Chapter 267

Chapter 267

After that sword strike, Ye Mo closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A few seconds later, he switched the sword to his right hand, pointing it diagonally at the ground. The blade cut through the air, producing a sharp, piercing sound.

Lakeley, who had been anxiously following Ye Mo, could no longer hide his excitement. "It looks like Ye Mo's strength is very stable, without any developmental fluctuations. That previous performance wasn't a flash in the pan or a surprise—his physical strength is unimaginably powerful. He truly has the ability to take on a mecha head-on!"

"Betting on Cyril as this year's rookie champion!"

"There might be a chance next time. I'm not too optimistic about Grance advancing this time. Let's wait until the halfway point of the competition to check the rankings. But at his age, doing this without a mecha is truly astounding."

"I placed a small bet on Grance for first place, just for symbolic support of Cyril's hometown. Hope to get enough money soon to equip Cyril with a mecha."

"Watching Cyril fight is such a pleasure—smooth and fluid, using minimal force against a giant, taking on a mecha with just his body. Every time, it's breathtaking."

"I want to buy his merchandise!"

But soon, Lakeley grew worried again. "But this situation isn't optimistic. I hope he finds a chance to retreat quickly. A mecha can reach three times the speed of a hovercar and sustain that for a long time."

On the other side, unaware of Lakeley's concerns, Ye Mo had already turned sideways, facing the direction where Leisa and the others were.

Leisa was lying flat on the ground, watching Ye Mo stand there with his sword pointed diagonally at the earth, the fallen red mecha beside him. Ye Mo looked tiny compared to the massive mecha, its head alone towering over him.

From inside the cockpit, Leisa stared blankly as Ye Mo stood still, then leisurely walked toward their side.

The onlookers finally snapped out of it. One of the teammates who had been restraining Leisa even let go and charged at Ye Mo, shouting, "What is this?!"

Ye Mo also began sprinting forward, like a great bird spreading its wings. He gracefully sidestepped the opponent.

This time, Ye Mo only needed one strike to destroy a leg joint of the mecha. The high-speed machine crashed heavily onto the ground.

The Xiboen team members watching from the side could no longer stay put. One by one, they jumped down from the building they were standing on and warily approached Ye Mo.

Meanwhile, the blond youth from Kernan suddenly snapped back to reality and looked at his captain. Over by Leisa, only one mecha was still pinning him down.

The blond youth's heart pounded. He glanced at Ye Mo standing there, then back at Leisa. A few seconds later, he charged toward the mecha restraining Leisa.

Leisa reacted quickly, seizing the opportunity to get up. After one strike, he pulled the blond youth back to Zener's side and then positioned himself in front of both the blond youth and Zener.

The overturned mecha took a few steps after them but then stopped, reluctantly turning toward Ye Mo. It understood that without the other teammates around, it would be hard to take on Leisa alone.

Leisa stood up but remained on alert. The situation on the field seemed temporarily turned around, but Leisa knew it was far from over. Zener and the others were hardly combat-effective, and their safety still had to be considered.

Though it was hard to believe, here he was the only real combatant alongside that kid who didn't even have a mecha button.

Leisa fixed his gaze on Ye Mo, who was slowly being surrounded, and assumed a fighting stance, ready to strike at any moment.

That kid was even younger than Zener. Given just a little time, he was destined to be a shining genius.

Given just a little time, as long as they still had a future, as long as they could get out of here safely.

Leisa's mental energy was taut like a drawn string, coiled and ready.

Zener clung tightly to the blond youth, still not fully recovered. His voice trembled as he spoke, "C-captain, what about Ye Mo?"

The blond youth also looked in that direction and said softly, "The captain will handle it. If a fight breaks out, make sure you stay close to me."

Among the mechas closing in on Ye Mo, a black mecha from Xiboen stepped forward. It stopped, and the others followed suit.

That was Aize's mecha, the vice-captain of Xiboen. The Xiboen team members present made up a third of the total force. The captain had led the main team to the flag-holding area.

But Aize was a top-tier competitor in individual rankings. Even Leisa found it hard to claim he could take on Aize alone, especially since his own mecha had already sustained some damage.

Aize seemed to have no intention of attacking for now. He asked Ye Mo, "Where is your mecha button?"

Because Grance didn't have a mecha that met competition standards—its technology wasn't advanced enough. But he couldn't say that.

Baide had said not to let anyone look down on Grance, but lying wasn't good either.

Ye Mo didn't move at all. No one could tell his inner conflict. He simply crouched slightly, looking poised and ready to attack.

The main camera angle hadn't switched yet.

The host stood up, arms wide open, his tone fervent. "A genius! Another dazzling genius has been born in some corner, in a time we never knew! Come on, friends, cheer for this incredibly young genius! Let him feel your passion!"

Every participant in the resource war had their own personal page, run by the Star Alliance. There, viewers could watch the player's videos and information, send gifts and support, and the Star Alliance would directly transfer them to the player's personal account.

Countless viewers flooded into Ye Mo's page, which was still mostly empty with only basic info.

But even so, Ye Mo's follower count was climbing rapidly.

The host continued excitedly, "Unfortunately, this genius has run into Xiboen. His journey in this resource war ends here. But it doesn't matter—he has already shown his strength. Invitations from major nations will pour in. He will present us with more thrilling battles, continuing his brilliant journey!"

Then the host sat back down, a bit regretfully. "Ladies and gentlemen, there's movement from Buston. It's a pity to say goodbye to our little genius for now."

The main camera angle switched away, but quite a few people stayed. Every nation's camera followed its captain, and star players had separate angles.

Ye Mo wasn't a captain, so many people stayed on Kernan's or Xiboen's Aize's perspective.

Aize was still stopped. Ye Mo didn't answer, and Aize didn't say anything else either. He simply continued, "Come to Xiboen. You'll have a broader horizon there."

Ye Mo didn't reply or move. He just tightened his grip on his sword.

The standoff dragged on.

Lakeley was anxious on the sidelines. At least say something polite to save face—maybe they'd let him withdraw. Cyril was still too young.

A lazy voice broke the deadlock.

"Is it appropriate to poach someone else's child right in front of their elder?"

The voice came from above.

Ye Mo looked up, a hint of surprise in his voice, "Baide?"

Baide was crouched on top of the building where Ye Mo and his group had spent the night. No one knew how long he'd been there.

He looked down at Ye Mo, smiling warmly. "Yeah, what a coincidence. Cyril, are you hungry? If I let you go hungry, Sylvia will definitely scold me."

"No, I have nutrient fluid."

"I see. I found a flag. Does anyone want it?"

Ye Mo had just placed the flag aside. He immediately raised his hand and quickly defended himself, "I just set it down over there."

Baide looked quite indulgent. "Alright, alright, just set it down. Of course, our Cyril is always right."

He tossed the flag to Ye Mo. "Cyril, take the flag and play around for a bit, okay? Oh, and Cyril is not a kid anymore."

Then, in a very perfunctory tone, Baide added, "Consider this your mission then—protect the flag. After all, we only have this one flag."

Ye Mo caught the flag. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately said nothing and turned to step back to Leisa's side.

It's not like he could argue anyway.

On the other side, Baide looked at Aize. His smile vanished. He rolled his neck, producing a sound of joints cracking. "Alright, let's talk business. You've made me a bit angry. Is bullying a kid any fun?"

"Adult matters should be settled between adults."

Before his second sentence even finished, Baide was already standing on Aize's black mech. The mech fell backward to the ground with a tremendous crash.

"Right?"

At the same time, in the resource war, Aize's name went dark.

A mech is automatically eliminated once its damage reaches a certain level; even Ye Mo's dismemberment of the red mech earlier hadn't triggered that. This required reducing the mech to scrap.

Baide's attack had directly wrecked Aize's mech.

Lakeley, who had been following Ye Mo all along, pupils contracted sharply. Staring at Baide's figure, he murmured, "Monster..."

The channel went silent for a moment, then comments started flooding in at an insane speed.

"Damn..."

"His name is Baide, right?"

"Right, Baide, Cyril's grandfather! I was wrong—grandpa is grandpa!"

"That's why he's the grandpa! This kind of gene should be spread far and wide."

"Speaking of Baide, he has a lot of children, right? I remember the contestants were all from the Grant family of Grames; back then they were accused of rigging..."

Baide still hadn't drawn his sword yet. He casually and leisurely rolled his wrist, then looked at the others.

The other mechs also moved, heading toward Baide.

"I'll play with you for a while, little mice."

As soon as he spoke, a series of loud crashes rang out across the field, kicking up a cloud of dust.

By the time Baide stopped, there were no mechs left standing on the field. He was standing on top of the last mech.

"You should be grateful that Cyril is here today."

Otherwise, it wouldn't have been such a clean scene.

He landed, glanced at the fallen mechs, then walked toward Ye Mo, ignoring Leisa and the mechs lying on the ground.

He warmly opened his arms to Ye Mo. "My Cyril, you worried me to death."

Ye Mo instinctively took a small step back, but in the end didn't dodge. Baide hugged Ye Mo.

"My little Cyril, you mustn't have eaten or slept well these past few days. You've lost weight, and you're dirty. Sylvia is definitely going to scold me."

Ye Mo squirmed in Baide's arms and mumbled, "I haven't lost weight, and I'm not dirty."

Baide let go of Ye Mo, wiped his thumb over Ye Mo's cheek, and raised an eyebrow.

Ye Mo whispered, "Just a little dirty."

The past two days he had either been traveling or hiding from people; he hadn't had a chance to clean up.

Baide covered his face with feigned regret. "It's all my fault. I knew Cyril was so delicate; I should've sent Norton. My Cyril is better suited for gentler games. Sylvia will definitely feel sorry for him."

Ye Mo felt awkward and a bit guilty—his strength was indeed the weakest among the Grants who came. He comforted Baide helplessly in a low voice, "Father couldn't come, it's not your fault. I'll explain it properly to Sylvia."

"That's good. Don't forget."

Zener, standing nearby, stared at them blankly. "C-Captain?"

Leisa gave a numb "Hmm."

From the faraway Grames Palace, Sylvia clicked her tongue, set her coffee cup heavily on the table, and took a deep breath.

Baide's feed also had viewers, quite a lot of them. Besides Grames, there were countries from the old Grames territory. The entire starfield only sent one Grames feed, and there was pitifully only one feed.

They could only watch Baide's feed. They'd watched Baide check into hotels these past few days, demanding the best food and drinks, and then mess with Ye Mo in his spare time.

Ye Mo drank nutrient fluid and slept in a drafty building, while Baide complained the hotel bed wasn't as comfortable as the one in Grames Palace.

"I really wish Cyril could watch the videos I've saved."

"Baide, you'd better watch yourself. Stop gaslighting Cyril."

"Doesn't he feel guilty tricking such a gullible kid? Baide has no heart."

"Baide doesn't have that thing. You'd better hope he finds Cyril too easy to fool, or else there's no sense of accomplishment."