Chapter 249: Still a Little Ways Off!
Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Luo Lang took in a deep breath. Although he knew the opponent was stronger than him, Luo Lang did not want to give up just like that — he wanted to help Boss out. Even if he knew it would be very difficult to achieve the outcome he wanted, he still wanted to try.
When Luo Lang walked onto the stage, a commotion broke out among the people watching below. "What's this? The New Cadet Regiment is actually sending out such a skinny weakling? Could it be the New Cadet Regiment is prepared to throw this match?"
"Look, is that fellow really a guy? He looks even prettier than a girl!" Who knows who yelled this out, causing the crowd's attention to swiftly turn away from Luo Lang's thin and slender frame to his lovely face.
"F*ck, it can't be a girl dressed up as a guy, right?" Some random lecher was in raptures at the sight, beginning to indulge in wild fantasy.
Of course, his fanciful delusions received the contempt of the students beside him — did he really think this was those olden times? Able to impersonate a man just by putting on some guy clothes? Upon entrance to the military academy, the first thing they had to go through was a physical check-up. That had been conducted before everyone else, where they had all been naked ... well, alright, the examining teachers were very reasonable, and would allow you to use your hands to cover your willy.
Of course, these scornful cadets looking disdainfully at that lecher would never ever imagine that there truly was someone who had blatantly enrolled into the First Men's Military Academy as a girl to study. During that physical check-up, this person had naturally been exempted via special privilege by a particular national idol general who loved his daughter deeply ...
In one of the boxes on the second floor, Luo Lang's beautiful face and his delicate and seemingly easy to overpower figure made a person's eyes shine. A covetous smile grew on that person's lips as he mumbled to himself, "Who could have expected that there would be such a stunner among this year's freshmen ..." He licked his lips, deciding that he would obtain the other by any means necessary 1 .
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Leiting's candidate, Qi Ya, was a 5th year cadet, currently still at the academy for his last few courses. As his physical skills combat ability was extremely outstanding, in order to ensure victory, Lin Zhidong had personally invited him to represent them. Sending Qi Ya out as vanguard was a calculated move on Lin Zhidong's part.
Ling Lan was not the only one who had thought of Tianji's horse racing; Lin Zhidong too had thought of the same principle. He was afraid that the New Cadet Regiment would send out their third strongest to fight against the weakest in his party, catching him off guard and thus causing Leiting to lose the first match. Lin Zhidong knew well that the first match was key — morale would lean towards the side who won. Lin Zhidong did not want to let the New Cadet Regiment obtain that advantage, and so had chosen the third strongest in Leiting's party, Qi Ya, to fight first, guaranteeing the final outcome.
Lin Zhidong's thought process was, even if the opponent planned to fight in the order of their strength levels, he would not lose out by sending out the third strongest now. As long as they won this match, he would still have the two strongest at hand — no matter what, victory would be theirs. Although Lin Zhidong was somewhat wary of that mysterious 'aberrant', he still had more faith in those two strongest combatants below the Thunder King.
Qi Ya saw how delicate his opponent was, just like a girl, and was instantly filled with displeasure. The gaze he directed at Luo Lang carried a clear trace of contempt. Instead of becoming angered by the opponent's attitude, Luo Lang was pleased. The more the opponent looked down on him, the better his chances to achieve an upset.
Of course, Luo Lang had not forgotten Ling Lan's earlier instructions. So, the moment he got onto the stage, even though Colonel Tang Yu had not given the signal to start, Luo Lang's entire body was keyed up in readiness. Despite looking no different from his usual standing posture, anyone with a keen eye would be able to tell from his low-hanging arms and slightly bent waist that Luo Lang would be able to unleash his strength in an explosive burst to handle any sudden shifts in the situation.
Colonel Tang Yu was an ace mecha operator, but he was also a combat expert. Otherwise, the academy would not have sent him to be the referee of this fight. Seeing Luo Lang's stance, a gleam of light no one else could see flashed through his eyes. However, when he glanced towards Qi Ya, his brow creased almost imperceptibly ...
Tang Yu raised his right hand expressionlessly, and with a sharp wave, he shouted, "Begin!"
Luo Lang had initially thought to stay on the defensive, drawing out the fight with the other for a bit. Unexpectedly, the opponent did not put up any defence at all. He stood sluggishly, his entire person slouched and seemingly unprepared. Seeing this, a thought sparked through Luo Lang's mind and with a spring off his right foot, his entire body pounced from one side of the stage to the other like a cannonball, striking hard and fast towards the opponent.
Seeing this attack of Luo Lang's, Tang Yu's eyebrows rose slightly, somewhat surprised. He had determined that Luo Lang's original stance had been largely defensive; however, Luo Lang had been able to switch from that stance instantly into offence. Moreover, he had done so without any interruption in his movements, the transition smooth and flawless. It was clear to see that Luo Lang's control over his muscles had reached an extremely high realm.
Even though Luo Lang's body may lean towards the delicate side, not as buff, and with slightly weaker resilience compared to the average boy, this control over his muscles allowed him to compensate for his body's weakness. It could be said that Luo Lang had already developed a combat style appropriate for his body type. This was most definitely a youth who possessed extremely great talent in combat.
Right then, Tang Yu could not help but be pleased by this discovery of talent. This type of ability would undoubtedly be a great help to mecha piloting. As long as Luo Lang's physical condition could pass the 1st year's evaluation, Tang Yu believed he would be unable to refrain from taking in such a talented student.
Luo Lang's attack was undoubtedly sudden. The unprepared Qi Ya took fright, but he was after all a 5th year — in terms of combat, he was very experienced. He would not become flustered like those newbies, choosing to lash out thoughtlessly in his panic. Instead, he retreated calmly and rapidly, trying to put some distance between him and his opponent so he would have enough space to gather his strength and counterattack.
Although Luo Lang was a 1st year military academy cadet, his battle experience was not weak either. Mind you, his companion Qi Long was a battle maniac, dragging his friends off to spar whenever he had the time. Luo Lang was undoubtedly the one who had been dragged off the most 2 — though Xie Yi had joined in after that, the frequency still had not dropped by much. The natural result of all this fighting was a wealth of experience.
Luo Lang saw his opponent retreating and instantly knew what the other was plotting. Having the initiative, how could he let go of this advantage? Thus, on the arena stage, two figures could be seen dancing around the stage, one in constant close pursuit of the other. Due to the extremely high speed, the spectating students actually saw the action as a streak of shadow moving across the stage.
Watching this scene, Lin Zhidong could not help but harrumph and say, "I was surprisingly right. The opponent really had been planning to use the principle of Tianji's horse racing ... luckily I had taken measures to counter this, or else the opponent might really have taken the first match." If he had sent out the weakest in his team, whose skills were not much stronger than the other, at that time, it would have been hard to determine for certain which side would win. But now, victory was sure to be theirs ... Although Lin Zhidong's combat ability was not that strong, he firmly believed that with Qi Ya's strength, he would never lose to a 1st year freshman.
On the stage, Qi Ya saw that no matter how he hard he tried to retreat, the other was sticking like sticky-candy to him — he could not pull away no matter what. He felt that this performance of his was really too disgraceful, and rage surged in his heart. He began to hate Luo Lang who he had initially looked down upon ... he would definitely teach this detestable fellow before him a brutal lesson.
Even though he was currently at a total disadvantage, with his capabilities, he would still be able to defeat the other.
Having full confidence in himself, Qi Ya did not want to retreat any longer. He abruptly halted his steps, and with a loud bellow, the Qi-Jin in his body gathered rapidly to surge into his right hand, where he then thrust out his right palm in a fierce strike towards Luo Lang.
"Alright!" shouted Luo Lang, seeing the other stop running and choosing instead to circulate his Qi to fight him head on. His long ready right fist punched out powerfully at the opponent.
This move of Luo Lang's seemed to go against Ling Lan's instructions at the start, but Luo Lang did not think he was doing anything wrong. He had managed to take the initiative and take control of the flow of the fight from the start due to the opponent's underestimation of him. Plus, the other had attacked from an emergency stop, so the power he could put into his blow would definitely not be as substantial as his own. Thus, Luo Lang felt that even if he met this blow of the opponent's head on, he would not lose, and may even have an overwhelming advantage.
And so, a fist and a palm crashed into each other, sending a muffled whump ringing out across the stage. With Luo Lang and Qi Ya at its centre, a powerful swirl of wind swept out over the surrounding audience.
However, there were Qi-Jin absorbing facilities around the edges of the stage, hence the students sitting below could not feel any of this invisible force. Still, even so, everyone knew that this strike was certainly not as simple or casual as it appeared to be.
The two fighters were frozen in place for several seconds — three perhaps, or maybe just one — and then the two of them were abruptly sent flying back from their stalled state. Luo Lang had been on top to begin with, so when he was sent flying, he immediately flipped into a somersault to dissipate the rest of the force, and then landed soundly on the ground.
Meanwhile, Qi Ya retreated a whole three steps before finding stable footing again, though his face flushed deeply. His complexion quickly returned to normal, but from the perspective of those keen of eye, Qi Ya most likely lost out by a hair in this collision.
The spectating students looked at one another — they had not expected what they believed would be a one-sided fight to be such a close fight instead. It was to the extent that in that last strike, the 1st year Luo Lang had vaguely gained the upper hand, while the 5th year Qi Ya seemed to have lost out in comparison.
Some new cadets became exhilarated watching the proceedings. Even though they had hoped in their hearts that the new cadets would be able to achieve something in the fights, upholding their pride, they knew reality would not be that easy. Furthermore, Luo Lang had seemed unbelievably scrawny, making them lose all hope from the start. Who could have expected that that youth who was as pretty as a picture on the stage could actually fight so well, going at it so fiercely from the beginning, and then even suppressing the opponent in this last encounter ... Could it be that the New Cadet Regiment's arrogance in accepting the wagered fight was not purely out of stubborn pride, but because they truly had the strength to back them up?
Tentative hope rose in these new cadets' hearts. If the New Cadet Regiment really won ... they, as freshmen, would undoubtedly have a better refuge. Compared to those pre-existing factions, the New Cadet Regiment which was made up of freshmen like them was certainly much more acceptable in their minds.
Thus thought the spectating students — and even on Leiting's side, quite a few faces had shifted slightly. After all, Qi Ya was their third strongest fighter; if he lost ... the situation would not look good for Leiting.
Seeing the disquiet of his companions, one of the strongest fighters in Leiting quietly explained some things to the people around him. Consequently, those people relaxed and began to smile in relief.
"Luo Lang, is still a little ways off 3 ," Ling Lan sighed as she shook her head lightly.