Chapter 12: Battle on the Lunar Surface: The First Clash with the "Gods"!

January 1, 2045.

As the world still reveled in the New Year's clamor, the Moon, Earth's most faithful companion, had already transformed into a battlefield of purgatory.

"All mech units, deploy immediately! Objective: Divine Race Awakening Zone, execute suppression mission!" The lunar base commander's hoarse voice carried an ironclad resolve.

Alarms shrilled through every corner of the "Guanghan" base. Inside the mech hangars, dozens of ten-meter-tall "Mortal Mechs," their automatic charging complete, saw their massive hatches instantly open. Their jet-black armor plates gleamed with a cold light under the base's internal illumination, and the small "Kuafu" nuclear fusion reactors in their chests emitted a deep roar, like the beating heart of a colossal beast.

"Tian Gang Squad, Mech Unit One - Lu Fan, system access, prepare for deployment!"

Mech pilot Lu Fan took a deep breath and inserted his specially gloved hands into the brain-computer interface in the cockpit.

The cold metallic touch instantly connected with his nerve endings.

Ahead, the holographic screen lit up, and the mech's external view and various data flooded into his brain like a tide.

He could feel the mech's colossal body as if it were an extension of his own limbs. Beside him, other mech pilots also completed their access, their faces etched with the determination to fight to the death.

"Ready! Catapult in position! Gravity modification engines activating!"

At the command, the mech squadron launched at high speed from within the base like arrows from a bow, rocketing onto the lunar surface. Their jumps under lunar gravity made them exceptionally agile, and they instantly reached the edge of the Divine Race Awakening Zone.

Before them was an apocalyptic sight. Within the tearing fissure, the jet-black "Primal Chaos" energy entity had completely reassembled. It was no longer a blurry phantom but revealed a form indescribable in mortal language: sometimes it appeared as a colossal humanoid forged from pure darkness, yet possessing countless swirling eyes; at other times, it transformed into a twisted, three-dimensional geometric body, each rotation seemingly tearing at mortal perception. It emitted no sound, but its very presence radiated an invisible "pressure," causing the lunar base's instruments to wail and making Lu Fan, inside his mech, feel an intense dizziness and nausea.

"Target locked! Plasma cannons charging! Saturation attack!" Lu Fan gritted his teeth, suppressing the discomfort in his body.

The "Mortal Mech's" plasma cannons erupted with dazzling red-purple light. Thick beams of energy sliced through the Moon's darkness, like lightning rending the void, slamming violently into the jet-black "divine" forms. High-energy laser arrays fired simultaneously, dense red-purple beams like rays of death, attempting to penetrate their energy outer shell.

However, mortal weapons, before the "Gods," seemed so minuscule and powerless.

The moment the energy beams struck "Primal Chaos," there was no anticipated explosion or dissipation. The jet-black energy entity merely "twisted" slightly, then returned to its original state, as if the mortal attacks had only brushed against its "conceptual shell."

"Disperse! Form a fan-shaped encirclement! Maintain continuous suppressive fire!"

Lu Fan swiftly adjusted his strategy. His mech moved rapidly across the lunar surface, simultaneously transmitting orders to his squad members. The mech squadron quickly spread out, launching crossfire attacks on the divine target from multiple angles, attempting to create a cumulative effect through numerical superiority.

Dense plasma beams and lasers rained down like a storm, illuminating the lunar surface, and the temperature instantly soared.

However, the effect remained minimal. Under the cover of mortal firepower, the jet-black entity began to "breathe" with an eerie rhythm; each "breath" devoured the surrounding light and energy.

"Warning! Spatial dimensions are being warped! Pilot nervous system overloaded!"

In the comms channel, piercing alarms and the suppressed groans of comrades rose and fell.

Suddenly, an invisible "shockwave" spread from the core region of "Primal Chaos." It had no sound, no physical impact, but directly acted upon space and consciousness. Several mechs, caught in the brunt of it, had their armor plates instantly twist and deform. Their internal displays instantly filled with static, and the desperate screams of their pilots abruptly ceased in the comms channel. These mechs were not physically destroyed but seemed to have been directly "erased" from existence by some "higher-dimensional force." They disintegrated on the spot, turning into scattered light and shadows, leaving no wreckage behind.

"Son of a bitch! Tian Gang Three and Five lost!" Lu Fan's pupils constricted.

His brain felt like it was being torn apart, and intense dizziness and nausea almost made him vomit. With the assistance of the "Pangu Core," he forcibly stabilized his mind and activated his mech's energy shield.

A blue shield shimmered around the mech, violently colliding with the invisible "divine impact," emitting a deafening hum and even beginning to show visible ripples and cracks.

"Close-range suppression! Activate EMP! Full power output!" Lu Fan roared, deciding to take a risk.

The EMP generator on the mech's arm instantly unleashed a powerful magnetic field, no longer just a burst, but a continuous high-energy pulse. For a brief moment, the jet-black energy entity seemed to pause. Its "divine fluctuations" also showed minor disturbances, and its reassembly rhythm visibly slowed.

"Effective! General! The EMP is working! It has a slight reaction to high-energy electromagnetic fields!" The lunar base monitor shouted with surprise, his voice tinged with a trembling hope.

General Li Mingguo, in the Earth command center, stared intently at the battle unfolding on the screen. He knew this was just a brief respite. The power of the divine race was unfathomable. It had only just awakened, still in its "weakened state," yet it had already demonstrated an overwhelming terror.

"All mechs, suppress in rotation! Do not give it a chance to fully recover! 'Guanghan' base, main cannon prepare, ready for support at any moment!" General Li Mingguo issued new orders.

The giant electromagnetic railguns buried deep within the lunar base also began charging, their muzzles aimed at the core region of the divine awakening. This was the most powerful material strike force mortals could wield.

Lu Fan piloted his mech, jumping with difficulty across the lunar surface, evading the unpredictable "divine attacks" of "Primal Chaos." He saw his comrades torn apart by unseen forces, saw mechs destroyed like toys before the "God." Fear surged like a tide, but he gritted his teeth.

He knew they couldn't kill these "Gods," but they had to hold them back, they had to buy time for Earth's "Heavenly Gate" system, they had to fight for even one more second of hope for the faint response of the "Morning Star" project!

This was the first direct confrontation between mortals and gods, a bloody battle against overwhelming odds.

But even facing the divine pressure, mortals did not retreat a single step. For within their steel bodies and flesh, beat the unyielding soul of human civilization forged over ten thousand years, and the purest determination to defend their home unto death!