the driver's compartment aside, the driver yelling incoherently as he was shaken about in his seat. Fortunately, he was wearing his seatbelt, or he would have been flung out of his window.

I scanned the compartment and saw that he was unconscious. Good. I didn't want to have to deal with him. I highlighted his position and sent it to the police. I didn't know if the bomb disposal unit was still coming, but this was clear evidence that these maniacs were trying to cause a massacre.

One down, two to go.

I had my Titan lurch away from the incapacitated truck and searched for a second tanker. A 3D holographic map was displayed across another of my screen, streaming to me in real time the icons that represented the various vehicles that were still moving or parked on the road.

One of them stood out to me, blinking in red. Magnifying it, I saw from its huge size – relative to the other vehicles – that it was the second tanker.

Gritting my teeth, I floored the accelerator and swung about the corner of the Rong's Tower to sprint – as best as my Titan could sprint – toward the damned tanker. I charged toward the approaching tanker and slammed into it, the bumper grinding against the hull of my war walker. The insane – and most likely doped – driver appeared to set something off and the entire tanker went up in flames. The shockwaves rocked my Titan back, the fire washing over it, but the shimmering energy shields absorbed most of the blast.

"Ugh!"

I fought to have my Titan remain on both its feet, shuddering as the flames licked the crackling energy shields. There was a dangerous moment where my Titan teetered, almost falling to its back, but I shoved a lever forward and weighed its center of gravity to the front, preventing it from toppling over. With the grinding of servos and scream of machinery, I managed to right my Titan up.

"Phew."

I looked around, dismayed. Despite my best efforts, the entire place was a ruin. There wasn't a crater, thankfully, but the natural gas had caught fire and set everything in the area ablaze. Fortunately, my warning had allowed most of the people in the vicinity to evacuate – something they hastily did the moment they saw me tackle the first tanker – but I was frustrated to see a few charred bodies nearby. I failed to save everybody.

A beep alerted me to the third and last tanker. Realizing that the crisis wasn't over yet, I moved my Titan about and lurched toward the last place. Once again, the tanker was coming from another direction. I circled the Rong's Tower and rounded yet another corner, only to catch sight of the speeding tanker. Realizing that I wouldn't be able to reach it in time, particularly given how close it was to the skyscraper, I cursed under my breath and racked my brain for a solution.

A few precious seconds passed, and though I gained a few more steps, I knew I still wouldn't be able to close the distance in time. Adjusting my aim, I relied on the targeting AI to place the reticule on the driver's compartment and let loose a shot.

The laser bolt smashed through the armored glass and fried the driver in his seat. With the human component suddenly incinerated from existence, there was no longer anyone to apply pressure on the accelerator and the tanker began to visibly slow. I fired off another couple of laser beams, which disintegrated the spinning tires underneath the front compartment. Sparks flew and the tanker shuddered, almost coming to a stop.

But not enough. It would continue sliding toward the Rong's Tower if nothing stopped it physically.

Fortunately, I had slowed the tanker down enough to buy me the time I needed to get between them. With a sickening crunch, I halted the tanker with the physical body of my Titan and winced from the tremendous impact. With a kick, I knocked the tanker over.

Then…silence.

Breathing heavily, I stared at the tanker…only to be relieved when it didn't blow up in my face. Sagging in my seat, I closed my eyes and waited. As the police sirens wailed in the distance, I couldn't help but smile wearily.

Somehow, I had managed to save Rong's Tower and all its occupants from being blown up by three damned tankers.