Chapter 262

Chapter 262

As the emcee kept introducing them, more and more star players came on stage, each one got waves of cheers. But when the emcee got to the later countries, the cheering died down.

With no cheers, the emcee sped up. When he called out "Kainan," a young guy with dark brown hair stepped up. A small section of the crowd erupted in loud cheers—not as loud as before, but they were going all out. They screamed his name, putting everything into it.

"Leisa! Leisa!"

Kainan's position wasn't far from Grath, which meant their ranking wasn't great; countries that were competing for the first time always got stuck at the end.

Lakeley, standing on Grath's high platform, glanced over. He said with a bit of emotion, "Kainan's old captain is still around this time."

Leisa was kind of a known name in the Resource Scramble, barely. He was Kainan's own prodigy. If he'd been in another country, he'd have been a core member—he'd be way better off than he is now. He got tons of invitations every year.

But he stayed in Kainan.

Even now, Kainan was nothing like its former self—it'd lost all dignity, resorting to any trick to get noticed, getting humiliated and mocked by their rivals, like there was no way back.

Leisa's old teammates and friends all left one by one in this hopeless situation. Even Kainan's own higher-ups understood. The Resource Scramble was a legal fight to the death where you could get killed. They couldn't ask them to risk their lives without giving them dignity or honor.

A lot of people were watching Leisa's fall, waiting for him to quit. But a small group still stuck with him and supported him.

The brown-haired young guy looked calm and gentle, didn't even react to those crazy cheers. He just stood, did the usual thing to trigger his Mecha Button, and after a few seconds, turned back into his team.

But that section only cheered even louder.

Lakeley's face got serious. He gave a quick intro on Kainan. "Kainan had some beef with Xiboen way back, so they've been getting targeted in the Resource Scramble ever since."

"...After that, they barely ever made it past the first round. Most of Kainan's old members either died or left. Now, other than Leisa, the team is all new members, and most of them are good-looking—that was their only option."

"One thing I want to say: they can only hold on and compete in the first round. But even then, Kainan's casualty rate is one of the highest in the whole competition. So yeah, their members are pretty faces, I'll admit it. But these young people came ready to die for it. I don't want any nasty jokes in my room. At least here, they deserve respect."

"Lakeley's still got it. I've never even heard of Kainan, and it sounds rough. And I don't like Xiboen as much now. Didn't know that."

"Keep it down. Didn't you see Lakeley didn't go into detail? Their methods are shady as hell. If it gets too big, I'm worried Lakeley might be in trouble. Any Kainan fans in Lakeley's room?"

"Probably not. Their fans are usually more hardcore—like, into stuff you need to be of age for. They wouldn't care for Lakeley's style."

The emcee had already started on the next country.

Lakeley looked away. "Kainan's lucky to have Leisa as captain. If that thing hadn't happened before, Kainan would be way better off now."

At least it wouldn't be so ugly, and they wouldn't keep cycling through new faces.

"Easy to say. An S-rank that can't be poached, great all around, and if you threw money at a decent mecha for him, Kainan could at least fight for middle-of-the-pack in half the matches."

"Most people haven't even heard of Leisa now. They just think of Kainan as that weird little country, right? He was top rookie in his personal debut back then. Now he can't even get into individual matches."

"Leisa's really a shame. He was supposed to be a future star, but now he's this low. He got humiliated again in the last first round, didn't he? I couldn't watch."

"With Kainan's exposure, Leisa still gets a lot of attention. His story's tragic enough—anyone who hears it can't help but feel sorry for him."

"But he doesn't care. He's been through too much. He's solid now, doesn't flinch at insults or mockery. His face is like it's glued on."

"Except when teammates die (quietly). Those new guys are so young. Leisa has to send off a batch every year. It's a miracle he hasn't lost it."

Lakeley had stopped paying attention to the room. The emcee had finished with the returning countries and was now introducing the new ones.

Grath's audience area was standard-sized, mostly empty, which was fine since the back rows and new arrivals were similar.

Lakeley kept an eye on Grath's movements, adjusting parameters and getting ready to record, while also pulling up the official main view on his screen. From there, he could see how others were reacting.

He hadn't even been this nervous when Keller came on stage.

"I hope they've got a captain move ready. If not, copying one from earlier would work."

Except for a few signature moves, most actions were repeatable. After all, the Mecha Button could only go in a few spots, and the poses for deploying it were limited.

Baide was the captain this time. Lakeley glanced at him nervously, trying to spot where Baide's Mecha Button was. Then he suddenly realized—none of the Grath members had Mecha Buttons on them.

Lakeley muttered, "No way. The Resource Scramble's about to start."

By now, the emcee had called out "Grath."

Lakeley had no time to think. He switched to the main view, focusing. The camera descended from above, first showing Grath's fluttering flag, then Norton's figure.

"I know that! That's Grath's emperor. His picture was up on the star network a few days ago. Took the whole network forever to find out he's the emperor."

"Monarchy? That's rare these days. What a backwater little country. Another Kainan?"

"The emperor's so hot. The members here, including the emperor, are all pretty young! I want that uniform. Might be worth checking out."

"Don't get carried away. I've bought similar stuff. It looks awful if it doesn't fit. Long legs, good proportions, a great face—if you've got those, even a sack works."

Norton raised a hand.

From the team behind, Baide stepped forward. His gaze casually locked onto the airborne camera.

For a better visual experience, the main view wasn't from the holographic device but from this camera.

Everyone watching felt like Baide's eyes were fixed on them.

Baide walked slowly, drawing his sword without hurry, pointing it diagonally at the ground. Then he suddenly sped up, leaped like a big cat pouncing on prey.

The distance closed fast. In midair, Baide changed his grip to two hands, his eyes and blade aimed at the camera.

Lakeley had set the main view to first-person. Because it felt so real, he instinctively stepped back, trying to dodge.

But just as the sword tip was about to hit, Baide quickly swerved away. His figure disappeared upward, and the camera jerked briefly like something pressed it. Then Baide jumped out from behind, landing lightly back in his spot.

He tilted his head, grinning wider at the camera, like he was saying, "Did I scare you?"

Lakeley exited the main view, his heart still pounding from the close call. He replayed the footage from another angle, which showed Baide faking the strike at the last second, stepping onto the camera body, then twisting back.

The audience snapped out of it.

"Scared me! Just a joke—if he broke the machine, he'd have to pay for it."

"That was awesome! In full mecha form, that move would be in the highest difficulty tier!"

"Don't get your hopes up. Pulling off that kind of smooth move while wearing a mecha takes insane mental and physical ability."

"The first part maybe a few geniuses could do, but the sword sheathing and turn were almost instant. I don't think current mechas can be that fast and agile. We'll have to wait for better tech."

Not using the Mecha Button is actually good. More stuff like this gives everyone more freedom to show off. But isn't this weapon kinda retro? I thought it was just a prop, but they actually trained with it.

Most people thought it was a joke or a stunt to grab attention.

Only Suonan, a few people from Orolia's team, Lakeley (who saw Ye Mo's incident from the start), and the viewers in his room didn't think it was a joke.

It was a perfect copy of Ye Mo's moves from back then.

Especially Abigail—his face was pale. The scene just now almost instantly pulled him back to that moment. Later checks showed his mental energy had taken a hit and hadn't fully recovered. He lowered his head, and a teammate beside him frowned, looking at him with concern. "Can you still go for the resource battle later?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

Abigail straightened up again.

The people watching them caught this exchange right away.

"You hurt? Don't push it if you're injured."

"Can't tell what's up, but he's looked pale since just now. The resource war is about to start—let's hope nothing goes wrong."

Baide returned to the team, still wearing a smile on his face.

Arnold beside him shuddered. "Why are you smiling even creepier than usual—"

Baide patted Arnold on the back, forcibly cutting off his words. "Don't mind it, I'm just a little excited."

Arnold fell silent. Although Baide was smiling, his eyes were very unfriendly, like some kind of beast. When looked at, there was a feeling of being intimidated.

In this situation, it's best to stay away. Arnold, being a survival expert, pulled Ye Mo (who was in front of Baide) over to Herli. "Sis Herli, give us some cover."

Herli, ever loyal, shifted half a step sideways.