Lin Guotao had every reason to be so shocked.
What had been cracked was the arm armor of a Divine Mech!
Even the weakest thirty-meter-class model, with its hardened armor, could make a full circuit around the Sun's outer edge and withstand temperatures nearing ten thousand degrees without taking any damage.
To breach the defenses of a thirty-meter-class Divine Mech, one needed the attacking power of a fifty-meter-class Divine Mech.
The ten of them might have seemed to be fighting fiercely before.
But in the eyes of experts, it had merely been entertaining to watch.
Among mech pilots, they were still only at the beginner level.
In terms of actual combat effectiveness, at most, it came down to who could impose a greater piloting burden on the opposing driver, forcing them to lose the ability to continue fighting and be ejected by their Divine Mech.
But if they wanted to actually damage a Divine Mech, they would need veteran Evolvers.
Only mech pilots with sufficiently deep evolution could make a Divine Mech unleash stronger attack power and damage an opponent's Divine Mech.
"Although he borrowed the force of that geomagnetic blast from the Ciyuan Mech, judging by the result, Li Yi's combat technique was undoubtedly far more advanced than what he had shown before."
"At the very least, he had an amplification level of 1.7, perhaps even 1.8."
Letting out a long breath, Lin Guotao felt somewhat relieved that he had strongly recommended Li Yi for the championship before the Fleet Captain.
With this major outcome now in sight, the Deus Mech Project he had planned for so long seemed likely to be realized sooner.
As visible cracks spread across both armors of the Ciyuan Mech, many knowledgeable spectators wore expressions of utter disbelief.
Amid the frenzied shouting around them, these spectators, who had originally remained fairly composed, could not help joining in the cheers.
"That's fucking incredible! We witnessed history again!"
"Just who else can do it? Who else can leave visible cracks on a Divine Mech before becoming an Evolver?"
"Li Yi is awesome! Li Yi is awesome!"
The deafening roar of the crowd actually overwhelmed the thunderous sounds of the Divine Mechs colliding.
On the field,
the Ciyuan Mech's two arms were casually knocked aside by the Pluto Mech. It then followed up with two heavy punches to the head, directly triggering an internal overload in the pilot.
Pfft!!!
After the two punches, the Insertion Pod shot out from behind the Ciyuan Mech's head and hit the ground from above, bouncing two or three times like a football.
The Ciyuan Mech's massive body also froze in place.
The Evergreen Fairy AI immediately cried out dramatically:
"Oh my God, this is unbelievable! Did you see that, viewers? The Pluto Mech has once again delivered a crushing performance, ending its opponent in just seven collisions!"
"In the final match, both consecutive battles ended in crushing victories, with the actual combat time not even exceeding thirty seconds. Li Yi has created another miracle!"
"Furthermore, Li Yi is the only mech pilot in the Jade Pool (Yaochi) No. 7 Martial Arts Tournament who kept his mech activated throughout the entire event, from the first match to the very end!"
"It has been my great honor to witness the birth of this new legend during my service."
"Although Li Yi still has a long road ahead and many difficulties to overcome, I believe his future is destined for glory!"
"Let us congratulate Li Yi for setting numerous unprecedented records in this Martial Arts Tournament and claiming the final championship!"
Right afterward, a fangirl expression appeared on the Evergreen Fairy AI's gentle face as she flew to the Pluto Mech's side.
"Congratulations, Li Yi. How do you feel about winning the championship?"
Just as the Evergreen Fairy AI finished asking her question,
suddenly,
the Insertion Pod behind the Pluto Mech's head ejected and crashed onto the ground.
"Oh no, it seems our champion has nearly reached his limit as well. No wonder—he held on for so long."
The Evergreen Fairy AI was startled at first, but then relaxed. Turning to the audience with a smile, she said:
"Just now, I was thinking that Li Yi was truly a gifted monster to have endured for so long. But now it seems he was gritting his teeth and holding on, too."
Many spectators smiled in understanding.
That was right. Perhaps it was his unwavering will that had allowed him to achieve such an unbelievable feat of endurance.
Thinking of it that way only made them admire him even more.
In truth, Li Yi could have held on for at least another ten-odd minutes.
He had done this for far more than creating an image of a strong-willed person for the audience.
It was to deal with the upcoming Surveillance Department!
Only by appearing to have fallen unconscious from overload
could he remain asleep openly.
Then, when the Surveillance Department brought out the Mind Pillar and prepared to implant the Basic Rule Imprint, he could capture memory fragments related to the Mind Pillar!
As long as he failed to capture them, he would not wake up!
Once he was confident he could deceive the inspection, he could wake up then.
That was Li Yi's plan.
Of course, there might be certain errors and risks in actual execution.
But since he had won the championship and was in a defenseless state, it might instead lower the vigilance of the Surveillance Department personnel.
Even if something went wrong, there was room for error.
Thus, after choosing to eject the Insertion Pod, he directly entered the dream state and observed the updates among the many memory fragments surrounding the dream.
He did not meditate or digest memory fragments, preventing any unusual brainwave activity from being detected.
Ten minutes later.
Inside the intelligent medical hospital.
"What is Li Yi's current condition?"
"According to the brainwave scan, he is currently in a state of deep sleep."
"Deep sleep? Interesting. It seems the previous report that his mental resistance was strong enough to reject the Mind Seal was not false."
Long Denghu stood beside the bed, scrutinizing Li Yi, who slept peacefully below him.
At his side, Lin Guotao said with a smile:
"Leader Long, see? I told you Li Yi was extraordinarily gifted, absolute championship material. There was no way some fanatic cultist's imprint had rejected our Mind Seal."
Long Denghu's stern face twitched unusually.
He knew that his earlier claim that Li Yi could not possibly win the championship had now thoroughly slapped him in the face.
"No matter what, Li Yi will be handed over to us for the next few hours while we implant the Mind Seal."
"That is fine. Do as you please, Leader Long. My only request is that I be present as well."
"As you wish."
Long Denghu's tone was no longer quite so harsh.
Lin Guotao naturally wanted to be present to prevent Long Denghu's people from playing dirty and secretly implanting some strange Mind Seal.
"Then let us begin."
"Hm? A new type of memory fragment is starting to appear?"
Li Yi's dream was a vast grassland.
There was sky, white clouds, a gentle breeze, and sunlight.
The memory fragments were clusters of bubbles glowing in different colors.
Colorful memory fragments represented memories that had been exciting and thrilling.
Gray represented tragedy.
Red represented passionate struggle, white represented dying young, and black represented committing countless evil deeds.
From time to time, the surfaces of the bubbles reflected various first-person scenes from within the memories, constantly shifting.
That was how he determined whether a memory fragment was what he needed.
"There it is. It seems that large silver-white needle reflected on this bubble's surface is the Mind Pillar."
Li Yi casually scooped up the football-sized bubble and held it in his hand.
Then he brought his eyes close to the bubble's translucent membrane and examined it carefully.
The moment he saw it, his expression changed slightly.
"The Mind Seal actually concealed a secret like this? No wonder they had to make everything so strict."
Before you continue