Just as Jiang Shaoyu's beam saber was once again turned towards Zhao Jun's cockpit, his arm abruptly jerked upwards. Inside his cockpit, Zhao Jun roared in anger. Firmament darted out in a dark streak of light, drawing a half-circle in the air, its blade driving up from the base of the opponent's leg towards the opponent's cockpit ...
"Ah ..." Zhao Jun's decision to not avoid the opponent's attack in favour of an internecine outcome made everyone in the audience cry out in shock. Some of the more timid female audience members were even so afraid that they covered their faces with their hands, shielding their eyes in fear of witnessing a tragedy.
When Ling Lan, who had already been extremely worried to begin with, saw this scene play out, her face changed drastically and she rose to her feet. Right then, she was unbelievably shocked and angry. She had always thought that Zhao Jun was a calm and discerning person, and that combined with his four years of mecha combat experience, he would not make any errors in judgment. Unexpectedly, he too had bouts of irrationality, actually disregarding his own life and safety like this ...
Right at that critical moment, a mecha suddenly descended from the skies above. It appeared in an instant above the two mecha, immediately pressing the two mecha which were about to destroy each other onto the ground.
A loud 'boom' rang out, and the entire stadium was shaking uncontrollably due to the force behind it. Dust and dirt spread out everywhere, but because there was a shield separating the combat field from the audience seats, the audience was not affected by the dust and dirt.Only after the dust had cleared could the crowd see that a dazzling mecha was half-kneeling on the field. That mecha was slightly bent over, both arms stretched down to hold both Jiang Shaoyu's and Zhao Jun's mecha firmly against the ground.
Meanwhile, Jiang Shaoyu and Zhao Jun were like two large tortoises, pathetically pressed flat on the ground. They appeared to still be struggling, trying to climb off the ground, but their opponent's strength was just too much for them. Regardless of how they resisted and pushed back, it was all to no avail. Their struggling merely made them look even more like fat tortoises.
The sudden appearance of the dazzling mecha finally put a stop to this match which might have ended in bloodshed. The audience instantly released a collective sigh of relief. Ling Lan, who had stood up straight in her shock and anger, also calmed down in the face of this scene and sat down again.
However, Ling Lan was still frowning deeply, her anger not at all appeased by Zhao Jun's escape from danger. Her eyes narrowed briefly as rage coursed through them. She decided that a while later, she would find a chance to bring Zhao Jun to a combat hall once and let him have a personal taste of the terrible consequences of being rash and irrational.
At this time, everyone had recognised that the dazzling mecha was one of the five imperial mecha the Federation had previously announced. As such, there was no doubt that the operator of the mecha must be an imperial operator. They were stunned that an imperial operator would appear here, but at the same time, they rejoiced. After all, top-class operators above ace almost never appeared in this kind of large events.
Gradually, the whispered discussion coalesced into a uniform cheer of 'imperial', a testament of the reverence and love the people of this world held for top-class masters, which was arguably greater than that of some entertainment superstars.
By the time the audience's passion calmed, the audience could guess the reason behind this imperial operator's appearance. After all, the Grand Mecha Tournament brought together all the most outstanding cadets of the Federation. In order to ensure their safety, to make sure that no one with ill intentions would harm them, as well as to prevent any tragic accidents from occurring during the tournament, the military had specially sent a few imperial masters to monitor the event. Especially since there were three ace operators participating in the tournament this time, the number of imperial operators sent here had even been increased by a few more.In fact, the military was also extremely afraid that any carelessness might result in the loss of the talents of the Federation. Mind you, every single prodigy was a treasure to them.
After confirming that the two of them would not continue attacking each other, the imperial mecha released its hold on the two mecha and stood up.
As soon as Jiang Shaoyu and Zhao Jun regained their freedom, they instantly climbed up from the ground, glaring fiercely at each other though the other would not be able to see it. Only then did they stand meekly before the imperial operator, waiting for his verdict.
Ever since they broke the rules of the tournament, they had already been mentally prepared to be disciplined.
"Jiang Shaoyu, Zhao Jun, for violating the associated rules of the tournament, and for the severity of the transgression, after deliberation of the panel, your punishment is as follows. An instant deduction of 100 points in this tournament! When the team battles begin, Jiang Shaoyu is banned for five rounds, Zhao Jun is banned for three." After he received the final verdict of the judging panel, the imperial operator coldly announced the punishment the panel had decided to dole on the two boys.
When Jiang Shaoyu heard the verdict, his complexion paled. He was the absolute main force for his academy in the group mecha combat competition. This five-round ban would be an absolutely subversive blow to his academy. That is to say that, before his team entered the top ten, he would not have any chance to be on the field. To win, it would all depend on his teammates' efforts then. If they lost before that point, this would mean that his journey here in this year's tournament would end, and he could only wait till the battle royal on the final day to be involved again.
Jiang Shaoyu did not want things to be like this — he had led his team here to get the title of champion for both the single mecha combat and group mecha combat events, and not just for a simple excursion. Although becoming the champion of the single mecha combat was now out of reach, he still had not given up on the group champion title.
Under this heavy blow, Jiang Shaoyu's mind finally cleared. Recalling how he had struggled so much against a special-class operator, he was immensely frustrated and upset, hating how badly he had performed in this match. He had lost his usual standards, falling for the opponent's schemes again and again, becoming a laughing stock ...
On this end, Jiang Shaoyu was mired in chagrin, but Zhao Jun on the other side seemed completely unaffected. This was because, in the upcoming group mecha combat event, he was never the primary force to begin with. He was a substitute for that event, the extreme sixth man — whether or not he would even get a chance to take the field was debatable.
In this manner, as the two contestants were both docked 100 points, this meant that Zhao Jun and Jiang Shaoyu were eliminated from the match at the same time. After extended discussion, the judging panel ruled that Jiang Shaoyu and Zhao Jun would both share third place, while the fourth place would be left empty ...
Learning of this outcome, Zhao Jun whistled loudly at the skies with a wide grin. He had originally just planned to leave several scratches on the opponent's mecha armour to vent some of his fighting spirit as well as pay back a little of the grudge on Luo Lang's behalf; now, not only had he destroyed one of the opponent's arms, he had also ruined the other's sword. He had truly overachieved in this task. Most importantly, his ranking was the same as the opponent — the thought of being equal to a special-class operator would definitely disgust the other ... this was stating that he, as an ace, was actually no different from a special-class operator. This was an absolute stinging smack to the face, a handful of salt thrown onto the wound in the opponent's heart.
At this moment, Zhao Jun's admiration for Ling Lan was indescribable. The plan of action Boss Lan had created for him had considered all possible responses of the opponent, not at all weaker than a scheme hatched by Li Lanfeng. Moreover, as an operations expert, Boss Lan's plan was even more suitable for a mecha operator, direct yet amazingly effective. Compared to Li Lanfeng's convoluted plots, Zhao Jun much preferred Boss Lan's plans.
Very quickly, the two of them had gone backstage and disembarked from their mecha to land on the ground. Qiao Ting nodded at Zhao Jun in greeting, expressing his approval. Zhao Jun's performance at fighting Jiang Shaoyu to a draw both surprised and pleased him. After all, the point difference between third and fourth place was still quite significant, and Qiao Ting naturally hoped that their school would rack up more points — this would be very advantageous to their final ranking.
Lin Xiao also walked up to Zhao Jun to offer his congratulations. After all, wresting a draw from an ace operator was an achievement Zhao Jun could be proud of. Jiang Shaoyu saw how Lin Xiao and Qiao Ting were pretty much ignoring him, and the humiliation he felt became even heavier. He huffed coldly and stormed out of the backstage. As for Lin Xiao and Qiao Ting's match after this, he was already in no mood to watch it.
Very soon, the staff informed Lin Xiao and Qiao Ting to get ready; it would soon be their turn to fight. Lin Xiao breezily bid farewell to Zhao Jun and left. Zhao Jun looked at Lin Xiao's back as he left, and then turned to glance at Qiao Ting and said, "Qiao Ting, that fellow is very strong in close combat. If he gets close to you, it'll be very disadvantageous for you. Be careful."
"Yes, I know!" replied Qiao Ting, but when he turned to leave, he said lowly, "Thank you!" After experiencing failure, betrayal, and being ostracized, Qiao Ting had become very humble and low-key. This made Zhao Jun hate him less, and so he was willing to talk a bit more with Qiao Ting and remind him to watch out. If this had been the previous Qiao Ting ... Zhao Jun would not have said anything even if he was going to be beaten to death.
Finally, the two contestants operated their respective mecha onto the stage that was now theirs. Qiao Ting watched Lin Xiao slowly approaching and he also operated his mecha to move forwards. Reflexively, he glanced at the sitting area of the other participants. He knew that Ling Lan would inevitably be there watching this upcoming match ...
Qiao Ting clenched his fists and took in a deep breath, casting aside all the stray thoughts in his mind. Right now, his opponent was Lin Xiao — even though Lin Xiao was very strong, being an all-rounder and so countering him to some extent, Qiao Ting was still unafraid. He would use the victory of this match to tell everyone that he, Qiao Ting, was unafraid of anyone's challenge when it came to mecha control. He was still the number one of all the military academies!
Qiao Ting knew very well that only Ling Lan was an exception. Ling Lan was a psychological demon in his path to becoming strong — only by defeating the Lingtian Mecha Clan the other led would he be able to set aside his fixation on Ling Lan and focus on becoming stronger. Otherwise, unable to rid himself of distraction, he would not be able to progress far on this road, and that was something that he absolutely would not allow.
The referee checked in with both contestants, and finding them ready, he waved the green flag in his hand.
At the very moment the referee's flag moved, Qiao Ting's mecha slid back several hundred metres, pulling away from Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao was indeed strong at both close combat and long-range combat, but in terms of long-range attacks, he was definitely not as good as Qiao Ting who specialized in long-range combat. Qiao Ting's mentor, the elite ace Tang Yu had said before that Qiao Ting was a natural-born sniper king. His innate talent allowed him to be unlike other long-range mecha operators who needed a certain amount of time to lock onto their targets and make adjustments when shooting; Qiao Ting could almost lock onto a target instantly — one glance was enough for him to lock on and shoot.
In fact, Qiao Ting's close-combat skills were also good, but ever since he had awakened this instant targeting innate talent, under the guidance of his mentor, he had given up on close combat to focus on long-range combat. Qiao Ting's decision was undoubtedly correct — his singular focus had allowed him to enter ace level a step ahead of everyone else. Moreover, this focus had also given him a much deeper and more profound understanding of the nature and intricacies of long-range combat. As such, with regards to long-range combat, he had travelled much further and deeper than any of his peers ...
