Chapter 63

Chapter 63

Jin Wumian had clearly spoken too soon—the battle on the field did not end with the separation of the two mechas.

Though their exchange seemed intimately entangled, it was actually fraught with hidden dangers, and the shift to hostility could come faster than anyone expected.

With a "Kaboom—!" a massive explosion erupted. The once relatively calm center of the arena was suddenly filled with thunderous blasts, and amid the flying debris, thick smoke billowed relentlessly.

He Yilan's mecha had several armor plates shattered in an instant.

As for the source of the explosion, it lay right beneath his feet—in the brief moment they separated, Bai Luming had not forgotten to leave behind some "parting gifts," allowing the explosive robots placed there to bid He Yilan a proper farewell.

His mastery of the battlefield had enabled Bai Luming to always remember to set a few traps even amid intense battle.

This kind of maneuver was executed so effortlessly that even the four observers failed to notice when he had laid this ambush at that location.

Qing Yileng took it all in: "This is why I hate fighting him."

Jin Wumian offered another sharp critique: "The media describing him as an opportunist is far too generous. Stripping away the surface, he’s just a sly old fox."

In the voice channel, Bai Luming's voice carried a light chuckle: "Sorry about that."

His motto had always been to strike when the enemy is down. The momentary gap created by the explosion gave him enough room to maneuver.

The light sword on his mechanical arm deftly switched forms in an instant. While using his other hand to provide cover with gunfire, he closed in on He Yilan's mecha and delivered a swift, decisive slash with the light sword.

Just as it seemed the blow would land squarely, He Yilan used his left arm, which wasn’t locked in stiffness, to whip out the light whip, locked onto the hilt and pulled it sideways.

This move successfully altered the sword's trajectory, preventing his mecha’s entire arm from being severed, though it did shear off half of the metal armor plating.

Such a reaction was undoubtedly quick. Against any other opponent, it might have turned the tide, but unfortunately, he was facing Bai Luming, a veteran of countless battles.

Just a single glance was all Bai Luming needed to grasp He Yilan's intention.

Instead of struggling to free the entangled sword hilt, he went with the momentum, using He Yilan's own move to wrap the light whip even tighter around it.

The light sword and light whip twisted together, like a snake coiling around a branch.

No matter how you looked at it, this move reeked of stubborn clinginess, even carrying a hint of lingering intimacy.

But the most critical point now was that He Yilan's mecha had practically lost the use of its right arm, and now, with Bai Luming stubbornly clinging on, its left arm was also restricted, cutting off almost all escape routes.

He Yilan hadn’t had time to withdraw, and he raised an eyebrow slightly: "Do you like clinging to me this much?"

"I do," Bai Luming chuckled softly. "Once I've got you, it won't be easy to get rid of me."

He Yilan's eyelids lowered slightly: "With this kind of entanglement, there’s really no escape."

It was hard to say whether He Yilan's judgment was precise or Bai Luming was simply making sure his words came true.

Before He Yilan could sever the connection between the light whip and his mechanical arm, Bai Luming had already used the long whip to twist their mechanical arms tightly together along the sword hilt.

While executing this move, he had already switched the weapon on his mecha's other arm.

Flash Thunder Gun.

The two mechas, tightly bound by the light whip, were pressed almost flush against each other.

Bai Luming narrowed his eyes with satisfaction, not hesitating in the least as he fired, admiring the chain of attacks creating a visually stunning spectacle of explosions.

Bang bang bang—!

Bang—!

At such close range, the light gun was more than capable of piercing through the armor of an S-class mecha, especially since Bai Luming, even in the midst of chaos, had not forgotten to precisely target the weak points at the joints of the mecha's structure.

As the beams exploded, the internal electrical structures could faintly be seen bursting apart. Banks of warning lights flickered wildly before extinguishing one after another, and in an instant, whole sections of the mecha began dismantling on the spot.

He Yilan swept a glance over the current mecha structure panel and acknowledged: "I lose."

Though he had always been arrogant, he knew that one wrong move could cost the entire game. Since he had failed to notice his opponent's backup plan and found himself at a disadvantage, he accepted the outcome, win or lose, calmly.

As these words fell, the system's judgment promptly popped up.

In this kind of 1v1 mecha combat, there was a specific set of criteria for determination.

For instance, losing over 30% of mecha functionality was one of the hard rules.

"It's over…" Jin Wumian, having witnessed the entire process from lingering intimacy to a sudden turn, felt a sense of incompleteness. "Honestly, these two have some real chemistry in a way. It feels like it wasn’t enough—how about a sequel?"

"What sequel?" Both had returned to the custom lobby after the match ended. Bai Luming had just warped back when he heard this and was curious.

"Of course, the sequel where you two entangle intimately to the ends of the earth," Jin Wumian grinned, giving absolute praise to the match's excitement. "I even recorded it. Want me to show you? During that fight, it looked like you were about to roll into each other. When you used to wipe the floor with me back in the day, I never saw you making eyes at each other."

"With so many people making eyes at you, why would you need me?" Bai Luming didn’t fall for it at all and casually tossed the topic to Chi Yan beside him. "Here, if you want to practice 'eye skills,' you can ask Red Marshal. I think he could use some."

Chi Yan remained coolly unmoved by such dark humor. His glass-colored eyes lifted slightly, glancing past He Yilan before slowly turning to Bai Luming: "Shall we spar?"

Bai Luming, still immersed in the back-and-forth with He Yilan, was caught off guard by the question and blurted out: "Are you crazy, or am I?"

Chi Yan offered four words: "There's still time."

Bai Luming hadn’t expected that watching a match would make this grind king itching for a fight.

In the past, they hadn’t lacked such sparring sessions, but now…

Just as he was pondering how to refuse, He Yilan's voice sounded beside him: "He's tired. He won’t fight."

The others had always been curious about Mr. He's identity, but due to Qing Yileng's earlier remarks, they hadn’t probed further. Now, hearing him speak up suddenly, they all turned to look.

"He's tired. He won’t fight." Jin Wumian repeated sarcastically with a smile, blinking at Bai Luming. "Not bad, Bai. I didn’t know you tired so easily. It seems all those years wandering outside weren’t for nothing—someone actually cares."

"…"

Bai Luming also found it strange that Mr. He would suddenly intervene at this moment. Given Mr. He's status, it was already quite something for him to openly participate in the match—there was no need to risk drawing attention by wading into this drama.

He glanced sideways, briefly meeting He Yilan's gaze.

Their eyes connected only for a moment before Bai Luming naturally shifted his tone: "Who says I don’t tire easily? I spent over half a year in the hospital four years ago. Times have changed—I get tired far too easily now."

Jin Wumian's smile faltered at the sudden acting: "…"

He eyed Bai Luming skeptically: "Really?"

Bai Luming nodded: "Of course. Why don’t you try experiencing a jump accident yourself?"

Jin Wumian: "...Hard pass."

Shen Yanfeng, upon hearing Bai Luming's words, showed genuine concern: "Then would you like to wrap up early and rest?"

Bai Luming said his goodbyes on the spot: "Yeah, I'll head back once I've logged my training time. As for you all, I definitely won't be fighting here with you today. If there's nothing else, then goodbye for now, don't bother walking me out."

Chi Yan was clearly skeptical of this excuse, but he had never been one to force others. He bid farewell and left without fuss.

Qing Yileng glanced at He Yilan but didn't say anything more for the time being, logging off right after him.

Soon afterward, Jin Wumian and Shen Yanfeng also left reluctantly.

Only two people remained in the custom room.

Bai Luming turned to look at He Yilan, finally finding the chance to ask, "Showing up suddenly like that—aren’t you afraid others might find out your identity?"

He Yilan replied, "No, I'm not. I don't have much to do with the other three armies anyway. Even if they found out, they wouldn’t bother getting involved in our group’s internal affairs."

"Not necessarily," Bai Luming said. "At the very least, Jin Wumian would definitely have enough time on his hands to make trouble just because."

He Yilan: "…"

He let his gaze drop briefly at Bai Luming’s face before changing the subject. "23 minutes."

Bai Luming knew exactly what He Yilan was referring to: "Yeah, this time it took me 23 minutes to beat you."

The phrase "this time" seemed to carry an expectation that there would be a "next time."

It was reasonable to suspect they were addicted to fighting each other, but it was also a recognition of He Yilan’s strength.

He Yilan took the loss quite in stride: "Yes, you beat me this time."

He casually reached out and tidied Bai Luming’s disheveled bangs, his movements as natural as his tone. "There’s still time. Would you like your defeated opponent to join you and watch a holographic movie? I recently found a pretty good one."

The shift in topic and the invitation were delivered so matter-of-factly that even Bai Luming felt a bit dazed, wondering if the man standing before him was the same one who had refuted Chi Yan’s "there’s still time" earlier.

But as trainees, their training wasn’t over yet. Checking the time, Bai Luming nodded. "Alright, let’s see that movie you mentioned. What’s it called?"

He Yilan replied, "It's a romance, I think."

Bai Luming: "."

A romance film? From as far back as he could remember, he had practically worn out war films, but he had never watched so-called romance films.

He Yilan noticed Bai Luming’s expression and seemed to read his thoughts. "Don’t worry, it's right up your alley."

Bai Luming was skeptical. "What makes you think you know my taste?"

He Yilan said, "You like men, don't you? The two leads in this film are both men."

Bai Luming: "…?"

There were so many problems with that, that Bai Luming was briefly at a loss for where to even begin.

What did that have to do with whether he liked men or not? And why emphasize that there were "two" leads and that they were "both" men?

After leaving the custom room, Bai Luming still ended up watching the holographic movie with He Yilan.

When it was over, he pressed a hand to his slightly racing heart, feeling that the experience of watching a movie together wasn’t half bad. The next time he was in the mood for something to watch, he might seek out more romance films like this one—strangely exciting.

By the time they returned to the dorm, night had fallen.

After finishing his shower, Bai Luming spotted the figure lying on the bed right away.

Images from the movie they had watched earlier were still vivid in his mind. Remembering the two male leads in the film who shared a dorm room, Bai Luming froze as he toweled his hair. His gaze drifted downward, coming to rest on He Yilan’s collar, still slightly damp from his own shower.

As a few iconic scenes flashed through his mind, Bai Luming’s throat swallowed almost imperceptibly.

Perhaps noticing the unsubtle looking, He Yilan casually closed the virtual screen in front of him and looked over.

His eyes lingered on Bai Luming’s damp hair for a moment before he spoke. "Aren’t you going to blow-dry your hair?"

Bai Luming: "Huh?"

He Yilan gave a soft laugh at his reaction. "Dry your hair first before you get undressed."

Taking his clothes off?

The words effortlessly brought more scenes from the movie to Bai Luming’s mind. His gaze roamed boldly over He Yilan’s chest, almost blurting out, "That might not be appropriate."

Upon closer reflection, the words carried a hint of playing hard to get.

Noticing where Bai Luming’s eyes had landed, He Yilan’s lips curled meaningfully, equal parts amused and annoyed. "After how badly you beat me this afternoon, you’re not going to turn around and pretend nothing happened, are you?"

He rose from the bed, walked over to Bai Luming, took the towel from around his neck, and gently blotted the moisture in his hair. Softly, he said, "Didn’t you promise to let me see your mechanical heart? How am I supposed to see it if you don’t take your clothes off?"

As they stood close, the same scent of shower gel lingered between them.

After a moment, Bai Luming finally spoke in the thick tension. "...Let me dry my hair first."