Chapter 252

Chapter 252

This was a school quite familiar to Bai Xingshu and his team.

As an elite squad, they had studied every matchup from competing institutions. They knew each finals-qualified academy like the back of their hand.

Anhua Military University stood as the premier military academy in the Anhua star system.

Within the empire, it consistently cracked the top ten rankings, and its edge was crystal clear.

That being...

Combat Support.

The Anhua system overflowed with strategic minerals and resources, serving as the empire's primary logistics nexus and housing mecha R&D centers for nearby legions.

Operating with ruthless efficiency, accomplishing allocation, maintenance—even battlefield modifications—with minimal resources...

To put it bluntly, where every grunt could field-assemble a howitzer from scrap—absolute madlads.

Their mecha dueling wasn't exceptional, but their positional warfare? First-class.

Thus, Anhua's matches followed the same script year after year: if their Combat Department could weather the initial assault and dig in...

Once their support units came online and deployed fortifications sector by sector... what followed was a steel tsunami.

This open secret explained why Anhua typically hovered near the cutoff for championship rounds.

This year proved slightly different.

This year, Anhua's combat mecha were just that much tougher to crack.

...Ahem, thanks to no pain no gain, the virtual training grounds had left them with lasting bruises.

Every academy's Combat Department had leveled up—though Capital Military University benefited more from Bai Xingshu's after-action reviews.

Now the payoff appeared...

When the live feeds blared Anhua's victory, every cadet at the rally point laser-focused their stares on Bai Xingshu.

Bai Xingshu: "?"

Why the sudden attention?

His squadmates delivered the answer.

One clapped his shoulder, eyes blazing: "Deputy Squad Leader, we hit them full-force in the first wave! Break their lines!"

"No way Anhua sets up engineer fortifications against us!"

"First match: thirteen-day slugfest. Second match: seven days. Let's clinch victory inside seventy-two hours!"

"Capital Military University reigns supreme!!"

Amid the battle cries and howls, Bai Xingshu pieced it together... the squad considered engineer fortifications his hard counter.

He felt equal parts amused and annoyed.

How do I say this...

Setting aside superpowers, I suppose you could say that.

After all, sapper emplacements are indeed a counter to mechs, but for Bai Xingshu, any metal-based weapon poses no threat.

His superpower not only lets him twist those sapper emplacements into scrap metal but can even alter incoming projectiles' trajectories mid-flight, turning them against their owners.

So Bai Xingshu had never considered sapper emplacements as anything more than a nuisance—the idea that they might counter him simply hadn't occurred to him.

Bai Xingshu scratched his head.

But with superpowers still classified, it seemed he couldn't use them anyway.

Well...

If sapper emplacements counter him, whatever.

Seeing his classmates' concern, Bai Xingshu raised his hand with a bright smile and slapped hands with them: "Alright, let's take them down together!"

The championship match.

This time there was no random battlefield assignment—the military organizers hand-picked the location.

The First Army Corps' private training grounds.

As the capital planet's garrison force, they naturally maintained their own facilities.

Coincidentally, neither finalist had fought here before, perfectly meeting the finals' requirements.

Both sides entered the arena, primed for battle... or were they?

Theoretically they should've been battle-ready, but just before entering, several Anhua Combat students came rushing over cheerfully, each clutching autograph books, eagerly... seeking Bai Xingshu's signature.

Unlike United and Changying students—too proud as top-school students to ask Shoujun for autographs—Anhua's lower-ranked students had no such reservations.

So they went straight for it!

Facing this unprecedented situation, Bai Xingshu froze completely.

Rarely flustered, he glanced around to assess things, only to see his classmates barely containing their grins at his discomfort, while other Anhua students were shooting daggers at their Combat peers.

Uh...

Noticing his hesitation, the Anhua Combat students asked nervously, "Not allowed?"

"Not exactly," Bai Xingshu said, then—with his current emotional intelligence—proposed: "But wouldn't after the match be more appropriate?"

At least then the other Anhua students wouldn't be glaring so hard.

Hearing this, the Combat students grinned widely. "After the match we'll probably just want to swear at you—now's better."

For anyone else, his suggestion would've made sense, but this was Xing Ze Jiang Zhi!

Who could face Xing Ze Jiang Zhi and stay composed afterward?

As far as they knew, both online and offline, hadn't United and Changying had total meltdowns after facing him?

Regardless of how much Bai Xingshu's actions contributed to the process, just answer yes or no!

Faced with such raw truth, the Shoujun members couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

Are these Anhua students a bit too blunt? Hahaha!!

After confirming their expressions, they're truly ride-or-die fans of "Xing Ze Jiang Zhi"—they definitely know the situation well! Hahaha!!

Bai Xingshu: "..."

Bai Xingshu: "......"

Gritting his teeth, Bai Xingshu took the pen and scrawled "Xing Ze Jiang Zhi" on their notebooks, muttering through clenched teeth, "Just wait. I’ll wipe you all out as soon as the match starts!"

The Combat Department members of Anhua just grinned goofily.

Their military academy's combat style was all about the Combat Department being a massive turtle shell, so their temperament was notoriously unflappable compared to other academies.

Thus, this easygoing bunch replied, "But none of us are even on the opening roster."

Bai Xingshu: "..."

"Fine, your fan licenses are revoked!" Bai Xingshu, who had dabbled in the entertainment industry, delivered this line with practiced ease.