Chapter 13: Ice and Fire Mech Combat (8)
“The battle begins!” the announcer shouted loudly. “After so many ambushes, we’ve actually already guessed how Rong Mi would make his move!”
“With lightning speed, he unexpectedly breaks through the safety distance between mechs and takes the initiative! Boldly announcing to his opponent that he’s not someone to mess with!”
The purple spiritual energy surged with an intimidating force. The opponent’s mech had no idea that Rong Mi’s speed would be this fast.
He immediately leaped back to avoid, and after realizing Rong Mi wasn’t easy to deal with, he decisively raised his gun and stopped engaging with Rong Mi, choosing instead to head towards the rally point on the slope.
“Very good! The opponent chose to fight back while on the move, thinking that if he could hold Rong Mi off, reaching the rally point would guarantee his safety! That makes things even easier for Rong Mi…! I have to say, this was really a terrible decision for the attacked contestant!”
Rong Mi’s black mech advanced amidst blooming purple flames.
The mech ahead slowed down, needing to watch out for the tree spiders in the woods. But this mech pilot didn’t feel there was anything wrong with his decision.
At the same time, he could use the cover of the trees to force Rong Mi to change course by aiming his laser gun. Although Rong Mi was fast, the pilot knew Rong Mi wasn’t aware of the tree spider distribution ahead and could lure him into hitting the web.
Just as he thought this, the purple spiritual energy lines appeared through the woods, sending out vibrations that caused the nearby tree spiders and webs to fall.
Rong Mi: “Now this feels nice!!”
Without the webs, he pursued his target without any reservations.
The battle pet floating ball inside the mech swayed back and forth with the rapid directional changes of the mech, keeping balance. Inside the ball, the silver wolf raised its head, focusing on Rong Mi.
The young man’s excellent control over his mech allowed him to achieve speeds that most other pilots couldn’t replicate.
Lu Yi knew that Rong Mi would once again quickly overwhelm his opponent.
Rong Mi’s mech moved like a ghost, weaving through the trees.
“Twenty-first!” Rong Mi slammed his opponent’s mech chest in, denting it. Even the internal cockpit defense shell was twisted. The opponent’s pilot was so frightened that he immediately gave up, pressing the button to request rescue.
The black mech flicked its hand. Rong Mi glanced at his score and then looked at the remaining time in the competition.
The closer the competition was to ending, the more contestants gathered in the woods. The situation in the woods became complicated, no longer suitable for ambushes.
“Let’s check the ranking now… second place. The competition is about to end, so this ranking should be secure.” Rong Mi muttered to himself, turning to the silver wolf, “Still haven’t met your unreliable master yet?”
Seeing the wolf’s indifferent attitude, it was clear that its master wasn’t among the ones he had just ambushed.
Silver Wolf: “…”
Inside the floating ball, the wolf, resembling a plush toy, turned its head and wagged its tail.
“Don’t like me calling your master unreliable?” Rong Mi changed direction, heading towards the rally point. “Then let’s go meet him!”
The black mech adjusted its course, heading towards the top of the mountain.
At the top of the woods, a harmless laser line marked the finish line. Right behind the finish line was the boarding corridor of a large competition starship.
There were no buildings on Desolate Star; all the competitors had arrived in this starship. The live broadcast room, rescue pods, small rescue star parking storage, and port were all on this starship.
As per the procedure, after the competition ended, contestants would drive their mechs into the starship’s isolation chamber, stow away their mechs, return the mech’s space button to the program team, and then enter their rest quarters to await the final results.
Rong Mi walked towards the finish line, about to board the ship, when he suddenly noticed a faint sound.
The sound was small and came from below the competition starship in front of him. It seemed like some special-frequency transmitter installed at the bottom of the starship was working.
At the same moment the sound occurred, holographic fireworks shot out from above the competition starship, covering the entire sky.
The special effects of the fireworks completely masked the sound.
If it weren’t for Rong Mi’s sharp spiritual energy and his particular sensitivity to such sounds, he would’ve completely ignored that brief and faint noise.
“Congratulations to contestant 373, Rong Mi!”
Several circular cameras emerged from the side platform of the starship, surrounding Rong Mi’s mech, preparing to capture the moment he exited his mech.
“Congratulations, Rong Mi!” the announcer dutifully shouted. “Thank you for the spectacular performance he has brought us! His maneuvers are truly astounding!”
“Next! Our contestant Rong Mi will be exiting his mech! I’m sure everyone is eagerly anticipating his appearance! We’ll be seeing him shortly… huh?”
The announcer’s voice faltered: “Rong Mi’s mech… why did it suddenly stop?”
“Boom boom! Boom…”
On the arena’s desolate star, the fireworks’ special effects continued to play without interruption, and Rong Mi could no longer hear the faint buzzing sound amidst the spectacle.
But he knew that the sound had been there all along, never ceasing.
This sound mimicked the special buzzing noise made by the Ice Butterfly clan’s wings, simulating the unique communication signal of the Ice Butterflies.
“Food…”
Rong Mi furrowed his brows, trying to recall the tone of the sound he had just heard and comparing it to the frequencies he knew for the Ice Butterfly clan, “…Prey.”
Rong Mi: “…”
He stood at the top of the slope, looking down at the forest below.
With fifteen minutes left until the end of the competition, all the contestants had already gathered near the rally point. Though his view was obscured by the trees, Rong Mi could imagine how many mechs were moving up the slope.
For the Ice Butterflies, they were indeed food.
As far as Rong Mi knew, this kind of signal was typically emitted by lower-level Ice Butterflies when they realized they couldn’t catch prey on their own, signaling higher-level Ice Butterflies.
They hoped that the advanced Ice Butterflies would come here in person to hunt these powerful, energy-rich prey, which would also aid the evolution of the advanced Ice Butterflies.
Rong Mi had some misunderstandings about the current mech competitions, but he wasn’t oblivious.
As all the contestants were gathering towards the competition starship, this signal was being emitted from the starship prepared by the program team… It didn’t bode well.
This kind of signal would undoubtedly heighten the advanced Ice Butterflies’ desire to feed.
And emitting such a signal felt almost like the program organizers were hoping to attract the advanced Ice Butterflies, setting up nearly five hundred contestants to become a feast for them.
“The organizers of this program couldn’t be members of the so-called human parasites from the old era, the Ice Butterfly Symbiosis Society, could they?” Rong Mi muttered. “Things are about to get interesting.”
The communication devices between the contestants couldn’t connect, and they could only converse within short distances using the mech’s external speakers. He couldn’t warn the approaching mech pilots.
Even if he warned them, they might not believe him.
“Why is Rong Mi stopping right before the finish line?” viewers in the live-stream’s comment section wondered. “Hey, by the way, is the signal cutting out again? There’s some static on my screen!”
“I have it here too! What’s going on with the program team? There shouldn’t be any energy interference now, right? Is this program even still running smoothly? The announcer’s voice is all choppy!”
“Rong Mi… What is he… doing…” The announcer’s voice came in and out, as several cameras rotated around Rong Mi’s mech. They saw that Rong Mi not only hadn’t crossed the finish line but had even taken a step back.
“We’re probably in for a tough battle,” Rong Mi said as he tilted his head towards the silver wolf in the cockpit. “You stay in the ball and don’t use your spiritual power or come out.”
As he spoke, the battle pet ball made a soft click, and Rong Mi locked the safety. The purple collar around the wolf’s neck emitted a faint glow, restricting the silver wolf’s power.
The wolf, which had been lying down, now stood up.
Its front paws rested on the inner side of the battle pet ball, its sharp claws leaving scratches on the surface as it clearly wanted to get out. The wolf’s tail thrashed inside the ball, its gaze directed downward as it growled threateningly.
“I know, you’re down there, aren’t you? I can feel it too.” Rong Mi adjusted his helmet.
The silver wolf turned its gaze towards the young man, its temper slightly subsiding, and gave an impatient whine.
Wolf: “Awooo!”
Take off the collar! Let me out!
Rong Mi pretended not to understand the silver wolf’s words.
A rumble could now be faintly heard from the ground below, like a response to the sound waves sent by the starship.
“Awooo… Awooo!”
The wolf’s howls grew more urgent. Rong Mi smiled.
“Don’t worry,” the young man said. “Based on the energy signature, this should be a level-three advanced Ice Butterfly. It’s not unbeatable. The problem is, this mech is just too crappy…”
“As for the other contestants… I can’t warn them right now. But when the advanced Ice Butterflies show up, they’ll figure out what they need to do.”