Chapter 50

Chapter 50

"Alright, I won't let you down!" Jiang Se said, then turned and followed the instructor away.

"Have you chosen your teammates for tomorrow's Mecha Championship?" the instructor asked, looking at Jiang Se.

Given Jiang Se's casual attitude, he worried she'd just grab three randoms to participate when the championship started tomorrow.

"Teammates?"

Jiang Se laughed, "Why would I choose teammates? I already have them. From simulated battles all the way to now, I feel there's no team better matched in Alliance University than the four of us!"

"Oh!" The instructor was quite surprised. "I thought you might be interested in the Mecha Pilot position on the school team."

Jiang Se yawned lazily, "Nie Wenjing is doing just fine, why should I take his spot? Besides, I feel like the people on the school team are a bit weird—way too competitive, not as fun and humorous as my teammates."

With that, Jiang Se waved to the instructor, "Later, Instructor! I'm off to find my teammates!"

She then headed toward the Mech Pilot training grounds.

By now, it was already very late. The Mech Pilots had finished their training and were walking out of the training grounds in small groups.

However, compared to the confident and spirited Mech Pilots she had seen before, this group looked visibly pale, as if they had just endured some brutal training.

Seeing them like this, Jiang Se was startled: Whoa, what did the Individual Combat instructors do to them? Are A’Yun and Xi Qing okay?

After what she had just witnessed, Jiang Se felt that the instructors in the Individual Combat Department were truly merciless when it came to training.

She took a few more steps inside and saw Chu Yun leaning against a pole, maintaining a one-legged stance while vigorously patting her calf.

When she spotted Jiang Se, her eyes lit up: "Jiang Jiang, come quick, give me a hand! I've been standing on one leg for so long my foot's gone totally numb!"

"Okay!" Jiang Se went over and steadied Chu Yun by holding her shoulders.

Finally having some support and not having to rely on the wobbly pole, Chu Yun let out a long sigh of relief. Jiang Se asked with concern, "How long have you been standing like this?"

"How long?" Chu Yun repeated the words, then smiled at Jiang Se. "From the moment you and your instructor passed by us until now."

As she spoke, she continued patting her leg, looking exhausted. "Ah, this leg of mine has really been through the wringer!"

"You know, while I was standing there, I kept thinking that if this goes on any longer, I’ll get arthritis!"

"Haha!" Jiang Se couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"By the way, what were you and your instructor doing earlier?"

"Oh that? The instructor saw I had nothing to do, so he dragged me to participate in a blindfolded mecha arm assembly competition."

"Blindfolded mecha arm assembly?" Chu Yun wore an expression that said "you Mecha Pilots sure know how to have fun," then let out a soft sigh. "Your lives as Mecha Pilots are so colorful, unlike us Mech Pilots—we're stretched and pulled around by our instructors every day like taffy!"

"By the way?" Jiang Se looked around and asked, "Where's Xi Qing? I don't see him."

"You mean Xi Qing?" Chu Yun glanced around, and then both of them heard Xi Qing's voice coming from under a mat nearby: "I'm here."

He looked completely out of it, clearly also pushed to his limits by the instructor's training.

Jiang Se looked him up and down. "Are you okay?"

Xi Qing: "Still alive."

Chu Yun yawned. "By the way, has Zhu Jin arrived? He just messaged in the group chat telling us to meet here. Where did he go?"

"Right here!" Zhu Jin pushed the door open and walked in, slightly out of breath. "The training ground for the Command Department is really far from yours in the Individual Combat Department. I had to run the whole way here!"

"Wow!" Jiang Se said sincerely, "That must’ve sucked!"

"Not at all, not at all!" Zhu Jin waved his hand. "It's all for the sake of our team."

Then, he looked at the three of them. "Do you all know about tomorrow's Mecha Championship?"

"Of course. I heard all the instructors from every squad will be watching from the big screens outside," Jiang Se said.

"Does that mean our every move will be under the instructors' watch?"

The thought sent shivers down Chu Yun's spine.

Given their team instructor's methods, if they showed even any slack during the championship, they'd most likely face brutal training afterward.

"Probably!" Zhu Jin said uncertainly, then asked, "Have you chosen which Mechs you'll pilot tomorrow?"

"I want to pilot a Heavy Mech," Chu Yun said. "Hmph, Heavy Mech cannons are true love!"

"I want to pilot a Medium Mech," Xi Qing said.

"I want to pilot a Light Mech," Jiang Se said, thinking to herself: If she remembered correctly, this Light Mech came with a sniper rifle and a longsword.

It perfectly matched her combat style—good for both offense and defense.

Zhu Jin looked at Jiang Se with some surprise. "I thought you'd choose a Heavy Mech."

After all, Heavy Mechs focused on defense and were very popular among Mecha Pilots because their strong defense compensated for the pilots' lack of combat skills.

But Jiang Se wasn't your average Mecha Pilot, so Zhu Jin was only slightly surprised before accepting her choice.

"To be honest, Heavy Mechs are good, but Light Mechs suit my style better."

After all, as a sniper, Heavy Mechs were just too cumbersome.

"By the way, what Mech are you choosing?" Chu Yun asked, looking at Zhu Jin.

"I'm choosing a Light Mech. They're more agile, which helps with gathering information and intelligence," Zhu Jin gave an answer very fitting for his role as Commander.

"Alright, since we've all chosen our Mechs, let me talk about the Mecha Championship!" Zhu Jin thought for a moment. "Actually, I feel like this championship isn't much different from our previous simulated battles, except that we'll be traveling in Mechs instead of on foot."

"Have you forgotten our deep connection with that tractor?" Jiang Se said, looking at Zhu Jin with disapproval.

"Exactly," Chu Yun agreed.

"Okay," Zhu Jin said amiably. "The difference is that we'll be traveling in Mechs instead of tractors. Now that's a qualitative leap!"