Chapter 214: The Person Everyone Knows (Three Rounds)

Dita, having returned to the Moon, also saw it; he had finally decided to accept the challenge. Would he use the Black Night Saber? If he used it, this battle would be worth watching, but if he still used the Armor Series, it would be very dangerous.

Because of her participation, the Armor Leopard's ultimate move was also exposed; even if he could manually accelerate the Cross Wheel, it could still be countered. Lone Wolf was not a man who stood on ceremony; Martians pursued victory above all else in their bones, especially in major matches. Only a super mecha was not easily countered and could also catch the opponent by surprise. The core of it was that this was Romero, not just some nobody.

But just thinking of Li Hao's sleepy-eyed appearance made it feel unreliable. He seemed not to care about winning or losing; it was as if, aside from A Youyou, there was nothing he was proactive about. Someone destined for great things needed spirit; she was a little worried.

The level of attention for this battle was beyond doubt; it was bound to be top-tier. Honestly speaking, she actually hoped Li Hao could win.

The Skycom rang, and Dita answered; it was the Heavenly King Fan Liweite, the defending champion.

"Dita, you're back. What did you gain in Tianjing?" Fan Liweite's gentle voice sounded. As the S10 champion MVP, he was increasingly exuding the demeanor of a king.

"Senior Fan Liweite, I had some realizations, but I still need to digest them." Dita found it strange; why was someone of Fan Liweite's stature keeping an eye on this matter? This was not the first time.

Could it be??? Did he also know that Li Hao was the Puppet?

That shouldn't be; she had only discovered it by chance. How could Fan Liweite know? They had no intersection. Who would have thought the Puppet would hide in a place as bottom-tier as Tianjing Martial Arts?

Regarding the Puppet's identity, Dita had also struggled for a long time. He was indeed a rival from the Moon, but she still decided to keep it secret; she could not betray a friend.

"What state is that person in right now?" Fan Liweite asked after a moment of silence.

Dita was stunned. "That person, who?"

Fan Liweite remained silent. Dita felt a bit strange. "Are you talking about Aofei? She is in good condition, and her level is high. We held back when we sparred."

"Not her."

"Ah, not her? Is it Li Hao of Tianjing Martial Arts?" Dita asked.

Fan Liweite nodded.

"Him? He is strong, very strong." She wouldn't go so far as to lie; Dita was just stating the facts. Li Hao was truly strong.

Fan Liweite was still looking at Dita, seemingly waiting for her to continue saying something, which made Dita a bit flustered. "Senior, is there any other question?"

"Tianjing will be our biggest obstacle to winning the championship. Your trip to Tianjing this time was a bit reckless, but who knows, it might be a blessing in disguise. Since you already know, come to the Apocalypse Gathering next week; everyone wants to know the recent situation of that person."

"What Apocalypse Gathering?" Dita was completely bewildered; why did these people all talk so strangely?

"You don't know?" Fan Liweite was stunned.

"Know what?" Dita was even more confused. She felt it was happening again; these people loved to say inexplicable things, but they always only said half of it. It was so annoying.

"Then why did you go to Tianjing?" Fan Liweite looked at Dita speechlessly. What was this all about? He had assumed Dita went there on purpose to gather intelligence under the guise of not being part of the Apocalypse.

"Ah, why did I go to Tianjing?"

Fan Liweite had Dita completely baffled, but he didn't waste time. "He has a battle with Lone Wolf this weekend. We will study it together; you should come too."

After saying that, he hung up the Skycom, and Dita was instantly stunned.

What was going on?

What had happened?

Why did Fan Liweite know? Judging by his tone, others knew too. What had she missed?

Apocalypse?

The Solar System Apocalypse Youth Class?!

That place which birthed countless geniuses. In the powerful NUP mecha world, there had always been a small group that others found hard to enter: the Apocalypse Gang. They were all outstanding talents who had come out of the Apocalypse, led by Maxis and Fan Liweite; Li Xiangshan was also one of them. They were very exclusive. She had known about it before, but hadn't cared much.

Could the "that person" they kept talking about be Li Hao?

Dita felt her head was a mess. What kind of secret was hidden in this? Why did it feel like no one knew, yet everyone knew? Why did those who knew not say anything? And why were they all avoiding something?

Li Xiangshan was like this, and even someone as powerful as Fan Liweite was so wary.

Was the person they were wary of Li Hao?

That fool who didn't know what he was doing all day and couldn't even wake up from his sleep?

Dita suddenly felt, had she traveled to another dimension?

The popularity of the Puppet was even more fanatical than imagined. The massive commercial value of the EMP did not rely on military academy students using it; on the contrary, they mainly provided services, and due to various factors, the value was not high. It mainly relied on the vast number of mecha enthusiasts; the number of players in the Virtual Mode was geometrically higher than that of professional players.

In the past, ceiling-level players were all professionals, and only the S Tournament could prove their value. Rankings and challenges were all just for show, until the appearance of the Puppet, who changed the rules with his own strength.

Now, no one thought this challenge match was just amateur and couldn't represent full strength—for example, that S Tournament players were just practicing mecha or something like that. That simply didn't exist; this stemmed from the Puppet's terrifying ability.

The perception in the military academy world was objectively slower, self-control was strong, and they wouldn't blindly worship. Even if someone was very strong, they would at most be a target and an opponent. Their professional characteristics determined that they would not let their spiritual world be ruled by another person.

But in the Virtual Mode, the Puppet had already become a god. No one could walk out of the Virtual Mode to face a group of high-and-mighty, arrogant players and slaughter them all, and do so with a kind of disdainful dominance.

The EMP had many franchise institutions, known as EMP Centers. Each of the Four Great Federations had regional agents that only contained Virtual Mode, providing services for ordinary people. The EMP Halls of military academies were not open to the public, but these were places anyone could use. The massive business value was built on these EMP Centers spread throughout the Solar System Alliance.

Asia, Dawan City, the place with the highest housing prices and consumption on Earth. Every inch of land was worth an ounce of gold, and the population was dense. In this era of interstellar migration, it remained Earth's shipping and financial center, and there were hundreds of EMP Centers of various sizes spread throughout Dawan City.

The Longhubao EMP Center was a quite popular super center in Dawan City, belonging to the first-tier agent type. There were no professional players here, only virtual players. In fact, the enthusiasm of virtual players was higher and more focused; they didn't have so many thoughts. They just simply liked it. Longhubao was an entertainment complex; besides excellent equipment and a good experience, it also had a dedicated spectator hall and a one-stop catering service, attracting almost all the young people in the vicinity. Office workers also liked to come here after work to have a drink and watch matches.

Surrounded by a university town, business was naturally booming. There was also a slightly awkward point, which was that Dawan City had no military academy. It felt like a vase without a soul, always feeling like it needed something to fill it up. Therefore, amateur matches were frequent here, and there were even more various activities. Every time, it was packed with people. Compared to the professional ones, the number of players in the Virtual Mode was the mainstream, and they were actually eager to show their abilities.

At this moment, an amateur match for Dawan City was taking place inside Longhubao. A muscular man with a fierce gaze looked like he had some skills. This was an EMP professional streamer who received an appearance fee, claiming to have a million followers, though in reality, the peak was only a few hundred thousand. But professional streamers also cared about their reputation; participating in matches that were too amateur would lower fan loyalty. The public relations team at Longhubao had put in quite a bit of effort to hire him.

The other opponent appeared exceptionally thin and small; not even comparing him to the muscular man, he was the same compared to an ordinary person. A pale-faced big boy, no one knew how he had fought his way up. This child looked a bit malnourished, or was he sick?

It was already the finals, and the championship prize was 200,000. Because it was an amateur match, it used Virtual Mode. EMP professional players were in high-ranking tiers all year round and had more operational advantages in virtual play. However, in the first round, the thin boy used a single Armor Dragon to directly blow up his opponent's Dragon God E, giving the big streamer almost no room to fight back. The big streamer's face was also rubbed into the dirt.

The whole venue was silent; no one knew what had happened. And the opponent, "Kuangwu Daren," was left completely bewildered, because there was no confrontation to speak of in Virtual Mode; it was purely technique. How had he been blown up?

The break between matches was five minutes. It was best-of-five, and 500,000 was beckoning to the thin boy.

The thin boy's ID was "Number Two Ant." He had no expression after winning the match; instead, his face seemed to turn a shade paler, and he was clearly panting heavily.

Kuangwu Daren was a bit speechless. What kind of opponent had he run into? He was determined to win this competition. On one hand, he was a professional streamer, and on the other, he was a "Bounty Hunter" who specialized in hunting amateur matches. He would take on high-end bounty matches from various EMP Centers. For the sake of publicity, some large EMP Centers offered very high bounties, and his harvest over a year was very generous. Moreover, he could stream while competing, earning from both sides. This competition was actually a bit of a chore, but even a mosquito's leg was meat, and since the other party was sincere, he had come. The rules required choosing light, medium, and heavy mecha, and he was one of the few all-rounders.

Kuangwu Daren, who turned on his stream during the break, grinned. "Brothers, stay calm, stay calm. We martial arts practitioners believe in convincing people with virtue. The opponent is an amateur; let's give up one round first to add some entertainment value. Those who like the streamer can show some support."

Kuangwu Daren boasted all day that he was an outer disciple of the Chen Family, one of the Five Great Ancient Martial Families. Of course, no one took it seriously.

"Damn, you wouldn't be a scammer streamer, would you? I bet 10 million gold beans and am already standing on the rooftop."

"This Number Two Ant looks like he'd fall over if the wind blew. Streamer, you're acting a bit too much, don't scam the beans!"

"Kuangwu kid, pull yourself together. Don't go easy just because the opponent is weak; hit him hard. There are no fathers and sons on the battlefield!"

"Brother Kuangwu, if you can't win in three seconds in the next round, kneel down and call me Daddy!"

The barrage comments took flight, and Kuangwu Daren smiled; looking at the other party's appearance, he was confident, and the first match was likely a fluke.

(This is not filler for the plot, something very important is coming.)