Chapter 230: Is the Puppet a Martian?

At this moment, student Li Hao was already wearing shorts and large slippers, eating a late-night snack. He was hungry as soon as he finished the match, and besides, it was rare to have someone treat him, so he had to eat a bit more even if he wasn't hungry.

Jeris, sitting opposite him, had clearly been brewing for a long time. Student Jeris adjusted his glasses, "Second Brother, a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Things related to martial arts, it's better to..."

*Thump. * "Ouch! Second Brother, don't hit my head, I'll get stupid!" Jeris covered his head; he could never dodge it.

"Kepler is a good place, a land without an owner. I can find a way to mix into the Alliance's development plan. I feel I could lead a sector, have Kevin cooperate with me, pull the rug out from under them, and who knows, I might be able to claim it as my own..."

*Thump. * "Second Brother, a gentleman uses his words, not his hands. Can we reason with each other?" Jeris rubbed his head, "It was fine when I was young, but I'm a public figure now, at least."

Li Hao took a sip of juice and calmly stuffed some meat into his mouth, "Right, I am reasoning with you, in my own way."

Jeris was on the verge of tears. He opened his mouth, but closed it again. Li Hao simply ignored that point; since he couldn't win an argument, it was better to be direct.

The Skycom rang. Li Hao immediately put down his chopsticks, a simple and honest smile brewing on his face.

"Li Hao, what are you doing?" Dita asked very directly; there was no need for them to be formal with each other.

"I'm eating a late-night snack. Do you want to come? My treat," Li Hao said enthusiastically.

"Do you have any sincerity? By the time I fly over, it'll be dawn!" Dita clearly saw through someone's hypocrisy.

Li Hao smiled, "It's fine, you're welcome anytime."

"Fine, it's a deal. I'll come over when I have time." After saying this, Dita hung up the Skycom, leaving the VVIP room as silent as before.

Jeris, sitting opposite, could tell... Second Brother was a bit flustered...

"Who was that?"

"A creditor," Li Hao said with a sigh.

"Oh, how interesting. Second Brother, I'll help you eliminate her—ouch! I was wrong, don't hit my head, hit somewhere else!"

"Be normal, don't spend all day talking about killing. Isn't life pretty good right now?"

"Second Brother, we must have a mission for appearing in this world. Heaven gave me talents for a reason; what's the point if we don't do something grand? Living is about tossing and turning, and the more you toss, the happier you are!" Jeris was clearly over-caffeinated, and whenever he saw Li Hao, it was like he had been buffed, meeting the big brother to make up for his lack of combat power.

Li Hao happily gnawed on a green onion chicken skewer. The chicken skewers at this shop were a specialty. Don't look at the small storefront; the owner was very particular, using authentic green onions and selected free-range chicken. The chicken was tender and fragrant, and the various grilled chicken innards were a delicacy on earth. He clinked glasses with Jeris and took a big gulp of beer, "See, I'm very happy right now."

Jeris was stunned, staring blankly at Li Hao, "Second Brother, you're so bad."

"Damn, I haven't finished eating yet, that's disgusting, haha!" Li Hao couldn't help but curse, and the two burst into laughter, downing a glass.

Having friends come from afar, with beer and barbecue, is a joy.

Although the Moon crowd didn't hear everything, they could tell most of it from Dita's demeanor and the relaxed tone of the chat. They were just observing Li Hao's current emotional state, and it seemed Romero couldn't put much pressure on him.

Dita looked at the group curiously. Except for Maxis, Fan Liweite, and Li Xiangshan, who were still relatively calm, the others had returned to a state of deep thought.

"Li Hao's individual strength is a bit terrifying, but his personality has many flaws: lazy, gluttonous, careless, neglecting his duties, and his desire to win isn't that strong. The S-Tournament rules are five individual matches plus a team battle. We just need to ensure we don't lose points in other areas and we'll be stable. Even if Tianxing can't do it, Galaxy and Eternal definitely can. How can we lose our momentum before we've even fought?" Dita said. She didn't underestimate him, so she directly excluded the A-level academy where the Big Dipper Seven Stars were, stating that it wouldn't be easy for two S-level teams to fight for victory against Tianjing in a team battle. And on the large battlefield where the team battle takes place, individual power would be greatly weakened; tactics and coordination are more important.

Actually, the Big Dipper Seven Stars were thinking the same thing. What they were struggling with wasn't the team's win or loss, but mainly that they couldn't beat him themselves. They always felt this "win" was discounted and a hollow victory. Everyone wanted face, and what they wanted most was to defeat him directly to prove themselves.

"Everyone, I think Dita is right. We don't need to be too concerned. Not to mention that Romero has already helped us achieve seventy or eighty percent of the work, the S-Tournament is about team honor; there's no need to be obsessed with individual battles. See you at the Mid-Season Tournament," Pegluosa said.

"I think what Pegluosa said is right. Mecha combat is ever-changing, and our teams are tempered through hundreds of battles; our team coordination has experienced countless fights. I can't find any reason to be afraid!" "Everyone, destiny is with us in the NUP, our rise is unstoppable, no one can block our coronation!" The group's morale was inexplicably lifted, and then they left in a hurry, as if the official analysis video had been released.

Maxis and Fan Liweite looked at each other, and Fan Liweite nodded calmly. Their 3D images also disappeared. Their goal was, of course, not just to win; they had already won championships. As a Warrior, of course, they wanted to defeat Li Hao. Once defeated, the influence on pilots of the same level would be incomparable.

The remaining Li Xiangshan smiled slightly, "Dita, see you at the Mid-Season Tournament."

"Brother Shan, looking forward to your return as a king," Dita smiled.

Only Dita was left in the VVIP room. Suddenly, Dita sighed softly. She could only help this much. The caution Maxis and the others showed far exceeded treating Li Hao as an opponent; he was an enemy. Once they reached the S-Tournament arena, they would scheme against Li Hao to the death. When the tactical teams of top military academies target an enemy, they don't just consider strength; they use a magnifying glass to look at everything—the open, the hidden, teammates, etc. She had tried her best to downplay it, but it was clear they still hadn't relaxed much.

... Does this count as favoring an outsider?

It probably doesn't count. Li Hao might be her brother-in-law in the future; for now, he's half a brother-in-law. Speaking of which, the relationship is closer, and Li Hao is her friend and has helped her. All in all, it's a toss-up. Just as Li Hao said himself, friendship first, competition second.

Hmm.

Dita glanced at the current live stream room...

The popularity had already exceeded 350 million and was still growing rapidly. Moreover, half of them were VIPs, and a considerable portion were VVIPs.

In the live stream room at this time, Huonan seemed to have returned to calm, though he might have suffered internal injuries. He felt a bit wilted and had already gone to the bathroom several times.

Kuangwu Daren didn't show any arrogance or extra excitement, nor did he talk nonsense, but was waiting for the official analysis video to come out. Zhuang Zhou, on the other hand, started outputting like a pea shooter.

It felt like the Martians were about to be teased into an explosion by him, but there was no help for it. Huonan had done the same thing back then, and this match really left the Martians with no temper... even some Martians started to defect.

"I don't think the Puppet is an Earthling. He never said he was an Earthling; he's just in the USE war zone. With the level of the USE, it's impossible to cultivate a warrior of this caliber!"

"I think so too. His calmness and the fierce fighting at critical moments are clearly qualities that only we Martians have!"

"Damn, the guy above, I have the same feeling. At the very least, the Puppet must have Martian blood. Earthlings, those sissies, are impossible."

"Maybe he's a Moon Person?"

"How is that possible? The Moon doesn't have this kind of dominance, nor this kind of breadth of mind, daring to randomize the Armor Series. This kind of heroic gene only we Martians have!"

"You have to admit, his flamboyant personality is really like a Martian."

Zhuang Zhou watched, dumbfounded. You guys are the Martians, your whole family is Martian! The Team Leader is a genuine Earthling, a Tianjing person!

But Zhuang Zhou couldn't say it. The Team Leader was on a secret mission; he couldn't say it even if he died. Shameless Martians, they could even play this hand.

The analysis video was out. For Maxis, Aofei, and the others, this was the key. The result wasn't too surprising; what they cared about was the process and the handling of details. Only here could they analyze Li Hao's current strength composition.

For mecha fans, the after-dinner dessert had arrived. The EMP hall was still boiling, and the atmosphere was clearly much more relaxed. Zhou Naiyi only then noticed that Li Hao hadn't come at all.

"Li Hao, where are you?"

"I'm eating with Jeris. This kid is treating. Does the Class Monitor want to come and eat something?" Li Hao laughed.

Zhou Naiyi was a bit helpless. He was a true foodie; he was either sleeping or eating. "The Puppet just made an extreme comeback against Romero. There's a lot of stuff in it; you should really take a look."

"Class Monitor, even an emperor doesn't send a hungry soldier to war."

Zhou Naiyi couldn't do anything about Li Hao. This person was truly consistent. It was one thing in his freshman year, but now he was a team leader and still like this.

"Dear viewers, everyone's views on the pre-match selection were actually consistent. When the two mechas were selected, the win rate given by the EMP AI was as high as 98% for Romero. But just as I guessed before the match, the Puppet player dared to choose like this, he must have had a sure grasp of victory. From the perspective of our Ancient Martial Arts, this is not arrogance, because EMP is more for improvement. Top experts, when facing battles they are sure of, are accustomed to putting themselves in a passive position, letting the opponent exert themselves more, so that a pressure-resistant situation appears, increasing the difficulty of training," Kuangwu Daren said quite seriously. "Like everyone else, I am full of questions about the process. Let's see how the Puppet God handled it." Huonan's breath hadn't returned yet, but he felt that Kuangwu Daren was much more insidious than Zhuang Zhou, directly placing Romero in a secondary level. This was truly cursing without using dirty words.

Coupled with Kuangwu Daren's perfectly timed expression, the Earth audience felt an indescribable comfort, as if even their toes were stretching. "From the first round of probing, the Netherfire Genesis had a clear performance advantage; the speed and stability of the advance were much higher. Everyone can look at the detailed comparison chart. We judge it to be about the same with the naked eye, but in reality, the difference is quite large," Kuangwu Daren said. "So, Netherfire could take the initiative to attack, but this is a surface advantage, not a real one. So Netherfire had to hit the lead, predicting the Puppet's prediction, but this prediction was given to the opponent by the Puppet. Look at this realistic feint!" In the video, the Armor Dragon pretended to want to borrow force to pull away, but it was actually just a shift in the center of gravity caused by a lunge. When Netherfire made a superb Flash Strike jump-fly slash, it immediately ejected into the air, horizontal wall-hanging plus a heart-piercing elbow! "Romero is worthy of being a top player. Facing such a situation, he immediately used the Laser Shield for a split-second defense, and accurately unloaded the force. Both sides made multiple attacks and defenses within a few seconds, followed by a swallow-fly return to block the opponent from continuing to expand the advantage. It's breathtaking." Just this round of seemingly plain probing was enough to kill countless warriors. When attacking, they both kept a hand for Absolute Defense; when defending, they were all thinking about attacking.

Prediction and counter-prediction require enough operation and technology to support them. Both of their maneuvering actions were fully maxed out; any immature technical action would not have achieved the offensive and defensive effect.