Chapter 28

In such a tense exam process, Ji Fu suddenly did this, which made many people feel inexplicable.

But just in the one or two seconds that Tan Xi hesitated, it gave Zhou Lu Hai time to sprint. The deep blue mech descended, suddenly swooping down from high altitude towards them at extreme speed.

Tan Xi piloted Hongyan. The reason why this mech was named Hongyan was because the entire mech was very agile and lightweight.

The red mech flipped over, Tan Xi retracted the mech wings, and switched to leg power output.

The mech’s soles spewed flames, bursting out with extreme explosiveness, pushing Hongyan forward.

Tan Xi slid violently along the ground, and he could even flip over, one hand pressing on the ground while the other hand turned the turret, controlling the mech to aim at the low-flying Deep Sea that had already approached.

The whole process was smooth and without any obstruction.

The people outside exclaimed, “Tan Xi is truly worthy of being the first in the whole school. This set of moves is too smooth.”

“Compared to Zhou Lu Hai, his experience is indeed a bit lacking, but considering how long he has been in school, he’s quite impressive.”

“No, I feel like he hasn’t exerted his full strength… No, it doesn’t seem like that. It’s as if he has some concerns.”

The last sentence received agreement from many people.

During the exam process, the teachers were all recording the data on both sides and not answering their questions.

Shi Xueying did notice, but this question, she couldn’t say.

Coincidentally, Li Yunyi’s simulation chamber opened, and he sat up from inside, rubbing his head in frustration.

Seriously, this simulation chamber was too realistic. The two slashes Ji Fu made on him really made him feel like he had been killed by her once.

But since he lost in the match, there was nothing more to say.

He was quite confident in this exam at first, but now that he was eliminated, Tan Xi’s side lost a mech pilot, and the outcome of the match was really hard to predict.

Li Yunyi couldn’t care less about removing the connector from the simulation chamber. He turned his head and looked at the screen.

After just a few minutes of watching, he couldn’t help but frown: “What’s wrong with Zhou Lu Hai’s mech?”

Shi Xueying hesitated slightly. The question she didn’t want to answer was directly brought up by someone.

They were all from the S class, but to be fair, since the beginning of this exam, there was really nothing noteworthy about Zhou Lu Hai’s performance.

Perhaps he lacked experience, but the strength of this person was precisely reflected here.

During Ji Fu’s match with Li Yunyi, he and Tan Xi fought fiercely, and to be precise, in such intense clashes, he hardly fell into a disadvantage.

The most terrifying aspect of this person was that he could grow in battle.

And he became stronger as he fought more.

With his style of fighting, if the opponent wasn’t Tan Xi, but any other person from the S class, I’m afraid they wouldn’t even be his match.

Among the other people mentioned by Shi Xueying were also Li Yunyi.

In other words, Zhou Lu Hai’s true strength was probably at the star level… or even above.

But he was so strong that when Ji Fu informed him of Li Yunyi’s elimination just now, his reaction was actually slower than Tan Xi’s.

“It’s the right arm,” said the mech teacher from the S class finally, breaking the silence.

The teacher turned on the light screen and made some adjustments.

In front of all the teachers and students on this side, he enlarged and analyzed the data of the Deep Sea’s right arm.

The data analysis bar scrolled down, showing a sea of red.

The mech pilots below had already understood.

“His right arm is slow to respond, mechanically stiff, as if there’s a malfunction,” someone remarked.

Also present was Wan Fengwei from Class A, who said in a deep voice, “Deep Sea’s right arm broke during the last Nebula Summit. This time, it shouldn’t be a malfunction but rather insufficient rest.”

At this, Li Yunyi raised his head and glanced at Teacher Shi Xueying over there.

It wasn’t just the two of them; even the students from Class S had caught on.

The mech belonging to Zhou Lu Hai was repaired by Zhou Mo from Class S.

Belonging to the same class, they must know Zhou Mo.

Within Class S, there were two outstanding mech pilots: Teacher Shi Xueying and Zhou Mo.

Zhou Lu Hai had just entered the school and didn’t know Teacher Shi Xueying.

But he definitely knew Zhou Mo.

With the same surname Zhou, Zhou Mo also hailed from one of the three major aristocratic families, making him the highest-ranking person in Class S before Zhou Lu Hai entered.

Although Zhou Mo’s family wasn’t the main branch, being from one of the three major backgrounds naturally brought about a sense of pride and arrogance.

It was for this reason that he hardly interacted with people like Tan Xi.

Possibly because they shared the same surname, Deep Sea was eventually sent to him for repairs.

Deep Sea only had a minor issue, and he was an S-class mech pilot. There was no reason he couldn’t fix it properly.

This was also why Teacher Shi Xueying felt it was inappropriate to say anything just now. Superficially, it was just a small problem, but if you delved deeper, it could be an internal conflict within their prestigious families.

She didn’t want to get involved.

Zhou Mo himself was also in the simulation classroom. After noticing the expressions and reactions of his classmates, he wasn’t angry at all. He even stood up voluntarily to explain for Zhou Lu Hai.

“Teacher, the materials used for Deep Sea’s mech are very special. The main family has sent materials from the Imperial Star, but due to the tight exam schedule, I couldn’t wait for the materials to arrive, so I used other ordinary materials instead.”

“It’s my fault. If this incident causes Zhou Lu Hai to fail the exam, I hope the school can give him another chance.”

His words were sincere, not sounding intentional.

By now, Li Yunyi had left the simulation cabin and was standing next to Teacher Shi Xueying. He looked up and saw her pouting.

Teacher Shi Xueying was the youngest in Class S, only sixteen this year, a proper teenage genius. Because of her young age, even if she thought she was hiding it well, sometimes it still showed.

Seeing this, Li Yunyi reached out and nudged her.

Sure enough, she immediately leaned close to his ear and whispered softly, “He’s talking nonsense. Pay attention to Deep Sea’s structure. The right arm is crucial to Deep Sea; its main attack methods and cannons are all on the right side, and now the entire right arm is showing signs of detachment.”

“It’s obviously glued together. In this era, who would use glue to repair a mech?”

Li Yunyi smiled knowingly and found her pouting face particularly cute. He couldn’t help but poke her and said, “It’s okay, don’t be angry.”

“After all, it’s their Zhou family’s matter; outsiders don’t need to meddle.”

Moreover, Zhou Lu Hai might not be entirely unprepared.

Over there, Zhou Lu Hai stared at the control interface, his expression unusually cold.

After he came to the Interstellar Academy, it was Zhou Mo who took the initiative to approach him.

The Zhou family was a large family with many branches, and Zhou Mo came from one of the less prominent branches.

The one Deep Sea was originally supposed to be sent back to for repairs was informed by Zhou Mo, who then took on the task himself.

Zhou Lu Hai’s uncle, who was busy with Alliance affairs every day, took the time to call him specifically and said that such a small matter didn’t need to trouble him.

The Interstellar Academy also had its own personnel.

At that time, he didn’t say much and directly handed Deep Sea over to Zhou Mo for repairs.

After Deep Sea was repaired, he tested it several times without any issues.

Until today’s exam, during intense combat, the right arm started to stiffen repeatedly. By the time Ji Fu eliminated Li Yunyi, the control panel was already glowing red.

Well, it wasn’t completely broken.

It could still be used with some adjustments, especially given Zhou Lu Hai’s mostly right-handed control style. He had to grit his teeth and use it.

But to say it was usable…

Bang!

He lowered his wings and faced the swan geese.

During the one or two seconds of stiffness in his right arm, he directly took a heavy punch from Hongyan.

The deep blue mech was almost instantly overturned on the ground.

In an S-class mech confrontation, even a half-second delay could be fatal, let alone one or two seconds of stiffness. Fortunately, Ji Fu’s chaotic dust wasn’t for nothing.

In the swirling dust, Tan Xi couldn’t aim at Deep Sea at all, being in a state of disarray.

As long as the heavy artillery couldn’t fire, overall, the situation was still manageable.

It was just that Zhou Lu Hai’s personal control experience was particularly poor. For a mech soldier, the operation distortion caused by mech stiffness was like holding one’s breath, unable to let it out.

Extremely frustrating.

“What’s wrong with your right arm?” Ji Fu asked him.

He sent her all the data on the panel and the current overall status of the right arm.

This is also the reason why he insisted on teaming up with Ji Fu for this promotion exam. While the exam can be failed, a good teammate is hard to come by.

On the light screen in front of Ji Fu, a long string of code appeared.

She quickly skimmed through it.

Her right arm became sluggish and unresponsive, reaching a point where many commands had to be issued multiple times to execute.

Such a malfunction wasn’t fatal for a mech pilot, but it could significantly limit his potential and render many operations impossible.

Facing an ordinary person wouldn’t be a problem, but unfortunately, it was Tan Xi.

Tan Xi’s reaction speed was too fast; he had already seized upon this loophole and pressed the attack on Ji Fu.

He even found gaps to deal with Ji Fu while keeping Deep Sea suppressed.

The distance between the red mecha and her kept shrinking, while Zhou Lu Hai retreated repeatedly, growing increasingly fatigued in his responses.

Yet he still pushed Deep Sea’s wings to their maximum, rushing towards Ji Fu.

In this situation, there was a high possibility that Tan Xi would seize the opportunity to eliminate both of them together.

It seemed Tan Xi was prepared for this as well; amidst his high-speed maneuvers, he opened numerous programs.

In a state verging on the limit about to be unleashed.

Ji Fu quickly glanced through it and shut down the light brain.

In front of the simulated classroom, in front of all the teachers and students, she pressed the communication key and directly informed Zhou Lu Hai:

“Giving up.”

Immediately, the whole classroom erupted.

“What did she say?”

“Is she asking Zhou Lu Hai to give up his right arm? That’s not possible. Many essential functions of Deep Sea rely on the right arm. Giving it up means giving up this exam, doesn’t it?”

“But dragging it out like this, isn’t it like torturing oneself to death?”

“Even if it’s torture, there’s still room for a counterattack, better than giving up altogether, right?”

Almost as soon as she said this, the room below erupted into a frenzy of discussion.

The vast majority of people didn’t agree with Ji Fu’s idea.

Indeed, the right arm was currently facing significant problems, but giving it up meant Deep Sea couldn’t perform 80% of its operations, almost equivalent to surrendering.

They couldn’t understand why Ji Fu would make such a judgment.

However, they could clearly see that Zhou Lu Hai, after hearing Ji Fu’s words, only took a deep breath and then…

He lifted the whole mech, activated the high-speed rotary cannon on his right arm to replenish ammunition.

In the chaotic state of the right arm repeatedly malfunctioning, unable to aim, and frozen in many places, he initiated a berserk mode.

Beep, beep, beep.

The urgent alarm sounded inside the mech cockpit.

Tan Xi’s expression changed slightly, and as he looked up, he saw the deep blue mech ascend at high speed once, with Antarctic biological group following suit, and then rising abruptly, carrying the out-of-control right-hand rotary cannon, aiming straight at him.

He immediately controlled the Hongyan Landing, its right leg and right hand both propped on the ground, igniting a vast blaze.

The purge program had cleared the dust scattered throughout the sky, and he raised the left hand of the Hongyan, aiming at Deep Sea, which was speeding limitlessly.

Boom!

At the moment the quantum cannon was fired, countless objects in the surroundings were ruthlessly swept away.

The trajectory of the quantum cannon left a huge, black trench.

The targeted quantum cannon, like a tornado, swept toward Deep Sea.

A yellow warning window appeared on Zhou Lu Hai’s control panel.

As an excellent mech pilot, what he should do at this moment is to activate the defense mechanism and perform ballistic evasion.

However, due to the chaotic state of his right arm, which alternated between malfunctioning and functioning normally, his actions became quite difficult.

But even so, he managed to complete his actions within these thrilling few seconds.

The quantum cannon narrowly grazed his mech.

Then…

The next moment after the obstruction of the quantum cannon, he directly surged downward.

At the fastest speed, with the largest operation, he raised the out-of-control right arm and smashed it towards the head of the Hongyan!

The whole audience was in an uproar!

Just now, when Zhou Lu Hai didn’t respond to Ji Fu’s words, they thought he didn’t agree.

But unexpectedly, not only did he agree, he also directly acted on it.

The Hongyan was in full state, and after avoiding the quantum cannon’s attack at high speed, he used the nearly out-of-control right arm to strike the Hongyan.

One can imagine the outcome!

Crack!

The Hongyan clasped his right arm and forcefully dragged it backward…

Deep Sea soared into the air and heavily crashed to the ground.

What fell with it was the directly severed right arm.

Crackle!

Intense sparks flickered at the point of severance, and the ground was also blasted with a terrifying deep pit.

And with this impact, Deep Sea slid back a considerable distance.

Perfectly, it fell just a few hundred meters away from Ji Fu.

With the severed arm and a heavy blow, he gained Ji Fu’s entry into the mech cockpit!

Even Li Yunyi, who was watching, was stunned.

“D*mn!” he cursed softly. “What kind of lunatics are they!?”

Using self-amputation to save a teammate.

Why didn’t he have such teammates?

The more exaggerated scene was yet to come.

Tan Xi, seeing Ji Fu enter Deep Sea’s cockpit, paused for a moment, then simultaneously opened the three turrets carried by the Hongyan, preparing to take both of them away from here.

But before the three turrets on the Hongyan could fully activate, several drones appeared in front of them at the same time.

When they were engaged in mecha combat, Ji Fu was not idle.

He immediately activated the system, preparing to clear out all the unmanned drones in front of him.

Boom!

To his surprise, before he could even act, those drones began to self-destruct upon contact with the dust lingering in the sky.

…She had created a pile of self-destructing drones!

At that moment, everything in front of Tan Xi exploded one after another in the continuous process of explosions and rumbling.

Deep Sea crawled up from the ground.

His right arm was severed, with only two thick connecting cables remaining, dragging his completely disconnected right arm.

Zhou Lu Hai sat in the mecha cockpit, his face covered in cold sweat.

Deep Sea’s right arm was severed, and he was injured as well; now his entire right arm was dull and numb, as if he had lost all sensation.

When Ji Fu approached, she first handed him a bottle of nutrient solution.

He took it and drank without hesitation.

Immediately after, he heard Ji Fu say, “Run, run fast, activate the defense mechanism and rampage mode.”

His expression tightened, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart. Ignoring the intense pain in his right arm, he frenziedly operated Deep Sea, activating all the wings behind him and running forward as if mad.

As soon as he moved, Tan Xi immediately controlled the Hongyan to pursue.

But unexpectedly, those drones were targeting him.

Amidst the deafening roar, he saw a drone suddenly crashing down below.

It was the place where Ji Fu had just eliminated Li Yunyi.

There, Ji Fu’s damaged mechanical dog was still lying.

In that moment, Tan Xi felt all the hairs on his body stand on end. He frantically controlled the Hongyan, fully activating the defense mode, and continuously retreated.

Just as he retreated half a step, he felt an extremely hot light wave behind him.

Boom!!!

A huge gray-brown mushroom cloud instantly burst open.

Wherever the mushroom cloud swept, everything turned into ashes.

The power was so great that even the cameras in the simulation chamber temporarily malfunctioned.

After a few seconds of black screen flickering, everyone raised their eyes and saw Ji Fu using a large net to capture Deep Sea’s severed arm during the explosion of the mushroom cloud.

Then, in the instant of the explosion, she took out two small and delicate aircraft, only slightly larger than ordinary drones.

She flung the two aircraft out, and from them extended two large grappling hooks, securing the severed arm in the net.

“Wait.” Li Yunyi reacted, looking at Ji Fu who was already calm and composed as she opened the light brain, and exclaimed, “What is she trying to do?”

Shi Xueying was also seeing this kind of operation for the first time. She opened her mouth, but it took her a while before she said, “It seems like she’s planning to reattach Deep Sea’s arm.”

Reattach it? How?

With her two crude aircraft?

That’s an S-class mecha!

Liu Can, almost without thinking, stood up to veto it: “Impossible!”

“Absolutely impossible!” His expression had never been so certain: “Repairing a mecha requires organizing and analyzing all the data, as well as suitable tools.”

Mechas of Deep Sea’s level, under normal circumstances, are repaired in experimental bases.

In experimental bases, there are hoists capable of lifting mechas and the most sophisticated operating instruments.

Only by controlling the instruments well, in the most precise state, can welding or other operations be performed well.

He knew that mecha technicians, including himself, Shi Xueying, or Zhou Mo, all did it this way.

Now, because of the mushroom cloud caused by Ji Fu, the simulated planet was under intense explosions.

Without mentioning this, Deep Sea’s current condition was in motion.

Although the rampage mode had stopped, it was still flying high in the sky.

How can a mecha in motion be repaired?

Relying on her two small aircraft?

Not to mention that Liu Can didn’t believe it, even the teacher who had been teaching mecha for many years at the Interstellar Academy was stunned.

“Is it possible to repair it?” Du Ming didn’t understand these, he just asked the teacher.

The teacher’s face tightened: “The possibility is too small.”

Not to mention anything else, Ji Fu doesn’t even understand Deep Sea’s structure.

And the huge explosion inside, while it also stopped the Hongyan’s footsteps, also caused great trouble to repairing the mecha.

The shockwave caused by the explosion, while Deep Sea was in motion, was still an S-class mecha.

Adding all these together, although it’s just repairing a right arm, it’s almost close to devilish difficulty.

The mecha teacher, after so many years, teaching so many students, had never seen such a situation.

Of course, normal mecha technicians would not repair mechas at this time.

But obviously, Ji Fu is not quite normal.

Her way of repairing mechas is not understandable by ordinary people.

She opened the light brain screen, her fingers quickly tapping on the keyboard, while speaking to Zhou Lu Hai: “Make Deep Sea descend, 73 meters.”

Zhou Lu Hai drank the nutrient solution and had calmed down.

Upon hearing her words, he didn’t doubt at all, and immediately made Deep Sea descend.

The severed arm of the mecha, high in the sky, suddenly plummeted so many meters, which looked particularly absurd.

And the reason she asked Deep Sea to descend was even more bizarre.

…That right arm was too heavy, the aircraft couldn’t bear the load.

It didn’t look reliable at all.

“Translate, 65.77 meters,” she issued another command.

“Turn around, position 84 degrees, ready.”

Within a brief few minutes, she made several adjustments. When she finally confirmed everything, she lifted her hands off the keyboard and looked directly at Zhou Lu Hai.

“I’ll count to three, then you release the deep sea drop.”

At this point, Zhou Lu Hai still had the mind to joke. He said palely, “You’re not really going to count, are you?”

“Less talk.” Ji Fu opened the light brain.

One of the aircraft had already placed the materials she had dissolved on the ground into the interface of the severed arm.

As the material was about to solidify.

She began, “One, two, three…”

“Drop!”

Boom!

The mecha plummeted at an incredible speed.

Within a few seconds, it fell directly from mid-air to the ground, kicking up dust everywhere.

At the same time, the mecha’s right arm, suspended by the aircraft, was locked with two hooks, looking precarious.

However, just as the mecha passed by this area.

One of the aircraft, with a thunderous crash, slammed into the mecha’s severed arm. The tremendous impact caused the hooks to release at the same time.

Allowing the force to push the severed arm directly into the mecha’s connection port.

Click, scrape!

At the moment when the two aircraft collided, everyone heard a mechanical sound coming from where the mecha’s arm and the mecha itself were seamlessly locked together.

[Beep, beep, beep]

[Right arm connection port abnormal, operating]

A complete prompt popped up on the mecha control panel: [Right arm operating normally]

The entire simulation classroom suddenly boiled over.

Is it fixed like this!?