Gamers Are Fierce-Chapter 781 - 779 Cemetery

BOOM!

The remaining two Vector Propulsion Jet Engines burst into sky-blue flames, providing massive thrust. This propelled the mecha forward in a leap, covering dozens of meters in an instant and flashing in front of Li Ang with a downward slash.

Cloud Ascending Ladder.

Beneath Li Ang's feet, an energy entity emerged out of thin air, providing a stepping platform that allowed him to explosively retreat and narrowly avoid the slash.

BUZZ—

The distinctive horizontal slicing sound of the High-Frequency Cutting Blade rang out again. The Kui Ox mecha, with its vector thrusters at full power, hardly paused, abandoning all defense and diverting all energy into its offense.

Li Ang retreated again and again. The Tyrant Halberd skimmed the Kui Ox mecha's vital spots like a dragonfly touching water, leaving more than a dozen deep wounds. Some attacks even came within a hair's breadth of severing Ding Zhensi's limbs in the cockpit. However, constrained by the Kui Ox mecha's fearless attacking style, Li Ang could only retrieve his weapon and continue to defend.

Is this the Special Affairs Bureau's secret weapon... This thought emerged in the minds of countless spectators in the stands. Battles on the other dozen or so stages had already concluded, but on stage forty-five, there was still a whirlwind of dust and debris. The entire platform's brick and stone floor was scarred with pits and fissures left by the High-Frequency Cutting Blade and the Tyrant Halberd.

Just by the destruction of the stage itself, the energy level displayed in this match was even higher than the previous round's duel between "Ryu" and "Amber."

The faces of the Lone Wolf spectators were filled with amazement and envy, while members of other powers, especially those guild organizations not on good terms with the Special Affairs Bureau, looked as aghast as could be.

The bloated bigwigs of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Supernatural Accident Place were anxiously and irritably whispering to one another. People continuously went online and offline, presumably to report back to the real world and issue orders.

Representatives in suits from the Prometheus Laboratory Company, which touts itself as the leader of future technology, approached the Special Affairs Bureau's area, presumably to discuss something. However, they left expressionless, evidently dissatisfied with the outcome.

Each organization had sent their own think tank to personally observe the first round of arena matches. That young man in the blue-and-white skin-tight combat suit was clearly not a pure warrior, yet with that mecha, he momentarily suppressed an opponent with a terrifyingly formidable physique.

Even if the Immaculate Furnace's owner wasn't using more skills but relying on simple attacks, who could guarantee that the Kui Ox mecha had fully played its hand?

The strength demonstrated by the magnetic-fluid mecha far exceeded other powers' expectations. While their own machines were still in the experimental stage and unable to be mass-produced on a large scale, the Special Affairs Bureau's mecha were already capable of participating in high-intensity battles above Lv20, even securing a foothold.

A single Kui Ox mecha was not frightening. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Prometheus Laboratory Company had plenty of players serving as secret weapons. However, the greatest significance of a mecha lies in its mass production, in stabilizing social order, and in completely revolutionizing the modern warfare pattern.

"The Special Affairs Bureau truly has profound depths..." the Stonemason couldn't help but utter. Hearing this, Perch beside him shook his head with a smile. "No, it's not the Special Affairs Bureau, but the Heterodox Academy that has profound depths."

"Eh?"

The Stonemason turned his head and glanced at his nerd senior brother with hesitation. "Isn't that mecha entirely made by technology?"

"Of course not."

Perch rested the palms of his hands behind his head, leaned back as far as he could into the chair, and lazily said, "The teacher said that there are things like technological barriers in the Battlefield Killing game; it's difficult to produce near-future tech creations that can be decrypted for large-scale practicality. The Special Affairs Bureau has extremely high authority and can muster vast manpower, materials, and financial resources. Even so, it's highly unlikely they could independently develop a Gundam from scratch in such a short time without any references. Scientific research doesn't just succeed through sheer numbers and money. The core of that mecha must have employed the Heterodox Academy's technology, and only they could provide such technical support."

"..."

Stonemason opened his mouth, unclear why his senior brother, Perch, held the Heterodox Academy in such high esteem.

While the hearts of all those present were stirred by the fierce and iron-blooded fighting figure of the Kui Ox mecha, the silent members of the Special Affairs Bureau's equipment technology department below the arena were seized by a kind of anxious mood.

Only they understood the true nature of the Shanhai Kui Ox mecha; only they knew what Ding Zhensi on the stage had truly sacrificed.

"Dad..."

No sooner had the researcher Yan Hanyan begun to speak than she was interrupted by her father, Yan Jianbo.

"I know what you're going to say," Yan Jianbo said sternly. "But this is Zhen Shi's own choice; he doesn't want to let down our efforts or his own. Until the result is revealed, all we can do is wish him well."

"..."

Yan Hanyan fell silent, turning to look at the giant mecha on the arena, its battle movements beginning to distort and its body quivering incessantly.

Kill, kill, kill, kill! Die, die, die!

Within the narrow and cramped cockpit, Ding Zhensi's heavy, rapid breathing echoed.

His face was covered with bulging veins, his pupils filled with bloodshot strands. A vast array of magnetic-fluid fiber strands pierced out from his bones, muscles, and skin, making him appear like some kind of bizarre creature infested with parasites.

The real Energy Core of the Shanhai Series Mech Armor was actually the spirit of a ferocious beast residing deep within the mecha.

After months of exploration and guidance from Meng Si, the frontline scientific expedition team had penetrated the deepest levels of the Demon Prison. There, they discovered an ancient temporary outpost left by the predecessors of the Heterodox Academy and excavated a large number of texts.

One of those texts secretly indicated a hidden passage within the Demon Prison.

Following the map, the scientific expedition team entered the secret passage. Using the unique identity verification method passed down by the Heterodox Academy, they passed the tests. After several spatial jumps, they arrived at an enormous pocket space.

That space should have been a museum or, rather, a graveyard.

In the vast, empty darkness with no visible end, energy fields formed by anti-gravity devices were everywhere. Within these fields floated startlingly lifelike giant creature carcasses, a hundred or even a thousand meters long.

A red tiger with wings on its back—Qiongqi.

A horse with one horn on its head, a white body with a black tail, and claws and teeth—Bo.

A crane with one foot, its whole body covered with blue feathers—Bifang.

...

By reading the stele at the bottom of the graveyard, the scientific expedition team learned something. What was placed here were not real mythical beasts from the Shanhai Classics. Instead, they were counterfeit fabrications cloned by the Heterodox Academy in its prime, based on textual materials left over from mythical times.