Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
“To the ace mobile armor warrior from Africa, I don’t know who you are, but I am honored to fight you.” Qin Fen adjusted the line to a special mode where only Clara’s channel could receive, “I hope you can fight me with everything you got so that I can have a better understanding of the level of my strength.”
Clara was a little surprised. Where did he notice the flaws? Or did he receive any news beforehand?
“Are you ready?” Qin Fen calibrated the Red Lotus Phantom’s body and after ensuring that the African Military Region had not played any other tricks, he said, “I am ready for combat.”
Clara smiled and adjusted the call channel. With an experienced tone in speech, Clara said, “Young man, you are still too inexperienced, or perhaps you are overconfident. On the battlefield, since you know that I am the ace mobile armor pilot, what you should’ve done is pretend that you don’t know anything while you deliberately show weakness, then launch a surprise attack after the battle begins and win the battle in one fell swoop. I guess that you have not seen an ace among aces yet?”
“Senior, I know everything you said. But…” Qin Fen controlled Red Lotus Phantom to take out the mobile armor’s sniping “gun”, which was nearly five meters long and fifty millimeters diameter thick from the back of the mobile armor and placed the weapon in the hands. “If that is the case, I will not be able to measure how much strength I have and your generals will not accept this loss wholeheartedly.”
“Arrogant!”
Clara reprimanded him and Galaxy Steel Soul raised the huge shield in its left hand. It was a special alloy shield designed to protect the body.
The huge metal shield slammed on the ground and made a ” dong ” sound that trembled the hearts of the crowd.
Vortex Tiger’s finger pressed the button and a synthesized electronic sound was heard in the field, “Fight!”
The battle begins!
Red Lotus Phantom’s GN2 sniping “gun” ammunition ejection pod blasted a huge white air wave visible to the naked eye. A super fire dragon armor-piercing projectile that could easily shoot down a high aerial combat machine flew out with high-speed rotation.
What?
Clara’s eyes shot with a tinge of horror. The huge Galaxy Steel Soul spurted two large white airflows behind it. Like a giant wall moving, the enormous alloy shield moved to the right side. Two grenade launchers and a small homing missile popped out instantly from the left arm.
Kaboom…
Galaxy Steel Soul’s alloy shield made a loud explosive sound on the right side. The blasted sparks told everyone that Qin Fen’s Red Lotus Phantom had released a curved shot bullet.
Africa’s recruit mobile armor warriors, as well as the American and European recruit mobile armor warriors were dumbfounded. It turned out that Qin Fen didn’t use his real ability at all previously. With this kind of gunmanship, he could’ve broken all the mobile armors slowly.
At the same time, everyone looked at Galaxy Steel Soul in surprise. Where did this African recruit mobile armor warrior pop up from? How is it possible to predict that was a curve shot just from an instance of the Red Lotus Warriors’ movement? And to counterattack while defending? Just the movement of the arms that waved the shield would have required at least three hundred and ninety percent of the drive furnace overclocked.
Ace mobile armor pilot? Few of the Americans and European recruit mobile armor warriors’ eyes bloom with unbelievable surprise. Africa actually had such a powerful mobile armor warrior?
Clara’s military uniform was soaked in an instant. T his East Asian recruit is actually so ferocious? If it wasn’t due to my rich experience where I have seen a similar shot, I would have probably suffered from that attack?
Boom Boom…
Continuous sparks exploded from Red Lotus Phantom’s position. The missiles on the Galaxy Steel Soul’s arm and grenade launcher did not stop firing. Clara knew that the Red Lotus Phantom did not disappear from the radar, and was still jumping around happily.
Sure enough, it is the ace among the aces! Qin Fen’s cheered excitedly. Red Lotus Phantom was getting faster and faster and from time to time it fired a shot, forcing the Galaxy Steel Soul to move the alloy shield in its hand.
How can he be so fast? Clara was getting more and more surprised. The speed of Red Lotus Phantom had been overclocked by more than five hundred percent in the drive furnace! In only such a short time… this could only be achieved by an ace among the aces!
The armor of Galaxy Steel Soul’s left chest has been temporarily opened, and dozens of ground-to-ground missiles inside roared cheerfully while they flew out with red flares.
Clara knows clearly that the drive furnace is overclocked by more than five hundred percent. Whether it was for the pilot’s spirit, body or the mobile armor itself, they cannot maintain such a state for a prolonged time.
However, if she were to wait for the mobile armor’s drive furnace to be damaged due to overclocking and then proceeded to defeat her opponent, the glory that Clara accumulated in her military life would have disappeared completely. And all of it would become a stepping stone for Qin Fen’s fame.
I have to defeat Qin Fen before the drive furnace is damaged or before he breaks down physically or spiritually! Clara’s mind was empty and her operation reached a realm that she never thought of.
Less than half a second! Galaxy Steel Soul’s armor was completely detached. Thousands of missiles, self-propelled artillery from the double-joints, and sixty-four-wheeled cannons that were on the back appeared!
Galaxy Steel Soul’s full weaponry! It unleashed everything in almost less than half a second, and they all activated at the same time.
Undifferentiated type bombardment!
Red Lotus Phantom was fast undoubtedly, but… Clara knew clearly that there was a problem with its armor. If it was hit by the heavy-duty Galaxy Steel Soul, even if it was not dead, it would still be heavily disabled.
In the very moment it released all firepower, the huge Galaxy Steel Soul removed its heavy armor, and as if it had become a running naked man, its speed became extremely fast.
Drive furnace was overclocked by five hundred twenty-seven percent! The Galaxy Steel Soul moved at high speed and left a series of afterimages in the air which was hard to imagine that the huge and cumbersome Galaxy Steel Soul was able to achieve such speed.
The huge shield was, at this moment, swayed by a snarling thunderous explosion slamming towards Red Lotus Phantom.
No one doubted that if this shield hits Red Lotus Phantom, then this seemingly sturdy mobile armor would become scrap metal!
Won! Clara’s mouth sneered. So what if Red Lotus Phantom is a speed type mobile armor? In front of the ace among the aces, this is nothing! A Galaxy Steel Soul that removed its heavy armors and under superb control operation would completely exceed the speed of Red Lotus Phantom!
“What?” Clara suddenly panicked. There were two Red Lotus Phantom readings on the radar! One is motionless in front and one was swaying from the side at an unimaginably high speed.
This is…? Without time for deep thoughts, Clara’s huge shield smashed into the Red Lotus Phantom in the smoke.
Klang… boom…
The sound of collision between metals came clearly and it was definitely the sound of the alloy shield slammed on an armor. This is surely not wrong! Clara was very confident about this sound.
But… Clara’s face turned pale in an instant. The resistance of the alloy shield being slammed down, no! Even if Red Lotus Phantom was not strong enough, it should not be as fragile as a paper.
It’s a trap! Three thoughts passed like lightning in Clara’s mind. Based on instinct, she operated Galaxy Steel Soul to move its shield towards the right side.
Poosh… chalang…
A string of magnificent sparks visible to the naked eye passed through the Galaxy Steel Soul’s alloy shield that was never penetrated since the beginning of the battle. The super fire dragon armor-piercing projectile easily pierced the naked Galaxy Steel Soul.
Clara just felt a shock on the huge armor. Each of the data value on the display started dropping rapidly and within a blink of an eye, the data value all turned into zero, and even the cockpit that was once bright had turned pitch black.
How can it be? Clara activated the auxiliary spare drive furnace quickly. Another shock impact occurred and she felt that the huge armor was tiling to the right.
Within another instance, she felt the armor begin to tilt towards the left again…
The audience that was outside watched dumbfoundedly. Red Lotus Phantom broke the shield with a shot and crushed the Galaxy Steel Soul completely. It didn’t stop its attack immediately and instead, two shots were fired and the two lower limbs of the Galaxy Steel Soul were broken. This was followed by another two shots which completely broke the connective position between Galaxy Steel Soul’s shoulder to the robotic arm.
In the blink of an eye, the already naked Galaxy Steel Soul had its four limbs reduced to scrap and, like a human stick, fell to the ground with its movement rendered useless.
At this moment, the data value inside Galaxy Steel Soul was reactivated. Clara stared at the feedback data. I lost? And I still don’t know how I lost!
The corners of Clara’s mouth, eyes, and even her scalp twitched constantly, a loss without knowing how… such a defeat, such a defeat … it was the second time since her debut!
Last time, it was because of the East Asian Boor! This loss was also to an East Asian recruit! Clara’s fingers and her body muscles were twitching at a fast tempo. Is East Asia really the fated nemesis?
This is…! Clara’s face muscles had stopped twitching. With a dazed and unbelievable expression, she looked at the alloy shield that the Galaxy Steel Soul had on the robotic arm.
The huge alloy shield after a fierce battle still looked like a brand new shield with almost no trace of any piercing bullets.
There were more than 30 rounds of sniper piercing bullets that were blocked obviously, but there are no traces of blocked bullets… Clara felt a chill from her back to her brain. Is it possible that… all the shots hit the same position on the alloy shields? That is how he broke through the alloy shield?
How is it possible? How did he do it? Clara looked up at Qin Fen’s Red Lotus Phantom. This can not be achieved with just good shooting skills! Rather, it requires precise calculations, including calculating the opponent’s reaction speed!
Red Lotus Phantom didn’t have any armor on it and at this very moment, Clara knew exactly why there were two Red Lotus Phantoms.
At that moment, Red Lotus Phantom was faster in taking off its armor! It was so fast that even before the armor hits the ground, Red Lotus Phantom had already lost its outline.
“Senior.” Qin Fen stepped forward with the black hole of 50mm diameter GN super sniper “gun” aimed towards Clara’s cockpit, “Do you still think I’m arrogant now?”
With a simple launch command, the number one African Mobile Armor Pilot would disappear from this earth.
“No…” Clara closed her eyes and sighed, “You are strong, stronger than me. But can you explain how I actually lost? You are a recruit and you did not come from a military background family. How do you have such powerful mobile armor operation skills? Don’t tell me that you are born with such talents, I won’t believe it! Can you tell me who your master is? I really want to know whose student I lost to.”
“Yes, I can. I hope you don’t tell anyone else because my teacher thinks that I haven’t completely finished my pupilage. If I reveal his identity now, he will feel that I threw away his face.” Qin Fen put away the GN super sniper “gun” and said slowly, “What is the name of my master? I’m not sure, but I only know that people call him Boor…”
What!? Clara’s closed eyes suddenly opened and sparked with a brightness that would press against the moon in the sky. The bitterness of the corners of her mouth seemed to be more bitter than after eating a Chinese goldthread [1]. “My nemesis… it must be my nemesis… not only did I lose to him, but I also lost to his disciple… perhaps this is the retribution for participating in this tournament?”
With a clicking sound, the cockpit of the Galaxy Steel Soul opened.
Clara jumped out of the cockpit with her face covered in dirt. Qin Fen was shocked by the other party’s movement at that moment. Why did that person jump out on her own? She had been hiding since the beginning, wasn’t it just to hide her identity?
America, Africa, West Asia, and East Asia’s mobile armor pilots were all stunned. They were screaming in their hearts, it was… Africa’s Clara!
Number one African mobile armor pilot, Clara!
In the military, Clara may not be famous. But in the mobile armor world, especially on Earth, every mobile armor warrior knows the existence of Clara.
As the number one mobile armor warrior in Africa and a celebrity in the mobile armor world, there were mobile warrior recruits who were fans of the brave and skillful first African mobile armor pilot.
Clara didn’t care about the shocked and scornful eyes of others. She looked up at Qin Fen with a calm tone said, “Congratulations young one on entering the ace territory in the mobile armor world.”
With this statement, people put their attention back on Qin Fen’s Red Lotus Phantom. With the evaluation sent from the number one African mobile armor warrior, everything had become different.
The cold sweat on Vortex Tiger’s forehead which had not been seen for many years could not stop oozing out at this moment. He stared at Qin Fen, this East Asian recruit turned out to be so powerful!
Yang Lie gently rubbed his forehead, while Caesar also made clicking sounds with his mouth. A young man who was currently standing at the peak among the recruits in the martial dao even had such skills in mobile armor techniques, this… this is shocking! He did not put all his focus on martial dao and still reached this point in the martial dao?
Red Lotus Phantom’s big gun pointed to other African mobile armors. Qin Fen’s calm yet arrogant words slowly spread out, “Do all of you still intend to fight? If yes, then all come together at once.”
The African mobile armor camp was silent. After a few seconds, someone slowly said, “We admit defeat.”
Fight? What a joke! Qin Fen defeated the number one African mobile armor pilot single-handedly, why should they fight? To humiliate themselves? The African recruits were not strong enough, but it does not mean that their brains were also made of glue.
“Okay then.” Qin Fen’s voice became relaxed, “So, the warm-up is now officially done. Let’s start the main highlight for tonight.”
Everyone present at the scene who heard this was stunned. What? Wasn’t the mobile armor duel the main highlight for tonight? The fierce battle that just happened was just a warm-up? So what is the actual main highlight?
The cockpit of Red Lotus Phantom slowly opened and Qin Fen jumped to the ground. He looked around at everyone and his tone was very gentle, “Everyone, I invited all of you here tonight not because of this battle between mobile armors.”
Vortex Tiger, Will, Zhao Huzi and the others were all stunned. They followed Qin Fen’s gaze and found that only the young martial artists who participated in the martial art tournament did not change in facial expressions.
Obviously, Qin Fen’s words were for them.
“Everyone, the original purpose of the martial art tournament is for everyone to spar so that they can improve.” Qin Fen’s words were agreed by Bai Sheng who had just walked in.
“But.” Qin Fen’s eyes flowed out with a little disappointment, “For me, this recruit tournament is meaningless because it’s hard to improve by just sparring against all of you.”
These straightforward words caused all the top eight recruit martial artists, except for Xue Tian, to have their faces suddenly change and their eyes become cold.
“So…” Qin Fen sighed, “You may say that I’m arrogant or call me boastful. I hope to determine my levels with everyone here. I would like to fight with all of you, me alone against all of you.”
As soon as this was said, the mobile armor warriors suddenly caused a small uproar. This statement was more arrogant than challenging a small team of mobile armor warriors alone!
“Qin Fen…don’t you forget.” One European mobile armor warrior couldn’t help but shout in Caesar’s stead, “Our European Caesar is also an eight-star martial artist! Even if you’ve entered the eight-star earlier than him, it doesn’t mean…”
Qin Fen’s mouth had a slight smile. Eight-star? What about eight-star? Since his debut, he had accustomed to battles that exceeded star rankings. Even if a nine-star martial artist came forward, he would still step up to the challenge.
Eight stars? Qin Fen released another sigh. In front of a martial artist who can battle martial artists who were beyond his class level, there was no expectation when fighting with the same star-class.
“Qin Fen, I know what you are smiling at and what you are thinking.” Caesar sat still while he held his chin with one hand and said with undeniable elegance, “Perhaps, you think your power control is very precise and it exceeds a lot of martial artists of the same level. You are able, to a certain degree, challenge higher star-class martial artists.”
Qin Fen nodded without any doubts as there was no need to hide it.
“But…” Caesar’s took away the hand that supported his chin. He straightened his body, “You should not underestimate the martial artists all over the world. Among the tens of billions of martial artists, this thing called talent has never been lacking.”
Caesar’s tone became firm as he straightened his back, “It is not only you who can challenge those above your level. Let’s not talk about Shang Guan Chuan Qi and Young Netherworld King who are far away in space, even I can do so! Yang Lietai can also do the same! Solomon, of course, can do the same as well!”
For a moment, the young martial artists in the audience stood up at the same time. Everyone’s eyes were full of dissatisfaction and provocative eyes.
Number one fighter among recruits? This title has always been worn on Qin Fen’s head and the recruit martial artists had long been very upset.
“Really? If I look down on you, then I apologize. But…” Qin Fen’s eyes also sharpened, “I am not going to change my decision!”
The top eight of recruit martial artists laughed. Not going to change your decision? Who do you think you are? King of Recruit Martial Combat? Why should we listen to you?
“I know, everyone had gradually embarked on martial dao and has their own will. No one can shake your martial artist’s heart. So…” Qin Fen’s speech was not fast and while he shrugged his shoulders, and he calmly said, “I want to gamble with all of you. If all of you win, then let us continue meeting each other in the martial art tournament, or I can quit. But if I win, everyone has to fight against me tonight.”
Gamble? Everyone present stared curiously at Qin Fen. They wanted to know how would they gamble?
“Three punches.” Qin Fen lifted three fingers on his right hand. “To all recruits here, if anyone can take on my three punches and not lose, then consider it my loss. But if no one can take on my three punches alone, then I win and all of you have to come at me!”
Three punches? Three punches?!
Some people were surprised while some laughed.
Recruits that could enter the top eight, except for the one who was lucky, had superior strength and the ability to win the championship.
Three punches? A lot of recruits were laughing. This was no longer arrogance, but ignorance!
Bai Sheng stared at Qin Fen with eyes filled with admiration. This East Asian recruit surprised people all the time. This arrangement was a little interesting.
“Three punches?” Alice’s palm gently took the railing of the stands and she somersaulted to the center of the field. Her silver bell-like laugh sounded, “If I win, are you sure you will quit the recruit martial combat tournament?”
“Of course.” Qin Fen raised his chin, lift his hand and waved his index finger, “But you won’t be able to take my three punches.”
“Does evading count?” Alice moved her body gently. Her movements seemed to be from a dance for a pageant show, not for battle.
“Of course.” Qin Fen said nonchalantly, “Doesn’t matter if you receive it or evade it, it is still counted.”
“That’s good.” Alice circled around Qin Fen’s left side and gently stepped back, for keeping a safe distance was very important.
Qin Fen still smiled. He didn’t even do the opening stance, stood up casually and said, “Your movement technique is not bad. It absorbs the essence of the ancient fist technique, Monkey Fist, and also integrates your war dance from Africa. But this is not enough, it won’t be enough for you to block my punch.”
Alice raised her eyebrows and her stunned gaze had a hint of anger, “Cut the nonsense! Come on!”
“I will say it again, all I need is one punch.”
Qin Fen’s voice was not too loud and wasn’t as dominating and fierce as it used to be, but the hearts of the audience suddenly had an inexplicable sense of conviction, as if his words were the imperial decree from an ancient emperor where you could not resist, even for a little bit.
Dong dong dong dong…
Qin Fen’s movement technique was no longer the thirty-meter burst in a single step like he did in the daytime. He only covered more or less ten meters in each step. His arms swayed as if the arhats were stepping on the thick clouds in the air while crushing all the dark clouds.
Arhat Cloud Walk!
The movement technique of the fitness exercise fist technique had a different charm when Qin Fen used it. Alice even lost some of her concentration upon seeing it and forgot that she was on the battlefield.
But she was also a first-class martial artist among the young recruits. She recovered her thoughts in an instant but she saw that Qin Fen had already appeared in front of her.
“Defeat!”
Alice didn’t know if she actually heard Qin Fen say this word or if she saw the word from Qin Fen’s eyes.
She only saw Qin Fen’s wrist flick. It was the simplest and direct “Tiger Lunge” from Arhat Fist.
Hua la la…
Alice finally felt the strength of Qin Fen personally. This simplest and direct punch had an explosive sound that was way louder than the sound created when she used her finishing technique.
Evade? At this moment, she finally knows why Qin Fen didn’t care about evading. His speed was amazing and with the momentum of a single fist, it seemed like he had the whole world covered with there was no way of evading. Even an agile monkey would be unable to find any gap under this fist.
Block! The only way was to block it head-on! As for something about Tai Chi using softness to overcome hardness? Perhaps a master who was proficient in Tai Chi could be able to do it. For Alice who was not from Tai Chi, to use softness to overcome hardness would only end up in death.
The fist appeared in front of her in the blink of an eye, not allowing her to make any more thoughts. Instinctively, her arms were lifted across the chest to stop the punch that contained terrifying power.
In this instance, at the area where Qin Fen’s fists and arms passed, the air seemed to be like a pedestrian who was knocked down in a traffic accident, creating a continuous muffled thumping sound as if the surrounding air was being squeezed.
Is this a punch of eight-star martial artist? Alice had never thought that an eight-star martial artist could execute such a punch.
The moment the fist collided with her arm, Alice only felt that Earth’s gravity seemed to have disappeared suddenly. Her whole body felt like it was hit by a speeding car, like a dandelion in a strong gust of wind; her body instantly left the lovely land.
The explosive fist! Alice’s body flew in the air, the bones of her arms seemed to be bitten by ten thousand of ants simultaneously, her arms suddenly lost their feeling and her eyes widened as she saw the distance created between her and Qin Fen, while Qin Fen himself had not moved from the same place.
Bam! Bam bam…
Alice’s feet finally returned to the ground again. She wanted to stand firm but she felt that the violent impact force did not leave the body. The speed of her legs being pushed back was faster than she anticipated, so she simply planted her feet on the ground as she slid backward. The military boots that came in contact with the ground immediately caused a burnt rubber smell.
A second later, Alice stopped moving backward, with her arms still in a defensive posture. Not because she didn’t want to remove her arm, but because her arm lost consciousness and she couldn’t do it even if she wanted to.
“I told you, you can’t even withstand a punch.” Qin Fen put his hands behind him and glanced at other recruit martial artists, “Next.”
With just a punch, the top eight recruits had changed their conceited looks.