Silicon Invasion

Everything was ready. Both sides confirmed, and the thirty-second countdown began.

To be honest, Luo Rui was a little nervous. This was his first time facing an opponent of this caliber.

At this moment, the rest area was also bustling with activity. With the previous conflict and brewing tension involving Fatty and the others, many people had already prepared their small stools and were sitting in rows in front of the display screen.

“Little Tian is deliberately showing off for us,” a middle-aged man in his thirties said with a smile.

He was surrounded by a circle of people, and his words seemed to open the floodgates.

“Hehe, after all, he got in through connections, so of course he has to show his value.”

“Hmph, beating up some unknown kid, what value can that show?”

“Exactly, if he wins, there’s nothing to say, but if he loses…”

“That won’t happen. Junli is a professional, after all. His opponent looks like a high school student. What strength could he have?”

“That’s hard to say. The video of him breaking the 'One-Axe Chop' I showed you last time was made by this kid. Besides, so what if he’s a professional? It’s not like he’s from some famous academy, otherwise why would he be here playing team matches with us?”

The speaker looked like a young punk, with long, deep green hair, in her twenties, and currently wearing a look of disdain.

“Oh? The pilot in that 'One-Axe Chop' video is Little Tian’s opponent? Then this match is more interesting than I thought.”

The middle-aged man didn't dwell on the topic of professional background but became interested in Luo Rui. He had heard that a player in the arena had broken the 'One-Axe Chop' using the intermediate mode. Although this wasn't much to them as team members, it was considered a formidable feat in the Starry Sky Arena, where most were rookies.

When he heard that this person was still a high school student, the middle-aged man had specifically watched the video and found that the operations were indeed remarkable, so he had the idea of nurturing talent and planned to take in a disciple or something.

But he didn't expect that this high school student would disappear like a flash in the pan and never appear again. He had gradually forgotten about it, but unexpectedly, he stumbled upon the person while watching the excitement.

“It’s just a blind cat catching a dead mouse. Besides, the one who argued with Tian Junli is the other pilot in the video. Looking at their relationship, it might be a deliberately filmed video, rehearsed countless times for those shots.”

“That makes sense. Let’s see, we’ll know soon enough whether he has real skills.”

Compared to this side, the ordinary rookies and spectators on the other side were much simpler.

“It is said that this duel is between two big shots,” Spectator A said quietly.

“Shut up and learn!”

“Just right for a break. I felt like throwing up after being in the cockpit just now.”

“Haha, you’ll get used to it after more practice. We all went through that.”

“……”

— —

3

2

1

Engage!

The mecha detached from the fixed frame and strode forward.

Northeast wind level 2, temperature 17, visibility clear…

“Number 8, scan the opponent’s mecha!”

Knowing yourself and your enemy, you will never be defeated. The most important thing now is to know the opponent's configuration and then respond accordingly.

While instructing the auxiliary intelligence to work, Luo Rui wasn't idle either. He pushed the control stick with one hand and rapidly danced his fingers on the command set keyboard with the other.

The Warrior 7's heavy steel body raised its left arm in front of it. Unlike last time, this time the mecha's left arm was carrying a huge rectangular shield, 4.76 meters long, 2.1 meters wide, nearly 500mm at its thickest point, and weighing 3.2 tons overall.

Although this huge shield covered most of the Warrior 7's body and could easily defend against the initial 'One-Axe Chop' attack, it was also a huge burden on the mecha itself.

Each time it moved, the overload alarm would flash at the left arm joint, and Luo Rui had to grab the outer edge of the shield with the mecha's right arm, but this still couldn't allow it to move quickly.

Don't even think about actions like shield strikes. Luo Rui felt that doing so might cause the shield and arm to fly out directly.

Fortunately, this thing was just a tactical response. It could be thrown away after blocking the first wave of attacks.

“Enemy unit detected, scanning completed, compared with the database…”

Although the Warrior series is a third-generation mecha, the configured observation system has been constantly updated. The number 7 at the end is enough to represent the advancement of these devices, allowing them to cope with most situations, let alone the mere 500-meter interference-free distance now.

In just a few seconds, the observation system scanned the opponent and completed the comparison with the information in the database.

Swift Rainbow!

A fourth-generation mecha produced by the Soso Alliance. Unlike the Warrior 7, which is a mecha with both offense and defense, this thing is a product of extreme thinking.

It is 7.1 meters high, bright red all over, and the outer armor is made of very light superplastic material, and the thickness is only 30mm, which is barely enough to defend against a 12.7mm machine gun.

However, the lightweight armor also makes its mass less than 18 tons without any attachments. The very light weight, coupled with the skirt armor and the hidden boosters on the legs, makes it very flexible. Under the control of a powerful pilot, it can transform into a mecha assassin, making those slow and heavy mechas spin around.

But Swift Rainbow is too fragile, and its adaptability and practicality are too poor, resulting in the fact that in reality, like the old-fashioned Pioneers, not many units were produced.

However, this thing has unleashed infinite charm in the 《Ace Pilot》 game because of its characteristics, it is simply the nemesis of those clumsy novices, and is affectionately called a 'noob-slaying artifact' by players.

“Tian Junli is using a recharged fourth-generation mecha to fight against someone’s free third-generation mecha. That’s a bit unsportsmanlike.”

“What’s wrong with looking down on third-generation mechas? The Warrior 7 is still the military’s main battle mecha to this day, so it naturally has its strengths.”

“The military wants mechas with strong adaptability and all-round offense and defense. Can that be the same as us playing games?”

“Exactly, individuality, do you understand individuality?”

“Don’t rush to conclusions. Swift Rainbow is good at bullying noobs, but if the levels are comparable, choosing this thing is a big disadvantage.”

“Now it depends on whether the other party's previous video was deliberately made for show.”

“Little Tian is overconfident.”

“I hope to see something interesting, so that kid won’t act like he’s all that all day long.”

— —

On the other side,

“Wow, it’s a recharged mecha.”

“It’s Swift Rainbow!”

“I’ve used this before, it’s too difficult to control.”

“A noob-slaying artifact, that’s a bit disrespectful.”

“……”

External factors did not affect Luo Rui. He now knew why he hadn’t received the first wave of long-range fire strikes. For the sake of greater mobility, Swift Rainbow’s load capacity wasn’t high, and it couldn’t carry any decent long-range fire weapons at all.

Besides, assassins definitely have to prioritize approaching their opponents. Launching long-range fire would be too time-consuming.

However, the opponent seemed to underestimate him a bit. Luo Rui thought to himself, then let’s see who the clown is when the tide recedes.

He stretched his muscles by crossing his hands forward. When his palms were once again placed on the command set keyboard, Luo Rui's eyes also became sharp.