Qiao Ting wanted to distance himself and enter long-range combat mode. Lin Xiao, who had done his research on Qiao Ting, did not want to let him do as he wished. As soon as Qiao Ting moved, Lin Xiao reacted quickly, moving along with him. Of course, Lin Xiao did not retreat but moved forwards instead, and his speed was not much slower than Qiao Ting’s.
Lin Xiao’s long-range attack was also very strong and so he would be able to hold his own in a long-range showdown. Thus, even if he could not obtain victory at that time, he could at least remain undefeated till the end of the match, and then the final outcome would be determined by the points each contestant still had at that moment. However, Lin Xiao knew that his chances of winning with this option were not high. Showcasing his long-range attack skills in front of an opponent whose long-range skills excelled over his own was foolish — from the perspective of the judges, the decision would be obvious. Without question, the victor would be Qiao Ting.
There was not a single contestant who had fought his way to the finals who did not want to reach the very top. No one would choose an option which they knew for certain would end in a loss for themselves. Likewise, Lin Xiao would not choose that way either. In the afternoon, before the match, he had consulted with his instructors, and they all felt that there was no chance in long-range mode; his only opportunity laid in close combat.
Qiao Ting’s specialization in long-range combat was no secret. His close combat skills could be said to be good too, but when compared to a true close combat specialist, his skills were really nothing much. And Lin Xiao’s close combat abilities were really pretty close to that of a close combat specialist — if the fight was brought into close range, Lin Xiao believed that Qiao Ting would definitely be no match for him.
The key was whether he could drag the fight into close range, just like how Qiao Ting’s victory would depend on whether he could put some distance between them to attack from long range.
Both their objectives were very clear — one wanted a long-range fight, while the other wanted a close-range fight. And so the two of them were in a deadlock, one flying away at top speed, while the other chased him fervently. Originally, Qiao Ting’s long-range mecha should have had a certain advantage in terms of speed, but Lin Xiao’s mecha just so happened to have been modified to improve its speed; thus, Qiao Ting was unable to wrest free of the other anytime soon. After flying four to five laps around the field, this stalemate remained unbroken … neither side could do anything to the other.
On their sixth lap, Qiao Ting sighed internally. Truly, this Lin Xiao was not that easy to handle, but he had long made provisions for this type of situation … in mid-flight, he drew a short compact gun from the fixed slot at the back of his waist and took aim at Lin Xiao who was still flying desperately after him.
It was a beam handgun, a standard weapon for close-combat mecha. Its range was extremely limited, only suitable for close-range shots, barely usable in mid-range, and completely useless at long range. It was a gun so normal that people tended to overlook it, but it now left Lin Xiao in a quandary.
The distance between Qiao Ting and himself was precisely the optimal shooting range for this beam handgun. Although the range of a beam handgun was short, its power was decent. In particular, the beam handguns exclusive to ace mecha had even greater power — if someone was hit continuously for three seconds by the gun, their beam shield would be overwhelmed and their mecha would show signs of damage. Six seconds of consecutive shooting would deal irreparable damage to a mecha.
“Hells, why would a long-range shooter have t his trifle of a handgun 1 for close-combat mecha with him?” Lin Xiao was taken by surprise. He had never imagined that Qiao Ting would have such a weapon on him, which was why he had dared to chase after him without any worry … he just could not understand why Qiao Ting would choose to equip this close-combat weapon, a beam handgun which even he did not think much of before this match, as one of his combat weapons.
It should be known that for the mecha combat events, both for single or group, the equipment and weapons on a contestant’s mecha were unknown before they went up onto the field. Only in the final 10 minutes before the match would the participants decide on the final selection of weapons they would equip and let the staff members help them organise everything within that time. In other words, this beam handgun of Qiao Ting’s had never ever appeared in all of the hypothetical combat scenarios Lin Xiao had simulated.
To advance or to retreat? Lin Xiao gritted his teeth and pushed his engines to the maximum setting. Following this operation, his mecha’s speed surged once more, and his mecha leapt at Qiao Ting with an audible swoosh.
Lin Xiao’s decision was to advance because he was well aware that if he retreated, he would no longer have any hope of becoming champion. He was unwilling to accept this outcome, so he decided to fight for it.
With the surge in his mecha’s speed, Lin Xiao once again shortened the distance between him and Qiao Ting. However, this speed was achieved by running his engines to overcapacity and so would not last for long. He needed to get close enough to Qiao Ting before his engines reached their limits; otherwise, defeat would still be the outcome that awaited him …
Right at this moment, Qiao Ting finally pulled the trigger and a beam of light shot straight for Lin Xiao. Lin Xiao calmly moved his fingers — with his full concentration put into it, Lin Xiao’s hand speed was also pushed to the limit. According to his operation, his mecha began flashing to the left and right without any system to it. This was the Irregular Flicker which only ace operators could learn. However, Lin Xiao had yet to master it — at times, between flickers, some traces of his figure could be still be seen.
The irregular flicker made Qiao Ting unable to grasp Lin Xiao’s movements; his beam shots all struck air. Meanwhile, Lin Xiao was once again drawing closer to Qiao Ting. Seeing this, Qiao Ting’s brow furrowed. He suddenly changed his shooting style — his hand which had been holding down the trigger began to twitch sporadically.
At this time, the beam he fired was no longer an unceasing stream of light but cluster after cluster of beam bullets. Qiao Ting’s hand speed also reached a limit and over the span of several seconds, he had used up all the power inside his beam handgun. But the results were evident — in the air, a massive net of beam projectiles had appeared. Front and back, left and right, from all directions, at almost the same speed, these projectiles were raining down on Lin Xiao … Qiao Ting did not give Lin Xiao any room to evade. Either Lin Xiao backed off, or he would have to rely on his mecha’s beam shield defence to forcibly withstand these attacks.
No, it should be said that Qiao Ting’s objective was for Lin Xiao to eat these attacks, because Qiao Ting knew that Lin Xiao would definitely not choose to retreat. And so, Lin Xiao had no other choice.
Sure enough, Lin Xiao instantly activated his beam shield, his mecha charging into the web of beam projectiles. The projectiles struck home with muted thuds, and Lin Xiao’s initially radiant beam shield instantly dimmed …
After its energy had been drained, a beam shield needed one second to replenish its power. This was why Lin Xiao dared to forcefully receive Qiao Ting’s attacks. As long as the attacks did not break through the beam shield instantly, no matter how much power was drained from the beam shield, the beam shield would be back to normal in the next second. And in this one second, Qiao Ting would not be able to shoot any more beams at him because the opponent’s gun had already been utterly drained of power.
Lin Xiao was well familiar with the characteristics of a beam shield, and so was Qiao Ting. He had so willingly exhausted all the power from his beam handgun to create this beam net, so how could he not have a follow-up move prepared? It should be said that that seemingly pointless beam net had already served its purpose.
When the beam projectiles hit Lin Xiao, Qiao Ting operated his mecha to slam its left hand on an ejection installation on its waist. An energy storage unit sprang out and at the same time, the mecha’s right hand deftly swiped at the button at the bottom of the gun, and the drained energy storage unit fell out abruptly …
The mecha’s right hand then dipped with the handgun, accurately catching the new energy storage unit, letting it slot neatly into place within the gun. The mecha’s left hand followed immediately, slapping over the rear end of the gun, locking in the energy storage unit with a click.
Quicker than words could say, in less than a second, Qiao Ting was done replacing the handgun’s energy block. This series of actions were clean and efficient, each action flowing into the next as smoothly as water … the audience could not help but cry out in shock and surprise. There was no doubt that this display of Qiao Ting’s involved a high level of technical skill. On the battlefield, this technique would allow Qiao Ting to live longer than other people.
After replacing his handgun’s energy storage unit, Qiao Ting did not hesitate to pull the trigger of the gun once more, sending another wave of beam projectiles towards Lin Xiao, who still had not fully recovered from the last round of explosions.
“Goddammit! It was a trick!” When the First Co-ed Military Academy students saw this scene, they were instantly pounding their chests in frustration. At this moment, anyone could see the purpose behind Qiao Ting’s creation of a beam net despite having to drain his gun’s power; he had been trying to force Lin Xiao to back off …
At this moment, Lin Xiao could also tell that the momentum was gone. Frankly, from the very moment he had not taken the beam handgun into account, he had already been forced into a passive position. He just had not wanted to admit defeat, and thus had walked step by step into Qiao Ting’s set-up. He could only choose to retreat now, to free himself from the attack range of the beam projectiles. The beam projectile clusters finally ended up hitting the ground. The ‘pow, pow, pow’ sounds rang out everywhere, as the strikes sent clouds of dust and dirt into the air. By the time everything settled, the ground was already covered in potholes of various depth.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiao’s retreat had allowed Qiao Ting to pull away once more. By the time Lin Xiao dodged the beam clusters and began giving chase once more, Qiao Ting had already achieved the distance he wanted.
With an audible ‘clack’, Qiao Ting drew a huge, long gun from his mecha’s back with his left hand. This was his personal gun —— a ballistic sniper rifle. It was his key weapon to win this match. At the same time, his mecha’s right hand holstered the beam handgun back in the dock at his waist.
With a great swing of his mecha’s left hand, Qiao Ting’s gun flew into the air, and his mecha quickly followed it up into the skies as well. With a clap, he caught the rifle in both hands, steadied it on his shoulders, and aimed for Lin Xiao in the distance.
The appearance of this rifle made Lin Xiao’s expression change drastically. He had worked so hard to ward off this gun but in the end, the gun had still appeared.
Lin Xiao smiled bitterly inside his heart, but he still operated his mecha to fly forwards rapidly — no matter what, he needed to rush forwards in time. As long as he managed to get within 500 metres of the gun, the ballistic sniper rifle would lose its power. Then, he would still have a chance.
However, how could Qiao Ting let Lin Xiao have his wish when he had already obtained what he wanted? Holding the ballistic sniper rifle steady, he kept his sights on Lin Xiao and calmly pulled the trigger. Without much pause, he sent three consecutive shots at his opponent.
From taking aim to shooting, Qiao Ting’s speed was so fast that Lin Xiao was completely flustered and caught off-guard. Although Qiao Ting’s data had clearly labelled him as a long-range mecha operator, the deepest secret had still remained unknown to the public. No one knew his innate talent was Instant Lock-on; thus, every person who went up against Qiao Ting would be stunned by his super-fast sniping speed.
Could it be that Qiao Ting had fired these three shots blindly? This was Lin Xiao’s first reaction, but he instantly rejected the idea after that. How could Qiao Ting, such an outstanding person who had been able to ascend to ace level in his fourth year, make such a rudimentary mistake?
Lin Xiao did not believe it, nor would the audience believe it. Indeed, their judgment was correct. These three shots of Qiao Ting had truly not been indiscriminate wild shots. As the three shots loomed ever closer to him, Lin Xiao realized this profoundly.
And so, he once again faced another quandary which needed him to make a final decision!