It's Not Easy to be A Man (466+)

474

474 Advancement Into the Finals

Zhao Jun had wanted to repeat the seventh combo strike he had managed in his mindspace, but unfortunately his finger shook and slowed down after inputting half of the commands. The fluid feeling he felt vanished instantly and the seventh combo strike failed.

Although Zhao Jun felt that it was a pity, at the same time he didn't have any regrets. He was already very satisfied that he was able to perform a six-hit combo attack, as this meant the barrier blocking him from reaching the title of ace operator had been broken. If he could stabilize his performance of the six-hit combo attack, he would be able to become an official ace operator after returning to the military academy.

The seven-hit combo was not successful and did not manage to deal the opponent a heavy blow before he plummeted to the ground. This did not discourage Zhao Jun, however; he quickly operated his mecha to dive down at top speed, pointing his weapon at Zhou Chao-Ling who was on the ground, stabbing straight down.

Zhou Chao-Ling's fall had made him dizzy, making him unable to grasp the current situation in the arena. However, his subconscious sensed danger, and without thinking he performed a barrel roll. With this, he managed to dodge Zhao Jun's attack from above.

Although Zhou Chao-Ling was able to dodge fast, Zhao Jun was also able to change his moves quickly—he instantly went from a stabbing motion to a slashing motion, slashing violently towards the mecha rolling away.

"Clang!" Zhao Jun's sword slashed the opponent, the force so great it caused Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha to be flung up into the air.

Zhao Jun's assault did not end there, but further continued. One quick step and he had arrived below Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha. Zhao Jun operated his mecha to fly upwards and once he was close enough, his two legs began spinning like a whirlwind, aiming towards Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha and kicking repeatedly with great force...

"Advanced skill—Whirlwind Kick!" Audience members familiar with mecha skills screamed, unable to contain their excitement.

This kick not only stunned Zhou Chao-Ling who was in the mecha, but also caused his mecha to be kicked into the air. Zhao Jun's mecha quickly rotated and flew upwards. At the same time, both of its arms instantly reversed the grip on the sword, changing its direction.

"Special technique—Twisting Strike!"

Zhao Jun's mecha began to spin around Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha at high speed. The ear-piercing, wailing screech of metal rang throughout the whole arena. Those who had poor physical abilities could not handle this noise, all of them plugging their ears and making a grimace.

Right then, the barrier around the arena shone brightly. Those who paid attention saw that there was a new barrier that was formed in front of the original barrier. It was because of this new barrier that the ear-piercing screech suddenly seemed to sound very far away—it was no longer ear-piercingly painful.

Twisting Strike was a special technique. Its destructive power was clearly greater than high-level techniques. When Zhao Jun finished the technique, everyone could see that the outer shell of Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha had become battered, electrical sparks sputtering from some of its parts. It appeared that the mecha's circuitry had already been damaged by Zhao Jun's Twisting Strike...

Just when Zhao Jun was about to mount his next attack to increase his odds of winning and to knock out Zhou Chao-Ling for good, the main referee, who realized Zhou Chao-Ling's situation, raised up a red flag to indicate a time-out.

Zhao Jun thought it was a shame. It was obvious that victory was at hand, yet it was ruined by the main referee. He angrily put away his cold weapon, hovering in the air and quietly looking at Zhou Chao-Ling's mecha fall from the sky; it fell to the ground once again, creating a cloud of dust.