Chapter 51 Elimination

Chapter 51: Elimination

Both Lilette and Luo Hai rank within the top five in the Mecha Combat Department. They managed to restrain the four stronger opponents, while Zheng Yuanming and Harley barely held off the remaining ones.

During this time, Rong Fei and Bieber checked the starship's perimeter for any issues. Meanwhile, Xie Siyi inside the starship activated a comprehensive diagnostic mode to inspect the interior for anomalies and check the hull for any unknown objects. Even though this mode was extremely energy-intensive, it had to be kept running at full power until the battle concluded.

Two minutes later, the screen showed no abnormalities, but Xie Siyi remained on high alert. He was an elite in the Command Department himself; any problem he could think of, Qi Yanshen would certainly have considered as well. Xie Siyi patched into the comm channels of Rong Fei and Bieber's mechas.

"Check the starship's hull carefully for any issues, especially areas like the engine and transmission. Even if your initial check turns up nothing, remain vigilant and continue a thorough search."

Rong Fei and Bieber: "Copy that."

Rong Fei and Bieber continued their search. However, after two passes, they found no anomalies and detected no enemy signatures.

On the battlefield, the situation remained deadlocked. Qi Yanshen and Andrei were evenly matched, and Qi Yanshen was deliberately drawing the fight away from the starship. Andrei noticed this but was powerless to stop it.

Within just a few minutes, Andrei had a rough grasp of Qi Yanshen's mecha combat prowess. Aside from himself, probably no one could suppress Qi Yanshen. If he eased up on his attacks on Qi Yanshen even for a moment, Qi Yanshen would have an opportunity to assist his teammates. Even a few seconds could turn the tide of battle.

Andrei couldn't afford to gamble.

On another part of the battlefield, Lilette and Luo Hai were locked in a deadlock with the four members of Andrei's team, with neither side gaining an advantage. However, in the long run, Lilette and Luo Hai would be increasingly disadvantaged. Moreover, Harley's mecha skills were only average, allowing him to barely withstand the enemy's attacks.

Soon, the situation took a sudden turn. The five members of Qi Yanshen's team suddenly disengaged from the battle. However, before leaving, Qi Yanshen produced a small orb and threw it toward the two mechas pursuing Lilette.

His aim was precise, the orb landing squarely between the two mechas. The two mecha pilots failed to notice Qi Yanshen's action, and by the time they realized, it was too late to defend.

"Boom!"

An explosion rang out, crippling both mechas. Although not eliminated, one more solid hit would undoubtedly finish them off.

Yet, Qi Yanshen's team did not deliver the final blow. Suspecting a trap, Andrei and Xie Siyi ordered the full team to fall back to the vicinity of the starship. The two severely damaged, near-destruction mechas were left aside for now. They would attempt rescue only after confirming no further danger. If things went south, the nearby rescue team would react faster than they could.

"Andrei, Rong Fei and Bieber didn't find anything. What do you think?"

Xie Siyi asked Andrei, who frowned. "Qi Yanshen and his team wouldn't just come to harass us. They must have another objective. Put everyone inside the ship on high alert and sweep every cabin, compartment, and crawlspace. Leave no area unchecked."

Xie Siyi looked at the surveillance feeds from inside the starship, his expression grave. "I'll see to it. You need to be careful and not stray outside the starship's defensive perimeter."

"Understood."

Andrei responded, maneuvering his mecha to a position above the starship. Earlier, everyone's attention had been focused below, so the inspection of the upper areas probably wasn't as thorough. Andrei checked meticulously but found nothing unusual; the hull was completely intact.

Just as Andrei grew suspicious, a chain of explosions rocked the ship. The starship suddenly shook violently. Seconds later, the anti-gravity drives lost power, and the starship began to descend slowly, piercing the cloud layer.

By the time the two members from the Starship Design Department on the team repaired the anti-gravity levitators, the starship was only two hundred meters above the ground.

The instant the bombs went off, the entire team realized Jian Fuxu was nearby. Without needing Andrei's command, everyone outside the starship moved to search for any sign of Jian Fuxu, but came up empty.

Andrei was grinding his teeth. Qi Yanshen's team truly were utterly ruthless. All's fair in war, but he never expected them to dare bomb the starship. If the starship had crashed, Qi Yanshen's team wouldn't have scored a single point!

Xie Siyi instructed the team member piloting the starship to steady the ship and repeatedly warned Andrei: "We move at dawn. They are clearly a step ahead. We can't afford to be reckless, especially you, Andrei. You are undoubtedly their primary target."

Andrei replied irritably, "I know that already. Don't worry, I won't go off on my own."

For the next half hour, Andrei's team remained on high alert, meticulously sweeping for threats, which had them all wondering how Jian Fuxu had managed to plant the charges. Was it cheating?

But they had seen the exam proctor team several times. If Jian Fuxu had cheated, the bombs simply wouldn't have exploded.

Meanwhile, in the stratosphere above Andrei's team, precisely where the starship had been stationed earlier, Jian Fuxu's mecha hovered silently.

As a safety precaution, Jian Fuxu did not contact Qi Yanshen and the others, meaning both sides were operating in the dark regarding the other.

A second person occupied Jian Fuxu's mecha cockpit: Zhao Qianlang.

At the moment Andrei's team's starship exploded, Jian Fuxu successfully picked up Zhao Qianlang from a distance. After confirming that Andrei's team's starship had descended into the troposphere, Jian Fuxu took Zhao Qianlang up to the stratosphere, shrouded by cloud cover, stopping directly above the enemy starship.

Jian Fuxu was perpetually cold toward the alpha sharing the cockpit. The temperature inside seemed to drop several degrees. His voice was icy, laced with disdain, as he asked, "Can you access it?"

Zhao Qianlang had adapted well to Jian Fuxu's icy demeanor. Without looking up, he replied, "Take us down a little."

After several adjustments, Jian Fuxu finally stopped at a position with good signal reception that was also hard to detect.

Zhao Qianlang hacked into the command frequency of Andrei's team's starship and began the information intrusion. Jian Fuxu scanned for any enemy activity nearby. If discovered, Jian Fuxu would send a message to Qi Yanshen for support and extraction.

Fortunately, Andrei's team remained unaware of Jian Fuxu and Zhao Qianlang. However, in the final three minutes, a member of Andrei's team from the Information Engineering Department noticed something amiss. His own abilities in Information Engineering were among the best; Zhao Qianlang was his equal, but Zhao Qianlang excelled more in information intrusion, while he himself specialized in development.

This led to Andrei's team being slow to detect the intrusion. Upon noticing, the member immediately reported to Xie Siyi and Andrei: "Someone is conducting an information intrusion. They must be nearby!"

As he spoke, that team member immediately launched a counter-hack. In this digital battle, the others in Andrei's team were useless in this fight, so they focused on searching for the hidden enemy nearby.

Jian Fuxu naturally noticed the activity down below. Unfazed, he sent a message to Qi Yanshen.

"Jian Fuxu: Discovered. Requesting backup."

"Qi Yanshen: On our way."

Thus, just as Andrei's team approached a patch of rainforest, three mechas hidden beneath the tree canopy suddenly flew out. Andrei's team immediately acquired the targets and moved to engage the three mechas.

Andrei held his position. Instead, he opened a private channel to Xie Siyi: "Qi Yanshen's mecha isn't among them."

Xie Siyi naturally understood what Andrei meant. He also felt something was off but couldn't put his finger on it immediately. He turned to ask the Information Engineering Department member whose fingers were flying across the controls: "Can you get a distance estimate?"

The tech was preoccupied. After a brief pause, he replied, "Within one kilometer. The signal is relatively stable within that range."

The three mechas that suddenly appeared were about eight hundred meters from the starship, within the one-kilometer range. Yet, Andrei and Xie Siyi's sense of unease persisted.

At that moment, the team member engaged with Zhao Qianlang suddenly blurted out, "Does his signal never drop? Not even a single lag..."

Xie Siyi had a sudden epiphany and said to Andrei, "Those three mechas are a distraction! The real intruder is still hiding nearby!"

Andrei realized immediately and detailed a few team members to continue the search. Just as they had nearly completed their sweep of the area below the starship, Andrei locked onto the target and shot upward toward the higher altitude where Jian Fuxu was located.

As the clouds drifted apart, Andrei immediately zeroed in on Jian Fuxu's dark, low-signature mecha. He wondered why the sensors hadn't picked it up. A smirk curled his lips: "Found you!"

Jian Fuxu was discovered, but he didn't flinch, holding his ground. Just as Andrei's attack was about to connect, Qi Yanshen's mecha finally swooped in to intercept.

Andrei's temper was somewhat volatile to begin with. After being outmaneuvered by Qi Yanshen's team in the middle of the night, he saw red instantly—even though he himself had planned to raid Qi Yanshen's team around six in the morning. Andrei keyed his external comm: "Qi Yanshen! Have you no honor!"

Qi Yanshen replied with infuriating calm, "I didn't cheat."

With just that one sentence, he successfully pushed Andrei over the edge, who roared, "You Command Department guys have hearts as black as can be!"

Xie Siyi, who hadn't turned off the command channel and heard everything clearly: "..."

Under the horrified gazes of everyone in the command room, Xie Siyi took out an oral stress stabilizer and downed it, already plotting how to make Andrei understand what a truly black heart was like.

Andrei never expected Xie Siyi to be so vindictive, which led to constant setbacks in his life the following semester, all while thinking he was just unlucky.

Qi Yanshen didn't bat an eye at Andrei's words. Instead, he took it in stride: "Thank you for the compliment."

Andrei was so angry he thought his lungs would burst. He intensified his attacks, gritting his teeth and saying, "You really do have a thick skin..."

Qi Yanshen blocked the attacks and didn’t provoke him further. Pushing him too far would just make him cool off; this level of provocation was enough.

Meanwhile, below, Lilette and the other two fought against the remaining team members, while above, Qi Yanshen and Andrei clashed. Jian Fuxu stood to the side, quietly watching the show, while simultaneously casting a death glare at Zhao Qianlang—clearly implying, "Can't you handle it?"

Zhao Qianlang, provoked by his disdainful look, redoubled his attacks on the starship’s defense network, attempting to seize control.

The command room’s screen continuously displayed warnings of network intrusion. Xie Siyi made a snap decision, leaving only the four strongest members to pin down the three below while the rest focused on disrupting that jet-black mech.

Seeing the dark, unidentifiable mech charging recklessly, the team members didn’t dare to intercept it directly. Even their attacks were easily dodged. Just as they saw the mech about to crash into the command room’s viewport, it suddenly swerved sharply and flew to the side.

The pursuing team members immediately realized what was happening and instinctively shouted, "Watch out!"

The next second, an explosion rang out, but the starship didn’t have a scratch on it—Xie Siyi had activated the starship’s protective shield.

The military academy had deliberately modified the starship’s energy consumption. Beyond basic operations, features like the protective shield became extremely energy-intensive. Full coverage for one minute consumed 50 units of energy, and the cost increased further under attack. They hadn't used it until now, just in case. With only 800 units of energy left, they couldn’t afford the drain.

After blocking the attack, Xie Siyi deactivated the starship’s protective shield.

Qi Yanshen and his team had clearly come prepared—and well-prepared at that. Throughout the entire battle, they had been led by the nose. Qi Yanshen’s position as the top student in the Command Department was well-deserved.

Xie Siyi felt unwilling, even resentful. Why was Qi Yanshen not only exceptionally skilled in command and strategy but also so proficient in mech combat? Even Andrei, the top student in the Mech Combat Department, wasn't able to get the better of him!

They had originally planned to launch a surprise attack at six in the morning, catching their opponents off guard. Instead, the prey they had their eyes on struck back first, attacking at three-thirty and leaving them scrambling.

Call it fate?

In this situation, Xie Siyi grew even calmer. Based on the footage transmitted by the team members’ mechs, he bypassed Andrei in the team channel and issued orders to the other combat members: "Andrei, continue restraining Qi Yanshen. The rest of you, locate that jet-black mech. The signal is still stable, so it’s at most a thousand meters from the starship."

Unfortunately, before Andrei’s team could find it, the command room’s screen displayed a message they didn’t want to see.

"Command authority transferred. All members eliminated."

The starship’s speakers then automatically broadcast the result three times.

The Information Engineering Department member in the command room nearly smashed the console upon seeing this message. He knew the Information Engineering Department member from Qi Yanshen’s team—they had competed before. How had he become so incredibly skilled today, as if he were on some kind of stimulant?

The pursuing team members outside also stopped, and Qi Yanshen’s team ceased their attacks—except for Luo Hai. Once he got carried away in a fight, he needed to be forcibly stopped. Lilette couldn’t restrain him, so the rescue team, who had been keeping a close eye on Luo Hai, stepped in to intervene.

Andrei’s team couldn’t understand it. On the surface, the battle had seemed evenly matched, but upon reflection, they had been led by the nose the entire time, ultimately losing miserably.

Although Andrei was displeased with the outcome and even felt somewhat unconvinced, a loss was a loss. Only the weak made excuses for themselves; the strong reflected on why they lost and worked hard to improve and overcome their opponents.

But Andrei believed he hadn’t neglected information gathering. He couldn’t help but ask Qi Yanshen how they had managed to seize command authority through the network, and about that non-reflective black mech, among other things.

Qi Yanshen didn’t respond, simply telling him to wait for the invigilator to come and assist them before cleanly walking away.

Andrei’s forehead veins bulged as he roared in fury, "Qi Yanshen, you heartless, deadpan-faced schemer!"

Qi Yanshen ignored him. They had already won, so there was no need to waste words. Besides, why should he tell him? It wouldn’t benefit him in any way.