Filled the mech’s energy tank with compressed solid energy blocks, and the three of them squeezed into the mech’s cockpit. Although it was a bit cramped, it didn’t affect Big Guy’s control of the mech. On the contrary, the two alluring bodies beside him gave Big Guy a feeling as if his soul was ascending.

　　As he pressed the switch on the autocannon remote, Big Guy piloted the mech to burst out from underground. In the distance, the sounds of explosions and the furious roar of autocannons from the Imperial base’s barracks could be faintly heard.

Chapter 5: Tender Tofu

　　At this moment, the forward base of the Gacharin Empire’s army was in utter chaos. The patrolling sentries around were quickly converging on the base.

　　Opportunity knocks but once.

　　Big Guy’s hands moved like weaving lasers, operating the mech at a speed of ten actions per second, dashing north at full speed.

　　Their luck was good. Not far from the edge of the jungle, they encountered a patrol team rushing back to the base. Before this patrol—consisting of two Imperial single-soldier mechs and several soldiers—spotted them, Big Guy quickly turned around, pretending to be heading toward the base as well.

　　The patrol was fooled. They thought this mech, desperately running toward the base, was also one of their own patrols. Without pausing, they brushed right past Big Guy. In fact, if they had just checked this slightly trembling mech, they would have found a shivering, sneaky Big Guy inside.

　　Struggling to control his trembling hands, Big Guy quietly distanced himself further and further away. Soon, he turned north at a small slope. Ten minutes later, seeing no one around and the mech’s radar showing no enemy mechs nearby, Big Guy lowered the other six mechanical legs. Twenty minutes later, they finally crossed the nearly thirty-kilometer-wide plain and slipped into the continuous forests at the foot of the northern mountains.

　　After running deep into the forest in one go, the mech stopped. Big Guy lay in the cockpit, exhausted, resting for quite a while before stepping out. On the grassy clearing outside, the two beautiful female soldiers were hugging each other. The joy of surviving a deadly ordeal made them cry and cheer at the same time. Big Guy rushed over without hesitation, his silly grin beaming as he bounced and leaped, shamelessly trying to hug the two women and join in their celebration.

　　Two fierce glares made Big Guy stop in his tracks. He turned around without the slightest embarrassment, still bouncing and cheering, as if that was all he ever intended.

　　“Pfft.” The two little white doves, eyes still glistening with tears, couldn’t help but laugh. “Stupid Big Guy,” they scolded with a smile.

　　After these days of hardship, the two women felt an indescribable closeness to the sneaky Big Guy who had saved them. Their shared ordeal made them realize that this Big Guy was actually quite capable, and in some ways, annoyingly endearing. His wild, unpredictable thinking left people unsure whether to be angry or amused.

　　The sky gradually brightened, and the first rays of morning sunlight appeared on the horizon, painting the clouds with vivid red—like fire, like blood.

　　The fresh air in the forest and the crisp calls of unknown birds made it feel like a fairyland.

　　William Carter had fallen asleep. The night’s frantic journey had left him utterly exhausted, and now, with his long-held anxiety finally relaxed, he leaned against a tree and quickly drifted into dreamland.

　　Emily Carter and Olivia Bennett sat beside him, speaking softly, occasionally swatting away the mosquitoes buzzing around Big Guy.

　　When Big Guy awoke from his dreams, the two female soldiers were no longer by his side. The mech still stood quietly in its original spot, showing no signs of having moved. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the canopy, making the green of the forest look especially fresh and vibrant, like something out of a fairy tale.

　　Big Guy cocked his ear, and amid the crisp birdsong and insect chirps, he caught a faint sound.

　　The sound of spring water and laughter.

　　He stood up and walked toward the source of the sound.

　　Stepping over thick branches and fallen leaves, bending under vines stretched between the trees, and sliding down a small grassy, flower-strewn slope, the sounds grew clearer. It was the voices of Emily Carter and Olivia Bennett, accompanied by splashing water—so joyful, so melodious.

　　Rounding a few large trees blocking his view, a beautiful little lake appeared before William Carter.

　　What an enchanting lake this was.

　　So clear that not a trace of impurity could be seen, the lakebed shimmered with colors—deep blue, light green, golden yellow. Several naturally fallen tree trunks lay quietly at the bottom, crisscrossing. Many colorful fish swam around the trunks.

　　Olivia Bennett and Emily Carter were bathing in the clear lake water.

　　Their curvaceous bodies were like mermaids in the lake, half submerged in the water, the other half exposed to the cool morning air. Crystal droplets rolled down their delicate bodies, their skin so thin you could see blue veins, as delicate as cicada wings, as white as snow, dazzlingly pale, smooth as silk.

　　Beautiful things share a certain quality—their sacred bodies blended perfectly into this fairy-tale lake.

　　Big Guy couldn’t bear to profane such a breathtaking scene. Suddenly, he felt a moment of daze, as if in a dream, or as if he had experienced this in a past life—this scene was so familiar, a mysterious resonance.

　　Shaking his head quickly, Big Guy felt ashamed for his brief distraction in front of the two beautiful bodies.