Sssss—Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

With BT’s shoulder cannon activated!

Countless missiles fired at Sloan, forcing her to stagger repeatedly!

“Bastard!”

A sharp scream came through Sloan’s radio:

“You’ll pay for your recklessness!”

Enemies meeting made their hatred flare!

The battle erupted instantly!

Two Titans clashed and weaved within the launch site!

Explosions and smoke filled the air, sparks flying everywhere!

Titan collided with Titan, heavy firepower locked in fierce combat!

The players showed no mercy, all burning with rage, unleashing roaring gunfire on Sloan!

The “Flame Titan” laid down gas canisters, shooting and igniting them to create a dazzling blaze!

The “Power Titan” fixed its triple rotary cannons, opened the ammo bay, and unleashed rocket barrages like a storm of arrows!

The “Ion Titan” charged lasers to clear the path, blazing solar flares and shimmering light edges crumbling everything!

The “Ronin Titan” swung its dual blades like a dancing dragon, cutting through the void, sweeping the enemy like a storm!

The “Beast Titan” flew through the air, darting and weaving gracefully, delivering full firepower to blanket the battlefield in smoke!

Finally!

There was no shortage of Dai Meimei’s “Legion.”

A rotary cannon fired at full power, its furious roar automatically locking onto targets, leaving nothing alive in its path!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The players unleashed all their fury like a violent storm, pouring it onto Sloan.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

With screams and massive explosions erupting!

Sloan was already in shambles, her face full of terror!

With all armor gone, she looked utterly panicked.

She was a complete contrast to the cold executioner who had once taken down BT!

“You bastard—”

Dai Meimei never showed such a ferocious expression before!

Gritting her teeth, her eyes burned with overwhelming murderous intent!

“Didn’t I say it? Don’t you ever fucking let me catch you! Damn it!!!”

As her words fell!

Across every player’s BT, a stern alert sounded in unison—

【Flame Core Ready!】

【Rocket Core Ready!】

【Laser Core Ready!】

【Flight Core Ready!】

【Sword Core Ready!!】

Dai Meimei’s eyes turned bloodshot as she stepped forward!

Bang!

“Intelligence Core—”

“Ready!!!”

Woo—

Boom!!!

Six Titans! Six cores!

At this moment, the silhouettes of players worldwide merged into one!

The fierce blaze of fire, the thunder of rockets, the blast of lasers, the unleashing of flight, the slash of blades.

All converged into a single point!

Rumble—Boom!!!

Sloan’s Titan was blasted to pieces, riddled with holes, torn apart amid flying sparks!

Amid the raging flames, Sloan looked like a fiery ghost, no longer arrogant, screaming as she tried to put out the flames on her body.

Then, BT suddenly lunged forward with a fierce step!

Like a mountain tiger descending, or a fierce dragon emerging from the sea!

The massive rotary cannon violently stabbed into the blood-red Titan’s cockpit, hoisting it into the air!

The terrifying caliber of the rotary cannon roared to life!

Rat-tat-tat—buzz—boom-boom-boom—!!!

Exploding bullets turned the Titan into a heap of twisted steel, unrecognizable!

Inside the cockpit, Sloan completely vanished without a trace!

“Die—!!!”

Dai Meimei screamed, venting her fury!

One hundred and fifty rotary cannon rounds!

All emptied!

Only now did Dai Meimei finally let out a fierce breath of satisfaction!

“Awesome—!”

Before her words finished,

A violent tremor shook the area, and Commander Sarah’s voice sounded urgently:

“Cooper! The fold weapon is about to activate! Get the Ark out of there! Now!!!”

“Received!”

Dai Meimei crushed over Sloan heavily!

Then rushed toward the Ark’s launch mechanism!

The crisis had reached its peak!

The launcher was like a loaded giant cannon, and the Ark was the ammunition!

“BT! Pull the Ark out!”

Dai Meimei controlled BT, moving beneath the launcher’s opening, grabbing the ammo bay door with both hands, straining to pry it open!

At that moment!

Sss—thud!!!

A deafening explosion rang out!

Dai Meimei’s vision instantly blacked out!

The powerful shockwave slammed both her and BT flying!

Boom!

They crashed heavily to the ground, vision blurred!!!

“Cooper! BT! Do you copy... What happened?!”

“Cooper! Reply… Please!”

“...Please respond!!!”

Sarah’s voice came brokenly over the radio.

Meanwhile, BT’s quad-screen visual system flickered with static!

Confused electronic noises rang in Dai Meimei’s headset—

【BT: Cooper… launcher’s impa-impulse… overload on my… main internal… internal systems】

【BT: Attempting to restore reboot vision… reboot system… vision…】

【BT: Visual system… system repaired…】

As the quad-screen lit up again,

Dai Meimei saw that despite rebooting, BT’s vision still suffered ghosting and color distortion.

But at least it was functional.

However, BT’s main program was far from optimistic.

Countless data scrambled within its processor, overwhelming it—

【BT: Analysis… result indicates… throwing is the only option…】

【BT: Warning! Enemy Titan detected…】

Before the words finished,

Heavy footsteps approached!

Seeing the newcomer, Dai Meimei’s heart sank.

It was the old bastard.

And his massive, heavy Legion Titan!

This pest just wouldn’t disappear!

Bang!

Sam jumped off his Titan and squatted before BT’s visual system.

After staring at Dai Meimei through BT’s vision for a few seconds, he surprisingly smiled, full of approval and recognition:

“You’re lucky today, hero. I never work for free,”

He said while reaching into his pocket, pulling out a card.

The card bore a red vertical flag, with four metallic uppercase letters—APEX.

Beneath the text was a sprayed white skull of a ram.

Under the skull was a blurred sixteen-digit serial number.

“Contact me when you have time. This is what you deserve. Good luck.”

Bang bang!

With that, Sam patted BT’s shield and walked away.

“Whew—”

Watching Sam leave, Dai Meimei exhaled deeply.

She wanted to examine the card closely, but a gust of wind blew it away.

BT’s voice sounded again, still garbled, repeating “throwing is the only option.”

“BT, BT, are you okay?”

Inside the cockpit, Dai Meimei gently tapped BT.

On screen, strings of garbled code flickered.

In the center, BT was forcibly executing a full system reboot—

【Executing emergency reboot…】

【Transferring backup energy…】

【Auxiliary power system online】

【Detecting neural links…】

【BT: Cooper, help me get into that launch assembly… my auto-navigation system is down… down…】

【BT: To seize the Ark… we have to cooperate】

“All right!”

Dai Meimei replied in a deep voice.

Without auto-navigation, she had to focus all her mental energy, controlling BT with precise operations to stand it back up.

“Cooper!”

Sarah’s voice came back online:

“Our external attacks aren’t working on the Ark. You need to find a way to destroy it from the inside. We’re rushing to your position now!”

Before Dai Meimei could reply,

BT spoke first—

【Commander Sarah, I have a plan】

【If my reactor core is exposed, it might destabilize the Ark】

Sss—

“What did you say? BT?”

Sarah seemed not to hear clearly.

【We can… can… I can blow it up】

BT said:

【I’m sending you the rendezvous coordinates now…】

Blow it up?

As heroic orchestral music swelled,

Dai Meimei froze for a moment.

Then, ignoring everything, she found it incredible that BT still had the heart to joke at this moment.

Blow it up.

To put it plainly, they would self-destruct and take the Ark down with them.

Thinking this, Dai Meimei felt a little dazed.

She wasn’t afraid at all.

It seemed that without realizing it, she had become a hero unafraid to sacrifice.

Meanwhile, Sarah was still asking over the radio:

“Detonate the Ark? What about you?”

After a pause, BT’s voice came:

【I’ve calculated it. Trust me.】

Hearing this, Dai Meimei smiled faintly.

She patted BT’s cockpit affectionately:

“Gotta say, that dark joke’s pretty funny. Are you calculating how shattered we’ll be after the blast?”

The launch bay slowly closed, pressing her and BT inside just like the Ark.

Dai Meimei took a deep breath.

Facing death, she felt no fear.

Her old vow echoed in her mind again—【When I become a Pilot, I hope to be worthy of the name】

Now.

I guess I can count as a truly worthy Pilot.

Gradually, tears of excitement welled in Dai Meimei’s eyes.

Joy, sorrow, fear, passion, danger, thrill…

A week was nothing in the long journey of life.

But a Titan’s fall gave her an epic, turbulent, soul-stirring heroic experience.

Heroic sacrifice was inevitable.

But to go on this journey with BT—her comrade who had fought beside her all along—

That brought her some peace.

Click—click—click—buzz—

As the launch bay’s energy indicators lit up one by one,

Dai Meimei’s breathing grew rapid.

The Ark just outside the launch bay emitted dazzling blue light.

On the display, the protocol she knew so well appeared—

【Vanguard-class Titan: BT-7274】

【Primary Protocols】

BT’s voice sounded.

Dai Meimei spoke with him.

【Protocol One: Link Pilot】

【Protocol Two: Defend Mission】

The energy sound grew more urgent; Dai Meimei’s emotions spilled over.

Tears fell, but she comforted BT in the gentlest voice.

Before, you took care of me.

This time, I’ll say it to you.

“Don’t worry, BT, I’m not going anywhere. I’m right here. Trust me…”

【Received, Cooper】

BT’s voice was as steady and reassuring as ever.

Buzz buzz buzz—!!!

The energy chamber filled with power!

But the most familiar Protocol Three still didn’t show.

No time to think—

Thud—!!!

The launcher suddenly activated!

Dai Meimei felt a powerful push from behind; sitting in the cockpit, she and BT were launched forward, heading straight for the Ark!!!

Amid the dazzling, radiant light!

Orange-yellow letters finally appeared on the screen.

BT’s voice echoed simultaneously—

【Protocol Three: Protect the Pilot】

Sss—

The cockpit door suddenly opened!

In the glaring light, BT’s hand reached in, grabbing Dai Meimei!

In that instant, Dai Meimei seemed to realize something, reaching with both hands to grab the cockpit!

“What are you doing…”

“What are you doing, BT!!!”

But as flesh and blood, she couldn’t wrestle with BT.

In the blink of an eye, Dai Meimei was cradled in BT’s palm.

She reached out to grab BT.

But saw BT turn back and look at her.

Sss—click!

Like before.

Like countless times before.

BT raised his thumb and winked at her.

Then clenched his fist, giving her a determined gesture!!!

【BT: Trust me】

The next second!

Whoosh—!!!

Dai Meimei’s body was thrown outside the reactor.

BT’s body, however, couldn’t stop falling toward the Ark!

【I am BT-7274, Vanguard-class Titan, you can call me BT…】

That was when she first met BT.

【Glad to see you again, Pilot…】

That was their joyful reunion in the waterworks.

【Pilot, I think we should stop taking shortcuts from now on…】

That was BT’s goofy complaint after they got separated.

【Got you…】

That was BT reaching out on the signal tower as she was about to fall.

【I refuse. Cooper is my Pilot…】

That was BT stubbornly refusing before the commander.

【Protocol Three: I won’t lose another Pilot…】

That was on the Celestial Dragon, where BT risked his life to protect her.

【Hey, Jack.】

That was BT’s warm greeting when he returned.

Why…

Hadn’t they just reunited?

Scenes flashed before her eyes!

Crossing endless canyons, turbulent waterworks, mysterious past and future, towering signal towers, and the perilous Celestial Dragon.

Each time BT threw her, he gave a steadfast iron fist gesture.

【Trust me】

In this moment!

Dai Meimei truly understood the meaning of these three words.

BT wasn’t asking her to believe they could complete impossible tasks by any means.

But—

【Trust me】

【I will always uphold Protocol Three】

【Forever protect you safely】

【Goodbye, Pilot】

【Goodbye, Cooper】

“B—T—!!!”

At the Ark, a white flash exploded!

A massive blast shook the universe!

Rumble—Boom!!!

Brilliant white light bloomed at the Ark’s core.

BT’s last throw, neither more nor less, had tossed her beyond the explosion.

Everything around blurred, distorted, and shattered.

Just like all the players’ hearts.

Only now did everyone realize—

Why BT kept repeating “throwing is the only option” as the main system broke down.

Why BT still said “I’ve calculated it. Trust me” despite survival being hopeless.

It wasn’t a dark joke.

He never let his Pilots’ trust down.

Not once.

At this moment!

All live streams fell silent.

……

When all dust settled!

Commander Sarah’s warship arrived just in time.

One second before Tifon’s explosion, it activated the jump and saved them.

When darkness slowly brightened again,

Players saw Harmony in the distance.

It looked just like the real-world blue planet.

Quiet, peaceful, beautiful.

The rebel fleet surged forward toward the far reaches.

The war was not over. Cooper would set out again.

“We destroyed Tifon, and our home—Harmony—was saved,”

“Sarah said I’d be assigned to the Marauder Legion to continue fighting for our home,”

“Yes, I’m already a legendary Pilot,”

Cooper’s voice slowly sounded, his magnetic tone heavy with experience:

“They said they’d assign me a new Titan then,”

“But before that, they’d sever the neural link between me and BT,”

“I don’t know what having a new Titan feels like; I really liked my old one.”

He looked toward the distance.

The direction of the now-dust Tifon, the place where he and BT had fought.

Like speaking to someone, or muttering to himself.

Originally, this was where Cooper’s call log should have ended.

But perhaps out of mercy, the old bastard gave players some extra time here, a chance to record what they wanted to say to BT—

【You said you wouldn’t lose another Pilot, but I lost you twice in one day】

【If possible, I want you to try throwing me again】

【Behind the calm synthesized voice is a loyal and reliable partner; I can safely trust my back to you, and you will say with steady tone—Trust me】

【If possible, tell me another dark joke…】

【Hey, BT, remember all the thumbs-up we gave? I want to see that again…】

【If I could choose again, I’d rather not have been picked by Captain Lastimosa…】

【In the countless years to come, I may eventually forget the Titan’s fall, but I will never forget a partner named BT-7274 Vanguard-class Titan…】

【I miss you, BT】

【Goodbye, BT】

【This is legendary Pilot Jack Cooper, saluting you, brother】

【End call.】

Click click click… click click…

The Pilot helmet flickered a few times.

Finally, it fell silent.

On the screen, the Golden Wind logo appeared again.

The tragic symphony slowly played—

【Golden Wind—Presents】

【Titanfall】

Title recovered!

Players remained speechless for a long time!

Today was a sleepless night for the gaming community.

Media was sensationalized, rivals shocked, peers amazed!

Of course!

The ones who couldn’t sleep the most!

Were the countless gamers and innumerable ‘show watchers’!

They were busy.

Very busy.

Busy wiping tears from their cheeks, then pouring all their broken defenses, fury, and unwillingness through the internet, sending it to everywhere related to Golden Wind, sending it right into the face of that bastard Gu Sheng!

Bastard!

You’d better keep one eye on guard and one eye watching when you sleep from now on!

【Keyboard Core Ready!】

Tonight’s target!

Smash the dog thief Gu Sheng!!!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by lotustale.com