Chapter 81

Ji Fu drove the Moon Eater forward, and from the shattered pulp, she picked out a light yellow pearl.

This was the core of the sawtooth foxtail grass.

The plants in the polluted area were indeed extraordinary. Although this sawtooth foxtail grass had a short lifespan, it had recently ascended to the Super Star + level.

But its core had grown very well.

Round and smooth, warm to the touch, it was a very top-notch Super Star + material.

Materials produced in polluted areas, the lower-grade ones would usually be processed, but these high-level ones would be kept even within the Legion. However, compared to ordinary materials, these materials needed to be purified and specially processed before use.

For Ji Fu, this was even easier; she had basically fought her way through the polluted area.

Besides the alien core, this smashed pulp also had its uses.

Tan Xi was a mecha soldier and couldn’t deal with this stuff, so he handed it all to Ji Fu.

Ji Fu then gave him the dogtail spikes and the three rhizomes.

As they were halfway through cleaning up, a communication came in.

Ji Fu opened the optical brain to check and found it was a message from Li Yunyi.

【Zhou Xingyu and Han Siyi are in Examination Room 3, Fang Yuan and Bai Yeming went to Examination Room 1】

【Who’s in Examination Room 1?】

Zhou Lu Hai replied: 【Me】

He wasn’t just there, he had also run into Fang Yuan and Bai Yeming head-on.

The pollution level in the entire examination room was the highest in Examination Room 1, making it the most dangerous area.

After logging into Examination Room 1, Zhou Lu Hai was immediately met with two Imperial Military Academy students. After eliminating those two, Bai Yeming and Fang Yuan arrived.

These two were coming after him.

He was the highest combat power in the galaxy; eliminating him in the survival battle would reduce one formidable opponent in the individual battles that followed.

By the time Zhou Lu Hai sent the message, he had already been fighting these two for a while.

He was panting lightly, his dark eyes slightly heavy.

Fang Yuan wasn’t much of a threat.

The problem lay with the mech Bai Yeming was piloting, the Taihe.

After appearing in the unified examination, the Taihe immediately leaped to the top of the leaderboard.

It was currently ranked fifth on the mech leaderboard, alongside Rosa.

The Taihe itself was very powerful, but being a Super Star +, it was still at a disadvantage compared to a Super Star +.

Without this obviously suppressing mech, Bai Yeming might not have been his match using the same level of mech.

But because of the mech’s disadvantage, Zhou Lu Hai was gradually being suppressed by Bai Yeming.

They had clashed for only ten or twenty minutes when the Taihe showed damage notifications while Zhou Lu Hai’s mech was intact.

【The mech level restrictions are too severe】

【That shouldn’t be… Isn’t Zhou Lu Hai the son of the current head of the Zhou family? How come his mech isn’t as good as Bai Yeming’s?】

【Looking at the information given on the leaderboard, the mech technician who made Taihe is named Bai Yinming, also a name I’ve never heard of】

After the third round of the unified examination, two top-tier mechs appeared.

One was the Taihe, and the other was the Endless from the Slaughterhouse.

The Taihe directly synchronized its information during the unified examination and reached fifth place on the mech leaderboard that day.

The information about the Endless was blocked by Ji Fu.

The mech information was not read by the optical brain, and currently, no one in the galaxy knew the detailed information about the Endless.

【Both are Super Star +, how does this Fission compare to the one from the Slaughterhouse?】

The three words “Slaughterhouse” were all blocked in the barrage, but there was no obstacle in reading before and after, and the meaning was understood.

【Hard to say, the Slaughterhouse one is quite abnormal, but it feels like the mech soldier itself is strong】

Mainly because the mech blocked the information on the leaderboard; it’s hard to judge.

Under Bai Yeming’s strong attacks, Zhou Lu Hai couldn’t find time to reply.

After reading the messages in the group, Tan Xi said, “Li Yunyi and the others are on the asteroid in Examination Room 3.”

Zhou Xingyu’s body hadn’t fully recovered yet, with four or five consecutive examinations, he was destined not to take action immediately but to focus on recovering his body.

So, from what it looks like now, the asteroid in Examination Room 3 is the safest place at the moment.

Ji Fu knew that Tan Xi, Li Yunyi, and Shi Xueying were a team, each with their own role and cooperation.

Tan Xi was the core figure in the team.

Without him around, the combat effectiveness of the other two would be significantly weakened, making it difficult to survive in the polluted area.

So she said directly, “You go join them first.”

“What about you?” Tan Xi asked.

Ji Fu glanced at the direction of Examination Room 1 and said softly, “Go to intervene.”

Tan Xi also knew that Zhou Lu Hai needed manpower there, he nodded quietly, “Be careful.”

The two of them split up at Examination Room 2, with Ji Fu driving the Bright Moon directly towards Examination Room 1.

【Alert! Entered heavily polluted area】

【Mecha has activated purification mode】

After entering the heavily polluted area, large amounts of pollutants floated in the air, covering everything visible with a layer of misty gray, in the sky and underground.

Even Super Star + mechas would have greatly reduced visibility in such polluted areas. Even with panoramic vision activated, they could only scan things within a fifty-kilometer radius.

Moreover, due to the excessive floating particles, there would be a certain degree of deviation in judgments.

And because of the heavy pollution, mechas had to be in driving mode, so the combat consumption would be very high in heavily polluted areas.

The mechas would also be continuously operating under high load.

In short, it was a very unsuitable area for combat.

So when many people saw Ji Fu driving the Bright Moon straight into the heavily polluted area, they were surprised.

【Did she go in at full speed?】

【This is too fierce, isn’t she afraid of the pollutants damaging the mecha?】

Up to now, there were already four mechas in the heavily polluted area.

Among them, the Taihe performed the best and most relaxed in the polluted area.

The mech was equipped with a very superior circulation purification system, allowing it to move freely even in the low visibility of the polluted area.

Surprisingly, the second-best performance was Ji Fu’s Devourer.

Mind you, the Devourer was only Star +.

Overall, it was far behind the other two mechas.

However, when Ji Fu used the mecha to shuttle, her performance was only slightly worse than normal.

Ji Fu remained calm.

The black mecha in her hand was the one truly capable of perfectly dealing with the polluted area.

However, the engine of the black mecha was only Star-grade. In terms of combat attributes, the Devourer would still be slightly stronger. And such a slight change in values didn’t affect her much.

Under countless gazes, the Devourer, speeding through the air, spread its huge wings behind it.

Whoosh—

After the wings opened, Ji Fu activated the adaptive mode.

【Load successful】

The starry sky cannons embedded on the wings instantly started wind circulation.

Hundreds of cannons simultaneously emitted a buzzing sound, pushing the speed limit of the entire mech to the extreme.

This adaptive mode unexpectedly carried Ji Fu, rushing wildly in the heavily polluted area.

After reaching full speed, she directly surpassed the Super Star + mechas also in the heavily polluted area.

Buzz—

Amidst the howling wind, the roar emitted by the mech made the other three fighters in the battle look up.

Fang Yuan’s face changed immediately.

Zhou Lu Hai was even harder to deal with than he had imagined. Even with Bai Yeming’s assistance, Zhou Lu Hai had persisted for so long.

He had managed to hold out until reinforcements arrived.

He had witnessed the abilities of Ji Fu’s Devourer before.

He calmed his expression and said, “You deal with him; I’ll intercept Ji Fu.”

He piloted the mech, quickly ascended into the air, and activated all the cannons on his body.

Fang Yuan’s injuries hadn’t fully healed yet. He had almost been eliminated by Zhou Lu Hai last time. He had only managed to repair his mech, and his body hadn’t fully recovered.

Moreover, actions in heavily polluted areas would become extremely sluggish.

So, he was especially cautious when facing Ji Fu.

Having seen the power of the Super Star + weapon in Ji Fu’s hands, this time he didn’t intend to give Ji Fu any chance to get close. He only wanted to use heavy artillery for long-range bombardment.

In an instant, various types of cannons on his body moved frantically.

The sparks bursting out ignited all kinds of pollutants floating in the air.

In the hazy sky and earth, after a momentary brightness, countless smoke appeared. The massive cannons released in unison directly reduced the visibility of the entire space.

The sky was quickly obscured by bursting white smoke, making it difficult to discern people’s positions with the naked eye, only by relying on the mechas.

Rumble!

The Super Star + mech’s heavy artillery emitted continuous deafening roars.

Contrary to Fang Yuan’s expectations, Ji Fu completely ignored him.

Amidst the piercing sounds emitted by the Devourer, she unleashed its fury and, with the tracking bombardments following her, she sidestepped and activated the adaptive bombing mode.

At an extremely extreme speed, she approached Bai Yeming.

【Warning! Bombing attack!】

The Taihe of Bai Yeming immediately displayed a red alert box.

He turned around to see the mech in the air, lowering its flight altitude, carrying a surging barrage, approaching his direction.

The Devourer piloted by Ji Fu suddenly turned in the air, and from the side, the Moon Eater was drawn out.

She tightly held the Moon Eater in both hands and, with the force of thunder, struck towards Bai Yeming’s head!

Zhou Lu Hai gasped for breath and looked up at the exploding and slashing mech. His heartbeat missed a beat.

… This was the first time, and she had appeared without him needing to say a word.

He had been slightly injured in the previous battle.

The side of his Fusion had been violently slashed open by the Taihe, so he wasn’t in good condition now.

The damaged part of the mech was still flashing with fire, and his movements were somewhat sluggish.

But as Ji Fu approached, he immediately unleashed his fury.

The black and white mech made a light cut in the void.

The mech’s arm rose, palm turned into a fist, carrying the mechanical force of space distortion, and smashed towards the Taihe’s engine.

Together, they formed an encircling stance, leaving no escape for the Taihe.

On the right was the Moon Eater brought down by Ji Fu, and on the left was the explosive Fist of Inquiry.

Both came aggressively.

However, the Taihe didn’t evade at all.

Bai Yeming didn’t even activate his fury. The mech’s arm extended directly, intercepting Zhou Lu Hai’s heavy punch.

Crackle.

After the Taihe grabbed the Fusion’s wrist, the mechanical roar it emitted changed Zhou Lu Hai’s expression.

Unlike the gentle battle just now, Bai Yeming seemed to have been angered by the actions of the two, leaving no room for any remaining strength.

Just before Ji Fu closed in, he forcefully pulled Zhou Lu Hai toward Ji Fu.

In front of this mech, with its absolute mech strength, it violently smashed Zhou Lu Hai towards Ji Fu!

Boom!

A deafening roar that shook the heavens and the earth.

Zhou Lu Hai dodged to the side, and Ji Fu, who was speeding down, quickly changed direction, but the two mechs inevitably collided.

A forceful blow leveraging on momentum directly shattered the defense system of the Moon Eater, the lowest-ranked mech among them.

【Warning! Defense system has been shattered】

Under the critical strike, the Devourer retracted its huge wings behind it and took several steps back before stabilizing its posture.

The entire live broadcast room erupted in astonishment.

【Super Star + mechs are really terrifying】

【It’s not the Super Star + that’s terrifying, it’s this Taihe】

【From the performance just now… Did Bai Yeming not use his full strength in the last round?】

There was no doubt about it.

Because after this critical hit, the leaderboard immediately showed an update prompt.

【Leaderboard update:

Mech Soldier Leaderboard: Bai Yeming, rises to seventh place】

Bai Yeming directly rose from beyond the top ten to seventh place.

On the real-time ranking, he became the second-ranked mech soldier in this round, second only to Zhou Xingyu.

“This explosiveness is indeed outstanding among the Super Star + mech soldiers.” Over at the invigilation department, Bai Yeming’s performance sparked a lot of discussion.

“I wonder who would be stronger compared to Zhou Xingyu.”

“That depends on Zhou Xingyu’s recovery rate.” Zhou Xingyu paused, “At the moment, it doesn’t look very optimistic.”

The live broadcast room could see Zhou Xingyu’s mech panel in real-time.

After so long, his vital signs hadn’t reached 70%.

“It’s still early until the end of the fourth round, today is just the first day of the exam.” The head of the Fang family beside him said slowly, “Let’s wait and see, a full month of calculation, it’s actually enough time for Zhou Xingyu to fully recover.”

Everyone present understood that if Zhou Xingyu fully recovered, the champion of this joint exam would almost be certain.

Bai Yeming was strong, but Zhou Xingyu had been a corps commander for several years, and his combat experience and operational capabilities were not on the same level.

“So it seems that this year’s first and second places have already appeared.”

This statement wasn’t too arbitrary. What lay before other examinees was a huge gap in mecha levels and a gap in talent that was difficult to overcome.

Under such a level of difference, all the students of the Interstellar Academy combined would probably not be a match for Bai Yeming.

However, it was unexpected that just after this was said, Zhou Lu Hai, who had just been injured, stood up again.

Zhou Xingyu looked at the Fusion, his eyes slightly moved.

“Tsk.” Zhou Lu Hai’s mouth overflowed with blood, his internal organs aching.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and when he stood up again, he drew a sword from his weapon case.

This was the first time he had used a weapon after piloting the Fusion.

And when that bursted giant sword appeared, Bai Yeming’s expression changed slightly, furrowing his brow, “The Fist of Inquiry Sword?”

Among the three major families, the Zhou family’s combat skills were the most unique.

They excelled in various close combat techniques, as well as the famous Fist of Inquiry.

But what many people didn’t know was that the most outstanding martial arts technique of the Zhou family was not the Fist of Inquiry, but the Fist of Inquiry Sword.

The Fist of Inquiry Sword in Zhou Lu Hai’s hand was a Super Star + weapon.

As soon as the long sword was in hand, the Fusion he piloted changed from its black and white color to white.

Simultaneously, the sword in his hand also changed.

The sword body changed from its original silver-white to completely black.

At the same time, a prompt sounded in the examination room: 【Examinee information updated】

【Interstellar Academy, Zhou Lu Hai, Talent Level: Super Star +】

The whole room was in an uproar.

“Zhou Lu Hai is actually Super Star +?”

“Why doesn’t he use a Super Star + mech then? Even though this weapon is Super Star +, the mech level is still Super Star, right?”

That remains unknown.

All that was known was that after activating the Fist of Inquiry Sword, the Fusion’s level remained the same, but its speed inexplicably increased significantly.

Together with the sword in Zhou Lu Hai’s hand, they swiftly merged.

In an instant, with swordsmanship that changed in myriad ways, at speeds that the naked eye could no longer catch, they descended upon Bai Yeming.

The Fist of Inquiry Sword, a thousand strikes in one move.

This was a mech martial art completely different from traditional martial arts, a violent sword technique that maximized mechanical force and speed.

Different from the slow but explosive Fist of Inquiry, the Fist of Inquiry Sword was versatile, and every strike was lethal.

In the extreme light and shadow, the black sword couldn’t even be seen clearly, only the myriad of sword shadows could be seen.

Bai Yeming, who had been firmly suppressing Zhou Lu Hai, was forced back several steps by this majestic sword technique.

He dodged the violent sword strikes, but still got cut by the quantum light waves. Scratch marks began to appear on the Taihe’s mech shell.

Zhou Lu Hai raised his hand, the light sword in his hand condensed, and amidst the countless shattered shadows, he slashed out a gravitational strike.

Buzz—

The light waves lifted by the giant sword swept across the entire sky and earth.

After the violent slash, everyone in the examination room experienced tinnitus.

The sword wave directly pierced through the mech, and even caused some damage to Zhou Lu Hai himself.

He was shaken back by the tremendous force, retreating three steps, and the hilt of the long sword he tightly held was directly shattered.

After that one strike, all the pollutants were crushed into powder, and the violent light wave quickly approached Bai Yeming.

In the face of such strong light waves, anyone’s reaction should be to retreat.

But Bai Yeming was different.

After seeing the light waves cut out, he directly activated the mech-surrounding artillery platform.

On this ice-blue Taihe, a golden small artillery platform appeared on the right shoulder. Compared to normal artillery platforms, the size of this platform was very small.

But when the shells were fired, many people in the invigilation department, including Zhou Xingyu, changed their expressions.

Bombardment-style giant fish shell.

This shell looked like a chubby blue fish, hence the name.

However, the power of this shell was completely different from its short and chubby appearance.

As soon as this shell was fired, all the mechas on the scene lit up with red warning lights.

【Temperature rapidly dropping】

When the fish shell exploded in the air, the temperature in the entire No. 1 exam site instantly dropped to minus 55 degrees Celsius.

Super Star + environmental artillery shell.

When the fish shell shattered in mid-air, together with Zhou Lu Hai’s sword wave, it emitted a loud noise.

Rumble!

The entire No. 1 exam site trembled, and within the bombing range, a wave of ice patterns appeared, directly clearing everything within 0.25 seconds.

Zhou Lu Hai’s mech was directly grazed by the shockwave, and cracks had appeared on the Fusion.

【Warning! Mech has sustained severe damage!】

The ice-patterned laceration wounds weren’t fatal per se, but the problem was that this was a heavily polluted area.

After the mech cracked, the pollutants rushed towards its limbs and joints like a frenzy.

The massive damage caused by the pollutants directly froze the Fusion’s movements.

“The intensity of the mech he’s using is extraordinary.” A cyan voice sounded near Ji Fu’s ear.

After a brief pause, she continued, “When he launched that fish shell, he didn’t even need to trigger the Fury.”

“It’s the power of the mech itself,” Cyan continued, “The strength of this mech far exceeds that of the Rose.”

She didn’t comment on the mech soldiers; although Bai Yeming had the strength of Super Star +, if he were to switch to another Super Star + mech, he definitely wouldn’t be able to match Zhou Lu Hai.

Many of Zhou Lu Hai’s combat techniques didn’t rely much on level strength; it was just that the power of this mech was off the charts.

Qin Chu Yue frowned, “But the judgment of the Heavenly Rankings has never been wrong.”

She reopened the mech ranking of the Heavenly Rankings, and the names of the Taihe and the Rose were still listed together.

【The Heavenly Rankings naturally won’t make mistakes】The battlefield was chaotic, and the entire No. 1 exam site was torn apart by the powerful fish shell, dividing everyone into different areas.

Ji Fu looked up at the ice-blue mech and typed out a line: 【Unless this mech isn’t the Taihe】

Or, perhaps, the mech Bai Yeming was using temporarily changed its name to Taihe and then blocked the Heavenly Rankings.

Blocking the Heavenly Rankings was a rare operation, but Ji Fu knew how to do it, naturally, others who didn’t want to expose their identities would use it too.

Cyan looked at the mech with a heavy gaze, silent.

With the mech’s strength too high, Ji Fu didn’t intend to confront Bai Yeming head-on, but she still had some things she wanted to confirm.

As the aftermath continued, amidst the lingering echoes of the distorted space from the bombardment cannon, a deafening roar suddenly erupted.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The ear-piercing sound, like the buzzing of wild bees, echoed in everyone’s ears.

Not only those inside, but also the netizens in the live broadcast room were dumbfounded.

【What’s going on?】

Inside, Bai Yeming’s expression changed instantly. Amidst the loud noise, he raised the mech’s arm and fired a golden shell into the sky.

Ji Fu had already triggered the Fury before the sound appeared and was already next to Zhou Lu Hai.

Also, because of the shortened distance and her pre-preparation, the mech captured the intricate patterns on the golden shell.

Circular and stacked.

The complexity was nothing like that of a shell; it looked more like a very exquisite piece of craftsmanship.

This shell, unexpectedly released by Bai Yeming, pierced through the clouds, broke through all the pollutants’ barriers, and exploded in outer space at a very distant location.

At the moment of explosion, it caused a huge shockwave, reverberating back into the clouds, clearing all the pollutants in the air.

With the pollutants forcibly cleared, half of the visible range was revealed.

And it was this half of the visible range that allowed many people to clearly see what caused the loud noise.

It was… a monstrous, immensely large golden double-headed serpent with sky-obscuring wings.

“Hiss!” The serpent’s snake pupils dilated. After being wounded by the projectile shot out, the four highly mechanized metallic snake pupils seemed to come alive, staring fixedly at the Fusion from a very distant distance.

Under the cover of this terrifying alien beast, Ji Fu raised her eyes lightly.

Super Star + Nocturnal Twin-Headed Serpent.

Or rather, this thing had survived for nearly three hundred years; it couldn’t be called Super Star + anymore.

It was infinitely close to the Special Star level.

This thing wasn’t in the exam site; it was in another polluted area not far from here.

As for why Ji Fu knew.

When she was dealing with the root of the Serrated Foxtail Grass, she found the snake eggs of the Nocturnal Twin-Headed Serpent.

That big ball she divided up was this thing’s food.

Of course, with such a distance, this thing couldn’t have gone crazy just because its food was chopped up by someone and rushed over.

It went crazy because…

Ji Fu used the ultrasonic frequency modulation of the Flare’s dog whistle, and since arriving at this exam site, she had been using ultrasonic waves to continuously transmit frequencies.

It was like…

The roar and roar of alien beasts, and they were still speaking in snake language—

“You trash.”