Chapter 237

Chapter 237

The Empire currently holds 3,500 points, while the Alliance trails with 2,900. As expected from the elite youth of both nations, even on this incomplete first day, their point accumulation rate far surpasses that of the Five-School League, which also operates on a points system.

Although the points awarded for each event have been increased in this league for better livestream engagement, the formidable skill of the participating students is undeniable.

On paper, the Empire is significantly ahead for now. However, no student would underestimate the opposition's strength based on a temporary lead. This isn't the Alliance's home turf, and even the competition format was dictated by the Empire. For the Alliance to have closed the gap this much is truly impressive.

"I agree. It's time to send a team to disrupt them."

A clear voice cut through—Zhou Huixue was the first to advocate for engaging the Alliance.

"Yesterday, I was comparing the scores. The Empire's 600-point lead is primarily due to finding one more civilization point than them. If we exclude the points gained from discovering civilization points, and only consider bug-hunting, our score is actually lower than the Alliance's," she explained, hands tucked into the pockets of her white lab coat, a pair of blue-light flickering round-frame glasses perched on her nose—her chosen personal weapon, an auxiliary data analyzer. "Even with the civilization points added, and calculating the rate of score increase per unit of time, our score growth isn't as fast as the Alliance's. Considering their unique sentinel-guide combat style, if we don't intervene, they're bound to overtake us."

Armed with data, Zhou Huixue presented her case with confidence. The other students, who hadn't been particularly concerned, suddenly felt a sense of urgency after her analysis.

Murphy, listening in, winced: "You've been staring at the scoreboard this whole time?"

"Not constantly," Zhou Huixue replied coolly, glancing at him. "I check every half hour. That's enough to calculate the approximate trendline. Why would I need to stare at it nonstop?"

She looked at Murphy as if he were a simple creature who hadn't even grasped basic statistical principles—certainly not like she was looking at someone of the same species.

Murphy: "..."

"The Alliance's mental link model inherently grants them strong environmental adaptability. Every sentinel is a highly obedient soldier, and the students they brought this time are mostly A-rank or above. However, the corresponding drawback is equally obvious: it all hinges on that single guide," Eve mused. "I recognize their guide. I'll lead a team to deal with them. Later, Qi Ying and Sinclair will swap teams. Sinclair will join the alchemist team, and Qi Ying will come with us."

This city contains both real and simulated insectoids, and eliminating the latter also yields a significant number of points. This information had been shared as basic intel with other teams last night, making Qi Ying, whose Spiritual State Ability is linked to network systems, particularly crucial.

The alchemist team's primary objective isn't scoring points, but rather finding survival resources. Qi Ying's talents would indeed be somewhat wasted there. After only a brief consideration, both individuals agreed to the team swap.

"But the competition map is so vast, with many buildings to explore," Alice wondered. "Finding people on such a large map must be quite difficult."

"As soon as a civilization point is found, it immediately lights up. This gives us a rough idea of their location, making it easy to pinpoint their general area. As for the exact coordinates," Eve tilted her head, suddenly looking at Zhou Huixue, who had fallen silent, sensing trouble, "You guys don't actually know what Huixue's Spiritual State ability is, do you? We can just leave this kind of thing to her."

Alice spun her head around and drawled, "Ooooh~."

Zhou Huixue stated, in the most flat and emotionless tone she could muster: "...I have no combat ability."

Suggesting someone else do something, and joining in yourself, are two entirely different matters!

"No one's asking you to fight," Eve tapped her own temple with a finger, a faint smile playing on her lips. "It's just thinking, which is much simpler than fighting."

---

In the heart of the city, where the morning fog had dissipated, between two towering skyscrapers, six emerald-green, mantis-like adult insectoids hung upside down on cobalt-blue walls. Their powerful hind limbs were deeply embedded in the structure, their massive compound eyes opaque, and their scythe-like forelimbs slowly scraped the walls, sending down layers of fine gravel.

The wind gently stirred the insectoids' delicate antennae. When these predatory creatures lay in wait, their motionless forms resembled dangerous, static jade sculptures.

Not far away, a squad of young Alliance sentinels in their mechs was approaching the insectoids, their aerial encirclement steadily tightening. On the rooftop of another nearby building, Lin Cuimei casually rested her left hand on a heavily rusted iron railing, unconcerned that the bright red rust was staining her clean coat. She appeared uninterested in her comrades' hunt, but Gong Yangxiu, standing a short distance behind her, knew that another pair of eyes was constantly monitoring everyone's movements on Lin Cuimei's behalf—slowly, menacingly.

One of the Lin family’s top-tier S-class Spiritual States, Ouroboros.

An enormous serpent, invisible to the naked eye, coiled across the sky, its head and tail connected in a figure-eight shape, like a Möbius strip. As it continuously consumed and pulsed in the air currents, thousands of transparent threads extended from beneath its scales, connecting to the limbs and heads of all the Alliance students, including Gong Yangxiu. A few strands had even silently attached themselves to the mantis insectoids' scythe limbs and bodies—this was Ouroboros’s skill, known as the Supreme Crown.

Even Gong Yangxiu, whose family had served the Lin clan for generations, wasn't entirely clear on the specifics of this ability. But just from its name, one could glimpse the profound and unfathomable nature unique to top-tier Spiritual States.

This level of skirmish hardly required tactical guidance from a guide. Lin Cuimei idly picked at the rust on the railing with her fingernail. On the other side, the students had successfully eliminated four of the insectoids. Of the remaining two, one was putting up a desperate fight, its flailing scythe limbs actually managing to scratch a student’s mech. Seeing this, another student waiting behind immediately moved in to assist. The other insectoid seemed paralyzed with fear, frozen in place. A student positioned diagonally behind it seized the opportunity to raise its right mech arm, which had been modified into a concentrated particle cannon. As it quietly charged, energy gathered at the muzzle into a dazzling blue sphere.

Everything seemed normal, but at that moment, the Ouroboros coiled in the sky twitched abnormally. Lin Cuimei, leaning against the rooftop railing below, also frowned.

Her expression suddenly changed. Unfortunately, events unfolded faster than any warning could be given. Before the fully charged particle cannon could fire, a three-meter-long alloy steel arrow shot from a building across the way, piercing straight through the head of the stunned insectoid!

Virtual grass-green blood splattered everywhere. The arrow’s momentum unabated, it continued past the insectoid and shot directly toward the Alliance student behind. A powerful spiritual energy instantly spread, seizing control of the mech in an instant. The threads connected to Ouroboros suddenly tautened. Lin Cuimei forcibly overrode the original pilot, and with a burst of light, she propelled the mech into a swift retreat.

Boom!

The massive arrow collided with the building, smashing through five walls before finally stopping. A cloud of dust erupted, blotting out the sky. By the time a wind-controlling Spiritual State ability cleared the dust, the Alliance students who had been close by belatedly felt a mix of shame and anger, glaring grimly in the direction from which the arrow had come.

A beautifully poised amber mech stood against the wind, a distinctive crescent moon crown adorning its forehead. Its left arm extended and reconfigured, supporting a large lunar-shaped crossbow. Though it was merely a cold weapon, no one present dared underestimate the power of this moon bow, given the intricate alchemical enchantments carved into its pale gold base and its draw speed, which far exceeded the charging and cooldown periods of energy cannons.

"Artemis, the moon goddess. Even among the Medici family’s Twelve Olympian Mechs, it ranks among the top-tier mythological mechs," Lorca remarked, noticing Zhou Huixue perched on Liz’s mech shoulder, furiously scribbling in her notebook while muttering to herself. "Lord Sparti actually gave this to her? Tsk, could it be that we were all wrong? Is Eve actually his biological daughter?"

Mechs could establish temporary communication channels, so not only could Lorca hear Zhou Huixue’s monologue, but Yan Ning and Qi Ying, who were secretly maneuvering behind enemy lines, could also hear it.

True to her reputation as the Empire’s most curious soul, Yan Ning immediately followed up: "What? Eve isn’t the Prime Minister’s daughter? What gossip is this? How is it different from what I heard? Oh, you’re being cryptic again! Explain it to me!"

The others: "..."

Usually dealing with nobles, celebrities, or those with their own connections, they were all generally aware of certain matters. They had almost forgotten that there was a genuine commoner from a rural black star among them.

"Can you just focus on your mission?" Eve said irritably. "Heir mechs—have you heard of them?"

This girl had even acquired her own mythological mech through private channels. Explaining this to her would take forever.

Even within the same series of mythological mechs, there were distinct hierarchical divisions. The Luo Corporation had mastered the art of marketing, expertly using differentiated product matrices to coax money out of the wealthy.

Through alchemy, the most basic standard mythological mechs only excelled in certain aspects compared to advanced mechs, such as Hecate’s transformation ability. Above them were the top-tier mythological mechs, also known as Olympian-class mechs, such as the Medici family’s Twelve Olympians, the Otto royal family’s Twelve Seraphs, and the Oliver Family’s Nine Pillar Gods, etc.

At the Olympian-class level, the distribution of mechs usually considered the status of family members: what the family head should have, what the family head’s spouse should have, and what the heirs and important clan members should have—all predetermined upon manufacture. Within the Medici family, the only three heir mechs were Athena, Artemis, and Apollo. Since Sparti had decided to let the two children compete fairly for the sole heir position, they should naturally receive equal treatment in terms of hardware.

However, Yan Ning’s mech was somewhat of an awkward case. Previously, the family that purchased the Japanese series of mythological mechs from the Luo Corporation had collapsed due to political strife. Having lost their eligibility, the Luo Corporation reclaimed the mythological mechs sold to them and transferred them to the rising Hayami family, who had emerged victorious in the power struggle. But with so many mechs in the series, a few inevitably slipped through the cracks and ended up elsewhere.

Former Fei Niao leader Zuo Qirong’s Yamata no Orochi was one mech from this series, and now Yan Ning’s Tsukuyomi was another. Coincidentally, the latter was one of the heir mechs of the Japanese series.

...One wonders if the Hayami family is aware of this.

"Of course I haven’t heard of it! What’s with that tone? Discriminating against me because I’m not a celestial noble?" Yan Ning fumed. "Heartless woman! I’m going to work now. I won’t say another word to you until the competition is over!"

Eve wanted to ask who exactly such a threat was supposed to intimidate, but she feared genuinely provoking Yan Ning into abandoning her task.

With the Empire’s sudden appearance, the Alliance contestants became cautious. Gong Yangxiu’s hand had already reached for his Space Button, but Lin Cuimei merely brushed aside the strands of hair tousled by the wind from her forehead. Without even summoning her mech, she casually waved at Eve, her words partly carried away by the wind: "Hi, long time no see."

"Good afternoon," Eve turned her head slightly and smiled at the person beside her. "Why are you aiming your gun? Lower your weapon first."

A series of clicking sounds echoed as the crossbow disk on Artemis’s left arm disassembled itself, returning to the shape of a normal humanoid arm. Not only did Eve greet Lin Cuimei normally, but Lorca also reacted calmly, as if he had already guessed her identity.

With the threat of the recently demonstrated deadly weapon gone, and without any signal needed, Lin Cuimei’s spiritual energy swept through the team like a wandering dragon. The sound of weapons being lowered rustled through the air, creating an unexpectedly harmonious atmosphere.

This only left some people more confused. They had come with aggressive intent, so why were they voluntarily disarming? Liz hesitantly lowered the long-barreled gun her mech was holding, whispering, "What’s going on?"

Could it be because the other side is from the Alliance, and they can’t be attacked lightly?

"Don’t overthink it. First of all, it’s definitely not about saving face for the Alliance."

Zhou Huixue, sitting on her shoulder, narrowed her eyes slightly. Data surged and receded like tides on the lenses of her glasses. Everything within her sight—including Lin Cuimei’s deliberately relaxed body language, Gong Yangxiu’s stealthy retreating steps, and the superficial politeness in Eve’s tone—could be analyzed. Moments later, she had roughly deduced the result: "The building under Lin Cuimei’s feet is probably an undiscovered civilization point, and she likely informed Eve of this not long ago."

Lin Cuimei had pressed something on her wristwatch two minutes ago; she had probably sent a private message to Eve at that time. Knowingly damaging a civilization point, considering the theme of this league, would likely incur penalties.

The reason the Alliance also disarmed their high-energy weapons was the same. In short, it certainly wasn’t because Lin Cuimei herself possessed a particularly strong sense of reciprocity.

Liz silently looked down at the landing spot Eve had chosen beforehand—the city’s archives building, right beneath them.

...How is it that even their backup plans, born of ill intentions, manage to align so perfectly?