Translator: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
Translator: H2dH2mr Editor: H2dH2mr Defeating the opponent was not difficult. The difficult part was how to defeat the opponent inconspicuously. Her father's reminder was still very accurate — before she had grown up to the point where she could deal with all kinds of schemes and plots, she needed to conceal herself appropriately.
Although she had made a name for herself earlier because of the issue of her skill, that name did not mean that she had been in the limelight. However, although that personal-name skill was famous, it did not do her much harm. That was because that skill of hers had only been created from the basics. It was a manifestation of practice making perfect. This was not enough to prove that she was so outstanding that others would be afraid of her. Compared to the fact that Qiao Ting had advanced to ace level in four years, it paled in comparison.
Of course, if it was discovered that she had advanced to ace level in her second year, it was believed that the various countries who were eyeing the Federation covetously would definitely send out countless assassins to strangle this rising star of tomorrow in the cradle.
Ling Lan was lucky. She was still able to mingle around freely in the military academy without anyone discovering anything. This was all thanks to Ling Xiao. Ling Xiao had protected her very well — almost no one knew that she was Ling Xiao's child. This proved that Ling Xiao had not suffered for nothing 18 years ago. While she had been growing up, Ling Xiao had already become strong enough to protect both mother and daughter.
With such a towering tree that could shelter her from the wind and rain, Ling Lan was able to live a colourful and unrestrained life. Even if there were some slip-ups from time to time, Ling Xiao would smooth things over for her. In truth, if not for Ling Xiao's intervention, she would have long been exposed to everyone. How could something as shocking as hijacking a military ship be so easily smoothed over? All of this was done by Ling Xiao, who had helped her clean up, allowing her to continue hiding behind the crowd …
Although Ling Lan did not know what Ling Xiao had done in all this, she could fully appreciate Ling Xiao's painstaking efforts and love. Since that was the case, she naturally had to listen to Ling Xiao. Even if she won, she had to make it so that no one would be able to tell.
Having made up her mind, Ling Lan resolutely pulled the trigger of the beam rifle in her hands. Beam after beam shot out. Her timing was very clever, making Zhu Jing run for his life. Although he had practiced adjusting the controls of the gun while moving, Ling Lan's shots were faster and faster, making him give up halfway every time he tried to adjust the gun.
"Tsk!" Zhu Jing once again gave up on adjusting the crosshair of his gun and dodged another shot from his opponent. He knew that this wouldn't work. He didn't want to be forced to the end of the game by his opponent. Even if his first shot was effective, he couldn't be sure that the referee team would not award him the victory in the end. In order to secure victory, he had to hit his opponent again.
"Tess, calculate the opponent's gun energy usage!" After dodging this shot, Zhu Jing calmly instructed the mecha's A.I.
"Yes! Captain! "replied the A.I. coldly. Very quickly, a few seconds later, just as Zhu Jing was dodging another shot, the A.I. reported, "So far, the opponent has fired 27 shots. Based on the calculation that one shot from the long-barreled beam gun consumes 8 Cal, theoretically, the opponent can still sustain 22 to 23 shots …"
"Theoretically, close to 50 shots?" Zhu Jing frowned. The numbers reported by the A.I. did not satisfy him. The opponent had only used half of his gun's energy. If he wanted to deplete that energy, he would still have to hide for a while longer. Isn't there a better way to do it?
Zhu Jing considered it carefully and found that there really was no other way. The opponent's speed was very fast, and his control was also very perfect. There were almost no openings to be seen. Shot after shot, the attacks were almost seamless … right then, Zhu Jing was secretly impressed. The opponent's basic control had already been trained to the point of perfection, infinitely close to perfection. If he wanted to break through from here, there was no hope at all.
Since that was the case, then let's just drag it out! Zhu Jing believed that with his control skills, he was confident that he could exhaust the opponent's gun's energy. At that time, it would be time for him to counterattack.
After Ling Lan fired four to five consecutive shots, she noticed Zhu Jing's strange movements. The opponent was no longer adjusting his gun, but was instead dodging with all his might. A thought flashed through Ling Lan's mind, and she immediately knew what Zhu Jing was planning.
A smile appeared on Ling Lan's lips. Perhaps this was her chance to defeat the opponent!
"Little Four, how many shots can the energy storage unit in the gun support?" Compared to the mecha's A.I., Ling Lan trusted Little Four's judgment more.
"About 25 shots!" Little Four heard Ling Lan's question and his spirits were instantly lifted. Ever since Boss said that she wanted to get used to the mecha's A.I. of this era, she did not let him control the mecha's A.I. to work with her. This made Little Four sad and bored. He actually also wanted to do something proper to help his boss.
"How many shots in total?" Ling Lan continued to ask.
Little Four replied proudly, "After my optimization, the A.I. program's response time has reached the optimal level. Each shot only consumes 7.27272727272727 …"
"Stop. Just tell me how many shots can be fired in total." Ling Lan was sweating. She did not ask for the specifics, did she …?
"… It can reach 55 shots!" Little Four looked at his fingers, aggrieved. He had said so much just to show off and let Boss know that the mecha's A.I. could not compare to a smart intelligence entity like him. With such an outstanding Little Four around, why would she still need that rigid program?
Alright, Little Four was deeply resentful towards Ling Lan's decision. This was obviously depriving him of the joy of living as a Little Four!
"A normal mecha master can only fire 46 shots. 9 more shots, that's enough!" Ling Lan did not know what Little Four was thinking. When she found out that her beam gun could fire 9 more shots than others, a plan instantly formed in her mind.
The situation on the field could not be helped. It was still Ling Lan firing shot after shot at the opponent, while Zhu Jing was completely focused on dodging …
"How many shots has he fired?" Quite a few top-class mecha masters had already discovered Zhu Jing's goal. They were still calculating Ling Lan's gun skills. They also knew that when Ling Lan's beam gun ran out of energy, Zhu Jing would counterattack. Many people believed that that would be the crucial moment when victory would be decided.
"46 shots. Looks like the energy block in this First Men's Military Academy mecha master's beam gun is about to run out!" The mecha masters all had excellent memories, quickly calculating the detailed data. Everyone's spirits were lifted, and they paid close attention to the field. This was because it was very likely that in the next second, the energy block in Ling Lan's beam gun would run out.
It should be known that the standard beam gun of a special-class mecha did not have a constant energy block. There was a certain amount of flexibility, usually between 46 to 54 shots.
This difference of almost 8 shots was due to many factors, such as the quality of the energy block. The higher the quality of the energy block, the closer it was to the limit of the energy it could store. A standard level one energy block could store 400 calories, but in reality, it could not reach this figure. A top-grade energy block with perfect quality could only store between 380 to 390 calories.
Other than this, a mecha master's control level and the mecha's A.I. program were all related to the energy block's consumption. If one's control was not precise, each shot would consume more energy. Then there was the problem of the A.I. program's response. No matter how good one's control was, if the A.I. was not up to snuff … that would still cause a certain amount of energy to the beam gun.
For a qualified special-class mecha master, shooting 46 shots was a basic standard, and whether or not one could use the energy in the energy block to shoot more shots would depend on how good the mecha master was and how well the mecha he operated was maintained.
Of course, the theoretical maximum of 54 shots was something almost no one could achieve … perhaps 12 god-class operators might be able to do it, but they would not lower themselves to operate special-class mecha.
"Crack!" In the field, Ling Lan's beam gun suddenly jammed. This sound made everyone sit up straight in surprise, looking eagerly at Zhu Jing on the other side. Everyone knew that the chance Zhu Jing had been waiting for had come!
This sound also made the expressions of the First Men's Military Academy members waiting backstage change. Even though Mu Shaoyu and Han Yu were at the back of the line waiting for their chance to go on stage, in reality, they did not wish for their teammates in front of them to actually lose …
This sound made Ling Xiao raise an eyebrow on the rostrum. He did not believe that Ling Lan would make such a low-level mistake, not paying attention to the energy of the gun in her hand. Then, the biggest possibility was that his daughter was scheming something … Ling Xiao cast a pitying glance at Ling Lan's opponent.
Zhu Jing had been waiting for this chance all this time. When he heard this sound, his eyes lit up with ecstasy! His fingers danced quickly, and his mecha, which had been dodging at extreme speed all this while, abruptly jerked. The M9 long-range projectile sniper rifle, which had been hanging low, was once again lifted up and aimed at Ling Lan.
At that moment, Ling Lan's mecha's arm slapped its waist, and a new energy block popped out from the card holder at its waist!
"Energy Battle Emergency Swap Technique!" Seeing Ling Lan use this move, everyone was excited. Right now, every second counted. If Ling Lan replaced the new energy block before Zhu Jing, then the result would still be unknown. If Zhu Jing was faster, then this match would end with Ling Lan's loss.
The energy block popped out from the card holder, and Ling Lan's mecha's left hand reached out to grab it. Right at that moment, perhaps due to nervousness, or perhaps due to a control error, the energy block slipped through the fingers of the mecha's left hand and fell to the ground.
"Ah!" Everyone who saw this scene cried out in surprise. Seeing this, Zhu Jing's mind steadied, and he focused all his attention on adjusting his gun, preparing to deal the final blow to Ling Lan.
With a "boom", Zhu Jing, who had just finished adjusting his gun and was about to shoot, had not yet pulled the trigger when his mecha's screen went black. Then, he felt a huge explosion outside his mecha, and his entire mecha went out of control.
The A.I. immediately blared a loud alarm, prompting him to quickly eject from the cockpit …
Zhu Jing slapped the control panel angrily, and very reluctantly pressed the button to eject from the cockpit. Even now, he still did not know why his mecha had suddenly exploded. Could it be that there was a problem with the mecha? He thought back to the Zhang Jing-an incident a few days ago. That little bit of information he had revealed had led everyone to guess that there might be a problem with the safety features of this batch of mecha.
Meanwhile, on the field, Ling Lan calmly put down the long-barreled beam gun in her hands. Just as Zhu Jing was focused on adjusting his aim, she had long prepared a sure-kill move — One-Point Continuous Shooting. One-Point Continuous Shooting could barely be considered an advanced technique. It was very common, a relatively easy technique that almost all advanced mecha operators knew. But at this moment, in front of the defenceless Zhu Jing, it had succeeded, instantly destroying Zhu Jing's mecha.
"The limit isn't 46 shots. How many shots did that last One-Point Continuous Shooting go in total?" Everyone cried out in surprise. Had that series of shots been 5 or 6? If it was 6 shots, then it would be 52 shots. Although it was not the theoretical 54 shots, it was still not something an average mecha operator could achieve …
The two imperial operators monitoring from high up in the air were somewhat hesitant. One of them asked, "It was 6 shots, right? Why do I feel like something's not right …"
The other imperial operator repeatedly watched Ling Lan's last shot, and finally confirmed, "It was 6 shots. But perhaps it was a problem with the lighting, the last shot was a little too blinding. Many people didn't see it clearly." He had also only confirmed it after lowering the lighting.
"Then there's no mistaking it. 52 shots. This number is really astonishing. It should be close to the perfect number!" exclaimed the imperial operator who had spoken at the start.
"Yes, according to the Federation military's top-secret files, only General Ling Xiao has managed to get close to the perfect number with 53 shots. There are more people with 52 shots, but they are all extremely outstanding mecha prodigies!"
"Actually, with that brat from the First Men's Military Academy's perfect control, we should have known that it was impossible for him to only have 46 shots. We were all fooled by him! What a cunning little bastard! " Said the other imperial operator hatefully. When Ling Lan had failed to grab hold of the energy storage unit, he had truly been shocked. After all, he had performed so well yesterday — he did not want to see Ling Lan lose.
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