novelraw Chapter 96 : Sultry Red Forest
Chapter 96 : Sultry Red Forest
"Fly up?"
Zhou Chen glanced at the dark mountain cave above. The fierce flames inside the cave were gradually extinguishing as the Magma Beast dissipated.
The light grew dimmer, and the mechas turned on their illumination devices, revealing several layers above.
At the very top was the quicksand that had dragged Golden Tower down.
Breaking through the quicksand layer seemed unrealistic; they could only exit through the cave entrance that Zhu Jing Fu had found.
But the problem was, the entrance and the cave were above, and most had collapsed due to the Magma Beast absorbing the snow melting stones. How could they get out?
"Our mechas don't have enough energy," Xin Yan heard Zhou Chen's suggestion, guessing he wanted to propel upward, so he reached out to Xie Chunshi, "Lend me some energy."
Xin Yan spoke as if this was perfectly reasonable.
Zhou Chen instinctively counted his energy pipes, not initially noticing anything wrong, ready to give him energy, when he suddenly realized.
Xie Chunshi noticed him searching for energy and was about to speak but paused, wanting to see what Zhou Chen would do.
The result was Zhou Chen stopping just as he was about to hand it over: "Wait, you're asking us for energy, then you'll fight us later?"
Xin Yan glanced at him, raising an eyebrow: "Is that a problem?"
"Does that make sense? Listen to yourself."
Zhou Chen pulled back the energy, responding irritably.
"Your analyst mecha's damage level is so high, won't you repair it when we get out?"
Xin Yan looked at Xie Chunshi.
Chen Sui was mentioned by name; her plunge into the magma had instantly brought her mecha damage to 53%.
Xie Chunshi's brow twitched slightly as he turned to signal Zhou Chen: "Give them energy."
Xin Yan then tossed over several repair devices: "Exchange."
Zhou Chen saw Xie Chunshi accept them before giving them energy, while commenting in the Zhu Jing Fu team channel: "Golden Tower's Commander is quite... reasonable?"
He searched for a while to find the right word.
Not taking advantage of others' difficulties, quite fair.
Chen Sui took the repair device, planning to reduce her mecha damage after exiting the cave. She looked up at the cave height, thinking mecha propulsion might not be enough.
"Let's go up in layers. The mecha propulsion might not reach all the way up in one go."
As she spoke, green light flickered in her hand. Plant roots from the quicksand penetrated deep into the ground, following energy fluctuations, drilling into the deep soil and emerging in layers throughout the cave, like circular steps attached to the cliff wall. Though widely spaced, they were just adequate for the mechas to propel to higher positions.
Seeing this, Golden Tower installed new energy tubes, and everyone circled around the plant root steps on the rock wall, flying toward the mine tunnel above the cave.
The outer layer of the mine tunnel was full of collapsed rocks. The Golden Tower strong attacker who went up first broke through the fallen rocks with golden light, creating a hole in the pit just large enough for one person to pass through.
Through this hole, he looked toward another uncollapsed tunnel, where a faint blue light was glowing, seeming to illuminate something.
"There seems... to be... something... in there."
Tang You's voice was extremely faint, sounding in the mine tunnel where only climbing and propulsion sounds could be heard.
Qi Songhuai looked and saw the blue light, vaguely feeling something was off. He thought for a second, remembering Zhu Jing Fu's attitude: "Could Zhu Jing Fu really have been attracted by materials?"
"Didn't Zhou Chen offer to give you some, but you refused?" Xin Yan turned to remind him.
Qi Songhuai felt his face burn, as if his dignity was hanging by a thread. Hearing this, he quickly said: "Hmph, I wouldn't care for it. It's just some material, only Zhu Jing Fu would value it."
As he spoke, he was inwardly dying of curiosity: could they really have found something extraordinary?
Maybe he should dig some too?
Just then, he heard the sound of a mecha landing behind him.
The five members of Zhu Jing Fu came up one after another. The plant roots in the cave hadn't disappeared. Chen Sui looked down and said: "I'm afraid this underground cave isn't very stable. If the plants withdraw, it might collapse. Let's wait until we're out."
She looked at the Golden Tower members, who revealed the path they had cleared: "Let's go."
Chen Sui's eyes flashed with surprise. Working with Golden Tower was quite smooth; they were cooperative. Unfortunately, after this track, only one of them could advance, so there would be no chance to collaborate in the league.
As they left, Qi Songhuai deliberately lagged a step behind, lingering behind Zhu Jing Fu, watching them pass the area with glowing minerals.
Zhou Chen curiously looked and asked Chen Sui: "Hey, this mineral seems to have changed. Should we dig some more?"
The fire crystal core in the snow melting stone had been absorbed by the Magma Beast; now it was completely empty inside, having lost all value.
"If you like, you can take it," Chen Sui said, seeing Zhou Chen touch it and appear somewhat reluctant to part with it.
It would make a nice decorative item; the snow melting stone was quite beautiful.
Zhou Chen no longer felt the burning sensation from the first touch. Hearing her words, he understood Chen Sui's implied meaning: the thing had no value, so he dug up a couple to bring back, thinking of making decorations, keeping a memento.
"And we came in for this thing."
Didn't expect it would all be ruined in the end.
Zhou Chen lamented.
This statement reached Qi Songhuai's ears, becoming "Zhu Jing Fu came in for the snow melting stone," and his eyes immediately lit up.
Damn, so it is something good!
Qi Songhuai fell behind the group, secretly prying at the snow melting stones in the back.
Sensing the dimming mineral light, Chen Sui looked back, saw the Golden Tower analyst mining, and was only surprised for a second.
He must appreciate beauty; the snow melting stone's core was shattered, taking it back had no use, unless it was for decoration? That was quite artistic of him, unexpected.
Chen Sui inwardly marveled.
Following the mine tunnel, several exits leading outside the quicksand could be found. The one Chen Sui and the others walked out from was indeed close to Base Station B, located in the jungle adjacent to the quicksand trees.
The moment they saw daylight, everyone involuntarily closed their eyes.
"Goodness, staying underground, I was nearly evolving into a sewer rat."
Zhou Chen commented.
This description really made Chen Sui unable to hold back, and she softly retorted: "I certainly am not."
"Let's not fight in the forest," Qi Songhuai looked at the lush jungle around them, then at the Zhu Jing Fu analyst using the repair program.
Her mecha was covered with traces of lava and magma, yet throughout everything, she hadn't made a sound.
Qi Songhuai was somewhat scared, thinking of Chen Sui's energy concentration in the forest, feeling uncertain.
Little Qi, possibly, truly, probably, seemingly, couldn't win!
"Dream on," Zhou Chen saw through his calculations and grinned menacingly at him: "Just wait for our analyst to hammer you."
Qi Songhuai snorted defiantly, forcing confidence: "Who'll hammer who is yet to be seen!"
Saying this, he directly sat down with his companions on the other side. The two teams briefly rested under the broad leaves.
During this time, there was only the faint rustling of wind flowing through the leaves and the steady hum of the repair program.
[Wow, looking at Golden Tower and Zhu Jing Fu like this, they seem quite harmonious]
[You guys don't look like you're about to fight, more like good buddies]
[Seriously though, both teams are quite principled, even maintaining this ritual]
[Xin Yan really is... he even wants Chen Sui's mecha damage level to be good before fighting]
[So proud, if Chen Sui doesn't use her full strength, Xin Yan would feel his victory isn't honorable]
[Oh, repairs done, time to fight]
The repair device's humming gradually stopped, and Chen Sui's mecha damage level reached 37%.
As she put away the repair device, her energy cannon and long spear slid into her hands.
On the other side, the five members of Golden Tower looked at each other. Those leaning against trees or huddled by rocks slowly stood up.
At the back of the group, the somewhat socially anxious strong attacker polished his cannon, already beginning to charge energy while the cannon was pointed at the ground.
Watching the five members of Zhu Jing Fu changing weapons, in the instant the wind died down.
Tang You's energy cannon quickly emerged from the crowd, shooting directly at the analyst.
"Little Jin."
The metal mushroom jumped on Puluo's shoulder, and with a call, it opened its umbrella.
A golden light spread out from the umbrella surface. The giant metal mushroom umbrella popped out, creating an energy barrier in front of the analyst.
From the side, Zhu Jing Fu's strong attacker quickly set up a cannon, and as Tang You's energy cannon struck the metal barrier, she fired a counter shot.
An explosion burst forth, creating a shower of sparks outside the metal barrier.
This cannon blast seemed like a signal, and the two sides—Golden Tower and Zhu Jing Fu—simultaneously sprang into action.
After Tang You's gun attack was neutralized, the timber wolf's imposing figure appeared, howling majestically in mid-air, its black body covered in layers of golden light.
Countless fine needles of crimson gold light suddenly condensed in mid-air, shooting directly toward the five members of Zhu Jing Fu.
"Separate them," Xie Chunshi's voice sounded in the team channel.
"Tang You and Xin Yan are Golden Tower's main output forces. Single combat unit Xi Xi's agility and control will assist Sun Kai," Xie Chunshi quickly analyzed Golden Tower's basic situation in the team channel, then made corresponding arrangements: "Ah Sui, can you block the analyst?"
"I can," Chen Sui looked at the vermilion mecha in the crowd. The Red Glow Purple Bird perched on Qi Songhuai's back, with gusts of wind flowing around it.
She glanced at his position, sensing energy fluctuations while nodding confidently, "I'll take Qi Songhuai. He won't have a chance to support any member of Golden Tower."
The analyst's main role was to support the strong attacker and Commander, as well as create opportunities for the single combat unit and Sun Kai's agile successive attacks—a key link for Golden Tower.
But now, Chen Sui wouldn't let Qi Songhuai have the chance to be this connecting point.
Golden Tower must be divided!
Xie Chunshi confidently made arrangements.
The two outputs headed toward Xin Yan and Tang You's positions. Gu Qinxue's long whip lashed directly toward where the Golden Tower members stood.
The fierce wind sound arrived violently, carrying flames that snapped the tree branches above Golden Tower's position, whipping straight at the ground where the mechas stood.
A crack split from the tree root.
The five members of Golden Tower dodged to both sides, with Xin Yan and Tang You moving to another side.
The timber wolf howled, its agile body pouncing toward Gu Qinxue's position. The Three-Eyed Droopy-Eared Rabbit spewed flames, charging directly toward the timber wolf.
A layer of golden light enveloped the timber wolf, with golden rays shining at the tips of its fur. As the fierce fire rushed past, its fur suddenly burst open, transforming into fine needles that pierced toward the Three-Eyed Droopy-Eared Rabbit.
Gu Qinxue's eyes flashed as she waved her hand, and heat began rising from the ground beneath the Three-Eyed Droopy-Eared Rabbit.
The surrounding moisture instantly evaporated, and high temperature spread.
The timber wolf was scorched by the flames and emitted a low growl. A dazzling golden light flashed from the flames, piercing toward the Three-Eyed Droopy-Eared Rabbit and colliding with the fire wall in front of it—gold and red directly clashing.
Gu Qinxue's long whip lashed at the timber wolf. From a distance, Xin Yan drew his bow, and countless fierce fire arrows pressed toward Zhu Jing Fu's direction in an overwhelming manner.
Zhou Chen quickly moved forward. The bamboo joints of his Four-sided Mace connected, and the Black Arrow Hawk circled once. A lightning flash appeared where the hawk had circled, followed by a flash explosion. Enormous lightning coiled fiercely around him. The Zhu Jing Fu strong attacker's mecha, holding the Four-sided Mace, chopped down toward the timber wolf.
Gu Qinxue's Thorny Fire Whip changed direction, sweeping a fire wall into the air to intercept Xin Yan's fierce flame arrows.
"Timber Wolf, come back."
Tang You's golden light was corroded by lightning, and sensing danger, he hurriedly recalled his spiritual body.
Xin Yan's Double Flame Leopards charged fiercely from behind his mecha. A wall of fire rushed forward, directly breaking through Gu Qinxue's fire wall. Just as Zhou Chen's lightning struck down, a lightning net stood before him.
Xin Yan drew his bow, aiming a deep red arrow at the black gold mecha. It seemed that if Zhou Chen continued to attack the timber wolf, he would have to withstand an arrow.
Zhou Chen noticed the red light flashing in his peripheral vision and hurriedly withdrew, the lightning net moving with him.
Behind him, Gu Qinxue swung her whip, changing direction again. The Thorny Fire Whip moved like a nimble dragon, waving freely in mid-air, directly gathering in the fire wall.
The fire dragon twisted, encircling Zhou Chen's mecha.
However, the front of the whip was raised high, pulling the black gold mecha back to defense while the whip's tail heavily struck down toward the timber wolf.
The explosions from the Thorny Fire Whip burst one after another, with the final blast landing right on the timber wolf.
Just as the fierce fire was about to explode, Xin Yan's deep red arrow arrived, breaking through space.
The arrow was not aimed at Zhou Chen but directly at the timber wolf's body, colliding with the descending whip of the Thorny Fire Whip!
"BOOM!"
Two fierce fire explosions sounded. The fire walls directly collided in mid-air, with the timber wolf wrapped in Xin Yan's flames behind.
Tang You breathed a sigh of relief, raising his hand not to recall the timber wolf but to seize the opportunity as Zhu Jing Fu's two outputs retreated. The timber wolf let out a howl, and a golden light shot from its mouth. Before reaching the Zhu Jing Fu outputs, it exploded, transforming into countless golden light blades that rapidly swept outward.
Gu Qinxue swung her whip, throwing Zhou Chen back. Fiery patterns burned across her fair face as tree nets swiftly extended from both sides, instantly forming a web in front of them. The golden blades pierced the tree net, directly triggering waves of green light.
Tang You sensed something was wrong and looked to the other side.
Behind Chen Sui, the Wood-Born Flower's shadow stood tall in the distance, a giant tree majestic and imposing, blocking the sky and sun. The blue-green mecha rose from the ground, leaping directly in front of the analyst.
When Golden Tower split to both sides, this Zhu Jing Fu analyst controlled vines to entangle the Golden Tower analyst in place.
Even though the Red Glow Purple Bird's wind blades quickly cut through the vines, the green mecha that had closed in was already wielding a spear, engaging Qi Songhuai in close combat.
The long spear swept up the mecha, forcing Qi Songhuai to propel to mid-air, his light sword constantly parrying her rapid and fierce spear sweeps.
Chen Sui's spear attacks were too fast, forcing him to continuously retreat.
By the time Qi Songhuai realized he had retreated beyond his teammates' support range, he was already stuck to the Zhu Jing Fu analyst, completely unable to break free.
Seeing Chen Sui's Wood-Born Flower giant tree extend a net to block his team's strong attacker's advance, Qi Songhuai pressed his light sword against the four-edged spear blade, gritting his teeth as he bore the tremendous force of Chen Sui's wrist strike, feigning ease: "You're fighting me so intensely yet still managing your teammates. Quite capable, aren't you?"
"Not as capable as you," Chen Sui said sincerely.
Qi Songhuai's wind attribute support was very strong, able to propel his extremely agile teammates to positions perfectly suited for setting up cannons. Chen Sui had to restrain him to prevent outputs from being pressured by the opponent's agile attacker and single combat unit's firepower.
Hearing her assessment, Qi Songhuai choked, his gaze searching for an opportunity.
But Chen Sui immediately pulled back her spear, followed by even more fierce forward thrusts.
The spear blade pierced his shoulders. As Qi Songhuai swung his sword to parry, Chen Sui thrust her spear at his knee, then stepped on the spear shaft, leveraging herself into the air, sharply withdrawing the spear to heavily strike Qi Songhuai's back.
Thrown out by the long spear, Qi Songhuai's back instantly felt a fiery pain.
"Damn, this analyst is too fierce. I can't break free at all."
Qi Songhuai noticed Chen Sui's control and hurriedly observed his teammates while activating his microphone in the team channel.
Below, the outputs and Commander facing Zhu Jing Fu's two outputs were deadlocked.
On the other side, however, Zhu Jing Fu's Commander and single combat unit were pressing down on the agile attacker and single combat unit.
Sun Kai's proud agility couldn't be fully deployed.
Xie Chunshi's continuous ice controls were either at his feet or on his mecha, with ice bombs instantly deployed. Sun Kai's movements were hindered, and he was constantly subjected to consecutive critical strikes from the single combat unit's dual scythes.
Hearing Qi Songhuai's voice, Sun Kai dodged the single combat unit's scythes and glanced up behind him, seeing Qi Songhuai being thrown out by the long spear. Before he could fly out of range, the blue-green mecha rushed forward with a knee strike, throwing him back again.
The Red Glow Purple Bird's gales and wind blades circled around the blue-green mecha. Despite the howling wind blades, even cutting the mecha, the analyst didn't move at all.
The speed of her rapid spear strikes hadn't slowed in the slightest. Her entire attack was solid as a fortress, with no opportunity to counter.
"Too incredible, I'm being beaten senseless."
Qi Songhuai's voice carried restraint.
The Red Glow Purple Bird was completely controlled. Around him, Wood-Born Flower vines spread rapidly. Not only was his mecha stuck to Chen Sui, but the battlefield around them was also fixed in this circle by the surrounding vines, giving him no chance to use wind to send his teammates to cannon-setup positions.
Meanwhile, single combat unit Xi Xi's cannon blasts hit Xie Chunshi's mecha, each time being sliced through by his long knife. The rings on the knife vibrated in circles, producing a bell-like sound that seemed to carry an invisible wave, stripping away the giant energy layers of the energy bullets. By the time the energy cannon hit Xie Chunshi, it only created a small-range light explosion.
"Zhu Jing Fu's Commander's weapon is strange. That's an energy-reducing knife. My energy cannon is completely useless against him, and his water attribute energy concentration is too strong. My energy fluctuations are totally suppressed."
Xi Xi's voice sounded in the team channel.
Receiving negative news from both the analyst and single combat unit, Xin Yan's expression changed, and he immediately looked around the battlefield.
"Little Qi, I'll distract, you have one second to break through, come out now," Xin Yan glanced at the space surrounded by vines.
They must free Qi Songhuai. Otherwise, with Xi Xi's bullets completely countered by Xie Chunshi, the single combat unit side was effectively neutralized.
"Understood."
Qi Songhuai exerted force with his hands. Chen Sui's long spear struck his light sword. Seeing his demeanor change, she immediately began countering his fighting.
However, when it came to close combat, Chen Sui had never feared anyone.
Her spear thrust upward, directly catching Qi Songhuai's extended leg. Chen Sui executed a sweeping kick, knocking him down in mid-air.
While fighting, she sensed someone targeting her back, and a crisis feeling instantly arose.
She realized something was wrong. The surrounding vines immediately dispersed, exposing the battle environment.
Qi Songhuai was kicked down by the Zhu Jing Fu analyst. That analyst spun around, directly flipping into mid-air, reverse-gripping the long spear, and striking down hard.
"Thud!"
The long spear heavily hit the mecha. Qi Songhuai's chest was forcefully pushed, and the blue-green mecha used the momentum to flip upward again, soaring to a higher position in mid-air. Qi Songhuai, meanwhile, was hammered toward the ground by the long spear.
The mecha crashed into the ground with a 'bang'.
"Swoosh—"
A fierce flame arrow swept past Chen Sui's previous position, leaving a long, swift fiery tail.
Chen Sui looked toward the distance.
Tang You was resisting Gu Qinxue's fire dragon and Zhou Chen's lightning, with metal attribute energy forming a large bell shape around him. Behind him, Xin Yan drew his bow to the full moon, aiming at her.
"Don't rush, you're next."
Chen Sui nodded politely to him.
When this voice reached Xin Yan's ears, his pupils first contracted, then burning fighting spirit ignited.
"Arrogant talk."
Saying this, Xin Yan aimed his long bow at her. Seeing her swoop toward the ground, he drew his bow fully, shooting deep red arrows one after another at Chen Sui's position.
The blue-green mecha dodged nimbly. As it landed, a golden light barrier appeared in front of it.
Zhu Jing Fu's single combat unit quickly flew to her side, setting up a barrier for their analyst while firing cannons toward Golden Tower's single combat unit position.
Xin Yan's expression changed.
Not because of Puluo's energy barrier, but because Chen Sui was rushing toward Qi Songhuai, who had just flipped and was rising from the ground.
A point of cold light from the spear arrived first, followed by the spear emerging like a dragon!
The ground-sweeping spear raised a flurry of fallen leaves. The ground suddenly spiraled with gusts of wind, but Wood-Born Flower's light flashed, and countless vines reached out toward Qi Songhuai's direction.
The wind blades were intercepted layer by layer by vines, directly clearing obstacles in front of Chen Sui!
The long spear continuously struck the mecha. Qi Songhuai's light sword parried. Just as Chen Sui gripped the edge of the spear handle and brought the entire spear down, Qi Songhuai raised his light sword to block. There was a crisp 'crack'!
A fracture spread across the light sword!
Noticing this, Qi Songhuai's eyes changed, and he exclaimed in horror: "This is a light sword forged from Startling Rainbow Iron. What kind of monstrous strength do you have?!"
Chen Sui didn't answer, continuing to bring down the long spear.
"Clang!!"
She gripped the spear shaft with both hands, chopping it down on Qi Songhuai's mecha shoulder. As he received this tremendous force, one side of his body was hammered down by the long spear, forcing him to kneel on one knee, both hands gripping the weapon.
Chen Sui had been waiting for this moment. Seeing him grip the weapon with both hands, she advised: "Hey, hold tight!"
Qi Songhuai hadn't understood what she meant, but the next second, the world spun, and his body seemed to be grabbed and thrown out, followed by—
"THUD!!!"
An extremely loud impact.
Chen Sui gripped the long spear, rotating 180 degrees in mid-air, smashing Qi Songhuai's mecha into the ground.
But she wasn't finished. With this grip on the spear, she withdrew it, holding it at the halfway point, with the four-edged spear blade rapidly striking Qi Songhuai's chest!
"Bang!"
"Thud!"
"Crash!"
"Clang!"
Qi Songhuai's mecha was thrust away by the long spear!
It crashed directly into a giant tree, breaking the trunk and continuing to fly backward!
[Damage Level 85%]
[Damage Level 72%]
[Damage Level 81%]
Chen Sui's three spear strikes directly maxed out Qi Songhuai's damage level.
As the elimination light pillar rose, Qi Songhuai's mecha was still in the flying posture of being swept through the jungle. The light pillar followed his mecha for a distance before the protection device lit up, stopping the mecha's movement.
[Number 3502 Eliminated]
Qi Songhuai's mecha sounded the elimination prompt!
His entire body felt as if it had fallen apart. When the protection device activated, the neural connection was severed, but the suffocating feeling of being blasted by an enormous force still left him shaken, his forehead and back completely covered in cold sweat.
Lying in the cold jungle, Qi Songhuai had only one thought.
His teacher had said he couldn't follow the attack-type analyst path, and he wasn't wrong.
How could he measure up?!
Fighting two or three Chen Suis—
One had nearly killed him.
Qi Songhuai, you really dared to imagine.
Everything before him was still dizzy, with various colors blurring together, completely unable to see clear images.
Thus, he couldn't see that the moment after eliminating the Golden Tower analyst, Chen Sui looked at the Golden Tower Commander who kept firing arrows at her, twirled her spear, and as a cold light flashed on the ground, she tilted her head: "I told you to wait a bit, now—"
"It's your turn!"
As soon as she spoke, Puluo obligingly opened the energy barrier. A deep red arrow shot directly toward her.
Chen Sui swung her long spear in mid-air, a green light shattering the arrow. Her mecha flew out from the fierce flame burst triggered by the shattered arrow, rushing directly toward Xin Yan's position.
Xin Yan's gaze captured her figure.
Ahead, Gu Qinxue and Zhou Chen exchanged glances, simultaneously increasing their energy concentration.
Lightning instantly covered the golden barrier, and the fire dragon collided, producing muffled sounds like bell strikes.
As the fire dragon roared and crashed in, the lightning on the barrier flickered simultaneously. The two energies connected, and Tang You's metal energy barrier shattered in an instant!
The timber wolf was bound by lightning. Before Tang You could draw his weapon, he was struck head-on by the Thorny Fire Whip.
The brief control from the Thorny Fire Whip's descent slowed his movements by less than a second.
In this brief moment, the Thorny Fire Whip wrapped around his body, throwing him to the other side.
Lightning rained down from the sky.
Tang You only managed a glance back at his Commander before his vision was filled with lightning.
Chen Sui broke through the flames, swinging her long spear directly toward Xin Yan.
Behind the vermilion mecha, the Double Flame Leopards suddenly roared, and fire released from Xin Yan's mecha instantly scorched the surrounding giant trees.
"Setting the mountain on fire, how uncivilized."
From a distance, feeling the temperature suddenly rise and fire attribute energy concentrate, Zhou Chen quickly complained.
Puluo was setting up a cannon. Seeing that the Commander had controlled Sun Kai, he quickly fired a shot at him, meanwhile playing along with Zhou Chen: "Exactly, the trees of Sultry Red Forest didn't provoke it."
No sooner had these words been spoken than Chen Sui controlled vines to rapidly smack down toward Xin Yan's position.
This attack and vibration forced Xin Yan to propel his mecha off the ground.
However, as soon as he left the ground, the giant tree branches in the distance of Sultry Red Forest, not yet burned, began to sway, sweeping toward Xin Yan's mecha.
"Puluo, I didn't realize you've mastered the skill of the jinx."
Seeing this, Zhou Chen teased.
Now the Sultry Red Forest trees were indeed provoking him.
Fierce fire swept from Xin Yan, quickly burning along the tree branches. Having cleared the surrounding obstacles of giant tree trunks and vines, Xin Yan finally saw a rapidly approaching blue-green mecha, with a long spear's cold light flashing, thrusting straight at his face.
Xin Yan had no time to draw his bow. He placed his long bow horizontally in front of him as a shield.
The long spear struck the bow, and a fierce fire instantly erupted, climbing along the spear's trajectory directly to Chen Sui's hand.
Despite the burning fire, Chen Sui's grip on the spear didn't change at all. Xin Yan's eyes flashed with surprise.
His fierce flames carried extremely fierce energy, causing more than just pain when burning.
But he quickly understood: if Chen Sui could charge straight into magma, a bit of fire was nothing.
Realizing this, Xin Yan moved faster, withstanding the long spear's attack. Gripping the bow body, he quickly rotated inward, reversing the long bow, and swinging the razor-sharp bowstring toward Chen Sui's mecha.
The sharp bowstring created a whistling sound. Chen Sui dodged, but her mecha's shoulder was directly sliced.
This attack made Chen Sui's gaze sharpen—what a sharp bowstring!
She inwardly increased her vigilance, raising her spear to meet the bowstring whenever it swept by.
Xin Yan noticed she was on guard; the bowstring could no longer find opportunities to attack. Instead, Chen Sui could both suppress the bowstring and rapidly sweep with her spear. Her attacks came like wind and rain, swift as lightning, impossible to intercept.
Xin Yan's figure continuously retreated. Finally, as the long spear swept horizontally and he jumped to avoid it, he didn't anticipate a cannon shell rapidly firing from the distance.
The energy-focusing shell, modified with To-Water Fish Bone, had extremely high energy concentration. One shot carried Xin Yan's mecha far away, crashing into an unburned giant tree before violently exploding.
The surrounding giant trees all shook from this tremendous sound!
The mecha bearing the firepower had its damage level directly maxed out.
An elimination light pillar rose.
Xin Yan closed his eyes, his face showing pain. As the protection device popped out, he had the mental energy to look at the battle situation of his separated teammates.
Tang You was no match for the combined two outputs and had just been eliminated. Gu Qinxue seized the opportunity to support Chen Sui, without even communicating in the team channel. Her cannon fire swept past Chen Sui, and the blue-green mecha bent backward at that moment, truly dodging the energy cannon from behind.
"Perfect coordination."
Chen Sui, looking at the eliminated Golden Tower Commander and strong attacker, raised a thumbs up to Gu Qinxue from afar, her voice sounding in the team channel.
The analyst and two outputs joined the battle, and the remaining two members of Golden Tower were soon overwhelmed. Elimination light pillars rose shortly.
Golden Tower was completely eliminated!
Sun Kai and Xi Xi were relatively fortunate, not experiencing cannon bombardment.
Qi Songhuai and Xin Yan, one thrown out by the analyst's tremendous strength, the other blasted by an enhanced energy-focusing cannon, were both dazed for a while.
Just after eliminating Golden Tower's remaining two members, the sky suddenly darkened.
Before the black clouds had fully dispersed, the smell of blood permeated the air.
Red rain instantly fell, large drops splattering on the ground, causing the black soil to sizzle corrosively.
"Rain, rain, rain!!"
Zhou Chen panicked, spinning around. The lightning in his hand hadn't dissipated yet, and the red rain conducted it, electrocuting him a couple of times. Then the red rain fell on his skin, burning it with a fiery pain.
Although the five members of Golden Tower had been eliminated, the rescue team hadn't arrived yet.
Seeing the red rain splash on themselves, they one by one took out rain shields, placing them over themselves, then calmly lay in the rain.
Zhou Chen looked enviously: "You guys even have rain shields."
He swallowed, seemingly tempted, then quickly turned to look at Chen Sui.
Chen Sui passed by the five rain shields, already taking out a meteor tree.
Qi Songhuai, having been painfully beaten by Chen Sui, originally didn't want to talk to him. But seeing Zhou Chen looking longingly, despite his regret about being eliminated, he adjusted his attitude and picked up Zhou Chen's words: "What? Envious?"
Zhou Chen quickly withdrew his gaze, seeing Chen Sui growing a good meteor tree, and hurriedly took shelter underneath: "Not envious, we have meteor trees!"
Qi Songhuai sat up abruptly, watching Chen Sui cultivate the meteor tree. His mind suddenly connected the dots: "Aha! I was wondering why I searched half a day in the Silent Monument Forest to find just one meteor tree. So it was all dug up by you Zhu Jing Fu. You guys really have no sportsmanship!"
While he was still complaining, Xin Yan had already taken advantage of his rain shield to get up and walk under Zhu Jing Fu's tree.
Zhou Chen held out his hand to block him: "Hey hey hey, what are you doing?!"
"Taking shelter from the rain," Xin Yan's tone showed no hesitation. He turned to look at Zhou Chen with such righteous confidence that Zhou Chen felt uncertain for a second.
But he quickly stiffened his resolve: this was their Zhu Jing Fu's tree, why should he feel uncertain?
Just as Zhou Chen was preparing to argue his case, Xin Yan handed his rain shield to Chen Sui: "Here."
As he spoke, he threw the rain shield on the ground: "A gift of friendship."
Chen Sui looked at him, raised an eyebrow, picked up the rain shield, and seeing the other four Golden Tower members following suit—all ten people crowded under the somewhat underdeveloped meteor tree—she turned to look at Xie Chunshi.
The Team Leader nodded slightly, and only then did Chen Sui put away the rain shield.
She suspected Golden Tower had drawn some curse inside the rain shields. Otherwise... why were they so enthusiastic?
"You're from Talo Star?" Xin Yan looked at Chen Sui during a break in the rain.
The blue-green mecha didn't reveal the analyst's silhouette, but he remembered what Chen Sui looked like.
Very thin build, somewhat obedient-looking, completely unimaginable that she would have such strength.
She was a survivor of the Talo Star joint energy field descent incident.
—That recruitment Golden Tower had failed to respond to.
Xin Yan had been successful from a young age, a natural-born heaven's pride. He awakened smoothly, obtained a high-level spiritual body, was a young master praised by everyone on the main star, had a distinguished family background, and both parents held high positions.
Since entering military school, he had craved fame in the Star League competition, preferably by defeating those who were once like him, heaven's pride, proving that he was the only genius.
Like Xie You, Chi Buyu, Lu Hang Jiu, and so on.
Oh, not Xie Chunshi, because he awakened late, and there were no subsequent records of him.
He had never seen real blood and death; all around him were praise and prestige.
And now, he had been defeated by an interstellar nomad from a peripheral star ring.
Golden Tower would no longer qualify for the Star League competition proper. That glory and honor would no longer belong to him.
His gaze at Chen Sui was filled with many emotions.
Finally, before the rescue team, they all transformed into a single "I'm sorry."
When Chen Sui heard these three words, she was slightly stunned, watching the rescue team emerge from the red rain to take away the eliminated five members of Golden Tower.
She looked at her teammates: "What did Xin Yan mean?"
"Uh..." Zhou Chen could probably guess something based on Golden Tower's experience.
But truthfully, the military school students' oath before entering military school was earnest, word by word, to protect the Star Alliance people and territory.
It wasn't just superficial talk.
And Xin Yan only remembered these things after seeing death and the weight of life, which was really too late.
He couldn't come up with words to excuse Xin Yan, nor did he want to criticize a defeated opponent in the livestream. He vaguely said: "Not sure, but I should probably thank him. I got a few good nights' sleep recently, thanks to him and Xisier, both of them."
Chen Sui was led off-topic by him and suggested: "Then when you get out, challenge your good brothers to a real fight on the combat platform. I think they'd be very willing."
Just seeing Xin Yan's confused state after being blasted away by that cannon, he definitely wouldn't go easy on Zhou Chen.
"Let's not," Zhou Chen immediately waved his hands in refusal.
Xie Chunshi looked at everyone: "Alright, let's go to the base station to repair the mecha damage. It's time for us to deal with the other teams."
The Sultry Red Forest competition had reached the end of the seventh day.
It was time to end it.