Surprise

"Yo, want to trade a few moves with me?"

Chen Qiong Zhi smiled. "You beat an Evolutionist and got cocky?"

Li Yi immediately clarified, "I mean, I'd like Instructor to show me a few moves. That way, I can keep you company and help you loosen up too."

"You've got guts, kid. Fine, let's loosen up a little."

No sooner had she spoken—

Whoosh!!!

A violent sonic boom rang out.

Through the Pluto Mech's panoramic view, Li Yi looked up and saw that the seventy-two-meter-tall gray mech had already flashed to a spot two hundred meters in front of him before the explosive sound even reached him, standing there silently.

An indescribable feeling rose in his heart.

It was as if this giant mech had been standing there quietly since ancient times, never having moved, carrying a tranquil stillness weathered by countless ages.

"Let me introduce it. I pilot a C-class Micro-Dust Mech from the Wind God Series."

Micro-Dust...

Li Yi could not help grumbling inwardly. Micro-Dust Mech? This seventy-two-meter giant is micro-dust?

"Do you find that name a little strange?"

Li Yi was not embarrassed at having his thoughts seen through. His reply came through the Pluto Mech.

"A little. Is there some secret behind it? For example, does the way you erase your sense of presence have something to do with this so-called 'micro-dust'?"

Inside the cockpit, Chen Qiong Zhi was briefly surprised, then smiled.

"Your compatibility with Divine Mechs may not be high, but your senses are unexpectedly sharp. You could actually feel that? That's a little against common sense."

Li Yi said, "Just a random guess."

Inside the cockpit, Chen Qiong Zhi rotated her wrist and loosened up.

"Alright, then. What do you want me to teach you?"

Li Yi looked up at the Micro-Dust Mech's body, which was half again as large as the Pluto Mech, and fell into thought.

It's this huge. How am I supposed to do this?

"Instructor, let's just begin. Let's see how long I can last against you."

"Sure. I'll make the first move and see what this rookie king of fighting is made of. If you can last one minute, I can personally give you an additional reward."

Li Yi's eyes lit up. "A reward on the level of an A-class Assist Module?"

"Last one minute first. Don't worry, I'll hold back."

As she spoke, the Micro-Dust Mech extended an arm roughly the same length as the Pluto Mech.

Like a machine gun, it shot forward and retracted at high speed, creating the effect of seven or eight arms striking in rapid succession in an instant.

That tower-like arm repeatedly tore through the air, compressing the airflow. The fierce sonic booms sounded like a cannon firing continuously, shaking fine dust from the ground into the air.

The Pluto Mech watched intently, tracking the Micro-Dust Mech's shoulder movements as it shifted and evaded like a swinging pendulum.

Inside the cockpit, sweat continuously streamed from Li Yi's forehead, while the temperature inside his head kept rising.

Chen Qiong Zhi was fierce!

Only in actual combat did he realize just how much pressure she brought.

The gap in their levels was extremely obvious.

The information fed back to his body from the Pluto Mech was more overwhelming than ever before.

Compared to what the Flame Crow Mech had given him, it was as though the former were a raging ocean while the latter was a narrow, shallow stream.

Fortunately, Li Yi often digested memory fragments, and his mental resilience was high enough. Only then could he maintain a reasonably solid evasive state.

Surprise repeatedly flashed across Chen Qiong Zhi's face.

"Such strong predictive ability and load tolerance? He can actually dodge a barrage of punches at this speed and distance?"

"Then I'll turn up the heat a little and see where your limit is."

The eleventh second.

While the Micro-Dust Mech's arms continued their rapid strikes, it suddenly erased its sense of presence.

Its pair of arms remained fast, but they became utterly silent.

Even the sonic booms seemed to vanish.

More absurdly, the already subtle movements of its shoulders became even more concealed.

All of this made it several times more difficult for Li Yi to predict its position.

In an instant, the Pluto Mech's movements slowed. The Micro-Dust Mech's enormous fist struck directly into its shoulder blade, sending it flying backward.

It flew back over four hundred meters, performing a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spinning flip in midair before barely landing.

Because its landing posture was still far from stable, the enormous impact made the ground tremble.

"Not bad force dissipation."

Chen Qiong Zhi nodded slightly.

Although that strike had successfully hit the Pluto Mech, the latter had clearly shed most of the impact by deliberately flying backward.

Even she, a veteran of countless battles, could not help secretly admiring such flawless technique.

Of course, she could perform the same maneuver.

But who was she?

One of the best Mid-Level Evolutionists!

Though she had only used a small portion of her strength.

That strike had still been fierce enough!

Even when she had been an Initial Evolutionist, she knew she could never have dissipated the impact so perfectly with such delicate, precise technique.

"Besides, judging from the abilities he displayed earlier, after enduring such swift, continuous attacks from me, he should probably be close to overload by now."

"But now, he actually still seems to have some strength left."

"So either his mental resilience is excellent, or he's improved again after just these few hours of training!"

"Or perhaps it's both!"

"This kid definitely has the potential to become an ace mech pilot."

The delight in Chen Qiong Zhi's eyes grew increasingly intense.

Did the Deep Space Fleet lack ordinary Divine Mech Pilots?

No. What it lacked were mech pilots with overwhelming dominance!

People with this kind of potential were exceedingly rare.

Now, Chen Qiong Zhi was certain that she had found a reliable backup candidate!

"Then let me thoroughly probe your foundation and see where your limit lies!"

She decided to raise the intensity again!

The original one-minute target had been estimated by taking the intensity of Li Yi's battle with Zhang Qingjian and increasing the difficulty by another twenty percent.

Now, she intended to increase the speed by another twenty percent and see just how long Li Yi's mental resilience could hold out!

But at that moment.

Just as she paused for an instant to think and prepared to attack—

Boom!!!

The Pluto Mech suddenly ignited the divinity within it. Strands of Divinity Radiation, invisible to the naked eye and perceptible only through Divine Mechs, slowly spread outward.

The faint sense of presence around the Micro-Dust Mech was instantly restored when struck by the Pluto Divinity.

At the same time, the Pluto Mech bent low like a drawn bow, faced the Micro-Dust Mech, and launched forward!

Inside the cockpit, Li Yi continuously adjusted his breathing and physical condition, bringing his body into a state of surging vitality and sharply increased load tolerance!

This was a Burst Technique he had achieved after bringing his fighting skills to the perfect level, relying on his control over his own body.

For a short period, it could enhance both his physical and mental strength.

Upon entering this state, his control over the Pluto Mech rose to an unprecedented level.

He rushed before the Micro-Dust Mech in an instant, and then...

Quake-Word Technique, Stacked Quake!

Witnessing this sudden counterattack and feeling the unprecedented power erupting from him, Chen Qiong Zhi's heart jolted!

She knew that if she received this strike with the strength she had set previously, the damage might not be severe, but losing face would be unavoidable.

How should she handle it?

The next moment, the two collided.

Boom!!!

The Pluto Mech flew backward.

After landing, it still dragged across the ground like a tattered sack, trailing sparks and flashes of electricity all the way.

A trace of helplessness appeared on Chen Qiong Zhi's beautiful face.

She had actually failed to hold back her strength!

"Li Yi, are you alright?"

Chen Qiong Zhi called out into the open air. Li Yi should have entered a piloting blackout by now, right?

"Almost overloaded."

That reply shocked Chen Qiong Zhi.

"How are you not unconscious?"

"I blacked out, then woke up," Li Yi replied.