472 - 474
Chapter 472 - Seed?
At this time, Ling Xiao, who was seated at the rostrum, had also found something familiar in Zhou Chao-Ling's operation methods. A nostalgic smile appeared on his lips. He had not known that that rival who had been competing against him all this while had a descendant of his own now. Even more unexpected was the fact that their rivalry would actually reappear more than twenty years later.
Even though Ling Lan and Zhou Chao-Ling had not actually clashed personally yet, like him back then, Ling Lan had become the leader of the First Men's Military Academy contingent, while Zhou Chao-Ling had also inherited his father's role to become the leader of the Third Men's Military Academy contingent, both of them fighting for the honour of their respective academies!
"Looks like Lan-er's teammate is going to have some trouble," thought Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao knew very well that no matter how many fancy advanced techniques a mecha operator used, the pressure heaped upon the opponent could never match the kind of pressure caused by simple movements that had been honed to such precision that they were impeccable. Both Zhou Yuan-qing and Zhou Chao-Ling were people with the latter operation style. In the past, Zhou Yuan-qing had really given Ling Xiao a lot of trouble — till today, Ling Xiao still did not want to ever fight Zhou Yuan-qing again.
In fact, Ling Xiao's own operation style also fell into this category. It was just that Zhou Yuan-qing's style was characterised by its simplicity and clean practicality, while Ling Xiao's style leaned towards the graceful perfection of flowing water. Ling Lan had been influenced by Ling Xiao, so her operation style also had the same tendency.
On the field, Zhao Jun's and Zhou Chao-Ling's movements were extremely fast and fierce — in a very brief period of time, they had already exchanged another 6 blows. Zhao Jun still had not figured out how he could turn things around.
"How annoying!" It wasn't that Zhao Jun did not want to change his movements and try something new, but the opponent was not giving him any chances to do so. Whenever he was about to try something, the opponent would leap forwards again. To avoid being pushed into a passive position, he had no choice but to dodge — even though he knew clashing against the other forcefully was a problem, he could only grit his teeth and surge forwards.
"Toot, toot, toot!" The A.I. of Zhao Jun's mecha once again rang an alert. "Right shoulder joint damage increased by 0.7%! Accumulated damage at 5.6%!"
From the initial 0.3%, the damage to his mecha was increasing as the number of moves increased. He estimated that when the damage exceeded 10%, the rate of damage would accelerate further. He did not have much time left. Zhao Jun understood that if he continued to let the opponent drag things on like this, he was certain to lose.
"What should I do? What the hell should I do?" Zhao Jun's mind was a muddled mess. The opponent was clearly not that strong, and his mecha operation was just steady and unassuming. Although the techniques the opponent was using were also some advanced techniques, those techniques were not special ace-class techniques like the ones Qiao Ting and Lin Xiao had used which dazzled the eyes and inspired envy. Some of the techniques used were even ones that were not as good as his own ... but it was precisely these unassuming advanced techniques and unremarkable mecha operation which were slowly destroying his mecha bit by bit, pushing him into such a dire predicament.
"This situation ... why does it feel a little familiar? Zhao Jun, don't panic. Think slowly. You still have time!" Zhao Jun kept having the feeling that something was about to burst forth from his mind, but because he was just so anxious and tense, the thought was always just out of reach ...
"Clang!" Weapons clashed once again. Perhaps because Zhao Jun was rather distracted, his reaction time was slower by a beat. The area where his weapon and the opponent's met was not the position with the most of his force behind it. After the powerful collision, Zhao Jun was sent flying back 3 metres further than before ...
"Zhao Jun, what are you thinking?" A cold huff roared through Zhao Jun's mind.
Ling Xiao, who had initially been leaning easily against the back of his chair, suddenly sat up straight. He quickly sent out a burst of spiritual power and then retracted it just as swiftly. At this moment, his back was already drenched with cold sweat. Ling Xiao had never expected that Ling Lan would be so audacious — here in the tournament where countless masters were watching, she had actually dared to send a spiritual charge towards her currently fighting teammate ...
Luckily, he seemed to be the only one who had sensed it, and he had also quickly sent out a surge of spiritual power of his own as cover-up. Even if anyone sensed anything, they would just think that he was the one behind the charge ... although this would tarnish his image somewhat since this action could after all be mistakenly construed as cheating ... Still, compared to his daughter being exposed, Ling Xiao would rather accept this kind of disreputable label.
Sure enough, his daughter was here to collect debts! Even as Ling Xiao sighed, he complied willingly.
Ling Xiao's strange behaviour was noticed by Lan Luofeng sitting beside him; she turned her head to cast a questioning look at him. Seeing this, Ling Xiao pressed down gently on Lan Luofeng's hand. Lan Luofeng understood implicitly that this was not the time to ask questions, so with a soft smile, she turned her head around to resume watching the match.
On this end, Ling Xiao was helping to wipe up after Ling Lan, while on another end, after Ling Lan had blasted out that spiritual charge, her complexion became very pale. To penetrate the defences of the cockpit, Ling Lan's spiritual charge had used up almost nine layers of her spiritual power.
"Zhao Jun, the rest is up to you now!" thought Ling Lan.
Due to his operation error, Zhao Jun had been sent flying back much further than his opponent. With this, even the regular audience member could now tell that something was not right.
"Just now ... I wasn't mistaken, right? Zhao Jun is at a disadvantage now?" The audience members could not help but rub at their eyes. They were having trouble wrapping their minds around it — Zhao Jun was someone who had forced the ace operator Jiang Shaoyu to a draw! Someone able to force a draw with an ace actually not being able to beat a special-class operator? Perhaps this special-class operator was special?
Some of the more anxious among the audience struggled with this point and so they immediately began looking up information on Zhou Chao-Ling. They found that he was actually the fifth rank holder of the single mecha combat event, just one rank behind Zhao Jun 1 ...
Dearie, just how low-key and unassuming were you that even your excellent results in ranking fifth were overlooked by the audience? The audience's faces were filled with disbelief as they looked over this information. They had not expected that such a top master had been hiding right under their noses, stronger than even Zhao Jun whom they had assumed was the strongest special-class operator in this tournament.
They then found the details on Zhou Chao-Ling's performance during the single mecha combat event. When they learned that he had lost to the number one Qiao Ting, which was why he had not been able to advance into the top 4, they could only sigh at his bad luck. If he had been as lucky as Zhao Jun and had been arranged into that segment with no ace operators, perhaps the outcome would have been different. Whether or not Zhao Jun could have nabbed third place in that situation was questionable.
Zhao Jun's error in the fight caused two distinctly different atmospheres to appear among the two military academies backstage. The Third Men's Military Academy was naturally overjoyed — if their team leader defeated Zhao Jun, they would only have to defeat that Ling Lan as well to advance to the finals. Who said that their Third Men's Military Academy was just an accessory? As long as they had equivalent strength among their members, so what if their opponent had an ace operator? So what if the opponent had the number one strongest in their ranks?
The three people on the First Men's Military Academy side were also watching the fight closely. Other than Ling Lan being cold-faced as usual, Qiao Ting and Mu Shaoyu's expressions had turned extremely grim when they witnessed Zhao Jun's error. Mu Shaoyu was even wringing his hands in agitation, and then he turned to ask Qiao Ting uneasily, "Is Zhao Jun really out of options?"
Qiao Ting did not reply, but his tightly knitted eyebrows were proof that he was not optimistic about Zhao Jun's chances. Zhou Chao-Ling was a very cautious and meticulous person. It was practically impossible to hope for him to make a mistake ... but for Zhao Jun to wrest free of this predicament on his own — Qiao Ting felt that it would be very difficult.
Not receiving an answer from Qiao Ting, Mu Shaoyu found his gaze involuntarily drifting towards Ling Lan, in hopes that Ling Lan would be able to give him some confidence. After all, Zhao Jun was a member of Lingtian now. Fully preoccupied with seeking comfort, Mu Shaoyu did not notice Ling Lan's unusual pallor, which made the latter seem even colder than usual.
Sensing Mu Shaoyu's gaze, Ling Lan opened her initially closed eyes and said calmly, "Zhao Jun still has a chance!"
She had already done what she could — the seed was already planted. Whether or not it would sprout smoothly in this match would all depend on Zhao Jun's comprehension.
Ling Lan's words made Mu Shaoyu's heart settle, and he turned back to continue watching the match on the screen intently. Right then, Mu Shaoyu was not aware of how Ling Lan had been able to calm him with just one simple declaration. Unconsciously, he had already acknowledged Ling Lan's status and had given the other his trust.
********
At this moment, after hearing that cold huff, Zhao Jun's vision turned blurry and when he could see clearly again, he had already arrived at a sealed mecha combat room ...
"What's going on?" Zhao Jun was stunned. "Wasn't I fighting in a mecha combat competition? Why am I here? Also, that voice just now really sounded like Boss Lan."
Just when Zhao Jun thought of Boss Lan, an extremely familiar mecha appeared in the combat room. It was precisely that close-combat ace mecha which Ling Lan operated.
"Boss Lan, what are you doing here? And why are you using an ace mecha? Didn't you say that you wanted to hide properly?" asked Zhao Jun, concerned.
He was in full agreement with Ling Lan's decision to conceal her full strength. He really could not imagine what kind of uproar it would cause if the world knew that there was someone who had broken Ling Xiao's record and had become an ace operator in their second year. (With the exception of those little companions of hers who had grown up alongside her, Ling Lan had told all the other friends who had joined them afterwards that she had only advanced to ace level in her second year 1 .) He could even predict that an incident like the air invasion of the military academy would happen once again, not to mention all the assassins that would be sent over from the various nations.
Unfortunately, Ling Lan did not react or respond to Zhao Jun's questions. Instead, she charged at Zhao Jun ferociously, slashing at Zhao Jun with her sword.
Zhao Jun hurriedly operated his mecha to dodge the attack, but how could he move faster than Ling Lan? The sword struck the body of his mecha forcefully, and the massive force behind the blow sent his mecha hurtling back to crash heavily against the hard walls of the combat room, which he then bounced off to slam into the ground. Zhao Jun felt pain throughout his whole body and nausea churned in his chest. There was also a bloody taste in his mouth, making him feel rather ill.
Before Zhao Jun could pry himself off the ground, a forceful swirl of wind came rushing at him. With a rapid flying side kick, Ling Lan sent Zhao Jun flying through the air once again ...
"Chain combo!" Zhao Jun was thrown into the air, and Ling Lan piloted her mecha close after him. The cold weapon in her hands struck Zhao Jun's mecha without any hesitation. "1, 2, 3, 4 ..."
The powerful impact made Zhao Jun spit out a mouthful of blood, and he pressed down desperately on the call button to shout, "Boss Lan, it's me! I'm Zhao Jun!"
This strength of Boss Lan was definitely not at the level of an ordinary spar — Boss Lan was completely coming at him with true force. If things continued this way, he would definitely die at Boss Lan's hands. This was not an outcome he could accept — dying this way would be too worthless and a terrible shame. He would not accept it!
"Zhao Jun, what are you thinking? Don't you know that, once we enter battle mode, no matter where or when, we are archenemies!" Ling Lan's icy voice rang out by Zhao Jun's ear once more, filled with fierce killing intent. Zhao Jun knew that Boss Lan was speaking from the heart at that moment!
1. Excluding the empty 4th rank.
2. Note: The truth is that she was already an ace in her first year.
Chapter 473 - Six-Chain-Combo
"Five, six!" When Ling Lan counted to six, the combo had finally ended!
After taking Ling Lan's final hit, Zhao Jun's mecha plummeted into the ground as he spat out another mouthful of blood. He felt like he was going to die. He had always known that Boss Lan's combo could go on for more than five hits, but no one really knew how many exactly, the reason being that Boss Lan would never show it to her companions during bouts among themselves. He didn't understand why at the time; instead, he believed that she was keeping it as a trump card, without wanting to reveal it. Now he understood that the reason why Boss Lan did not use it was because somebody would die the moment it was used.
Zhao Jun thought he was going to draw his last breath, but unexpectedly his vitality was very strong; despite being so close to death and in so much pain, he didn't faint and was able to survive.
When Zhao Jun regained consciousness, he saw Ling Lan's figure, so tall and domineering as if looking down on the world. This made him feel like an insignificant ant ready for Ling Lan's executioner's blade.
This feeling pained Zhao Jun's heart deeply and a strong sense of humiliation rushed to his head! He suddenly had an epiphany. It seemed like his abilities didn't even enter Boss Lan's eyes. He was probably only compelled to accept Zhao Jun into his battle team because of his old friend Li Lanfeng! He hadn't thought that he would one day need connections to get into a battle team because of his inadequate abilities! This humiliation made Zhao Jun almost bite off his tongue.
"Ohhh!" Zhao Jun screamed angrily.
No, I will not allow anyone to look down on me. Even if I'm from a third-rate planet and not as talented as Qi Long, I will use my abilities to let Boss Lan know that other than him, I am the second strongest in the squadron. I will not lose to Qi Long!
Zhao Jun's unwillingness to give up made him forget the immense pain. Piloting his mecha, he quickly sprang up to his feet. His left hand suddenly gripped his sword which was previously only held with his right. Wielding the sword with both hands, he abruptly directed it straight towards Ling Lan.
Ling Lan had stopped attacking entirely after the six combo attack, merely watching coldly from the distance. Perhaps Ling Lan was being generous. It was because she thought that after the fifth hit, Zhao Jun would no longer be able to fight.
When she saw Zhao Jun clenching his weapon readying for more, she swung the large sword in her right hand and said coldly, "Not going to give up? You want to fight back? That's too bad. You will never be on par with me!"
Zhao Jun didn't really hear what Ling Lan said. He just silently looked at his opponent, gripping his cold weapon. It seemed that after a single second, his flickering emotions became calm and at peace.
Maybe Ling Lan was in his line of sight or maybe she wasn't. He didn't hear, see or feel anything, as if he had lost his five senses and turned into a statue—he began to forget who he was. His entire body and mind became unreactive, his mind finally going completely blank.
Zhao Jun had entered a mysterious world of his own and this seemed to only last for an instant, but also felt like thousands of years.
Zhao Jun, who had gone into a meditative state, did not realize that the intensity of his aura was rising boundlessly. He moved, his fingers suddenly beginning to dance about. In the beginning, he could still see his fingers turning into afterimages, but afterwards even those afterimages had disappeared. Yes, that's right—Zhao Jun's fingers had vanished. It seemed that his fingers' speed had surpassed the limit of special-class mecha operators, the level of "Shadow", and reached the level of "Void" which only ace operators could achieve.
Zhao Jun's mecha shot towards Ling Lan like a cannonball! He yelled, "Chain combo!"
Only chain combos could spell trouble for the formidable Boss Lan; though, his chain combo could only go up to four hits. Whether he could manage the fifth hit depended on his condition, but this couldn't compare to Boss Lan's six-chain combo. However, this was his strongest attack!
Zhao Jun knew very well that other high-level skills and special techniques would not affect Boss Lan. Having battled with Boss Lan so many times, what hadn't he used before? He still got beaten in the end, didn't he?
"Come, let's go!" called out Ling Lan upon seeing Zhao Jun executing his chain combo, and she operated her mecha to engage using a chain combo.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!" Five consecutive and loud sounds of cold weapons clashing rang out. Without thinking, Zhao Jun was even able to easily perform a five-hit combo. He felt that this wasn't his limit and continued to move his fingers, and he managed to perform an unprecedented sixth strike.
"Clang!" The sixth hit was successfully performed. Ling Lan also used her own sixth hit to block!
But no, this wasn't his limit—Zhao Jun's fingers continued to operate without hindrance, as he performed his seventh combo hit!
"Boom!" Zhao Jun's huge sword struck Ling Lan's mecha, sending it flying with a tumultuous force. Just when Zhao Jun wanted to follow up with an attack, his vision blurred and he returned back to the arena.
That mysterious room disappeared along with Boss Lan who he was in battle with. He only saw Zhou Chao-Ling on the opposite side who was preparing for the next round of attacks.
"Beep, beep, beep!" The A.I. of Zhao Jun's mecha alerted him of the condition of the mecha, "Damage to the joint on the right arm has increased by 1.6%! Now at a total of 11.3%!"
"I see, the damage to the joint has already passed 10%. I can't waste anymore time." Although Zhao Jun didn't really understand what had happened just now, he knew that he had achieved a breakthrough in that mindspace. However, he didn't know whether it could be used in real combat.
Zhao Jun's fingers moved similarly to how they did in the mindspace, dancing around rapidly, changing from fingers clearly visible to afterimages, then from afterimages to complete disappearance.
His mecha was previously holding the sword with both hands at the hilt, but suddenly its left hand moved up one meter; this stance resembled how Japanese samurai would hold their swords. However, the left hand of Zhao Jun's mecha was not holding the sword, but was making a fist to lock it in place.
This change made the audience scream excitedly, "Zhao Jun is going to make a move!"
At that moment, almost every audience member knew that Zhao Jun was in trouble. If he wanted to change his fate, he needed to change. They were all waiting for Zhao Jun to change the pace and now, their wait had paid off.
Zhao Jun's odd way of handling the sword made Zhou Chao-Ling freeze in place. He had initially wanted to go up to him and attack, but he suddenly slowed his advance. Being very careful, he decided to see how the situation played out and then decide how he would continue to fight. He already had the advantage. Zhou Chao-Ling didn't want his opponent to get the upper hand because of his own carelessness.
Just then, Zhao Jun's mecha suddenly began to charge forward. At maximum speed, his mecha appeared as though it was a beam of light, arriving before Zhou Chao-Ling in an instant. That speed had reached the highest speed limit of a special-class mecha and this made Zhou Chao-Ling fail to react in time.
Zhou Chao-Ling was not worried; he led his fingers into a swift dance, making his mecha dart around. His opponent was quick, not giving him enough time to accumulate power into his mecha—if he was to fight in this moment, he would be the one disadvantaged. Zhou Chao-Ling wouldn't make the mistake of taking his opponent head-on.
The two looked as though they were going to pass by each other after Zhou Chao-Ling evaded Zhao Jun's sudden attack, but the left wrist of Zhao Jun's mecha suddenly twisted. The cold weapon of his mecha suddenly shifted from a slashing stance to a horizontal stabbing stance.
"Ah!" This unforeseen change made the audience gasp.
Just as Zhou Chao-Ling was about to be struck by the large sword, he lived up to his name by easily operating his mecha despite the danger hanging over his head. While his fingers danced, the cold weapon in his mecha's hand blocked!
"Clang!" There was a resonant clash. Zhou Chao-Ling had managed to use the bottom of his sword to block the sudden stabbing attack from Zhao Jun.
However, it was still blocked in a hurry and so he could not neutralize the full force of Zhao Jun's attack—his mecha was sent flying by the stab, flying backwards at great speed. Because of this, however, Zhou Chao-Ling was able to leave Zhao Jun's close combat range. This gave a Zhou Chao-Ling a short breather.
However, it was too early for Zhou Chao-Ling to feel relieved. As he started to think about balancing his mecha, he saw Zhao Jun's mecha turn ominously. It was able to neutralize the inertia, turning ninety-degrees and heading directly for him!
This made the audience cry out, many among them looking at Zhao Jun in shock. What was that move? How could he almost completely offset the inertia? Was this an invention of Zhao Jun? Could it be that another personal-name technique had appeared?
This also caused a brilliant gleam to flash in the eyes of Ling Xiao who was sitting on the chairman's podium. He had already tried his best to develop this type of mecha movements which ignored inertia. Although he had made some progress, it had not become a systematic program. He hadn't thought that a cadet would make his theories into reality…
Ling Xiao began to analyze Zhao Jun's movements mentally where countless detailed data and information went through his mind. The gift of Duplication was quite an anomaly. He only had to take one look and he would then be able to find the underlying key points.
No longer troubled by inertia, Zhao Jun did not need time to recover anymore. Zhao Jun's next attack had already arrived before Zhou Chao-Ling could balance his mecha.
"Mecha chain combo!" Everyone all began cheering once Zhao Jun's attack began. They all knew that in one-versus-one battles, Lin Xiao from the First Co-ed Military Academy was able to successfully perform a six-chain combo. How many hits, then, would this special-class operator, Zhao Jun, be able to achieve? Three, four or five hits?
No one thought he could manage to reach six hits because anything above the five-hit chain combo technique could only be performed by ace operators.
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!" Four consecutive sounds of cold weapons striking one another rang out. Zhou Chao-Ling's ability to adapt was very strong—he had blocked Zhao Jun's four-hit combo attack. He hoped that the combo would stop there because he knew he was already at his limit.
Unfortunately, his hopes were shattered as Zhao Jun moved on to the fifth strike of his combo! Zhou Chao-Ling bit down hard and wielded his weapon with difficulty.
"Clang!" Following a loud clash, Zhou Chao-Ling's large sword was flung away. Although he had lost his weapon, Zhou Chao-Ling was still able to block Zhao Jun's fifth consecutive strike.
Zhou Chao-Ling took a breather, thinking to himself, 'A five-hit combo is the limit for a special-class operator. There's no way he can manage a sixth strike.'
Right at that moment, Zhao Jun performed the sixth combo hit that no one expected. The entire audience stood up at the sight of this, wearing faces of astonishment, looking at the arena. Zhao Jun and a six-chain combo? Was this real?
The reality of it was as they saw—Zhao Jun had indeed performed a sixth combo hit. At that moment, Zhou Chao-Ling was helpless as Zhao Jun struck him with great force, sending his entire mecha straight down to crash against the ground with great impact.
Chapter 474 - Advancement Into the Finals
Zhao Jun had wanted to repeat the seventh combo strike he had managed in his mindspace, but unfortunately, his finger shook and slowed down after inputting half of the commands. The fluid feeling he felt vanished instantly and the seventh combo strike failed.
Although Zhao Jun felt that it was a pity, at the same time he didn't have any regrets. He was already very satisfied that he was able to perform a six-hit combo attack, as this meant the barrier blocking him from reaching the title of ace operator had been broken. If he could stabilize his performance of the six-hit combo attack, he would be able to become an official ace operator after returning to the military academy.
The seven-hit combo was not successful and did not manage to deal the opponent a heavy blow before he plummeted to the ground. This did not discourage Zhao Jun, however; he quickly operated his mecha to dive down at top speed, pointing his weapon at Zhou Chao-Ling who was on the ground, stabbing straight down.
Zhou Chao-Ling's fall had made him dizzy, making him unable to grasp the current situation in the arena. However, his subconscious sensed danger, and without thinking, he performed a barrel roll. With this, he managed to dodge Zhao Jun's attack from above.
Although Zhou Chao-Ling was able to dodge fast, Zhao Jun was also able to change his moves quickly—he instantly went from a stabbing motion to a slashing motion, slashing violently towards the mecha rolling away.
"Clang!" Zhao Jun's sword slashed the opponent, the force so great it caused Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha to be flung up into the air.
Zhao Jun's assault did not end there, but continued further. One quick step and he had arrived below Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha. Zhao Jun operated his mecha to fly upwards and once he was close enough, his two legs began spinning like a whirlwind, aiming towards Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha and kicking repeatedly with great force…
"Advanced skill—Whirlwind Kick!" Audience members familiar with mecha skills screamed, unable to contain their excitement.
This kick not only stunned Zhou Chao-Ling inside the mecha, but also caused his mecha to be kicked into the air. Zhao Jun's mecha quickly rotated and flew upwards. At the same time, both of its arms instantly reversed the grip on the sword, changing its direction.
"Special technique—Twisting Strike!"
Zhao Jun's mecha began to spin around Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha at high speed. The ear-piercing, wailing screech of metal rang throughout the whole arena. Those who had poor physical abilities could not handle this noise, all of them plugging their ears and making a grimace.
Right then, the barrier around the arena shone brightly. Those who paid attention saw that there was a new barrier that was formed in front of the original barrier. It was because of this new barrier that the ear-piercing screech suddenly seemed to sound very far away—it was no longer ear-piercingly painful.
Twisting Strike was a special technique. Its destructive power was clearly greater than high-level techniques. When Zhao Jun finished the technique, everyone could see that the outer shell of Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha had become battered, electrical sparks sputtering from some of its parts. It appeared that the mecha's circuitry had already been damaged by Zhao Jun's Twisting Strike…
Just when Zhao Jun was about to mount his next attack to increase his odds of winning and to knock out Zhou Chao-Ling for good, the main referee, who realized Zhou Chao-Ling's situation, raised up a red flag to indicate a time-out.
Zhao Jun thought it was a shame. It was obvious that victory was at hand, yet it was ruined by the main referee. He angrily put away his cold weapon, hovering in the air and quietly looking at Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha fall from the sky; it fell to the ground once again, creating a cloud of dust.
The main referee made a quick dash and appeared beside Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha. He attempted to contact the operator inside, but there was no response, which startled him.
He immediately told both the technical team and medical team outside of the arena to move in for rescue. This made the crowd restless. Was it going be another case like Zhang Jing-an's?
Technical hackers quickly broke the passcode lock to the operator cockpit and opened it, after which the army physician jumped straight inside. Thirty seconds later, the army physician stuck his head out and informed the others that the operator inside was not badly hurt. The reason they had not been getting a response from him was that the large vibrations from the last strike had unfortunately made him lose consciousness.
After hearing the news, everyone was relieved. Although everyone knew that anything could happen during the competition, they hoped everything could still be safe, the reason being that all of the cadets attending the competition were geniuses chosen by the Federation government—losing a single one of them would be cause for dismay.
However, Zhou Chao-Ling was not capable of continuing to battle in his current state, and thus victor of this battle had to be Zhao Jun. Starting from the beating drums and waving flags from the beginning of the battle, to Zhao Jun's major disadvantage in the later clashes, and then to the sudden explosiveness and successful display of a six-hit combo attack, and finally to the huge turnaround—Zhao Jun performance was undoubtedly brilliant.
Zhao Jun made his way to the backstage of the arena, full of excitement. His victory against Zhou Chao-Ling definitely made him happy, but what made him even happier was that he had successfully advanced to the level of ace operators.
"Congratulations!"
"Congratulations!"
Qiao Ting and Ling Lan spoke one after the other with congratulatory tones. Qiao Ting spoke just like anyone else would, while Ling Lan was very indifferent. Both of their attitudes made Zhao Jun's excited mood evaporate into thin air… Hmph, the feeling of success from advancing to ace operator didn't seem like much with these two geniuses around him.
Fortunately, there was still Mu Shaoyu; he was able to bring up the saddened mood. "Zhao Jun, you slimy bastard, you managed to soar up to ace operator level. Your luck defies the laws of nature!" Mu Shaoyu's face was full of admiration and envy.
Normal mecha operators who reached the next level usually would choose a quiet place to continue exploring the sensation of having advanced. Breaking through to the next level during combat was extremely dangerous. Usually, at the moment of the breakthrough, mecha operators who were in the state would be unable to feel the outside environment—this would allow an opponent a chance to land a decisive death blow. Even if they did not die, they would be stopped by their opponent, and they would then be brought out of that state of ascension and would never have the chance to advance to the next level.
Zhao Jun began to feel pleased with himself, scratching his head and laughing like an idiot. As expected, advancing to ace level was a feat that would make others envious.
However, if someone knew Zhao Jun well, they would know that he had some hidden suspicions masked by his idiotic laugh. He had a feeling that the death match between him and Boss Lan in the secret room was an imagination formed by his own mind. Only, why would he have been imagining a fight with Boss Lan? Shouldn't it be his old opponent Qiao Ting?
Furthermore, his way of advancing to ace level was different from the way the instructors had taught. Leveling up during battle was only because of the opponent's relentlessness, bringing about a life-or-death situation to trigger the advancement. It was impossible that there would be an imaginary battle in his mind to cause the level up… This was also why he was able to successfully advance. Since he did not have a breakthrough during the battle in the real world, the loss of senses of the environment around him was also not in the real world. It was possible that he had felt the power for a very long time, but in the real world, it could have been only a tenth of a second. Or maybe he had never stopped at all?
This was very odd. Zhao Jun could not make heads or tails of it. He subconsciously glanced towards the indifferent Boss Lan who was standing beside him. He suspected whether it was Boss Lan who had a hand in all this. He didn't know why, but he still felt that Boss Lan had something to do with it. During the battle with Zhou Chao-Ling, he heard a cold groan. No matter how many times he thought about it, it was for sure Boss Lan's voice…
Zhao Jun was full of suspicion, wanting to ask Ling Lan for answers; however, he knew that right now was not the time for seeking answers. Zhao Jun was very sure that if people knew Ling Lan had the ability to help others advance to the ace level, this news would be even worse than Ling Lan becoming an ace operator during her second year. It would definitely be very troublesome.
Producing ace operators was something the Federation government had never achieved in the last thousands of years. If Boss Lan really had this ability, the military would take control of him even if he was a monster of a genius operator. For the Federation, the value of an imperial class operator or a god class operator couldn't be compared to millions of ace class operators. Ace operators were the soul of the battlefield.
Although Zhao Jun looked like a boorish fellow, his thoughts were very detailed and careful, not careless and impulsive. Letting go of his suspicions, he intended to find a safe time and place to ask about this in private.
Zhao Jun's victory brought the score of the round to 2-1, with the First Men's Military Academy in the lead. The faces of those from the Third Men's Military Academy turned green as they felt depressed from Zhao Jun's good luck. He was certain to have lost, yet he unexpectedly advanced to ace level and performed a six-hit combo—this negated the advantage Zhou Chao-Ling had and thus enabled him to successfully make a comeback.
"Even though we lost, we must still do well in the next two matches!" The members of the Third Men's Military Academy encouraged each other. Even though they knew they were not a match for Qiao Ting, they still wanted to finish all five matches with the First Men's Military Academy to not soil the Third Men's Military Academy's name.
However, when they saw Qiao Ting walk towards the mecha holding area and prepare to board his mecha into battle, the expressions on the faces of the Third Men's Military Academy dropped. The First Men's Military Academy wasn't even going to give them the chance at a fifth match. Once Qiao Ting came out, who could go against him?
As expected, Qiao Ting easily defeated his opponent with three rifle shots in the fourth match and won the round. The First Men's Military Academy advanced to the finals with a 3-1 score. They still had to wait for a winner to be decided between the First Co-ed Military Academy and the Second Men's Military Academy, after which they would begin the finals for first and second place.
The First Co-ed Military Academy and the Second Men's Military Academy quickly finished their round. Compared to the First Men's Military Academy's oddball rankings and battle formation set up, these two military academies were much more organized.
As trump cards, Lin Xiao and Jiang Shaoyu were scheduled for the fifth match. The arrogance of being ace operators made them unable to go into battle first and what's more, Jiang Shaoyu wanted to carry out his revenge. The four matches before theirs were evenly matched, pretty much organized by strength levels, other than a few changes.
It should be said that these two military academies were not much different in strength levels. The first four matches ended with two wins and two losses to each side respectively, reaching a draw. In the end, it would be the two ace mecha operators battling for the win. Both Jiang Shaoyu and Lin Xiao, after facing each other in the single mecha battle semi-finals, faced each other again in the group mecha battle semi-finals. This time, however, the outcome of their battle would not only decide their fate, but also which of their military academies would come out on top.
This time, Jiang Shaoyu was determined to not be bewitched by Lin Xiao like he was in the previous match. The thought that his opponent's close-combat abilities were not strong had made him careless and this had given his opponent an opportunity which lead to his defeat.
At the same time, Lin Xiao was not naive enough to use the same trick to confuse his opponent. Since everyone's close-combat ability was the strongest, there was no need to be secretive about it. Once the match started, he would simply take a close-combat stance and fight like they had never fought before.