Chapter 117: Coming, Mr. Jiang Wei?

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

After all pre-match inspections were complete, the technicians withdrew from the battlefield. Lu Yao began heading toward the audience stands when a sudden gust of wind lifted the long strands of his hair, sand swirling over his feet like waves.

He turned back and saw the massive metallic mecha half-kneeling before him, raising a hand in salute. The breeze just now had been caused by its arm. Lu Yao paused and a technician called out, puzzled, “Chief Engineer Lu, any remaining issues?”

Lu Yao didn’t respond. His expression remained impassive. He raised his arm and returned a precise military salute to the towering yet silent and loyal mecha. The sunlight caught his cheek, gleaming brightly. The livestream exploded in the comment section:

“Chief Engineer Lu is too handsome!!!”
“Need a hi-res 3D version of this to use as my login wallpaper!!!”
“Mom, I wanna learn mecha repair too!”

As he prepared to turn away, a commotion arose at the audience entrance. A squad of officers in deep green New Blue Star uniforms entered the competition area, stopping to ask the staff questions. Spectators whispered in confusion—what were the police doing here when the Hephaestus Tournament’s security was under military jurisdiction?

The lead officer, after quickly confirming what he needed from the slightly stunned staff, marched directly to the competitors’ rest area. From afar, Lu Yao furrowed his brows, seeing the officers reach Jiang Wei and hand him an electronic file. Jiang Wei’s expression darkened immediately. The crowd and wind made the conversation difficult to hear, so Lu Yao contacted Mo Feng. “What’s happening? Why are the police confronting Jiang Wei?”

“What else could it be?” Mo Feng replied, sitting in the competitors’ rest area and watching the scene firsthand. “They found evidence about him… Forget it. Just watch the livestream. The camera is right on Jiang Wei.”

Lu Yao pulled up the Hephaestus Tournament livestream on his personal AI assistant. The ultra-high-definition camera focused squarely on Jiang Wei’s grim face. The livestream captured not only his reactions but the police’s dialogue as well.

“Mr. Jiang Wei, the police suspect you of hiring star thieves and mercenaries to attack military facilities and steal Federation secrets…”

“What evidence do you have?” Jiang Wei glanced coldly.

“The evidence is being compiled,” the officer replied coldly. “This is a document to assist with the investigation. Please, cooperate and accompany us to the Federation Central Police Bureau.”

As the charges were read aloud, the livestream comment section exploded exponentially:

“What is Jiang Wei doing???”
“Attacking military facilities… Is he trying to destroy humanity for some alien takeover?!”
“Crazy!”
“Can he even do all this by himself? Maybe there’s someone behind the scenes…”

Previously, Jiang Wei’s actions had thrown the military into chaos. Now, as the tournament’s organizer controlling the event, they left nothing out—capturing every confrontation between him and the police.

Jiang Wei clenched his jaw and said, “Cooperation doesn’t need to be enforced immediately. I will assist the investigation, but I need to see the match results first.”

Livestream comments surged:

“Why arrest someone right before the match? They claim it’s a military attack—could it be a setup?”
“If it were a setup, it would’ve happened earlier. Why wait?”
“Maybe the military’s scared. If Jiang Wei is prevented from competing, their research institute wins by default.”
“Will Jiang Wei actually be allowed to stay?”

The officer frowned, confirmed something with the event chairman, then replied, “Mr. Jiang Wei, you may stay. Please, follow us immediately after the match.”

Comments erupted:

“He’s really allowed to stay?!”
“Told you not to assume bad intentions—if the military wanted to fund Lu Yao, why wait for a tournament?”
“Notice how Jiang Wei hasn’t objected at all? If he were framed, he’d at least claim innocence.”
“And according to the rules, as long as the prototype and pilot are present, the match continues. The designer’s presence doesn’t affect the fight. His struggle is meaningless.”

Lu Yao’s steps paused. He averted his gaze and circled back toward the First Base’s rest area.

“Why now?” Lu Yao asked, sitting beside Mo Feng. They didn’t meet eyes, staring forward as the match was about to begin and the host explained the rules. They clapped along mechanically with the audience.

“This is just the progress of the police investigation, not our plan,” Mo Feng said. “Ask fate—or Jiang Wei himself why he chose this path.”

From the next room, Jiang Wei shot a dark glance at them. Mo Feng, unfazed, smirked subtly after catching the expression out of the corner of his eye. “The evidence is nearly complete. They just need his statement to confirm if he orchestrated any attempt on your life. The results should be coming soon.”

“What if I lose today?”

“What?” Mo Feng thought he misheard.

“I said, what if I lose.”

“You won’t lose,” Mo Feng said firmly. “Don’t even consider that possibility. He doesn’t deserve to compete with you.”

The host finished reading the rules, and the final match officially began. As the two fifty-meter-tall mecha hummed to life, the audience fell silent amid the swirling sand.

NTL took a step forward, its towering frame blocking the sun’s rays. It moved back slightly, away from the pale-blue protective barrier at the edge of the audience area, and assumed a combat-ready stance opposite the X-Feng J.

In the next instant, the fully white X-Feng J charged first! A massive fist swung toward NTL’s head, but NTL swiftly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the blow.

Unlike human combat, giant mecha fights are slowed by their sheer size. Every motion is heavy and deliberate, requiring precisely calibrated joint thrusters to add speed and force. What looked slow to the spectators was likely the mecha’s maximum speed.

The punch missed, and the X-Feng J’s momentum sent it tumbling forward. NTL remained steady, seemingly unmoving. The opposing pilot sensed something was off and activated the chest thrusters to regain balance.

Just as the thrusters flared, NTL’s poised knee shot upward with incredible acceleration, thanks to high-energy boosters. The X-Feng J couldn’t react in time and was struck squarely in the midsection, sent flying sideways. The impact shook the ground like an earthquake. A nearby camera drone wobbled in midair, and viewers in the livestream reported dizziness from the scale of the shockwave.

NTL expertly used the forward kick to step out with its right leg, stomping the ground, then fired up the back thrusters to launch toward X-Feng J, delivering a punch aimed at its head. But X-Feng J dodged!

It had lain in the crater too long, beyond normal operational limits. Zhou Yunchen initially suspected a prototype design flaw but soon realized the opposing pilot had gambled.

He gambled that NTL wouldn’t react fast enough to avoid the punch, and that NTL wouldn’t counter his energy blade strike. Ssshhh—The energy blade pierced NTL’s left chest. X-Feng J activated its foot thrusters, attempting to slip away. Yet before it could celebrate, NTL’s right arm snatched its ankle midair! The two mecha strained against each other like iron, thrusters at full power. X-Feng J’s flames heated NTL’s arm until metal glowed red. 

Anyone familiar with mecha construction would have recognized that the apparent stalemate was actually a foregone conclusion. If the earlier fight showcased pilot skill, this tug-of-war was a test of raw mechanical strength. X-Feng J engaged every thruster, including its powerful back boosters. If NTL were a mere pile of metal, it would have been lifted into the air like a kite.

But NTL, built by Lu Yao, even with one side damaged and only partial thrusters active, matched X-Feng J blow for blow. The livestream comment section exploded with cheers.

Bathed in rosy sunlight, the two massive humanoid mecha looked like mythic warriors, every joint and servomotor flexing, wild yet exquisitely precise—a living romanticist oil painting. Lu Yao’s hands, which had rested lightly on his knees, instinctively clenched. Time seemed to pause.

Boom— NTL swung its long arm, slamming X-Feng J into the edge of the protective barrier. Fire and dust erupted, sand and smoke blotted out the sun, casting a shadow over the audience. The debris formed a plume that swallowed X-Feng J. The mecha ceased movement, seemingly incapacitated. Only smoldering gray ash rose toward the sky.

In the next moment, an orange-red mecha escape pod shot out of the dust in a parabolic arc, smashing into a hovering camera drone and ricocheting toward the audience’s protective barrier. The pale-blue shield rippled; spectators shivered and gasped.

The pod bounced a few times before coming to rest. NTL’s chest leaked oil and black smoke. It stepped back slowly and dropped to one knee, head bowed, in harmless standby mode.

Support crews rushed in. Autonomous robots and drones moved toward X-Feng J’s wreckage, performing fire suppression and decontamination. Medical personnel attended the escape pod, lifting the dazed pilot onto a stretcher. Fortunately, there were no serious injuries; NTL had avoided targeting the cockpit during the fight.

“Mr. Jiang Wei, shall we go?” An officer politely addressed the pale-faced Jiang Wei from the audience.

 

 

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