IMAO Chapter 78

Happy New Year’s Eve!

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The sky was crystal clear, with the sun hanging high above.

In front of the massive arena, mecha after mecha rose from the ground with thunderous roars, stirring excitement among the spectators.

Today’s match terrain had been decided.

Iron Fortress.

The Iron Fortress was filled with obstacles, and its interior contained countless weapons that attacked randomly. This posed challenges for mecha pilots in both shooting and movement.

This map truly tested the players’ reflexes and adaptability. Even expert players would slip up here in the game, let alone rookies.

Iron Fortress?

The man sitting in the stands breathed a slight sigh of relief upon seeing the map. For Rick Empire, this was a blessing in disguise.

This map’s many obstacles and the fortress’s indiscriminate weapon attacks could limit the Federation’s strength.

Basil secretly thought their luck wasn’t bad. At least Rick wouldn’t lose too badly this time.

Rick Empire and the Federation were like sword points facing each other, all because of that war.

Basil shifted his gaze to his left, where, not far from him, sat the Federation’s people!

Alfonso actually showed up today?

Basil coughed lightly. Since the Federation’s first match, Alfonso hardly ever came to watch in person. His sudden appearance today, the reason was obvious without thinking.

Fortunately, Rick Empire had gotten lucky. With today’s Iron Fortress map, even though they were doomed to stop at the quarterfinals after encountering two monster-level students suddenly appearing for the Federation this year, it was better than being instantly obliterated.

In the stands, Alfonso’s brows furrowed into deep lines. The Iron Fortress map appeared for the first time in this year’s competition. Usually, it wouldn’t matter, but why this match of all matches?

Alfonso was so angry his mustache quivered. Just yesterday, he ordered Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong to be as ruthless as possible. If it had been a more open map, their Federation team could have ended the battle in five minutes!

Infuriating!

Although he was obviously unhappy, Alfonso remained in his seat to watch the match.

Compared to the game, Hoyt had given Jiang Yuan and the others a stage where they could operate real mechas, which was much more authentic.

As soon as Rick Empire’s mecha appeared, they fired up their engines and charged straight toward the Iron Fortress, continuously accelerating to quickly find suitable positions!

Rick Empire’s team was quite skilled. They didn’t make it to the quarterfinals for nothing. After a series of high-difficulty maneuvers, they smoothly entered the transport point inside the fortress.

“One minute and fifty seconds.”

“That’s a pretty good time, too bad they’re up against this year’s Federation.”

“Yeah, the Federation is too strong this year. The championship might really change hands!”

…

“Why are they running so fast?” A clear, disgruntled voice came through the comms.

“Running fast won’t help them. Although this map gives them trouble, it’s not easy for them to find you either. You five be careful not to get killed by Rick Empire,” Ji Rong, as team captain, immediately said after hearing Gu Bai’s voice.

Hearing this, Gu Bai stuck out his tongue. Marshal Alfonso had given them strict orders: anyone who gets eliminated would face military punishment when they return!

Just thinking about it scared Gu Bai. In previous matches, they could slack off, but not this one!

Besides, dying to Rick Empire’s hands, even though they were carried by their ace players, they still had their pride!

“All five of you, protect yourselves,” Jiang Yuan said in a deep voice. Marshal Alfonso ordered them to be as ruthless as possible, and the old man even came to watch in person today. They couldn’t disappoint him.

Although the war between the two nations had ended over twenty years ago, who could truly say they had forgiven?

Marshal Alfonso couldn’t, and Jiang Yuan knew he couldn’t either.

Soon, Ji Rong and Jiang Yuan fired up their engines. The crowd watched as two mechas shot like lightning into the Iron Fortress with high-frequency shifts and rail-sliding movements. Compared to Rick Empire’s team earlier, these two entered the Iron Fortress as if taking a stroll!

They didn’t even bother dodging the sweeping laser guns. Instead, they raised their own laser guns to intercept the shots mid-air, creating explosive fireworks where the beams met!

One and a half minutes.

Nolan swallowed hard. Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong were just too amazing! Entering the Iron Fortress in one and a half minutes with a mecha! Their reaction speed was simply terrifying!

By now in the competition, he knew Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong were on a completely different level from them, but watching them operate like this still made him draw in a sharp breath.

Their control over the mechas was simply horrifying, as if the control methods were engraved in their genes, their very marrow!

Seeing Ji Rong and Jiang Yuan’s performance, the spectators were already used to it. Weren’t Federation players YUAN and RONG always pulling off these flashy moves? It would be strange if they weren’t this strong.

After being shocked time and time again, they got used to it!

“Heh, looks like Rick Empire got lucky this year,” a man sitting next to Alfonso laughed.

“Yeah, seems like they can drag it out for a while,” another added.

Alfonso was still frustrated about encountering the Iron Fortress map and not being able to finish Rick Empire within five minutes. Hearing these other national leaders’ comments, he said, “Can you two shut up? What good is luck when they’re going to lose anyway!”

The two men clearly had a good relationship with Alfonso. They just smiled, exchanged glances, and quietly turned their attention back to the arena.

Two minutes later, both teams had entered the match arena’s transport points.

Ten… nine… eight… seven…

…

Three!

Two!

One!

The match begins!

As soon as the starting signal sounded, two mechas instantly maxed out their engines.

Flying to the very top of Iron Fortress!

Everyone in the stands froze, while He Chuan instinctively stood up, shouting excitedly, “Damn, what’s Jiang Yuan doing?! Doesn’t he know Iron Fortress’s defense mechanism? All weapons simultaneously target the highest object around!”

Discussion and debate erupted in the stands!

What the hell!

What’s going on?!

Was this Federation ace player trying to commit suicide in Iron Fortress?

Of course, it wasn’t what the spectators thought. This was the battle plan he and Ji Rong had devised after learning the match terrain.

They both knew perfectly well that Iron Fortress’s weapon systems would immediately target the highest visible flying object in range. Being attacked was inevitable.

Iron Fortress would restrict them, but it had one advantage: it was small!

Iron Fortress was tiny, and if just one of them flew up high, they could quickly lock onto Rick Empire team’s positions!

True, Iron Fortress’s many barriers would limit their ability to display their full potential, but to complete Marshal Alfonso’s mission, these two were really planning to be as ruthless as possible!

Their plan was simple: Jiang Yuan would fly to maximum height, becoming a target for both the fortress’s autonomous weapons and Rick Empire’s entire team. While Jiang Yuan handled the attacks, he’d report enemy coordinates to Ji Rong, who would launch an aggressive assault to fulfill Marshal Alfonso’s demands!

At this moment, everyone watching the livestream unconsciously closed their eyes. Messages floated across the bullet screen:

“God YUAN, if Rick Empire has kidnapped you, blink twice! We’ll come save you!”

“Fuck, what… what is God YUAN trying to do?”

Alfonso was also baffled by this move, but he was handling it better than He Chuan. He remained seated in his spot.

“What the hell is this? Is Federation trying to deliberately lose to Rick Empire?”

“I don’t understand…”

Everyone was completely confused!

“Bang bang bang!”

“Bang bang bang!”

Laser beams shot toward Jiang Yuan’s Thunder Fighter.

Even instructor He Chuan froze amid the mecha’s roar!

The entire audience fell silent in an instant!

The airborne Federation fighter moved like lightning, completely ignoring the attacks around it!

Speed shift!

Turn!

Ultra-high speed variation!

Aerial Thomas rotation!

Double rail!

The Thunder Fighter didn’t become a target. Instead, the attacks turned into huge sparks in the air. The mecha’s movements weren’t large, but they were fast!

Every single movement was fast!

So fast the eye couldn’t keep up with its speed!

“Boom boom—”

Just as everyone’s attention was drawn to the Federation Thunder 02’s aerial display, a massive sound suddenly rang out!

It was RONG!

He attacked!

He found a Rick Empire team player. With seventeen mechanical blade strikes in three seconds, the system declared that player eliminated!

Boom—

Next one!

The entire arena was dead silent, even the interstellar livestream room suddenly went quiet.

In the sky, Fighter 02 continued drawing fire, while below, Thunder 01 had started attacking the next Rick Empire player!

Two minutes and thirty seconds!

My god!

Everyone went crazy. The battle ended in two minutes and thirty seconds!

The Federation won!

As all seven Rick Empire team members were eliminated, the attacks inside Iron Fortress stopped. Jiang Yuan released his mecha controls, keeping the machine hovering in the air as he caught his breath.

YUAN!

Too terrifying!

What kind of predictive ability did it take to accomplish this?!

Too strong!

Was he even human?

Everyone was stunned.

Even Gu Bai and the others exchanged bewildered looks. What just happened?!

Did… did they just win by doing nothing?

“Ahem, isn’t the Federation too savage this year? Good thing we didn’t face them!” The old man who had joked with Alfonso earlier stroked his chin, speaking seriously.

Alfonso sat in his seat and said coolly, “Hmph, even with Iron Fortress, Rick Empire’s people only managed to delay the inevitable by a few seconds.”

Not far away, Basil felt his heart ache and his blood pressure rise.

When he saw the Iron Fortress, he thought their luck wasn’t bad, but this… these two brats…

If he weren’t a noble who had to maintain his dignity, he’d be cursing these two bastards right now!

Nothing good ever came from encountering them!

Couldn’t they just fight a normal match?!

Would it kill them to let Rick Empire get eliminated a bit later?!

He sat in his seat, his chest heaving as he struggled to control his emotions and maintain his expression, barely managing to avoid showing his fury.

“We’re leaving.” With a swish, Basil stood up and turned to leave.

“Basil left,” someone among the watching political and military figures from various countries whispered.

“He must be furious. Everyone knows the relationship between Rick Empire and the Federation. Rick Empire lost face big time today!”

“Hahaha, I love watching Rick Empire lose face!” someone else chimed in.

Although they spoke quietly and Basil didn’t hear them, his composure still cracked as he left!

“Was this the fastest match in Interstellar Mecha Competition history?”

“I checked previous matches, and today’s Federation versus Rick Empire really was…”

“One broke the record for fastest win, one for fastest loss.”

Basil suddenly punched the wall. At this moment, he felt the urge to kill someone!

“General, don’t be angry…” The accompanying military officer immediately grabbed Basil’s hand to treat his injury. After thinking for a while, the officer consoled, “We placed eighth this year, similar to previous years.”

Hearing this, Basil knew the ranking was similar, but the problem was…

Forget it, no use dwelling on it now!

At this point, he could only comfort himself that he could lead the team away from Hoyt early, avoiding unnecessary trouble.

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