Chapter 141 Test Run

Xuan Xuan did not notice their reactions. She simply nodded, her hands busy as she installed the core into the mecha. "Combining several magic arrays is definitely much more complicated," she said, "and the arrays must be mutually supportive, never conflicting. There are also specific requirements for the energy circulation between them."

She continued, "The 'Control Array' is obvious; it is designed to control the mecha. There are two types of 'Spirit-Gathering Arrays': the first gathers surrounding elemental energy to enrich the energy in the energy stones, while the second provides a better link with our mental power, allowing mental energy to control the mecha more effectively. You all know about the 'Shield Array.' This mecha was far too bulky. To reduce weight and increase speed, I removed the original shield components and replaced them with this. As for the 'Anti-Gravity Array,' Moqi Weihao and the others cannot physically bear the strain of high G-forces; with this array, they can stay inside the mecha for much longer."

Xuan Xuan's explanation left the group even more dumbfounded. These few arrays had solved so many problems that they had been unable to overcome.

Moreover, even the problems they could solve were immensely complicated and required a vast amount of time and effort to complete—nothing at all as simple and convenient as Xuan Xuan's approach.

Of course, the arrays Xuan Xuan inscribed could only be used by her; if anyone else drew them, they would be completely useless. For instance, the core of the simulated mecha originally contained only a "Control Array," but Kuang Hongyi had copied it countless times without ever grasping its essence, capturing only its form while missing its soul.

Even an exact visual replica produced no effect whatsoever.

Furthermore, while a single array was relatively easy to make, creating multiple arrays on a single magic crystal and getting them to work harmoniously was no simple task. It required a high degree of familiarity with various magical elements and an extensive mastery of different arrays.

Otherwise, even the smallest mistake could cause the arrays on the entire magic crystal to fail.

A simple failure was the best-case scenario; at worst, it could trigger an elemental riot within the magic crystal and cause an explosion.

Once the mecha was assembled, Xuan Xuan clapped her hands and took two steps back. The mecha did not look significantly different from before, though it appeared much more streamlined, as she had removed many useless components.

After circling the mecha a few times without finding anything particularly special about its appearance, she glanced at Moqi Weihao and said, "Go up and try it out."

Try it out? Moqi Weihao hesitated for a long time without moving. Xuan Xuan's earlier display of creating a shield using energy stones had truly startled him, and her effortless installation of the mecha showed she possessed a solid foundation in mecha repair. However, mecha modification was no trivial matter; the slightest flaw could put a mecha pilot in grave danger.

From the very beginning of his training in mecha piloting, Moqi Lianhao had repeatedly warned him about this issue. This was also why new federal mecha models emerged so slowly and why Kuang Hongyi maintained such an unshakeable status in the mecha-manufacturing world.

Kuang Hongyi's greatest skill lay in modifying mechas, building new ones, and creating entirely new classes and types.

Even graduates of the Federal Mecha Design Department were not always capable of independently modifying a complete mecha.

Therefore, Moqi Weihao hesitated. Although he felt bad about refusing because it might hurt Xuan Xuan's feelings, he still did not dare to pilot the mecha rashly. If Xuan Xuan had made only minor modifications, he wouldn't have thought much of it, but he had watched her work, and it was obvious she had virtually transformed the entire mecha into something completely different.

Realizing the potential consequences of flaws in a modified mecha, Xuan Xuan decided to ask Kuang Hongyi to arrange for someone to test and inspect it.

Before she could speak, Zhan Yu vaulted directly into the mecha with fluid and graceful agility.

Kuang Hongyi felt an urge to kick Kuang Shao. To claim Zhan Yu wasn't doing this for Xuan Xuan was absurd—anyone with eyes could see that Zhan Yu had set his sights on her. And Kuang Shao, that idiot, had let Zhan Yu snatch the honor of testing Xuan Xuan's very first creation.

Seething with frustration and annoyed that the blockhead Kuang Shao remained oblivious, Kuang Hongyi marched over and gave him a kick. "What are you waiting to test alone? Go spar with the Zhan family boy! If you dare to lose, hmph..."

Facing his grandfather's highly threatening words, Kuang Shao felt a surge of survival instinct. He quickly summoned his own mecha, "Blazing Sun," and leaped into the cockpit with a light step. Xuan Xuan and the others quickly retreated. Fortunately, the mecha repair room was designed for testing and thus had plenty of open space, allowing the two mechas just enough room to maneuver.

Everyone's eyes were glued to the two machines. One was Kuang Hongyi's masterpiece, an S-class mecha operated by Kuang Shao, who had used it daily for a long time. The other was a mecha built by a novice like Xuan Xuan; although piloted by Zhan Yu, it was his first time ever touching this machine, and he was completely unfamiliar with it.

Especially since Xuan Xuan's mecha had not undergone any diagnostic testing, whether it could even function properly remained a huge question mark.

Not to mention Moqi Weihao and the others, even Kuang Hongyi—despite having absolute confidence in his own manufacturing skills—was eager to see if Xuan Xuan's mecha could live up to her conceptual design, a surprise he had been waiting a long time for.

As Zhan Yu climbed into the mecha and began warming it up, everyone—including Xuan Xuan—broke out in a cold sweat. Zhan Yu's very first step nearly caused him to stumble and fall to the ground.

Zhan Yu, someone who spent practically day and night with mechas and whose piloting skills were second to none compared to pilots like Moqi Lianhao, had almost tripped on his opening step. This had to rank as one of the most embarrassing moments of his piloting career.

Kuang Hongyi coughed dryly and offered words of comfort. "For a first-time modification, this is already quite good."

Xuan Xuan puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. Zhan Yu was an absolute idiot; he actually made a mistake while using her mecha.

Fortunately, Zhan Yu's clumsiness lasted only for that initial step. After moving around for a bit, he grew much more accustomed to it. Kuang Hongyi's eyes flashed with a hint of realization: the benefits of removing so much dead weight from the interior were now apparent. The mecha was significantly lighter and faster. Yet, Kuang Hongyi wasn't too worried; speed had always been the greatest advantage of Kuang Shao's "Blazing Sun."

After stretching the mecha's joints, Zhan Yu signaled through the comms that he was ready to begin.

Narrowing his eyes, Kuang Shao had no intention of holding back in a mecha match. Zhan Yu had already caused him to get chewed out by his grandfather, and now that he finally had a chance to face Zhan Yu in this experimental mecha, he had to teach him a thorough lesson. Ever since they started training together, Zhan Yu had always suppressed him, leaving him with no chance of turning the tables.

This was a golden opportunity, and Kuang Shao was not about to let it slip away.

Inside his cockpit, Kuang Shao wore a smirk. He was accustomed to seizing the initiative, and that would not change just because Zhan Yu had switched mechas.

His feet moved rapidly, and almost in the blink of an eye, he surged toward Zhan Yu's flank. Capitalizing on the fact that Zhan Yu's mecha lacked heavy weaponry, Kuang Shao unleashed a barrage of laser fire. Keeping his mecha highly maneuverable, he tracked Zhan Yu's position tightly, ensuring that the moment Zhan Yu moved out of range of his laser sweep, he would be met with a fatal blade strike.

Besides, Kuang Shao wondered if Zhan Yu could even dodge this laser barrage while wrestling with unfamiliar controls.

A laser sweep was a classic high-density, heavy-firepower assault. Anyone with slightly slow reflexes, sluggish reactions, or poor mobility risked being overwhelmed and immobilized by the blast.

Down below, the spectators—especially Moqi Weihao and his companions—watched Zhan Yu's movements with bated breath. Moqi Weihao was even more anxious, harboring a bit of resentment toward Kuang Shao for hitting so hard against a mecha that Xuan Xuan had just modified for the first time.

Just as Moqi Weihao looked over at Xuan Xuan in worry, he heard Moqi Weihan beside him gasp. Turning his head back, he saw that Zhan Yu had already broken through the barrage of laser fire. Kuang Shao had closed the distance right behind Zhan Yu, his movements as smooth and natural as flowing water. A four-bolt burst successfully restricted Zhan Yu's evasion paths, locking dead-center onto him with a concentrated energy cannon blast.

Kuang Shao's firing angle was devilishly tricky. Moqi Weihao doubted he could have escaped it even while piloting an S-class mecha, making him lament that Kuang Shao's combat experience was truly on a level no ordinary student could match.

Even Kuang Hongyi felt that Kuang Shao's transition between those two moves was executed to perfection, showing no complacency whatsoever despite Zhan Yu piloting an experimental machine. Furthermore, seeing Kuang Shao with his right hand back and left foot forward, coiled and ready to strike, it was obvious he was already primed for the next blow.

It was an unbroken chain of attacks with not a single moment of laxity and zero flaws.

Just as everyone concluded that Zhan Yu's mecha was finished, Zhan Yu did the unexpected. Instead of dodging or evading, he charged straight into Kuang Shao's energy cannon blast. The onlookers below widened their eyes in shock. What on earth was Zhan Yu doing?

Was he trying to get himself killed?

Only Xuan Xuan remained entirely calm, a relaxed smile in her eyes. He wasn't completely stupid; he at least vaguely understood the purpose of the mecha she had built.

Just as everyone braced themselves to watch Zhan Yu's chest bloom with an explosive impact—and Kuang Hongyi even prepared to step in and stop the match—an energy shield suddenly snapped into existence on Zhan Yu's mecha, absorbing Kuang Shao's attack. Although the impact stalled Zhan Yu for a fraction of a second, he accelerated once more in the next heartbeat, lashing out with a vicious kick to Kuang Shao's lower torso.

Targeted by this sudden counterattack, Kuang Shao was startled, but he reacted quickly, throwing his mecha into reverse to escape close-quarters combat. Though he didn't know the exact limits of this strange mecha, close-quarters combat had always been Zhan Yu's specialty.

He retreated continuously, cycling through several evasive footwork patterns, but Zhan Yu seemed able to anticipate his every move. Just as he was backing up against the wall, Kuang Shao suddenly accelerated his retreat by two steps, spun his torso, and pushed off the wall to lunge back toward Zhan Yu. Displaying his peak agility once more, Zhan Yu sidestepped Kuang Shao's assault and, as they brushed past each other, reverse-thrust the energy blade in his hand directly into the casing of Kuang Shao's mecha.

Victory!