(This update has reached 3,500 words, a sincere offering. Thank you, brothers, for your support! My throat and head are in bad shape, so I'm going to sleep now.)
"We concede..."
The voice echoed repeatedly within the cockpit. Levi, lying on his back, let out a bestial roar, "Ah!!~"
He was not willing to accept this. In the real combat competition held by the company, piloting the crystal of the company's technology—Extreme Special Soldier—he not only lost an arm but was also humiliatingly stepped on.
And now, the company could only preserve this core Extreme Special Soldier by openly accepting humiliation and declaring... We concede!
Men do not lightly shed tears, but at this moment, twenty-seven-year-old Levi's eyes were filled with tears.
"I'm sorry, Extreme Special Soldier."
The arm of the Extreme Special Soldier lifted and then patted down.
The concession was officially announced.
The match was over!
The Wind Speed Competitor moved his foot away and slowly began to walk back.
"Who are you, pilot across from me?"
Levi asked his final question.
A smile appeared on Valentine's face within the cockpit of the Wind Speed Competitor, and he said lightly, "Valentine."
Levi was stunned. Of course, he knew this name; it was a presence he could only look up to in the past. He just hadn't expected that when they finally clashed, the real gap between them would be even larger than he had imagined!
The watching spectators erupted into cheers, now knowing the name of the pilot.
"Valentine?... I'll check him up on the Light Computer, is he famous?"
"Damn! The runner-up of the Mecha Battle League in the Fourth Administrative Star Region!"
"Such strength... A Quasi-Ace Mechanical Master? My god, it's terrifying."
"With that strength piloting such a powerful Mecha, the opposing side is just getting whipped."
"Tch, you flatter that junk Mecha. They both have sixth generation engines, but that dark and unimpressive Mecha is still a prototype! And the Wind Speed Competitor this time is only a first test model, the materials certainly aren't as good as the prototype."
"All I want to ask now is whether the next opponent still wants to compete?"
"That's quite a harsh question, but I like it, haha."
In just a short ten minutes, Arabella Weapons Company had won the attention that the huge investments in advertising could not buy.
Valentine jumped down from the elevator platform before it was 2 meters above the ground.
"Well done! You are the leading contributor to Arabella's expansion into Blue Capital Star!"
"Honestly, it was just that their Mechanical Master and Mecha Body were too weak," Valentine calmly accepted the praise.
"You should rest up and prepare for the next match."
"Next match? I bet they are discussing whether to just give up by now; that prototype is already severely damaged," Valentine's experienced remark made everyone in the vicinity burst into laughter.
Indeed, Loki Heavy Industry was discussing whether to give up the competition right now.
Because Levi, with tears in his eyes and silent as he walked out of the cockpit, had visibly lost all will to fight.
After he explained the situation, the same sense of inevitability arose among everyone present.
Their ace Mechanical Master, Levi, had taken their strongest close combat mecha—Wind Speed Competitor—into battle and received a severe lesson. What was more concerning was that the Extreme Special Soldier's Mecha Body had been severely damaged.
Wang Nuonuo, with her eyes red, stood in front of Yu Wenhai, "Manager Yu, can our Mecha go into battle again?"
Yu Wenhai looked at the stubborn girl, her gaze as unyielding as Chairman Wang Ji. Although he wanted to say yes, having just received word from the staff that the fastest repair time would take 2 days, ultimately Yu Wenhai sadly shook his head.
No, the Extreme Special Soldier prototype could not go back into the fray.
If they wanted to continue fighting now, they could only deploy the Extreme Special Soldier Ge-1, which had been designated as a mid-to-short-range firepower Mecha. But Levi had already completely expressed that he was no match for that terrifying pilot across from him. Now, they at Loki Heavy Industry were unexpectedly at a point where no one was available to pilot.
Wang Nuonuo bit her lip, her voice filled with unwavering determination, "Manager Yu, let's offer a big reward to recruit a High Tier Mechanical Master, a million per match! Today, Loki Heavy Industry absolutely will not allow ourselves to be driven out in such a manner."
Yu Wenhai looked at Wang Nuonuo's resolute face and nodded.
Moments later, a message exploded across the venue, but...
It wasn't that no one responded; instead, the messages and Sky Communication were full of mockery, none of them useful.
A newly certified Level 3 Mechanical Master expressed interest in coming over, as did countless Apprentice Mechanical Masters and enthusiasts causing disturbances.
Ten minutes!
For a whole ten minutes, they hadn't received a single useful message.
There were only five minutes left before the start of the second round of the competition, but at that moment, including Wang Nuonuo, everyone at Loki Heavy Industry fell into deep despair.
Chuchu also watched with teary eyes as Wang Nuonuo, on the brink of collapse.
But all of them, including Wang Nuonuo herself, failed to notice the young man who had been standing behind her quietly entering the changing room.
Mu Fan's expression was calm, but his fingers quickly undid his formal attire.
Several Mechanical Master uniforms hung in the changing room. Moments later, when Mu Fan emerged again, he was wearing a steel-brown Mechanical Master uniform representing Loki Heavy Industry.
The scene was still silent, no one yet noticing Mu Fan who had stepped out.
Levi was kneeling on the ground, clutching his head; Yu Wenhai's eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Sky Communication; Wang Nuonuo's large eyes shed tears while looking at that resilient, still-standing Extreme Special Soldier prototype.
Was their Mecha journey with Loki Heavy Industry over before it even began?
"There are three minutes remaining, please have Mechanical Masters from both sides take their positions."
"Manager Yu, who's going up?"
Yu Wenhai's mouth moved, but no words came out.
Asking Levi to go would only invite further humiliation.
At that moment, Mu Fan gently walked up to Wang Nuonuo, looking at the girl who was distressed to the core, his face showing a warm and firm smile.
As if it was the same voice from the Battle Net that once made Nuonuo trust him unreservedly, he said, "Let me take the next match."
His voice was plain, yet it sounded like thunder suddenly striking amidst the crowd.
Yu Wenhai, Levi, several staff members, and Wang Nuonuo and Chuchu who were turned away from Mu Fan—all of them turned around sharply.
And then they saw Mu Fan, already dressed in the brown Mechanical Master uniform.
Mu Fan looked at everyone's faces and smiled, "The uniform is a bit short, but it doesn't affect me."
Yu Wenhai's eyes widened as he finally remembered that this kid had come in with Miss Nuonuo.
"But how could this situation possibly be a place for you to make jokes!?"
"Who are you!? This isn't a place for jokes, please leave!" Yu Wenhai yelled at Mu Fan, his chest heaving with anger. Even as Miss Nuonuo's friend, he would absolutely give no quarter at this moment.
Mu Fan's gaze was calm as he turned to Wang Nuonuo, "I'll go."
That plain voice sounded once more, its tone unchanged.
Tears welling up in her eyes, Wang Nuonuo looked up at the gentle face of Mu Fan. Suddenly, the image of Mu Fan dominating the Battle Net under the alias "Egg Lord" came to her mind, and her eyes brightened at that moment.
That inexplicable sense of trust didn't even require Wang Nuonuo to ask again whether he had any real combat experience or whether he knew the control scheme of the Extreme Special Soldier.
Instead, she nodded firmly.
"Mm!"
In that single word, the trust conveyed surpassed all words.
"Miss Nuonuo, he—"
"Manager Yu, I trust him."
"Nuonuo, what kind of joke is this? Mu Fan is just a freshman who hasn't officially enrolled yet. How could he possibly fight against the opponent? Aren't you harming him?" Chuchu's words not only expressed disbelief in Mu Fan but more so a reluctance to see him get severely hurt, since he was Nuonuo's good friend after all.
"I trust him," Wang Nuonuo emphasized again.
At this time, Levi, who had been sitting crouched with his head down, stood up, his eyes now filled with the kind of fighting will that bursts forth after humiliation, "Let him come back, I'll go this time!"
But when everyone heard this, they realized that Mu Fan, who had just spoken, had disappeared again.
No, wait—he's down below!
When did he go down?
Mu Fan walked beneath the 10-meter tall Heavy Mecha, looked at its damaged left arm, and the elevator platform slowly descending above his head.
His eyes held calmness but more so an intense eagerness.
His body slightly bowed.
"What is this kid trying to do?"
As Mu Fan bent lower, the workers controlling the elevator started to wonder what he was doing—with more than five meters still to descend.
Mu Fan's body gradually crouched to the ground, his head bowing deeply.
His teeth gently clicked and a faint voice reached the ears, "Black, are you ready?"
"I'm about to take over the central control system completely, Mu Fan, you can go ahead."
"Alright."
At that moment, the muscles of his legs compressed to their limit surged with ferocious power.
Ha!
Mu Fan, with his body half-crouched, suddenly sprang from the spot.
On the high stands, the audience watched with incredulous eyes as the brown figure, with only two leaps, cleared the elevator platform that had descended to five meters, directly arriving at the entrance to the pilot's cockpit at the back of the Mecha Body.
"Cockpit hatch opening," murmured Black with barely disguised excitement.
With one hand atop his head, Mu Fan turned back and locked eyes with the shocked Wang Nuonuo. Upon seeing Mu Fan's gaze, she unexpectedly calmed down, her eyes revealing a strong confidence!
It was the Invincible Legend attributed to Mu Fan!
It was a look that could only be perceived as bright and warm!
Hisss~
The hydraulic door sealed, and Mu Fan vanished from sight.
At the same time, multiple white jets burst forth from the joints, and the deep yellow eyes on the head of the Extreme Special Soldier lit up, signifying its activation.
Yu Wenhai and the others gaped in shock...
Only then did they realize how that kid knew the entry method for the Extreme Special Soldier, how he knew how to start it up!
And finally, why did he not enter the intact Ge-1 next to it, but instead boarded the Extreme Special Soldier prototype which was supposedly incapable of returning to battle!
Mu Fan's left hand swiftly glided over the Mecha control panel, the Half-Circle cockpit's gyroscope-like structure and several layers of hydraulic cushions ensuring that the Mechanical Master would not lose control due to severe jolting.
His right hand donned the Coordination Device.
"Black, is my guess correct?"
"System takeover complete, your guess wasn't wrong, but what you considered isn't this Mecha Body's limit at all. You've underestimated Loki Heavy Industry... Optimization of battle plan data for you is completed, ready to receive."
Click!
The sound of a mechanical arm moving officially announced the deployment of the one-armed Extreme Special Soldier.
The dark single arm extended, then the ligaments of the locking mechanisms opened with a light sound.
The Heavy Pulse Rifle fell to the ground with a thud.
The ammunition bins on its back fell to the ground with a thud.
The shoulder ammunition supply energy channels fell to the ground with a thud.
What was he doing?!
The audience was left speechless by this act.
But soon they understood. The remaining right arm of the prototype directly attached to the Extreme Special Soldier Ge-1 beside it.
The hilt of the Light Sword in Ge-1's hand was accurately pulled out, clenched in the palm.
"Match start!"
The huge alloy gate opened, and then everyone on the site, all the viewers in the exhibition hall, and all the spectators on the Light Computer network saw—the black Mecha Body with sparks still flying from its broken left arm re-entered the arena!
Inside the cockpit, where derisive laughter from the world couldn't reach, Mu Fan's eyes were stern.
The one-armed Extreme Special Soldier was ready for battle again!
*********
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Thanks to the readers "ZheC??," "Shui Xin Gu Ying," "Qing Feng Wu Xin7990," "Bloodbath Gate," "Chenxi Yu Liming Zhidian," "Zise de Tiankong~Yu Tian," "He Yu Hong﹏," "Xiaoyuzhou Feichuan," "Man Man De Lunxian," "Shiqing Huayi丶Ren Xiaowei," "Siguide Yinghun," "Lin Hahaha," "ngceal," "Boka Tangguohe," "Qingxuan Zaijian" for the 100-coin rewards!
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