Chapter 516: All Together Now

Many people perform excellently during training, but once they hit the battlefield and face real death, they suddenly change into different people. If they were just Mecha Warriors, the impact would at most be limited to their squad, but as commanders, the problem becomes huge.

Often, indecisiveness versus preserving fighting strength, or madness versus keeping the big picture in mind, are separated by only a single thought.

The second round ended. Everyone was still adjusting within the eight-fold gravity. Li Hao didn't rush to start; instead, he observed the situation of the remaining sixteen people. Ten men and six women—this was unexpected. No wonder people always say the Starship Department has more women than men; they are so fierce in a field where men are usually most adept.

Dumela put away her contempt. She had prepared, but she was still surprised to find that the other five girls from the Moon were still maintaining a good state. No wonder people say the Moon's Starship Department is ahead of other war zones by a cliff-like margin; just this basic testing aspect is truly terrifying.

"The girl with the best performance is Saiweilin, from Kamela. Counting it up, she's my junior, a freshman this year, and also the future team leader of the Kamela Starship Department, a foundation of the fleet," Elena laughed. "That one with the black pearls is Aputa, the new team leader of the Super Starry Sky Starship Department. You've broken up quite a few squads."

A Youyou smiled slightly. "Captain, I don't have that much ability."

Elena glanced at A Youyou. "The higher-ups believe there are still Noah's Ark people in our fleet. Each fleet is conducting self-inspections. Do you have any leads?"

So-called training and exercises are secondary. The Four Great War Zones have begun to purge Noah's Ark. You wouldn't know until you checked, and it's shocking once you do. The infiltration of this cult organization is very severe, using various means to have already penetrated the parliament and the military high command. Plus, with Noah likely having gone to Kepler, this military operation also carries certain risks.

On the big picture, humans are pouring out all their combat power, which is certainly unstoppable, but there must be no mistakes internally. At the same time, this is also an opportunity to ferret out these people. The loss of contact with Kepler has a great connection to Noah's Ark, and Noah's Ark might even have established contact with the Giant Insects through some means. Naturally, these problems will not be left alone. Noah's Ark will definitely try every possible way to sabotage this expedition. Hundreds of people have already been caught through the resolution on the expedition, and under the trend of the times, they will inevitably try to find ways to sabotage it.

Of course, only the cores of the major fleets know about these things. There shouldn't be too many people left, but they must be purged from core positions; otherwise, the consequences of internal problems would be unimaginable.

Although it may not be possible to clear them out completely, one must be careful in key positions that can affect the battle situation, while not making a big fuss, otherwise people will panic. If military morale is disrupted, the battle will be more than half lost before it even begins.

Ferreting out the remnants of Noah cannot be done with brute force; it must rely on wit. After the incident at the Nimeier Ruins, everyone who had associated with "Xilian" was investigated. This time, Hailong Academy also suffered heavy losses.

"Let's wait and see. Those who can hide until this stage won't easily show their flaws," A Youyou said.

A Youyou is responsible for the reserves this time. There are no hard requirements, just observation during this expedition. After all, these people will become Elites in various fields in the future, and this opportunity is also for assessment. As for the others on the starship, that is the Captain's domain.

No one expected that Noah's Ark had expanded to such an extent, but if it weren't for them going against all of humanity this time, there would be no chance to clear them out.

Elena looked at the Warriors in the training ground, Li Hao. Probably even Noah's Ark itself didn't expect that such a long-standing organization would be shaken by this person. Spirit transfer—an unbelievable ability. Once it goes out of control, it will cause inestimable damage to all of humanity.

The third round began. The gravity in the Gravity Room increased to ten-fold. In an instant, the pressure surged. Everyone opened their Golden Zone, allowing their body and Spirit wavebands to coordinate and reach their best state.

It could be seen that those who remained were prepared. The abundant Soul Power made even Li Hao feel a bit spirited. "I assume everyone has rested well. Next is two thousand push-ups."

Li Hao didn't play any fancy tricks; he just did it in a plain and simple way. This time, everyone didn't say any empty words, and they all started doing them. Those who were eliminated this time didn't feel regretful anymore.

In the eyes of the Starship Department, this is almost a pure "brute force" assessment, with no technical content to speak of.

It's the barbaric thinking of Mecha Warriors.

One, two, three... They started off calmly, but gradually became less so. At this time, saying empty words is far less practical than saving strength. Within five minutes, two people were eliminated, and not a single girl. Although they were already drenched in sweat, their state was maintained very well. This is also the resilience and calmness of female Warriors. Once a woman becomes rational, men are truly hard to compare.

This hurdle is exactly a fatigue period. The body that can overcome this hurdle will adapt very quickly. It doesn't mean that those who were eliminated are necessarily incompetent; some people choose to quit automatically for fear of injury, as it is only a training session after all.

As for Li Hao and the others, they remained very calm. Having experienced the baptism of the S-Tournament and then encountering the battle at the Nimeier Ruins, everyone has gained great improvement and become mature in terms of resilience and mentality. It's just that they are all stuck at the edge of the Flowing Heart Martial Peak now; their upper limit has been reached.

Everyone's total depth of Flowing Heart Martial Arts is different, but no matter how much the difference is, once they reach their own limit, they cannot progress. The physical body has a natural limit for bearing backlash, just like a pre-programmed code; the body will instinctively resist unless a way to break through is found.

What people like Maxis need to do now is to constantly improve the intensity of their combat techniques to produce more powerful attacks. But looking at Li Hao, who was leading in front, Maxis and the others still felt a bit emotional, because they knew that if they were trapped in Flowing Heart Martial Arts, they would never be able to defeat Li Hao. Possessing the Tyrant Body is equivalent to possessing infinite Flowing Heart Martial power, without having to worry about the burden of the Golden Zone at all. Perhaps, if the power is strong to a certain degree, there will still be problems, but it is not something they can imagine.

Maxis, Basta, and Dumela are also old friends. They arrived before Li Hao and had actually discussed this issue. They all believed that Li Hao must have the Tyrant Body, which is why he didn't show his Spirit at all during the entire S-Tournament.

Anluo Dan and Aisi Gelan were equally calm. In terms of strength, it's really not bragging; they are indeed existences with top-tier Flowing Heart Martial Arts. They certainly know the level of Li Hao, Maxis, and the others, but as fellow peaks of Flowing Heart Martial Arts, they really aren't afraid. And reaching their height, they always feel that the Starship Department is the most excellent. Land-based Mecha might be hard to say, but for air-combat Mecha, they can crush these few.

It's not for the sake of simply defeating these few people; that has no meaning. Air Force versus Army, they don't need to prove anything at all, just to show it to Arths.

People in the Starship Department all know that Arths is a mecha fan. She was invited as a guest during S10, and participated deeply in S11. This has never happened in the Starship S-Tournament. Some girls are always mesmerized by the masculine charm of muscles and steel, but those are just low-class, crude ***. They want to show the elegant and powerful charm of men.

Entering this stage, everyone started to compare. People outside were also watching this contest with interest. This is a struggle for status between the Starship Department and the Mecha Department. If they defeat their opponents in the physical fitness that the Mecha Department excels at, the subsequent air combat won't even need to be mentioned. It is also to make Li Hao and the others lose with conviction.

The Dan Emperor of the Starship Department finished first, in one go. He could still maintain his breathing and state. Ace was not to be outdone, wanting to broaden the horizons of these mecha bumpkins.

Li Hao and the others also finished one after another. A total of 12 people completed the three rounds of testing and maintained a fairly good state. Looking at their basic strength, these 12 people are about the same. Looking closely, it seems Dumela's was relatively poor among them. The Starship Department does have its impressive points.

"Alright, today's training task is completed," Li Hao said, wiping his sweat. "Anluo, the remaining time is handed over to you."

Basic things are enough with just a little bit of effort. Li Hao didn't intend to spend all his time on this aspect. On the starship, one must definitely experience the combat style of a starship.

The corner of Anluo Dan's mouth curled into an arc. "Since that's the case, Li Hao, I won't be polite. Who is interested in challenging Li Hao's space mecha level?"

Li Hao was stunned, not expecting the other party to be so impatient. "Actually, we can wait until we are rested to fight."

"Li Hao, do you have some misunderstanding? Do you think this amount of training can exhaust us?" Anluo said lightly. He definitely wanted to compete to determine who was the leader between the two. Simply put, the one under one person in the reserves, but the premise is that Li Hao can withstand the next challenge to be qualified to fight him.

Those who can complete the training are obviously qualified, but they all have to weigh their own state. If they are exhausted and weak after these three rounds of training, they might as well not go up, because even if they luckily win a little bit, it's actually a bit unfair to Arths. After all, she appointed him, and the challenger must win beautifully to truly seize Li Hao's position in a meaningful way. He is, after all, the champion of the Mecha S-Tournament in name.

As a result, four people spoke at the same time: Aisi Gelan, Zhang Guyu, Saiweilin, and Aputa—two men and two women. All four maintained their state quite well. They also had calculations when launching the challenge at this time. If they waited for Li Hao to fully adapt to the space mecha, honestly, with his talent in mecha, it would be even harder to win. Now that physical strength is consumed, but truthfully, this level of fatigue has already passed, and they are actually in their best state.

In Ace's view, the other party just wanted to use this method to delay time, catching them right at this moment. He didn't expect Zhang Guyu and the others to join in the fun. Aisi Gelan was silent for a while. "You guys go first, I can change the time."

He still valued his status. If he really joined in the fun or won through a wheel battle, it would lower his status. Li Hao smiled. "It's not that troublesome. You four go together."

He still valued his status; if he were to really join in the fun or win through a wheel battle, it would lower his own standing. Li Hao smiled, "It's not that much trouble, the four of you come at me together."