Chapter 396: Moonlight Rising

Translator: Abyssruler Editor: Lucas

“Wang Zheng, look at that punk, he’s pretty optimistic, eh? I wonder if they can get past Morgan Locke. What do you think, Nan… Runan?”

Zhang Shan said. Ever since Zhang Runan’s appearance had stabilized, everybody had felt a little off. They were still not used to Zhang Runan’s sudden change in appearance.

Zhang Runan felt that she was especially unbecoming as well, but her ability X had risen. After she transformed, she would return to her current state. Faced with a beauty though, the usually prattling Zhang Shan was a little thrown off.

“Actually, the Caragal Republic has been improving very rapidly in recent years. Runan could hold her own in a military beauty contest over there now.” Even Achilles could not resist jibing.

“Eyes on the match!” Zhang Runan suddenly turned on them. In comparison, Meng Tian was the cooler-headed of the two. Although they did not speak much, they connected well.

The following battles had surprising results. Between Caragal and Morgan Locke, Morgan Locke stood above them in terms of past results, their ranking about 30 places higher. But under Caragal’s leadership, they had destroyed Morgan Locke in a frenzied 4-0.

The Caragal Republic always prayed before their battles, thanking God for giving them life, sustenance, and strength in battle.

Systematic, solid, all-rounded, united. That was the current Caragal Republic team. Under Max’s leadership, the Caragal Republic team had entered the top 16 for the first time in history.

The arena was filled with cheers from Caragal’s team and their representative group. On the other side, Morgan Locke was dispirited and helpless. There were no deaths in this battle, only three light injuries, which spoke of the Caragal team’s control of the battle.

The Caragal Republic, which had always been treated lightly, had blossomed in this iteration of IG.

Amongst them, Max’s performance was laudable. Morgan Locke’s captain, Bo Yikao, had planned to turn their disadvantageous situation with the leader face-off in round 2, but had been defeated by Max. This had severely affected the Morgan Locke team’s morale, and they had crumbled. The leader fight was a double-edged sword, especially towards internal morale. Win, and your team was filled with spirit. Lose, and it seemed hopeless. Bo Yikao would never dream that he would be beaten by some nameless punk.

The victorious Caragal team saluted the entire field. Their conduct was humble. They neither strutted in victory nor wallowed in defeat. They maintained an even attitude. Such a team spoke of greatness in their country.

The best was yet to come. Manalasuo’s team against the Solar System Federation’s team.

Max and his team did not celebrate excessively After celebrating briefly, they returned to the spectator platform. They were more than in the mood to enjoy the upcoming battle. Although they had no stake in the battle, they felt a certain kinship with the Solar System Federation team, and were eager to demonstrate solidarity.

The IG was not given to pomp and fanfare. After the judges had finished reading out the competing team members from the display, the competition began.

Both team captains opted to field their fighter first.

At that moment, the great hall quietened. Manalasuo’s representative members were especially serene. To them, this was just a normal match, and there was no need to make a fuss out of it. To the Solar System Federation team, however, they were starting to get nervous. This was their first time facing such a formidable opponent.

Wang Zheng’s gaze scanned through everyone. The Solar System team did not have as positive a team atmosphere as Caragal, but sometimes a little dissent meant something else – that there were strong, independent minds.

The level of competition here was naturally different. The first battle was no trifling matter. “First battle, Achilles. It’s time to show the Milky Way Alliance the Solar System’s strength.”

Wang Zheng smiled. Achilles stood up and nodded. “I’ve waited a long time for this. Finally I can get into action.”

Regardless of whether it was the last battle, everybody could go all out and prove themselves.

Achilles stepped up. On the other side, Vincent looked at Gelun. “It isn’t the pretty girl, but it’s a pretty boy instead. Go take care of him.”

Gelun stood up, indifferent. “We aren’t picky eaters, I’ll destroy them all regardless of gender!”

Gelun, Manalasuo’s point fighter, sized Achilles up, and directly chose Manalasuo’s heavy humanoid type mech, Electric Deathlock. Manalasuo had made their name through creating the weird. Amongst all of the mecha produced by their country, the weirdest would undoubtedly be the Golden Wheel mech. Of course, that was a failed product, while the Electric Deathlock was a success. Besides a tank-mech level energy shield defense, it came equipped with an electrified kusarigama: hooked scythes on a chain which had an attacking range of about 20 meters. The chains could be lengthened or shortened at will. In a group fight, it was nigh unbeatable – capable of both defense and offense. The edge of soft weapons and the weird trajectory of attack gave him an inhuman feel.

Similarly, the Electric Deathlock was a mech that was onerous to master, but in the ace team of Manalasuo, they were definitely equipped to handle it.

In an era where the main fighting force was equipped with ace mecha, the sheer quantity of mecha was no longer the prime determiner of victory. Instead, the emphasis had turned to quality.

In such a practice arena match, it was almost hopeless to go up against the Electric Deathlock.

The crowd turned towards the Solar System team’s pretty boy. Finally there was someone even paler than Wang Zheng. Achilles’ expression was serene, but everybody knew that he must have been consciously acting that way.

The Electric Deathlock had no obvious weakness. Perhaps in a more complicated terrain there might be a way to counter it, but in such a place…

However, Achilles did not hesitate for very long, readily selecting the mech he needed, the Moon’s Moonlit Sage Rider V. This was a balanced fighter mech, not regarded as a specialty mech. Its capabilities were very good, and the excellent teams in the Moon army were outfitted with it. Retractable titanium guns and small, round shields on each shoulder gave it defensive traits. Balance in all things was the strong point of those from the Moon, but could the Moonlight Sage Rider defeat the Electric Deathlock?

Both of them entered their cockpits and started up the mecha. Harmonization… Linking up… 10 percent… 50 percent… 100 percent…

Both mecha’s eyes lit up. At this time the audience was quickly filling up. Only the various country representatives and official personnel, or the Aslan hosts could enter. They were here for only one purpose – to confirm the Manalasuo team’s abilities for themselves. The top 32 was the warmup for all the strongest teams. The top 16 would see a huge ramp up in battle intensity, and an understanding of the opponent’s situation was necessary.

Gelun also needed to warm up during this match, to elevate himself to a higher state than his current one. In the next round, he might very well face an opponent of similar caliber, and all the experienced teams would be making similar preparations. Otherwise, a second lieutenant like Gelun would not need to make an appearance against a team like the Solar System Federation.

Rumble… Rumble…

The two mecha appeared on the arena. Zhang Shan surged to his feet, howling. Everybody turned to look at him, because he was the only one…

The Manalasuo representatives took one look at his crazed expression and dismissed him as a maniac. Meng Ao felt a little embarrassed as well. This brat was really too excitable.

But Zhang Shan did not care. Life was as brief as a burning candle, and one should not overthink it.

After the Moonlight Sage Rider appeared, it did not rush to prepare any moves. It stood with arms extended, the titanium guns ready. They had been laxer in the earlier rounds. If they wanted to go far, they had to control their own state of mind and body. Showing their hand too early was meaningless. Yet, at this juncture, the Solar System team needed some morale and to put pressure on their opponents. This was Wang Zheng’s intent in letting Achilles take the field.

In this iteration of the Solar System team, three people had risen to prominence. Besides himself, there was Lear and Wang Zheng. Both Lear and himself could fight, inherently talented and strong. This was where Lie Xin fell behind a step. Although the Lie Flame Technique was not bad, her talent had not brought her to an indomitable pinnacle. He and Lear were different. This was why their ambitions were burning so brightly, and they had not expected an even more extraordinary Wang Zheng.

Although the team had their fair share of internal strife, all of them had the same goal. Although Lear liked to play his little games, the big picture would always come first. He was no fool.

He would open with the first shot.

Gelun looked at his opponent and suddenly smiled. He would taunt the opponent a bit first.

The Electric Deathlock let loose a huge sound, and its two arms shot a hail of lasers. At the same time, its laser cannons flipped outwards, aiming towards the Moonlit Sage Rider like some sort of grotesque beast.

Everybody was stunned for a moment. Rumble…

The lasers enveloped the Moonlit Sage Rider in an instant. Gelun laughed as he fired. This guy liked to show off? He clearly knew his firepower was so much weaker, but he still put on airs and struck a pose. No wonder the Solar System had always been weak.

Whoosh…

A shadow charged forward through the screen of bullets. Gelun was expecting it. With a swivel of his shoulder cannons, two rocket lasers fired towards the Moonlit Sage Rider. They were the seeking type, and would seal off the Moonlit Sage Rider’s movement patterns.

After just evading a ferocious attack, could the Moonlit Sage Rider still move?

However, Achilles did not evade it, but leaped towards it, titanium guns in hand.

This… F*ck, was this suicide?

Whoosh… whoosh…

Miraculously, the two rockets actually did not explode, but were diverted to either side.

Gelun’s eyes widened. F*ck, what ability was this!?

But Manalasuo people always responded quickly. Although they were surprised, their movements did not lag. Firepower that filled the skies was aimed to suppress the opponent’s movement.

The Moonlit Sage Rider’s engine roared, carrying it towards the skies. The titanium gun brandished towards Gelun. Gelun smiled slightly, answering it with his fist.

BOOM…

The Moonlit Sage Rider flew backwards, skidding for six or seven meters. The Electric Deathlock slowly straightened up as well, retracting the shoulder cannons. “Looks like you’re not half bad!”

Gelun could sense that his opponent had not used his full power. The titanium gun had only probed lightly before disengaging, as though disdaining such an opening for attack.

He spread his arms. In his left hand was a chain, in his right hand a sickle. The scythe started to spin in his hands, quickly turning the sky into a danger zone. The Electric Deathlock approached the Moonlight Sage Rider step by step.

Achilles suddenly rushed at him. Whoosh…

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