Triple Micro-Control

Obsidian Martial Arts Hall, dawn had just broken.

"Wu Shang, how are you feeling?"

"How far have you gotten?"

Zhang Qingwei sat cross-legged and exhaled a long stream of white vapor. She looked toward Luo Wu Shang beside her. Trails of blood ran from the corners of her mouth and eyes, yet her gaze shone with an incomparably blazing fire.

But the somewhat terrifying sight did not make Luo Wu Shang stop repairing the wall. Instead, she repaired the wall with one hand while casually thrusting toward the other side with the other.

Six explosive cracks instantly rang through the air.

"This Star Explosion Meditation Technique is amazing. I've reached 3% mastery so far." Luo Wu Shang glanced at the six finger marks on the wall and said with great satisfaction, "Back in Pilgrimage, I could achieve thirty-three stars with Point Star. Here, my limit was only around five stars. But this meditation technique has further improved my control over my body and my reaction speed. Now I can easily reach six stars."

"I feel that if I improve a little more, I should be able to reach seven stars. By then, even if I encountered an expert who had just become a Martial Apprentice in the wilderness, I should be able to fight them."

"You improved that quickly?" Zhang Qingwei clicked her tongue in astonishment. "We clearly started at about the same time. You're already at 3%, while I'm only at 2%. No, I'm not going to headquarters to report today."

As she spoke, Zhang Qingwei formed a blade with one hand and struck a wall.

A star-shaped gleam made of three marks abruptly appeared on the wall, with faint cracks emerging at its center.

"Just 2% mastery let me use the first layer of the Surging Wave Blade. It really is incredible." Zhang Qingwei stared at the marks on the wall, her heart filled with excitement.

The Surging Wave Blade had been her signature technique in Pilgrimage. Back then, it had been no weaker than Luo Wu Shang's Point Star. However, unlike the speed-oriented Point Star, the Surging Wave Blade was a power-oriented blade technique. Unlike Crushing Stone Fist, which doubled the explosive power of one's physical body, the Surging Wave Blade used technique to merge three slashes into one, directly doubling its power.

But ever since the car accident, her body's reactions had been unable to keep up, and she had never managed to use the Surging Wave Blade again.

"What are you two doing?" Lin Qi looked at the pair practicing against the wall so early in the morning, his expression dark. "I had you come here to repair the martial arts hall, not destroy its walls. Two hundred points deducted from each of you. And you must repair ten walls today as compensation, or you'll be expelled from the hall."

As soon as Lin Qi spoke, the two women who had been so excited moments earlier nearly burst into tears.

They would rather have Lin Qi physically punish them ten times over.

It was too hard to earn points in High Martial Descent. Even after working hard all day, they could only earn a little over a hundred points. Losing two hundred points at once put their weapons two full days farther away.

Only when Lin Qi saw the two women say nothing and obediently go patch the walls did his expression improve slightly.

"These players are getting stronger and stronger. The martial arts hall can't withstand their antics at all. Once the hall is repaired, even more players will come, and I won't be able to keep an eye on them all. It looks like I need to establish some new rules." Lin Qi swept a glance over the wall they had cracked and sighed inwardly.

A meditation technique that had originally existed only in theory had actually been mastered. And not by just one person, but by three. With the Star Explosion Meditation Technique, even as Quasi-Apprentices, the three of them possessed the strength to challenge Martial Apprentices who had only just entered the realm.

That meant Obsidian Martial Arts Hall now had four combatants at the level of newly advanced Martial Apprentices. In the wilderness, that was already the standard of a small gang, enough to officially handle some transport business out there.

Blue Star, Ku Rong City, Storm Shadow Club.

Simulation match battle space.

"This round's randomly selected map is a ruined city. It isn't very suitable for sniper combat." Li Ranxing looked at the arena before him and commanded through the team channel, "You four switch to close-combat response mode. Find a way to lure Blue Enchantress's four members away. I'll deal with Chen Ya!"

"Yes!"

Fang Zhen and the other four, who had been randomly assigned to different parts of the city, all began moving toward the city center.

Mecha Continent's team matches placed ten players in a single map to fight. The ten players' initial positions were random, and the map would continuously shrink. If they did not quickly move toward the center, they would be killed when the map collapsed.

Therefore, once battle began, everyone would advance toward the center. As for whether they encountered teammates or enemies along the way, that was entirely up to fate.

"My luck is terrible. I'm rear support this time, so I didn't bring any close-combat weapons. This is a long-range unit too." Fang Zhen looked over his set of long-range weaponry and could only sigh helplessly. "Looks like I can only lie in wait and ambush them."

Mecha combat in Mecha Continent was divided into close-range and long-range categories based on weapons. Mechas equipped for close-combat weapons would also undergo certain adjustments, such as increased flexibility and speed, allowing them to close in quickly.

Long-range mechas, on the other hand, emphasized stability. They were somewhat cumbersome, but could maintain precise long-range firepower. Accordingly, once they were approached at close range, they would be at an overwhelming disadvantage.

Fang Zhen had traveled less than two kilometers when an explosion suddenly sounded from a distant building, followed closely by a short-range communication from a teammate in his ears.

"Requesting support! Requesting support! Is anyone nearby? I've been spotted by two of Blue Enchantress's close-combat members."

"I'm retreating east! Requesting support! Requesting support!"

When the string of short-range communications ended, Fang Zhen saw a red close-combat mecha tangled up with two blue close-combat mechas on the street ahead.

Mecha Continent's team matches usually divided participants into two colors, red and blue. In this simulation match, Storm Shadow was red and Blue Enchantress was blue, allowing both sides to distinguish friend from foe at a glance on the battlefield.

But before Fang Zhen could react, the red mecha was sliced into several pieces by the two blue mechas and eliminated on the spot.

"Oh? Not bad luck. There's another one." Meng Gang, a Blue Enchantress member wielding a battle lance, looked at Fang Zhen across the street and smiled. "Blade, leave this one to me. That last fight was too boring. The captain said my dodging still isn't good enough. This long-range unit is perfect for practicing my evasion."

"Fine, but make it quick. If you take too long, the captain's battle might have already started." The team member named Wang Yi Dao did not care much. "Ten seconds! I'll only give you ten seconds to end this."

Although Storm Shadow's team had reached the national tournament, they were merely a top-thirty-two team. Compared to members of teams like theirs that were regulars in the top four, Storm Shadow lagged behind in both skill and reactions. That was why they did not take Storm Shadow seriously.

"Alright! Start counting!"

Meng Gang did not hesitate. He directly controlled his mecha, activated propulsion acceleration, and charged at Fang Zhen with a battle lance over ten meters long. He moved so fast that afterimages trailed behind him, yet the mecha itself always deftly avoided the obstacles in the street.

"So fast!"

"At that speed, he can still control it so precisely. Is this the strength of a national top-four team?"

Before the giant screen at Storm Shadow Club, a group of Storm Shadow members could not help crying out as they watched the blue close-combat mecha move as nimbly as a monkey.

In Mecha Continent, controlling a mecha was extremely difficult. It was unlike other virtual games, where manipulating it was like controlling one's own body and all kinds of movements could be performed with ease. Controlling a mecha was more like driving a car, only far more complicated. Even first-rate experts in Mecha Continent found it difficult to make a mecha move like a human.

Yet Meng Gang had done it. He controlled the mecha as naturally as his own body. It was simply unimaginable how he had achieved it.

"Who's controlling that long-range mecha? Why isn't he firing to intercept him yet?"

"That mecha seems to be Fang Zhen's."

"Fang Zhen's luck is really awful. He encountered a close-combat mecha at such close range. Even if he fires, he only has one chance. Once he misses, it's a dead end."

The Storm Shadow members present all shook their heads as they watched the red long-range mecha. Normally, long-range mechas sniped from three kilometers away. Yet Blue Enchantress's close-combat mecha was now only a little over a kilometer away. Fang Zhen did not even have time to run, especially with cover everywhere around them. It was far too easy to dodge bullets.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

When the blue mecha wielding the battle lance came within five hundred meters of the red long-range mecha, three consecutive gunshots echoed through the entire street.

"Has Fang Zhen gone crazy? He fired three shots in a row. Does he really think spraying bullets around will hit?"

"Probably a desperate man grasping at straws."

Watching Fang Zhen fire three consecutive shots, everyone felt that he had already given up. Due to recoil, long-range sniping became harder to control with every shot. Firing three shots in a row was no different from shooting wildly.

"Given up? How boring."

Meng Gang watched Fang Zhen fire three shots in succession and shook his head helplessly. He had wanted to practice evasion, but now there was no need. Aside from the first shot, which required a slight dodge, he could completely ignore the other two.

Meng Gang immediately made a fierce lateral shift, directly evading the first bullet aimed at his head.

But just as Meng Gang prepared to cut Fang Zhen into eight pieces, he suddenly discovered another bullet right before his eyes.

"Fuck!"

Meng Gang abruptly raised his hand, intending to use the battle lance to block the shot before his head.

Clang!

A crisp metallic collision rang out.

The battle lance shuddered as the bullet struck it directly, knocking it away from its intended blocking trajectory.

The next moment, Meng Gang's vision went black.

"Triple Micro-Control!"

"He can use Triple Micro-Control? Could he be Li Ranxing?"

Meng Gang woke inside the Virtual Game Pod and stared fixedly at the giant screen in the distance, his heart filled with unwillingness. A mecha control technique like Triple Micro-Control could only be used by captain-level experts from the national top eight.

He had thought he was merely bullying a Storm Shadow member, only to run into a disguised Li Ranxing. How the hell was he supposed to fight that?

But when Meng Gang looked toward the battle on the other side of the giant screen, he froze completely.

On the other battlefield, Captain Chen Ya was fighting a red mecha, and the two sides were locked in an inextricable battle.

"Holy shit! Who is that?"

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