Yun Xingze searched through past news articles about St. Clythus.
Before every match, the star network would be flooded with voices hyping up their strength while belittling their opponents.
Yun Xingze glanced at the Star Ocean Academy team’s group chat.
The group was named [Conquering the Vast Stars]. Though the conversations seemed normal, there was an underlying tone of defeatism.
Noticing this, Richard also sensed something amiss and told everyone to stay off the internet and focus on preparing for the match.
To boost morale, Richard racked his brains and somehow found a third-rate journalist to write a few articles praising Star Ocean.
Soon after, Richard forwarded a news article in the [Conquering the Vast Stars] group with the message: “Some good reads worth checking out. [Thumbs up]”
The article titles were:
“NCLM Championship Contenders—Not Noah or Vanyun, But Them…”
“Today, This Underdog Team Stands Up in the Mech League!”
“Noah Academy Begs Overnight: Please Don’t Match Us Against This Team!”
Everyone: “…”
Richard: “Hope these articles brighten your mood. [Rose][Rose]”
Yun Xingze couldn’t help but facepalm after reading, what kind of news was this? Wouldn’t Noah Military Academy laugh their heads off if they saw it?
Still, he could sense the sincerity hidden behind Richard’s seemingly clumsy gesture.
Gradually, the atmosphere in the group chat returned to its usual lively state.
For this match, St. Clythus didn’t want to lose— nd Star Ocean wanted to win even more.
The night before the match, the lineup was announced.
It mostly matched Richard’s predictions, but to his surprise, Yun Xingze was paired against Bai Jiashi in the singles match.
St. Clythus had deployed nearly all their strongest players for the singles matches.
Among them, Bai Jiashi wasn’t the strongest in the team with his S+ rating, but he had the best track record, boasting a 95%-win rate in past singles matches.
This meant Yun Xingze’s very first singles match would be against a formidable opponent.
Match day.
The two military academies; St. Clythus, the rising powerhouse known for their ruthless tactics, and Star Ocean, the former champion returning to the arena drew an enormous crowd, filling the stadium to the brim.
During the handshake ceremony, St. Clythus displayed impeccable manners, each member wearing a polite smile.
But Yun Xingze could clearly tell they were dead set on victory and didn’t take Star Ocean seriously at all.
The person shaking hands with Yun Xingze was Bai Jiashi.
There was an unreadable calculation in Bai Jiashi’s eyes as he looked at Yun Xingze, along with a trace of barely concealed disdain.
“What a coincidence,” Bai Jiashi said with a smirk, his tone teasing. “Didn’t expect to actually face you. Honestly, I’m a bit reluctant to fight you.”
Yun Xingze raised an eyebrow. “You can surrender if you’re scared of losing.”
“I’m just worried people might say I’m bullying an Omega, that it’s an unfair win,” Bai Jiashi replied cheerfully, flipping his hair. “You won’t start crying mid-match, will you?”
“Oops, I accidentally recorded what you just said,” Yun Xingze said with a smile, pointing to his wrist computer. “If you lose, I’ll make sure everyone hears your pre-match declaration.”
Bai Jiashi didn’t expect Yun Xingze to act this way. He froze for a second before letting out a cold laugh: “I’d lose to you? The entire star network is saying you’ll get crushed. Know why? Because—”
“Because you’ve been reading fake news,” Yun Xingze said calmly. “Haven’t you seen that viral article? ‘Novices say St. Clythus will win, experts say Stellar Naval Academy will win, but the specialists say…'”
Bai Jiashi was taken aback.
After a moment, his Adam’s apple bobbed as he asked, “What did the specialists say?”
“Not telling you.”
With that, Yun Xingze headed to the waiting area with his teammates, leaving Bai Jiashi calling after him: “What the hell did the specialists say?!”
The first individual combat match began shortly after.
Representing their team was Ke Lei, facing off against St. Clythus’s top fighter, Dickel, whose abilities had recently reached SS-rank. He piloted a Tempest-class mech.
The gap between their strengths was considerable. After all, SS-rank dominated S-rank in every aspect.
When the two entered the arena, the majority of the crowd supporting St. Clythus erupted in excitement, whistling loudly.
“Dickel, give us something spectacular!”
“Don’t disappoint us in the first match.”
“That Alpha from Stellar looks weak. This should be fun.”
Tempest mechs excelled in defense, while Meteor mechs specialized in breaking through defenses. When skill levels were comparable, either could win.
However, when Dickel deployed his Tempest Shield, Ke Lei seemed overwhelmed.
Several deceleration and disruption rounds fired from tricky angles were effortlessly blocked by Dickel.
In previous matches, Ke Lei’s performances had been commendable. Even in lost team battles, his offense and defense remained outstanding.
Yun Xingze hadn’t expected Ke Lei to be completely suppressed by Dickel this time.
Five minutes into the match, Dickel lowered his shield and unleashed a massive electromagnetic chainsword, launching a relentless assault.
Though Tempest mechs were bulky and rarely used agile weapons like chainswords, SS-rank pilots like Dickel could wield them with supernatural finesse.
When the giant electromagnetic chainsword struck the ground, it left deep gashes instantly.
The blade’s edge scraped against the transparent protective barrier with deafening clangs.
The Stellar team watched with bated breath while the audience roared with excitement.
As Ke Lei dodged the attacks, he suddenly realized Dickel was herding him along a specific trajectory.
He could only evade along this path, like prey being toyed with by a predator seemingly having chances to escape but actually powerless.
Having had his fun, Dickel retracted the chainsword, transforming it back from whip to sword form.
While attacking Ke Lei, he methodically carved patterned marks into the arena floor.
The audience quickly noticed something unusual.
Inside the arena, Dickel had used his chainsword to carve a massive arrow on the ground, trapping Ke Lei’s mech at its tip.
Simultaneously, he’d etched several letters within the arrow.
Though the chainsword’s marks were chaotic, the crowd could clearly see the letters were meant to mock and humiliate Ke Lei.
Dickel’s supporters burst into laughter:
“Classic Dickel move. This is hilarious.”
“That arrow seems to be pointing directly toward the Starsea Military Academy’s waiting room.”
“I wonder if the Starsea team has noticed yet, haha…”
Inside the waiting room, the members of Starsea Military Academy fell into collective silence.
More than Dickel’s actions, they were worried about how this might affect Correy’s mentality.
“Won’t Senior Correy get provoked?” Oliar asked anxiously.
Everyone knew that while Correy usually appeared even-tempered, once provoked on the battlefield, his combat style would become aggressive. A common flaw among many military academy students.
Richard pressed his lips together and said solemnly, “I’ve specifically trained Correy’s mental resilience. He’s no longer the same person who would lose his temper at the slightest taunt.”
