Chapter 1 Robby's Dilemma

Robby looked at the Skylink, between laughter and tears. He could sense that Tita, the favored daughter of the heavens, was angry. The Moon people prided themselves on their strong mental control, but under Li Hao's crushing dominance, her composure was cracking, and she'd even said they would not leave it at that.

His own mood wasn't much better. During the S10 tournament last year, besides showing sufficient dominance in team battles, the Moon people had another, undeniable advantage: the ultimate combat state they called the Golden Zone.

The Golden Gene was a common phenomenon, varying from person to person. Some had stronger, more obvious manifestations. But the Moon people had found an even more potent method, allowing them to instantly bring their bodies into the Golden Gene's peak state – the Golden Zone.

This had made legends of War God Maxis and Heavenly King Fan Lewitt. On Mars, Basta was terrifyingly powerful, awakening his Golden Zone during the S-tournament and leading the Martians to victory over Earth, earning him the title of Wolf King.

This year, for the other players in the four federations, awakening their own Golden Zones was on the agenda. Otherwise, they would suffer even more. Condition-wise, Robby didn't think he was lacking; he was just missing that crucial breakthrough.

Watching the replay, the Pumas team was silent. Tita's relentless three-sword combo had forcefully broken through Robby's defense. There was no need to watch further; those three strikes demonstrated the gap in strength. Robby was even more certain that Tita had grasped the Golden Zone, making her unbeatable.

Upon entering the Golden Zone, the most basic effect was a comprehensive boost to speed and power. In addition, one gained a powerful intuition, a heightened sixth sense akin to an animal's. Stronger users also gained other abilities.

This was every mech pilot's dream.

When Robby saw Li Hao defeat Tita, who was using the Golden Zone, in a normal state, he understood the vastness of the current difference.

He acknowledged Li Hao's strength; he was stronger than himself, but not by much. His respect stemmed more from their past relationship. He thought he had closed the gap between them from back then. Now, he realized he had been naive… the gap might have grown beyond his comprehension.

The others were still watching, but Robby walked out alone. He was in no mood to analyze. This had gone beyond technical issues. He took a deep breath and dialed Li Hao's Skylink.

"Second Brother, I want to become stronger!" Robby said.

…

"Second Brother, I'll listen to you. I'll do anything to become stronger. I don't want to lose again!"

"...There's one more thing. My teammates asked me to ask you, how can you shoot so accurately?" Robby said, nodding.

"Just practice."

Far away on the moon, at the Heavenly Star Academy, the Heavenly Star team was diligently reviewing the match. Analysis was sometimes more important than training. They had lost, and they needed to understand how.

First was Alz, who wanted to know how he had been eliminated. They had almost simultaneously exposed themselves to each other's view, both choosing to "jump snipe." Alz was confident in his jump sniping. In that state, he was sure he could fire two shots, which was already impressive. But his opponent…

His opponent had fired four shots, using the damned Gray Reaper. The only possibility was that he hadn't used the scope at all.

Switching to the Gray Reaper's perspective, Alz noticed that his own movements were more precise. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět

Alz suddenly stood up. "This is impossible! How could he shoot so accurately, with the Gray Reaper's recoil in mid-air…"

But Alz was stuck again. Watching the replay a second time, he sensed that the opponent's jump sniping was so smooth. The Gray Reaper's flaws were perfectly balanced by the pilot's control, even forming a unique rhythm. Four confident, practiced shots. The fourth shot was unnecessary, because the first three had already finished him off.

Even more despairing was that the Gray Reaper had walked away without looking back after firing four shots…

"How can this guy be so confident, so ruthless?" Alz muttered, his gaze scattered, his composure shattered.

The others were in a similar state. Seeing Tita's solo kill on Robby was satisfying, using the Golden Zone, the Dragon Gate's Three Absolute Swords, each strike amplifying the power of the last, directly breaking Robby's defense, telling him, "I'm going to hit you, and you can't defend."

Throughout the entire kill sequence, Robby was desperately struggling. Seeing this made everyone feel a little better.

The analysis continued. Tita also perked up. She needed to know how she had been taken down.

The Golden Zone, also known as the Golden Burst, not only improved control but also focused mental state to a high degree. One became exceptionally focused, the mind and thoughts becoming especially clear. If one could usually predict three steps ahead, they could now predict six, a doubling of capability wasn't an exaggeration. It was a spiritual elevation.

In slow motion, Cyclone Zero was fierce. A Gray Reaper's sniping couldn't stop Cyclone Zero's assault head-on. Once the distance closed, a sniper was useless.

At first, everyone wondered if Tita had been careless. The Golden Zone was a powerful state. Could the enhanced power lead to excessive relaxation?

Clearly, Tita hadn't been. After continuously dodging the Gray Reaper's snipes, Tita kept up the pressure, without rushing to make a move, because the earlier the move, the easier it was to predict. At that moment, the Gray Reaper was at a disadvantage.

Whoever was at a disadvantage would be the one to panic, because in the final moment, the stronger side would have a higher chance of winning. Both sides had pushed the possibility of making a move to the limit.

Cyclone Zero unleashed the Arc Step Flash Strike. It was absolutely amazing, too difficult to predict, truly a whirlwind sweeping past.

From the final freeze-frame, when Cyclone Zero used the Arc Step Flash Strike, the Gray Reaper's reaction was slower by an extremely narrow margin.

That mentality, that patience, was more terrifying than a viper.

"Won't this guy's mind collapse?" The Heavenly Star mech warriors were speechless. What kind of mental fortitude was that?

Urgency, the instinct to survive, was human nature, also a source of great strength. How could he endure such pressure?

Was he a robot?

The subsequent actions were also exaggerated, but actions could be practiced. How could one train such a mentality?

The backward-leaping flash snipe…

Perhaps that was the only way. But in that situation, who would have thought of it, and even if they had, who could have endured until their opponent made the first killing move?

Near the optimal attack point, Tita still attacked, because she didn't need to wait. It was already the best attack opportunity, or at least her judgment of the best attack opportunity. No one could have resisted.

The result was the same as last time, but this time the blow was a bit too heavy.

The Heavenly Star mech force's main and reserve members were silent. If the last moment's judgment was that the sniper had used the Golden Zone, that would be terrifying. USE had also found a method, and NUP wouldn't have such a big advantage in this year's S11.

If he hadn't used the Golden Zone at all…

Clap, clap, clap…

Tita clapped her hands. "Everyone, don't overthink it. And don't worry about who that person is. This battle was a resounding slap in the face, waking us up. We won too easily last year, and we got arrogant. But thankfully, it's only the beginning of the season. We have enough time to improve, to target that person. This is a good thing. Alz, you should be even more grateful. As long as you can defeat him, you'll be the champion of this year's sniper individual competition!"

Alz grinned. "Captain, now that you've said it, I'm definitely going to train like crazy. My goal is him!"

"Very good. Postpone all other training matches, focus your energy, find their weaknesses, and fight again next week!"

"...Captain, will the Pumas agree?" Feynman asked worriedly. Now it was their turn to worry about the other side ignoring them.

"It's not the Pumas who are strong, it's that sniper. Since they can come twice, they'll definitely come a third time. As for the conditions, let Robby make them. Besides, the blow this time isn't any smaller for Robby's side than it is for us," Tita said calmly.

She wasn't in the state of being unduly humble. If it wasn't for that sniper, the result would still have been a complete massacre for the Pumas.

Of course, having only the sniper wouldn't work either. The Pumas' disruption and tactical execution were also good.

Li Hao didn't go to EMP ranked matches, but sparred with Robby. Bleem always gave him some inexplicable tasks, helping Robby, which should be considered helping USE improve, right?

The training mode was a bit different. Besides virtual mode and real mode, the EMP system also had a realistic mode.

Real mode was only 70% of the real experience. Although it put a burden on the body, the pain from things like death explosions and the brain nerve impact at the last moment were reduced to a state that the warrior could handle.

Realistic mode was 100%. Endurance was increased, there was a high chance of injury, and if the mech exploded, the mental impact on the pilot would be considerable. If one's will wasn't extremely strong, there could be aftereffects.

That was why realistic mode was only chosen for the S-tournament.

Major military academies didn't encourage students to use it, and some schools banned it directly.

But at Robby's level, how could real mode help him improve?

He logged into his account, but didn't enter the ranked matches. Instead, he entered private training mode, which couldn't be spectated or viewed.

Zhuang Zhou and Huo Nan were already streaming, and were notified almost immediately that Mu Ou was online.

But soon Mu Ou entered private training mode. This person was present, but they couldn't see him.

Zhuang Zhou and Huo Nan felt a bit frustrated. What was he doing?