Chapter 35 Competition
The entire arena was set up around the center of the venue, and it was a small venue that could accommodate about a hundred spectators. From the stage, you could see that the seats in the stands below were almost full.
"With an overall win rate of 0, 0 wins and 0 losses, which newbie would directly challenge Dora? That's just asking for trouble."
"There's nothing more to see. It'll be over in a few moves. I'm logging off."
…
"Zhou Jiu, I've been waiting for you for so long. You've finally unlocked mecha battles."
Zhou Jiu didn't hear the audience below. Her gaze was drawn to the crimson beast-shaped mecha that was currently positioned diagonally opposite her, and she also assumed a defensive posture.
Beast-type mechs are relatively uncommon because their materials are scarce and they are rarely used on the StarNet. Dora's mech is likely a virtual model of her own custom mech, which helps to avoid the imbalance between virtual and real-world training.
As the central electronic countdown began, Zhou Jiu, piloting the S88 assault-type mech, assumed a vigilant stance.
The beast-type mech is known for its tough body and claw attacks that can transform into beast forms. Since it was unknown and Zhou Jiu did not know the offensive posture of the beast-type mech, he chose to defend.
Zhou Jiu watched as the beastly mech on the diagonal changed its posture. After the countdown ended, it immediately ran towards her in a crawling manner, its mouth opening to unleash cannons along the direction it was running.
Zhou Jiu entered the command, immediately dodged, switched to artillery mode, moved his feet over, and fired a shell in the direction of the beast's mouth.
The beast-shaped mech lowered its forepaws and continued crawling in a prone position, dodging Zhou Jiu's attack without slowing down at all.
The beast-type mech arrived in front of Zhou Jiu at an extremely fast speed, its front claws reaching out to grab Zhou Jiu's mech. Zhou Jiu dodged to the side, and his energy blade slashed at the other supporting front claw.
After dodging the front claws, the beast-shaped mech transformed into its beast form in a different combination. Its two hind claws gripped the ground, and its body stood upright stably. The beast claws then slashed towards it again.
Zhou Jiu rolled over at lightning speed. She was prepared. After testing whether her hind claws could grip the ground directly, Zhou Jiu cautiously moved slightly away from the beast-type mech within her attack range.
As expected, the forelegs circled around the mech's spine from the arm in a pulley-like motion, slicing towards Zhou Jiu.
Zhou Jiu adjusted his position in time, only his claws scraping the front of the mecha. He leaned back horizontally, half-suspended in the air, and used the mecha arm to support his body as he flipped over. Before the opponent's right front claw could return to its position to attack, he spun at high speed to the right side of the beast-type mecha, his energy blade slashing at the beast's head. At the moment of impact, he pulled his legs together, controlled the mecha commands, and pushed forward with his waist and legs at the same time. As the opponent launched a counterattack, his legs had already pushed off the side of the beast-type mecha.
The force of the kick caused the beast-shaped mecha to fall to the left. Zhou Jiu was also pushed back by the reaction force, which promptly increased the distance between them, and he took a step to the side to move.
Zhou Jiu stared at the beast-shaped mecha displayed on the screen. Keeping the distance was indeed the right choice. She had learned from her previous defeat that the mecha's design allowed for attacks from anywhere. She had to use her mental strength and eyesight to pay attention to every small detail. Only after understanding the environment could she let her intuition unleash its most effective attacks.
The moment the beast-type mech fell to the left, it transformed. At her original position, the enemy mech deployed a cannon and fired a shell at the spot where she had initially landed.
The distance between the two sides gradually increased to their maximum, and they became the earliest diagonal positions facing each other, and the shells stopped.
This time, Zhou Jiu didn't choose to wait. She took the initiative, running towards the beast-type mecha and firing, using her nimble and agile movements to flank it.
Both the Beast-type and Assault-type mechs belong to melee combat, but based on their attacks and the damage rates of both, the Beast-type mech emphasizes surprise attacks. Its agile limbs allow for a very wide attack range, making it almost flawless within its attack range. Although its defense is stronger than the S88 Assault-type mech, its damage rate is weaker.
Zhou Jiu's face remained calm as his fingers moved so fast they created afterimages.
Zhou Jiu knew that her hand speed was an advantage, so she wanted to make the most of it.
Zhou Jiu unleashed a 360° claw-shaped beast-form transfer, taking advantage of the time difference in beast-form transformation to strike swiftly. After a series of attacks, he quickly retreated to his original defensive position, then attacked again and retreated once more.
After a few more attacks like this, before Zhou Jiu could launch his next attack, the beast-type mech attacked the area where Zhou Jiu had retreated.
Zhou Jiu's face was calm, his eyes were full of composure and seriousness, but the corners of his mouth were curved into a slight smile.
With a bang, the beast-type mech collapsed, and Dora left a message before logging off.
"No wonder they're with Brother Chu, they're a den of snakes and rats, their hearts are full of scheming. We're ashamed of ourselves, let's leave."
Dora's beast-shaped mech disappeared, and an electronic voice sounded: "Zhou Jiusheng, 1 kill, 0 deaths, 0 team kills."
"Ah!!! We won!" Zhang Ji, who had only intended to support Zhou Jiu from the stands, excitedly told Kai'er, a wartime medical specialist, beside him.
"Yes, I saw it." Kai'er was just as happy, but not as outgoing as Zhang Ji. She tugged at Zhang Ji's sleeve and said in a low voice, "Don't be so loud. Don't flaunt your wealth."
Zhou Jiu's chances of winning in the ring match were extremely slim. Zhang Ji never expected that Zhou Jiu could actually win. "I didn't expect that she could actually win. She's amazing."
"Zhou Jiu's mecha skills are improving very quickly. During initial training, she wasn't even in the top five in the mecha tests, and there was still a significant gap between her and Ye Yang, who was initially in first place. But the second time, she jumped to second, and then consistently ranked first. Even in her initial sparring match with Instructor Xiao Wen, where she lost within a few moves but ultimately won, she still managed to defeat him. Her current level is already very impressive in the entire Federation. I think Zhou Jiu will be able to take first place on the leaderboard before her sophomore year," Kai'er analyzed, expressing her admiration for Zhou Jiu.
"You're exaggerating. You have to consider the number of battles. Freshman year is so busy with courses, and then there's the registration and practice for the All-People Mecha Competition. Where would they find the time to keep fighting in the arena? Besides, Zhou Jiu's victory over Instructor Xiao Wen was just a coincidence. With Zhou Jiu's hand speed, as long as she seizes a few opportunities, she can easily crush others."
Zhang Ji didn't think Zhou Jiu's technique was really that great. He believed that Zhou Jiu's advantage came from his hand speed. It was like Zhou Jiu could hit 3-5 times in the time it took others to hit once, so it would be strange if he didn't win.
“Not everyone can time things right,” Kai’er retorted.
Zhou Jiu stood on the arena, scrolled through the challenge post, clicked "accept," and selected the next battle.
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