An Incredible Battle
Far across the hangar, a tall, slender, bright red mecha slowly moved out of formation and headed for the contestant tunnel.
One person remarked, "The Hongzhu Merchant Guild was eliminated in the second round last year. I heard they've got a new leader this year and haven't found out where they dug up their mecha pilot from."
Another person said, "The Hongzhu Merchant Guild actually has decent strength, it's just that the old leader was quite stingy."
Yet another asked, "Who is Jude the Armoredless? I've never heard of him."
"Which alliance or guild is he from?"
Everyone waited for Jude to appear. In the vast hangar, the noise grew less and less, becoming quieter and quieter.
It was like a noisy study hall in high school suddenly falling eerily silent.
At this moment, Gu Ya was walking towards the contestant tunnel.
"No way, he's Jude?" someone exclaimed. It wasn't very loud, but it echoed through the hangar, audible to almost everyone.
No one had expected that this not-so-tall, slightly handsome youth would be one of the contestants.
Everyone stared at Gu Ya in silence.
Gu Ya paid no attention to the people, resolutely walking towards the contestant tunnel.
Just then, a burly man in a black tank top emerged from the crowd, grabbed Gu Ya by the shoulder, and demanded, "You're Jude? Where's your mecha?"
Gu Ya glanced at the man and said, "I don't have a mecha!"
"Who do you think you are?" the man roared, punching Gu Ya square in the face.
A burning, tearing sensation immediately spread across his entire cheek.
Gu Ya staggered from the blow, and the man seized the opportunity to land another kick, knocking Gu Ya down.
Then, a leather boot firmly stepped on Gu Ya's face.
Humiliation and unwillingness instantly filled Gu Ya's heart!
Gu Ya, gritting his teeth against the pain, forcefully pushed his head and body up, shoving the man's foot away, and got to his feet.
He told himself he had to swallow this insult for now.
Only when he had strength could he resist.
It wasn't time yet.
"If you don't have a mecha, get lost!"
"Who's this little brat?"
"You wanna die?"
The surrounding people immediately let out harsh words.
Gu Ya walked to the contestant entrance in silence, fiercely wiping away the tears in his eyes.
His gaze reignited with fighting spirit.
I have to save my sister, I can't lose! I want revenge!
...
Waste Treatment Area 13, Old Workshop Plaza, inside a five-story building.
A member shouted, "Boss! Boss! Look at the TV!"
Wang Panpan walked out from the inner room, asking with a tired expression, "What are you shouting about? What's going on?"
"Gu Ya! He's in the first match!"
"Hmm?" Wang Panpan's spirit instantly lifted, and she quickly walked to the holographic projection TV and sat down.
On the TV, Gu Ya stood in the center of the arena. Although he had covered his head with his outer jacket, he was recognizable from his inner lining and build.
Just then, Youyou rushed out from a side room, followed by a thin man who yelled, "Boss, I can't catch her, she insisted on coming!"
"It's fine, watch together," Wang Panpan said.
...
At this time, in the arena, Gu Ya and the mecha piloted by Li Ding of the Hongzhu Merchant Guild stood opposite each other.
The previously empty audience seats were now filled with holographic projections of spectators.
All the spectators wore masks, numbering in the tens of thousands!
Perhaps due to mandatory silencing, no sound could be heard from the scene, making it terrifyingly quiet!
It was as if tens of thousands of ghosts were watching.
The announcer said, "This year's No. 33 seed, the Hongzhu Merchant Guild's 'Dragonfly Mecha'! And, the newly recruited mecha pilot this year, Li Ding, who is rumored to be quite skilled."
"As for Jude the Armoredless, he is a newly registered contestant this year. He has no background or team."
"In the past, there have been contestants who fought mechas with their bare bodies, but none of them lasted more than five seconds!!!"
"So! Jude the Armoredless, how many seconds can you last? Hahaha!"
"Enough talk, let's begin the match!"
As soon as the announcer finished speaking, Gu Ya immediately adopted a defensive stance.
The Dragonfly Mecha, however, remained motionless.
Gu Ya dared not relax, carefully calculating in his mind.
[Active Mind] and [Pain Insensitivity] had a five-minute cooldown.
[Weakness Scan] had a three-minute cooldown.
The opponent's mecha was holding a melee dagger, and the system analysis indicated it was a close-range speed-type combat mecha.
If that was the case, he would wait for the opponent to attack first, then combine his skills, climb onto the mecha's body, and damage its weak points.
Gu Ya felt the screwdriver, wrench, and the Cobra automatic pistol at his waist in his pocket. These were his only weapons.
At this moment, a voice sounded in Gu Ya's mind:
[Ding! Main mission activated: Destroy the opponent's mecha]
[Mission Reward: 530 System Coins]
[Reward Skill: Code Tampering]
Li Ding's voice came from the Dragonfly's loudspeaker: "Jude, you can still give up now."
Gu Ya continued to maintain his defensive posture, not moving at all.
"Kid, you're still young," Li Ding continued.
"Stop the nonsense," Gu Ya said. "I'm going to beat you."
Gu Ya's words were firm and resonant. Li Ding felt a surge of anger. Seeing this kid's posture, he completely lacked combat experience, was full of openings, and still wanted to beat me?
Li Ding didn't want to drag this out; it should be over quickly. He hadn't expected someone to just give it away in the first match.
Truly heaven-sent!
Li Ding's mecha was slender. Spreading its arms, it truly resembled a dragonfly.
Suddenly, the Dragonfly's rear thrusters ignited, with flames wider than the fuselage.
With a "rumble!", the fuselage seemed to break through a layer of air, and it charged forward!
Breaking the sound barrier!
Gu Ya was shocked!
In mere seconds, the Dragonfly had flown past Gu Ya's position and stopped less than a hundred meters behind him.
In the arena, only the Dragonfly was visible, not Jude.
All the spectators fell silent.
The announcer shouted, "Contestant Jude has disappeared! Dragonfly wins... Wait! What is that on the mecha!!!"
All the spectators looked simultaneously. They saw a person squatting on the mecha's left shoulder pauldron, gripping the armor tightly with one hand.
With the other hand, he was rapidly disassembling the armor with a wrench!
"JUDE!!!" the announcer screamed frantically and in shock.
Gu Ya, using his mecha pilot skills, spun the wrench faster than a printer, leaving afterimages!
Li Ding was greatly alarmed and controlled the mecha, reaching out with both hands to grab Gu Ya.
The Dragonfly's arms were very long, with three articulated joints. Normally, it should have been effortless to grab Gu Ya.
But Gu Ya vanished from the mecha's shoulder as if by magic.
The Dragonfly grabbed at empty air!
"What's going on! Where did contestant Jude go!" the announcer exclaimed.
Li Ding's shock turned to rage. He quickly accessed the mecha's status.
On the mecha's status display screen, in the narrow space of the shoulder joint, a humanoid bright spot appeared.
Gu Ya hadn't disappeared; he had actually crawled into the Dragonfly's shoulder. His not-so-tall stature came into play, allowing him to curl up inside with no effort.
"This is your weakness!" Gu Ya muttered, looking at the twisting transmission components.
The mechanic's display analysis appeared:
[Twisting roller, driven by a belt, rotates extremely fast but has poor protection and a simple structure.]
"The simpler the structure, the easier it is to be destroyed by something simpler!"
As Gu Ya spoke, he plunged the screwdriver into the belt and then twisted and pulled with all his might. The belt, as wide as a hand, was torn apart.
This belt was like the "tendon" that moved the mecha's arm; once it was damaged, the mecha could no longer lift its arm.
Most mechas would install armor fastening bolts internally and leave a disassembled port with a password lock somewhere on the armor.
Through the narrow disassembly port, they would remove adjacent armor, and then, following the installation sequence, remove other armor piece by piece.
This was to prevent the mecha from being disassembled and damaged from the outside.
However, mechas in bounty battles were different. Due to the tight repair times, all mechas used external fastening for armor, making them easier to disassemble and repair.
This gave Gu Ya the opportunity to disassemble the armor.
After damaging the belt, Gu Ya immediately crawled out of the mecha.
Li Ding was furious. He controlled the mecha to fly into the air, performed a flip, and slammed its shoulder downwards.
The Dragonfly intended to crush Gu Ya with its own weight!
Gu Ya's heart pounded wildly. He clung to the mecha's head and desperately crawled forward.
The ground was approaching rapidly.
Just half a second before the mecha's shoulder hit the ground, Gu Ya finally broke free from the shoulder.
The huge impact vibration sent Gu Ya flying, and he crashed heavily onto the ground. After sliding several meters, Gu Ya clutched his left arm and slowly stood up.
"Jude has narrowly escaped death once again!!!"
"Incredible! Unprecedented!"
Gu Ya's ears were ringing, and he could hear nothing. His system automatically analyzed:
The Dragonfly mecha's left upper limb was immobilized. The shoulder armor had a 17% damage rate, and its mobility had decreased by 28%.
"The skills are still on a 2-minute 10-second cooldown; I have to endure this!"
"JUDE!" Li Ding was completely enraged and yelled frantically.
Simultaneously, he controlled the mecha and repeated the same maneuver, breaking the sound barrier!
This time, Gu Ya would have no chance to dodge.
In a mere instant, the victor would be decided!