Chapter 53

Chapter 53

"It's fine," Jiang Se said lazily. "We haven't been waiting too long."

"Yeah, we only stood here for a little while," Chu Yun added, crossing her arms.

"But there are quite a few teams gathering here," Jiang Se remarked, scanning the area.

"True," Zhu Jin replied, then glanced down at his light brain. "I just checked—the Mecha Championship teams are scheduled to enter the competition venue in fifteen minutes. It's the same holo-sim cockpit we tried last night."

"Alright," Jiang Se said, stretching. "Let's head over then. If we go early, we might grab a good cockpit spot!"

With that, the four of them set off for the training ground they’d visited the previous night.

On the way, Jiang Se recognized some people—the team that had tried to sabotage them during the simulated battle but ended up shooting themselves in the foot.

Jiang Se was a bit face-blind and didn’t have a great memory for strangers’ faces, so she didn’t recognize them at first as they passed by.

But Pei Ning clearly recognized them. His gaze lingered on them for a moment, and as they brushed past, his cold voice came through the air: "You got lucky last time. I won’t make the same mistake again."

"Oh?"

Jiang Se’s eyes rested on his face for a second before she asked with genuine curiosity, "Excuse me, have we met before?"

Her confusion didn’t seem feigned, but in this context, it came off as provocative—the kind that really grated on people’s nerves.

Zhu Jin rubbed his temples and leaned over to whisper to Jiang Se, "You really don’t remember them?"

"Not really," Jiang Se answered honestly.

Zhu Jin lowered his voice. "They’re the team that tried to screw us over in the last simulated battle but ended up sabotaging themselves."

"Oh, that team. What great people! Without their points, we wouldn’t have had such an easy time in the last simulation," Jiang Se said.

Though they were speaking quietly, they made no effort to hide their conversation from Pei Ning.

Pei Ning heard every word. His eyebrows furrowed slightly, and Pei Le, standing beside him, knew this was a sign that his cousin was about to lose his temper. He swallowed nervously and subtly took a step back.

When his cousin got angry, it was no joke—Pei Le didn’t want to be anywhere near the line of fire.

Pei Ning’s gaze fixed on Jiang Se, sharp as a blade. "Don’t celebrate too soon," he said, enunciating each word.

"Are we celebrating?" Jiang Se asked, turning to Chu Yun with a puzzled expression.

Chu Yun shook her head. "I don’t think so!"

Zhu Jin chimed in, "I don’t think so either."

Xi Qing nodded in agreement.

"How strange," Jiang Se said, looking back at Pei Ning. "Maybe he’s under too much pressure and hallucinating?"

Pei Le: ?

He swore he could hear the distinct sound of his cousin’s knuckles cracking—a sound that made his scalp crawl.

In a moment of self-preservation, Pei Le grabbed his cousin’s shoulder. "Cousin, it’s almost time to assemble. Let’s go!"

With that, he and the team’s Mecha Pilot dragged Pei Ning away from the brewing conflict.

Honestly, Pei Le was afraid that if his cousin stayed any longer, he’d explode from sheer frustration.

As they walked away, Zhu Jin dropped his casual smirk and grew serious. "That team seems to have it out for us."

"Obviously," Jiang Se said lightly. "If they run into us, they’ll probably settle old scores and new grudges at once."

The old grudge was from the simulated battle; the new one was undoubtedly what had just happened.

"This Mecha Championship is going to be lively," Chu Yun remarked with a light laugh.

By then, the four had arrived at the training ground where yesterday’s simulated battle had taken place.

Perhaps because of the competition, the entrance was heavily guarded by armed soldiers lined up in a long row, meticulously verifying the information of each team entering the venue.

The verification process moved quickly, and it wasn’t long before it was Jiang Se’s turn.

"Name and department?"

"Jiang Se, Mecha Department."

As she spoke, the soldier held up a device and scanned her iris.

"Verification passed. Permission granted."

A cold mechanical voice emitted from the device, and the soldier nodded. "Alright, head inside. The competition is about to start!"

Entering the venue, they saw rows of holographic simulation cockpits neatly arranged across the central area.

Unlike the haphazard setup from the day before, these cockpits were clearly organized—grouped in sets of four and systematically distributed throughout the venue.

*Grouped in fours? That must mean each team’s cockpits are together. Pretty convenient.* Jiang Se thought to herself.

As the crowd gradually flowed in, the once-spacious venue began to fill with people.

With the growing crowd came a buzz of conversation:

"Hey, buddy, do you know anything about the Mecha Championship? I was just dragged here to make up numbers. I’m totally clueless about the rules."

"Same here! My friend couldn’t find a Commander, so they pulled me in. But I heard it’s similar to the simulated battles, just with added monsters."

"Monsters? You mean we have to pilot mechas and fight monsters?"

"Probably. Isn’t that how these competitions usually go?"

"Ugh, I just hope I get lucky this time and don’t have a Monster Tide spawn right on top of me as soon as we start!"

...

Amid the chatter, someone clapped their hands softly.

The sound seemed to come from a raised platform somewhere, amplified by some kind of speaker system, and it reached everyone’s ears with crystal clarity.

The noisy venue fell silent.

Jiang Se, who had been leaning lazily against a cockpit chatting with Chu Yun, looked up toward the sound.

With her high spiritual power and keen perception, she quickly pinpointed the source—a high platform above them.

The platform floated in front of them, completely black in color. At the front stood a podium, where a middle-aged man in military uniform stood.

His features were sharp and stern, with hints of gray at his temples. Though he wore a slight smile, he still exuded an aura of authority and solemnity that commanded respect.

His gaze swept across the venue as he began, "Greetings, students. We're honored to have you participating in this year's military training at our base. I am the person in charge here."

As his words faded, the venue fell into an even deeper silence.

No one wanted to draw attention by speaking up at such a moment.

Jiang Se subtly turned aside, taking the opportunity to pull out her light-brain and browse the forums.

Since there was nothing else to do at the moment, she figured it wouldn’t hurt to scroll through the forums for a bit.