Chapter 60

Chapter 60

Unfortunately, the arena only supports communication among players of the same team.

Bai Sha gazed at the three mechas in the distance, falling into a moment of silence.

"What strategy should we use in a bit?" Cen Yuehuai asked.

"No specific strategy for now. Xino and I will lead the offense, and you provide support from the back. Stay away from the battlefield and be careful not to get dragged in," Xino advised. "The three opponents are level II. Although their strength might be average, it’s a group battle, and you could get eliminated quickly if you're not careful."

Cen Yuehuai was using a standard mecha provided by the arena, and so were their three opponents. However, the arena's mechas are standard without exceptionally strong defenses.

Cen Yuehuai lifted her weapon, 'Rainbow Rain': "Understood. Just tell me whom to focus fire on."

"Your Highness... Your Highness?"

Bai Sha snapped back to reality: "Hmm?"

Cen Yuehuai: "Why are you daydreaming?"

"The terrain of this battlefield is complex, we need to be cautious," Bai Sha noted.

The main feature of the battlefield was a black peak by a snow-capped lake, with a small plateau at the top. Apart from a few jagged rocks, there was little cover. The edge of the mountain was a steep gorge, pitch black and seemingly bottomless.

Cold winds carried fine snow, constantly drifting from the sky.

Meanwhile, the audience watching the match also entered the live broadcast channel one after another.

[The battlefield is the peak of a snowy mountain? Tsk, why do all the IDs in the red team seem so quirky?]

[That 'Defy Me If You Dare' is a level 5 player?! Leading two level 1s... all newbies? Has anyone seen these two IDs before?]

[I've seen the battle record of 'Bright Moonlight Woof Woof', just a few minutes ago they were in a rookie match. A pure newbie, confirmed.]

[Why is there a level 5 expert in the red team coming here to fish in troubled waters?]

[Look at the blue team... they've won ten matches in a row and risen to level 2. They haven't lost a single game so far.]

[This just got interesting, didn't it?]

Soon, the thirty-second countdown displayed on the screen ended.

Both teams rushed into the arena, setting up their formations.

"Xino, keep a close eye on 'Quiet Self-Cultivation' and 'Droplets Rain on Mountain Mist.' We'll take the high ground first to give Yuehuai a chance to fire," Bai Sha instructed.

Cen Yuehuai was known for her accurate long-range shots.

Xino: "Understood. What about the other one?"

Bai Sha: "He's like Yuehuai, a support, but could also be the commander."

It depended on whether the team's command was in Zhou Xiang's or Ya Ning's hands.

Indeed, the enemy's "Droplets Rain on Mountain Mist" was undoubtedly Zhou Xiang. "Quiet Self-Cultivation" was Yan Jingyi. As for the remaining "What to Eat Today"... the ID had Ya Ning's personal style written all over it.

Bai Sha seemed quite familiar with the opposing team. Although Xino and Cen Yuehuai noticed this, they didn't have time to delve into the reasons, instead choosing to follow Bai Sha's lead.

The teams engaged in combat.

The opening was a traditional one-on-one. Xino, wielding his saber, clashed with Yan Jingyi's metal whip, both showing strong momentum. Bai Sha, with her long spear, tentatively exchanged a few moves with Zhou Xiang and found his style to be the same as before—precise, calm, without any superfluous movements. Cen Yuehuai, with her wings spread, maneuvered skillfully to provide support, occasionally exchanging shots with the similarly roaming Ya Ning, not showing any signs of weakness.

Then, suddenly, the situation changed.

Ya Ning, who had been exchanging fire with Cen Yuehuai, started to retreat, drawing the battle line in. Cen Yuehuai, following instinctively, found herself unexpectedly caught as Xino and Yan Jingyi's positions shifted during their fight—Yan Jingyi's whip lashed out, but not at Xino, targeting Cen Yuehuai instead.

Xino wanted to intervene but saw Yaning suddenly charge in his mecha, transforming its hand into a rotating turret and launching several tracking missiles at Xino.

Xino's long sword swept through, destroying the tracking missiles, and then cleaved through the scattering black mist in the air.

At that moment, Zhou Xiang's mech ejected dazzling blue light from its engine. Silently wielding his sword, he charged toward Cen Yuehuai, who was about to be ensnared by the whip—along with Ya Ning and Jingyi, they formed a pincer attack from three directions!

However, Bai Sha was even faster. She burned energy recklessly, her long spear striking like a dragon towards Zhou Xiang's face. Zhou Xiang instinctively bent backward to block with his light sword, only to see Bai Sha suddenly raise her spear and, without looking, fire several shots behind her, striking Yan Jingyi's metal whip with uncanny precision.

Cen Yuehuai, startled, quickly retreated, her mech almost leaving afterimages, narrowly dodging Yan Jingyi's whip.

Cen Yuehuai: "Damn, that scared me! Why did they suddenly all come at me?!"

Xino quickly came to her aid: "Did they figure out you're our team's weak link?"

"It's not that they're that perceptive. It must be their tactic," Bai Sha said, distancing herself from Zhou Xiang. "Look carefully at their formation, doesn't it look practiced?"

Xino, somewhat surprised yet expecting, said: "Are they from a military background?"

"Anyway, we can't let them target Yuehuai again. Break their formation," Bai Sha decisively ordered. "You guys head up the mountain, I'll cover our retreat."

Xino and Cen Yuehuai echoed in response.

Bai Sha, controlling her mech, charged at Zhou Xiang. Before he could counterattack, she suddenly leaped into the air, twisting sideways, stepping on Zhou Xiang's shoulder, vaulting over his slashing light sword, and climbing up the cliff.

Zhou Xiang and Jingyi quickly reacted, flying up to intercept Bai Sha, but a streak of black light flashed, and Bai Sha leaped agilely among the steep cliffs, her spear tip sweeping like a full moon, forcing Zhou Xiang and Jingyi towards the cliff sides.

Xino and Cen Yuehuai took the opportunity to swiftly ascend the mountain with their mechs.

[That 'I'm Not Human Anymore' is impressive, holding their own in a two against one situation without falling behind!]

[What kind of one against two is this? She just made two of them fly, did you see any damage to their mechs?]

[Please, just being able to make her opponents avoid her attacks already proves she's strong, okay?]

Soon, the enemy's three mechs caught up. Under the intentional pincer attack of Zhou Xiang and Jingyi, Bai Sha retreated after defending, but was pursued by Ya Ning from below, firing his gun. She dodged several bullets, which left black holes in the rock wall.

Just as Bai Sha was about to return fire, a gust swept in from her side. She leaned back to dodge Zhou Xiang’s light sword, but a cold, shimmering metal whip silently wrapped around her waist—

Yan Jingyi, gripping the whip with both hands, slid down the cliff without hesitation, dragging Bai Sha down with her in a one-on-one pull!

Bai Sha forcibly tore the metal whip off with her mech's hand and quickly adjusted her posture in mid-air. She and Yan Jingyi landed almost simultaneously, their view filled with a frost-white frozen lake surface—

Boom.

They landed heavily, creating several fierce cracks on the lake surface.

The sound of the ice cracking spread outward from under their feet, shattering into numerous indistinct ice floes. Suddenly losing balance, the ice floes beneath their feet looked ready to sink with a sway.

At that moment, Yan Jingyi, leveraging the length of her whip, attacked Bai Sha. Bai Sha dove forward, lowering her spear tip, and charged.

The two mechs tangled on the shattered ice surface, their attacks weaving densely. Many small ice floes beneath them had already sunk, leaving the entire lake surface riddled with holes. Some floes sunk completely after being stepped on once, reducing the stable ground they had. Despite this, their speed only increased—

She struck, she dodged. She attacked, she evaded.

The two fought fiercely, exchanging blows without much thought, as if relying purely on instinct. Their instincts had grasped each other's moves entirely: familiar with each other’s tactics and anticipating where the next strike would land. It was like an unspoken understanding.

The two mechs glided on the sinking ice surface with crisp movements and graceful postures, unable to injure each other, as if performing a ballroom dance.

[What the heck? All these flashy moves like a tiger, but the output is barely 0.5!]

[Are these two dancing or fighting?]

Bai Sha and Jingyi didn't care about the barrage of comments from the audience at this moment.

Bai Sha's offensive slightly slowed down.

Bai Sha knew that Jingyi must have recognized her.

As expected, Yan Jingyi suddenly stopped, stood still on the ice for a moment, then turned her head and left the icy surface, rushing back towards the mountains.

Bai Sha quickly followed her.

Just as they returned to the summit of the snowy mountain, they heard a series of explosions in the sky; Zhou Xiang and Xino collided mid-air, each falling off the cliff.

Bai Sha/Jingyi: "......"

They had just climbed up, and these two had gone down again.

As Xino fell, he plunged his sword into the cliffside, causing a cascade of stones to tumble down. He hung on his sword, stopping about ten meters from the mountain summit.

Zhou Xiang was in a more perilous situation. He had been forced by Xino to slide down one side of the mountain, with only a few small, protruding rocks under his feet to land on, and beyond that, a nearly vertical gorge.

Cen Yuehuai wanted to go down to assist Xino but was sent flying by Yan Jingyi's whip that arrived in time. Bai Sha quickly stepped forward, swinging her spear to protect her and fend off Jingyi's metal whip, signaling Jingyi to move elsewhere to continue their fight.

Yan Jingyi was silent for a second and then, as expected, left Cen Yuehuai aside and followed Bai Sha.

Cen Yuehuai: "?" What just happened?

Cen Yuehuai, gritting her teeth, got up from the ground and went to meet up with Xino. She knew that straying from Bai Sha or Xino's protective range was not a good idea.

Ya Ning Kelly, gun in hand, followed closely behind.

He had just climbed over a black rock when he saw streams of fire arrows shooting towards him from below.

It was Cen Yuehuai’s flame arrows.

She had anticipated that Ya Ning would follow and had hidden in the crevices of the rocks for an ambush.

Drawing her bow and steadying her breath, she aimed at Ya Ning’s constantly dodging figure and kept firing arrows.

Boom, boom, boom!

The flowing flames split into two arcing trajectories. If Ya Ning dodged one, he would inevitably be hit by the other!

Suddenly, Zhou Xiang appeared in mid-air, his movement elusive, and a dazzling sword light slashed down, blocking those flame arrows.

At the same time, Xino Us also climbed up from the cliff below.

The two teams were once again in a two-against-two situation.

They looked at each other from a distance, falling into silence.

[Both teams must be thinking, where’s my other teammate? Where did my big teammate go?]

[Meanwhile, their teammates are still entangled in a tender fight at the other end of the mountain summit.]

Both teams turned back to search for their teammates.

At the mountain summit, Bai Sha and Jingyi, deeply engaged in their fight, noticed their teammates arriving and had to regroup.

Zhou Xiang, Yan Jingyi, and Ya Ning's team regrouped, seeming to exchange a few words, and then all three focused their gaze on Bai Sha.

Bai Sha: "......"

The match was still being live-streamed. Was it really a good time for her to greet them?

However, Xino and Cen Huai misunderstood, stepping forward to shield Bai Sha, clearly indicating: What are you looking at? With us protecting the Princess, you won’t succeed!

Zhou Zhang/Jingyi/Yaning: "……"

The six again plunged into a chaotic battle.

Amid the fight, Xino said on the team channel: “What’s with these people, suddenly fighting like they're on a rampage!”

Bai Sha: “But their formation is completely disrupted now.”

Under Bai Sha's command, Cen Huai used the same tactic as Yaning had just employed, feigning weakness to lure Yaning into their encirclement. Yaning followed without hesitation, plunging into Bai Sha's trap. Xino pressed down on his sword handle with slight force, and the sharp blade suddenly broke into a three-section chain sword, slashing horizontally at Yaning. Yaning barely blocked the strike with his elbow shield but was pushed towards Cen Huai. Expecting Cen Huai to be unarmed for close combat and planning to dodge her bullets, he was surprised to see her Rainbow Rain transform into dual Yueya axes. Holding the axes, Cen Huai moved as fast as lightning, striking twice swiftly, disabling the joints of Yaning's mecha.

Yaning: “…” Wait, why are you so skilled at this?

Who would think of such a convoluted and bizarre way to disable a mecha?

Yaning instantly lost his ability to move, his arm hanging limply at his side.

Cen Huai didn’t have time to feel triumphant when suddenly, a powerful force pulled her. By the time she reacted, she was already flung into the air.

It was an enraged Jingyi!

She leapt like a spring, hooking her rear leg around Cen Huai's mecha’s neck, the other foot twisting on the ground, spinning 180 degrees in place, and heavily slamming the airborne Cen Huai to the ground.

This strike used nearly all her strength—Jingyi's mecha's leg thrusters even emitted faint blue smoke.

Cen Huai lay on her back, dizzy and disoriented, feeling as if her entire body had fallen apart, unable to get up for the moment.

Xino: “...Tsk.”

Both sides were now fully provoked.

Whips cracked in the air.

Swords hummed sharply.

Xino and Jingyi leaped simultaneously, their attacks intertwining. In the blink of an eye, they had exchanged several blows. Their combat strength was soaring, a stark contrast to their earlier demeanor!

[Wow! Were these two holding back this whole time?]

[Is this really a second-level group match? It feels more like level five!]

[‘I Defy You’ has always been level five. This match is like big fish in a small pond clashing! Luckily, they're only causing trouble for each other and sparing the innocent hearts of other competitors!]

A wave of excitement and joy began to ripple through the spectator channel.

As Xino and Jingyi battled fiercely and evenly, Bai Sha and Zhou Qiong couldn't sit idle either, rushing to assist their respective teammates.

In the end, both Xino and Jingyi's mechas were heavily damaged, but Xino was slightly gaining the upper hand.

At that moment, Bai Sha pierced Zhou Qiong's shoulder with a shot, while Zhou Qiong stabbed Bai Sha in the chest with a sword.

Xino and Jingyi both abruptly stopped.

Suddenly, Xino hurled his chain sword towards Zhou Qiong's neck. Zhou Qiong withdrew his sword and retreated, rolling to dodge, supporting himself with one hand on his lightsaber, attempting to slowly stand—

But then, a loud "bang" of a gunshot was heard.

An electromagnetic bullet hit his mecha's shoulder, precisely where Bai Sha had damaged it earlier.

Fizzing and crackling... bright blue light uncontrollably burst from the mecha. Zhou Qiong's mecha instantly collapsed to the ground.

Everyone turned to see: the shooter was Cen Huai!

“I won’t allow you… to hurt the princess…”

Cen Huai maintained her shooting stance for two seconds, then began to sway, collapsing to the ground with a thud.

There was a moment of silence in the arena.

It took a while before someone spoke up in the spectator channel:

【666666——】

[What kind of ultimate opportunistic fighter is this?]

[About the importance of a finishing blow... folks, remember to completely destroy your opponent's mecha after knocking them down, unless you want them to rise at a crucial moment and deliver a painful counterstrike…]

Bai Sha and Xino exchanged glances, clearly not expecting such a development.

Zhou Qiong and Yan Ning's mechas were declared completely inoperable, rendered immobile.

Only Jingyi's heavily scarred mecha remained.

She piloted her mecha to gaze at Bai Sha and Xino briefly, then pulled out a kinetic gun and aimed it at her own power core, firing a shot.

Subsequently, her black mecha collapsed instantly.

A giant transparent screen appeared above their heads.

"The simulated mecha combat match has concluded!"

"The victors are the Red Team — Moon Shines Bright (I), I Quit Being Human (I), and My Pride, What of It (V)! Let's congratulate them!"

After the system declared the winners, a thunderous cheer and shouts erupted from the simulated audience.

……

The participants exited the competition arena.

Just after returning to the rest area, Cen Yuehuai began to vomit into a trash bin, heaving for a long time without throwing up anything. Pale-faced, he looked up weakly and said, "Your Highness, this is just a virtual world, why is my head spinning so much? I feel like I'm going to die."

Recalling his own time being tormented by Uriel to the point of vomiting, Baisha patted her shoulder sympathetically, "You'll get used to it after a while."

Cen Yuehuai, with a cry-like tone, whined, "That person on the other team was way too harsh—"

"Be grateful," Baisha remarked sentimentally, "If you fought her face to face, she would have torn you apart."

Holding the trash bin, Cen Yuehuai asked, "Your Highness, do you know them? They are your friends from before, right?"

Baisha replied, "You figured it out?"

"It was obvious from your behavior, but we weren't sure at first," Sino Us shook his head and sighed, "Until that person, Jing something, was the only one left, she chose to end her own participation decisively. Someone as combative as her wouldn't give up or stop resisting as long as she could move. Her choice to end the match shows that winning or losing wasn't as important to her anymore—"

"The more important factor, of course, was you, Your Highness Baisha."

Baisha slightly raised his eyebrows, opened his light computer, and saw that his friend request to Jing Yi and others had been accepted. He initiated a location share for them to find him.

Looking down, Baisha said, "You guessed right. They are my friends from the Federation, friends I would trust with my life."

"What do you mean by friends you'd trust with your life?" Cen Yuehuai leaned back on the sofa, looking up curiously, "Could you elaborate?"

Baisha cleared her throat, "Among them, two grew up with me since childhood. As for the bond that was forged through life and death, it involved fighting star worms together, and then..."

Baisha fell silent for a moment.

Sino Us and Cen Yuehuai exchanged glances, faintly guessing the words Baisha left unsaid.

Baisha, as a member of the royal family, had been secretly interrogated by the Federation, a fact well-known in the Empire's noble circles. Her continued regard for these Federation people as friends implied their unwavering support for her.

Just then, a knock sounded on the door.

This was a private room booked by Sino Us, usually inaccessible to others unless he lifted the restriction.

Seeing Sino Us press the unlock button, Cen Yuehuai swiftly placed the trash bin under the table with lightning speed. Her previously lifeless demeanor on the sofa changed instantly. She crossed her legs in a relaxed and contented manner, watching the opening door.

Baisha, witnessing her transformation, remained silent.

Baisha stood up and walked towards the slowly opening door. As she looked up and saw three familiar figures, her smile began to form, but before she could speak, she was firmly pulled into two warm embraces—

"Sha Sha," the one speaking was Yaning, his voice carrying a perpetual warmth, "Long time no see."

Yan Jingyi didn't speak. She hugged Baisha tightly, almost painfully, her face buried in Baisha's neck, her expression hidden.

"Long time no see," Baisha sniffled, maintaining her smile, "It really has been a long time."

Though they had only been apart for a few months, it felt like a lifetime had passed.

The three of them silently hugged for a few more minutes before separating.

Baisha looked up, meeting Zhou Xiao's clear and light eyes.

"Is it my turn to hug you now?" Zhou Xiao's eyes twinkled with a light-hearted smile, "I've missed you too."

Baisha responded with a big hug, smiling, "Long time no see, brother!"

Zhou Xiao, momentarily stiffened, said, "..."

Jingyi and Yaning, trying to suppress their laughter, exchanged glances, "..."

After catching up, Baisha led them into the private room to sit down, then pushed the snacks spread across the table towards them.

"Oh, let me introduce you. This is Zhou Xiao, Jingyi, and Yaning," Baisha said, her gaze shifting to Cen Yuehuai and Sino Us, "They are—"

"Greetings, I am Sino Us," the handsome blond youth greeted the three Federation members with an Imperial salutation, his elegance tinged with a hint of pride, "I currently serve as the exclusive guard to Her Highness."

Sino emphasized the word "exclusive," which in fact meant "he is exclusively for Baisha," not "Baisha is exclusively for him" — but what of it?

"I'm Cen Yuehuai," Cen Yuehuai said with a smile, "I'm the current roommate of Her Highness. Every day, I'm the person who spends the most time with her, coming and going together~"

The trio from the Federation: "..."

"So what about coming and going together?" Jingyi retorted unceremoniously, "We've been doing that for years on the Lancelot Star."

The two camps faced off, a faint whiff of rivalry sparking in their eyes.

Baisha, finding herself in an unexpected battleground, wondered, "…?"

Really, what's there to argue about?