Zi Ye understood immediately, as did An Junlie. They looked down on martial combat, preferring to employ advanced technology. He had no issue with mecha or starships, but the moment he deployed his own mecha, his identity would be exposed.

Seeing his hesitation, Hong Fa pressed, "What? You're unwilling?"

An Junlie shook his head. "Are there mechas here?"

"Of course! Then let's use mechas." Hong Fa turned to Zi Ye and asked, "Little Stink, which model should we use?"

Zi Ye paused in thought. "Little Crow?"

Silver Talisman Star only had a few models of mecha, and Zi Ye was intimately familiar with every one. Among them, the Little Crow was the oldest and simplest fighter-class mecha—a black-hulled machine, five meters tall, capable of reaching 70 m/s in atmospheric flight, equipped with a shield, internal laser cannons, and external Trinitium blades, allowing for both melee and ranged combat, making it the best gauge of individual piloting skill.

Neither Hong Fa nor An Junlie objected.

Zi Ye knew that no matter which model was chosen, An Junlie would be unfamiliar with it, giving Hong Fa the advantage. Therefore, the simpler the model, the easier it would be for An Junlie to get started and the less disadvantage he would suffer.

Hong Fa led them toward the mecha hangar while saying, "Do you need a few hours to acclimate to the mecha, Tall Guy?"

An Junlie replied, "No need."

Hong Fa raised an eyebrow slightly. "Think carefully. If you lose, you have to stay here and be my camp wife."

Zi Ye frowned and called out, "Hong Fa!"

Hong Fa glanced back at her. "Either the alien stays, or don't bother speaking."

Zi Ye considered it, then fell silent.

Since they were going to compete, let them compete. —She absolutely would not admit that she also wanted to know who would win between Hong Fa and An Junlie! Of course, she hoped her former idol would win.

The battleground was chosen atop another peak of the snowy mountain range. This was an extremely difficult environment. Although they wouldn't freeze inside the cockpit, mecha movement would be hampered, and small operational errors could lead to catastrophic failure.

In a duel between masters, a slight delay—let alone an error—could result in being blown to dust.

Hong Fa had lived on the snowy mountains since arriving at Silver Talisman and was extremely familiar with the icy terrain, which was another significant disadvantage for An Junlie. Yet, surprisingly, An Junlie had chosen the location.

Zi Ye mused that either An Junlie felt that no location was familiar to him, so the choice was irrelevant; or, seeing that Hong Fa was a woman, he chose it intentionally to accommodate her.

As for the real reason, only An Junlie knew.

When Zi Ye arrived at the summit via airship, both parties were already in position. She found the best vantage point, sat upright, signaled a robot to check the mechas and set up instrumentation, and then decided to grant An Junlie a few minutes to familiarize himself with the machine.

Zi Ye felt a faint sense of excitement brewing within her.

She was the sole witness to this clash of titans.

This battle meant she could collect more data and make new discoveries; her mood was hardly calmer than that of the two individuals inside the mechas.

Since he was unfamiliar with the terrain, An Junlie had to test factors like wind speed, the probability of snow interference, and gravity before launching an attack. He activated his mecha's optical computer, attempted to lock onto the target, and calculated the time required for the lock.

One, two, three… Automatic lock required seven seconds. Too slow!

He switched the auto-lock to manual and checked the capture system interface. Fortunately, it responded crisply. After testing all the functions, he looked up and saw Hong Fa standing not far away, wearing a sweet smile.

It was an expression of absolute certainty!

An Junlie remained unruffled and used the voice system to address Zi Ye: "Verification complete. We can begin."

Zi Ye glanced at Hong Fa, who looked eager to start, and decisively gave the order: "Begin!"

An Junlie adopted a defensive posture. He was temporarily unfamiliar with Hong Fa's combat style and felt that rashly attacking would be too dangerous. Furthermore, he was inherently conservative and would not initiate aggression.

He moved slightly, testing the gravity and the ground conditions.

Hong Fa's personality was the exact opposite; she always struck first. Thus, as soon as the fight began, she raised her massive laser cannon, locked onto An Junlie's head, and fired three consecutive shots. The brilliance of the lasers made the entire snowscape blur.

An Junlie immediately sensed the formidable threat and killing intent emanating from her.

Dodge?

The instant the attack landed, An Junlie activated his omni-directional shield and leaped into the air, drifting backward along the shockwave. As the shells exploded, he twisted sharply, drew his Trinitium blade, and slashed toward Hong Fa’s waist—every movement executed manually, seamlessly.

The waist was the Little Crow's known weakness.

Hong Fa chuckled, ignoring his move toward close combat. She shot upward, ascending high into the air, raining down laser cannon fire onto his head. The laser cannon’s maximum effective range within the atmosphere was three kilometers; eliminating someone on the ground from a kilometer high was child's play for her.

The continuous, ferocious assault was one thing, but more crucially, Hong Fa had precisely calculated the distance and trajectory of his evasive jump. She positioned herself just ahead of where he would land, tracking him like a shadow.

An Junlie was immediately battered and forced into retreat.

He deeply understood the terror of this chain-bombardment tactic. His type of pilot was least threatened by haphazard bombing; without precision, even a dense barrage of ammunition was wasted. Hong Fa held the advantage from her superior altitude, aiming to eliminate him in one swift blow!

Amidst the relentless bombardment, An Junlie targeted the radii of two incoming shell explosions. He shot upward through a gap less than a few meters wide between them. The visual impact of that rapid ascent ignited something within him.

It was a surge of momentum!

A killing aura worthy of a true challenger!

As he ascended, he activated his laser cannon, manually locked onto Hong Fa, and fired two super-speed beams directly at her vital areas. He used the brief window while Hong Fa defended to find the optimal combat position.

Hong Fa, naturally, would not be easily hit. She executed an aerial thrust maneuver, easily evading the lasers, re-raising her cannon, engaging the holographic sight, quickly aiming, and firing!

Her technique was even three parts more formidable than that of a sniper.

An Junlie watched the dazzling light streaks howl toward him from a distance. He neither dodged nor retreated. He raised his laser cannon, aimed directly at the incoming fire's trajectory, and unleashed four rapid rounds.

It was a pure head-on collision.

"BOOM!"

Light erupted, more spectacular than fireworks, and the intense explosion generated violent winds that caused chain collapses across the snow mountain with thunderous roars. Zi Ye hastily piloted the airship 100 kilometers away into the high altitude, safely outside the range of their attacks. Observing the fight was secondary; protecting her people was paramount.

Before the match began, she had installed 360° omni-directional recorders on both mechas. Now, Unit 110 was remotely reading the data, which she could view on Little Sprout's holographic screen.

From afar, the direct impact was lessened, but the sheer spectacle offered a different kind of awe.