Chapter 40: “Rival in Love” Battle

Chapter 40: "Rival in Love" Battle

For netizens browsing various livestream rooms on the Stellar Network, today was just another ordinary day. That was until they noticed that the livestream room of General Landis, which had not been active on the virtual arena leaderboard for years, suddenly went live. The system instantly pushed the notification to over a hundred million followers.

In the Dawn Empire, where the atmosphere of hero worship was particularly strong, Landis had dominated the arena for many years. His followers included high-ranking military officials and imperial nobility, as well as ordinary citizens, spanning almost every corner of the Stellar Network.

Since Landis’ promotion to Admiral, he had been so busy that he didn’t even have time for a vacation. For him, reading newspapers in his spare time was considered entertainment, let alone logging into the virtual arena to play ranked matches.

Yet here he was, suddenly having accepted a challenge from a contender.

The opponent was neither a famous veteran nor an important figure or noble. He was an unknown dark horse, a new account registered only two months ago that had just left the novice zone. It was said that even the mech he was using had been a gift from fan donations.

Information about Alpha was confined to forum discussions. The only things people discussed were his fist-fighting mechs in that renowned match and his undefeated streak in the preliminary rounds. No other information could be found. Having been a C-rank not long ago and suddenly becoming an S-rank, it all seemed highly suspicious, as if he had appeared out of nowhere and cheated his way to the top.

Not only were the spectators shocked, but even military officials were coming to "inquire":

"You’ve postponed several military leave requests, and it’s all for a ranked match in the arena?"

"Do you have any idea how much work has piled up? You haven’t even signed the recent training operation plans for the Third Legion, nor the investigation report on the alien creature incident!"

"I’ve already caught a bunch of soldiers secretly watching the livestream!"

Landis glanced at the brief message on his optical computer and casually sent a group reply to the three generals: "I’m still on leave today." He didn’t give them another thought after that.

Deputy Caro quickly sent a message: "Sir, didn’t you have a date? It’s late at night, and instead of spending time with your partner, you’re holed up in a virtual pod playing ranked games?"

Landis replied coldly, "If you have time to worry about my leave, you should review the recent training operation plans for the Third Legion and the investigation report again."

Caro immediately appeared distressed, "Seriously, can’t people have a weekend? Don’t think that just because you’re married, the rest of us don’t need to date…"

Even so, Caro and several other generals, along with a group of curious officers, still immediately entered the virtual pods and climbed into the arena to watch this rare challenge.

Within just a few minutes, over half of the top-ranked players, from the top 10 to the top 50, began to light up one after another. Their various VIP icons and famous IDs appeared in the spectator seats, creating a spectacular sight.

The comment section was flooded with all kinds of messages, causing a brief network lag on the Stellar Network, with many people in remote areas being disconnected.

If the previous matches of the Black Knight Alpha had only caused a small stir and attracted limited attention, most people were unaware of this figure in this year’s ladder tournament. It wasn’t until tonight, when Landis accepted the challenge, that Alpha’s popularity skyrocketed to the entire network.

The entire forum was filled with posts offering rewards for any information about Alpha’s identity, and the frame-by-frame analysis videos of Alpha’s battles surged in popularity.

The enthusiasm of the onlookers was so intense that the servers behind the Heavenly Ascension Arena had to urgently expand their capacity to accommodate the sudden surge of viewers.

Only the officers and soldiers on duty in the frontlines and dangerous galaxies were left pounding their chests in frustration, missing this rare livestream of their idol and gnashing their teeth in anger.

A quarter of an hour later, Xiao Sa had finished tuning his new mech, "Moonmark," and officially entered the arena for the ranked challenge.

At the other end of the arena was Landis’ usual black-and-gold mech, "War Flame." Landis didn’t make any adjustments. To him, "War Flame" was like a part of his body, naturally responsive and effortless to control.

Landis’ voice came out cold from the cockpit, "You’d better release your mental entity first; otherwise, you might not get the chance later."

Xiao Sa, inside the mech cockpit, narrowed his eyes and deliberately lowered his voice, which had been processed by Haino, giving it a metallic, electric tone, "Lord Landis, don’t be too sure of yourself, or you might end up capsizing in a ditch."

Their conversation was clearly transmitted to the spectators, causing a stir. No one expected this alpha to be so arrogant.

"He’s only passed the preliminary round of the challenge tournament, and he’s still miles away from Lord General Landis’ achievements!"

"His win rate in the challenge tournament is still zero, yet he dares to speak so arrogantly to Lord Admiral Landis? Who does he think he is?"

Even Alpha's staunch fans were feeling extremely anxious. Bayer, Kaman, and Feng Yu, mech pilot cadets from the Mech Academy who were watching nervously, were all unconsciously worrying for him at this moment.

Although they knew how formidable Alpha was, they didn’t believe for a second that the current Alpha had the ability to take on Lord Landis in a one-on-one fight. After all, not every S-rank was the same.

"Does he not realize that Lord Landis is showing him mercy? He’s not even releasing his mental entity."

"A newborn calf fears no tiger. He’s about to be taught a lesson by Lord Landis."

"I hope his legs are as tough as his mouth. We shall see if he cries and begs for mercy later."

The automated referee officially announced the start of the match.

The moment the countdown ended, Xiao Sa's silver-white Moonmark and Landis' black-and-gold War Flame sprang into action simultaneously.

Like two incoming cannonballs, the white and black mechs collided with fierce impact!

Both of them chose a fast-attack strategy at the same time, relentlessly attacking every second, as if determined to beat their opponent into submission.

Xiao Sa had believed he had a deep understanding of Landis' fighting style.

He thought Landis would strategize before acting, defend first, and then counterattack when he spotted an opening, given that every time they sparred, Landis always relied primarily on defense.

Now Xiao Sa realized just how little he truly understood about his opponent.

Landis' fighting style was incredibly versatile, matching Xiao Sa's own fiery approach. He could be as fiery as Xiao Sa himself. All those times, Landis had merely been accommodating his C-rank mental handicap.

This fierce and brutal Landis ignited Xiao Sa's fighting spirit and desire for victory.

His deep eyes narrowed as he stared intently at the screen, his muscles tensing as his body went into full combat readiness. Every cell and nerve in his brain was operating at peak speed, like a giant supercomputer running at full capacity.

Eliminating all emotional interference, he calmly and analytically dissected every move and attack of Landis, responding calmly.

This was not the first time Landis had observed the Black Knight Alpha in combat. However, his first impression was still of Alpha brutally defeating Vinci's new mech with just a pair of combat gloves.

That bone-crushing and earth-shaking offensive style was deeply etched in his memory.

The only time he had seen Alpha engage in personal mech combat was in the video clip Xiao Sa sent him last time, which was at the level of an ordinary cadet. It might have been considered excellent among ordinary A-ranks, but to a battle-hardened S-rank like him, it was unimpressive.

What he had overlooked was that in that previous fight, Alpha's mech was just a standard-issue C-rank provided by the arena. Now Xiao Sa was using a high-performance S-rank mech perfectly suited to his abilities, capable of harnessing 90% of its capabilities.

Ever since Xiao Sa adapted to the mech operations in the star sea region, his combat capability had increased dramatically.

Landis had thought that even without summoning the Black Flame, his mech alone would be enough to crush his opponent, expecting to finish the fight within fifteen minutes with ease.

Unexpectedly, Alpha was the type to rise to the challenge, keeping pace blow for blow in speed attacks without falling behind. And like himself, Alpha hadn’t released his mental entity either.

Was this style something he had picked up from sparring with Xiao Sa? A wave of anger welled up in Landis' chest. What was it about this hidden figure that attracted Xiao Sa so much?

Landis was forced to change his offensive approach again, beginning to probe for Alpha's weaknesses slowly.

This played right into Xiao Sa's hands. He still hadn’t released his mental domain, choosing instead to fully utilize his most proficient hand-to-hand combat skills.

This was a rare opportunity. He wanted to see, outside of other abilities, just how much of a gap there was between himself and a top S-rank strongman in the new sea region when it came to mech combat.

When Landis retreated, Xiao Sa immediately closed in, sticking to him. When Landis attacked, Xiao Sa countered with his superior speed and reflexes.

For over ten minutes, the silver-white and black-gold mechs were almost constantly in close combat. The mechs' hard titanium alloy clashed like two charging rhinoceroses, violently impacting one another.

The muffled "booms" echoed urgently and intensely over the arena.

The originally noisy audience had somehow fallen completely silent, with everyone holding their breath, immersed in the dazzling exchange between the two strong opponents. Their hearts felt like they were resonating in sync with the collisions of the two mechs.

The speed of comments in the barrage section had slowed down:

"Friendly reminder, those of you watching the screen should actually breathe."

"Thanks to the person who wrote the above comment, I was about to suffocate."

"Where did this Alpha come from? He’s actually fighting the General Lord to a draw."

"So he’s the incredible powerhouse who fought a mech with his fists last time!"

Seeing that he couldn’t defeat Alpha in a short amount of time, and that his opponent was actually gaining strength, a fiery battle intent flashed in Landis’ sharp eyes.

He knew that Xiao Sa was definitely watching their match live from inside a virtual pod.

He not only wanted to win, but to win in a way that would make Alpha completely submit, preferably with an overwhelming victory, so that Xiao Sa would understand that it was his partner who was the true knight capable of protecting him.

And not this "Black Knight" who didn’t dare to reveal his identity.

Landis' mech soared through the air with the grace of a lion, exuding a majestic presence as it freely advanced and retreated. He completely cut off every possible line of attack from Xiao Sa. The instant he sharply detected a split-second hesitation in Xiao Sa's movements, he seized the opportunity and immediately unleashed a laser cannon!

The dazzling light of the laser cannon burst like fireworks on Alpha’s silver Moonmark.

Landis’ movements were cold and decisive as he wielded his gun, giving his opponent no chance to counter.

Alpha’s silver Moonmark barely managed to evade the tracking of the laser cannon by pushing its near-ground movement speed to the limit.

Landis hovered high in the air, looking down at the silver mech below, and said expressionlessly, "With your strength, it wouldn’t be difficult to enter the military, earn merits, and provide for your family. Yet all you do is show off your skills in the virtual arena, and you don’t even own your own mech, relying on someone else to give it to you. It’s quite beneath an S-rank."

The spectators in the viewing stands looked shocked upon hearing Landis’ taunt.

Those unfamiliar with him were one thing, but the veterans who had worked with Landis for many years had indescribable expressions.

It wasn’t uncommon for Landis to be sarcastic towards those he was indifferent to, but he usually held himself with dignity. It was unbecoming of him to taunt a newcomer so directly.

The most telling reaction came from his lieutenant, Caro, who clearly sensed something unusual. Given his superior’s haughty personality, why would he care whether the opponent’s mech was self-bought or gifted?

Tsk, tsk. There’s some juicy gossip here!

On the ground, Alpha’s silver mech stood back up.

Xiao Sa had to admit that Landis’ dominance in the War Flame was impeccable, and he still had much to learn in terms of mech handling.

But did that matter? As an alpha, he never relied solely on a mech for battle.

Xiao Sa retracted all his probing and fully expanded his mental domain, leaving no secrets in Landis’ every move. The vast psychic energy surged like a tsunami, transforming into an unstoppable force. Xiao Sa disappeared from the spot almost instantly and appeared in front of the black-gold mech the next second.

Landis’ heart trembled at the sudden instinctive alert, and his mental entity, Black Flame, abruptly appeared in the air, the black flames igniting upon contact.

Xiao Sa didn’t release his pheromones right away to avoid being detected. His surging psychic energy enveloped the silver mech, converging into his fists, continuously refining and condensing. Semi-transparent materialized mental needles grew densely like the spikes of a hedgehog.

Landis’ eyes dimmed slightly, his expression serious as he prepared himself, instinctively drawing his most commonly used particle blade.

The icy blue flames transformed into the black flames of the dark flame, finally colliding head-on with Xiao Sa's all-out offense!

An invisible psychic energy field exploded the moment they clashed, compressing and exploding against each other. For a short time, the massive energy fluctuations almost caused the expanded challenge arena to experience network anomalies again.

The viewers in the live stream suddenly felt a momentary blur, a brief lag, and when things returned to normal, they were shocked to see that General Landis, who had been suppressing his opponent with laser cannons in mid-air, had been forcibly slammed into the wall at the edge of the arena!

It was as if an invisible spider web had ensnared him. For that split second, Landis felt his psychic energy output become slowed.

The terrifying force caused the alloy shells of both mechs to shudder violently, and Landis even felt as though he was facing not a living being but a towering mountain.

The two mechanical arms of the silver Moonmark firmly locked onto the arms of the black and gold mech, pressing Landis against the wall with overwhelming force.

The particle light blade in his hand slipped and fell as he used one hand to ward off Xiao Sa's heavy punch that was coming down.

The mechs of both sides emitted distorted sounds of being overloaded. At this moment, the viewers watching across the net were astonished.

If anyone had told them before that General Landis's mech would be overpowered like this by another S-rank, it would have been a joke. Even now, there were still those who found it hard to believe their eyes.

"My god, what kind of beast is this alpha?"

"Is he really just S-rank? Could he be double S? Do double S ranks even exist in this world?"

"How about it, Lord Landis? Kept your dignity as an S-rank, have you?" came Xiao Sa's lazy voice from the cockpit.

Landis calmly responded with a soft "Hmph."

Suddenly, a high-temperature alarm sounded in Xiao Sa's cockpit. Sure enough, Landis's black and gold mech had ignited black flames, and the tongues of flame were like red-hot irons scorching Xiao Sa's silver mech.

He quickly retreated, releasing his opponent. A noticeable caramel-colored patch had appeared on the mech's shell, like a freshly baked loaf of bread.

Xiao Sa narrowed his eyes; Landis was bullying him because he was disabled again!

A whirlwind of black flames surged up from around Landis, and Xiao Sa suddenly felt as though he was in a scorching cauldron.

Landis was overdoing it, bullying him because he didn't have a mental entity, right?

It wasn't just Xiao Sa who was complaining; many military higher-ups familiar with Landis were also looking at each other in surprise. The last time Landis had been this serious and fully engaged was when he fought a king-class alien on the battlefield.

Was Landis really making such a fuss over just a challenge match?

Just as Xiao Sa was preparing to increase his psychic energy output for a decisive showdown with Landis, the arena suddenly shook violently.

Moments later, the system sent out a warning to everyone: "Abnormal fluctuations detected, exceeding server capacity, possible short delays."

The projections in front of everyone twisted, and they were abruptly forcibly ejected from the challenge arena by the system. After a second or two of grey disconnection, the viewers gradually came back online.

Due to the dramatic disconnection, Xiao Sa and Landis's challenge match was forced to a halt, with neither side emerging victorious. A draw was recorded in both of their match histories.

Xiao Sa's Black Knight leaped out of the silver mech's cockpit, landing in the center of the arena.

After an exhilarating fight, his spirit was somewhat excited. He watched as Landis slowly descended from his mech, his cold, sharp face slightly flushed with exertion.

The moment their eyes met in the air, it was as if two arrows had been shot toward each other, ready to pierce through, point against point.

Landis casually ran a hand through his sweat-soaked blonde hair, his icy blue eyes coldly staring at the mysterious black mask. After a long pause, he said lightly, "That was a satisfying battle."

Xiao Sa smiled slightly. "Thank you for your guidance, Lord Landis."

His sharply defined eyes beneath his mask were as sharp as a blade, and he lightly licked his dry lips.

The wish to battle Landis had just been fulfilled, but he felt as though he hadn't achieved true satisfaction. It was as if he had only tasted the appetizer, and now that inexplicable twin pangs of hunger were surging in his stomach again.

He also stared intently at Landis, his canines aching with the urge to sink them into something.

He imagined piercing Landis's slender neck, tasting the blood that surged because of him, and allowing his pheromones to course through Landis's entire body.

Then this strong, equally matched man, like the mech earlier, would be firmly controlled by him, marked deeply, and rendered completely submissive, ultimately succumbing to his pheromones.

As he thought about switching battlegrounds and continuing to satiate themselves with a full meal, Xiao Sa gently rubbed his calloused fingertips and smiled with narrowed eyes.

Landis had no idea what the Alpha was thinking.

He stared deeply at the man before him, whose strength equaled his own, and an inexplicable sense of crisis arose.

The power that this guy unleashed in that instant deeply shocked him.

The most terrifying aspect was that the other party had never once released their mental entity. If not for the disconnection, he really didn’t know if he could maintain his advantage.

If this person were in the military, it would be impossible for him not to recognize them. Where on earth did this hidden master emerge from?

Could this be the reason for Xiao Sa's admiration? Usually, Xiao Sa rarely bought luxury items for himself, yet now he had even given a precious mech to this person.

Landis's gaze at the Alpha became increasingly sharp. He narrowed his eyes, and a strong sense of competition that top-tier strong individuals could not shake off, along with a hint of jealousy, surged in his heart, only to be suppressed by rationality.

"Heh, very good. So, Alpha, huh? I'll remember you." Sooner or later, there would be a real showdown in reality.

Real combat and the virtual arena are ultimately different. Landis was confident that if they met on the battlefield, he would not lose to the other person.

After Landis exited the arena and left the virtual pod, he made his way to Xiao Sa’s room. Sure enough, he found Xiao Sa watching the replay of their earlier match, even enjoying the flood of comments on the screen.

"Landis, you're out? How do you feel? Was the Alpha good?"

Xiao Sa turned to look at him, his forehead glistening with a thin sheen of sweat, which he casually wiped off. His eyes were deep and sharp, reflecting an indescribable intensity under the dazzling lights of the projection.

When Landis heard his name from Xiao Sa’s mouth, his displeasure intensified.

He sneered, "I must admit, your taste is quite good. That guy has some skill and is worthy of being my opponent, but only in the game environment of the virtual arena."

Clearly, he had been forced to use his special ability but still needed to maintain his pride in front of his partner, absolutely unwilling to verbally admit defeat.

Xiao Sa said slowly, "If not for the system fluctuation causing the disconnection, that guy might not have lost to you."

Landis's brows immediately furrowed, and the jealousy that had been forcibly suppressed by his rationality flared up again, stoked by Xiao Sa’s words.

He stared at Xiao Sa and inconspicuously asked, "Why are you so focused on him? You even gave him an S-class mech. Whatever you want to learn from him, I can teach you."

Landis paused, implying something, and emphasized, "Everything he can offer you, I can. What he can't, I can as well. Don't waste your attention on someone who depends on others to give him a mech."

As he said this, he slightly lifted his chin, revealing an elegant jawline, like a peacock desperately showing off in front of its partner, while not forgetting to kick another male peacock.

Xiao Sa was almost amused by the sour tone, struggling not to laugh out loud. "How do you know it was me who gave it?"

The esteemed Imperial Admiral is actually checking a streamer's donation rankings?

Landis fell silent for a moment, awkwardly shifting his gaze, while surreptitiously using his peripheral vision to check Xiao Sa's expression. Was he angry, thinking Landis was watching his every move?

He quickly considered his words, just about to explain, when suddenly a strong force hit his waist, violently pushing him against the wall. There was a click as Xiao Sa forcefully unbuckled his military belt.

Before Landis could react, Xiao Sa's forceful kiss already landed on his lips.

For a moment, he was reminded of the earlier scene in the arena, where he had been pinned against the wall by the silver-white mecha.

Xiao Sa's palm was searing hot, making Landis instinctively flinch.

Leaning back against the wall, Landis' chest heaved slightly. His fingers, buried in Xiao Sa's hair, turned white. Dazed, he thought, surely in Xiao Sa's heart, he was still the strongest; otherwise, why was he so passionate?

Landis' mood instantly improved. He banished the hated Black Knight from his thoughts and tightly embraced his lover's head, engaging in a deep, passionate kiss once again.