Chapter 38 Candidates

The original candidates could no longer be persuaded. Zhou Jiu roughly understood Lin Xiu's feelings; the other party was taking it too seriously.

She couldn't afford to mess with people who were too serious, and she couldn't bear the responsibility. Zhou Jiu felt a little regretful. If it were the person Sun You had chosen, it would definitely be the most suitable combination team. In that case, she could only give up.

Molly and Wu Ke'er sat at the entrance of YiYi Karaoke, leaning against each other and lost in thought.

Zhou Jiu walked over with a smile: "What are you two doing, gazing at the sky and contemplating life?"

The two of them already knew the outcome when they saw Zhou Jiu come out alone.

"Zhou Jiu, I'm sorry," Wu Ke'er and Molly apologized.

"It's alright. Judging from your appearance before, I thought you were people who came for a challenge." Zhou Jiu stretched out his hands, opened them to the two of them, and pulled them up. "Come on, beauties, buy me some good food to bribe me, and then tell me how others bribed you."

Zhou Jiu put his arm around the two of them. Seeing that Zhou Jiu didn't mind, Wu Ke'er relaxed a bit. After all, they had only known each other for a little over a month, and she didn't want to ruin their relationship in their first year of university.

Wu Ke'er then asked about what had just happened, "Didn't you agree to his request? Chu Ming seems like a pretty good person."

"He's a pretty good guy, seems like a sincere one." Zhou Jiu nodded. "But I already have a boyfriend."

“…It’s not impossible to talk about two,” Wu Ke’er said.

Zhou Jiu shook his head: "No, quality is more important than quantity in relationships. I'm very happy with Chu Zhao."

As things stand, Zhou Jiu feels he doesn't have enough time, and he hardly has any time to connect with Chu Zhao emotionally. Zhou Jiu strongly disagrees with Wu Ke'er's suggestion.

“Okay, I just think it’s best if your scholarship spot is canceled sooner rather than later. I’ve done a lot of research, and generally, scholarship recipients are placed in the most dangerous frontline positions during their service, and they don’t receive any subsidies, which is actually quite bad,” Wu Ke’er said with some regret.

"It's okay, we'll just take it one step at a time. The stronger I become, the better my chances of surviving will be, right?" Zhou Jiu said with a grin.

"Sigh, I can't argue with you. Anyway, keep going, we're all your fans. If you need any help, just tell us," Wu Ke'er said, her eyes firm.

"Thank you in advance." Zhou Jiu extended his hand and bumped fists with Wu Ke'er's.

Molly, who was usually quiet, looked at Zhou Jiu with her light blue eyes, which were filled with a moist light. Zhou Jiu also raised his fist, and Zhou Jiu smiled and met his fist. "If something really happens, I'll come to you."

The three walked side by side toward the dormitory, and parted ways when they reached the bottom of the building.

"Go do your training. Molly and I will go buy some snacks. After you finish training tonight, we can watch some TV shows and eat snacks together. You should relax a bit; your training schedule is too tight."

Zhou Jiu nodded, and after returning to his dormitory, he quickly entered the StarNet mecha training room.

"I don't think we can invite Chu Ming anymore; something unexpected happened," Zhou Jiu said after seeing the two of them.

"…cough."

Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Jiu turned to the side and saw Chu Ming and Zhang Ji.

Zhou Jiu pursed her lips and looked at Lin Xiu.

"Ah, so Chu Ming agreed," Lin Xiu said, then glanced at the two of them and leaned closer to whisper, "Did something happen between you two?"

Zhou Jiu glanced at Lin Xiu and said, "Take your gossipy look to heart."

Zhou Jiu clicked around and selected the S88 mech he had chosen. After checking the data, he climbed into the cabin.

"Now that everyone's here, let's get to know each other and practice together. Around 8 o'clock, after we've chosen which mechs to use, we'll go to the service hall together to retrieve our mental energy information and register." There was a moment of tension as Sun You spoke, taking notes on a virtual tablet.

After everyone had entered their respective mech cabins, Zhou Jiu saw the group contact number sent by Sun You and clicked on it.

"Zhang Ji, Chu Ming, why don't you two gang up on Zhou Jiu and see how your teammates' combat habits work together?"

Zhou Jiu heard Sun You's voice and continued to check the internal mecha operation data connection at a leisurely pace. Finally, he pulled down the transparent visor in front of his helmet.

"I'm ready."

Zhang Ji engaged in close combat, while Chu Ming provided a shield. Based on the characteristics of their mechs, Zhou Jiu chose to stand in the very center of the training room.

Zhou Jiu moved his fingers, looked at the two mechs, moved his legs, and then stepped back with his right leg, summoning the energy blade weapon and assuming an attack stance.

"I'm all better now."

"Me too."

Zhang Ji and Chu Ming stood not far apart, maintaining a distance of about five meters as they approached Zhou Jiu.

Zhou Jiu issued the operation command, dropping a small missile roughly in the middle of the two targets, aiming to obstruct some of the line of sight.

Perhaps because the display screen indicated that the attack was not hitting the two mechs, Zhang Ji and Chu Ming continued to attack with the same amplitude without dodging.

As the missile was launched, Zhou Jiu, wielding the energy blade, sprinted forward. Upon impact, Zhou Jiu moved with lightning speed, creating distance behind him.

Zhou Jiu raised an eyebrow. Chu Ming reacted quickly, and the energy blades applied to the meat shield did very little damage to the enemy mech.

Zhou Jiu darted away, his movements fluid and graceful as he dodged Chu Ming. In just a few steps, he was behind Zhang Ji, unleashing a series of kicks that shattered the mecha's shield. He then swung one of his mecha arms, slamming Zhang Ji's mecha to the ground, interrupting Zhang Ji's counterattack. He then used his energy blade to pierce the mecha's cockpit, ending Zhang Ji's life.

The tank reacted quickly enough, but limited by its own speed and the two mechs locked in combat, it could only fire small homing missiles at Zhou Jiu.

After attacking Zhang Ji, Zhou Jiu immediately moved away from his original position, and the homing bullet chased after Zhou Jiu as he ran and dodged.

The battlefield became deadlocked. Zhou Jiu gradually approached the meat shield. Perhaps Chu Ming realized the danger of approaching, the meat shield mech slowly paced and began to launch small nuclear missiles, impacting the approaching Zhou Jiu.

Zhou Jiu narrowed his eyes and approached. The kinetic shield of the meat shield mech had a very short duration of energy, so Zhou Jiu increased his speed and quickly closed in.

The tank mech rammed into Zhou Jiu using its own grabbing force. Zhou Jiu did not dodge. He used one of his mech arms to grab the tank mech and then pressed the mech commands repeatedly with his fingers.

With continuous power, the leg joints of the mecha then exerted force, directly throwing the meat shield mecha away. Zhou Jiu was grabbed by the mecha arm by the meat shield mecha and thrown away along with it.

The descent from the air passed quickly. Zhou Jiu remained calm and continued his energy blade strikes until he landed. Then, he launched another powerful kick, narrowly avoiding the cannonballs fired by the tank mech.