The contestant never expected that his proud Storm Shield could be shattered so effortlessly, leaving him stunned and motionless in shock.
The other two Meteor Mechs, originally planning to attack Yun Xingze, were also dumbfounded. Their distracted fire completely missed their targets.
It wasn’t that the Storm Shield couldn’t be broken.
But no one had ever shattered it so easily before not even 3S-class mechs could achieve this.
The audience collectively gasped, their eyes filled with both astonishment and excitement.
“That’s insanely powerful!”
“What terrifying mech… How were those twin photon blades even made?!”
“Offensive enough to break the Storm Shield, defensive enough to block particle cannons; this is the perfect weapon!”
“I want weapons like that too!”
“Yun Xingze is god-tier!”
After shattering the Storm Shield, Yun Xingze effortlessly took down the other two mechs and charged straight into the second stronghold.
This time, Luo Wenchuan arrived slightly later, trailing Yun Xingze by over ten seconds.
Yun Xingze “generously” yielded the honor of lighting the beacon to Luo Wenchuan, saying, “Your turn this time. It wouldn’t be fair for me to light them all. You should experience it too.”
Luo Wenchuan chuckled wryly: “During the previous 6v6 matches when you weren’t here, I lit all the beacons myself.”
In NCLM tournaments, 6v6 matches drew the most attention, and the beacon-lighter from the winning finals team was generally acknowledged as that season’s strongest competitor. A factor that also influenced MVP selection.
This was the glorious moment every military academy student dreamed of.
Yun Xingze didn’t want to monopolize this honor.
After speaking, Luo Wenchuan drew his photon sword and stood outside the stronghold, turning his back to Yun Xingze as his voice came through the comms: “Don’t just stand there. Light it.”
Seeing his calm yet resolute attitude, Yun Xingze paused briefly before smiling and stepping into the stronghold to press the button on the towering battle beacon.
In the second round, Noah Academy had planned to contain Yun Xingze and Luo Wenchuan but were utterly routed instead.
Yun Xingze’s beacon-lighting proceeded smoothly. Noah’s forces hadn’t even arrived before the second stronghold fell.
A towering blue beam erupted skyward.
[Offensive team—Stellar Ocean Academy has successfully captured the second stronghold. Time taken: 10 minutes 41 seconds. Remaining time carries over to next round.]
With two rounds completed, Stellar Ocean had only used about 23 minutes.
This meant they still had a full 37 minutes to capture the final stronghold.
Typically, the last stronghold’s terrain was most complex, giving defenders maximum advantage.
But currently, Noah Academy showed no signs of advantage whatsoever completely helpless against Stellar Ocean’s assault.
As last year’s champions, Noah’s team naturally harbored bitter resentment toward Yun Xingze for this humiliation.
Noah’s coach called a timeout for robots to repair their severely damaged mechs while clenching his fist to address the team: “No matter what, you must stop Yun Xingze this round!”
Noah’s members wore grim expressions but complied with the coach’s orders.
Clearly, they too didn’t want Yun Xingze to steal all the glory.
“His moves are probably limited to just these,” the coach continued. “First, create the illusion of dispersal, then find an opportunity to team up and ambush Yun Xingze when he’s alone. With his arrogance, he’s bound to stumble.”
Noah spent twenty minutes regrouping, and soon, the third round began.
Noah set up their formation at the final stronghold, preparing for a last stand.
From Yun Xingze’s observations, it seemed Noah hadn’t learned their lesson they were still spreading their forces thin, guarding key points around the stronghold.
“Noah won’t wake up until they see the coffin,” Caleb sneered. “Still using the same strategy as the first round? Then we can just win the same way as before.”
Yun Xingze, however, didn’t think Noah was that simple.
But to him, no matter what strategy Noah employed, it wouldn’t matter.
“Then let’s stick to the previous plan,” Yun Xingze said casually. “Stay coordinated.”
After assigning his teammates’ positions, Yun Xingze headed alone toward the final stronghold.
The environment around the third stronghold simulated a desert, with towering fortresses and swirling sandstorms severely impairing visibility.
Starsea’s players soon clashed with Noah’s team.
This time, Noah’s tactics weren’t as aggressive as before. Instead of rushing to engage, they opted for a more roundabout approach.
Just as Starsea thought Noah was exhausted, they suddenly realized Noah’s target wasn’t them!
Caleb and He Haoming were coordinating their attack when, in the next moment, their opponents blew up a fortress. A cloud of dust instantly obscured their vision and blocked their path.
“What the hell?” Caleb was stunned. “Are Noah’s players insane? What’s their plan?!”
While the defensive fortresses were hard to breach from the outside, they could still be destroyed from within.
By demolishing the fortress, Noah had sacrificed their terrain advantage. Once the dust settled, even if Caleb and He Haoming had to detour around the rubble, they could easily reach the stronghold.
At that moment, their communicators crackled with the voices of Aixili and Ke Lei.
“Noah blew up two of their own defense towers!” Aixili exclaimed in shock. “The path here is blocked. What are they trying to do?!”
Ke Lei froze for a few seconds before it hit him.
“They’re trying to trap us so they can gang up on Xingze!”
“What?!” He Haoming’s eyes widened in disbelief. “So, their initial dispersal was just to lure us away? But blowing up their own towers and fortresses… that’s way too risky!”
“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Caleb gritted his teeth. “They’d rather lose the match than let Xingze off the hook.”
In truth, Noah’s plan was straightforward. They wanted to lure Starsea away, sacrifice some defenses, and focus all six players on taking down Yun Xingze before dealing with the rest.
Yun Xingze’s new mech posed such a threat that they had no choice but to take this gamble.
Meanwhile, Luo Wenchuan faced a similar situation.
Having heard his teammates’ warnings, he activated his anti-gravity device just before the enemy blocked the path, leaping toward Yun Xingze’s location.
“Xingze, avoid engagement for now,” Luo Wenchuan said calmly. “I’m on my way.”
Yun Xingze was currently bullying Noah’s team captain, who kept dodging and hiding, refusing to surrender.
With a smirk, he responded to Luo Wenchuan: “No need, I can handle this.”
At that moment, Noah’s captain stopped playing hide-and-seek and faced Yun Xingze head-on.
The audience could also see on the map that five other red dots were moving toward Yun Xingze’s location, creating a tense situation.
Although the members of Star Ocean were also rushing over, they had to take a longer detour, making the situation unfavorable.
“Is Noah insane?” Richard exclaimed, his eyes wide with anger. “Bullying Xingze so blatantly?!”
Oliar stared nervously at the screen, wondering if Yun Xingze’s new mech could withstand this assault.
Yun Xingze effortlessly blocked Noah’s captain’s attack, activating his loudspeaker system with a cold laugh. “Six against one? Where’s your sense of honor?”
The opponent, somewhat embarrassed, feigned composure. “What six against one? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
For last year’s champions to be pushed to this point was truly humiliating.
However, when the rest of Noah’s team gathered around their captain, their morale instantly surged.
“Let’s go all out and take down Yun Xingze. With numbers on our side, we still have a chance,” the captain said over the comms. “On my signal, everyone go full throttle and attack that monstrous mech. ”
Noah’s team adjusted their stances, preparing to face the so-called “monstrous mech.”
The Storm mech, whose shield had been shattered by Yun Xingze earlier, hid at the back.
The captain scolded in frustration, “You’re a tank! Why are you hiding behind a Meteor mech?!”
Reluctantly, the Storm mech raised its newly replaced shield and tremblingly moved to the front line.
Six mechs now surrounded Yun Xingze’s new model, making everyone hold their breath in suspense.
The audience speculated that despite the mech’s astonishing performance so far, even the strongest fighter couldn’t handle such overwhelming odds. Yun Xingze was likely in grave danger.
“Now!”
At the captain’s command, all six mechs launched a simultaneous attack on Yun Xingze!
The scene resembled a pack of wild beasts pouncing on a lone lamb, drawing gasps from the crowd.
But then—
The “helmet” on Yun Xingze’s mech began glowing with streams of fluorescent green data.
No one understood what was happening.
The next second—
Noah’s pilots suddenly widened their eyes, overwhelmed by splitting headaches and disorienting tinnitus.
“Feel this,” Yun Xingze said slowly, his lips curling. “A mental attack from another world.”
“What the hell…” One pilot froze mid-action, as if an immense weight crushed his nerves. “Is this a mental attack?”
Standard mechs had defenses against mental assaults.
But clearly, the attack from Yun Xingze’s mech far surpassed their protective measures.
The audience, unaware of what had transpired, only saw the six charging mechs suddenly stall, all clutching their heads in unison.
Calmly, Yun Xingze leaped into the air, breaking free from the encirclement, and looked down at his opponents from above.
Like a hawk surveying its prey.
Noah’s captain struggled to get up, trying to overcome the mental assault.
But before he could hold on for long, his mech suddenly moved on its own!
Everyone from Noah widened their eyes in shock; their mechs were no longer under their control!
“Hmm, what should I make you do?” Yun Xingze raised a hand to his chin in thought, and the mech mirrored the gesture, making the scene eerily unsettling. “Ah, how about a dance?”
The moment the words left his lips.
Before the audience could even process their confusion and disbelief, they saw all six mechs stand up in unison.
They formed a perfect circle, rose onto their tiptoes, and gracefully began performing the timeless classic—Swan Lake.
To top it off, Noah’s captain’s mech even thoughtfully played the accompanying music.
“What the hell?!” one of the Storm mech pilots nearly lost his mind. “What is my mech doing?! Why can’t I control it?! Captain, why the hell are you playing music?!”
“It wasn’t me!” Noah’s captain was already frantic, slamming the controls in a desperate attempt to stop the madness.
The next second, his lightsaber-equipped mech spun 360 degrees midair on tiptoe, nearly making him dizzy enough to vomit.
What was supposed to be a 6v1 siege had now turned into six mechanical swans dancing in perfect harmony.
By the time Luo Wenchuan and the others arrived, they were collectively stunned into silence.
“Th-this… this…” Ke Lei was so shocked he could barely speak. “Xingze beat them so badly they’ve lost their minds! Isn’t this against the rules?!”
Caleb quickly added, “Severely incapacitating opponents counts as a second-degree violation.”
Aixili facepalmed, her voice trembling. “If I’m not mistaken, this isn’t them losing their minds. It’s a mental attack, right?”
“So, you’re saying…” He Haoming’s jaw dropped so wide he could’ve swallowed a soccer ball. “Xingze took control of their mechs?! What the hell kind of magic is this?!”
The group fell into stunned silence.
Even Luo Wenchuan, who had witnessed countless grand spectacles, stared at the six mechs struggling to lift their arms with forced elegance and sank into eerie speechlessness.
Yun Xingze waved at his teammates, activating the loudspeaker before calmly declaring, “Enjoy the show. I’ll go light the beacon.”
The humiliated Noah pilots: “…”
This wasn’t a mental attack.
This was psychological torture.
