Chapter 149

Chapter 149

Luo Yu didn’t grasp the deeper meaning behind Shen Geng’s gaze at the time, but he soon found out.

He bounced back to his dorm buzzing with energy, grabbed the login device, and logged into the mecha combat platform. Within minutes, he received a friend request.

—Player [Pathfinder] has requested to add you as a friend. Accept/Decline

Seeing this ID, Luo Yu rubbed his eyes and double-checked several times to confirm he wasn’t mistaken.

Luo Yu: “….”

He fell silent, deep in thought.

It hit him instantly—the meaning behind Shen Geng’s look was clear now.

Given Pathfinder’s fame on the mecha combat platform, Luo Yu was naturally aware of them—in fact, he could even be considered a low-key fan.

He would occasionally study Pathfinder’s moves to learn from their gameplay.

But he never expected Bai Xingshu to *be* Pathfinder!!

Back when he was buried in cases at the police station, he had no time for platform battles. Unaware that Bai Xingshu was Pathfinder, Luo Yu had only ever asked about school-related matters during their conversations. Now, he'd walked right into this mess.

Recalling the words he’d just spoken to Bai Xingshu, Luo Yu winced and clicked "Accept."

Soon, another system message arrived.

—Your friend [Pathfinder] has sent you a duel request. Accept/Decline

Held his breath as the alert flashed, Luo Yu clicked "Accept" once more.

The scene blurred away. After a simple banner displaying ‘Little Rock VS Pathfinder’ appeared, Luo Yu saw the mecha that was quite familiar to him loom into view.

Bai Xingshu’s mecha had ditched its flashy starter look. Like most mechas in the intermediate tier, it was now tricked out with various weapons.

If one didn’t pay attention to the displayed ID during matching, it was impossible to distinguish Pathfinder from other players based on appearance alone.

Flying under the radar was an advantage—not a disadvantage—for a combatant.

Luo Yu quickly ran through the contents of the recent Pathfinder combat videos he'd watched. During the match prep time, he rapidly formulated effective counters in his mind.

First and foremost, as everyone knew, engaging in close combat with Pathfinder was a death wish.

Luo Yu didn’t entertain the thought for even a second. He immediately decided to put space between them and then proceeded to analyze his own strengths.

Luo Yu believed his advantage was quite clear.

He was very familiar with Pathfinder’s combat habits, whereas Bai Xingshu knew little about him.

As Luo Yu mentally ran through counters, his hands swiftly adjusted his mecha’s stance to counteract Bai Xingshu’s attack patterns.

Bai Xingshu scanned Luo Yu’s rig closely. Seeing the quick tweaks to his speed stats, he raised an eyebrow.

A year ago, when he battled other mechas, he’d tweak his own mecha the same way.

Bai Xingshu mirrored Luo Yu's stance shift.

He remembered his agreement was to assess Luo Yu's understanding of the gift he had given—not some regular match where he only needed to think about how to defeat his opponent.

Countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

Bai Xingshu's mech raised its arm, instantly aiming at Luo Yu and pulling the trigger.

A silver-blue energy blast met the incoming attack, canceling out both attacks instantly.

Nice feint.

Most fighters who see 'Xing Ze Jiang Zhi' as their opponent immediately adopt the same stance as Luo Yu—nearly all shift to speed mode, then create distance from Bai Xingshu before launching their next attack.

Luo Yu broke the pattern, using this predictable behavior against them by feigning a defensive posture while masking his offensive intent—just like the traps Bai Xingshu used on criminals.

However, Luo Yu's mech skills weren't quite there yet. His preparatory stance wasn't executed flawlessly, and Bai Xingshu, having seen hundreds try the same move, spotted Luo Yu's bluff immediately.

But this was merely a matter of experience. The tactics were solid, and in Bai Xingshu's eyes, that was commendable.

When his sneak attack got blocked, Luo Yu's expression remained unchanged.

This was Xing Ze Jiang Zhi—Bai Xingshu he was facing. Having his attack blocked was entirely expected.

Luo Yu didn't wait to check whether his previous strike had landed. The moment he initiated the attack, he immediately blinked his mech out from its original position.

But he was still a split-second too late.

As soon as he landed in the new spot, Luo Yu's eyes, still fixed on Bai Xingshu's position, caught sight of that scary Loader Gun muzzle already trained on him.

The silver-blue charge was already building.

Without time for any advanced evasion techniques, Luo Yu swiftly employed his most familiar movement method—a spinning drop to get clear.

Luo Yu believed his reaction speed this time wasn't slow, yet he still failed to completely evade Bai Xingshu's attack.

[Armor integrity down 1%]

As his mech stabilized, Luo Yu's eyes once again reflected the muzzle of Bai Xingshu's Loader Gun.

Xing Ze Jiang Zhi had mastered the Loader Gun. Relying solely on dodging wouldn't shake this lock-on.

So...

Luo Yu clenched his jaw. Only now did he realize that in that scenario, his best counter would have been to retaliate with his own weapon—just as Bai Xingshu had done at the match's outset.

Answering attack with attack.

Watching the wide-area suppression fire raining toward him, Bai Xingshu smirked and quickly accelerated his mech out of the bombardment zone.

Quick reflexes.

Moreover, realizing that matching Bai Xingshu's Loader Gun precision in a direct duel would be nearly impossible, Luo Yu had opted for a blunt, wide-range attack instead.

Bai Xingshu had deliberately slowed the timing of his two attacks, but the intervals were still brief. Adjusting his tactics within such a short span was no small challenge—no wonder Luo Yu had claimed first place in this year's Freshman Tournament.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Bai Xingshu’s hands moved swiftly. Leveraging the smokescreen effect from the area-of-effect weapon, he rapidly set up a series of hidden traps and sent them toward Luo Yu’s position.

Moments later, a barrage of cannon fire rained down on the location of Luo Yu’s mech.

Faced with the perilous assault, Luo Yu didn’t hesitate for an instant. In the blink of an eye, he switched his weapon to a pivot blade, using it as a makeshift shield to block most of the incoming volley. Tanking the hits, he charged through Bai Xingshu’s bombardment zone despite the risk of damage.

This tactic of wielding the pivot blade as a shield was one that Bai Xingshu himself had used before.

[HP -7%]

Luo Yu remained unfazed by the system’s alert.

As he’d mentioned earlier, one of his advantages against Bai Xingshu was that he knew the "Advance and Conquer" style inside out.

He was certain that if he had followed Bai Xingshu’s offensive pattern and allowed himself to be blocked, the resulting damage would have been far worse than this 7% loss.

He couldn’t afford to fall into Bai Xingshu’s rhythm!