Chapter 48: On the Artistry of Operation

Zhuang Zhou's dormitory exploded; a group of fierce young men could not stand this kind of insult.

"Zhuang Zhou, bet against him! Damn it, at worst the brothers will eat rice for a few months, go for it!"

"Exactly, you can't be a coward at a time like this, take him down!"

"Bet against him! Even if you lose, the brothers will help you chip in. This concerns the face of our Tianjing Martial Arts. Kill this Martian dog!"

The people in the dorm swarmed forward. They were all men; how could they be bullied like this? Besides, this was the Puppet God; taking him down should be a matter of minutes.

"I accept!" Zhuang Zhou's blood surged in an instant. He knew the other party was provoking him, but if young people didn't get hot-headed, would they still be young?

Both sides entered the Mobile Suit selection.

Chiron—Centaur Mecha.

Puppet—Armor Dragon Third Generation.

"Damn, I've lived this long and this is the first time I've seen someone so stubborn. Does this Earthling not know that Centaur Fighters are specifically designed to counter these old-model mechas? He won't even be able to touch a hair!"

"Does he have hair? He doesn't have a single strand. He won a few matches and forgot his own name. The inherent flaws of Earthling dogs!"

"If the Armor Dragon can beat the Centaur, I'll eat my screen!"

"Damn, does he even know the performance of the Centaur Mecha? Does he have any common sense?"

Chiron waited for the opponent to choose the match scene. Seeing the opponent chose the Armor Dragon, he didn't want to take advantage, but the opponent didn't move for a long time. Chiron sent a battle scene, and the opponent accepted it in a second.

——Canyon Battlefield.

This was a common scene just like the Arena, an open Great Canyon, which was extremely favorable for a highly mobile mecha like the Centaur Fighter.

Chiron just sent it casually, not expecting the opponent to be so straightforward. Was he really not taking himself seriously?

"Brothers, this is a truly strange opponent. Honestly, I don't even know how I could lose."

Chiron laughed to himself. Having been a streamer for so long, he had never encountered such a weirdo. This must be the legendary free win.

Zhuang Zhou and the others started to get nervous. Why wasn't it the Arena??? The range of the Arena was relatively small; with the operation of the Armor Dragon, he could definitely fight for offensive space, but what to do in the Great Canyon?

If this forced the Centaur to use its most proficient rotating distance-control style, wouldn't it be a guaranteed win?

The speed of the Armor Dragon absolutely could not keep up.

And a scene that left everyone dumbfounded appeared: when the Armor Dragon Fighter was choosing its weapons, it actually didn't select a Laser Gun???

Is this for real?

Is this extinguishing his last bit of hope?

Zhuang Zhou's heart skipped a beat. The reason he dared to bet was that he felt the Puppet God's shooting shouldn't be bad, but what did it mean to not bring a gun?

"Haha, little Zhuang, this really isn't my fault. I think Puppet probably wants to defeat Chiron with his gaze. Is this a new ability developed by the USE?" Huonan felt so refreshed he didn't know how to describe it. If there were fools like this every day, he would have achieved financial freedom long ago.

"I think the Puppet God must have a tactic. The Centaur Mecha isn't particularly obscure; for such a strong Mobile Suit, the Puppet God must understand it. So Chiron had better be careful. If he loses even this, he should retire." It had already come to this; Zhuang Zhou would absolutely not be a coward. Even if he died, he would die standing, with his eyes open!

"Haha, well said. Do you think Puppet will want to restart in a moment? For example, saying he forgot to bring his gun—a man without a gun, haha."

Huonan was in a pleasant mood. He had waited for this moment for a long time. In this universe, besides Martians, no one was allowed to act arrogant.

The two Mobile Suits entered the Great Canyon battlefield.

Chiron immediately entered a state of total concentration. He already clearly understood that this Puppet had been very popular lately and was quite unfriendly to ROM. This was simply his best opportunity to perform, a chance to make a name for himself and move up a level.

The roaring sound of the Centaur Mecha was exceptionally loud. As soon as the battle started, it began to sprint. This mobility was top-tier even among Beast-style Mechas, let alone Humanoid Mechas. As for the Armor Dragon, even if it used all its strength, it could only eat dust.

Knowing that Puppet's strength was not weak, Chiron immediately opened up the distance. Maintaining a good distance was a key point in mecha combat, maximizing one's own advantages and attacking the enemy's weak points.

The opponent didn't even bring a Laser Gun, so he was practically a living target. The Centaur Fighter ran and attacked in the open Great Canyon with the Armor Dragon as the axis, its chest laser bombarding continuously.

Shooting with Beast-style Mechas was a problem; it basically relied on firepower coverage. The Centaur Mecha was considered one of the better ones. With circular sweeping, the Armor Dragon Fighter had no chance. As long as it hit, the match would be over.

The Armor Dragon seemed to know this too and didn't pursue at all. It couldn't catch up anyway, and it would be easier to get hit. Staying in place and defending was probably the only chance.

Boom, boom, boom, boom...

The Armor Dragon Fighter's Arm Shield popped out, defending in place, blocking the laser attacks as much as possible.

"Invincible, how long can he defend like this? He'll be beaten to death eventually!" Huonan laughed. At this moment, he wanted to light a cigar to celebrate.

Chiron was very cautious, not getting close, just using the laser to strike, while the Armor Dragon also gave up on attacking.

Then, after five minutes of spiral strikes, the Armor Dragon defended flawlessly. The Centaur Fighter could not secure the victory just by relying on the laser.

And Chiron was also clear about this. He used the laser to harass just to gain a slight advantage, such as breaking a leg or something similar.

But if one thought he only knew how to do this, they would be very wrong. The Centaur Fighter's close-quarters impact ability was very strong. "One inch longer, one inch stronger" was no boast. Coupled with the powerful support and power system of four legs, it could resist Heavy Armor head-on.

Chiron was still very spirited. He had just spent a while cramming relevant information about Puppet and knew that this person was super fierce in melee combat; getting close was just giving an opportunity.

But he wouldn't be careless. If the laser couldn't create an advantage, he would keep shooting; anyway, there was no loss.

The Centaur Mecha continuously narrowed the attack circle, making the laser attacks more fierce, but it always maintained a range where the Armor Dragon Fighter could pursue, including instantaneous high-control charges. This meant that no matter how good the opponent's technique or how strong their explosive power was, the Centaur Fighter had enough room to escape.

And once the range circle was narrowed, the firepower coverage became even more fierce. Dodging became increasingly difficult for the Armor Dragon. Clearly, the Armor Dragon Fighter had lost its initial composure and began to constantly change positions, following the rhythm of the Centaur.

"Is this the bravery of Mars? Could it be that he's going to keep circling like this?" Zhuang Zhou said, "Taking such a big advantage and still not daring to fight head-on?"

"Little Zhuang, this is where you are wrong. This is a competition. In a competition, you have to win; don't care about the process. Besides, what is this called? This is called tactics!" Huonan laughed.

Zhuang Zhou was almost suffocated. When they used it, it was called tactics; when others used it, it was called being a coward.

"Old Nan, a coward is a coward; don't make it sound so nice."

"Are the ten Spaceships ready?" Huonan laughed.

"The match isn't over yet!"

On the field, the Centaur Fighter also found its rhythm, continuously narrowing the attack circle, making the Armor Dragon look inadequate. Although it had the defense of the shield, it was already exhausted from dealing with it.

However, the distance between the Centaur Fighter and the Armor Dragon Fighter was always kept at over 10 meters, because the maximum distance for the Armor Dragon Fighter's instantaneous charge was ten meters. This was assuming the Centaur Mecha stayed in place, and as long as the Centaur reacted, it could immediately open up the distance.

Chiron had never fought such a wealthy battle. Anyway, he had made up his mind: as long as the opponent wasn't injured, he wouldn't get close, and he didn't believe the opponent could keep fighting forever.

Just when everyone thought this would fall into a protracted battle.

A loud explosion sounded in place, like a thunderclap.

A cold light streaked across the sky, and then, with an elegant arc, the Armor Dragon Fighter landed.

The Centaur Mecha, still clattering away while sprinting, suddenly split apart; its upper and lower halves detached and flew off.

Boom...

Half a second later, the Mecha exploded.

Armor Dragon wins!

The Martians in the livestream were having a great time, and just as they were about to reach a climax, it felt like their little dicks had suddenly vanished.

How could this be?

Impossible, how could it just suddenly die???

The Martians in the livestream instantly blew up, and for a moment, the crowd was incensed, wishing they could drown Puppet in spit; they didn't even believe the system's verdict.

"Damn it, cheating Earthlings, these dog Earthlings must have used some shameless underhanded trick!"

"How the hell did he win? I don't believe it!"

"It's impossible, even if you gave him ten thousand chances, he couldn't win!"............

Just as the arguing was happening, the big screen already provided a slow-motion replay of the finishing move.

The Centaur Mecha was constantly circling the Armor Dragon to fire; the video provided distance markers, showing it was circling at a range of about twelve to fifteen meters, which shows that Chiron was very cautious and understood his opponent's limit distance very well.

However, the moment the Centaur Mecha closed to a distance of ten meters, the Armor Dragon vanished.

The playback speed slowed down again.

During the defense, the Armor Dragon had been gathering momentum, keeping its engines at full power—this is what is known as the wind-up for a dash.

But a dash cannot reach that kind of distance.

The Armor Dragon Fighter seemed to disappear along with the sound of an explosion; in slow motion, the Armor Dragon's exertion of force combined with the energy stored in the engines reached a tacit balance.

That is to say, when the Mecha's exertion of force and the engine's catapult start perfectly align, it generates extra thrust, reaching the peak of a dash—Flash Strike!

This is undoubtedly an S-rank melee technique!

But this distance... the slow motion provided a close-up of the final moment, and an arc of light flashed by.

Flash Strike—Swallow Return!

An elegant, composed harvest without a trace of smoke or fire; the extreme momentum combined with a fluid, high-speed slashing technique, just like Cook Ding butchering an ox.

By the time the eyes could keep up, the Armor Dragon Fighter had already rebounded and landed.

The next moment, the Centaur Mecha was kicked away.

(Bosses, the four brothers of Dorm 4396 have arrived, comments are welcome ^_^)