NOVPUBChapter 291: Chapter 289: The First Battle, Twenty-Five Seconds
Chapter 291: Chapter 289: The First Battle, Twenty-Five Seconds 𝔫𝖔𝔳𝔭𝔲𝔟.𝖈𝔬𝔪
Sally said to Kayne, “Isn’t ten seconds too short?”
When a woman talks about time, about its length or shortness, it can easily extend to matters between the sexes …
Right away, many people looked at Kayne with meaningful glances and snickers.
Kayne didn’t respond at first, but when he did catch on, the whole person became even colder, even the mecha seemed to radiate a frosty aura.
“How much time do you want?”
“Twenty-five seconds, ten is just too short.”
Someone whistled, “I, I―two hours is no problem for me!”
Suddenly there was a chorus of jeering.
“For real, two hours? That’s badass!”
“One day I’ll have to try it out in your dorm.”
“No need to go back to the dorm, just find a little grove outside, and steady yourself on a tree …”
Sally turned to look, and it was a handsome blue-haired guy. Seeing that he caught her glance, he immediately grinned with a mouth full of neatly aligned white teeth … which looked pretty goofy!
“What’s your name?” Sally asked.
“Doronite Aslanda, junior,” the other party stated his full name and his year.
Sally was somewhat surprised, “Oh? You’re from the royal family?”
“Chexus is my cousin,” Doronite replied. “If you lose, I can personally sponsor your military academy.”
“Thank you, I represent Paxter Military Academy and appreciate the generosity of senior Doronite. What if I win, though? It’s just holding out for twenty-five seconds, after all.”
“Hehe ~ I’ll double it, Kayne’s twenty-five seconds is not easy to match.”
“We’ll know if we try.”
Sally entered the mecha cockpit.
Sally sat in the pilot’s seat, following the operating steps Laxia had shown her. She picked up the helmet that connected to the mecha and put it on, and immediately her head buzzed, and she nearly passed out.
[Host, this mecha connects to the brain’s nerves. It will first capture a segment of the host’s brain genetic information for neurotransmitter regulation, thereby controlling neural impulse behavior. There will be a noticeable discomfort the first time, but it will diminish each time until it’s as natural as eating.]
[Hmm.]
[Please connect to the neuro-computer and input personal information.] – the mecha operating system reminded Sally.
Sally connected her wrist neuro-computer to the mecha’s control panel.
After the mecha operating system read Sally’s information, it asked―[Would the pilot like to make a data backup?]
Sally declined to save, since her identity was all fake, best not to leave a trace.
Soon after, the mecha had finished reading the information from Sally’s neuro-computer.
In front of Sally appeared a virtual screen with various data descriptions about the mecha.
And the compatibility between her genes and the mecha actually reached 95%. [Xiaomei, what does this compatibility mean?]
[Mecha custom-tailored for private use have a compatibility with the pilot of 100%. For these practice mecha meant for public use, achieving 60% is considered acceptable. Host’s 95% is due to Xiaomei’s adjustment of the mecha’s data, to better match the host’s physique. After the competition, it will be reset to the original data.]
[Good.]
Sally familiarized herself with all the buttons on the control panel, then, when she was confident there were no mistakes, she tried lifting an arm and made the mecha take a couple of steps. She also tried transforming all the weapons on the mecha, more or less understanding them.
[It doesn’t feel much different from playing games.]
[Correct, host. Games are based on realistic experience effects.]
Sally pressed the voice key of the mecha and said, “I’m ready.”
“How long have you been in the machine?” Kayne asked, her few simple movements just now looked very much like a beginner’s.
Sally replied, “This is my first time.”
Suddenly, another male student shouted, “Kayne, break her maidenhood!”
Before the voice faded, Sally had lifted her mecha’s arm, transformed it into throwing knives, and sent three cold-gleaming knives hurtling toward the shouting boy.
The boy reacted quickly, hopping and dodging out of the way.
But his movements were awkward, and he ended up breaking into a cold sweat.
If he had been just a fraction of a second slower, he might have been pinned to the exercise equipment by those knives.
And the exercise equipment that was hit by the knives instantly became scrap.
“Spectators should keep silent, right?!” Sally’s voice was gentle and charming, yet it made one’s skin crawl with goosebumps.
“Ah! Throwing knives! That’s deadly!” Akaya Toru turned pale.
Doronite kicked him, “That’s what you get for running your mouth.”
“Err… Didn’t Your Highness just—”
The look in Doronite’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Akaya Toru immediately wilted, “Nothing, I didn’t say anything.”
Kayne viewed Sally’s decisive, unhesitant throwing knives with new respect. Initially, he had planned to give up the match with Sally and donate some supplies to Paxter Military Academy. Seeing the three knives, however, sparked his curiosity.
Instructor Willy was equally astonished by Sally’s ruthless decisiveness and her precision.
A flicker of interest crossed Chexus’s eyes almost imperceptibly.
Laxia was so frightened by Sally that she nearly ran away. Akaya Toru was the famous heir to the Capital Star’s Akaya Consortium! If Akaya Toru had been slower in his reaction, they would have been in serious trouble!
Sally had no time to bother with those guys, her mind filled with fighting and the impulsive thoughts of juniors in the throes of their rebellious phase. She focused her attention on controlling the mecha, her movements somewhat clumsy as she entered the arena.
Originally, there were a few students practicing on the arena stage, but they had all left now, leaving the space clear for her and Kayne.
Kayne leapt onto the arena stage with an effortless, skilled jump, standing there steadily.
“Your throwing knives just now were good,” Kayne said to Sally.
It must be annoying to have people make jokes about driving… Sally responded, “You’re welcome. I hope my senior will be merciful.”
“Are you sure you want to last twenty-five seconds? It’s not too late to change it to ten seconds.”
“No need.”
Instructor Willy started the timer on his light-computer and shouted loudly, “Get ready—begin!”
Kayne lifted his mecha’s arm and formed a fist without any fancy techniques, striking straightforwardly at Sally.
Sally wanted to dodge but her mind acted faster than her hands, and her mecha didn’t move an inch!
She took the blow head-on.
A violent dizziness struck her.
Sally felt her mecha lifting off, and if Xiaomei hadn’t quickly stabilized the mecha, she might have been sent flying out of the arena.
[Twenty more seconds, host, hang in there!]
[This is a bit different from a game.]
[Yes, host.]
Sally steadied herself with her hands on the ground, then opened the System Map, observing Kayne’s movements more carefully.
As Kayne charged at her again, Sally’s clumsy footwork, with reminders from the System and Xiaomei, landed her right in Kayne’s blind spot. His two punches and a charge all missed their mark.
“How is this possible?” Instructor Willy was shocked at Sally’s landing spot, and those clumsy movements were unbearable to watch.
Chexus said, “Test her sensory value.”
