Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 780 - 778: Damaged

Chu Yin's brows furrowed slightly. "Doesn't that mean a certain loss?"

"Hmm..."

Xing Hechou silently shook his head, without uttering a word.

If it were only to this extent, how could the Shanhai Series Mech Armor possibly be entrusted with high hopes by superiors and be recognized as the main battle weapon that could dominate the battlefields of the next generation?

"Zhen Shi, come on..."

Below the arena, Yan Hanyan unconsciously clenched her fists, silently watching the Mecha's retreating figure.

[Left arm load-bearing system damaged 71%]

[Right leg foot's hydraulic actuator rod damaged 54%]

[Chest armor damaged 35%]

[No. 1 and No. 3 vector jet thrusters completely destroyed]

[Mecha remaining energy 31%]

Within the cockpit of the Kui Ox Mecha, rapid and dense mechanical electronic sounds echoed, accompanied by the glaring red light of danger warnings.

The skin-tight combat suit transmitted the Mecha's damage status to the depths of Ding Zhensi's skin as micro-electric shocks, which accumulated over time into pain.

This naive young man, who not long ago was operating an excavator, struggled to fend off Li Ang's increasingly rapid slashing attacks while fighting against the survival instinct in his heart that screamed to turn and flee.

"Cannot escape, cannot escape, cannot escape!" Ding Zhensi roared. His High-Frequency Cutting Blade slashed down fiercely, abruptly repelling Li Ang.

But as Li Ang retreated, a swipe from his Long Spear severed the Mecha's entire left arm, which crashed heavily to the ground with a loud BANG.

"HUFF... HUFF..."

His ragged breathing echoed in the cockpit.

Such intense combat drained the Mecha's energy rapidly. The System was forced to shut down numerous auxiliary functions to maintain the Mecha's normal operation.

With the mental defense barrier shut down, the Divine Pressure emanating from the opponent's body once again enveloped Ding Zhensi's heart.

Why should the weak fight?

This phrase suddenly surfaced in Ding Zhensi's mind.

When he was about to enter junior high school, he learned that the name his otaku parents gave him was derived from a classic anime called "Neon Genesis Evangelion."

Although he was Speechless about his otaku parents, out of curiosity to trace his name's origin, he still watched that anime.

That's it?

This sentiment naturally arose after he finished watching that work.

Shinji Ikari, the protagonist of the anime, was weak-willed, introverted, reclusive, and timid. He had a negative attitude and always liked to use "I'm sorry" to evade reality.

To a certain extent, this made the adolescent Ding Zhensi feel somewhat disgusted.

Shouldn't a true hero be decisive in action, swift, brave, unyielding, responsible, neither evasive nor cowardly, and forever without weakness?

When he could no longer restrain himself and asked his father one day, his father, wearing a T-shirt and smoking on the balcony as he enjoyed the breeze, told him this:

"AHEM... You've watched that anime too, haven't you? Do you think your name was chosen wrongly? Hmm... Actually, if you ignore the details in EVA and only focus on the deeds of the protagonist, you can see a different Shinji Ikari.

Consider this: a mere fourteen-year-old boy. He lost his mother at a young age and was abandoned by his father, left to be fostered by relatives. After receiving a letter, he came to Tokyo-3 alone, expecting his father to welcome him. Instead, he witnessed an unknown, overwhelmingly powerful lifeform brutally crushing the human army. His idealized father, however, gave him a cruel order: to pilot a giant Mecha without any training and risk his life fighting that unknown lifeform.

When he came off the battlefield, there were no medals, no flowers, no bonuses. Instead, he faced continued cold treatment from his loved ones and was treated like a monster by his peers. He was forcibly detained and watched over. He was repeatedly asked to climb back into that colossal machine, a machine that could devour him at any moment. Time and time again, he walked the thin line between life and death, defeating unfathomable terrors to protect the hope of all humanity.

Simply recounting his deeds, Lady Saint Joan of Arc couldn't compare to him in the slightest, and the second coming of the Messiah would seem no more remarkable."

"True heroes aren't those who lazily and casually crush their opponents when victory is assured. They are those who, despite facing bleak prospects and desperate straits, still act selflessly and fearlessly, making sacrifices for the greater good of all."

"Why do the weak fight? To protect those weaker than they are."

Ding Zhensi could no longer clearly recall the specific scene of that father-son conversation, but in his mind, he could vaguely remember the multitude of lights he saw while leaning over the railing and looking down.

HUMMM—

The two horns atop the Kui Ox Mecha's head began to vibrate, reverting to a magnetofluid state.

Under the strong magnetic field emitted by the Mecha, the magnetofluid took the form of countless fine needles.

Just when the vast majority thought these fine needles would be launched as hidden weapons to kill the enemy,

inside the cockpit, Ding Zhensi's lips curled into a faint, resolute smile.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Countless magnetofluid needles shot down from above, heading towards the Mecha's chest,

instantly turning the cockpit into a pincushion.

DRIP. DRIP.

Blood gushed out in the cockpit. It flowed along the steel needles formed by the magnetofluid, dripping onto the ground.

"GASP—"

With his neck, windpipe, body, and limbs all pierced, Ding Zhensi let out ragged gasps.

Even after experiencing it countless times in the lab, the pain akin to being slashed by a thousand knives still pierced his soul.

The exposed magnetofluid outside the cockpit spontaneously contracted, seemingly alive. It flowed through the wounds into his veins, spreading throughout his body. It latched onto every corner of his organs, bones, and muscles, spontaneously forming countless metallic parts of unknown function.

Tremendous pain swept through his body. Ding Zhensi could distinctly feel those parts swiftly activating, assembling into a coordinated and effective system.

His heart thumped vigorously like never before.

Strength, seemingly infinite and boundless, surged through his limbs and entire body.

Vision, hearing, touch—never had they been as clear and bright as now.

He was no longer controlling the Mecha with his body. Instead, he was fusing with it through innumerable strands of magnetofluid fiber extending from his skull, back, ribs, arms, and feet.

"..."

Li Ang squinted his eyes, watching from a distance.

Once that Mecha had lost its horns, its threat level had drastically increased, incomparable to before.

Classic of Mountains and Seas, Great Wilderness Eastern Classic: "It resembles an ox, with a gray body and no horns, one foot, and when it enters or exits water, wind and storms must arise. Its light is like the sun and moon, its voice like thunder, its name is Kui."

An excerpt from the Classic of Mountains and Seas floated into Li Ang's mind, and he silently criticized, This is a Mechanical creation; how could there be a design where it becomes stronger after losing its horns?

Could it really be a Kui Ox?

His query was immediately answered.

The gigantic Mecha, now with only one arm, grasped the handle of its Double-Headed Long Sword with its sole right arm. It slowly bent its body, like a sprinter poised to dash.