Chapter 1 The Gathering

This time, the rules meant that more than half of the people would be directly eliminated. Unlike the relatively relaxed atmosphere of previous mid-season trainings, this one was obviously filled with a strong pressure. In the past, the mid-season training was really just training, improving a little, gaining some prestige, and preparing for the S-match, but this year they were starting with internal cuts.

In the hall, white lines were drawn, each line just enough for six people to stand on, seemingly prepared for the various teams, but there were no markings on them. First come, first stand. This was very different from the past. Many of those present had participated in previous S-matches, where such places had fixed nameplates, arranged according to rankings, but this year was different.

You stand where you think you belong.

The standing space in the hall was fan-shaped, narrow in the front and wide in the back. There were two positions in the very front, then four positions in the second row, ten positions in the third row, and the rest of the teams squeezed together in the back.

Obviously, those who dared to occupy the front sixteen positions must have sufficient confidence in themselves.

The mid-season training camp was filled with a taste of gunpowder from the very beginning. Many people arrived but were not in a hurry to take positions, but were watching, because the big shots always pick first. Some things are not first come, first served; you also have to see if you are worthy.

The first row was undoubtedly occupied by one from North Carolina. As for the other one, the ones who currently seemed qualified to occupy it were one of the Knights of the Round Table, Okaman, or GRU, or perhaps the Dome Royal Military Academy from the Oceanic region, which had been on a tear lately. Dome's Curtis had been too fierce recently. As the head of the new Five Tigers, he was the king of the new forces.

But who could stand there was really hard to say. All four teams had a chance. The mid-season competition was filled with the taste of provocation from the start. Nothing was certain; if you wanted it, go get it yourself!

Of course, even if the ones above couldn't stand in the first row, they were still solid in the second row.

And the remaining one position in the second row was being contested by more than a dozen old and emerging teams. This was very intense.

But it was nothing compared to the third row. Although it seemed like there were as many as ten positions, the remaining dozens of teams were not there as mere foils. They were there to enter the S-match. Who wasn't full of confidence and high spirits?

Moreover, as long as they weren't compared to North Carolina, everyone else had a chance. Anyone who came here was not made of clay.

In the monitoring room, two men wearing the shoulder insignia of generals were watching the situation in the hall. This mid-season training camp, which concerned the honor of Earth, was also under their full responsibility. Major General Sazerac and Major General Lu Donglei, the quotas for the sixteen teams were also in their hands.

Looking at the situation inside, their expressions weren't good either. This time, the military had gone all out. Previous mid-season competitions were all held within Earth, selecting places with good conditions for actual combat mech training, the best equipment, and equipped with various tactical analyses, maintaining a good atmosphere, but in the end, they found that the results were getting worse year after year.

This year, they had completely reformed. The mech operating system currently used by humans is the Katz bionic system. All attacks originate from the coordination of the body and the synergy of the brain. Although there are some auxiliary functions, the strongest combat power of a mech comes from the pilot, and with the use of k23, an unstoppable trend has already appeared. The top combat power will have a qualitative leap, and those super-soldiers with Golden Zone will completely unleash their combat power.

This was no longer just a competition; it concerned the power structure of the four federations. To put it bluntly, it was a military competition. Whoever fell behind would have their say in the Solar System Alliance weakened.

This mid-season training camp was mainly focused on exploring the warriors' own strength. As for the tactics of mech combat and the cooperation of the war teams, that was the matter of the teams. Each team had done more research in this area than them.

"This year's North Carolina is our hope, but this kind of dominance reduces competitiveness. It's not good for North Carolina either," Sazerac said.

"Not this year." Lu Donglei smiled and lit a cigarette.

"Oh, do you have any news? The Knights of the Round Table, or Dome, there is still a gap between them and North Carolina."

"Not very sure, still have to see." Lu Donglei was really not sure, but he had some expectations.

In the hall, people in the fourth row had already started to stand, because they felt that they were not qualified to stand in the front three rows, so they at least took a relatively forward position in the fourth row in advance.

In the third row, Jiyingdao Military Academy and Black Rock Military Academy had arrived and occupied two positions in the third row. These were both famous teams. Whether it was Cang Gongtian or Yan Peng, they were both highly sought after. The two captains looked at each other and did not communicate. Cang Gongtian was one of the new Five Tigers recognized by the military, and Yan Peng was the number one heavy-armored warrior in USE. He was a third-year student at Black Rock this year, but Yan Peng had dominated the heavy-armored field for two years, a proper senior.

Other lower-ranked war teams also gave up watching and began to occupy positions in the fourth row, all discussing and seeing who dared to stand forward. It seemed that the competition had already begun.

It seemed that there were no regulations, and anyone who wanted to go up could go up, but if they were really not qualified, they would be driven away. If they were about the same, they might even have a fight.

Other competitions would have rules in this regard, but the mid-season training camp would not. It had always been the rule of the strong.

Whoever was awesome was the boss.

With a burst of noise, everyone looked towards the entrance. The heroic and valiant Ophie led the Knights of the Round Table war team to arrive. Ophie glanced at the entire venue, saw Yan Peng, nodded, and led the team towards the front.

Everyone was staring at Ophie. With Ophie's qualifications and strength, she was definitely the most qualified to occupy the first row besides North Carolina. Although the pursuers behind were very fierce, they had not been verified. At any rate, the Knights of the Round Table were in the top eight of the previous season. At this time, the first move was very important.

Long time no see, Senior Sister Ophie's looks were still so great, everyone looked sideways.

But Ophie suddenly stopped when she reached the second row, thought for a while, and occupied the first position on the left hand side of the second row.

Suddenly, there was a burst of discussion in the audience. What was going on???

Were the Knights of the Round Table so cowardly?

Were they retreating before the battle?

In fact, before the competition, the North Carolina Alliance had already been rumored, with North Carolina leading the five top war teams. It could be said that no one dared to resist in USE's three acres of land, not even Ophie. Could this be Ophie's intention to submit to Chao Qinglong?

You should know that many people admired Ophie because Ophie was not interested in Chao Qinglong, the number one person in USE, and she worked particularly hard when playing against North Carolina in past competitions, almost to the point of being tit-for-tat.

What was wrong?

In the observation room, Sazerac and Lu Donglei were obviously quite dissatisfied. What was USE's biggest criticism?

Weakness, lack of killing intent, lack of fighting spirit. People who don't go wild when they are young are wasting their youth. They hoped that there would be a fight inside first to arouse fighting spirit. North Carolina was highly expected, but without opponents, it would only weaken. The Knights of the Round Table were sharpening stones, but now that the sharpening stones were cowardly, what could they do?

Greg was also a little surprised, his face a little ugly. That first row position, apart from North Carolina, should be their Knights of the Round Table, but he would not question the captain at this time. Once the mid-season competition started, the captains of each team were the supreme leaders, but Chen Ang and Mo Yu realized something.

Amid everyone's discussions, the Sea Shark Military Academy arrived. Luo Dongsheng took the lead, and the Sea Shark team was in high spirits, walking to the third row in the envious eyes of everyone, and stood with Black Rock and Jiyingdao.

In fact, the higher the level, the less radical they generally were, but rather waited for opportunities.

Luo Dongsheng and Cang Gongtian looked at each other, their eyes full of irrepressible confidence, glanced at the people from Black Rock. This time, the old and new forces would definitely have a change, even within the North Carolina Alliance itself there was competition.

The big shots arrived one after another. With golden curly hair and exuding uninhibitedness, Robbie the Mad Lion, who came with his own light buff, arrived.

Before he came, no one knew how many people were staring at this "weakest" of the Six Dragons, but when Robbie really appeared, everyone in the audience felt a huge pressure.

Robbie arrived with Miersan and others, and the signature lion robes of the Cougars team looked particularly domineering at this time.

Robbie glanced at the group of people in the third row and walked towards Ophie, and the Cougars occupied a position in the second row.

Everyone was not too surprised. With the Mad Lion's character, it was quite low-key that he didn't go to grab the first row, but his second row had hidden dangers. There were a total of six positions in the front two rows, and it was not enough to arrange between the Five Tigers and the Six Dragons.

Solomon also arrived with the Udyr team. He also watched for a while, but quickly found a position in the fourth row and stood there. The position was not very good, but Solomon did not intend to compete, although standing like this seemed a bit silly.

Solomon discovered a problem, that is, the closer the white lines were to the front, the clearer they were, and the more blurred they were towards the back, and they were not a straight line, but densely packed short lines for single positions. When everyone was paying attention to the dazzling positions in front, this situation was naturally ignored, but Solomon quickly counted clearly that there were only twenty-eight team positions on the short lines in the back, two teams less.

After Solomon led the team to stand properly, he began to look around. Li Ge had not arrived yet, which was a bit of a headache. The players' Skylink had all been confiscated upon entering, and they could not contact the outside world during the entire mid-season competition.

Then Solomon smiled again, it seemed that there was no need to worry too much about this.

The GRU Military Academy arrived, a super team led by the Lomachenko and the DiLarenzo brothers. GRU was really an old-brand among the old-brands, and had always maintained a strong level. In countless changes, they had never fallen below the top level. They had a special status in USE.

Lomachenko led the team through the crowd, came directly to the second row, saw Ophie and Robbie, and nodded slightly.

Robbie smiled, "Lomachenko, when did you go bald?"

Lomachenko was the kind of person with sharp edges and corners and a fierce face, even when he smiled he was creepy, "I shaved it, Little Curly Hair."

This was considered a greeting between the Six Dragons. At this moment, feeling the status of the big shots, the players of other teams were really envious.