Chapter 135: Nightmare Mode First Clear (Sixth Update)

The Armor Dragon tilted 45° on one leg, its four limbs splayed in a highly uncoordinated manner, the entire Mecha shifting and teetering on the brink of collapse.

Lasers enveloped it, the central axis was empty, and other laser attacks leaked out through the Armor Dragon's bizarre posture, as if the lasers were blooming brilliantly from within the Armor Dragon's body.

The livestream room was deathly silent; some had watched the S-Tournament for years, some were Mecha Department Warriors from military academies, but they had never seen anything like this since they were born.

What is this ahhhhhh~~~

There seemed to be an uncontrollable impulse and emotion stuck in the throat; what on earth just happened, why was it like this?

Did it just pass like that?

Was that even a human movement just now?

The blood-red sky cleared, and that piercing alarm sound vanished, yet the surroundings suddenly dimmed, and a beam of light shone upon the Armor Dragon Mecha in the center.

In this world, only that calm Armor Dragon Mecha remained.

What pre-judgment, what evasion calculation, what operation, what kind of mental control and physical control?

The previous stages of the challenge had seemed exaggerated and crazy, but compared to the final five seconds, they seemed unworthy of mention; in the face of god-tier operation, what did they count for?

Puppet had broken the limits of human movement.

Luo Bi, Aofei, Yan Peng, and Depuya were all left gaping; they knew how strong Li Hao was, and no one had a more profound understanding than them, but after all, many years had passed, their own growth was also immense, and they maintained respect for Li Hao, yet deep down they all had an impulse to challenge him; every time they felt they had grasped the extent of Li Hao's power, they realized it was they who could only see to that degree.

Depuya and the others, especially Aofei, were top-tier experts in the Tianqi Youth Class back then and were very much looking forward to the challenge of the Mid-Season Training, but now it seemed they needed to re-evaluate.

As for their team members, they were already dumbfounded; was this a Warrior from Earth? They were different from the audience; this wasn't just a matter of evasion, but how did this pilot pre-judge?

In the entire USE military academy system, such a primordial-level Warrior still existed? If he had been present for S10, would the Earthlings have been so miserable?

Does such a person truly exist?

Tianxing Martial Arts, Feiman Aerzi and the others were already stunned; this was simply a Sniper's nightmare, how could this not be killed?

Dita truly felt the threat; if such a person were an opponent, how dangerous would it be? Could this person be an Earth military cadet?

And who could it be?

The communication device rang.

Dita immediately stood up with a serious expression and connected the call, "Senior, what is it?"

"Did you watch Puppet's match?" a deep, resonant voice sounded from the other end of the communication device.

"Yes, Senior, this person is a bit strong; they will be an obstacle to our S11 hegemony."

The other end of the communication device was silent for a moment, "What you saw is only the tip of the iceberg, Dita. Come to my place this weekend to gather; the team leaders of all major teams will be there. That person has returned."

Dita, having hung up the communication device, was a bit dazed. In the current NUP, strong individuals were numerous and heroes emerged in succession. If one had to find a leader, it was still the God of War Maxis. Although she was not a member of the Tianqi Youth Class, during the Mid-Season Training, she had inadvertently heard a legend—a legend that there had once appeared a brilliant, super-genius on the Earth side who looked down upon all others and was worthy of being called a Demon King, but the funny thing was that the Earthlings themselves had ruined them.

At the time, the high-level officials on the Earth side knew Li Hao was strong, but those who truly held the decision-making power did not know to what extent he was strong, or rather, they didn't care at all.

Yet the psychological pressure Li Hao caused to the entrants of the other three Great Federations did not disappear entirely with time.

Others might forget or look down on him, but as one of the main combat forces of the ROM Youth Class at the time, Maxis had confronted that person head-on several times. For so many years, he hadn't forgotten for a single moment, and sometimes he would even wake up from nightmares.

This kind of inhuman footwork is something only he can do.

"Team Leader, who is it, acting so cool?" Alzi curled his lips, surprised that his big sister was going to see him.

"Maxis," Dita said indifferently; it seemed things were even more serious than imagined.

——"Congratulations to contestant Puppet for obtaining an S+ rating in the Grosso Basic Test (Nightmare)."

An announcement from the EMP Four Great Federations' full-system public channel!

Contestant Puppet has completed the first clear of the Grosso Basic Test (Nightmare) and obtained the top-tier S+ rating. The Grosso Basic Test (Nightmare) will be fully opened; contestants from the Four Great Federations are welcome to try.

Those who were still training or watching others' livestreams were stunned when they saw this news; what the hell is Nightmare?

And what the hell is S+?

In EMP measurements, an S-rank was already a terrifying existence; this didn't rely on luck—if the strength wasn't there, even grinding for tens of thousands of times would be the same, and the more times one tried, the more it meant giving up on an S rating.

S+—in other words, whoever obtained an S+ in a military academy was equivalent to obtaining four years of spousal rights; even if they couldn't walk sideways, it was basically the same thing.

S ratings still existed, but S+ was one in ten thousand among S ratings. In the history of EMP, everyone who had obtained an S+ was a prominent figure in the human Mecha world, a representative of major military academies, without exception.

Zhuang Zhou slammed his fists against his chest with a thud, making a pose of embracing the world, "Friends from the Four Great Federations, welcome to your arrival. What you are witnessing is the unprecedented and unrepeatable Puppet God, the Mecha War God!"

It was crazy, completely crazy. The Tianjing EMP Hall had turned into an ocean of revelry. A crowd swarmed around Zhuang Zhou, tossing him into the air. Zhuang Zhou, in mid-air, still didn't forget to wave his arms. Unlike others, this wasn't just the Puppet God; this was their Team Leader, the Team Leader of their Tianjing Martial Arts. At this moment, in the whole world, Tianjing Martial Arts was the one that should be cheering the most.

The livestream room exploded, popularity directly breaking sixty million and still rising. The EMP full-theater announcement, Grosso, S+, Nightmare difficulty, and Puppet Step instantly hit the trending searches.

A Space Fortress landed in the livestream room, and the audience instantly collected it, but what made Huonan uncomfortable was that no one paid him any mind; a single Space Fortress couldn't stir up any waves.

It wasn't that Huonan hadn't thought about finding some flaws or problems, but he felt it was best to shut up at this time. He didn't want to be "humanely destroyed." Martians were tough, not stupid. Could it be that this ghost of an opponent really wasn't human?

Li Hao listened to the cheers outside; actually, the training rooms were soundproofed, but the sound this time was truly too loud, and many people had arrived in the hall.

Li Hao was busy grabbing red envelopes. As he opened them, his handsome mood flew away. Damn it, what kind of luck was this? Thirty-five cents, with odd change and everything.

S+, he had played a bit too big. He had already cleared it once in the Virtual Mode before, but the Virtual Mode didn't calculate rank ratings. He had thought getting an S would be about enough.

Suddenly, Li Hao smiled happily again. That's fine, he remembered there was a cash prize for this; he could take A Youyou to eat something good. Always eating skewers or something didn't feel quite right.

The communication device rang; it was Luo Bi. It had to be him at this time.

"Oh my, Second Brother, what is this? Too awesome, it can be called unsolvable, no-pre-judgment evasion! Awesome plus, how did you practice it?" Luo Bi said excitedly, hiding in a corner. With his skills, if he could practice this, the Cougar would definitely be able to step up a level this year.

Li Hao's hand was clicking frantically; the system had also sent out red envelopes. Damn it, even worse, he hadn't grabbed a single cent. What kind of hand speed was this? "Ah? Oh, you don't know how?"

Luo Bi's eyebrows were twitching, "Second Brother, can you speak like a human? I want to learn this kind of inhuman footwork."

"Oh, then just don't consider yourself human. I'm busy with something." Saying this, Li Hao hung up the communication device, eyes wide, as the second wave of the system red envelope rain arrived. MD, he rolled up his sleeves to get to work.

??? Sixteen cents......

This is toxic!

Li Hao was furious. This was absolutely naked targeting; it absolutely could not be tolerated...... File a complaint!

An S+ rating would inevitably be commented on by experts from all walks of life. This analysis video was indispensable. Making the analysis video took a bit of time, but it just happened to give the audience some joy. The VIP livestream room also broke through 6.5 million, among which Martians actually accounted for half. Perhaps those who want to understand you the most are your opponents.

Martians, who usually liked to complain and thought that only Martian Warriors were human, were also clicking their tongues in wonder this time. This was very rare in ROM; for a Warrior from another federation to be recognized by ROM, they had to show extraordinary power of conquest, and wanting to make ROM respect them was even harder.

This battle by Puppet truly overturned the Martians' perception.

The analysis video arrived, the popularity in the live broadcast room was still increasing, and both Zhuang Zhou and Huonan returned to their positions; Zhuang Zhou did not mock anything this time, as that was not his style.

EMP was very respectful toward S+, and because the first clear and top-tier rating had been achieved, they arranged various easter eggs and a rain of red envelopes, while also introducing the requirements for the Nightmare Mode of the Grosso Basic Test, which was under 59 seconds in Regular Mode, but many people thought that one minute was the limit; in fact, it was entirely possible to break through, as Grosso himself was a person who pursued the ultimate. 1

Li Hao rubbed his hands together and blew on them, preparing to grab red envelopes, when his Skynet rang again; he answered it helplessly.

"Second Brother, holy crap, you are too fierce, this is satisfying, I love it! S+ is out of the question, but an S is still doable. What were you thinking? 60 seconds is the limit, I've tried it several times! If I had known, I would have grinded a bit more, and then this discovery would have been snatched by me." Depuya rambled excitedly.

Li Hao stared fixedly at the screen; damn it, he had to get a critical hit this time.

"Second Brother, Second Brother, don't ignore me, is there any trick to 59 seconds? Tell me!" Depuya wanted to be the second person to clear it, and what could be more reliable than asking Second Brother?

"Ah, nothing really, I think I just tried it and it was fifty-something seconds." Li Hao watched the countdown for the red envelope rain on the screen.

"What, what, Second Brother, are you trying to fool me... beep beep beep beep..."

Li Hao hung up on this chatterbox; he was like that before, and now it felt even worse. Wow, the red envelopes opened, charge, young man!

(Dear family, it's done, six chapters delivered, requesting a monthly ticket ◠＿◠)

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Providing you with "Mecha Storm" by the great master Kulu Jingling