Chapter 23
On the day of the sports meet, Feng Ran and the other athletes in his class walked towards the teaching building of the direct-entry class. The small indoor stadium was crowded with people, probably because Feng Ran and Basil Sleika were matched again by the draw, and there were many more people who came to see them.
The simulation pod is in the training room, but the simulated battle footage is projected onto a large screen in the stadium, and a commentator is specially arranged to enhance the competition atmosphere.
The competition within the elite direct-admission class has concluded, and Basil Sleika, as the class's top student, has undoubtedly defended his championship title and may even secure a spot in the Capital Military Academy next year.
Because it was a 1V1 match, only two players could enter the training room at a time. While the supervising teacher was adjusting the equipment in the simulation pod, Luo Le walked up to Feng Ran and quietly slipped a box into her hand.
He whispered, "This is a one-way resistance coating agent, the human-safe version."
"You can apply it to the area where you'll be applying the patch later, so that even if the current is too strong, you won't get hurt."
Feng Ran never expected that he could make such a thing. Putting aside how amazing the concept of human body coating agent is, he actually made it, and it was a resistive coating agent specifically for her.
Feng Ran blinked, unable to hide his excitement: "How did you do that?"
Seeing her happy, Basil felt that his efforts had not been in vain, and he laughed lightly: "I'll tell you after we win the game."
Feng Ran: "You bribed me?"
Basil got anxious: "Why would I need to bribe you? I'm just afraid that if I beat you so badly later, you won't even have anyone to hug and cry with when you get home."
Before Feng Ran could react, he quickly walked away and sat in the simulation chamber. Feng Ran could only hold the box of coating agent and go into another adjacent simulation chamber. After the chamber door closed, she opened the box of coating agent and looked at it. It was a gray paste with a slightly unpleasant smell. To be honest, Feng Ran didn't really want to apply it, but since it was something Basil had worked hard to make for her, she applied a little bit to her wrist.
The cool, sticky texture quickly dried and solidified, like a thin film adhering to the skin's surface. Feng Ran instinctively knew this thing would be very difficult to remove. She attached the patch connector to her wrist and gripped the control lever to feel it.
It was very sensitive and agile, no problem at all, especially since her wrists weren't under any pressure. She took a deep breath, then applied the patch to her temples before finally putting on the virtual reality headset.
After preparation, he entered the matching interface directly. The mech models in the simulation cabin are all the same, and the matching interface cannot be changed. Feng Ran tested the sensitivity during the countdown. Currently, the mechs used in military academy assessments and training are mostly heavy, and their slow movement made Feng Ran find them difficult to use.
Once the scene loaded, it was a standard interstellar battlefield. Her mech radar couldn't detect the location of the other mech, so Luo Le must have been deployed to the other side of the battlefield. The highly realistic environment made Feng Ran feel that the air inside the cabin was a bit stuffy. She pushed the control stick forward, wanting to finish the battle quickly.
She didn't have much desire to win these competitions; they were just for show. She didn't want to win because it would be too conspicuous. In fact, her victory over Basil last year was an accident. Afterward, the teacher even asked her if she was interested in transferring to the advanced class. At that time, she was too busy trying to get rid of Basil to go to the advanced class, so she refused decisively.
The mental detection ability seemed to be amplified dozens of times in the fictional simulated battlefield through the connector. Feng Ran had just flown to one-third of the map when she sensed someone approaching. The sense of approach was not pleasant for her, so she zoomed in on the map, marked a coordinate, and launched a pinpoint missile.
Luo Le was more skilled at piloting the mech than Feng Ran. He nimbly dodged past, activating anti-reconnaissance jamming so that the radar couldn't detect him and therefore couldn't use tracking missiles. Feng Ran continued forward, occasionally diving forward to test the mech's agility and control limits, sighing as she tried that she really disliked this cumbersome model.
She didn't activate anti-reconnaissance jamming. When facing Luo Le's missiles, she always used extreme maneuvers to dodge them by sticking close to planetary fragments. The standard weapon configuration for a normal heavy mech is a shield and a gun. The gun can be replaced with a sword, but Feng Ran didn't switch it when matching.
As she wandered aimlessly through the starry sea with her gun, Basil suddenly attacked from behind. Feng Ran dodged and used her gun to block his heavy sword. The metal weapons clashed, producing a clear, sharp sound. The gun barrel was too brittle and broke after being blocked. Feng Ran felt a tingling sensation in her ears.
The connector's presence suddenly became intense. Feng Ran could feel her forehead burning. She became agitated and charged at Luo Le with her shield raised, simultaneously setting up the launch of a homing missile. Luo Le reacted quickly and tried to retreat to dodge, but Feng Ran's remaining half of the spear shaft was inserted into the alloy fiber interface of the mechanical arm, which was most prone to breakage. He could only forcefully break free, his right arm was broken, and he also lost a sword. His body was damaged by 32%.
If the mech is damaged by more than 70%, the system will judge it as a failure. Fengran pressed his advantage and began to recall where the weakest point of this heavy mech was. The metal cover on the head? But destroying it would not affect the degree of damage. The reflector spring? But that part is close to the cockpit and is not easy to access. It is better to remove the alloy fiber connectors of other parts.
Fengran's mech couldn't run as fast as Luo Le's severed arm, but she could detect the exact location that radar couldn't detect with her mental power. She used the same method to bombard the coordinates with pinpoint shells and then marked and launched tracking missiles. The movement path that could avoid the missiles was very limited. She ambushed along the predetermined route, smashed the thruster on the left side of Luo Le's mech with the sharp corner of her shield, and inserted the stolen heavy sword into the joint of her left arm. With a gentle twist, she cut off a large amount of alloy fiber.
The machine is 71% damaged; the match is over.
Feng Ran was so engrossed in the competition that she didn't realize it until she came out of the simulator. She felt dizzy and nauseous, and there was also a throbbing pain, like she had been hit. She really couldn't adapt to the simulator.
Fortunately, the discomfort was still within her acceptable range. She calmly deepened her breathing and swallowed the urge to vomit.
Basil, whose machine was damaged, finished the match a little slower than her. When he came out, he saw Feng Ran's pale face and forgot about his anger. Like a puppy, he leaned close to her and sniffed her: "Didn't you use the coating agent I gave you? What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Feng Ran: "I used it. It wasn't for that reason. I was just a little dizzy from the virtual 3D graphics of the simulator."
Basil supported her, her tone slightly displeased: "Are you a child if you get dizzy from 3D motion sickness?"
Feng Ran: "Even a child can beat you, Young Master Basil? Your standards have dropped."
Basil gritted his teeth: "It's a good thing you're not in the direct-advancement class. If you dismantled the mecha like this, you'd be in for a world of hurt from your class advisor."
Feng Ran blinked and didn't say anything. During the competition, she was so focused on finishing quickly that she didn't realize it. But now, when it came to her, she slowly realized that her understanding of the mecha was obviously not from her own experience. Although the familiarity with operating it was like breathing, the thought that this familiarity didn't belong to her made her a little uncomfortable.
She initially dismissed those dreams as premonitions, thinking she could carefully avoid them, but the sense of familiarity clearly indicated otherwise. If it wasn't a premonition, then it was simply a personal experience, which was the possibility Feng Ran was least willing to acknowledge.
She bit her lip, then felt nauseous again.
As they reached the training room door, Basil suddenly stopped and asked her hesitantly, "Do you have any other activities planned for this afternoon?"
Feng Ran quickly perked up: "That's all, the simulation competition is the last event today."
Basil: "Let's sneak out after we receive the award."
Feng Ran: "Okay."
There are no classes during the sports meet because the competition venues for various events are different and the crowds are very dispersed. If you don't stay in the class camp, no one will notice.
The mock matches between the direct-entry class and the regular class, except for a few outliers like Feng Ran, are basically one-sided, low-quality performance matches. Although they are in the form of a duel, they use a scoring mechanism, so there is no need for the winners to advance and then compete against each other to determine the champion, runner-up, and third place.
After the awards ceremony, there was a campus interview. Feng Ran answered the questions from the radio station reporter with a smile. She skipped this segment last year, but this year she had to put in her best effort. Another popular interviewee, Basil Sleika, scoffed at all the questions and quickly ended the segment.
Before leaving the school separately, Feng Ran went to the restroom without being accompanied by his classmates and friends. The coating on his wrist was indeed difficult to wash off with water. The original light gray coating had left a dark gray mark after using the connector.
Before going back, go to the villa to see Fran and try to find some organic solvents.
Young Master Basil never fights a battle unprepared. He sent Feng Ran the location of a party venue and told them to go separately to avoid any mishaps.
As luck would have it, the villa where the party venue was located was in Fengting. Feng Ran strolled over leisurely and found Luo Le tidying up the delivery he had ordered in the kitchen. Tidying up was just picking out the groceries from their packaging and putting them in the refrigerator. He didn't even notice the leftover packaging being blown to the ground by the wind.
Feng Ran crept closer and hugged him from behind. Basil was startled, and the eggplant he was taking off its label rolled to the ground. Unable to bend down to pick it up, he could only stay in that position and cuddle with Feng Ran for a while, his mind wandering.
Basil's pheromones exuded a unique, soft, and sweet fragrance. Feng Ran looked up and saw the fair and clean neck under the golden hair gradually turning red. She gently opened her mouth and bit down, holding it in her mouth and licking it carefully. Smell and taste are indeed two different functions. She could only taste a little bit of salty sweat.
Basil shuddered, her face turning even redder, but she held her hand up without moving.
"Wind... Wind Burns..."
Feng Ran was reluctant to bite him, nor did she dare to. Before she could determine how the Enigma marking modification worked, she dared not mark anyone casually. After sucking a hickey on Basil's neck, she reluctantly let go.
The hickey was close to the Alpha's glands, so it was understandable that Basil was nervous and sensitive. He reached out and touched it, feeling that the glands were almost burning hot. Feng Ran stuck out his tongue and said, "This is the reward for accompanying the young master on his secret affair."
Basil, being easily embarrassed, glared at her: "Who steals so blatantly?"
Feng Ran: "Then would you be willing to let me plant it in other places?"
Basil nudged her awkwardly, saying, "We'll talk about that later. You play by yourself for a while; I still need to cook."
Feng Ran: "Young Master can cook?"
Basil felt slightly guilty, but in order to maintain his perfect image, he said, "If it's just for making a soup, I can..."
Feng Ran: "Then let me learn too."
Basil still pushed her away: "That won't do. It's a secret recipe of the Sleica family, passed down only to sons, not daughters."
Feng Ran: "Okay, okay."
Feng Ran had no choice but to let him go and wait for him in the living room.
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