Knockdown

Just as everyone realized that the battle was turning against Li Yi.

The Flame Crow Mech's mouth had already condensed a stream of flame in the blink of an eye. Like an oversized firework, it shot straight out.

The instant it fired, the already bright chamber became dozens of times brighter.

Everyone had to squint and raise their hands to shield their eyes.

Boom!!!

The condensed sphere of flame struck the Pluto Mech head-on, scattering countless streams of fire.

Everyone was stunned.

Not only did this Divinity Technique start quickly, its firing speed was astonishing as well.

"Look! Part of the Pluto Mech's right arm armor cracked."

Everyone looked over and saw that the thick armor on the Pluto Mech's right arm had indeed split open with a narrow crack about a meter wide and four or five meters long.

Normally, a spherical flame stream like that should have blasted out an oval or circular breach, dealing much greater damage.

But this sort of mark instead showed that the Pluto Mech had made the right move at the critical moment.

For the Pluto Mech's size, that crack could only be considered a minor scrape.

Thus, everyone's praise and regret were both directed at Li Yi.

"Amazing! At the last moment, Li Yi performed a deflecting unload combined with a turn, reducing the flame stream's damage to a minimum. He really deserves to be called the rookie king of combat."

"From that distance, the Pluto Mech still managed to extend its arm armor and block the attack by a hair's breadth. That shows Li Yi's reaction speed isn't bad."

"It was prediction. He most likely anticipated his opponent's move, but unfortunately, his hand speed couldn't keep up with the firing speed."

"What a pity. Li Yi's response prolonged the fight, but the outcome is no longer in doubt."

"Indeed. The winner will be decided within a minute."

"At least he'll lose with honor."

Amid the discussion.

The Pluto Mech began its counterattack.

For a Divine Mech, the main effect of that crack was on the force exerted by its right arm, but it was not serious.

Like a scrape on human skin, it could heal on its own if left alone.

Under normal circumstances.

As long as the damage was not severe, the divinity within a Divine Mech could automatically repair this kind of damage overnight.

Without leaving a trace.

For example, Liang Shaocong's Ciyuan Mech had also suffered a crack in its arm armor from Li Yi yesterday.

It had already automatically repaired itself today.

What Divine Mechs truly feared was having their defenses continuously breached.

Only after too much severe damage accumulated could they be completely destroyed beyond repair.

And.

In actual combat, one had to watch out for the obvious weaknesses created by cracks.

Armor that was originally difficult to penetrate could easily suffer a second or third injury if the enemy focused on the damaged area.

This was also the most commonly used tactical method in Divine Mech combat.

That was, using a Divinity Technique to breach the defenses first and create an opening.

Then concentrating superior force to widen that opening until the enemy mech was completely destroyed.

Therefore.

This was also why everyone believed the Pluto Mech was bound to lose.

Whoever created a breach first seized the initiative in battle.

The scales had tipped from the moment the Flame Crow Mech activated its Divinity Technique.

At that moment.

The Pluto Mech charged in front of the Flame Crow Mech and threw a right punch at extreme speed.

Inside the Flame Crow Mech's cockpit, Zhang Qingjian grinned.

"Interesting. Did he realize that defeat was inevitable and start attacking chaotically, or is he deliberately using that injured arm to fool me?"

"Within five moves, I'll hang you up and beat you senseless!"

As an Evolver, his information-processing speed truly surpassed ordinary people's.

Even the Pluto Mech's punch, accelerated to its limit, seemed merely average in Zhang Qingjian's eyes, without much threat.

The Flame Crow Mech casually sidestepped and avoided the punch.

Then, with a step forward and a turn, it circled behind the Pluto Mech. Both hands clasped together into a hammering stance as it smashed toward the back of the Pluto Mech's head.

Whoosh!!!

The rapid movement of the massive machines compressed the air, creating violent shockwaves.

Below the arena, Cai Xiaodong could not help closing his eyes.

"Great dodge!"

"Not bad. Both sides' movements and reactions are excellent."

"The question is, what will Li Yi do next? He's still in a very dangerous position."

Cai Xiaodong noticed that the thunderous clash of metal he had expected never came, and everyone's comments sounded strange.

He hurriedly opened his eyes.

He saw that the Pluto Mech seemed to have eyes in the back of its head. Like a pendulum, it swayed its upper body left and right, consecutively evading the Flame Crow Mech's hammering blows three times.

The two seemed to touch yet did not, separated by mere fractions of an inch. It was breathtaking.

Just before the Flame Crow Mech gathered strength to unleash a powerful move.

Suddenly!

The Pluto Mech leaped straight up with its back to the Flame Crow Mech. Its legs flew up and wrapped precisely around the Flame Crow Mech's neck as if they had eyes, instantly suppressing the Flame Crow Mech's next move.

Then.

It twisted its waist and body in midair, directly dragging the Flame Crow Mech through a half-turn and knocking it off balance onto the ground.

Following that, the Pluto Mech's enormous weight pressed down upon the Flame Crow Mech. One arm locked its waist, while the other pinned its shoulder, its entire weight crushing down with practiced, savage speed.

At the same time, the instant both machines hit the ground one after another.

The entire combat arena shook violently.

Even the spectators staggered around.

Yet that did nothing to lessen their immense shock.

"A mech can actually use such refined yet vicious grappling techniques?"

"A setup, this was absolutely a setup! Li Yi had been carefully planning this move from the very beginning!"

"First, he kept closing in on the Flame Crow Mech, weakening Zhang Qingjian's reaction-speed advantage to the limit."

"Then, through prediction and familiarity with combat, he avoided the Flame Crow Mech's earlier attacks, waited for it to enter the interval between charging moves, and locked down the Flame Crow Mech's movements with a scissor hold in one go!"

"The most brilliant part was that the Pluto Mech seized the instantary gap while the Flame Crow Mech was charging up, erupting with full force and placing all the Flame Crow Mech's key points of movement under control."

Zhang Xuqiang was also somewhat shocked, disbelief flashing through his eyes.

After thinking for a moment, he said.

"Luck. It was definitely luck! Those earlier dodges were absolutely half luck, half gamble. He just happened to get lucky."

"Besides, this technique works well on human joints, but against a Divine Mech's massive power, this little grappling technique will be broken through very soon."

"It's just a dying struggle."

After hearing Zhang Xuqiang say that, someone immediately echoed him.

"Brother Qiang makes sense. If his opponent were a non-Evolver, Li Yi's move would easily overload the pilot. But against an Evolver, they only need to catch their breath and disperse the strain a little before breaking free in an instant."

Amid the discussion, the Pluto Mech had held the Flame Crow Mech locked down for nearly thirty seconds.

Everyone stared at the arena, wondering whether the Pluto Mech was about to lose its hold.

Suddenly.

Boom!!!

The Flame Crow Mech drove both legs into the ground. Despite having its neck, waist, and shoulders locked, it rose straight up vertically.

Then, with a violent twist of its body, it freed up room for its arms, tore apart the Pluto Mech's leg lock, seized its waist, and hurled it forcefully toward the ground.

"Just as expected, Brother Qiang's judgment is incredible. Everything happened exactly as you predicted."

The moment the situation changed, someone began flattering Zhang Xuqiang.

Zhang Xuqiang nodded with reserved satisfaction.

"Nothing much. Li Yi is still a mech rookie with little experience. It's already not bad that he made it this far. If I were piloting the Pluto Mech under the same conditions, Zhang Qingjian would be nothing worth mentioning."

Cai Xiaodong looked thoroughly displeased and shot Zhang Xuqiang a contemptuous look from afar.

But just as everyone thought the Flame Crow Mech was about to land the decisive blow.

The thrown Pluto Mech, as though it had anticipated this all along, did not fully disengage from the Flame Crow Mech. Instead, it used the force to spring up, adding its enormous momentum to its fist as it suddenly struck the Flame Crow Mech's head.

Quake-Word Technique, Stacked Quake!

Boom!!!

A tremendous metallic crash rang out. The Flame Crow Mech swayed as if it had crashed, then collapsed to the ground with a thunderous roar.

Everyone stood frozen in shock.

"How did Li Yi suddenly win?"