Silicon Invasion

The competition proceeded as scheduled, with the Shining Knights entering the battle with their predetermined lineup.

A combination of one Warrior III, two Fighter 7s, and two Zephyrs seemed a little odd, but the spectators were all experts. Just by looking at the configuration, everyone knew what Niu Wei and his team were planning.

"Heh heh, is this the team that successfully challenged the expert difficulty? Why so insecure?" A bystander chuckled coldly, their words full of sarcasm, fueled by unknown grievances.

"There's no need to say that. This is their best choice." Someone nearby held a different opinion. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Captain Xu.

Using auxiliary mechs to gather information through the first two attempts wasn't Niu Wei's original idea. In fact, this tactic had been widely used for many years.

"Oh, Xu Ke, did you take the wrong medicine today? Actually helping Niu Bawei speak?" In the eyes of others, the Knights and the Spellcasters were 'arch-enemies.' No one expected that when the Knights were being mocked, the first to come out and help was Captain Xu Ke of the Spellcasters.

"Hmph, if you can really grasp the key points and criticize them based on facts, I'd be happy to see it. But I can't stand this kind of criticism for the sake of criticizing." Xu Ke raised his head. He wasn't as tall as Niu Wei, so his chin could barely aim at the other person's neck.

"Xu Ke, you usually criticize them a lot. I've never seen you present facts or evidence." The other person sneered. If you were to ask who criticized the Shining Knights the most fiercely, it would definitely be Captain Xu, to the point where he felt uncomfortable if he didn't say a few sarcastic remarks when they met.

"Hmph, we're arch-enemies, so naturally, we don't have so many requirements. But you guys are different," Xu Ke said matter-of-factly, without any sense of shame.

The surrounding people were stunned. Amazing, truly amazing. He could make being two-faced sound so righteous and confident. The person realized that they were no match for Xu Ke's thick skin and reluctantly shut up.

"Hmph ~" Seeing the other person shut up, Xu Ke tossed his head and snorted coldly.

Many people came to watch Niu Wei and his team's battle today. After all, the expert difficulty was very difficult to pass during school. Now that one team had suddenly succeeded, everyone wanted to see what level the successful team was and how big the gap was between them and themselves.

"Hold the line and buy Zuo Kun and Xin Xin more time!"

"Understood!"

The battle finally began. The blacked-out screen lit up again, and the team spawned in the center of the map. Unsurprisingly, a normal expert difficulty wouldn't give you a flat, open plain to start with.

What came into view were thick trunks of silicon crystal trees, like polished black marble, with a crystal texture in the darkness.

The tops of the trunks were covered with crystalline forks and leaves, making the environment Niu Wei and the others were in somewhat dark. They also interfered with the propagation of radio signals. Fortunately, the team was equipped with two auxiliary mechs, and the ultra-high-power electromagnetic waves reconnected the team tightly.

"Zuo Kun, Xin Xin, deploy the drones."

Although the monsters hadn't appeared yet, time was money. Every second was precious, and they weren't here to kill silicon-based beasts in this round. They hoped the monsters would appear as late as possible.

"Understood." Zuo Kun and Lin Xin Xin replied in unison. The hatches on the backs of the Zephyrs opened, and ten half-meter diameter rotor drones flew up silently.

Because they had anticipated such a strong interference environment, Zuo Kun and Lin Xin Xin equipped the Zephyrs with anti-interference drones. Because they were equipped with extra anti-interference components, they were not small. Half a meter in diameter was already the smallest they could be.

When folded, the drones were cylindrical objects half a meter long, thirty centimeters high, and thirty centimeters wide, greatly reducing their volume. But even so, while maintaining normal functions, each Zephyr could only carry five anti-interference drones.

The drones were extremely advanced. The rotors were silent when unfolded and flying, without the buzzing sound used to create atmosphere in movies. The ten drones flashed red and green lights and flew in all directions after taking off.

At the same time, with two loud "booms," the Zephyr mechs unloaded the drone storage modules. Because they hadn't considered successfully clearing the level, these drones were destined to be disposable, and there was no need to consider the issue of recovery at all.

Of course, if you used them like this in reality, it would be an exaggeration to be brought before a military court, but you would definitely be punished.

After unloading the storage modules, the Zephyrs leaned forward slightly, and another hidden module on their backs began to open. After a moment, it revealed a huge radar-like device.

This was a signal amplifier. Although the Zephyrs themselves had a built-in signal amplifier, it could only ensure smooth communication in a small area in a strong interference environment. Drone reconnaissance would obviously not be limited to this small area, so in order to maintain contact with them, they had to deploy a larger power signal amplifier.

However, in this state, the Zephyrs almost lost their combat ability, although their combat power wasn't high to begin with…

Okay, the impact didn't seem to be that great.

"Bearing 64, distance 300 meters, living target detected, more than ten in number, they are Dire Wolves!"

Lin Xin Xin's drone was the first to discover the enemy, and she immediately reported the feedback to her teammates. When everyone heard that the newcomers were Dire Wolves, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, they were 'old friends.' Before the match, what they were most worried about was that the map would spawn some messy silicon-based beasts, which would add too much uncertainty. Even if they weren't much stronger than Dire Wolves, everyone lacked experience fighting them, and the extremely precious resurrection opportunities weren't meant for practicing fighting them.

It was just that in terms of numbers, Lin Xin Xin reported more than ten, although there was a 'more than,' the base number was too low, meaning that the number of Dire Wolves would be at most twenty, not too much more.

And this number of Dire Wolves was obviously difficult to equate with expert difficulty, so this meant that the monsters were attacking from multiple points.

"Bearing 49, distance 270 meters, target detected, number fifteen, type Dire Wolf!" At this time, Zuo Kun discovered enemy troops in another direction.

"Bearing 112, distance 220 meters, target detected, Dire Wolves, number seventeen!"

"Bearing 75, distance 310, Dire Wolves, number around twenty."

"Bearing 156, distance 300, Dire Wolves, number twelve!"

Every time Zuo Kun or Lin Xin Xin's voice sounded in the communication channel, Niu Wei and his team's faces would darken a bit. In five directions, the number of Dire Wolves was already close to one hundred. Even in expert difficulty, this was considered a higher difficulty level.