After the staff member left, Zhang Lyra read through the rules once, and the three of them sat side by side on the sofa to watch the live broadcast.
The ones currently in the arena were also newcomers like them. As the camera panned across the stands, there were very few spectators.
The competition arena was a thirty-meter square platform, surrounded by a two-and-a-half-meter deep trench filled with cushioning pads; anyone who fell in could no longer attack.
The entire venue was covered by a protective shield to keep the spectators safe.
If the shield received a severe impact, the match would have to be paused for one minute.
The two currently competing teams had a total of seven people, and they were in the middle of a fierce brawl.
Jian Jingyu watched for a while before losing interest, turning instead to open his optical computer.
The match really had nothing worth watching. The attacks weren't precise enough, the dodging wasn't fast enough, and at most seven out of ten moves could actually hit the opponent. Their skills were far inferior to his own, and their mechas were very ordinary.
"If everyone is at this level, we're set."
Wang Tianwei was full of confidence.
At least four out of these seven people wouldn't be able to beat her! Her confidence surged instantly!
Zhang Lyra shook her head.
"That depends on luck. The team I encountered yesterday was stronger than both of these."
After saying that, she also felt there was no reference value in watching, so she simply started stretching in the open space of the lounge.
The match soon reached its end. The team with more people had two members left, winning the two-on-one fight.
A prompt appeared on the screen telling them to head to the "Preparation Area." Jian Jingyu stood up.
"Our strategy is a quick battle. Lyra and I will attack the opponent first, and Tianwei just needs to hold on until we take out one enemy!"
Zhang Lyra also said,
"I will protect you later, don't worry."
Wearing her zebra headgear, Wang Tianwei let out a sinister chuckle.
"Rest assured, I will absolutely be fine~"
The three walked out the door in turn, following the arrows on both sides of the path.
Reaching the preparation area required passing through a transparent corridor. From here, they could see the audience seating below, and the audience could see them too.
The previous match was too boring, so the already sparse audience had dwindled even further. However, someone still looked up and noticed the group.
"...Are those rookies?"
"Rookies wearing such mocking masks? Could it be some big shots coming down to crush newbies?"
"Their walking posture is awfully arrogant..."
"We'll know once we watch the match!"
The three put on their mechas in the preparation area.
The completely identical color scheme allowed people to recognize where they came from at a glance.
The live broadcast appeared on the public screen, starting to introduce the names and member ranks of the two squads.
Their side was S, A, B, while the opposing side was very balanced with A, A, A.
"Isn't that Qilin's standard-issue mecha?"
"Are they students?"
"Qilin's students are quite... The other team's mechas are not bad!"
"It might also be a skin used to confuse others!"
"I haven't seen anyone use such basic mechas before... It looks like they haven't even equipped weapons."
"Maybe they really are big shots!"
The arena doors slowly opened, and accompanied by entrance sound effects, both sides stepped onto the competition field.
"It would be great if we were facing one of those two teams from earlier."
There was a mecha on the opposing side that Wang Tianwei was very familiar with, as she had just seen it yesterday in Taihe's specialty store; it was even a high-end model...
"Don't panic. People fighting matches here generally use Taihe's mechas, or they build their own... But a strong mecha doesn't mean strong skills."
Zhang Lyra drew her longsword, vigilantly staring at the only heavy mecha on the opposing side.
Jian Jingyu didn't speak anymore. He weighed the plasma axe in his hand and assumed a fighting stance.
The three opponents didn't have light mechas; instead, they had two medium and one heavy mecha. To him, this was an opportunity.
"Don't forget, quick battle."
A few more spectators left the stands.
At first glance, it looked like a one-sided crushing defeat. It was really uninteresting, and the remaining people didn't have their full attention on the stage.
"Our luck is good. The other side seems to be three students."
"Haha, hold back a bit, don't make them cry!"
"The match is about to begin. Countdown: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... 0."
The moment the timer reached zero, Jian Jingyu dashed out!
The opposing medium mecha immediately deployed its defenses, while the other medium mecha headed straight for Wang Tianwei.
Zhang Lyra intercepted laterally, her longsword slashing a long trail across the opponent's body.
Someone came to protect her? The opposing squad instantly realized that the medium mecha in the middle was their weak point!
Thus, the pure black heavy mecha leaped to the center of the arena, throwing out several chains, with spiked iron balls hanging at the ends.
"Meteor hammers!?"
"Finally, a different kind of cold weapon!"
"If you get hit by that, repairing the mecha would cost a fortune, right?"
The upper body of the heavy mecha spun at high speed, swinging the meteor hammers into a blur!
Only then did Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra realize that the opposing members had been intentionally or unintentionally forcing them toward the center from the very beginning!
"Watch out!"
"Tianwei, don't go forward!!"
The two couldn't help but call out warnings in their squad's communication channel. Wang Tianwei, piloting her mecha, grinned from ear to ear.
"Tell me, tell me, aren't they just walking right into my line of fire!? Hahahahaha! Trying to mess with us?"
"Vroom—Buzz!—"
"What is that sound!"
Some of the audience members offstage had fallen asleep, but were suddenly awakened by the massive roar!
Their friends even forgot to put the popcorn in their mouths!
"Holy crap... a chainsaw!?"
Wang Tianwei started the chainsaw and cut right into the incoming chains!
Although the chainsaw was made with only B-grade materials, it was a genuine chainsaw! Cutting a chain was a piece of cake!
For general cold weapons, everyone would choose to buy finished products, which were the ones sold for 500-1000 in Taihe stores. She could even memorize the materials used for them!
High-grade materials were mostly used on the mecha bodies themselves.
Therefore, once Wang Tianwei's chainsaw came out, it was virtually invincible!
The chains of the meteor hammers were sawed into pieces. Seeing that this wasn't working, the heavy mecha threw away the chains, drew a longsword, and slashed at Wang Tianwei.
"A backup plan?"
However, the heavy mecha's agility was still inferior to that of a medium mecha. Before the longsword could even touch Wang Tianwei, she sawed it in half from the middle with her chainsaw.
Then, while still holding the broken half of the sword, it was kicked off the square platform!
Seeing that she had taken care of one, Wang Tianwei planned to go help Zhang Lyra.
She had only run halfway when Jian Jingyu finished his fight as well. The remaining medium mecha looked left and right, then gave up fighting.
"I'll jump down myself... don't let her touch me with that saw!"
After saying that, the pilot took a dive off the stage, leaving Zhang Lyra dumbfounded...
"Can't you just surrender?"
Wang Tianwei turned off the chainsaw, and the terrifying roar finally disappeared.
Jian Jingyu looked at the weapon in her hands.
"Is this the weapon you stayed up all night making? Why does it look so old?"
"I aged it on purpose! This kind of thing is much scarier when it's rusty!"
The broadcast and the screen announced simultaneously,
"The winner—QL's Greatest Threat!"
