Chapter 2 The Atmosphere Heats Up

The next day, the atmosphere of the exchange competition became lively. However, neither Li Hao nor Sirian, who had garnered much attention, appeared. Some people grumbled that they were not famous but knew how to put on airs, while others breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Hao's reason for asking Zhou Nanyi for leave this time was very high-sounding. He was going to see A Youyou. After all, his girlfriend was on the moon, and it wasn't easy for her to come. Interstellar relationships were too difficult and might fall apart, so he needed the class monitor's understanding.

Everyone accepted it with a wink and a nod. Li Hao had already put it very euphemistically. He couldn't very well say that this was a trial prepared for them. If they didn't train, who would? Only Ma Long and Zuo Xiaotang were trembling.

Yesterday, the Eternal Academy's actions seemed to open Pandora's box. Several non-public battles took place in the evening. Li Hao didn't return until late last night and reportedly fell asleep as soon as he hit the pillow. He went out excitedly early in the morning and still hadn't appeared this morning, with no reaction to yesterday's events. This gave confidence to some people who were secretly observing him.

Being powerful wasn't enough to scare people; it would only attract challengers one after another. Terror was needed to inspire awe, but Apocalypse was gone forever. Li Hao was now a member of Tianjing Mech Fighting Academy. He couldn't act like before, and the rules wouldn't allow it.

The cells in the human body responsible for recording fear are constantly dying. After all, forgetting is an important skill for human survival.

Arths also didn't appear, which disappointed many people. Fan Lewei and Romero also didn't act rashly; they were still watching.

Tianxing Mech Fighting Academy and Chain Armed Forces had a lively exchange competition. It was a standard competition system, from singles to mech team battles, and it was very heated. All were conventional tactics, and no one used their ultimate moves.

The duel between Tita and Ji Yuguang attracted the most attention. Both Tita and Ji Yuguang chose Gale Zero. As soon as the mechs appeared, it was clear that neither side had used their best mech. In the end, the two fought to a draw, destroying each other's mechs almost simultaneously. They both knew when to stop.

Under Offi's suggestion, Zhou Nanyi led the Tianjing Mech Fighting Academy and fought a match against Dumeila's Wailing Team.

Except for Cheng Konghai's domineering victory in one match, Musashi couldn't play. Zhou Nanyi, Ma Long, and Zuo Xiaotang were all hammered.

As the mid-season number one team in tAs, the Wailing Team demonstrated a high level of combat and tactical ability. One of them, named Adila, was quite cocky, with a strong desire to perform, saying he was here for Li Hao.

According to Cheng Konghai's usual personality, this would definitely be hammered, but after being warned, Cheng Konghai could only endure, watching the other party swagger around.

As soon as the afternoon started, Romero came over with a group of teammates, immediately attracting everyone's attention. They didn't come with good intentions.

"Junior Sister Zhou, I heard that your Tianjing Mech Fighting Academy has a magical sniper, the only one who hasn't awakened the Gold Zone but can still secure a main position, a master of unique skills. My little brother wants to learn from him." Romero said with a smile, but his smile wasn't very convincing. "Barrett, be humble and ask for guidance."

A cold-faced Martian warrior stood up. "I am Barrett, the sniper of Wolf Armed Forces, please advise!"

He bowed deeply, directly cornering Zuo Xiaotang.

This was the kind of negotiation that couldn't be refused.

Zuo Xiaotang was dumbfounded. What was going on? Even though he was mentally prepared, he didn't expect it to come so directly.

Under the public gaze, Zuo Xiaotang couldn't retreat, so he could only bite the bullet and go up. "My level is the worst, let's learn from each other."

"Haha, you're too modest. People valued by Brother Li are all capable people. Musashi's slash yesterday was incredibly stunning, slapping some people's faces, haha, please." Romero was quite polite, casually stepping on Fan Lewei.

Zuo Xiaotang's face turned red. "I, I, let's have a mech battle."

"Let's compare mechs, let's also compare pilot duels. This guy is thick-skinned and fleshy, you can hit him as much as you want, you don't have to be responsible if you break him, we're not as sissy as the moon people." Romero pointed at Barrett and said.

"Romero, shut your stinky mouth. Victory and defeat are common in military affairs. Everyone says that Tianjing Mech Fighting Academy has a legendary sniper who performed excellently in the mid-season and won the Most Improved Award. You should all learn well, watch carefully, remember how you lost yesterday, don't think that you can get carried away just because you won a championship!" Fan Lewei also arrived with his teammates and criticized them severely.

Garina was also there, his face so gloomy that water could drip from it. He glared fiercely at Musashi. He was fine. He was just knocked unconscious and would wake up in a while. The scar on his face was a bit scary, but it was actually just an external injury. He was schemed against. He never dreamed that Musashi would suddenly strike a slash that far exceeded his normal level.

"Musashi, you侥幸won with one slash yesterday, and I was deeply educated. Do you have the guts to have a best-of-three today!" Garina stepped forward and said.

Zhou Nanyi waved her hand calmly. "Musashi is not healed from his injuries. If you want to spar, wait for a slot."

Garina ignored Zhou Nanyi. "A little injury, is it necessary to whine and hum? Besides, wasn't he treated all night yesterday? I asked the doctor, and there's no big problem. Who hasn't suffered some injuries? Which one of us here hasn't been through hundreds of battles? Or are you Tianjing Mech Fighting Academy the kind who run away after winning, can't afford to play?"

Zhou Nanyi wasn't angry. "Captain Fan Lewei, your teammate is too rude. We came to participate in the exchange competition. You said to fight, and we fought yesterday. You're here again today. Did we come to exchange or to be sparring partners, or are you so superior just because you won a championship once and can order other teams around rudely? I really don't know who can't afford to lose."

Zhou Nanyi wasn't afraid of anyone in a war of words. If Musashi wasn't injured, she wouldn't be afraid even if the other party was arrogant, but now that he was injured, there was no need to take risks.

Garina directly chose to ignore Zhou Nanyi. He wasn't trying to reason anyway. "Musashi, stop dawdling, I'll be blunt, I'm not convinced that I lost. I won't make things difficult for you if you admit defeat, but do you dare to fight!"

Garina didn't put Zhou Nanyi in his eyes at all, he just wanted to fight to the death, otherwise, where would his face be? His circle of friends was exploding. The ace pilot of the champion team lost to an Earth newbie in a one-on-one duel. This damn news spread quickly, and a bunch of people sent him messages asking about the situation, asking who Musashi was, and if the Musashi family was going to dominate again? Some even said that the Hundred Martial Arts style was inferior to the Musashi family.

Bullshit, Garina almost fainted from anger. This also gave him a profound lesson. In the future, no matter how strong or weak the opponent is, he will suppress them to death.

"Garina, let's get close." Cheng Konghai immediately stood up.

"Ant, it seems you've recovered. Let's get close instead." Klein of Hailong appeared with a smile on his face. His gentle and handsome face made people feel good. He looked at Cheng Konghai affectionately. "Long time no see, I miss you very much. Rather than let others take advantage, it's better to let me."

Cheng Konghai wasn't afraid at all. "One by one!"

Musashi stood up. "Garina, let's settle this!"

Musashi wouldn't be afraid of trouble, but he respected Zhou Nanyi very much. When Li Hao wasn't around, the team listened to the class monitor.

"Okay, you've got some backbone!" Garina shouted.

Zhou Nanyi also knew that they couldn't avoid the battle. The moon people were still a group. "Okay to fight, but only one match, a mech battle."

Garina nodded. "One match is enough!"

He was going to suppress Musashi to death, beating him to a pulp.

"Garina, first come, first served, queue up. The first match is mine." Barrett glanced at Garina.

Garina was also a hothead. A Martian hick dared to glare at him. He was about to fire back when Fan Lewei stopped him. "Okay, it's an exchange competition, everyone can just watch carefully. This is the purpose of the exchange, let us appreciate a high-level duel."

At Zhou Nanyi's insistence, Barrett and Zuo Xiaotang chose a mech battle for the first match. All the teams participating in the exchange competition gathered, looking at Tianjing Mech Fighting Academy with some pity. Yesterday, it was Eternal targeting them, today even Wolf Armed Forces joined in, and Hailong didn't seem to be a kind person either. They talked about old friends, but there was no warmth of old friendship at all. It seemed difficult for Tianjing Mech Fighting Academy to get through today.

"Cheer up, beat him hard!" Lu Lingxiao kept cheering for Zuo Xiaotang, which made Zuo Xiaotang feel a little better, but he was still uneasy. If it was a shooting competition, he wouldn't be afraid, but in a confrontation, he wasn't so confident. However, he was much better than before, and he wouldn't be so nervous that he couldn't move.

The two entered the EMP training pod.

"Why didn't it hit? Did I miss?"

Ariel had the staff provide slow-motion replay at the first moment. It was true that they both fired at the same time, and they both locked onto the target at the first moment. The time difference between the two was approximately zero. They fired simultaneously. Zuo Xiaotang's Gray Reaper wanted to dodge after firing, but Barrett didn't. After firing the first shot, he immediately followed up with a second shot, hitting the landing point of Gray Reaper's horizontal movement, headshotting it. Zuo Xiaotang didn't have time to fire a second shot because of the movement.

And the first shot of the two showed an exaggerated scene: the bullets collided and exploded in the air.

Barrett showed the feel, insight, judgment, and sufficient confidence of a top sniper, and immediately gave a more accurate second shot. In comparison, Zuo Xiaotang... was just an ordinary sniper.

It should be known that this kind of duel was actually very unfair to Barrett. Even if Barrett's zone value was approached, he had considerable confrontation and entanglement ability, but Zuo Xiaotang, whose Gold Zone hadn't awakened, was completely a dish once approached. And the survival of the sniper was crucial for the team in team battles.

Martians themselves were arrogant personalities, so there was inevitably a commercial exchange of compliments. Others also gave applause. The victory itself wasn't anything, but Barrett's "gun-to-gun" technique demonstrated an absolute crush in terms of skill.

This shot was also a warning to all the snipers present.

Anlita looked at Davarish, who didn't care about anything, and became interested. "Don't provoke the Martians first. Yu."

Davarish glanced at Anlita. "Yes, that, that fatty-fat-fatty, I want him."

Anlita's eyes narrowed. Davarish stuttered when he was excited, and she couldn't let him ruin things. She glared fiercely at him. "The boss said that the little fatty can't be touched. You be quiet for me. If you displease the boss, you know the consequences!"

Davarish looked regretful, it was rare to meet someone who could fight.

Barrett, sitting in the cockpit, didn't have any joy on his face, it felt more like being slapped in the face.

What the hell was this little fatty?

In the slow motion, he saw that the other party actually hovered in the air with such a broken thing as the Gray Reaper. He made a hover at the moment of shooting to ensure accuracy. After one shot, the mech perfectly discharged the Gray's exaggerated recoil, without affecting the movement at all...

More importantly, he didn't prepare for a gun-to-gun technique at all, because he couldn't do it!

His second shot was completely a shooter's instinctive reaction. The first shot had no effect, and he subconsciously grabbed the second shot quickly.

This bastard has such skills, but he is so timid as a mouse?

The cheers from outside came to his ears, almost all praising his gun-to-gun suppression technique, which made Barrett's face burn. He could hide it from other positions, and he would definitely make the most of the situation in another occasion, he was not stupid, but there were several top snipers present, and it would be even more embarrassing to pretend.

The two walked out of the EMP training cabin. Zuo Xiaotang lowered his head, looking embarrassed. What greeted him was naturally a playful look from some people. Zuo Xiaotang was used to this, and basically didn't feel anything. According to his previous personality, the level of the mockers now was even higher, which was worth being happy about.

Barrett walked out with a grim face. As soon as he entered, he saw the smirks of Davarish, Artz, Mo Zhe of Eternal, and others. Obviously, his peers knew what was going on.

Winning was more uncomfortable than losing.