Chapter 164: The Reborn Counters Squad

"Yes, sir!"

The subordinates quickly relayed the order to the troops.

But without air support, how were they supposed to deal with Storm Bringer?

Andersen felt a throbbing headache coming on.

Perhaps when the Ark was first constructed, no one had anticipated that aerial combat would one day take place dozens of kilometers underground.

Then, a thought struck him—his eyes sharpened with realization. He turned to his subordinates and asked, "Where is Mo Chen's Counters Squad right now?"

If there was any elite force left in the Ark, it was Mo Chen's squad.

"Right now…" The subordinate quickly searched for their signal on the radar, but upon spotting the coordinates, he froze in place.

Andersen was getting impatient. Even with his usually composed demeanor, he frowned slightly at the subordinate's hesitation.

"Where are they now?"

The subordinate snapped back to reality and stammered, "He… he's in the air."

"In the air?"

Not only the subordinate but even Andersen was baffled.

The man stuttered, "Y-Yes, sir. That's what the data shows."

Andersen's brows furrowed tightly.

"Could the radar be malfunctioning?"

"No, sir. The radar is the latest model from Missilis…" The subordinate's voice trailed off uncertainly. "At least, it shouldn't be wrong."

After all, no one had ever seen a human fly before. Even among Nikkes, flight-capable models were rare, and for a human? Impossible.

"Commander! Commander!"

Another staff member urgently called out, "The Counters Squad is engaging Storm Bringer!"

"The Counters Squad?"

Andersen was momentarily stunned before quickly striding over to the staff member. Gripping the chair's backrest, he ordered, "Project the battle onto the main screen!"

"Yes, sir!"

At the staff member's command, the central screen in the command center's war room flickered to life, displaying the real-time battle feed.

Andersen's eyes locked onto the battlefield, his expression flickering with astonishment. Around him, the command room staff collectively gasped in shock.

Several districts of the Ark had already fallen. Raptures flooded the streets like an unstoppable tide, overwhelming the city's defenses. Fires raged at the edges of the urban zones, and the Ark's various units were locked in desperate battles. Gunfire and explosions echoed nonstop throughout the war-torn battlefield.

Most Nikke squads, though fighting valiantly, couldn't hold back the sheer number of Raptures and were gradually being pushed back.

But amid the struggling forces, one unit stood out.

Amid the relentless barrage of artillery and explosions, one squad was advancing against the tide, breaking through the Rapture horde, leaving nothing but chaos and destruction in its wake.

Like a blade sharper than anything else, it pierced straight through the enemy lines.

The Counters Squad.

Andersen immediately recognized them.

It was them.

Positioned at the forefront of the resistance, the Counters Squad wasn't retreating like the others—they were storming forward with overwhelming momentum, tearing through Rapture ranks with unbelievable speed.

They moved in a triangle fire formation, each member covering the others in a seamless pattern of suppressive fire and coordinated maneuvers.

While other squads struggled to hold their ground, Mo Chen's team advanced relentlessly, forming a deadly crossfire net, cutting down Raptures as if harvesting wheat in a storm.

The Nikke named Neon wielded a strange weapon—its power was immense, its rate of fire incredibly fast, and its armor-piercing capability unmatched. Even the energy shield of a Master-class Rapture was blown apart in a single shot, as fragile as a cracked walnut.

And on top of that, she didn't even need to reload. The gun seemed to have an endless supply of ammunition.

Meanwhile, Rapi was covering the rear. Under the protection of her teammates, she sniped with incredible precision. Every shot was a headshot, and her bullets were so powerful that a single shot often pierced through multiple Raptures. 

Even heavily armored Raptures couldn't withstand more than a few rounds.

Then there was Anis, who was using a… water gun?

Andersen blinked his sore eyes, rubbed them, and checked again to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

It was indeed a water gun. Both its design and structure were exactly that of a typical water gun.

Yet, its power left him utterly dumbfounded.

One shot, and a Rapture turned into a sieve.

In the literal sense.

Other guns left bullet holes.

This one? After a single shot, the Rapture was reduced to nothing but bullet holes.

The sheer firepower was absurd.

Andersen's mouth hung open for a long while. Only after noticing his subordinates' odd looks did he clear his throat twice to cover his momentary loss of composure.

One thing was certain—none of these weapons belonged to the Ark.

Even Elysion, with its expertise in weapon development, had nothing remotely like these in their entire arsenal.

"Commander, w-we have an unidentified flying object… and it's attacking Storm Bringer!"

At that moment, another staff member called out.

Andersen's eyes sharpened, and he immediately ordered the feed to be displayed on the screen.

On the screen, the colossal Storm Bringer loomed over the city, its massive wings beating against the air as it launched relentless attacks on both the city below and the approaching Nikke forces.

Blades of wind, high-energy ion beams, and relentless missile barrages rained down in waves, turning the battlefield into a sea of explosions. Thick plumes of smoke blanketed entire city blocks, and the mass-produced Nikke units were suffering catastrophic losses under the onslaught.

Yet within the fire and smoke, a glowing figure was engaging Storm Bringer in direct combat.

It darted through the storm of incoming attacks, weaving between beams and missile barrages with remarkable agility, all while launching its own relentless counterattacks.

Storm Bringer was focusing most of its fire on this black dot in the sky. If not for that, the casualties among the mass-produced Nikkes would have been even worse.

What was that?

Andersen's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly ordered, "Magnify the image."

Following his command, the screen zoomed in. The glowing figure finally came into full view.

It was a mechanized power armor equipped with radiant wings.

The armor had an active energy shield, a mechanical longsword in one hand, and a rifle in the other. Using the propulsion system on its back, it maneuvered nimbly through the storm of incoming fire.

Behind it, a formation of floating cannons unleashed a barrage of high-energy ion beams, relentlessly bombarding Storm Bringer from all directions.

Andersen was stunned.

This was an entirely unfamiliar model—one he had never seen before.

In truth, the Ark did have mechas, such as the Nikke-exclusive combat vehicles currently under development by Missilis Industry.

These units boasted excellent versatility and performance, but they had a major flaw—the production cost was too high. With the Ark's limited resources, mass production was simply not feasible.

More importantly, Missilis' mechas lacked flight capabilities and could only operate on the ground.

But the one before them clearly wasn't from the Ark.

Where had the Counters Squad gotten these weapons?

Furthermore, the Counters Squad had originally been just a regular Nikke unit—it hadn't even qualified as an elite force. At best, they were only slightly stronger than mass-produced Nikkes, and their mission success rate had always hovered around the bare minimum.

Yet in less than a year, this once-overlooked squad had undergone an astonishing transformation—as if they had been completely reborn.

Andersen suddenly thought of Mo Chen—the young man whose depth even he found intimidating.

Could it be… him?

Aside from Mo Chen, he couldn't think of anyone else who could be responsible for this.