Two escort ships—each had four Iron Soldiers activated by Erik.
But the other ship only had those four units. Tony had said he wanted to test a fully autonomous combat capability without human supervision.
Meanwhile, this side's ship had an additional four Iron Soldiers stored in the hangar as reserves.
Twelve Iron Soldiers in total—on paper, they were more than enough to suppress an armored battalion. But in actual combat, it became clear: they had underestimated their opponent.
Comparing raw power alone, the exosuit soldiers still didn't surpass the mechs, but combat was never just about firepower.
An unexpected ambush, a terrain unsuited for mech movement, or a piece of equipment that disrupted electronics could completely negate their advantages.
As for the regular navy personnel, they weren't even worth counting. In combat onboard, they couldn't even properly aim at those super-soldiers.
Yes, Erik considered them super-soldiers, those wearing high-tech exosuits.
Tat-tat-tat...
Footsteps echoed rapidly. Besides his own, Erik could hear a heavier pair behind him—clearly, the enemy was also heading for the speedboat stored below deck.
If he were the enemy, he'd do the same: grab the fuel and flee.
"Ha!"
Erik turned a corner swiftly and arrived at the makeshift "hangar" they'd set up before departure—
Whoosh!
The door opened. He was supposed to race against time—but the scene inside stunned him:
"What the hell?!"
Several mechanical arms, modified into assembly limbs, were sliding rapidly across the floor.
Four mechs had been completely dismantled—parts and armor shoved toward one Iron Soldier in the center of the hangar.
That Iron Soldier was lying prone on the floor. It had been modified with more agile mobility components and two outrageously thick arms. The missile pods were now able to slide across the surface of the chassis, and the machine guns had been replaced with dual-linked gun systems.
A robot—modifying itself?!
["Insufficient durability. Solution: concentrate armor. Reconstructing defensive plating. Installing active countermeasures against potential electronic warfare equipment."]
["Combat limitations due to environment. Solution: reduce size, increase mobility. Modification failed: lacking high-precision parts."]
["Boosting propulsion. Improving thrust system."]
["Recalibrating fire control system."]
["Replanning combat strategy—computational power limited."]
["Hello, Commander Colonel Steven."]
Erik walked in, dumbfounded. "What is going on here?"
["Critical AI is adjusting equipment autonomously to suit current battle scenario. Current objective unchanged: retrieve target cargo from freighter."]
"No—it's changed!"
Erik quickly accepted the reality.
It sounded unbelievable, but he had graduated from MIT, and after getting close to Tony, had learned a good deal about AI.
He didn't know exactly what had changed in the Iron Soldier, but he understood what "Critical Combat Mode" implied.
He quickly moved toward the small vessel deeper inside.
"Change objective. Cover my retreat."
["Understood. Objective updated: cover commander's retreat and retrieve target freighter cargo."]
"I said retreat!"
["The objectives are not in conflict."]
"No commander—no combat orders. What then?"
Then Erik remembered—this so-called "Critical Combat Mode" was designed to operate independently, without a commander's input.
"Fine—do whatever. I'm leaving—"
Before he finished, the Iron Soldier suddenly raised its freshly modified dual-linked machine guns toward the door!
Bang!
Heavy footsteps echoed. Frank burst through the doorway!
He'd planned to kill anyone on sight—but what met his eyes was an even bigger Iron Soldier!
The dual-linked gun it carried was already firing—
Frank's instincts screamed. His exosuit fired its boosters, launching him backward!
His neural activity spiked. Stimulant output exceeded safe thresholds. In his perception, time slowed—
He could almost see every bullet streaking through the air, whistling past—
BANG!
Somehow, Frank dodged. The bullets tore into the metal walls behind him, exploding in sparks like roaring beasts.
The confined space filled with the scent of smoke and burning. Frank, hiding around a further corner, snapped back to awareness—he fired a web line and began climbing upward to escape!
BOOM!
The accumulated heat finally softened the wall—bullets punched through, chunks of wall falling right where Frank had just stood.
The gunfire stopped. The red-hot barrels hissed softly.
Clang...
A piece of metal slid and slammed to the ground. Erik stood stunned.
The dual-linked gun's rate of fire had exceeded theoretical limits. He now realized—Tony Stark hadn't been exaggerating.
If their soldiers on the front lines had this level of suppressive firepower, then... yeah, that'd be terrifying.
CLANG!
With a roar, the massive Iron Soldier stood up, forcing the narrow space wider using its two modified arms—
The engine roared. Metal screamed under stress—the hallway was forcefully widened!
The armored beast climbed toward the stairwell, step by step—then began to run!
BOOM!
Reaching the stairwell, the mech's makeshift propulsion system engaged. The beast clambered up the stairs and walls, chasing its prey!
Debris rained down. Erik gulped.
This battle had fully exposed the Iron Soldiers' limitations: at their core, they were still armored units. Smaller than tanks, yes, but still not flexible enough—and vulnerable to electronic warfare.
But now...
This new beast moved with the agility and power of a gorilla!
If even these tight spaces couldn't hinder it—then its large size was now an advantage.
Everyone knew the trend of war machines: bigger, stronger, better.
[ATLS-007: What's going on?]
[Frank: Team One, retreat! Overload the power core—sink this ship!]
[Frank: Team Two, man the naval gun—sink that warship!]
[Frank: Get the freighter out of here!]
BOOM!
A rocket exploded behind him, almost throwing Frank to the floor!
"Frank!"
At the power core's door, Gunner rushed out with an RPG on his shoulder. "Done! What the hell is that thing down there?!"
"Just shoot!"
Gunner didn't hesitate—he pulled the trigger—
A massive mechanical hand shot up from the hole to the lower deck, grabbing the edges firmly!
A red sensor spotted the incoming RPG—an interceptor popped out, knocking it out of the air!
BOOM!
In a blaze of fire, the mech—assisted by its arm and boosters—climbed to the upper deck. With ease, its strong limbs smashed through the ceiling and walls, clearing a path forward.
The scene was terrifying—solid steel walls crumbled like paper.
The missile pod slid along the mech's back, locking into position.
Seeing it, Gunner's face went pale. He grabbed Frank and fired up their boosters—
BOOM!
The next explosion tore open the ship's side. Fire belched outward!
Team Two and the Celtic Wanderer saw it from the other ship!
Now all three ships were within 300 meters of each other. Team Two had reached beneath the Celtic Wanderer, fuel hoses connecting the small boat and the ship.
Several ATLAS soldiers clung to the hull—they were clearly in charge of manually connecting the hoses.
"Move, move, move!"
At the hatch, Court commanded his men to carry the wounded. Clint stood inside, directing his crew.
Clint, while helping the wounded aboard, said to Court, "Thanks for your support."
Before he finished—
BOOM!
A massive metal slab crashed nearby, sending up a huge splash!
"Not the time for that!" Court shouted. "Retreat! We're sinking that warship!"
Clint's face shifted subtly. They're sinking a US Navy ship?!
BOOM!
Another huge explosion rocked the top deck!
BANG!
"Sh*t!"
The shockwave flung Frank and Gunner from the lower deck, slamming them onto the upper one.
With their nervous systems overstimulated and hit by the blast, both coughed up blood.
They were back on the deck.
The ocean air had changed—when they'd jumped overboard earlier, it was calm, but now storm clouds covered the sun and the wind howled!
Looking around, the Celtic Wanderer was now very close!
Before he could stand, Frank shouted into the radio:
[Frank: Get out of here! Get the ship away now!]
WHOOSH!
The mech's engines roared—thick black smoke and fire billowed—but it was still visible.
BANG!
Bathed in sunlight, the mech finally revealed itself.
The original Iron Soldiers were only about 2.5 meters tall, relatively light-armored to preserve mobility.
But this one? Over 3 meters tall. Four flexible legs, machine guns converted to dual-linked turrets mounted on both sides.
It had two thick arms—not just for clearing obstacles, but for climbing.
Frank couldn't even tell how the arms were connected—they rotated around the torso, constantly adjusting.
From the looks alone—it didn't even seem like something designed by humans.
["Continuing operation. Target locked. Preparing to board."]
The mech turned its sensors toward the freighter—its cargo was just one giant container on deck.
Frank glanced at Gunner, then toward the second escort ship—
Now, only the two of them were still fighting.
Their strongest weapon? RPGs—completely ineffective against this monster's point-defense system.
So there was only one option: this beast was powerful—but it was built for ground combat.
The second warship turned its main gun.
They couldn't worry about international consequences anymore—after all, it was the "pirates" who sunk the ship.
"Gunner..." Frank took a deep breath. Gunner nodded. Both turned and got into sprinting stance. "Run!"
[Frank: Fire!]
BOOM!
The 76mm shell scraped across the deck—sparks scattering like a storm!
The entire ship shook violently. The massive mech that had been moving forward suddenly came to a halt. Two of its legs transformed into stabilizers and drilled deep into the deck!
Frank and Gunner used magnetic adhesion devices to firmly anchor themselves to the surface, struggling to maintain their balance through the shaking as they stepped forward one step at a time!
But the rocking of the ship only grew worse—
[ATLS-014: You must leave the ship! It's too windy! I can't guarantee cannon accuracy!]
[Frank: Keep firing!]
Frank grabbed the ship's railing with one hand, bent both legs sharply, grabbed Garner's arm, and shouted over his shoulder, "You jump first!"
"I'm heavier, it should be me."
"Exactly, that's why you go first! Three, two—"
"Fack squid, Frank!"
"One!"
The ship was hit again and swayed like a roly-poly toy in the stormy seas and strong winds.
Just as Frank yelled "one," the railing beneath them suddenly dropped—they could even see the small boat waiting to pick them up on the surface of the sea!
In that instant, the exoskeleton's power output surged to the max, and Frank's face turned red—
The exoskeleton was no longer enough to counter the ship's violent sway!
Zzzzt!
The static adhesion unit suddenly slipped. Garner, pulled by Frank's strength, activated both legs of his exoskeleton and forcefully leapt toward the edge of the ship!
Bang!
He landed precisely on the speedboat!
Boom!
The second cannon shell pierced the ship's engine room!
A chain explosion instantly engulfed the ship's hull, and the entire vessel began to break apart!
The ship started to capsize in reverse. In the blink of an eye, the rescue speedboat vanished from Frank's view, and the sky took up his entire field of vision!
The magnetic adhesion system was rebooting. Frank turned to look back and saw the massive mech performing an astonishing action:
Its outer armor and heavy energy pods dropped off like shedding clothes.
Now, with the remaining linked thrusters, it had just enough thrust to take off!
Frank immediately gave up on rebooting the adhesion device. The rollers on his feet activated, and both hands shot out web-like cables, using traction to slide rapidly toward the mech—
The enormous mech had devoted all its computing power to internal system reconfiguration and calculating how to handle the current situation.
It had no idea Frank had already drawn his data blade and was launching a swift attack!
Boom!
A massive fireball rose from below the deck, and the entire ship toppled toward the sea!