Chapter 371: Cohesion

The Beikarosai Team got up early to prepare for battle. Usually, they would choose a sparring partner, but not this time. The current Beikarosai is a complete entity, consisting entirely of Hunters, plus Ye Tong. They are also old rivals with Fan Liwei; Fan Liwei couldn't beat them before, and the current Beikarosai is even more full of confidence.

For Chao Qinglong and Beikarosai, the only teams in the entire S Tournament they aren't certain of defeating are Hailong and Tianjing Martial Arts; they have sufficient confidence against all others. They are the strongest contenders for the championship.

For that glorious day, Beikarosai has waited a long, long time!

For that glorious day, Chao Qinglong has also waited a long, long time.

Facing the Fire God, the Round Table Knights aren't having an easy time either. In terms of style, the Round Table Knights prefer playing against Moon teams; the Fire God's style is quite suppressive to them. In terms of strength, the Fire God is still stronger than the Round Table Knights. If Aofei wants to get past this hurdle, she really needs to bring out something extraordinary.

The Fire God, led by Basta, also dares not take things lightly. Against such an opponent, any bit of indulgence or underestimation will be met with a fatal blow. Whether in terms of tactics or combat, they must be fully prepared. In the past, Earthlings wouldn't do the heavy lifting for others due to infighting, and would give up if they couldn't win, but this year they will fight to the death.

Langwu has fallen, and the Fire God has become the greatest hope for the entire Mars. This year is also Basta's final year representing the Fire God Team; he is graduating. He has won championships, but his wish has yet to be fulfilled. This S Tournament has given him the opportunity, and he will not let anyone stand in his way.

The other teams are much the same; they have all gotten up early to train, find sparring partners, and analyze tactics. Everyone has sprung into action.

Tianjing Martial Arts is the same; all team members got up early. They couldn't sleep anyway. After all, their opponent is the Eternal Team. They are truly ridiculously strong, but there is hope. After all, they defeated the Langwu Team. Victory can bring self-confidence. Whether it's Zhou Naiyi, Wuzang, or Ma Long, none of them feel they will definitely lose. Moreover, they have a powerful backer. They didn't see the specific exchanges at the Hailong Exchange Tournament, but Fan Liwei was hospitalized by Li Hao and didn't dare to come back later. What does this signify?

Sheng Man watched Ma Long training seriously from the side. Handsome, too handsome!

A man who is serious is simply a walking hormone. These past few days, Sheng Man has been more uncomfortable than Ma Long. In fact, girls are just as lustful as men, but Sheng Man is very rational. What she can do is restrain herself and assist Ma Long so he can adjust his state to the best. In such a fierce battle, a Substitute is also crucial. To say nothing else, even if one cannot get on the field, maintaining Healing Ability is very important. Unexpectedly, Ma Laoshi is becoming more and more outstanding now; combat really can make a man more charming.

"Yinwa, you're already his person, yet you're still looking. Your eyes are about to get stuck," Lu Lingxiao teased, nudging Sheng Man.

Sheng Man smiled brilliantly, flicking her eyes with plenty of charm, "Where is Ziyuan?"

"She's working on data. As soon as the groups were announced yesterday, she didn't sleep all night and is still organizing them," Lu Lingxiao pouted, "Poor our Ziyuan, being so diligent."

Sheng Man was silent for a moment, then shook her head, "Lingxiao, I think we need to change our way of thinking. We can't add more drama, and we shouldn't add pressure to Ziyuan. Li Hao is simply not the same kind of person as us."

"Ah, what do you mean?" Lu Lingxiao was stunned.

"We've known him for a while now, but I've always felt he hasn't integrated into us, or rather, he cannot integrate into our lives. His abilities, his experiences, his world—all of it dictates that he cannot live our lives. Even if he wants to change, even if he keeps a low profile, it's useless. So, the person he likes must also be extraordinary," Sheng Man said.

"I admit he's not an ordinary person, but I'm not convinced by A Youyou. She's just a rich second generation; other than having some money, she has nothing particularly outstanding!" Lu Lingxiao protested.

"You can't say that. She's a bit strange; there's an indescribable attraction about her. With my personality, if it were anyone else, I would definitely find a way to confront them, but when she's around, I always chicken out," Sheng Man said with a bitter smile. In fact, in private, she and Lu Lingxiao prepared to give A Youyou a "lesson," but the moment they met, the two couldn't do anything. They felt pathetic themselves and felt very sorry for Ziyuan.

Lu Lingxiao was also helpless, "Does she know witchcraft?"

"Do you know she entered our athlete's quarters?" Sheng Man suddenly said.

"Ah, I know. Coming to disturb our preparations at a time like this, hmph!"

"Not just anyone can come in here," Sheng Man muttered.

"Ah, that's right. Hmph, I don't care. Anyway, my stance remains unchanged; I will always support my Ziyuan!" Lu Lingxiao said, wrinkling her little nose.

Actually, sometimes Sheng Man really envies Lu Lingxiao's simplicity; life is always full of joy.

Zuo Xiaotang was practicing using the Lieying Apollo. In the last match, he still didn't dare to choose it, but the problems with the Gray Death mech were still obvious. Using the Arc Gun Mech once clearly caused issues; the mech's design didn't support such operations. The Lieying mech didn't have this problem, but when piloting the Lieying, he always felt something was missing, as if he lacked a spark of inspiration he hadn't grasped.

A mech cannot be mastered just by having good performance. Practicing more and understanding the body structure will certainly increase control, but everyone is suited to different mechs. In the words of Master Jiabo, mechs have a soul; sometimes you just need a bit of feeling and the symmetry of the soul. Until he saw that frozen Lieying move by the Galaxy Team's Sniper Jie Jie, his mind suddenly opened up; it perfectly matched the feeling in his heart, and suddenly everything became clear.

Redefining the Sniper Mech!

Having grasped this feeling, Zuo Xiaotang practiced all morning and remained full of enthusiasm. He understood where his hesitation had been before. When being charged at by a Centaur mech, when being caught in a pincer attack, only Zuo Xiaotang knew that at that moment, a strange sense of exhilaration and excitement welled up in his heart. He liked close-quarters combat, but this went against the principles of a Sniper pilot, and he didn't like making others think he was being eccentric, nor did he want to be a weirdo.

But when someone broke through all of this, he no longer had any psychological barriers.

Roll, Lieying!

After practicing with enthusiasm for a good while, Zuo Xiaotang was a bit dizzy from all the rolling. Zuo Xiaotang's Skycom rang; it was from the little demons at the orphanage.

"Brother Zuo, they say the Eternal Team was last year's champion and they're very strong. Are you afraid?"

"They are very strong, but I'm not afraid, not afraid," Zuo Xiaotang said with a wide grin, flexing the muscles on his arm.

"Wow, wow, amazing! You and Brother Hao need to be careful. They say you get hurt in battle, and it's very painful. Is that true?" Dandan had lost three front teeth, so he whistled when he spoke.

"It doesn't hurt; it's a projection, it's all fake," Zuo Xiaotang quickly waved his hand.

"You're lying! Do you really think we don't know? They say you get hurt and it's very painful. You have to be careful. If you can't win, run away. Er Ya yesterday..."

"Dandan, you're not allowed to say that!"

"We secretly watched some things. Er Ya was so scared she couldn't sleep. Don't get hurt."

"Yeah, yeah, you and Brother Hao, don't get hurt. We will cheer for you."

The group of children were full of concern. They originally thought it was just fun, but later, they didn't know how they started arguing about whether it was real or fake, and then they saw some videos of injuries on the Skycom and were suddenly terrified.

"You little rascals, don't watch things that aren't for kids. Brother Hao and I are both very strong; nothing will happen. You can't believe everything on the internet. Do you know about makeup? They deliberately paint themselves to look miserable, just like filming a movie..." Zuo Xiaotang began to provide psychological counseling for the little ones.

In terms of patience with children, Zuoge is a real brother; the other one is the fake brother from Mars Potato.

After Li Hao finished eating, he crouched in Kepler. And don't say, he really did smell something unusual. The Giant Insects near the base were becoming fewer and fewer, and even the few caves he usually used had been cleared out, to the point where he had to search for a long time just to get a new carrier. The creatures on Kepler seemed to have smelled the danger and disappeared without a trace. The entire Base 5 was shrouded in an eerie atmosphere.

This was Li Hao's intuition, and such intuition is generally not wrong. Among the Giant Insects he had encountered, the higher the level, the stronger the intelligence, but this intelligence was limited to biological instinct, not the kind that involves a soul. However, the current atmosphere was due to the effect of a powerful Mental Power field. A super-strong mental wave was covering the area; this guy was lurking somewhere, observing Base 5, waiting for an opportunity.

In a sense, the Giant Insect Lord possessed something like a "soul"—it was definitely a civilized creature. The existence of a traitor was then possible; it was highly likely they had been bewitched by the Giant Insect.

Following this line of thought, Li Hao lurked on a Giant Insect in the base, his Mental Power slowly spreading out, searching for any staff members who were abnormal or controlled. But after a round, everything felt quite normal.

Could it be an illusion?

Things were becoming more and more interesting. Li Hao really wanted to see a true alien civilization. The Giant Insects themselves were like the scavengers of Kepler, no different from the wild animals on Kepler, and the high-level Giant Insects were the same. Brain bugs and the like were a bit different, but the appearance of this Giant Insect Lord broke his judgment. Possessing such Mental Power, it truly had a soul.

It is very likely that this mission is related to the secret of Kepler. At the Hailong Exchange Tournament, Xilian also mentioned some speculations: when humans set foot on Kepler, did we discover Kepler, or were we discovered by Kepler? This Giant Insect Lord Kazi should have the answer.

A Lord with a name—why would Bleem call it Kazi?

Li Hao began to look forward to it.