Top Warzone Analyst Chapter 131

The match was finally over, but Mr. Kong’s heart still hadn’t settled back down. Unable to believe it, it seemed to hang suspended in midair, twitching and jolting every so often.

He refreshed the backend on San Yao’s platform over and over again, until the icon representing Cheng Feng’s victory burned itself into his brain. Only then did he finally accept that Cheng Feng had really won – that it wasn’t some system bug or technical error.

Not only had she won, she had won decisively – steady, solid, without room for dispute.

In an instant, Mr. Kong’s whole world brightened.

He got to his feet and turned in a daze, not knowing who he should find to celebrate with. He walked out the door and immediately ran into an instructor. Without even seeing who it was, he grabbed the man by the shoulders and blurted out, “Cheng Feng won! A manual-operated mech beat Jiang Linxia!”

“I know!” the instructor opposite him pried his hands off with a helpless smile. “I’m on my way to submit the proctoring report right now. Go find someone else to chat with first, will you?”

Mr. Kong raised a hand to cover his face and scrubbed hard at it, telling himself to calm down. Then he pulled out his optical computer from his pocket and checked the flood of messages pouring through the teaching and research group chat.

It wasn’t just UFU – heads of manual operation program from military universities all over had sent their congratulations.

The group chat was filled with people hammering out all kinds of meaningless messages. No one cared anymore about breaking group rules.

“Congrats, Mr. Kong. Truly a once-in-a-lifetime moment.”

“Never thought it would end with idealism winning.”

“You really should thank Mr. Luo. You spent years cursing him for nothing, and in the end it was the two of you together who trained a competitor like Cheng Feng.”

“If manually-operated mechs aren’t limited by structural constraints, does that mean technical upgrades focusing on stronger data analysis are viable?”

“I think the code for equipment switching can be streamlined even further – might as well push the advantages of manual control to the absolute limit.”

“In the end, it still comes down to hand speed.”

Mr. Kong felt his eyes grow warm as he read. He replied in the group chat with a few words, thanking everyone for their attention and support.

He had never expected that his rather idealistic “prediction-based” combat theory would one day be brought to life by one of his own students. The truth was, even he himself had never held much hope for it. He had only put it forward as a “joke” at the forefront of his theories because he couldn’t find a viable path forward for manual-operated mechs.

Cheng Feng’s victory wasn’t merely proof of her individual strength – it also gave direction to Mr. Kong’s years of research.

An idea that had clearly seemed “unrealistic” had, through Cheng Feng’s hands, become a new cornerstone for the development of manual-operated mechs.

Mr. Kong strode outside with long steps, every footfall feeling strangely weightless. His vision blurred with a gray-white mist of tears, leaving him able to see only vague outlines.

He blinked hard, suppressing the sting in his eyes. Before he had even sorted out his emotions, he grabbed hold of a short figure barreling recklessly forward.

“What are you doing? No running in the exam area!” Mr. Kong held her by the shoulders. Even his warning sounded completely lacking in severity.

After a pause, he asked, “You’re one of this year’s candidates, right? Do you know Cheng Feng won?”

“I know.” Cheng Feng used a finger to push up the brim of her cap. “Guess who I am.”

Mr. Kong lowered his head and saw her face clearly. Instantly overwhelmed, he cupped her face in both hands and cried out, “Cheng Feng! You’re my pride! I was just about to come find you! How did you prepare before the match? Do you think your fighting style can be widely adopted? Didn’t this kind of combat wear you out too much?”

Cheng Feng was being kneaded around by him so much that she could barely speak. Faced with this towering six-foot-three man with tears glimmering in his eyes, she truly had no idea what to say.

Then, as her gaze shifted, she caught sight of Jiang Linxia coming out of another exam hall.

She hurriedly broke free from Mr. Kong’s grip and charged toward him.

Jiang Linxia’s expression was awful. His right foot slid back a step at lightning speed as he said warily, “What are you doing? There’s no tradition of post-match trash talk in round four. If you’re here to gloat, I’m not listening!”

Mr. Kong hurried over right behind her.

Jiang Linxia was a little intimidated by this hot-tempered teacher and added in a quieter voice, “No calling in outside reinforcements!”

“Fight me again!”

Cheng Feng’s face was slightly flushed. The excitement and frenzy left behind by the surge of adrenaline still lingered in her mind, and her fingers unconsciously continued the motion of typing code.

She wanted to remember this feeling.

This feeling was incredibly precious.

After months of training, this was the first time she had so clearly grasped this rhythm.

“Your performance today was amazing!” Cheng Feng praised him with painfully obvious fake flattery. “You’re incredible, Brother Jiang!”

Jiang Linxia shot her a sidelong glance and refused coldly, “No.”

Seeing him about to leave, Cheng Feng grabbed his sleeve and softened her tone. “Come on. Just one more match.”

Mr. Kong chimed in from the side, “Just one more match.”

Cheng Feng said, “Please? I’m begging you.”

Without thinking, Mr. Kong echoed, “Begging you.”

Jiang Linxia shuddered violently and stared at Mr. Kong in horror. Every trace of gloom from his defeat was instantly scared away.

Were the people in the manual operations department really all this shamelessly flexible – from top to bottom?

The proctor from the classroom next door caught wind of the commotion and stuck his head out the window, eyes gleaming as he stared at them. Then he shot Jiang Linxia a look full of admiration.

This was the first student ever to make Mr. Kong yield!

What an impressive way to lose! Who else could lose a match and still end up being treasured like this by the manual operations department?

Jiang Linxia was amazing!

At this point, Mr. Kong couldn’t care less about anything else. Who could possibly resist the humble request of their star student?

With a face full of benevolence, he reached a hand toward Jiang Linxia. “Kid…”

Jiang Linxia gave a violent shudder and hurriedly cut him off. “Okay, okay, okay! You win! I’m scared of you! Premium sparring partner service, free of charge – this is a one-time deal!”

Cheng Feng grabbed him and dragged him back into a vacant simulator room nearby.

Mr. Kong leaned against the doorway, his eyes brimming with nearly overflowing relief and pride as he watched them log into the equipment.

If his superiors hadn’t kept urging him to go back for a meeting, he would’ve stayed to watch another round.

What a pity.

…

As the moon gradually rose, the noisy campus slowly sank into the stillness of an autumn night. The impulsiveness and fiery passion of youth also gradually calmed beneath the advancing darkness.

By the time Cheng Feng returned to her dorm, it was already ten at night. She bought two buns from the vending machine downstairs and devoured them in a few bites. Only then did the hunger fully hit her. After hesitating for a moment, she dragged her heavy steps back to the machine and bought two more.

Shen Dan was in the living room with one foot on the sofa cushion and the other on the backrest. When Cheng Feng pushed the door open, she was passionately reading a report aloud to their other two roommates.

“One of the most criticized weaknesses of manual-operated mechs in combat has now been given a reasonable answer through Cheng Feng’s performance in this match… Oh! My hero, you’re back!”

Shen Dan pulled her foot back and tossed a cushion toward her.

“I believe only Cheng Feng – someone who is both a data analyst and a manual-control pilot – could have handed in an answer sheet like this… Sit here first.”

Cheng Feng sat down on the soft cushion, stretched out her limbs, and let out a long breath.

One roommate immediately brought over a hand therapy device.

Another roommate ran behind her and started massaging her shoulders.

Shen Dan held up her optical computer in front of Cheng Feng, scrolling through the screen for her to review.

Before long, the little owl also dashed out of the room and perched on Cheng Feng’s lap, enthusiastically welcoming her home.

Overwhelmed by the attention, Cheng Feng froze stiffly on the sofa, too nervous to move.

“What are you all doing?” she asked.

One roommate raised a finger and said mysteriously, “You’ve brought two entire disciplines to the peak of professional glory at the same time!”

“From now on, if anyone dares say data analysts are just people who connect lines on charts, I can finally hold my head high and curse them out – trash!”

Shen Dan rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “I think there may still be hope for my manual-operated mech after all.”

At first, Cheng Feng still didn’t quite understand what was going on, but she could at least comment on Shen Dan’s part. “I think… that one probably won’t work.”

She shifted her gaze to the remaining half of the paper on the optical computer.

“Cheng Feng’s absolute advantages in this match:

“First, her exceptional equipment-switching speed. The major military universities in the Alliance are never short of geniuses with fast hand speed; I believe top students can also achieve this.

“Second, her targeted selection of components – this is a huge advantage of manual-operated mechs that is often overlooked! It relies heavily on rich combat experience.

“Third, the concealment of manual-operated mechs and the analyzability of sensor-based mechs. The analysis techniques for individual mecha units in Command B-type courses are not a key exam point, but for a preliminary analysis, the difficulty is actually not very high. I think it is worth attempting.”

What followed was a series of highly meticulous analytical reports. The level of modeling sophistication and the clarity of the auxiliary diagrams made it obvious that the author was an expert.

Shen Dan had already skipped over most of that.

Near the conclusion, Cheng Feng noticed that the author had also cited her first two matches, using them to defend her from multiple angles. Almost all of the conclusions aligned with what she herself had been thinking at the time.

“The facts prove that Cheng Feng is not arrogant, nor is she an insult. The process of exploring a new path is inevitably clumsy, and she has, by feeling her way across stepping stones, truly pushed open a new door for manual-operated mechs.

“Whether the world behind that door is ultimately correct remains unverified for now, but I believe it is extremely cruel to impose harsh and hostile language on such a simple and steady young person.

“Looking forward to more exciting performances in this year’s league.”

Shen Dan wanted Cheng Feng to see the comments from netizens. With a sweeping gesture, she pulled the screen all the way down to the bottom.

“So the earlier matches were just because the opponents were too weak for her to fully operate?”

“Those who mocked her should apologize for their earlier rudeness!”

“Good thing the league bans gambling, otherwise the rooftops would be packed tonight.”

“I actually don’t really understand it – was the preliminary analysis really not that difficult? Is Cheng Feng able to do it only because she has fought Jiang Linxia countless times? Every prediction requires massive amounts of data and information, but can a manual-control pilot really process that?”

“I think it’s possible. In the final stage of today’s match against Jiang Linxia, it was basically a showcase of switching techniques. I asked someone in the relevant field – it’s not 100% certain, but it does feel feasible.”

“The manual operations department should add a data analysis course.”

Cheng Feng nodded along with an “mm-hmm,” then scrolled back up to look at the model and asked, “Who wrote this? They’re practically a role model for us data analysts.”

“It’s a very well-known anonymous account. I don’t know who it is either. But judging from the quality of the report, the industry tends to recognize it.”

Shen Dan sighed and said with great longing, “I want to be a pioneer of manual-operated mechs too.”