The members of "QL Arch-nemesis" couldn't stop discussing while changing into their mechas in the rest area.
"What do we do!? Have they already spotted us?"
"No way, right? We're all wearing headgear!"
"But the expressions on Mr. Eugene and Mr. Jin Xi's faces..."
"How about this, we run as soon as we finish fighting?"
Wang Tianwei racked her brains for an idea.
"As long as we slip away fast enough, they won't catch us red-handed!"
"I think that works!"
"Let's do that!"
Huang Yan listened to the three of them discussing in the channel while warming up.
In his opinion, given how familiar those four teachers were with them, as long as they weren't blind, they should have already figured out who they were...
However, as a commander, he didn't want to deal a blow to their morale at a time like this.
"...Let's focus on the match first, we'll talk after it's over."
The doors leading to the arena slowly opened, and the others finally gathered their focus and adjusted their mindsets.
Whatever! At worst, they would just have to confess honestly...
Wang Tianwei stared at the prize money and rewards scrolling on the arena's screen. Liquid gold~ Slurp! Here I come!
Down in the audience, two mecha instructors were also discussing.
"Super S-grade materials... Isn't it a bit too early for them to want this?"
"Early or not, if you see rare materials, you have to grab them! Why wouldn't you eat the meat delivered right to your mouth? Even if they can't use it now, they can save it as a family heirloom!"
"Yeah... If they can really win it, Wang Tianwei definitely wouldn't be content just watching."
The attention of the other two guiding teachers had already drifted to the other contestants.
"Arena 1 also features a half-beastman piloting a heavy mecha. The contestant is A-grade and older than Zhang Lyra, but his mecha isn't as good as Zhang Lyra's..."
"Orady's team has two S-grades. Hiss... Huang Yan and the others are in a bit of danger."
"Not necessarily, did you forget how those kids usually fight? Anyone who underestimates Wang Tianwei and Huang Yan is going to suffer a huge loss!"
"...Help me look at the screen on the far edge, the introduction for that squad! Is there an S-grade commander? Is it really just a free-for-all like this? They don't even separate the grades?"
Jin Xi couldn't help but complain in disgust.
"This is an arena... Don't you two normally train the students to death at school? Why are you acting like mother hens now?"
"How is that the same!? There are safety guarantees at school!"
"This isn't a life-and-death match either... They're coming out, they're coming out! Hurry up and cheer for them!"
All the contestants entered their respective arenas, and the audience erupted into waves of enthusiastic applause and cheers!
"There are so many spectators today? It's completely full!"
Jian Jingyu greeted the audience like usual. When he saw two familiar faces in the VIP seats, he gave a symbolic wave as if he didn't recognize them.
"Hahaha, you brat, you're pretending quite well!"
The teachers knew nothing about their students' popularity until they heard the cheers growing louder wave after wave...
"Arch-nemesis! Woohoo!! Goldfish, we love you!"
"Zebra!! Yiwan!! Trample them!"
"The Bear Clan never admits defeat! Heavy mecha killer! Ah!!! So handsome!"
"Weasel! Show them some color!!"
Fu Manli adjusted the little bear headgear on her head, shaken by the screams from front and back. Eugene smacked his lips.
"This popularity..."
The fans of the other contestants were not willing to fall behind either.
"Blade! Look over here!!"
"Phantom, you guys are the coolest!! Go for it!!"
"Tear them to shreds! Orady!!"
"Knight Errant Party!!! Ah!! I'm going to faint!"
The screen finally began to display the countdown.
Huang Yan kept an eye on their opponents while casting a spiritual power shield over his teammates.
"Don't drag it out at the start, let's finish this quickly. The matches will only get harder later on. If we end this one early, we can earn a longer rest period."
"Copy that!"
In the first round, they were up against a team called "Spider," which was also a newly promoted LV2 team, with all members being A-grade.
They were strong, but still a bit lacking compared to them.
These people seemed to not care about their mechas at all... They didn't use firearms much, but they pushed their physical combat techniques to the absolute limit!
They could even launch attacks while withstanding the pressure from Zhang Lyra's heavy mecha.
From far away, Huang Yan could see that the opponents' mechas already had many damaged areas. Some couldn't even be repaired and required direct part replacements...
Using a cooling pipe to block Jian Jingyu's lightsaber? Did they have absolutely no understanding of mechas?
And the opposing mecha mechanic didn't have any reaction either?
If he dared to do something like that, wouldn't Wang Tianwei pull all his hair out!?
He tentatively used his spiritual power to attack the opponent's commander and communication channel. The other side seemed completely off guard, and he succeeded without much effort.
The bizarre thing was that this team had absolutely no communication from start to finish?
Even the commander hadn't issued a single order in the communication channel. What did this mean? A stream of consciousness!? Was their synergy really at this level!?
Filled with doubt, Huang Yan took down their commander with his spiritual power. Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra opened fire with full force, and the match ended in less than five minutes!
Wang Tianwei barely even exerted any effort.
"What's going on? Are they here through connections?"
Jian Jingyu also returned scratching his head.
"Are they just making up the numbers? This is way too obvious, right? The audience won't think we're throwing a fake match, will they?"
"Sir Huang attacked their commander, but for it to end this quickly... I didn't expect it either."
Zhang Lyra did notice that halfway through, the commander froze in place and then quickly collapsed to the ground...
The anticipated boos never came, because they weren't the only team to finish their first match so quickly.
There were many live broadcast screens. Once a match ended, the spectators immediately shifted their gaze to watch the next one, showing their rich experience in spectating!
Chao Hao confirmed that the "Arch-nemesis" team won before finally stuffing the popcorn he had been holding for ages into his "horse mouth."
The level of Zero Realm contestants is only so-so...
The four of them returned to the rest area to wait for the other squads to finish their matches.
"We had pretty good luck in the first match."
Zhang Lyra sat down on the sofa to continue watching the other teams' matches. Every winner could potentially be their opponent in the next round.
Recalling the situation just now, Huang Yan only felt that something was wrong.
"That team just now was really weird..."
Wang Tianwei clapped her hands together.
"I wanted to say that earlier! Where did those rich kids come from? Daring to use mechas like that? You can tell at a glance they've never been beaten up by a mecha mechanic!"
"...Not only that, I hacked into their communication channel, but their team didn't say a single word to each other from beginning to end?"
"Huh?"
This was getting a bit absurd!
Wang Tianwei thought for a moment.
"Could it be that they have another method of communication?"
"Even so, they wouldn't just not make a single sound, right?"
Jian Jingyu immediately chimed in, then frowned and pondered for a long time.
"Could it be... that they were inherently incapable of speaking?"
Zhang Lyra was dumbfounded.
"That's so... Ah, well, it's not impossible, but..."
It certainly was an explanation... but Huang Yan still felt something was fishy.
Even though those people lost quickly, they still had coordination among themselves.
If they truly had no way to communicate, how did they rank up to LV2?
"Hiss! That Orady squad, they actually tore their opponent's mecha apart!?"
Wang Tianwei practically pressed her entire body against the screen.
"They have hydraulic pumps and motors on their arms, and a power-assist system on their legs... If we face them later, it's best not to get caught.
"Sir Huang shouldn't be much of an issue. Once you activate your defense mode, his mech won't be able to do a thing to you!
The weak point is the core... Goldfish, keep your eyes on his abdomen later. If you get grabbed, smash the hydraulic tubes on the inside of his forearms as hard as you can..."
"Got it!"
"Okay."
Huang Yan couldn't figure out the deal with the Spider squad for the time being.
However, since they had already won, it was more important to observe the other competitors first.
Another twenty minutes passed, and the final two teams of the first round finally decided a victor.
The giant screen in the arena began displaying a ten-minute countdown.
Robots immediately rolled out to clean the battlefield, clearing away the leftover parts and debris on the stage and roughly patching up the damaged floor.
The next round of the competition would only require half of the arena.
