Chapter 1 Accompanying the Jeers

With the jeers of some, the faces of the entire North Carolina team turned solemn. They were all top figures from Tianqi back in the day.

Lu Donglei watched the tense standoff between the two sides. He appeared cold on the surface, but he was secretly pleased. Finally, they had some guts. He wanted to see just how far Chao Qinglong had progressed. As for Li Hao, there was nothing he could do. Although the instructor had given instructions, tempering North Carolina and boosting Chao Qinglong would be a contribution to Earth. After all, there could only be one leader.

"Very good. I'll choose four events: dodging, impact resistance, shooting, and one-on-one combat. Each of the first three events is worth one point, and the final one-on-one is worth two points. You have half an hour to prepare."

Lu Donglei said, instructing the staff to begin preparations.

It was really about to begin. The atmosphere in the entire training ground instantly heated up. What could be more enticing than this? Those who understood knew that this was a war between the new king and the old king. Two tigers could not share a mountain.

For the spectators, these battles would also give them an understanding of the training to come.

Inside the war room, Tianjing Mech Academy was silent. Wu Zang and the others all wore heavy expressions. Ma Long slumped in his chair. What was this? What had he done to deserve this?

Was Tianjing Mech Academy's mid-season journey, and even the S-League, about to end here? This was too unfair. They had zero chance against North Carolina. Ao Fei and Depuya had to win, but the Qiong Ding and Carl Hough teams were not weak either.

Just now, there might have been one possibility: for Li Hao to admit defeat and find a weaker team.

But what's done is done, and there's no turning back? No strategy, no tactics, and time kept moving forward.

Finally, it was about to begin.

The first duel was between Depuya's Prometheus and Perkin's Carl Hough. This time, they didn't bicker like they used to. In fact, they were the best of friends back in Tianqi, but they parted ways because of an accident. This battle would erase their past friendship. The onlookers whispered, and even those who didn't understand the situation knew roughly what was going on: the root cause was the conflict between Chao Qinglong and Li Hao.

Lu Donglei personally acted as the referee. "The first event is dodging training."

Prometheus sent Randall, while Carl Hough sent Seth.

Before them was a smooth, flat metal wall with a silver sheen. Both were light mecha, so dodging and agility were essential, especially without the constraints of mecha. They usually did various dodging drills.

Lu Donglei looked at them. "The first to be hit loses. Begin."

Both instantly focused, and the next second, the wall erupted with silver light, blasting out in all directions. They were only three meters from the wall, and by the time they realized something was wrong and tried to activate their Red Eyes, it was too late. With screams, they were riddled with holes. Lu Donglei didn't even look. "Double loss!"

These people were too arrogant. Did they think the military had no preparations? As if they would let them play house.

"A reminder: all participants will have their scores recorded as part of your final score."

The second event: impact resistance.

The two strongest members from each side stepped forward. Heavy armor undoubtedly had the strongest impact resistance. This time, both were prepared. They roared, instantly entering the golden zone, tensing all their muscles and bracing themselves.

The next second, a metal cylinder one meter in diameter shot out like a cannonball. There was a circle under their feet. The first to be knocked out lost, and they couldn't dodge.

Seeing the level of attack, both immediately wanted to dodge, but as members of top USE teams, their long training restrained their instincts. They braced their arms, taking the hit head-on. Both flew back seven or eight meters and fell to the ground. They couldn't withstand a single blow and struggled to get up, but they had no strength.

Lu Donglei didn't even look. "All failed."

What was thought to be a clash of dragons and tigers turned out to be a contest against the training itself. Prometheus and Carl Hough, who were definitely considered strong teams, scored zero against zero.

Lu Donglei's expression was grim. If he had a choice, he would probably eliminate these unprepared wastes directly. Of course, he also wanted to give all participating teams a warning. These people were too relaxed and had no sense of responsibility or urgency.

"Third event: shooting training!"

Lu Donglei said sternly.

Depuya and Perkins also had extremely ugly expressions. This was just training? Did they not want face? They had always been top teams.

The main snipers stepped up. To be a sniper, one had to be proficient in all kinds of firearms. Their shooting accuracy was much higher when they weren't piloting mecha, which ensured their feel as mech pilots. The snipers who stepped up were very confident.

Given the situation, they would probably be shooting clay pigeons or something similar, perhaps with some obstacles. But this was all commonplace.

Prometheus sent Xilan, while Carl Hough sent Monazai, a famous USE sniper who had participated in S10. Aside from tactical execution, shooting was a fundamental skill.

"This event is simple: shooting clay pigeons. The one with the higher hit rate wins."

After Lu Donglei finished speaking, Xilan and Monazai couldn't hide a hint of smugness. Who wouldn't want to show off in front of everyone? Although there weren't many spectators, they were all top figures in the industry. "Let's begin, General!"

The soldiers handed them pistols, the current standard-issue pistols of the military, the Tiger Guard M2. This was basic training, but the next second, they couldn't laugh anymore. With the guns in their hands, the soldiers put blindfolds on them.

"These are custom-made for the Mid-Season Tournament. Even those with clairvoyant abilities won't be able to see through them."

After Lu Donglei finished speaking, there was a buzz among the spectators. Was this trying to kill people without paying for it?

They had heard that this year's Mid-Season Tournament was different, but did it have to be this insane?

Xilan and Monazai were dumbfounded. After putting on the blindfolds, they lost their sight completely. Almost instinctively, both twitched their ears, trying to pinpoint the location of the targets through sound. It was difficult to locate targets through sound, but this event was about hit rate. They had to do better than their opponents.

Then, they heard a piercing roar in their ears, making their heads buzz. The next second, the clay pigeons were released.

They had to enter the golden zone. A strong mental force would form a sensitive lock on the outside world. They had to use their mental force to lock on to the targets and rely on their strong "feel," the muscle memory formed through long-term training, to hit them.

Xilan and Monazai had ugly expressions, a blank slate. They couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything. Red Eyes would give them some sensitivity, allowing them to sense the clay pigeons being released, but the speed and trajectory were impossible to grasp.

Ten seconds passed, and they held their guns without firing a single shot.

"Failed!"

After three rounds, the two extremely self-confident teams were beaten into the ground, slapped in the face hard. Xilan and Monazai, who had taken off their blindfolds, also lowered their heads.

It wasn't that they didn't want to take a shot, but they were completely disrupted before they could react. By the time they were thinking, the time was up.

At this moment, all the remaining forty teams put away their previous arrogance. Yes, even after being tempered by the giant insects, they looked down on the Mid-Season Tournament a little, thinking that the so-called training camp was meaningless. The selection was still from among them, and their level was still the deciding factor.

This was because the previous training camp members had shown a level that was definitely higher than the military's average level, making the Mid-Season training camp impractical. Of course, the military couldn't just make things difficult for the sake of difficulty, but this time was different. The three basic training sessions were not aimless and had specific goals.

Dodging was the simplest, and the弹射metal ball was not new, but the difficulty was definitely high. This took into account the powerful prediction and reaction after awakening the golden zone. At the same time, it required that once the prediction was made, the body had to keep up, otherwise it was useless. The military realized that awakening was not the goal. The awakened power needed the body to cooperate to achieve unity.

The second event, impact resistance, was a requirement for heavy armor. This was not just for combat but also for situations that might arise on Kepler. Heavy armor needed to have a strong ability to withstand external forces. This was also a reference to the intensity of Titan.

The third event was a further requirement for snipers. Snipers were the least affected by the golden zone compared to other positions.

But this also meant that snipers had to improve their resistance to face the impact of other positions awakening stronger powers, as well as stronger reaction and insight.

It could be said that the sniper's survival space would become more difficult in the future. After discussions, the military believed that the sniper position could not be canceled. Instead, it should be strengthened. Awakening the golden zone definitely had value and needed further power to be unearthed.

Of course, these were all basic. The height they could ultimately reach still depended on the members' own awareness.

All the members failed the challenge, and Depuya and Perkins' expressions were also quite ugly.

Lu Donglei didn't give them any face. "This is your so-called confidence and first-rate reputation. In the end, your one-on-one duel will determine the outcome of this round."

Lu Donglei, with a serious expression, was not in a hurry. What was the task of the Mid-Season Tournament? It was to solve problems. Before solving problems, everyone had to be made aware of the problems. On the one hand, it was to determine a leader, and on the other hand, it was to make an example of others. Depuya glanced at Perkins. "Fuck!"

"Using your mouth?"

Perkins mocked. "What else can you do besides sucking up to superiors!"

"That's still better than you licking the boots of a traitor!"

The two had been old rivals in Tianqi. They both majored in light mecha, and they represented the top level in the USE. Everyone knew that they had been fighting each other in secret, but overall, Perkins was a bit stronger than Depuya.

"Let's not waste time talking. The loser will have to take a detour from now on!"

Perkins was also provoked. He had wanted to leave some room for the other party, but every sentence hit a major artery.

"I've been waiting for this day!"

Depuya threw off his coat. Things had reached this point, and nothing else mattered. Damn it, either he would be lying down today, or Perkins would be lying down. In any case, he absolutely could not let Second Brother leave the Mid-Season Tournament like this.

The two came to the center of the training ground. The soldiers had already brought up the weapon racks, with various cold weapons matching the types of mecha. Both silently chose titanium daggers. Instantly, their expressions turned silent. They didn't know how things had come to this point. Back in Tianqi, they had the most similar styles and were the best of friends, but one followed Li Hao, and the other followed Chao Qinglong.

The past flashed by. Depuya hated traitors the most. If the incident back then had no evidence and could only be considered speculation, today, Chao Qinglong's kicking Tianjing when they were down at their most critical moment proved everything. And Perkins, this lackey, had to pay the price.

*Ching*… Depuya's eyes turned blood red. Perkins' eyes also turned blood red. Obviously, both sides had murderous intent.

*Bang, bang*… With two almost overlapping sounds, the two figures arrived at the center simultaneously. Depuya was known for his speed, while Perkins was known for his agile footwork. Both light mech pilots' attacks were characterized by speed, precision, and ruthlessness. They instantly engaged in a series of attacks and defenses, aiming for each other's vital points, but there were few direct collisions. They constantly probed each other, looking for an opportunity to strike a fatal blow.