Chapter 9

This time, the arena for the confrontation randomly became a desert area. Xiao Pingyue learned from his previous mistakes and became much more cautious during the clash, which significantly increased the pressure on Qin Huang. However, his slight disadvantage in close combat still caused him to continuously lose points, even though he tried his best to make up for it, he still did not achieve the result he had hoped for!

The energy consumption rate of both sides was almost equal, with Qin Huang having only a negligible advantage, but it was an advantage nonetheless!

A few minutes later, just as both were on the verge of exhaustion, the system once again announced Qin Huang as the winner!

At this point, Qin Huang was only about five seconds away from running out of energy. One could say that if Xiao Pingyue had just held on a little longer, he could have turned the tide, but he was just that bit short!

"Damn it, today is really cursed!" Xiao Pingyue, enraged and embarrassed, could no longer maintain his gentlemanly demeanor. He slammed his fist into the sofa and cursed angrily.

The way everyone looked at Qin Huang had completely changed.

Xiao Pingyue's strength was well-known; he was a genuine formal mobile warrior and one of the few strong contenders among the tens of thousands of students in this session. As long as he didn't perform poorly, he had a great chance of securing a key training slot in the future!

As for Qin Huang, he originally had some opportunities, but his recent performance was not promising. No one expected him to pull off such an upset today! Many of the onlookers found it hard to accept!

Of course, the judgment of the central computer could not be wrong, which only meant that Qin Huang indeed had the strength to challenge Xiao Pingyue, thus truly ranking him among the most outstanding seed students of this session!

After the second round of the confrontation, the young master, no matter how unwilling, had no face to be humiliated a third time. He silently took out his bank card to pay the bill and left with his entourage. Before leaving, he didn't forget to copy the combat video.

This guy was not a brainless rich kid. Although he didn't understand whether Qin Huang was just pretending to be weak, he would definitely have experts analyze the data after returning, which would help identify the crux of the problem and find a corresponding solution!

"Kid! You got lucky today! But there won't be such a good thing next time, just wait and see!" he thought fiercely.

...

"Boss, how did you manage to do it?" On the way out, Wu De couldn't help but ask.

Qin Huang vaguely replied, "It's not hard to understand. My attack reaction speed was just a bit faster than his, so I could keep pressing him!"

As for why this was the case, it was not something he could explain for now. The mysterious mental technique and the secret of the AI brain were things he could never reveal to anyone!

Fortunately, the Wu brothers didn't press further. This young man was becoming increasingly enigmatic to them, but he was ultimately a friend, not an enemy, so there was no need to worry.

After having lunch, Qin Huang told them to go back to the dormitory first, while he went to the school's mecha maintenance center.

The maintenance center was located in the western part of the school, with a ground area of several tens of thousands of square meters. It was said that the underground facilities were even larger, but that area was under military control, and ordinary people could not enter.

This military academy had a relatively high level of confidentiality in the empire's military, with a wide range of military facilities. When necessary, it could function as a large military base!

The reason for this was that the planet was close to the empire's border, and the external environment was far from peaceful. There were many powerful beasts in the wild, and various extreme armed organizations and space pirates roamed the surrounding star regions, occasionally raiding and plundering. Therefore, even the school had a considerable military force!

This included a large-scale mecha combat team equipped with various standard military mechas. It was said that there were even a few non-standard bronze mechas! This was to deal with various emergencies, and when necessary, they could request support from military bases on nearby planets.

Just as he approached the entrance, he saw a tall, black mecha streak out of the emergency passage with a piercing whistle, rising into the air under the effect of the anti-gravity engine, turning into a dark streak that quickly disappeared into the sky, leaving only violent whirlwinds on the ground.

"Seems... it's Instructor Luo Tianxiong?" Since the alloy armor cover of the cockpit had not yet closed, Qin Huang caught a glimpse of the familiar figure inside for a moment.

He didn't know what had happened outside, but it must have been serious enough to require this powerful instructor to handle it personally.

He didn't think much about it and turned to enter the gate. Such matters were not for students to worry about.

Inside the hall, it was like a bustling construction site. Various types of mechas and large, unnamed components were scattered around. Intelligent robots were being directed to shuttle back and forth, tirelessly transporting various parts. Occasionally, one could see mechanics with sweat on their foreheads busily working around disassembled mechas.

"Hey! Diligent little guy, are you here to do some part-time work again today?" A familiar mechanic looked up from his busy work and called out to the approaching youth.

Qin Huang turned and smiled sheepishly, "Uncle Ma Tan, I'm here to see Teacher Sha!"

"Oh, oh!" Ma Tan nodded in understanding and muttered, "Then go on! I heard that arrogant guy is working on some new source energy matrix defense system, claiming it can improve the mecha's defense index or something! He should think about it, with his half-baked skills, what good can he come up with? Just wasting the school's funds..."

The youth smiled but didn't say anything. Teacher Sha Zhenghai was a veteran mechanic at the maintenance center, having served in the military in his early years. He was an excellent mobile warrior who had participated in many large-scale battles in the empire and had achieved many honors. It was said that he had also dabbled in the field of creation, though his level was not very high.

Later, due to injuries sustained in war, his physical condition declined, and he could no longer continue on the front lines, so he left the combat corps and came to work here.

Since enrolling, Qin Huang had been coming here in his free time to work part-time and earn some pocket money. He was later noticed by Teacher Sha, who privately taught him a lot about mecha maintenance. With his own efforts, his performance in all areas was excellent.

Following the orange safety isolation strip on the ground, he walked to the back of the hall. A milky white retractable alloy isolation door appeared, guarded by mechanical soldiers. Everyone needed to verify their identity before entering.

After entering, he found himself in a slightly smaller space. A light blue mecha was partially disassembled, with various irregularly shaped alloy components neatly arranged beside it. Several mechanics in white sealed uniforms were carefully inspecting the parts.

Qin Huang's gaze swept around and finally landed on a corner where a high-end silver workbench stood. A middle-aged man with deep, calm eyes and a slightly aged appearance was carefully examining a nondescript gray stone with rough, pale white streaks that faintly glowed, seemingly a type of ore. A faint smile of satisfaction was on his chiseled face.

The youth walked over and waited quietly until he finished his inspection and looked up, then greeted him softly, "Hello, Teacher!"

Sha Zhenghai turned and saw him, his face breaking into a smile, "Ah, it's Qin Huang! It's been a while since you came. I heard from Luo Tianxiong that you haven't been in good form recently. What's going on?"

"It's nothing, just a small physical issue," Qin Huang didn't want to dwell on the matter and changed the subject, "I see you're in a good mood today, did you get something good?"

Sha Zhenghai chuckled, "Yes, this is a new mineral sample brought back by the school's expedition team. It's tin-gold star-pattern iron, a rare material even within the empire, used for creating high-grade mecha power engine modules! I didn't expect to find it on this planet!"