Yun Xingze looked at the tall Alpha before him and proactively extended his hand. “Pleased to meet you.”
Kalibo glanced at his hand with an indifferent expression, only briefly shaking it after a long pause without saying a word.
Beneath his red hair, the corners of his eyes tilted slightly upward, carrying a ferocity unbecoming of his age, while his tightly pressed lips revealed his terrible temper.
Before both released their mechas, the referee specifically walked over to Yun Xingze and whispered a reminder, “If you can’t hold on later, or if any accidents occur, immediately press the distress button or activate the loudspeaker system to notify me. I’ll stop the match.”
Yun Xingze withdrew his gaze from the violent red-haired youth and nodded at the referee, though his expression wasn’t as tense as the referee had expected.
Kalibo turned and walked a few steps, releasing his Comet mech in the designated area.
Standing about seven to eight meters tall, the mech was of small to medium size, its body entirely black, with some crimson-red attachments on its arms; clearly weapons designed to dismantle opponents’ mechs.
While watching videos, Yun Xingze had carefully observed Kalibo’s mech. It was equipped with numerous weapons, and its twin chain swords could launch swift assaults from tricky angles.
The moment Kalibo’s mech was deployed, Yun Xingze had already begun silently recording its data in his mind.
In the spectator stands, the crowd grew anxious for Yun Xingze upon seeing Kalibo’s mech.
“Here it comes, that Comet mech that’s destroyed who knows how many others.”
“That first-year Omega is piloting a lightsaber mech, right? He’s going to get crushed.”
“Honestly, his lightsaber mech is so ugly. If I were Kalibo, I wouldn’t even bother dismantling it.”
“Look, he’s about to release that hideous mech.”
Yun Xingze glanced at the cube in his hand. One of the hexahedron’s faces had an extra small piece, a crucial “attachment” he had added during modifications.
He tossed the cube, and the small piece detached as the mech unfolded alongside it.
Some sharp-eyed spectators immediately noticed.
“His cube has two pieces?”
“Two? Doesn’t that only happen with dual-star mechs?”
“There really are two cubes! Did he modify his lightsaber mech into a dual-star mech?!”
“How is that possible? Dual-star mechs are incredibly hard to control!”
A nearly ten-meter-tall lightsaber mech appeared at the center of the arena. Like before, many were stunned by its color scheme upon first glance, but what truly shocked them was.
Beside the lightsaber mech stood a three-meter-tall beast-shaped reconnaissance mech.
This meant Yun Xingze had indeed modified his lightsaber mech into a dual-star mech.
The reconnaissance mech had originally been a spare part given to him by the underground black-market dealer when he purchased the lightsaber mech.
In fact, he had Luo Wenchuan to thank; had he not given those extra tens of thousands of star coins, the dealer wouldn’t have thrown in the attachment so easily.
Since the reconnaissance mech resembled a mechanical tiger, Yun Xingze had leaned into the tiger aesthetic during modifications. He hadn’t altered much, only reinforcing its weapon systems, removing the damaged tail, and enhancing its tail-based offensive capabilities.
Due to insufficient funds, after purchasing the necessary components to modify the Twin-Star Mecha, Yun Xingze used almost all of the remaining ugly spare parts.
When that “mechanical tiger” obediently crouched at the feet of the Lightsaber Mecha, it instantly captured the attention of the entire audience.
A black body, golden ears, green eyes, bright red limbs, and a tail whose whereabouts were unknown.
“That… that’s one ugly scout mech…”
“I thought the Lightsaber Mecha was ugly enough, but this is even worse.”
“What kind of animal is this even supposed to resemble? I can’t tell at all!”
“Is it really feasible to modify a Lightsaber Mecha into a Twin-Star Mecha?”
“That’s too risky. Twin-Star Mechs require extremely high mental control abilities.”
Luo Wenchuan’s gaze fell on the mech, his brows furrowing almost imperceptibly with a hint of surprise.
He hadn’t heard the conversation between Yun Xingze and Zhuo Feiyue that day, so he had speculated about various modification possibilities, curious about the outcome.
But he never expected to witness such a “double dose of ugliness.”
The two mechs one large, one small stood side by side, their hideousness harmoniously synchronized.
“Oh my god, Yun Xingze actually…” Ke Lei stared dumbfounded at the two mechs, momentarily at a loss for words. “How could he… This is insane! Who even gave him this idea?!”
Hearing this, Luo Wenchuan suddenly recalled the scene of him rescuing the cat that day. He pressed his thin lips together as if wanting to say something but ultimately gave up.
He absolutely refused to admit he was the source of inspiration.
Lu Ranxu sighed helplessly. “Xingze claims it’s a tiger, but to me, it looks exactly like the intellectually challenged cat my family used to own. Not only is it ugly, but its performance is mediocre too.”
“So, what was he even thinking?” Oliar massaged his temples, unable to bear the sight. “Twin-Star Mechs require the pilot to split their mental energy, doubling the number of neural links. The learning curve is so steep; does he really have that level of mental control?”
“I tried to talk him out of it too at first,” Lu Ranxu said slowly, watching Yun Xingze’s Twin-Star Mecha. “But the fact that he managed to modify the mech in just two days is a miracle in itself. So, let’s trust him one more time.”
Hearing this, Oliar looked toward the center of the arena. Though undeniably ugly, the two mechs were indeed a standard Twin-Star configuration. Yun Xingze’s modification skills had clearly surpassed everyone’s expectations.
“He modified this himself?!” Chi Yu’s eyes widened, nearly jumping to his feet. “Since when does Yun Xingze know how to modify mechs?? That’s impossible—I’ve known him for so long, and he’s never even touched a mech before!”
Su Zinan frowned. “Theoretically, any mech can be modified into a Twin-Star as long as you install a mental energy diversion device and signal transmitter to control both simultaneously. But the real challenge lies in operating it afterward.”
Su Zinan wondered; did Yun Xingze really think haphazard modifications alone could save him from getting dismantled? Without proper Twin-Star piloting skills, he’d only end up in worse shape.
Hearing this, Chi Yu turned to Yun Xingze with concern.
Although the Twin-Star Mecha was more effective against the Comet Mecha than the Light Sword Mecha, it was notoriously difficult to master like trying to control both hands to write different characters simultaneously.
Yun Xingze’s decision was undeniably risky.
Even Kalibo showed a surprised expression upon seeing the mech.
Frowning, he turned to Yun Xingze and asked irritably, “Are you looking down on me? I don’t care if you switch to a Twin-Star Mecha, but why choose such a shoddy cat? It looks like a toy!”
“No,” Yun Xingze replied seriously. “It’s a little tiger.”
“A little tiger? It’s clearly a disabled cat,” Kalibo sneered, eyeing the scout mech with disdain. “It’s hideous—it doesn’t even have a tail. What’s it even good for?”
The tail was a crucial combat tool for beast-shaped mechs, so the absence of one made Kalibo dismiss it as inferior.
“Call it a cat if you want,” Yun Xingze said. “But if it does something unpleasant to you later, don’t get mad.”
Kalibo scoffed. “What harm could a broken mechanical cat possibly do?”
Taking in the scout mech’s harmless appearance, Kalibo decided he’d just crush it underfoot later.
[Round 2, Match 4 of Arena C will begin in three minutes.]
Both entered their mechs.
The moment the Comet Mecha activated, a deep, menacing roar filled the air, its crimson weapons gleaming ominously as if ready to tear Yun Xingze’s mech to pieces.
Meanwhile, when Yun Xingze’s Twin-Star Mecha powered up, the scout mech’s eyes lit up, transforming from a harmless toy into a mechanical beast with a hint of aggression.
However, due to limited modification materials, the mech didn’t quite resemble a tiger and instead looked more like a cat.
Yun Xingze had chosen this modification because he knew the Light Sword Mecha had little tactical depth; it relied entirely on the pilot’s skill, and his stamina wouldn’t last in a prolonged battle.
Since the black-market dealer had given him a scout mech for free, he figured he might as well use it.
While he worked on the modifications, Lu Ranxu kept trying to dissuade him, warning that the Twin-Star Mecha was notoriously unfriendly to beginners; most gave up after struggling with it.
But Yun Xingze remained firm. “I won’t let Kalibo dismantle my Light Sword Mecha not even a single finger,” he said before burying himself back in his work.
Moved by Yun Xingze’s determination, Lu Ranxu nearly teared up. “Xingze, what changed you?”
Yun Xingze thought to himself, Poverty, obviously.
The neural splitter and signal transmitter weren’t too expensive, costing just over 10,000 credits nearly all of Yun Xingze’s savings. After an all-nighter, he finally completed the modifications.
True to its name, the Twin-Star Mecha consisted of two units, resembling a binary star system. Typically, the primary mech was a small-to-medium combat unit, while the secondary mech handled reconnaissance.
On the battlefield, Twin-Star Mechs often served as frontline scouts, hiding in complex terrain while deploying their scout units for detection, surveillance, and disruption. They were one of the key innovations in modern mech warfare, having only been deployed in recent years.
The pilot uses a mental energy splitter to divide their psychic power into two parts—most of it is used to control the main mech, while a smaller portion is transmitted via a signal emitter to operate the scout mech.
This operating method is the most unique among the six major mech types, and also the most difficult.
As a result, most scout mechs in Twin-Star mechs are semi-automatic or even fully automatic. As long as the operator sends mental signals for attack, defense, or retreat, the scout mech will automatically target and engage enemies.
It’s somewhat like a master fighting alongside their pet, which is why Twin-Star mechs are also nicknamed “dog-walking mechs” or “master-servant mechs.”
However, this automatic mode inherently limits the Twin-Star mech’s potential. In last year’s national championship, Twin-Star mech users ranked third in participation, yet not a single one made it into the top ten performers.
Fortunately, Twin-Star mechs still pose significant interference to Comet mechs. On the battlefield, whenever Caleb’s Comet mech gets disrupted by the mechanical beast, Yun Xingze seizes the opportunity to counterattack.
But Yun Xingze’s ambitions go far beyond that.
He doesn’t want to control a fully automatic mechanical beast he aims to command its every move with his mental energy.
