Fu Siheng didn’t linger. He chose the mecha closest to him.
Although the light-class mechas used on the training ground didn’t fire live ammunition and their range and firepower were significantly dialed down their destructive force was still considerable against the low-end armor of these basic models.
The instructors from Class 1 and Class 2 evacuated the cadets past the boundary track, clearing plenty of room in the center field.
Since the dean of discipline was absent during morning drills, and everyone was eager to watch this duel unfold, no one raised an objection.
As the cockpit hatch of Zhao Zhifan’s mecha opened, he grabbed a ridge on the outer shell and executed a series of nimble leaps, showing off as he vaulted inside the control cabin.
A smattering of applause broke out among the crowd. Free-climbing into a cockpit had always been a crowd-pleasing way to show off among cadets, requiring immense upper-body strength.
When a typical Alpha wanted to impress an Omega they had eyes on, pulling off this move in front of them had an effect comparable to sinking a clean three-pointer on the basketball court.
Fu Siheng, however, didn’t bother with the theatricals. He waited for the cockpit ladder to lower to the ground before climbing up step by step.
“This Zhao Zhifan actually seems to have some skill,” Yi Fengbei remarked. “Pretty arrogant for a junior, though.”
Shi Yuanyang scoffed. “You call jumping into a cockpit like a monkey arrogant?” You clearly haven’t seen real arrogance.
Yi Fengbei countered, “Well, at least his strength and agility meet the mark. Free-climbing a mecha is part of the initial evaluation syllabus. Otherwise, in a battlefield emergency, are you supposed to wait around for the ladder to slowly lower?”
Yan Xun couldn’t take it anymore and tapped him on the head. “Are you really trying to explain mechas to someone from the Mecha Manufacturing Academy? You clearly weren’t paying attention in class. Using the ladder is a sign of respect for the machine. Free-climbing is strictly reserved for emergencies.”
Shi Yuanyang threw him an appreciative look and added, “This custom honors the Father of Ancient Mecha. He treated every machine like family…like a friend…and famously said:”
“‘The moment the indicator lights ignite, victory, defeat, life, and death must all be left behind,'” Yan Xun quoted, gazing toward the center of the field.
Shi Yuanyang smiled. “I didn’t expect President Yan to have studied mecha history. Color me surprised.”
Yan Xun offered a faint smile. Truth be told, he had barely scraped a passing grade in his college mecha history class.
It was just that Fu Siheng had been the one to tell him those exact words. The very first time Fu Siheng had boarded a mecha in front of him, he had recited that quote.
He had said that one day, he hoped to pilot a mecha of his very own and stand side by side with it on the battlefield.
Inside the cockpit, Fu Siheng closed the hatch and sat down at the console.
To protect the pilot and streamline controls, mecha cockpits were exceptionally cramped, designed just barely to fit a fully grown man. Once buckled into the safety harness, it felt even tighter.
It had been a long time since he last piloted a light-class mecha; the ground forces trained almost exclusively with medium-class models.
As he acquainted himself with the controls, he suddenly noticed something off.
Frowning, Fu Siheng turned the wheel controlling the right arm again. The machine’s right arm remained frozen, emitting a grating, bone-jarring squeal of grinding metal.
He paused.
The right arm was broken…either the drive shaft was jammed or an internal gear had failed.
Which meant every weapon mounted on the right side was completely useless including the sidearm and the N2 automatic rifle.
In this match, half his combat capability was already dead in the water.
Outside, Shi Yuanyang noticed the mecha’s right arm twitch slightly before going completely still. He instantly realized something was wrong.
Grabbing a nearby student, he asked, “Were you guys responsible for maintaining the mechas last week? What’s going on with that one? Did someone forget to oil the arm joints?”
The student scratched his head, unable to recall clearly. “I… I’m not sure. I thought we did all of them…”
Yan Xun glanced over, and Shi Yuanyang explained, “Little Heng’s mecha has a jammed right arm. The components look intact from the outside, but he needs to swap machines.”
Before the words fully left his mouth, Fu Siheng’s mecha took a step forward into the center of the field, just as Zhao Zhifan’s machine marched out to meet him.
“What’s he doing? He’s not swapping?” Shi Yuanyang asked, bewildered.
There was no way Fu Siheng hadn’t noticed the fault, yet he hadn’t asked for a replacement. Instead, he drove it straight into the ring.
The two mechas came face-to-face. The indicator lights on their chests flashed to life the signal that the match had officially begun.
“Unbelievable… What is he thinking?” Shi Yuanyang muttered.
Yan Xun narrowed his eyes. “I take back my earlier prediction.”
Shi Yuanyang turned to him, and Yan Xun shrugged. “This one’s probably going to take ten minutes.”
Shi Yuanyang: “…” Why does this guy act like he knows Fu Siheng better than I do?
Yi Fengbei was still lost. “What are you two talking about?”
On the field, both mechas took a step back, and the fight erupted instantly!
Seeking an early advantage, Zhao Zhifan opened fire immediately with his N2 automatic rifle, unleashing a torrent of hundreds of rounds.
The bullets used in training mechas were custom-made; whenever they struck an opponent’s outer shell, the simulation system automatically deducted points and rendered the hit area non-functional.
The moment the bullets tore through the air, Fu Siheng’s mecha leaped dynamically into the air, hovering a meter off the ground.
The burst of gunfire slammed harmlessly into the turf beneath his feet, tearing up deep gouges in the grass.
Zhao Zhifan instantly adjusted his aim upward. To the watching cadets, the two machines were moving at blistering speeds. Zhao Zhifan’s attack was aggressive and relentless, yet not a single bullet echoed off the target’s hull.
Yi Fengbei was completely stunned. “Holy crap… First time I’ve ever seen someone handle a light mecha like a toy. Is he playing a rhythm game out there?!”
Before long, however, the crowd began to spot the anomaly.
Fu Siheng’s right arm hadn’t moved once. Throughout the rapid dodges and counter-maneuvers, the right arm holding his main arsenal remained completely inert.
“Whoa, Instructor Fu is insane! Is he giving him a handicap by using one arm?”
“He’s just showing off. But without mental energy support, he’s going to crash and burn soon.”
“Agreed. If I were him, I’d end it fast. With that speed, he could easily ambush Zhao Zhifan.”
“Tsk, tsk. Always flexing. I’m just waiting to watch him crash.”
When Fu Siheng dodged a heavy blast for the third time, Zhao Zhifan completely lost his composure.
Fu Siheng was fighting him with one arm tied behind his back, and Zhao Zhifan had already emptied an entire ammo drum without touching a single hair on his opponent!
Because Fu Siheng refused to use weapons, Zhao Zhifan felt completely looked down upon, anger surging uncontrollably in his chest.
“Damn it, die already!” He slammed the control stick down, driving his mecha right into Fu Siheng’s face.
The biggest advantage of mental-link piloting was raw power in close-quarters combat.
And that was precisely where Fu Siheng was at a disadvantage…he couldn’t even establish a mental connection with the machine.
Right now, Zhao Zhifan’s mecha was an extension of his own body, every motion under his fluid, direct control.
“Not good,” Shi Yuanyang’s brows knitted tightly into a frown.
He knew Fu Siheng’s weakness all too well. Once forced into close quarters, it became a contest of mental strength a contest Fu Siheng couldn’t win.
Zhao Zhifan was an S-rank Alpha. Even if Fu Siheng were still at full strength, matching him in direct mental force would be tough let alone now, when he no longer had S-rank capability.
As Zhao Zhifan’s mecha threw a heavy punch straight toward Fu Siheng’s cockpit viewport, it seemed as though the next second would bring the crushing sound of impact.
Yet, Fu Siheng’s lips curved into a faint smile.
This was the exact moment he had been waiting for!
His mecha executed a high-difficulty spin-dodge, twisting away at an almost impossible angle to evade the fist. In the same fluid motion, his left arm reached into the weapons bay and drew a weapon.
“It’s a bayonet!”
Ranged combat relies on firepower; close combat relies on blades.
A subtle smile touched the corner of Yan Xun’s lips. It carried him back to when they had first gotten together, when Fu Siheng had told him with a touch of proud satisfaction: Do you really think modern high-tech weaponry is the ultimate force in mecha combat? No. Cold weapons are.
Whenever Fu Siheng spoke of such things, his steel-blue eyes sparkled with a radiance that made Yan Xun want to hold onto him forever.
Unable to use long-range weapons, Fu Siheng had used non-stop evasive maneuvers for one purpose only: to infuriate Zhao Zhifan and bait him into closing the distance for a melee duel.
“Holy shit! Are you kidding me? Who uses such ancient tactics nowadays?!”
“Don’t sleep on the bayonet! Back in the day, the Founding Father of Mecha conquered the galaxy with just a bayonet. Mind blown… I had no idea Instructor Fu knew how to use one!”
Bayonet combat had long been phased out of the Imperial Military Academy’s curriculum. Close-quarters training was limited to hand-to-hand combat and combat knives; modern courses rarely touched on such impractical cold weapons.
Caught completely off guard, Zhao Zhifan could only hear a harsh screech of metal. A flash of sparks erupted as the bayonet sliced across his mecha’s waist, leaving a deep structural gash.
“Ahhh! The way Instructor Fu holds that blade is so cool!”
“I want him to bite me! Ah…no, I mean, I want to ride in his cockpit for five minutes!”
The Omegas leaning against the chain-link fence squealed softly, causing the nearby cadets to turn around and look. The Omegas quickly covered their blushes and hushed themselves.
Fu Siheng executed a brilliant blade flourish, though inside, he was far less relaxed than he appeared.
He had truly overestimated the quality of this training model…the damn blade was completely blunt!
If the edge hadn’t been so rounded, that single strike would have sliced Zhao Zhifan’s mecha cleanly in half.
He had put seventy percent of his strength into the blow, only to get thirty percent of the intended impact. Grumbling inwardly, he made a mental note to bring this up to Qu Mengda so the maintenance crew would inspect this batch of mechas as soon as possible.
Zhao Zhifan wasn’t stupid either. After suffering that hit, he immediately scrambled backward to open up distance.
He finally realized that Fu Siheng had deliberately baited him into coming close.
Having lost that window of opportunity, it wouldn’t be easy for Fu Siheng to close the distance again.
Once more, Fu Siheng maneuvered his machine into a high-speed parkour dodge while dense bursts of gunfire ripped up chunks of turf across the field, the thundering noise deafening to the crowd.
“It’s looking dicey for Little Heng,” Shi Yuanyang observed. “Didn’t expect Zhao Zhifan to be smart enough to back off and keep his distance.”
Yan Xun checked his watch and said, “It’s only been eight minutes. What’s the rush?”
Shi Yuanyang asked, “You still think he can win? The longer this drags on, the worse it gets for him.”
Yan Xun stroked his chin, offering a remark that left Shi Yuanyang thoroughly baffled: “How should I put it… While I might not particularly admire his personality, I have to admit he has serious talent.”
Shi Yuanyang blinked in confusion. What did he mean by… not admiring his personality?
He glanced at Yan Xun, wondering if this guy was somehow Fu Siheng’s archenemy. That didn’t make sense, though he had never heard Little Heng mention him back in university. They probably didn’t even know each other back then.
Noticing Shi Yuanyang’s guarded look, Yan Xun kindly clarified, “Because he blocked me on Changliao. As for why, I have no clue. All I know is he seems pretty hard to get along with.”
“Blocked you? No way, he rarely blocks anyone,” Shi Yuanyang said in surprise.
“Wait, what? Yesterday you got blocked by your ex and by Instructor Fu?!”
Two voices spoke simultaneously. Yi Fengbei stared at Yan Xun for a few seconds before suddenly bursting into uncontrollable laughter. “Holy shit, Ah Xun, you are ridiculously unlucky! HAHAHAHA!”
Shi Yuanyang gave Yan Xun an odd look, while Yan Xun simply smirked without a word.
On the field, the duel remained locked in a tense stalemate.
Just as Zhao Zhifan expended his second ammunition drum, Fu Siheng’s mecha suddenly came to a complete stop.
Everyone watched intently, expecting him to charge forward or make some unexpected move.
Instead, right as Zhao Zhifan finished loading his third ammunition drum, the hatch to Fu Siheng’s cockpit suddenly swung open!
The entire crowd froze in absolute shock.
The cockpit… opened? It actually opened?!
For the first time in history, someone had opened their cockpit hatch right in the middle of a battle!