One to zero!
The crimson score appeared prominently on the LCD screen on the fifth floor of the venue!
It was supposed to be a best-of-five match, yet the very first round had turned out so one-sided. It was hard for anyone to get interested!
Everyone whispered among themselves.
Wei Wei's face was pale as she gripped the railing tightly, unable to say a word.
Christine looked distressed, but because of their previous conflict, she could only stand to one side and watch.
Su Xiao, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes slightly.
Ronan's mech had just displayed an odd tremor. She felt as though she had seen this before somewhere...
Inside the 2nd Pod, Ronan stared blankly at the data flashing across the display.
"What's going on?"
"Why can't I put up any resistance at all?"
He could not figure it out.
The new Light Mech Simulation Battle Pod used military mech standards.
According to the manual, this type of mech had two control methods: manual control and Neural Network control.
Xiang Feihu's movements were broad and forceful, but somewhat stiff, proving that his White General was using Manual Transmission.
As for Ronan, after reading about Neural Network control, he had become intensely interested in it!
He connected his brain nerves to the receiver of the 2nd Battle Pod, and immediately felt as though he had possessed the mech.
That simulated White General seemed to have become his actual body.
He liked that feeling very much.
But once the battle began, everything changed!
To outsiders, Ronan had not resisted at all.
In truth, however, Ronan had resisted countless times!
The moment Xiang Feihu took his first step, Ronan's extraordinarily keen perception had already seen through his move. He wanted to counter it with a simple horizontal slash... but something unexpected happened: the White General did not move at all.
Ronan was bewildered. He repeatedly reacted with his superhuman neural reflexes.
But every reaction resulted in nothing but a tremor!
Amid those embarrassing tremors, he was chopped into a wrecked machine and lost the match!
"What's going on?"
"Could I be controlling it wrong?"
Already deeply immersed in mech controls, Ronan had long forgotten his wager with Xiang Feihu. He only wanted to figure out what had happened.
So he restarted the machine and said decisively:
"Again!"
The second round began anew.
Xiang Feihu pressed his advantage, attacking fiercely.
This time, Ronan still reacted with incredible speed!
But that mech acted as though it had caught a virus, doing nothing but shaking nonstop!
He remained rooted in place.
The audience laughed wildly!
Did this guy not know how to control a mech at all? Was all that trembling supposed to be dancing?
In a flash, Xiang Feihu's Laser Sword pierced him full of holes.
The 2nd Pod's mech was scrapped!
Two to zero!
Attention, contestants: match point has been reached!
A mechanical voice rang out.
Wei Wei looked utterly despondent.
The fourth floor erupted in boos.
Only then did Ronan realize that this fight concerned more than just his mech control skills. It also concerned Su Xiao's fate!
He could not lose! He had promised to stand up for her. How could he lose to the man before him?
Yet he still could not understand why his mech could not move.
"Could someone have tampered with it?"
Ronan was an honest man. After a moment of silence, he said:
"My mech can't move."
The moment he said that, even more laughter erupted!
"Can't move? If the mech can't move, who else are you blaming? You can't control it, so you blame the mech?"
"This young master Ronan is unbelievable. He can even come up with an excuse like that?"
"Yeah, isn't that shameless? Is he saying someone tampered with his 2nd Pod? Maybe that would be possible somewhere else, but this is his home ground, Yi Lin Manor! Did he tamper with his own machine? What a joke."
"Three to zero, I can see it happening!"
The crowd buzzed with discussion. Having witnessed Ronan's clumsy performance, they no longer bothered concealing their opinions. They spoke freely, completely unafraid of offending Yi Lin Manor on its own turf.
Wang Xiaoman held Wei Wei's hand sympathetically and found her palm drenched in cold sweat. She wanted to say something, but did not know what she could say.
Su Jie wore a smug expression. "See? That Ronan is just a useless fool. So what if he knows a little kung fu? A real man belongs on the battlefield. Could you fight someone else's mech barehanded?"
"In front of Big Brother Xiang, he's nothing but trash!"
"After tonight, he won't be able to harass my sister ever again!"
Naturally, the crowd of opportunists eagerly echoed him.
Inside the venue, Xiang Feihu in the 1st Pod remained calm and unruffled.
He still maintained the combat habits he had developed in the military. Until he had completely defeated his opponent, he would never relax. He merely asked coldly, "Can the third round begin?"
Ronan fell silent inside the 2nd Pod.
He removed the Neural Network sensing helmet and silently watched the data that had flashed across the small screen.
There was no problem with the data. There was no problem with his reactions either. So what exactly was happening?
He could not figure it out no matter how hard he thought.
But at that moment, a girl suddenly shouted loudly to him from the fourth-floor railing:
"Ronan, you idiot!"
"This is only a basic Light Mech Simulation Battle Pod, not the latest combat product developed by the Military Department! Neural Network control simply isn't suitable for it!"
It was Su Xiao!
Everyone was stunned.
No one had expected that the girl at the center of the storm, the girl who had remained silently smiling all this time, would suddenly shout at such a moment.
And what she said was utterly shocking!
Neural Network control?
Wasn't that an extremely mentally taxing control method? In ordinary mech battles, very few people directly used Neural Network control.
First, the technology was immature. Aside from several terrifying weapons the Empire was rumored to be developing, most mechs supported this method but had yet to meet the necessary technical standards. Second, it was extremely dangerous. Mech battles were brutal, and if human nerves replaced manual controls, combat trauma could easily leave lasting psychological scars!
Wasn't all this common knowledge in the Steel Empire?
How could anyone still be using Neural Network control?
No one could understand it.
Yet some observant people began to wonder—how had Su Xiao noticed it?
Among all the people on the fourth floor, only Su Xiao had seen through Ronan's unique control method and shouted it out at this critical moment.
Had this girl's insight already surpassed everyone present?
Some people did not believe it, thinking Su Xiao was merely giving her lover an excuse to save face.
After saying those words, Su Xiao wore a relaxed expression, as though she had completed some great task.
She did not care about anyone else's stares, because she was very happy inside!
When Ronan lost the first round, she had only found it vaguely familiar. But during the second round, when the mech Ronan controlled trembled even more violently, she suddenly remembered why.
Because she had once seen this scene in a video.
In that video, a genius young mech pilot had also been testing Neural Network technology to control a mech. The result had been hilarious. The mech had remained in a constant state of trembling and was easily knocked down by his opponent. After several attempts, even that young man, hailed as a mech genius, had to crawl out of the mech in embarrassment and admit that using Neural Network technology to control mechs was unworkable.
The person smiling and speaking to the camera in that video was named Li Nanbei.
He was the first man she had ever seen use Neural Network control to operate a mech.
Now, a second had appeared.
That was why she was so happy.
Inside the 2nd Pod.
Ronan was silent for a long time, but he found it absurdly funny.
He had considered himself clever, yet he had failed to think of something so simple.
If Su Xiao had not reminded him, he truly would not have found the problem!
Now he understood!
That simulated mech... could not keep up with Ronan's terrifyingly fast neural reaction speed!
The instant Xiang Feihu launched his attack, Ronan had already issued thirty movement commands!
It was instinct. When fighting hand-to-hand, his body possessed that kind of reaction speed—but the mech did not!
No wonder Noah always mocked him for lacking practical experience. He really was still a rookie.
Ronan laughed at himself and called toward the fourth floor:
"Thank you."
Su Xiao smiled beautifully and deliberately—or perhaps unintentionally—glanced at Wei Wei.
"You're welcome."
One thank you, one you're welcome—it sounded like a tender exchange between lovers, making everyone else envious.
If jealous stares could kill, then the gazes of the many young nobles from Bo Ning District on the fourth floor would already have torn Ronan to pieces.
Inside the venue, Xiang Feihu was burning with rage. He could no longer stand watching those two flirt so openly!
But before he could speak, Ronan had already drawn his blade!
The third round officially began!
This time, however, Ronan had shut off the Neural Network and switched to Manual Transmission!
Good morning~ Come into my arms, recommendation votes~ This battle will probably last another two chapters. One chapter at five in the afternoon, then another immediately after midnight. Night-owl readers can keep following along.
Before you continue