novelraw Chapter 34 : Holographic Competition
Chapter 34 : Holographic Competition
The news of the holographic battlefield opening, along with Liao Ruyi's post, shot to the top of the forum homepage.
At that time, Chen Sui was already in the holographic battlefield.
The holographic battlefield had a separate competition section, with two modes: two-person matches and five-person matches.
Both two-person and five-person matches had two team formation types: random matching and manual team assembly.
The competition maps were divided into clearance-style and practice-style.
[Clearance] featured self-created energy fields, all fictional, with rewards given for each level cleared.
[Practice] used existing energy fields with programmed modifications to increase or decrease difficulty. Clearing random energy fields earned corresponding points, with a scoreboard ranking teams. Higher-ranked teams received appropriate rewards.
Rewards were mostly star coins, mecha parts, or low-grade energy crystals, with only a few high-grade energy crystals.
Worth mentioning, Chen Sui discovered that with the appearance of competitions, the holographic battlefield had added a trading section.
In the trading area, one could use star coins to purchase items from the mall, including but not limited to virtual mecha appearances, energy body diagrams, energy crystals, mecha skeleton parts, and other physical items. One could even trade with other players and list items for sale.
The custom mecha appearance Chen Sui was currently using would cost five hundred star coins in this mall.
She silently complained that the commercial department behind the holographic battlefield was quite skilled at doing business.
After researching the new features of the holographic battlefield, Chen Sui received an invitation from the academy.
She had just entered the team and hadn't even had time to see the team channel homepage when a white light flashed.
"Randomizing virtual energy field..."
"Random energy field: SS-level energy field [City of Deception]"
"This energy field accommodates team size: 100 people"
"Energy field duration 12 hours, flow rate 3:1, earn points by killing energy bodies, energy monitoring equipment hidden in the energy field, first to place the energy monitoring equipment will have points doubled, final rankings determined by point totals"
The holographic battlefield competition system closely resembled the Star League Competition.
The Star League Competition used a 2-5-3 system: two elimination matches, five regular matches, and three high-level energy field bonus matches.
Elimination matches used a survival battle system with point rankings and elimination of the lowest scorers. There was no energy monitoring equipment point doubling.
The regular matches used a defender system with five academies, one of which was the defender possessing the energy monitoring equipment. Energy monitoring equipment point doubling existed in this scenario.
The SS-level battlefield simulation leaned toward the regular match format, but removed the defender role while allowing energy monitoring equipment to be seized from other teams.
"Competition countdown 5, 4, 3, 2, 1"
Chen Sui quickly organized the competition process in her mind and felt confident.
When she opened her eyes, she saw a Western-style city approaching dusk.
The sunlight was no longer scorching, its rays somewhat desaturated.
The streets and buildings were all quiet.
The four teammates' mechas had been teleported to the same location. Chen Sui saw a popup in the mecha channel.
"Xie Chunshi invites you to join the team channel"
After Chen Sui accepted, she immediately heard the voices of others.
The school team's mecha style looked very uniform, all in black and gold colors, perfectly matching Zhu Jing Fu's color scheme and Seven Academy's school uniform aesthetics, though each had made small modifications to reflect personal style.
Gu Qinxue's mecha had some small spray-painted graffiti—a fluffy white rabbit hugging a golden carrot, looking quite incongruous with her cold demeanor.
Chen Sui glanced at the others.
Puluo's mecha, like his personality, wasn't particularly eye-catching, and because of weapon modifications, the mecha appeared somewhat clumsy and overall rather somber.
Zhou Chen's black-based spray paint featured lightning patterns crisscrossing his entire body.
Xie Chunshi's mecha appeared to have no modifications, but had less gold, with an overall heavy black color, and differed somewhat from the school team mecha design.
Chen Sui looked carefully and only then noticed a white cloud pattern on the deep black frame of the mecha's connection points, suddenly realizing: this mecha was the renowned Black Chastisement in the repair technician world.
Originally the personal mecha of Song Yunlai, the first chairman of the Star Alliance.
Later becoming the personal mecha of Song Baining, head of Zone Eleven's Military Committee.
"Is that a personalized customization?"
While she was examining others, the school team members were also examining this analyst in training.
Zhou Chen looked at Chen Sui's green mecha a few extra times, unusually approving of her aesthetics.
"Not a bad design."
Chen Sui's mecha design was light and agile, with high agility attributes—the style Zhou Chen preferred.
He couldn't help looking a few more times, and asked: "Did you buy it in the mall?"
Chen Sui scanned the energy field's conditions, sending out invisible energy waves while casually replying: "No, I made it myself."
Zhou Chen's footsteps paused, his lips slightly parting as if to say something, then abruptly closing.
He didn't like it.
He definitely didn't want Chen Sui to design one for him too.
But his eyes couldn't help lingering on the mecha.
Chen Sui didn't notice his actions.
Xie Chunshi, seeing her observant gaze, moved the Black Chastisement mecha one step closer to teach her how to mark energy fluctuations through the team channel to form an energy spectrum map.
After Chen Sui got the hang of it, he stepped back, keeping a polite distance, and asked courteously: "How far can you detect?"
"Five hundred meters."
Chen Sui replied.
Xie Chunshi's eyes flashed with surprise, not expecting her to pick it up so quickly, but he quickly nodded in cooperation: "Then I'll trouble you with this."
Chen Sui nodded, and as her spiritual threshold released energy waves to detect surrounding levels, she began marking them on the channel map.
Xie Chunshi, looking at the rapidly forming energy spectrum, briefly considered and planned a route.
The Team Leader went in front, Chen Sui instinctively followed, the two outputs flanked left and right, Puluo's sturdy figure followed behind her, and Chen Sui found herself surrounded by school team members.
Her best attack route was blocked, causing her to unconsciously furrow her brow, but thinking of her role as an analyst, she relaxed her expression.
The town was large, radiating outward in all directions.
Countless buildings pressed extremely close together with no gaps between them. The layered, compressed houses created an oppressive, heavy atmosphere.
The arched tops above the small square windows on the walls reflected dim rooms like spying eyes, making one particularly uncomfortable.
"The energy fluctuation on the left side is a bit strange."
Passing a corner of the town and about to enter a long, wide alley, Chen Sui felt something unusual.
One layer of houses stacked upon another—looking in the direction Chen Sui pointed, one could only see buildings piled up like corpses.
In broad daylight, a purple flash suddenly appeared in the distance.
Gu Qinxue drew her weapon from the mecha, a crescent-shaped ring knife, her gaze vigilant.
Xie Chunshi looked from afar, speculating: "Can you determine the fluctuation type?"
Chen Sui closed her eyes and sensed for a second: "It's a spiritual body."
Spiritual body fluctuations were stable and orderly, while energy body fluctuations were chaotic. Analysts could judge between the two from subtle level fluctuations.
"Other teams are fighting. Let's continue, don't mind them."
The City of Deception contained a hundred teams total. Even though the energy field was large, analysts would eventually guide everyone toward the equipment point and placement point, making conflict inevitable.
He gestured to Gu Qinxue, who released her weapon, returning it to her mecha's scabbard.
At the end of the long alley was another street of the city. Looking up, one could see a Gothic-style church in the distance, its spire towering, the clock tower's hands stopped.
Chen Sui's ears caught an extremely faint wind-like sound coming from the distance.
Before she could speak, Xie Chunshi's guiding steps halted as he turned to motion them to hide their forms among the dense buildings.
Just after they hid, a stray projectile roared in from the distance. Chen Sui peered from beneath the leader's observation point to see the ground blasted into a large hole, flames burning and scattering with the rubble.
A mecha fell from midair, as if punched down from above, landing with a crash in the large hole.
Immediately after came the roar of propulsion devices.
"Someone fighting?"
Zhou Chen poked his head out beneath Chen Sui's mecha, sweeping a glance.
A full team descended, the leading black mecha raising its cannon and firing at the fallen mecha.
The opponent had just crawled up from the ground when face-to-face flame shells penetrated the mecha's body.
[Team eliminated: 1]
Chen Sui heard the system's cold announcement.
"Fighting so soon after entering—they're probably aiming for points."
Zhou Chen, under the team, rested his mecha on Puluo's round shield, supporting Chen Sui and Xie Chunshi's mechas as they observed.
Gu Qinxue and Puluo stood in the dead corner of the building, looking toward the Commander upon hearing this.
Xie Chunshi scanned the full team, noting the unified totem on their mechas.
"Xitisi Mountain."
Zhou Chen immediately looked, following his words: "Fifth Academy? We've run into them?"
"What a coincidence. This is such bad luck."
To encounter a strong team directly under the military in a random virtual battlefield with random time and energy field type.
Fifth Academy directly under the Star Alliance, known as Xitisi.
Chen Sui watched the leading black mecha, which lowered its cannon and turned to look at the analyst in the crowd.
She heard a gentle boy's voice.
"Let's head east, Commander. The energy fluctuations are lower there."
The speaker's voice was soft and delicate, pausing in the middle, sounding somewhat timid by his tone.
Xie Chunshi watched as Xitisi's team headed toward their target direction, then lowered his eyes to look at Chen Sui.
Seeing her constantly staring at the central analyst, he straightened the two who had been peering out to observe the situation, then introduced to Chen Sui.
"Xitisi, Star Alliance's Fifth Academy. Their analyst He Chigui has a spiritual threshold value of 87, SS+ level. His teacher is Analyst Association Honorary Member Mona."
Mona, along with He Lanyi, Lal Nuo, Zhao Rui, and others, was one of the current big names in the analyst world.
Chen Sui nodded thoughtfully, "Then we'll encounter them at the designated point."
Chen Sui's words made Xie Chunshi glance at her faintly.
This indicated that in her view, her professional ability was sufficient to match Mona's disciple.
"If we run into them, we'll fight. I'd like to try a few moves against Chi Buyu."
Zhou Chen flexed his mecha's arms, speaking in an unconcerned tone.
Hearing the teammates' undisguised fighting spirit, Xie Chunshi raised an eyebrow. "Then let's go."
The flow rate in the City of Deception accelerated; it had been afternoon when they entered.
The school team passed through the alley, continuing to advance according to the spectrum map.
By the time they reached the church door in the center of town, it was sunset.
The Gothic-style Western European church had a distinctly religious cross at its top. A long street connected several arched doors, with densely packed buildings clustered around the church's long staircase stretching downward.
The golden hue of sunset shone like sprinkled gold, with dark clouds gathering in the sky.
"The transition from day to night is coming."
Chen Sui looked up at the sky.
In the City of Deception's daytime, energy particles ran rampant, but the danger factor was not high.
Once night fell, it was like a parade of a hundred ghosts, with all energy bodies emerging en masse.
Energy fluctuations suddenly became extremely chaotic. On the spectrum diagram, Chen Sui was modifying the previously established energy levels.
"Can you still determine the equipment point?"
Energy fluctuations rippled out from Chen Sui as she answered Xie Chunshi's question: "It's right here."
"But——"
A strange energy level suddenly surged just as she was modifying the spectrum. At that same moment, darkness covered the sky, and the entire energy field instantly dimmed.
Street lamps taller than buildings lit up around the street, casting grotesque black shadows on the ground.
A full moon emerged from the pitch-black clouds, its light elongating the church's shadow to cover the alley ahead.
Rustling sounds arose. In the densely packed buildings, arched round windows were covered by black shadows, as if something was penetrating the walls, crawling out from inside the buildings.
"There are energy body fluctuations around us, more than one."
Chen Sui watched as a wing-shaped black shadow swept over the cross at the top of the church.
A black raven perched on the cross's tip.
The bird's crimson eyes stared at the mechas in the street, then suddenly let out a sharp, prolonged cry.
As its cry stopped, enormous winged monsters appeared in the distance, flying in and landing around the church.
The outputs immediately moved forward, surrounding Chen Sui in the center. Zhou Chen and Gu Qinxue each drew their weapons.
Cannon fire erupted in the distance.
"And there really are many."
Chen Sui finished her interrupted sentence.
From behind them and all around, black shadows rose from the ground, transforming into grotesque black corpses.
"So many?"
Zhou Chen swept his square baton in front of him, a lightning flash faintly climbing on the weapon.
He abandoned his casual demeanor, his cold gaze sweeping around the gradually approaching corpses, his tone serious.
"Analyst, follow me."
"I'll clear the path."
He glanced at Gu Qinxue, who looked to the Commander. Xie Chunshi nodded.
Gu Qinxue drew her ring knife, her form darting out like a stream of light, leaving only her voice: "Leave the energy bodies to me."
The five split into three routes, with Gu Qinxue clearing the approaching corpse energy bodies.
Xie Chunshi pushed his mecha toward the periphery, freezing the surrounding buildings to prevent black shadows from regenerating.
Zhou Chen and Puluo followed Chen Sui. During a break in the battle, Zhou Chen looked back from repelling approaching corpses with lightning: "Where's the designated point?"
Chen Sui charged her cannon, blasting at corpses approaching him: "Inside the church. We need to open the main door—the monitoring equipment is inside."
"Puluo, protect the analyst. I'll clear the path. Chen Sui, charge up and aim at the main door, blast it open directly."
He transformed from his usual casual self, clearly allocating tasks. Lightning streamed like snakes among the corpses, lines of electric fire following Chen Sui's position, moving toward the church.
"Lightning Punishment!"
Under Zhou Chen, the huge phantom image of a black-arrowed eagle covered him. In an instant, the lightning lines on the ground suddenly exploded outward.
Crackling thunder roared.
The corpses, connected by lightning, were charred like skewers, one after another.
The ground was pried up by lightning, and steel reinforced concrete exploded like sparks beneath the broken floor.
Gu Qinxue cleared the approaching corpses around them. A stream of fire swept past Chen Sui on both sides, beyond the three mechas, toward the corpse group ahead.
The intense heat scorched the mechas' outer shells. With lightning and raging flames, the energy bodies' crystals fell, dissipating into wisps of black smoke.
"Enter the church first."
Xie Chunshi rushed forward, with Chen Sui and the four outputs following closely.
At the bottom of the long staircase, black shadows rose from the ground, blocking the school team's steps.
At another exit of the church.
A winged person was blasted out by cannon fire, crashing violently onto the church's exterior steps.
A black mecha flashed out, lightning in midair condensing into a huge hammer that crashed down with a thud, accompanied by sizzling electric light, hammering the winged person fiercely.
"ROAR!!"
The winged person, wrapped in electric light, stretched its skeletal torso like a skeleton. Its wings snapped open behind it, lightning points shooting outward from the tips of its bone wings.
Corpses were penetrated by lightning. A flash of electricity in midair was flung toward Chen Sui and her group.
Puluo, about to block the attack, hesitated.
Metal attribute—conductive.
In this moment of hesitation, a gap opened in front. The lightning raced to Chen Sui's face, its large electrical flash reflected in her green pupils.
"Wood-Born Flower."
Chen Sui silently recited.
Resonance connected as naturally as drinking water or breathing. A towering green shadow of a giant tree rose from the ground as Chen Sui drew her long spear.
Zhou Chen and Gu Qinxue, having cleared the corpses, turned to intercept the lightning only to see a green shadow, fast as lightning, crossing the heavy combat unit's giant mecha, moving past them.
"Chen Sui!"
Zhou Chen's pupils contracted as he drove his mecha to intercept, the lightning already condensing in his hand.
Seeing this, Gu Qinxue twisted the silver ring of her ring knife with her fingers, spinning it to strike hard on the back of his mecha's hand. The long blade stopped Zhou Chen's advancing steps.
Zhou Chen halted abruptly, looking at her in disbelief: "What are you doing? I'm protecting the analyst!"
Gu Qinxue gripped her revolving ring knife, coldly sheathing it: "Chen Sui can handle it. Trust her."
"But..."
Zhou Chen could hardly believe his ears.
He instinctively turned to look ahead. The Black Chastisement mecha stood still, a blue light gradually dissipating from Xie Chunshi's hand, as if he'd been about to act but had abandoned the idea.
"An analyst taking risks—have you all gone mad, or have I?"
Zhou Chen muttered, looking down.
After so many energy field battles, this was the first time he'd encountered such a scene. It completely upended his understanding.
Gu Qinxue glanced at him, while sending flames rushing toward the surrounding corpses, replying to Zhou Chen: "Calm down! Truly, in terms of combat ability, you might not even match her."
Her words carried no prejudice against Zhou Chen nor favoritism toward Chen Sui; she was simply stating facts.
Hearing this, Zhou Chen instinctively looked over.
He saw the airborne mecha with the giant tree covering it, dense green energy pervading the air, countless vines instantly weaving a giant net before her.
The lightning was diverted by the vines, energy particles filled with green essence, the lightning dissipating into small fireworks exploding in midair.
After blocking the lightning strike, the vine net quickly retracted, revealing a space in the center as Chen Sui's mecha flashed through.
In her target direction, a black mecha was blocked by lightning thrown by the winged person. From inside the mecha came rambling:
"Using my own methods against me?"
"Using my energy to attack me—what are you thinking? Are you stupid?"
"Lu Hang Jiu, look at this guy. Hey, he's angry. I got slapped by his wing and I'm not even angry."
The black mecha called Lu Hang Jiu looked back, saw the green mecha rushing toward them, and while blocking surrounding corpses, sternly warned: "Stop rambling, you're about to be intercepted!"
He had barely finished speaking when Chen Sui was already near the energy body. Her long spear vibrated, the four-edged blade in the spearhead rotating with it, the weapon ringing.
Green energy tore through the energy storm around the winged person, allowing the mecha to approach the energy body unimpeded.
Chi Buyu turned his head, almost losing the half-beaten monster. He hurriedly called out: "Friend! Brother! Classmate, this is my monster! My monster!"
"Hey, you!"
Chen Sui heard no sound, her cold gaze locked on her enemy. Her eyes saw only the hideous energy body's silhouette as her weapon aimed at the winged person, her entire body charging down like a cannonball.
"Light's Creed!"
Lu Hang Jiu in the distance battled the corpses in front of him with one hand. A stream of light jumped among the black shadows. In an instant, his voice accompanied a huge black shadow, teleporting-like, to the front of the winged person. His Yan feather knife blocked horizontally, stopping Chen Sui's descending blade.
Seeing this, the Seven Academy school team immediately readied for battle.
"They're fighting. Should we...?"
Zhou Chen looked at Xie Chunshi, whose palm once again gathered blue energy as he looked at three more mechas emerging from another entrance, directing:
"We'll join too."
Hearing this, Zhou Chen shook his hand, his tone seemingly reluctant as he looked at the path he had cleared straight to the church, where corpses were slowly crawling up.
"Tsk, fought all this time and haven't even used it yet."
But his action of leaping forward was no slower than Gu Qinxue's.