Destroyer

There were many participants in the elimination rounds, and their skill levels varied greatly.

Some matches were fiercely deadlocked, with two evenly matched opponents piloting their mechs back and forth in an exhilarating exchange.

Others ended very quickly. Within a few rounds, one mech would knock the other down so thoroughly that it could not get back up, or send it flying out of the arena.

To see as many exciting battles as possible, Hu Manduo had to constantly switch between livestream feeds, keeping himself incredibly busy.

"Quick, switch to the feed for Arena Five! The comments say someone's about to get beaten to death there."

The three of them had been engrossed in watching two A-Class Mechs on one arena shove each other around to see who was stronger when Lu Xiaoxiao suddenly spotted a comment with her sharp eyes.

Hu Manduo moved quickly and immediately switched the livestream feed.

As the view shifted, a gigantic mech stood in the center of the arena, waving something in its hand.

"What is that in her hand...?"

"It's the arm of that mech on the ground."

Zhou Yi immediately gave the answer.

Hu Manduo and Lu Xiaoxiao looked down and saw that the other mech on the ground had practically been torn into pieces. Only its energy system remained intact.

"That's way too cruel!"

Lu Xiaoxiao covered her eyes, unable to bear watching.

"To a Mech Warrior, a mech is another life. He's disrespecting the mech! He's wantonly trampling on its owner's dignity!"

Hu Manduo, who was usually mild-tempered, was so angry that his face seemed even rounder.

As someone who loved mechs beyond measure, he understood their significance to people better than anyone. They were neither weapons nor tools; they were alive, the best of companions.

The defeated mech was also a Heavy Mech, its enormous mechanical arms and legs scattered across the arena.

Mechs did not bleed, but the sight was still horrifying.

Zhou Yi said nothing, but his gaze turned terrifyingly cold.

He had gone through untold hardships to obtain his current mech. If someone treated it like this, he would tear open the cockpit and fight them to the death.

Winning and losing were normal in a match, but dismantling a mech that had already lost all ability to resist to the point where it could barely be restored was simply unforgivable.

Zhou Yi had dismantled complete mechs at least dozens, perhaps hundreds, of times in the warehouse.

At a glance, he could tell that the joints of the scattered mech had all been damaged and would be difficult to repair.

In other words, this mech had already been scrapped.

The staff quickly stepped forward and dragged out the person who was still inside the Mech Cockpit.

(The guy fainted. Just how much force did Dogov put into that punch?)

(Serious question from someone who doesn't know: do these two have some kind of grudge? Why did Dogov punch straight at the other mech's cockpit? Isn't avoiding the cockpit as much as possible an unspoken rule in matches?)

(Replying to the comment above: no grudge. You probably didn't notice Dogov's mech's name. It's called Destroyer.)

(Got it. This guy is just plain evil.)

(Destroyer? That's awful! Someone like him should be disqualified.)

(It's not even my mech, but my heart already hurts for it. How expensive would it be to repair an A-Class Mech that has been dismantled like that?)

(Mech Master here. It can't be repaired. The major joint connections have all been destroyed. The materials can only be recycled.)

(Too much!!!)

The comments were all discussing the scene, and everyone passionately condemned Dogov, though it did not cause him or his Destroyer the slightest harm.

The competition continued, and after Dogov won two more matches, he advanced smoothly.

"Wasn't it called Destroyer? Why didn't he destroy the last mech?"

Lu Xiaoxiao could not understand. Did Destroyer choose based on its mood?

"The last loser was from S-Class Star Block. Maybe he has some sort of backing."

Hu Manduo had studied the contestants' information very carefully.

"No wonder he hasn't been beaten to death after all this time. So he only destroys ordinary people's mechs."

The elimination-round livestream lasted only two hours. In those two hours, dozens of people advanced across the five arenas, while more than a hundred were eliminated.

"This is only the first round, and it's already this thrilling. Who knows what will happen next week?"

Lu Xiaoxiao, watching the livestream for the first time, declared that she had already become a loyal fan of the Interstellar Competition.

"There's one match every week, four altogether! That's plenty for you to watch."

Hu Manduo turned off the Star Brain screen, still savoring the matches he had just watched.

"After the elimination rounds come the group stage, then the team competition, and only then the individual competition. There'll be matches to watch for a full half year."

"Wow! Being a fan of Star Overlord is amazing!"

Out of fondness, Lu Xiaoxiao had already given the Interstellar Competition an affectionate nickname.

"When is the registration deadline for this competition?"

Zhou Yi asked as though it were a casual question.

"You can register any time before the final elimination round, but you have to register in the name of a school. Almost all of the schools that enter are from A-Class Star Blocks. There are very few from B-Class Star Blocks, since the requirements for mechs are just too strict."

Hu Manduo knew the competition rules just as well as he knew the contestants.

"I see."

Zhou Yi picked up the food on the table and began eating.

He had too much to do tonight, so he needed to store up his strength.

After leaving Hu Manduo, Zhou Yi did not return to the dormitory. Instead, he went to the library again.

Skillfully unlocking the third-floor warehouse with the key and closing the door behind him, Zhou Yi took his mech out of the Mech Ring.

It was almost as if it appeared with a thought. The instant his finger touched the ring, the mech appeared in the open space before him.

The warehouse lights were somewhat yellow, but that only cast an even more mysterious glow over the mech.

Zhou Yi had chosen a Light Mech, less than three meters tall, with slimmer, more elongated arms and legs.

It looked nothing like a combat machine. Instead, it resembled a refined gentleman.

Zhou Yi placed his hand on the mech's thigh and slowly paced around it, circling it several times.

His eyes carefully examined every inch of the mech while his mind rapidly ran simulations.

He was assessing the mech's strengths and weaknesses.

As a mech freshly purchased from a merchant, it could only be considered a basic model. To fully meet its user's needs and display greater combat power, it still needed specialized modifications.

Zhou Yi silently noted everything he saw and thought of, and many ideas gradually formed in his mind.

However, the only materials currently available were the scraps in the warehouse. Zhou Yi absolutely could not accept installing those old, rusted, deteriorated parts onto the brand-new mech he had bought.

"Perhaps... I can try Star Weaving?"

As a Star Weaver trainee, after hesitating for a long time, Zhou Yi had finally decided to formally enter the Star Weaving profession because of poverty.

If Hao Wuduan, Zhou Yi's bargain-bin master and one of the ten richest people in the interstellar world, learned that his disciple's first attempt at making star patterns was because he was too poor to afford materials and had no choice but to use star patterns instead, who knew how he would feel.