Chapter 297: Advanced Mecha Warrior?
Translator: DRZ Editor: H2dH2mr
"What's wrong? Could it be that they truly intend to kick us out?" Zhao Jun, who had relaxed, was once again anxious as he asked with a look of concern.
"No, since they have yet to kick us out, I doubt they would do that after this. However, I have a hunch that we might have to pay a huge price if we continue observing …" Li Lanfeng's voice was extremely soft, seemingly talking to himself. He was unable to come up with a reason at the moment as to why he had that hunch.
"Even if we have to pay a price, are you willing to abandon this opportunity?" Zhao Jun did not believe Li Lanfeng was willing to take the initiative and leave.
"Of course not. Even if I have to pay a huge price, I will still stay and observe." Li Lanfeng replied decisively and smiled bitterly afterwards.
Being a number one elite family, the Li Family naturally had a few imperial operators serving them. However, no matter if it was his current identity or his other unpresentable identity, he did not have the right to obtain pointers from those people … He was thus unable to reject the temptation before him, especially because he wanted to become a winner who could dictate his own destiny and that was why he was all the more unable to reject this opportunity.
"Therefore, why should we think about the future? What we should do now, is to grasp the opportunity to observe and study what's before us." Zhao Jun smiled, being of the same mind.
"You're right!" Li Lanfeng laughed soundlessly and started to reflect on his mentality of overthinking things. It was just that this bad habit had been ingrained in him from a young age and was impossible to correct even if he wanted to. Thinking of this, Li Lanfeng sighed softly and appeared at a loss.
"Quick, take a look, the intermediate mecha is moving!" Zhao Jun's shout suddenly sounded beside his ears. Luckily they were using their private comms or else, with Zhao Jun making such a big disturbance, they would have definitely been chased out by the room's owner.
Li Lanfeng hurriedly curbed his thoughts and focused on the arena. The intermediate mecha had indeed moved but it did not choose to attack immediately. Instead, it hopped around the imperial operator by the edge of the arena at high speed. Its speed increased to the point where the mecha's silhouette turned blurry.
"How is this possible? This shadow slidestep is a technique only an advanced mecha warrior would know." Looking at this scene, Zhao Jun cried out in disbelieving surprise.
Li Lanfeng's expression instantly stiffened. Could it be that the operator of this intermediate mecha was an advanced mecha warrior? There were numerous techniques that could only be executed with a compatible mecha, just like the shadow slidestep which was an exclusive technique of an advanced mecha. Did an intermediate mecha have the capability of allowing the operator to execute such a technique?
For some reason, the rabbit mecha of that time surfaced in Li Lanfeng's mind at this moment. It had clearly been a trainee mecha, yet the other party had executed many movements which exceeded the limit of a trainee mecha, pushing the mecha to its extreme limits. Wait, it was to the extent of even exceeding the limit … Could it be that this intermediate mecha operator was another outstanding aberrant operator?
"No, it's impossible … the rabbit mecha operator is unique and unmatched." Li Lanfeng shook his head and expelled the thoughts in his mind. He would never admit that someone could be mentioned on equal terms with the rabbit in his heart.
Just as both spectators were bewildered, the intermediate mecha finally launched another attack after circling several times around the arena.
The shadow slidestep was simultaneously an evasion and confusion technique that would cause illusions to appear before the opponent. An afterimage of the mecha would be displayed through the external recording device, and although this would only cause several seconds of delay, it could perhaps lead to an important turning point to obtain victory during a high-speed mecha fight.
Therefore, by the time Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng could see the attacking movement of the intermediate mecha clearly, it had already appeared behind the imperial mecha, and the sharp, shiny, black tangdao in its right hand chopped down, making a sound of tearing through air. This showed that the attack was both powerful and fierce, but while facing this attack the imperial mecha did not move in the slightest.
Even though Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng knew that it was impossible for the attack to land, seeing the intermediate mecha's tangdao about to chop down on the imperial mecha's shoulder made them involuntarily cry out "ahh!" in alarm as the mecha was so close to danger.
With a resounding 'bang', the imperial operator merely leaned slightly to the side and, raising his right hand, stopped the tangdao that was about to strike the shoulder of his mecha. So it turned out that the beam shield on the imperial mecha had quietly activated while the tangdao had struck the beam shield, which generated a powerful rebound and directly sent the intermediate mecha bouncing backwards into the air.
Both of them were under the impression that the intermediate mecha would retreat after having made an ineffective attack, but it suddenly rallied itself and renewed its onslaught. After the intermediate mecha was sent away by the rebound, its originally silent engine abruptly exploded with noise and using its thrusters as opposing force, it directly neutralized the powerful rebound force.
The mecha's engine ceased once again after neutralizing the rebound force. Having maintained its position, the intermediate mecha suddenly began to rotate rapidly like a spinning top before following up by launching a fierce kick towards the imperial mecha below it.
"Whirlwind Garotte!" Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng once again cried out in surprise as this was another advanced-level technique exclusive to advanced mecha warriors.
Seemingly having anticipated this move, the imperial operator once again easily broke through the move. The operator was only seen to decisively raise both arms of his mecha, easily grasping firm hold of the intermediate mecha's powerful kick from among the flurry of afterimages of the spinning leg.
There was a loud 'bang' as the intermediate mecha was firmly smashed onto the ground and slid out several meters.
The instant it was smashed onto the ground, even Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng, who were standing at the edge spectating the fight, could feel an intense vibration from where they stood. This terrifying impact caused their expressions to faintly change, believing that the advanced mecha warrior who had received the brunt of this force would not be feeling any better than what they imagined.
Both of them were under the impression that the intermediate mecha would halt all its movements. Even if its body was sturdy, usually one would choose to lie down on the ground to recover their conditions for a few seconds upon receiving such a powerful blow. Unexpectedly, while the mecha was sliding out several meters and had yet to stop, it moved once again as its right hand suddenly slammed the ground and using the rebound force, the entire mecha soared into the air.
At the same time, the mecha's engine turned on again and this time round, it took advantage of its speed to fiercely pounce towards the imperial mecha in a flash. The cold weapon in its hand carried the momentum of a violent storm as it chopped towards the imperial mecha. Seeing the intermediate mecha dashing around the imperial mecha, no one could guess at the intermediate mecha's direction of movement. This type of irregular movement style caused Zhao Jun's and Li Lanfeng's countenance to change once again.
Currently, they were certain that the operator controlling the intermediate mecha was absolutely not an intermediate mecha warrior as they had previously believed and was undoubtedly an advanced mecha warrior. Reason being, this type of irregular movement style required the execution of numerous hand movements at a frightening speed in an instant; it was definitely not something an intermediate mecha warrior could accomplish.
Li Lanfeng could not help but think to himself, that if he were to operate this intermediate mecha, could he accomplish those practically non-stop hand movements like the other party could? Considering the limitations of the intermediate mecha, Li Lanfeng realised that it would be very difficult. Perhaps he might be able to accomplish it, but it would not be possible to perform it so brilliantly and smoothly and at the same time with such ease like the other. Did this mean that the other party's control skills were better than his?
Thinking of this, Li Lanfeng felt faintly disappointed inside. Genius operators had appeared around him one after another — with his average control talent, would he truly be able to change his fate as he challenged heaven's will?
"Hey, talent is indeed important, but foundations and hard work are of more importance than talent. If you were to train all levels of foundational controls to perfection, I believe that you will not be inferior compared to those geniuses …" The words left behind by that rabbit mecha surfaced once again in Li Lanfeng's heart and he was suddenly jolted to his senses. That's right, maybe he was lacking in talent, but he would continue working hard and practice every foundational control skill until they became part of his instinct. Although the difficulty increased with each level, he had never forgotten the warning words of advice the rabbit had given him, and this had always been his psychological pillar!
"Rest assured, I will not be defeated by those geniuses. I will be more hardworking than them and when we meet, I hope I will no longer be looking up at you." Li Lanfeng secretly clenched his fists as his confidence, which had received a setback due to the intermediate mecha, once again recovered.
He could lose to his rabbit friend, but he could not lose to others. Even if the intermediate mecha warrior before him had an aberrant talent in control, it could not cause his confidence to crumble.
He would never lose to the other party!
On the arena, the sounds of fighting had never stopped, and at times the rhythm of those sounds even seemed as if they were well planned and methodically arranged. Even though the battle was somewhat indistinct from Zhao Jun's and Li Lanfeng's perspective, they knew that the imperial operator had without a doubt intercepted all the advanced mecha warrior's irregular attacks.
Just like that, the intermediate mecha continued to launch fierce attacks for approximately one minute. Although it might not seem long, Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng understood that during this one minute, the hand speed of the intermediate mecha operator had been in a state of high speed. Even Zhao Jun, who was classified as a special-class operator, could not help but tremble internally, hands starting to throb in pain as he imagined himself being the one doing the operating.
These movements had high requirements of an operator's hand speed and for an ordinary intermediate mecha to execute those high-level techniques, it would require the operator's control skills to match. Therefore, Zhao Jun even suspected that the operator's hands were currently cramped and had become numb.
When the intermediate mecha landed, Zhao Jun and Li Lanfeng could not help but breathe out, thinking that they should be able to relax and rest for a moment now. Unexpectedly, the intermediate mecha had just landed when it once again moved and executed a shadow slidestep, the exclusive technique of advanced mecha, while dashing towards the imperial mecha ...
"What the f*ck, does he never get tired?" Zhao Jun could not help but curse. Could it be that the operator of the intermediate mecha was a robot?
"What if the other party's true level is at mecha master level?" Li Lanfeng replied unperturbedly.
From the control skills displayed by the intermediate mecha, Li Lanfeng did not think that the other party's real skills were only that of an advanced mecha warrior. He even believed that, perhaps, the other party might have already reached the level of a special-class operator, or even possibly the level of an ace operator.