Regardless of what the people outside thought, Wang Tianwei and the others were already piloting their mechs along the route Huang Yan had suggested.
The UV rays here were strong, the temperature was high, and solar energy was abundant, so they had absolutely no need to skimp on power.
Jian Jingyu scouted ahead at the very front.
"The surface temperature has gone up again; it's already hit fifty degrees! Good thing we don't have to walk out there on foot..."
Huang Yan moved to a higher vantage point to observe the terrain, comparing it with the simple map in his hand.
"It will get even hotter in a bit. The maximum air temperature on Planet Kashile will reach sixty, and the surface temperature is estimated to hit seventy or eighty."
"Are we being roasted alive?! Sister Ma, can our mechs hold up?"
"Don't worry. After checking the temperatures yesterday, I swapped in new coolant and cleaned out the ventilation systems!"
Wang Tianwei's reassuring voice came through the comms channel. Huang Yan finally descended to maintain the same altitude as the rest of the group.
"When we encounter star beasts later, Lyra and I will go first. The two of us still need to break in our mechs and get more familiar with our weapons."
As soon as Huang Yan finished, before Jian Jingyu could speak, Wang Tianwei hurriedly interjected,
"And me! I haven't practiced my physical combat skills in seven days; I need to get back into shape quickly!"
In this competition, everyone was piloting their own mechs. There were no school uniforms to confuse others, not much cover in the desert, and certainly no mud pits for her to lie in!
Although there were few people and the area was vast, once they ran into someone, they would have to fight head-on!
She was the only A-grade in the entire team, and she desperately needed to resume her training!
"Then Sister Ma will join in too. Goldfish can just stay in the back and provide us with some cover."
While the group was still traveling, the first broadcast rang out.
"First Military Academy, Squad One, plus one point."
To make tallying easier for the mech tournament, all star beasts and mutated beasts were worth exactly one point.
"Them again?!"
Wang Tianwei couldn't help but be surprised. How long had they even been here, and they were already fighting?
"Does the First Military Academy have to be first in the broadcasts too? Do they have OCD or something?!"
Jian Jingyu gained altitude to look around, then glanced at the radar.
"I don't see any activity anywhere. If we take first place next time, do you think they'll lose their minds?"
"Now that you mention it... I kind of want to see that."
"Same."
Huang Yan felt helpless.
"Speed up and move forward."
"Yes!"
The moment Fu Xingyuan of Squad One sensed something wrong underground, he deployed his mech!
After he used his lightsaber to impale a half-emerged mutated desert spider through the middle, the point-scoring broadcast sounded.
Over there, Leola was still busy modifying the mechs' ventilation systems. If she wasn't careful, her hands would get burned by the mechs' metal plating...
Hearing the commotion behind her, she couldn't care less about the heat anymore and hurried up! The place they were dropped into was not right!
He Siyu braced herself and stepped out of the tent's shaded area. The moment the sunlight hit her body, it felt like stepping into an oven! She drove her spiritual power underground.
"There are more... don't come out yet!"
Fu Xingyuan fell silent for a moment. His mech's radar showed numerous red dots gathering toward them from beneath the surface.
"It's dangerous, stop the modifications! Get in the mechs!"
"Leola!! Put the plating back!"
After finishing her scan, He Siyu immediately ran toward the mech mechanic, joining Wu Pingzhuo in helping Leola reassemble the dismantled mech in front of them!
Ripples appeared in the sand on the ground; the things beneath their feet were about to emerge!
Fu Xingyuan fired at the mutated spiders that were about to burst out, but the tremors only grew stronger.
Over a dozen mutated desert spiders leaped out from the ground one after another, kicking up a cloud of black sand!
The second heavy mech was reassembled! Wu Pingzhuo jumped into the cockpit, while He Siyu stood behind Leola, issuing commands.
"Fu Xingyuan, take the seven on the left; Wu Pingzhuo, the eight on the right! Draw the mutated beasts outward!"
After speaking, she used her spiritual power to disrupt the mutated beasts' pathing, casually redirecting the two right beneath their feet over to Fu Xingyuan's side.
"Don't panic, Leola. I'm right behind you."
As soon as the slender spider legs hit the ground, they tried to dart toward the two girls who hadn't boarded their mechs yet!
The sheer speed made Leola, who had taken a moment to glance back at the situation, feel a tight squeeze in her chest!
Wu Pingzhuo maneuvered his mech and locked onto the target. Boom! In an instant, only two or three legs of the two-meter-tall spider fell to the ground.
The third mech was reassembled. He Siyu entered the operating cabin and pushed her spiritual power to its absolute maximum!
"Leave the four in the middle to me."
Halfway through the battle, Leola finally attached the last armor plate to her own mech, grabbed the handle, and settled inside.
"Interrupting me while I'm fixing my mech is a bit unsportsmanlike, don't you think!"
Boom!
A mutated spider leaping over the two mechs was blown to pieces by an electromagnetic cannon. Its severed limbs and the pale yellow fluid from its insides splattered everywhere, drying up almost as soon as they hit the ground.
Wu Pingzhuo fired continuously, and upon seeing this, he didn't forget to joke in the team channel.
"These points came at the wrong time. Don't they know that a mech mechanic is the most dangerous person to provoke while repairing a mech?!"
More and more mutated spiders crawled out from the ground. The four of them fought in their mechs, cooperating flawlessly.
"First Military Academy, Squad One, plus thirty-six points."
After the battle concluded, Leola climbed down with a cold expression to continue the work she had left unfinished.
She was already annoyed... and now she had to clear out the sand all over again!! She had better not run into any more mutated desert spiders!
He Siyu returned to the shade of the tent to look at the map. After a moment, she pointed to a red-marked area on the map that was closest to them.
"How about we go here first to rack up some points later?"
"No objections."
"Agreed."
Wu Pingzhuo gulped down a mouthful of water.
Even when fighting inside a mech, in this kind of environment, a person couldn't help but feel unconsciously thirsty...
"Wu Pingzhuo, yours is done."
Leola tossed a spatial button backward, and her teammate caught it effortlessly.
"Thanks!"
Seeing the First Military Academy effortlessly secure thirty-seven points, the viewers in the live broadcast room could no longer sit still.
"An S-grade supreme mech mechanic modifies things so fast! She's already finished two mechs in just this short amount of time!"
"The First Military Academy is full of supreme mechs too! I really want to get close and rub against them!"
"They just killed over thirty spiders and are acting like nothing happened. Are they heading straight into the danger zone next?"
"This handful of mutated beasts doesn't even seem like enough of a warm-up for them!"
"In the last match, they were soloing a dozen star beasts even without mechs! What is this to them?"
"Ah, the mech designs on this side still look better..."
The soldiers from the Third Military District, who had been following the group from the air, also felt that this wave of mutated spiders posed absolutely no challenge to them.
If the spiders had arrived any later, after Leola finished modifying the mechs, they probably would have been instantly wiped out!
"The main squad from the First Military Academy will probably win the championship, right?"
"Their moves are already so experienced. I think they could just join the military district right now! Hahahaha."
"Mutated desert spiders—these things just breed too fast! You can never kill them all..."
At 11:00 AM, Leola finally finished all the mech modifications.
All the filters were installed! The sand clearing was done once again... It was all because of that swarm of mutated spiders! They completely slowed down her progress!
"Let's move out."
