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ntranslator: baumkuchen editors: serefina, glitterypanda

nBut Zhan Yanchao wasn’t worried about that.

nWhat Ji Zuoshan lacked, he could make it up for Ji Zuoshan.

nHe knew all too well that he wasn’t Ji Zuoshan’s match, and knew that Ji Zuoshan absolutely wouldn’t let him off easily. However, when he put on his mecha, Zhan Yanchao’s body ignited with a rush of hot blood once more.

nThis could be his last time ever in a mecha. Even if he lost, he needed to lose well.

nDuring the tournament, in order to avoid disparity in equipment affecting the fairness of the match, all competitors used the standardised training mechas provided by the tournament hosts.

nHis weapon was a primary light weapon, just like Ji Zuoshan’s.

n……This scene was so similar to every one of their practice duels in the past.

nDonning his mecha, the dazzling light of the display screen spread out before his eyes. Their senses joined. Zhan Yanchao clenched his fist slightly and confirmed that his energy, like rippling water, had reached every part of his body.

nBoth parties stood in the stipulated arena. The referee announced the start of the match.

nThis match had quite a few spectators. They were all anticipating that the two would begin by spouting off with their mouths, detailing all those times “you wronged me, I wronged you” in the past, then properly begin.

nSo when the two mechas began to move at practically the exact same time, slamming into each other, no one was able to react, including Wang Xiaoqing and Wang Xizhou, who had specifically set aside time to come spectate.

nZhan Yanchao’s right hand swung out with his light whip, whirling like a golden dragon or snake made of light. Ji Zuoshan met it with one hand, letting the light whip wrap around his right hand and arm. After he was half-pulled to and half-sent himself to Zhan Yanchao, a light blade flashed out from his left hand, severing the light with a clang——

nSwish.

nThe metal fingers on his right hand directly grabbed Zhan Yanchao’s helmet. The moment his fingers closed around it, the crunch of gold iron shattering into pieces rang out!

nZhan Yanchao, despite being openly suppressed, unexpectedly neither panicked nor tried to run. He immediately hooked his leg around Ji Zuoshan’s knee and smashed a fist towards his temple!

nBut his punch didn’t land.

nThe moment he hooked his leg around Ji Zuoshan’s knee, Ji Zuoshan used that force to kneel down slightly. Sparks spurted from the thruster on his leg, pushing him behind Zhan Yanchao. He swung back around, keeping low, and stabbed his light blade towards the core system on his spine.

nNot even having the time to turn, Zhan Yanchao reached behind his back. A light shield burst out of the weapon system on his hand, blocking the light blade that had been heading towards him with the force of a thunderbolt.

nThe tip of the blade collided with the shield in a rain of sparks.

nAll this happened in the span of an instant. Watching this, the Wang family siblings were flabbergasted.

nThis was their first time seeing what level Ji Zuoshan’s close combat ability was at.

nOther than Ji Zuoshan exhibiting his strong spiritual energy at the very beginning of the summer training, he had only ever used the simplest methods to kill the Zerg and take his spoils.

nThe number of times he’d fought with other mechas was even less. His reputation was so fierce that the moment people from other teams saw a dark blue training mecha swagger over, parading itself out in the open, they ran even faster than when they saw the Zerg.

nHence, the Wang siblings hadn’t thought that Ji Zuoshan would have this kind of strength, just like how they hadn’t expected Zhan Yanchao’s own strength.

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n……They were all too clear on how horrifying the gold content in this short, three-second long clash of weapons was.

nThis kind of situation, could only occur when both sides had strength far above the norm.

nThe people who’d come to watch the ruckus had originally thought that they’d see an utter beatdown, but they didn’t feel any regret.

nThe sharp screech of gold iron clashing made their adrenaline spike.

nHis strike not hitting its target, Ji Zuoshan wasn’t interested in engaging further, so he withdrew.

nSure enough, Zhan Yanchao turned his light shield into a giant sword. Holding the hilt with both hands, he stabbed it backwards, the blade sliding a dangerously close, half an inch away from the front of his abdomen.

nThe killing power of a light weapon was enough to penetrate the outer steel shell of a training mecha. Placing his weight on a single foot, Zhan Yanchao pivoted and swung his blade in a horizontal slash, but found that Ji Zuoshan was actually already no longer behind him.

n&#k2026;&#k2026;What?

nBefore he could turn around, he felt his feet leave the ground.

nJi Zuoshan wedged a light hook the length of a boatman’s tow-rope into the back part of his belt, swept him up into the air, then smashed him into the ground. “Be wary of what’s behind you. You often can’t defend against the second surprise attack from behind. &#k2026;&#k2026;Twelve.”

nWang Xiaoqing had yet to come to know about Ji Zuoshan’s usual practice of coaching people in these past few days. “What is he saying?”

nRosie just smiled, not answering. She said, “Beg me.”

nWang Xiaoqing, “……” Hmph.

nWhen he fell heavily to the ground, other than the feeling of pain in his body, Zhan Yanchao didn’t feel any anger, rather, a rush of hot blood flooded through his veins.

nHe rolled to the side, away from the crater he’d made when he hit the floor.

nClang——

nIn the next second, the place where he had just been lying was smashed into pieces by a fist.

nBefore he could steady himself on his feet, he seemed to sense something, and suddenly raised his arm to block his face. Sure enough, Ji Zuoshan’s right leg slashed through the air towards him.

nZhan Yanchao originally thought that he’d be able to block it.

nHowever, Ji Zuoshan’s right leg was actually just a bluff. As soon as he threw up his right arm to block the blow, he used his momentum to turn his body, sweeping out his left leg and landing a heavy kick on Zhan Yanchao’s face!

nWhen everyone thought that Zhan Yanchao was going to fall, Zhan Yanchao actually firmly took the hit and caught the mecha’s ankle with both hands. Several ropes of light climbed up the mecha’s leg. From the looks of it, he was going to imitate what Ji Zuoshan had just done to him, lifting him up and throwing him to the ground.

nThe thruster on the foot of Ji Zuoshan’s mecha was immediately pushed to its highest gear. Zhan Yanchao didn’t move. He firmly controlled his light ropes, not allowing them to loosen.

nIn the next second, Ji Zuoshan moved again.

nHe turned back, placing both hands on Zhan Yanchao’s shoulders.

nOutside the arena, Wang Xiaoqing’s muscles were tense and her blood was boiling. She clenched Rosie’s hands.

nWang Xizhou looked at his older sister. He bravely volunteered himself, saying, “Jie, don’t be scared, Ji-dage won’t lose. If you’re nervous, you can hold my hand.”

nWang Xiaoqing didn’t even turn and look at him. “How am I supposed to hold your pickled pepper chicken claws.”

nWang Xizhou looked at his slender, soft fingers. “……”

nRosie said, “Don’t use any more force.”

nWang Xiaoqing, “It hurts?”

nRosie said honestly, “If you grasp my hands any tighter, I’ll get hard.”

nWang Xiaoqing, “……” Stinky hooligan, hmph.

nWang Xizhou was dumbstruck.

nFrom the weapon system in Ji Zuoshan’s palm, out popped a light rope exactly the same as the ones Zhan Yanchao was using, but with a nail on the top. It swung over his shoulder and directly wedged itself in the rubber surface.

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nZhan Yanchao, “……” Fuck!

nBefore his muscles could muster the strength to react, the light rope in Ji Zuoshan’s palm retracted, flowing back into his palm, making a sliding sound that made one’s teeth itch.

nIn the next moment, Ji Zuoshan’s mecha was then pulled over to behind Zhan Yanchao. By the time the light ropes hindering his legs passed Zhan Yanchao’s neck, Ji Zuoshan swiftly twisted his legs, making the light ropes form a cross and wrap around Zhan Yanchao’s neck!

nBefore the light ropes could wrap around his neck, Zhan Yanchao quickly retracted his weapon. However, Ji Zuoshan was one step faster than him, using the nail to silently land behind his back, wrapping his arms around his mecha’s waist and following that with a violent rain of elbow strikes.

nWhen he was suppressed to the point of being unable to move, Zhan Yanchao heard Ji Zuoshan’s indifferent voice sound by his ear, “After suffering losses, you always try to use the same method to take revenge. ……Twenty, twenty one, twenty two……”

nAfter 30 attacks, Ji Zuoshan seemed to sense something. He jumped back.

nJust as the audience was wondering why Ji Zuoshan was letting go of the good opportunity he’d gotten in his spurt of energy, they couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air when they saw Zhan Yanchao get up.

n——He had a light gun in his hand, pressed up against his own shoulder.

nIf he had been able to finish storing up energy, and had been able to shoot, he would have put a hole straight through his own and Ji Zuoshan’s shoulder.

n……He really was a psycho!!

nJi Zuoshan didn’t comment on his move, even nodding slightly.

nSince Ji Zuoshan had already left, Zhan Yanchao didn’t hesitate, turning and pulling the trigger, his gun aimed at the head of Ji Zuoshan’s mecha.

nJi Zuoshan, however, didn’t move, letting that light bullet shoot straight towards him. However, when it had nearly reached him, it wasn’t able to move another inch further!!

nThe entire crowd broke out in an uproar!

nWang Xiaoqing jumped straight up to her feet in shock.

nShe originally felt a little embarrassed, but looking around, there were countless others who had jumped up just like her. Even the military officers in the centre of the referee seats had suddenly gotten up, staring closely at Ji Zuoshan in the arena.

nWhat did it mean to have enough spiritual energy to stop a bullet?

nMany people didn’t even dare to think about it.

nFor fun, someone had been livestreaming the match on the internet, naming it “Revenge Battle”.

nJi Zuoshan’s name had long since appeared on the list of winners of the summer training on “The Scar” that had been released to the public. Furthermore, he was the only human sacrifice on there, and was even a human sacrifice who had turned on his master. This kind of identity made him well received by the lower class. There were countless people who had silently taken note of his name. However, there were also some nobles who looked at their reverent and respectful human sacrifices standing next to them and sneered at Ji Zuoshan.

nJust a lowly human sacrifice, how dare he make a move against his former master?

nThis battle of adulthood was already a matter of interest to the whole country. The moment the video of Ji Zuoshan came out, there were naturally people discussing it, and there were also of course people coming to watch the ruckus. Some silently hoped that Ji Zuoshan would be able to destroy Zhan Yanchao, while others were fully expecting Zhan Yanchao to defeat this ungrateful human sacrifice so that those human sacrifices who had been inspired to become a little restless would put their ambitions to rest.

nHowever, when Ji Zuoshan stopped the bullet with ease, the internet was like water which had a bomb thrown into it, exploding with a loud bang.

nAnd after that, the comments section of the video suddenly broke through the hundred thousands, and was still madly rising.

nHow could this be?

nWhat did this mean? It meant that Ji Zuoshan’s spiritual energy was already so fine that it could control magnetic fields!!

nWhat did this mean?

nA miracle, hope, there was still a future!

nAmongst the boiling sentiments, only Rosie was still able to sit still. She said to herself, “When did his spiritual energy develop to the 3S level? He didn’t tell me. Really not a good enough friend.”

nNow, the “not a good enough friend” Ji Zuoshan was rubbing his palm slightly, as if he was grinding something.

nUnder the shocked gazes of the crowd, the bullet was slowly broken down into bits and reformed.

nAny normal person would have already been shocked witless at this point. Those who had been defeated by Ji Zuoshan a few days ago and had been gossiping about him behind his back were even more shocked, constantly wiping off their cold sweat.

nMany people were thinking that if they were Zhan Yanchao, they would probably have lost all will to fight by now and collapsed to the ground.

nHowever, after his gun had just finished storing energy, Zhan Yanchao precisely calculated the time to shoot, then made another shot. Just as the light bullet came to a stop in mid-air, he changed the gun into whip form, which slashed through the air like a dragon as it swung towards Ji Zuoshan’s side.

nSome people were mocking surnamed Zhan’s recklessness, while others silently admired his courage to fight to the death.

nJi Zuoshan said gently, “You chose the wrong timing…… Thirty six.”

nAs he spoke, the light whip reached the shield formed from Ji Zuoshan’s spiritual power and broke into pieces.

nBut Zhan Yanchao unexpectedly flew up, pushing himself into mid-air with his maneuvering equipment. He grabbed a broken fragment of his light whip, condensed it into a dagger, and held it like a pen in one hand as he aimed the blade downwards and stabbed it at Ji ZUoshan’s shoulder!!

nThis was an attack without any fancy tricks, truly with the attitude of one fighting for their life.

nJi Zuoshan retreated half a step, instantly removing his spiritual energy barrier. The two light bullets turned into fine grains of light powder, scattering to the ground, even harder to find.

nBefore he made his move, he calmly pointed out Zhan Yanchao’s problem, “Don’t casually hover in front of me.”

nHe slowly calculated the number of moves he’d made against Zhan Yanchao.

nOne hundred, five hundred, seven hundred.

nOn his seven hundred and ninth move, Zhan Yanchao, whose weapon systems on his arms and hands had already been completely destroyed, still wanted to stand up, but was thrown to the ground with a horizontal kick from Ji Zuoshan. The mechanical system on his left shoulder suddenly lost function.

nJust one more, and then it would be seven hundred and ten.

nWhen his back fell to the ground, every weak point on Zhan Yanchao’s body was exposed in front of Ji Zuoshan.

nHe even had the heart to let out a faint smile.

nHe’d had a good time. That was enough.

n……Xiao Ji, this time, I’ll be your human sacrifice.

nHowever, the hit and consequent pain he’d imagined never came.

nHis training mecha was shaken to pieces starting from the joints, inch by inch, by Ji Zuoshan’s spiritual energy, accurate to the smallest part, but the body wrapped inside the mecha was utterly unharmed.

nZhan Yanchao even thought that he was hallucinating. Dazed, he sat up, and saw countless broken pieces of his mech fall off of his body.

nThe crowd watching, “……”Fuck, manually forcing him out of the cabin.

nZhan Yanchao stared blankly at the person who had walked over to him.

n“You’re a future soldier of this planet,” Ji Zuoshan said gently, “I won’t destroy an excellent soldier.”

nNot because of old feelings, not because he still had any fantasies, but just because his fighting skills were worthy of respect.

nAfter that, he walked away, not looking back.

nAs he stared at his back, Zhan Yanchao’s entire body trembled with pain.

nSo dazzling, such a good person, why did he lose him in the beginning.

nWhy was he only left with the view of his back now……

nOn Chi Xiaochi’s display screen, Zhan Yanchao’s regret value rose straight up, all the way to 72 points.

n“Wait! Wait a minute——”

nZhan Yanchao struggled to his feet, clutching at his still faintly painful chest. He shouted, “Xiao Ji, what are you going to do? You don’t have enough energy to turn into an Alpha……”

nJi Zuoshan stopped. He turned back, showing half his face. The corners of his lips rose slightly in a smile. “I can transform by myself, without needing to take anything from any of you.”

nThe author has something to say:

nStupid bird: I’ll bring my quilt with me to squat below your house!

nXiao Ji: Be good, don’t fuss, go fight in the war.

nThe kiss chapter is next chapter, it’s almost done!

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nsere: damn??? That was so cool. Also kiss???

nbaum: it is next chapter, but next chapter is also a 5k chapter so…… In short, it’ll be the release after next orz

nOn another note, wow are fight scenes hard to translate T T

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