He raised his hand, ready to fire, when the two mech components moved together with Cheng Feng.
The two weapon depots moved at astonishing speed, throwing their bay doors wide open as they charged toward Xiang Yunjian.
Xiang Yunjian dodged aside and tried to retreat, only to find that one weapon depot had circled around behind him. A well-timed cannon blast forced him forward. He prepared to charge ahead, but Cheng Feng looped back around, and the depot behind him fired with a thunderous roar.
Twice Xiang Yunjian tried to break out, and both times he was driven back by shells that appeared just in time – so much so that he truly felt as if he were being besieged by three mechs.
How was this possible?
His expression darkened. He summoned a defensive shield and once again charged to the left.
Once more, artillery fire roared in preemptive response.
Not only that – the two depots began to intensify their barrage.
With them moving at high speed, Xiang Yunjian could not accurately track their attack trajectories. Cheng Feng probably wasn’t aiming for precision either; the goal was merely to restrict his movement.
This kind of indiscriminate, wide-area assault didn’t require accuracy either.
How was this possible?!
The thought surfaced again.
Xiang Yunjian furrowed his brow slightly, a hint of unmistakable gravity creeping into his startled expression.
Dazzling red light flickered on all sides. Caught at the heart of the battle, there was no way he could be without fear in the face of danger.
His gaze darted rapidly across the various monitor feeds. His mech swiftly shifted to a defensive posture, all while he kept moving, searching for any opening to break through.
A single person could not operate three machines simultaneously – so the two weapon depots must have been set on pre-programmed autopilot routes, with Cheng Feng adjusting from the side to provide supporting fire.
Xiang Yunjian had barely made a move when that slender, the manual-operated mech closed in at once, raising its cannon barrel and aiming straight at him.
Even with Breaking Army’s agile movements, this coordinated strike came far too suddenly. In the blink of an eye, his mech still took some damage.
Fortunately, the swift-attack weapons weren’t highly destructive. Xiang Yunjian dodged the two heavy shells coming head-on, and though his mech’s damage indicator spiked upward in the warning display, it stayed within the 60% threshold.
Everything happened in an extremely short span of time – perhaps just two or three seconds, maybe a little more.
In combat, any hesitation or delay could lead to defeat.
Xiang Yunjian had no time to overthink. He looked up, fixing his gaze on Cheng Feng, and charged straight toward the manual-operated mech before the barrage could grow even denser.
Routes could be pre-programmed, and attacks could be pre-scripted, but a high-speed encirclement program this deliberate couldn’t possibly ignore the risk of friendly fire.
The two mechs drew closer and closer. Cheng Feng, worried about friendly fire – after all, her mech’s defense was now frailer than Breaking Army’s – had no choice but to retract her heavy cannon and pull back to the side. At the same time, she urgently adjusted her flight path, pulling her two “clones” back around to re-encircle Breaking Army.
The cannon fire that missed them either blasted into the surrounding high-rises or struck the flat ground below.
Soon, the entire scene was consumed by nothing but thunderous bombardment. Smoke and dust shrouded the battlefield, and the audience could only rely on sound to gauge the situation unfolding within.
Passionate. Intense.
That was what the scorching-hot cannon barrels told them.
“Excellent! Beautiful! I wonder just how much damage this coordinated assault has dealt to Xiang Yunjian. What I can say for certain is that if it were any other examinee, this would have been a devastating blow!” Ms. Su exclaimed repeatedly. “Admin, could you please pull up Cheng Feng’s control panel?”
The control panel of a manual-operated mech is extremely complex. Due to its transformation capability, the number of data monitors is several times that of a sensor-driven mech.
Ms. Su could basically read it, but she wasn’t a specialist in analysis.
Mr. Luo leaned in, called out a few key data points, and asked the admin to pull up the two weapon depots’ operational routes separately. He explained, “As you can see, the encirclement formed by these two red dots isn’t actually very tight, so they rely on heavy firepower to suppress the target. Meanwhile, Cheng Feng’s main unit provides auxiliary attacks from the gaps.”
These routes must have been planned out by Cheng Feng before the match even began –
based on the speed of the mech components, the attack frequency of the weapon depots, and leveraging the manual-operated mech’s autopilot function to form a devastatingly powerful encirclement.
“This encirclement isn’t perfect – these two positions, for example. Also, the target won’t just sit there and wait for death; they’ll definitely keep charging around in all directions. So even though it’s on autopilot, the pilot still needs to react in time and make adjustments.” Mr. Luo drew a few lines on the diagram and said steadily, “Under this kind of sudden, high-pressure situation, most examinees would find it very difficult to dodge safely while also calmly and methodically searching for weak points. Theoretically speaking, this kind of encirclement is more than sufficient for practical combat.”
Ms. Su did not hold back her praise. “Cheng Feng has surprised me! I didn’t expect her to create such a powerful offensive after separating her mech! I originally thought she focused too much on the ‘surprise’ aspect of a surprise attack, lacking follow-up responses and contingency plans if things went wrong. Destroying half of Breaking Army’s arm was already the maximum damage she could achieve – anything after that was just a last-ditch struggle. I was wrong, Mr. Luo. I should have known that Cheng Feng, as a data analyst, would never face an opponent like Xiang Yunjian without thorough preparation! A great teacher produces great students! Today, my students have taught me another lesson.”
She let out two hearty laughs after speaking – a stark contrast to the cool, composed image she had projected at the start of the broadcast.
She was watching a student steadily advance toward the pinnacle – her skills, her mindset, her ingenuity all shining brightly, filling a gap in the domain of manual-operated mechs, engaging in a battle worthy of being recorded by countless onlookers.
For an educator, how gratifying it is to see outstanding students emerge from the university, and remarkable young talents rise in the Alliance.
Her laughter was infectious, even against the backdrop of roaring gunfire.
Mr. Luo, hearing her praise for Cheng Feng, couldn’t help but smile as well – though it quickly faded, and he said in a grave tone, “However, the weapon depots have limited capacity. This kind of sustained bombardment can’t last forever. The key is still whether Cheng Feng herself can seize this opportunity to land a decisive blow on Breaking Army.”
No sooner had he spoken than the relentless barrage of cannon fire quietly ceased – the two encircling weapon depots were finally spent.
With the firepower momentarily halted, several wind cannons fired in unison, scattering the surrounding smoke and dust. At the same time, the camera zoomed in, cutting through the thick haze at the edges to capture a relatively clear view at the heart of the battlefield.
The audience saw the two mechs still standing, and their hearts tightened. Countless people were all thinking the same question at that moment: How are you still not dead, Breaking Army?!
These two were both way too durable today!
“Xiang Yunjian’s got skill!” Ms. Su said. “This just goes to show that a pilot’s own positioning can be more useful than mech armor in a critical moment. Xiang Yunjian is steady!”
Xiang Yunjian’s mech damage was now at 69%. That chaotic combined assault had still dealt him tremendous damage. But he had managed to hold on to his most crucial weapons, biding his time until his opponent’s resources were depleted, and then launched a fierce counterattack with all the killing intent he had stored up.
Cheng Feng, having lost her two supporting depots, didn’t hesitate to retreat.
The two chased and fled, both unleashing relentless attacks against each other.
Even while intercepting incoming fire, Cheng Feng found moments to strike back. With the weapon depots she had dodged, her manual-operated mech actually seemed to have a slight edge over the now-degraded Breaking Army.
But that advantage didn’t last long. Cheng Feng’s counterattacks ceased, and her retreating figure looked utterly desperate.
One of her intercepting shots went wide, and she was hit by Breaking Army’s weapon -her mech damage shot straight up to 80%. The already teetering manual-operated mech looked even more fragile.
One more hit –
One more hit and Cheng Feng’s mech would be out of the fight!
“What’s wrong?” Ms. Su said. “Cheng Feng’s not in good form?”
Mr. Luo frowned and let out a very soft sigh. “Her fingers are giving out.”
Ms. Su realized belatedly. “Ah… right.”
She always tended to overlook the fact that Cheng Feng, too, could suffer from the common weaknesses of manual-operated mech pilots.
Cheng Feng had been controlling the pace of the match very well, using simple code scripts to relieve the strain on her fingers – a level of fine-tuned regulation that most students lacked. But this time, she had clearly been pushed into a desperate corner by Xiang Yunjian.
The two autopiloted components might have seemed like they required no attention from Cheng Feng, but having her mech weave in and out for attacks on the side still placed tremendous strain on her.
Cornering a pilot like Xiang Yunjian was no simple feat.
With three components lost, the manual-control mech’s performance was even more crippled. The fact that Cheng Feng could hold her ground against Xiang Yunjian for this long with nothing but her own skill was already remarkable.
Ms. Su said gravely, “Regardless of the match’s outcome, the power Cheng Feng has displayed is not something anyone should underestimate.”
The audience all knew the battle was nearing its end, yet they didn’t dare look away or speak for fear of missing some crucial development. They held back their surging excitement, waiting for Xiang Yunjian to deliver the decisive blow and end the match.
On screen, the barely surviving manual-control mech did something utterly baffling once again – it fired a high-damage heavy cannon shot toward an empty area off to the side.
Cheng Feng had already missed once before, so the audience didn’t pay it much mind. They just figured her aim really was at its limit – she’d actually made two mistakes now.
Out of caution, Xiang Yunjian paused his attack, swept his camera over, and zoomed in.
The glimpse of black protruding from the rubble, along with the warning indicator on his mech’s display, sent a jolt through him – it confirmed that something was indeed hidden there: the manual-operated mech’s cockpit!
Generally speaking, although the pilot of a manual-operated mech is separated from the mech itself, and the cockpit has a distance limit, in San Fao’s settings – since this was a one-on-one duel and piloting skill had already been tested in the individual ability assessment – the system would allow players to choose a spot on the map to hide their cockpit. Even a basement would work.
The system disregards the actual distance to the mech, transmitting data at optimal range speed at all times.
Over so many league tournaments, the number of times a cockpit has actually been blasted out is negligible. If you went back through the records, you could probably count them on one hand.
The live broadcast admin kept zooming in, their shock unmistakable. The audience, now alerted, also widened their eyes in unison. Even Xiang Yunjian was momentarily stunned.
Then they saw Cheng Feng lift her head and look straight in his direction through the transparent cockpit window. Her brows were furrowed, her gaze sharp – she glanced over and then looked away, that fierce, ambitious killing intent still lingering on her delicate features.
Xiang Yunjian sensed an unprecedented sense of crisis from this anomaly – stronger even than when he had been caught in Cheng Feng’s encirclement.
The cockpit is the lifeblood of a manual-control mech. Any normal person would hide it in the safest possible place and subconsciously steer clear of it during battle – not do what Cheng Feng did, deliberately luring him to this very spot.
It was as if, midway through a fierce fight, the opponent suddenly pulled out an object and said, “Let me show you something big.”
And this really might be something big – because on the roof of that armored vehicle sat an entire row of high-damage cannons. After scanning Breaking Army’s position, the system had automatically activated.
The vehicle couldn’t move, so this kind of fixed-position firing wasn’t hard to dodge.
Xiang Yunjian’s reflexes were still sharp – before the audience or the commentators could even process what was happening, he had already dodged in the direction away from Cheng Feng.
But before he could even steady himself, a cannon blast struck from above.
Xiang Yunjian watched in disbelief as his mech’s damage shot up to 91% under that direct hit. The mech toppled over, his vision spinning. Before he could even locate the source of the attack, Cheng Feng’s mech chased after him and fired another shot.
This time, the golden victory icon finally appeared, officially signaling the end of the match.
Yet the comment section of the livestream showed no congratulations – just another wave of question marks flooding the screen.
The audience inside the venue looked around in bewilderment. Under the shifting lights, they saw the same confusion mirrored on the faces of those around them.
Then, a clamor erupted like boiling water coming to a roaring boil.
“What just happened? I only blinked!”
“How did Xiang Yunjian die?”
“Did San Yao finally cave and enable cheats?”
“What? Did Cheng Feng trigger a bug?”
“I feel like I missed something, but I can’t remember what.”
“Ah, whatever. I’m fine with either of them winning.”
On the livestream, the camera slowly panned upward and zoomed in on a tall building across from the cockpit. Magnified, they could see it was the first mech component that Xiang Yunjian had struck. The defensive shell bore a clear dent, and it was now hanging upside down from a window, a wisp of white smoke curling up from its cannon muzzle.
In unison, the crowd let out a collective: “Oh—-”
Case closed!
Then, scattered applause began, growing louder and louder until it swelled into a wave that seemed ready to burst through the venue’s roof.
Belated shock surged forth from beneath the surface. One by one, the audience rose to their feet, shouting Cheng Feng’s name at the top of their lungs.
“Cheng Feng, you’re awesome!”
“Cheng Feng, you’re the pride of our Command Department!”
“You’ve truly mastered the manual-operated mech!”
“My scalp is tingling! Cheng Feng, which one is your real trump card?!
“Whichever one deals damage is the trump card!”
“That’s called an ace, alright?”
“Cheng Feng is the ace of manual-operated mechs!”
The commentators’ closing remarks were drowned out by the overwhelming wave of noise.
“This match is officially over. Congratulations to Cheng Feng for taking the MV – oh, sorry, congratulations to Cheng Feng for taking the victory! And thank you to Xiang Yunjian for his outstanding performance. Audience members inside the venue, please exit in an orderly manner according to your seats. The audience for the next match will be entering shortly…”
