Chapter 349: Top 16

"Understood!"

"I hope we can keep our luck and that our next opponent isn't too strong." Saying this, Zhou Naiyi still revealed a hint of worry.

Li Hao smiled slightly and blinked; it was his turn to comfort Zhou Naiyi. "Class Monitor, you have already made sufficient preparations. Just do your best. We are all ordinary people; don't shoulder all the responsibility yourself. I am just a small soldier, awaiting the Class Monitor's orders."

Zhou Naiyi took a deep breath, feeling that Li Hao had recovered and shouldn't be led astray again. "Alright, we'll deal with whatever comes. We aren't made of mud either. You should get some rest early too, and stop overthinking... Are you and A Youyou okay?"

"Ah???" Li Wu was completely bewildered; it seemed there was still a misunderstanding...

The two-day qualifying rounds provided a full warm-up. Eight seeded teams appeared and advanced with perfect records, showing a sufficiently powerful competitive state. Among them, there was no shortage of eye-catching teams. On the USE side, North Caro, Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team, Cougar, Round Table Knights, Gruu, Prometheus, Ockman, Calf, Black Rock, Sea Shark, and Jiyingdao—a total of 11 teams—successfully advanced to the group stage, becoming the biggest winners of the qualifiers. This also gave the long-suffering USE audience a chance to finally hold their heads high; any time they can outperform the Moon People, it makes Earthlings feel great.

Next were the 10 teams from NUP that entered the group stage: Galaxy Team, Eternal Team, Tianxing Mech, Xia Wu, Super Starry Sky Team, Carmela, Fanluo, Hailong Team, Floriel, and Rising Sun.

Ranking third was ROM, with 7 teams entering the group stage: Fire God Team, Langwu Team, Langsha Team, Fire Cloud Team, Os, Babaro, and Eumoragant.

As for TAS, there were Wailing Team, Dream, Abyss Team, and Giant God Peak.

That is to say, the third-ranked Chain Armed from TAS was eliminated, which counts as a minor upset. Of course, they were eliminated by the Cougar Team, so it isn't actually that much of an upset; the Cougar Team's performance has been excellent.

On the third day of the tournament, all teams rested for one day, while the main tournament draw ceremony was held. As before, four guests were invited to draw the opposing sides.

At eight o'clock in the evening, at the star-studded Galaxy Center, all teams were present. Major General Wufa, Ms. Arths, Major General Lagrange, and Speaker Anlize would complete the draw ceremony. All the military academies that entered the group stage had already begun various initiation rituals; although it was unknown if they were useful, it was a wish nonetheless.

Qualifying rounds certainly require strength, but one must admit that luck plays a large part, especially for those in the middle to upper tier of strength, who need a bit of luck.

For example, Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team. At this moment, all members of Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team were praying, including Long Danni. Seeing the entire team perform like this, plus Li Hao, as long as the opponent wasn't too monstrous, Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team had a very high possibility of breaking into the Top 16.

Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team had been down for so many years; they should have accumulated enough good karma by now, right? Everyone began to pray.

"Now, we invite General Wufa to draw the four groups of opposing teams for us," the elegant host invited.

Wufa appeared. In fact, he was only in his early thirties, but because he wore a beard, he looked exceptionally serious.

Wufa didn't engage in pleasantries and directly drew a team name card from the box and opened it. "Super Starry Sky Team."

Super Starry Sky, ranked fifth in NUP, was a solid strong team. "The opponent is Eumoragant from ROM."

The strength of this pair was a bit... Super Starry Sky had the advantage but no absolute certainty of advancing.

"Prometheus Team," Wufa glanced at the name card, "the opponent is... Fire God Team!"

Instantly, the members of the Prometheus Team were dumbfounded. Even the trash-talker Depuya couldn't talk trash anymore; it was over. At this moment, the Prometheus Academy was filled with wails. It was truly miserable; they had finally made it into the main tournament, only to hit a steel plate right away.

Wufa drew another name card. "Hailong Team, their opponent is Abyss Team."

Hailong, first in the NUP Mid-Season Tournament, and Abyss, second in the TAS Mid-Season Tournament—no matter how you looked at it, it was going to be a fight.

Wufa was about to draw the final group. "Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team."

At this moment, Ma Long and the others sitting in the audience instantly had their nerves tightened. Whether it's a mule or a horse...

... it all depends on this run. Give us a weakling, give us a weakling, give us a weakling!

The entire Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team was praying. Long Danni was also a bit nervous; the opponent was directly related to the probability of advancing.

"The opponent of Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team is... Langwu Team from ROM."

???????

The lively Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team plaza suddenly felt as if it had been frozen. What the hell?

Langwu, first in the ROM Mid-Season Tournament? Is it the Lone Wolf Romero?

"Wuzang, what kind of hands does your brother have? Did he wash them??" Ma Long looked full of despair; the dream was shattered in the Galaxy.

The entire Langwu Team didn't have any cheers. Romero was silent for a while and glanced at the Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team members on the other side. This was probably fate. He didn't expect to meet them in the Top 16 Tournament. That was fine, too; they were in peak condition.

The four groups drawn by Wufa:

Super Starry Sky Team (NUP 5) vs. Eumoragant (ROM 8)

Prometheus (USE 11) vs. Fire God Team (ROM 2)

Hailong (NUP 1) vs. Abyss (TAS 2)

Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team (NUP 9) vs. Langwu (ROM 1)

The four groups drawn by Arths:

Round Table Knights (USE 2) vs. Babaro (ROM 6)

Galaxy Team (NUP 2) vs. Ockman (USE 4)

North Caro (USE 1) vs. Dream (ROM 4)

Giant God Peak (TAS 5) vs. Fanluo (NUP 6)

The four groups drawn by Lagrange:

Eternal Team (NUP 3) vs. Black Rock (USE 7); Cougar Team (USE 5) vs. Xia Wu (NUP 7)

Wailing Team (TAS 1) vs. Calf (USE 6)

Tianxing Mech (NUP 8) vs. Sea Shark (USE 10)

The four groups drawn by Anlize:

Gruu (USE 3) vs. Os (ROM 5)

Fire Cloud (ROM 4) vs. Jiyingdao (USE 8)

Sha Po Lang Team (ROM 3) vs. Floriel (NUP 9)

Carmela (NUP 4) vs. Rising Sun (NUP 10)

The opposing sides for the Top 16 Tournament were all revealed. Some were happy, some were sad. Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team would appear on Arena 2 tomorrow afternoon, facing the Langwu Team.

Actually, with the current configuration of Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team, they would have had a very good chance of winning against a mid-tier team in the Top 32. But who could have guessed that they would run into the terrifying Langwu led by the Lone Wolf Romero in the very first match of the main tournament? Plus, with the grudge between Puppet and the Lone Wolf, if they didn't crush them to death, Romero wouldn't be able to walk on the streets of Mars anymore.

In the Tianjing Mecha Martial Arts Team lounge, all members were present. Sheng Man and the others silently prepared data for everyone—the final pre-battle preparations. When they learned the opponent was Langwu, Sheng Man and the others were under immense pressure, but they just endured it for fear of hurting morale.

"Jiluo, Vice Captain, specializes in Beast-type Mech, long-term top three in Blood Sacrifice Genesis, estimated to have at least mastered Burning Will, ability unknown... former Apocalypse member." Zhou Naiyi introduced that the videos were of some EMP training, but they didn't use Blood Sacrifice, but rather Conventional Mecha. A crazy killer, it made everyone's scalp tingle.

"Fa'ao, serves as a scout, but doesn't use Light Type mecha; instead, he uses the Centaur King. A top-tier Centaur King pilot, estimated to have reached Burning Will, ability unknown, has won the Centaur Challenge multiple times."

"Beitan, serves as Heavy Armor, specializes in NUP's Heavenly Punishment, estimated to have Burning Will... former Apocalypse member."

Now, in the internal data, whether or not one is an Apocalypse member has become a key focus factor.

"Sniper Barrett, his ability is telekinesis, but this ability isn't very useful against long-range Mecha firepower. Zuo Xiaotang should have a deep impression of him; you've fought before, and you even won. Technically, you suppress him. As long as you perform, you can definitely win. I suggest tilting the tactics toward Zuo Xiaotang," Zhou Naiyi said, among the entire Langwu starting lineup.

Among them, probably only Zuo Xiaotang has a certain degree of confidence.

Zuo Xiaotang looked bewildered; how did he suddenly become the key player???

He had absolutely no confidence at all.

"Romero, his baseline is Flowing Heart Martial Arts. Li Hao, you've fought him before, so he still has to be handled by you."

Given Romero's strength, apart from Li Hao, no one else can take him on; these are all monster-level figures.

Next was watching the match highlights of these people, as well as some of their performances from the previous tournament. Of course, with the proficient mastery of the Golden Zone, the reference value of the earlier ones is no longer significant; these people will only become more terrifying.

"Li Hao, Cheng Konghai, do you know Jiluo and Beitan?" Zhou Naiyi still wanted to obtain some information, especially regarding their abilities. It would be best if they had none, but if they did, being prepared for them at critical moments is important.

Li Hao pondered for a good while, looking blank, "Are they from Tianqi?"

The tactical room fell into silence. Zhou Naiyi was speechless; he was of no use at all. "Cheng Konghai, do you have any impression of them?" Li Hao kicked Cheng Konghai, "I remember you like to pick fights with Martians; you must know."

Cheng Konghai scratched his head desperately, "They've changed quite a bit. I have an impression of that Beitan; he has some brute strength. Leave him to me."

"Everyone can watch their technical movements a few more times tonight, and we'll counter their moves tomorrow," Zhou Naiyi said. "Rest well, and don't carry any burdens. If we win, it's an upset; if we lose, it's nothing strange. The pressure is all on Langwu's side, so just show the style of our Tianjing Mecha!"

"Good~~" Li Hao clapped hurriedly. He felt the Class Monitor was a guiding light; her words were always so philosophical and could impart wisdom and resolve doubts.

It's just... absolutely no one paid him any mind... was Ant still snickering?

On the other side, in Langwu's tactical room, everyone also had a grave expression.

Among the six, three are from the Tianqi Youth Class. Although there is a Puppet, the outside world generally favors Langwu to advance smoothly, but only Langwu knows in their hearts how difficult this battle will be.

"Wuzang has some skills, estimated to be Burning Will, though it's possible it's Flowing Heart Martial Arts, even if he has it, the mastery won't be high," Jiluo said. "I am confident I can take him down. Zhou Naiyi should be at the edge of Burning Will, her personality is relatively cautious, she should be good in team battles, but she has no combat power in a duel. That 'lighting lamp' is a waste and can be ignored, Boss."

Romero nodded, "Li Hao has returned, consecutively defeating Chao Qinglong and Fan Liweite. He must have already mastered Flowing Heart Martial Arts to perfection, and as of now, no one knows what his ability is. You have all seen his technique in a Mecha."