Chapter 38

Chapter 38

The news about where the base point was quickly reached the Blue Team.

In the Blue Team channel.

After listening to the member's account, the channel fell silent for a few seconds before exploding with chatter.

"That's too much!!!"

"What does this mean? Is he bored because we haven't found it and doesn't want to play with us anymore!?"

"This No. 32 is that Meng Shijiu, right?! No wonder he's been on the penalty list twice in one day."

"What a troublemaker!"

"He must have been laughing his head off watching us search the entire map for the base point and not find it..."

...

Jing Shu promptly cut in to stop the "condemnation" of "No. 32" within the channel.

In truth, he was equally displeased—that No. 32 was practically handing him the answer on a silver platter. What difference was there from giving him a handicap?

But his voice remained cold and calm, concise and clear when giving orders:

Jing Shu: "Return to your original positions as soon as possible. Attack the base point directly upon finding it; eliminate the opponent if possible. Report your positions to me."

"Keep an eye on that No. 32 nearby. Report any movements directly."

A chorus of "Received" responses sounded again in the channel, without hesitation or doubt. The Blue Team returned to its usual orderly state, piloting their mechas into action.

The vice-captain clearly felt frustrated and exasperated too: "So that No. 32 is Meng Shijiu..."

"—What kind of style is this? First, he hides the base point, runs when he sees us, then when we find him, he gives us a bloody beating, only to show mercy and leave one alive to report back..."

"...Pure humiliation, huh?"

Meng Shijiu: ...I'm not, I didn't.

Jing Shu: "Who he is isn't important."

Jing Shu's gaze fell on the increasingly annotated map. He lightly tapped the control console, as if deep in thought, his voice tinged with a hint of interest: "Beating him is more important."

The match had indeed only just begun.

Jing Shu had trained on several of Wen Hui's maps. The most obvious characteristic of Wen Hui's maps was that they were exceptionally taxing to fight in.

High energy consumption, demanding precise operation, and requiring teamwork.

Every time they finished, the team members basically crawled out battered and bruised. Winning was not only difficult but also infuriating and frustrating.

It felt like winning but not really winning.

Like you beat your fellow examinees but lost to the exam setter.

He could imagine that if No. 32 hadn't discovered the base point, under normal circumstances, the two sides would have clashed quickly, fighting fiercely while simultaneously shelling obstacles.

It would have been another exhausting and frantic battle—because there were only six hours, and the victory condition was having more base points.

Plus, there was still that unknown hidden trigger condition—"Under specific triggered circumstances, some base points will automatically change color."

—And you had to use your brain.

You could only say it was worthy of Instructor Wen Hui, who loved pushing human limits to the extreme.

Such a well-laid plan was almost ruined by this No. 32. Thinking about it actually felt a bit satisfying.

As the captain, and someone who had suffered under Wen Hui's maps for a long time, Jing Shu thought to himself.

—

The C1 map was open-air, with time synchronized to the outside world. It was just before sunset, the sunlight growing thin and gentle, casting a golden glaze over everything.

The shadows of the obstacles stretched long.

Meng Shijiu glanced at his mecha's remaining energy bar. The previous consumption had used up about one-third. Fortunately, the match rules only required extinguishing the indicator lights, so it was still ample.

The score on the right had been changing chaotically since it became "19:17" and was still fluctuating frequently.

After the Red Team's base point count rose rapidly, the Blue Team's count quickly climbed back up. The entire process took only about twenty minutes. Now, both sides' scores were basically hovering around parity.

The Blue Team reacted quickly, Meng Shijiu noted.

Well-organized, fast information transmission, quick judgment, swift orders, and rapid execution.

That's how they managed to turn the tide so quickly.

They didn't seem like new recruits, more like comrades who had fought side by side for a long time.

The match had finally returned to its intended course, but the numbers on both sides remained unknown.

Seems like he couldn't just let it go either.

After ascertaining what Ying Canglun had said in the channel, Meng Shijiu opened the Red Team channel for the first time.

Thinking about it carefully, this should be his second time talking to students from St. Maria.

The silver-haired Alpha's voice rang out clearly in the channel:

"Report the coordinates of all found base points. All of them."

The moment he finished speaking.

A dark gray mecha suddenly flew over from the left side of No. 32.

The red "33" on its outer shell was somewhat conspicuous, tinted a soft warm hue by the setting sun.

The mecha landed beside No. 32.

Meng Shijiu: "Huh."

As if knowing exactly who was inside No. 32.

The No. 33 mecha walked over and raised its left arm.

A brief link between mechas, a silky light glowing simultaneously from the connection point before quickly fading.

This person didn't speak, but Meng Shijiu instantly understood who he was.

In Meng Shijiu's presence, he was not only silent but had never once called out Meng Shijiu's name.

It was as if their private comms channel had just connected.

Meng Shijiu: "Looking for me?"

Ye Lingxi: "Looking for you."

After a half-second pause, Meng Shijiu closed the team channel.

The silver-haired Alpha spoke first: "How did you find me?"

Without waiting for Ye Lingxi's answer, Meng Shijiu already knew—

On the cockpit display, on the map where Meng Shijiu had meant to mark the base points, all coordinates now appeared on his screen once Mech No. 32 and No. 33 linked up.

—Except for the base point at Meng Shijiu's current location.

Ye Lingxi had checked all the base points one by one, and only at the last one did he find the person he was looking for.

Ye Lingxi never had much luck, but he had finally found him.

This time, the words came via a psychic link.

Ye Lingxi: "I'll find you sooner next time."

Once linked, the mechs could disconnect, but No. 33's left arm still rested lightly on the right side of No. 32's outer shell.

The dusk flowed slowly like melting amber, and the two mechs stood silent in the sunset.

Inside the mech, the silver-haired Alpha sat; the oil-painting hues of dusk couldn't reach his face, yet they filled his eyes.

Tiny golden specks flickered with his breath, like shimmering ripples on a jade-green lake.

But Meng Shijiu's voice might have been even gentler than the twilight glow.

Meng Shijiu: "You're early enough."

Meng Shijiu: "You're the first."

Ye Lingxi jerked his head up, his face, usually darkened by years of simmering hostility, now betraying an unease he wasn't even aware of.

He spoke haltingly: "...You remember?"

"You're the first."

Back in the Ye household, Meng Shijiu had once said those words to him.

The Omega's low, hoarse voice made Meng Shijiu wonder if he'd gone another full week without talking to anyone.

After finishing his daily dose of "truth, kindness, and beauty" and checking his mission points, Meng Shijiu raised a brow, puzzled: "What?"

With that, he took off in his mech, simultaneously blasting the Blue Team with an energy cannon without a second thought.

Ying Canglun, utterly ignored throughout: "...Weird."

—

The exam was half over, and the Blue Team already held an absolute lead in base points.

—"22:14"

In the C1 monitoring room.

Jiang Yuanfen observed the flickering map of base points, crossing his arms and leaning back lazily: "Looks like it's wrapping up. Jing Shu's already cracked the trigger pattern."

Jiang Yuanfen turned to Wen Hui: "Doesn't this test of yours give the Blue Team too much of an edge?"

—The need for a real-time link to see the map, the trademark high-difficulty design, and rules next to impossible to figure out without a live feed of all base point changes.

The Blue Team already had strong teamwork; once they linked up and got the real-time map data, Jing Shu was fully capable of quickly deducing the trigger pattern from his teammates' updates.

He used this pattern to rack up more base points for the Blue Team. Even so... Jiang Yuanfen narrowed his eyes as two blue base points lit up.

—He was clearly trying to break the Red Team's spirit.

Getting pushed back was tiring enough. This move—where they'd work hard to flip a base point, only for the trigger pattern to shift the hidden conditions and flip even more points—

This wasn't just drawing water with a bamboo basket; it was like trekking through mountains only to end up preparing a bridal chamber for someone else.

It was evident the Red Team members were holding back their frustration, growing angrier as they fought, but without a commander, they became more chaotic.

Jiang Yuanfen: "Even if they have a commander now, finding the pattern has already cost them the initiative.

"Tsk, Jing Shu is really ruthless."

Jiang Yuanfen sighed: "He's really going all out."

Jiang Yuanfen tilted his head: "He hasn't had this much fun playing your maps in a while, has he?"

Wen Hui glanced at No. 32, which still showed no movement: "Did you notice?"

Jiang Yuanfen: "What?"

Wen Hui: "This map requires a highly capable commander."

Jiang Yuanfen was speechless, lazily clasping his hands together: "Isn't that stating the obvious?"

Seeing him fall silent again, Jiang Yuanfen followed his gaze, growing even more puzzled: "Where's the Red Team's commander? They were coordinated at the start, why does it seem like they have no commander now?"

"—How long has this No. 32 been staying here?"

On the other side, the two remained silent. Shen Huaixu didn't seem worried at all, and Lucas was completely expressionless.

Cloud Shadow Live Stream.

"Didn't expect the Red Team to be completely suppressed."

"Not on the same level, I'd say."

"This reversal..."

"Did anyone understand that trigger pattern?"

"No... it's too chaotic. For the Blue Team to figure it out so quickly, their calculation skills are really strong."

"Truly impressive."

"Who's the Blue Team commander?"

"Captain Jing, man. Regular viewers know, this batch of recruits being so strong has everything to do with Jing Shu."

"If I were on the red team, I'd be totally tilted. I can't make heads or tails of it."

"Switched."

"Switched again."

"Huh?"

"They switched to No. 32!"

"No. 32!!"

...

The sky had grown completely dark.

Night had fallen over the entire map.

No. 33 quietly guarded No. 32's side, rushing to pummel any blue team member he saw without hesitation, then hurriedly returning to stand by No. 32 again.

No. 623... No. 623 had been pretending he didn't exist for a good while now.

"Why is the vibe here like this?"

"Upstairs, what kind of vibe are you talking about?"

"Isn't it obvious? Naturally, it's the 'peaceful, serene couple' vibe."

"It's the 'peaceful, serene couple' group and one very bright third wheel :D"

"How did it even come to this, hahaha"

"I'm dying of laughter. Why does it feel like this No. 32 has no conscience? His teammates were hiding the base points perfectly, and he exposed them with one blast. His teammates are sweating to capture points, and he's over here stargazing."

"I see why the blue team's so pissed at him. No. 32 is the Meng Shijiu the blue team mentioned, right? No. 32 was the one who discovered the base points initially. The blue team said Meng Shijiu ordered the red team to steer clear of them."

"So, is No. 32 the commander?"

"Nah, I think he's just here to slack off."

"I can see that too... Has No. 32 changed at all compared to a few hours ago?"

"A true master of slacking."

...

Inside No. 32's mech.

Unlike the mech's quiet exterior, the spacious cockpit was filled with the racket from the team channel.

Sounds of fighting, talking, cursing... all sorts of noises mixed together, lulling Meng Shijiu to sleep.

Displayed before him were the marked maps.

One was given to him by Ye Lingxi. It was the initial version, basically showing the blue team's scattered distribution and the red team's triangular concentration. After Meng Shijiu repaired it according to the pattern, it became the state Wen Hui had initially set.

The other was drawn based on positions reported to him over the channel. It only had some chaotic locations and marks Meng Shijiu had made.

The sounds in the channel continued. Meng Shijiu took his sweet time marking the second map, occasionally pausing to listen to the channel again.

Finally, fed up with the noise, Meng Shijiu shut off the team channel.

The cacophony abruptly ceased.

The cockpit instantly became quiet.

The silver-haired Alpha slowly blinked. The screen's blue light reflected on Meng Shijiu's face, his half-closed lashes casting delicate shadows.

He raised a hand to cover his ears lightly, looking somewhat dazed as he spaced out for a moment.

Meng Shijiu: I wanna go home.

Meng Shijiu: Feels like I've listened to the Great Compassion Mantra ten times over.

... Suddenly, a voice came out of nowhere.

"Hey."

"Did you figure out the pattern of the base point changes?"

He didn't care at all who it was; Meng Shijiu just wanted him to shut up and be quiet, so he shot back very quickly.

"—No."

"Huh? You haven't found it?"

"What, another one?"

"From the sound of it, No. 32 really is the commander."

"Ah... if even the commander hasn't found the pattern... then they're totally gonna get crushed by Jing Shu on this front. That's just Jing Shu's style."

"Crap, I bet on the red team."

...

Qian Chunyan: "—Huh?"

Meng Shijiu looked at the mech that had suddenly appeared beside him at some point and added, "Haven't looked."

—It wasn't that he couldn't find the pattern; he just never bothered looking for it.

Qian Chunyan piloted his mech to land beside him.

"Good grief."

"Doesn't surprise me one bit."

"Holy cow, so he really was just stargazing earlier?"

Meng Shijiu didn't ask how Qian Chunyan had suddenly appeared and found him.

Anyway, this wasn't the first time the two had run into each other. Meng Shijiu was already used to this person's mysterious appearances and disappearances.

Meng Shijiu: "Finding patterns is the commander's job."

With no private link, the two just kept their comms on speaker.

Meng Shijiu heard his own voice, unusually faint in the night, as if a gentle breeze could scatter it.

—Meng Shijiu touched his ear again, his heart aching with homesickness.

Meng Shijiu: I wanna go home.

Qian Chunyan: "Aren't you the commander?"

Meng Shijiu: "What? When did I become the commander?"

Qian Chunyan: ?

Qian Chunyan: "Then why did you ask for the base coordinates in the channel?"

Meng Shijiu didn't answer.

Ye Lingxi, who had just finished off a Blue Team member nearby, piloted his mech back to their location.

He quietly returned to Meng Shijiu's side, while his cannon barrel was aimed directly at Qian Chunyan.

—A silent warning.

He didn't speak, but his cold demeanor was unmistakable.

Qian Chunyan: ?

Meng Shijiu: ...

Sure enough, the original protagonist bent on world destruction had violent tendencies...

—

Blue Team.

Everyone thought Jing Shu was having a great time on this map, but in reality, Jing Shu's eyes were glazing over from staring at the base map.

Jing Shu: I need a tutorial on how to get Wen Hui to resign.

The map kept flashing, but he had to stay calm, immediately devising strategies and issuing orders based on the shifting base points.

Dry mouth, blurry eyes, headache.

But overall, the growing number of blue base points on the map brought a thrill close to victory.

Compared to Wen Hui's other maps, Jing Shu was already having it much easier.

Just as he took a break from commanding, the vice-captain's voice came through the channel: "Captain, No. 32 has disappeared."

Jing Shu frowned slightly: "How did he disappear? Wasn't someone keeping an eye on him?"

Vice-captain: "Yes, but shortly after we discovered the base point, Red Team's No. 33 started following him closely. Whenever he saw any of our team members, regardless of distance, he'd unleash a barrage of cannon fire. It was a suicide mission for us..."

"Then a mysterious No. 863 appeared, and the two of them completely blocked No. 32 from view. Just as we were about to search for him, he vanished."

Jing Shu: "Got it."

He lowered his head to continue examining the map but couldn't find any issues.

—This No. 32... what's he up to?

As the captain, Jing Shu knew better than anyone the key to winning this match—the commander.

Almost instantly, he glanced around.

Jing Shu's heart tightened.

He instinctively turned his head.

—But it was already too late.

Night wind.

In mid-air.

A particle cannon blast, its aperture size precisely controlled—

The mech's right arm suddenly appeared, its cannon almost pressed against Jing Shu's chest.

Point-blank.

Jing Shu heard a lazy voice.

Like a velvet blanket in the night wind, slightly hoarse yet trailing off softly.

Meng Shijiu: "Hello."

A direct hit. The sensor light on Jing Shu's mech chest instantly went out.

Meng Shijiu: "Goodbye."

The dark gray No. 32 merged into the night without hesitation, silently vanishing into the sky.

Jing Shu: .

Jing Shu's heartbeat echoed like deep-sea drums, slowly fading in the silence.

The live feed following No. 32 nearly got dizzy from the constant switching, finally catching a glimpse of No. 32's back after countless cuts.

"..."

"What does this mean?"

"Is this... Jing Shu?"

"!!!"

"!!!"

"Is it what I think it is??"

"Solo kill on Jing Shu..."

"How did he find him? He's the most hidden commander position."

"I'm convinced... perfect psychic control... Did Jing Shu not notice at all?"

"Don't get it, why attack the commander?"

"The Blue Team is going to be in chaos. This map is too demanding for just anyone to step up as commander."

"No wonder they stopped looking for patterns."

"Yeah, no point looking now, since the only one who could find them just got solo-killed."

"This is gonna be such a pain to play..."

"Don't forget the Red Team had to deal with this too."

"For the Red Team, taking out the commander beats finding patterns."

"No. 32 showed no mercy to friends or foes. Respect."

"That's kinda savage."

"I'm already getting tilted just thinking about this match descending into chaos."

Blue Team Channel:

"Captain??"

"Captain!!?"

"..."

No amount of calling out could bring the eliminated Jing Shu back to the map.

Jing Shu took one last long look at the retreating mech silhouette against the night sky.

First, he felt a surge of frustration at his efforts being wasted... but what followed was a strange, inexplicable sense of amusement, like he could finally just sit back and enjoy the show...

As the commander, he was almost always the last one standing. The match typically didn't end until he was out.

Jing Shu: Clocking out.

Jing Shu: Thanks, No. 32.

But he still wanted to know how this No. 32 had found him.

...

No. 32 lazily found a spot to land.

Santa Maria was indeed having a tough time, but Meng Shijiu understood their true advantage.

Rather than finding patterns and competing in command ability, Santa Maria was better suited to a chaotic free-for-all... Meng Shijiu thought.

There's a way to play even a tough hand.

If you make it tough for me, I'll make it tough for you. Whoever endures, wins.

If you care about winning, don't worry about winning pretty.

In an encounter, whoever sees through the opponent first, wins.

The existing order was shattered once again.

The entire C1 map plunged back into chaos.

The base point ratio on the right kept jumping. Meng Shijiu didn't bother looking, just lazily closed his eyes.

The rest wasn't his concern anymore.

This wasn't a control point area, so it was quiet. The moonlight still didn't reach the Silver-haired Alpha, but it had always been flowing through his long hair.

Meng Shijiu had just unwrapped an orange candy.

No. 33 appeared from mid-air and quietly touched down beside him once more.