It had been over a month since Yun Xingze began participating in the mech tournament, and the competition was nearing its conclusion.
After defeating Su Zinan, Yun Xingze rode the momentum of his victory, piloting his B-grade Twin Star mech to triumph in battle after battle, cutting through opponents like a hot knife through butter.
In the sixth round, facing a B+ grade Comet mech warrior, Yun Xingze drew upon his experience against Kalibo to secure victory, even dismantling his opponent’s mechanical arm in the process—all within eight minutes.
The seventh round pitted him against an A-grade Lightsaber mech warrior. Relying on his exceptional reflexes and combat skills, Yun Xingze stood his ground against the slashing lightsabers, ultimately claiming victory at the fifteen-minute mark.
During the eighth round against a B+ grade Shadow mech warrior, his first encounter with this compact mech coated in stealth materials. Yun Xingze’s keen observational skills allowed him to blast the cloaked opponent out of hiding with a high-energy particle cannon at thirteen minutes.
The ninth round against an A+ grade Twin Star mech warrior proved particularly perilous. Yet Yun Xingze’s superior understanding of Twin Star mechs and his more agile mechanical beast secured him victory at eighteen minutes.
While some dismissed his wins against Su Zinan and Kalibo as mere luck, Yun Xingze’s string of impressive performances demonstrated that his skills far surpassed most competitors’.
After nine rounds, Yun Xingze achieved the astonishing feat of nine consecutive victories.
Though five or six other contestants also achieved nine straight wins, Yun Xingze stood out as the only Omega among them and the lowest-ranked contestant to boot.
Simultaneously, he set a new record for Omegas in the Starsea Military Academy’s mech tournament, surpassing Su Zinan’s eight victories from the previous year. More remarkably, he had consistently defeated opponents stronger than himself.
Discussions about Yun Xingze had spread from the mech forums to every corner of the campus network.
Omegas now idolized Yun Xingze:
“Yun Xingze is absolutely incredible! I want to chase after Alphas just like him!”
“How can another Omega be so skilled at combat?”
“And he’s only a B-grade mech warrior! This gives me hope.”
“Exactly! Yun Xingze proves that B-grades can defeat A-grades through strategy.”
“His modification skills are top-notch too. I’m completely in awe.”
Unlike naturally gifted Omegas like Su Zinan, Yun Xingze had risen from the academy’s lowest ranks through sheer ability, earning admiration from his peers something he never anticipated.
Now when walking across campus, Omegas would approach him with mech-related questions, autograph requests, or pleas to modify their mechs.
While Yun Xingze would answer simple queries, he politely declined autographs. As for modification requests, his standard response was: “I’m Luo Wenchuan’s exclusive mech engineer, I don’t take private commissions.”
This declaration invariably elicited horrified expressions, followed by disappointed sighs: “How could you waste your talents on someone like Luo Wenchuan?”
Their tone always carried implicit disapproval, as if Yun Xingze deserved better.
After all, Luo Wenchuan was an aloof iceberg who was afraid of Omegas. He was bound to mistreat this so-called “Light of Omegas”!
The forums were abuzz with discussions about this. Whether they were Alphas, Betas, or Omegas, everyone was deeply interested in the matter.
“My god, did Yun Xingze really become Luo Wenchuan’s mecha engineer?”
“Absolutely true. I saw them eating together in the cafeteria last time.”
“Looks like Luo Wenchuan is aiming to break through to SS-rank.”
“As expected, only the strongest mecha warriors can have the best mecha engineers.”
“Waaah, isn’t Luo Wenchuan afraid of Omegas? Why is he stealing Yun Xingze from us?!”
“I wonder what conditions Luo Wenchuan offered Yun Xingze.”
From the replies, it was clear that everyone was green with envy toward Luo Wenchuan.
In the military academy, strength was paramount, and everyone wanted to improve their mecha skills. A skilled mecha engineer wasn’t someone you could just hire with money. Those with any real talent were already snatched up by the military, leaving none for the students.
“Xingze, you’ve been blowing up on the forums these days,” Lu Ranxu said to Yun Xingze. “Feels like three out of every five posts are about you, and the other two are about Luo Wenchuan.”
“Oh, really?” Yun Xingze wasn’t particularly interested. In his past life, he had been a galaxy-famous mecha engineer; this was nothing to be surprised about.
“You’re not even a little happy?” Lu Ranxu said in astonishment. “Even if you don’t care about fame, you’re now a hot candidate for the school team!”
Currently, only six people had achieved nine consecutive wins. Aside from Yun Xingze, four of the remaining five were S-rank or above: Luo Wenchuan, He Haoming, Ke Lei, and Aixili. The last one was Chi Yu.
Chi Yu’s match points would be docked ten dues to the match-fixing incident, so he could only be counted as having eight wins effectively eliminating him from contention.
“So that means…” Lu Ranxu swallowed his food, his eyes widening. “Holy shit, you’re tied with the other four S-rank and above fighters in the school!”
Yun Xingze blinked. He hadn’t thought about joining the school team, nor had he paid attention to the rankings.
All he cared about was the 500,000-star credits reward for ten consecutive wins.
Lu Ranxu was so excited he nearly snapped his chopsticks, grinning from ear to ear. “Xingze, you’re amazing! As long as you don’t get matched against those four S-rank monsters in the final round, you’ll become a le-gen-da-ry figure in Starsea Military Academy!”
Yun Xingze didn’t quite understand why Lu Ranxu was so worked up.
Still, for the sake of the 500,000, he smiled and said, “I hope I don’t run into them either.”
Opponents below S-rank were manageable, but A+ was already pushing it. If he had to face those four powerhouses, his prize money would likely go up in smoke.
“Don’t worry, Xingze,” Lu Ranxu said, taking a sip of his drink to reassure him. “Your luck can’t possibly be that bad. If you actually get matched against those four freaks, I’ll chug this drink upside down!”
Yun Xingze clinked his glass with Lu Ranxu’s. “Thanks for the blessing.”
One day later.
In a dorm room in the Omega male dormitory.
The atmosphere was heavy.
“Why?” Yun Xingze frowned at the match-up list on his screen, his voice filled with confusion. “Why, of all people, did I get matched against He Haoming in the final round?”
“Gurgle, gurgle…”
Lu Ranxu supported himself with his hands, doing a handstand against the wall while using a long flexible straw to drink from a glass bottle on the floor, his eyes rolling back.
After a moment, he spat out the straw and gritted his teeth: “The others are one thing, but He Haoming? That guy who ruined the moment when Su Zinan was flattering to you. How could it be him?”
“Stop doing handstands, you’ve already drunk three bottles. You just want an excuse to drink, don’t you?” Yun Xingze sighed, rubbing his temples. “Come down already.”
Lu Ranxu ended his handstand, gathered the empty bottles, and pouted. “Xingze, He Haoming pilots a Storm mech. You haven’t faced one like that in competition before.”
“True…” Yun Xingze frowned. “It’s a Storm mech I’ve never encountered, and it’s S+ tier. This is going to be tricky.”
“What’s trickier is that He Haoming seems to have some grudge against you.” Lu Ranxu looked worried. “If he goes as crazy as Kalibo during the match, what then?”
Yun Xingze fell silent, his eyes clouded with thoughts Lu Ranxu couldn’t decipher.
“By the way, I might not be great at competing,” Lu Ranxu said, “but I’ve been tinkering with a program these past few days that calculates win probabilities.”
Yun Xingze looked up in surprise. “You can do that?”
“I’m pretty good at coding.” Lu Ranxu opened his light computer. “Actually, I wanted to finish this before your matches. ”
“To improve your win rate?” Yun Xingze asked seriously. “Ranxu, you’re really—”
“To earn more forum credits, obviously.” Lu Ranxu shrugged. “Knowing the odds doesn’t change anything. If I’m gonna lose, I’m gonna lose.”
Yun Xingze’s lip twitched.
Suddenly, the program didn’t seem very reliable.
Lu Ranxu input Yun Xingze’s stats, then entered Su Zinan’s data under “Opponent.”
The result flashed:
[Yun Xingze vs. Su Zinan: Win Probability—62.25%.]
Yun Xingze stared at the number, stunned.
This was almost identical to the odds he’d calculated after modifying his mech.
Next, Lu Ranxu tested Yun Xingze’s chances against Kalibo still over 60%.
“Ranxu, you’re seriously talented,” Yun Xingze said, impressed yet conflicted. “So, you bet all your forum credits on me because of this program?”
“Not really. I thought it was inaccurate back then; I just believed in you.”
As he spoke, Lu Ranxu replaced Su Zinan’s data with He Haoming’s. “I gathered his stats from official sources and national tournament footage. Can’t guarantee 100% accuracy, but it’s close.”
Yun Xingze’s expression turned serious.
While inputting He Haoming’s mech specs, Lu Ranxu couldn’t help but comment, “This He guy… All his parts are from your family’s Everwin Mech Corporation, and they’re brand new. Is he some superfan of your company’s products?”
“No idea.” Yun Xingze blinked. “But Everwin parts aren’t cheap. How can a guy from a backwater planet afford so many?”
Lu Ranxu pressed confirm, and the screen displayed: “Calculating results…”
Countless fluorescent green data scrolled across the screen at an unfathomable speed.
Yun Xingze swallowed hard.
[Calculation complete.]
[Yun Xingze vs. He Haoming, win rate: 1.21%.]
“One…” Lu Ranxu’s eyes widened in shock, “One percent?!”
Yun Xingze’s heart sank like a stone.
He didn’t know how Lu Ranxu’s software worked, but based on other test results he’d seen, it seemed reliable.
Moreover, he knew He Haoming was indeed a formidable opponent.
But even Yun Xingze was surprised by the 1.21% win rate.
“Is He Haoming really that strong…” Lu Ranxu muttered, visibly shaken. “With odds this low, why even compete? Might as well forfeit.”
Yun Xingze closed his eyes briefly. When he reopened them, the initial shock had vanished, replaced by determination: “At least there’s still a 1.21% chance, right?”
Lu Ranxu was momentarily stunned by Yun Xingze’s response, though it was exactly the kind of attitude he’d expect from him.
“There’s a three-day break before the final round,” Lu Ranxu said gravely. “Xingze, you’ll need to find a way to improve those odds.”
Yun Xingze nodded slowly but firmly.
