Ziye couldn't help but recall Tang Wen’s gentle smile from their first meeting, realizing it had all been a facade! —His true nature was cold-blooded!
Ziye felt a prickle of guilt, lowering her gaze. “I’m trying my best.”
Tang Wen’s gaze was like a sharp sword fixed on her, making her feel even more apprehensive. She dared not lift her head, staring fixedly at her shoes with trepidation. Tang Wen mistook her anxiety for a lack of training. He withdrew his gaze, activated the interface on his light-computer, and said flatly, “You and Bran will have a match. Use the mechs designated for duels.”
Ziye felt as if she’d been granted a reprieve. She bolted toward the Virtual Mech Pilot Training Base like a refugee. Looking up, she saw Bran watching her with a half-smile, and her heart did another nervous flutter. She whispered carefully, “Please guide me kindly.”
Bran smiled. “Don’t be so tense. As long as you show improvement from your solo training, Mr. Tang Wen won’t blame you.”
He absolutely would not tell Ziye that the reason Tang Wen was angry was because she had become utterly dejected after being defeated by him. It wasn't just that she had lost so many matches; she had actually deserted her post and fled back to the school.
In short: he was annoyed that her mentality wasn’t up to par! Loss and victory are common in warfare. How could someone who couldn't overcome such a small setback achieve anything great?
Ziye was unaware of his inner thoughts. As long as Tang Wen didn't blame her, she could rest easy. Taking two deep breaths, she entered the cockpit.
Bran followed her into the cockpit, selected the battlefield, and they faced each other from a distance, waiting for Tang Wen to take his seat in the spectator area.
The PK began.
In the first round, the two closed the distance, exchanging passes. Ziye precisely dodged Bran’s blade and executed a high-difficulty counter-kill the instant they made contact.
Of course, Bran wasn't a pushover. Without dodging or retreating, he struck out with his elbow. Ziye hastily spun and shifted away, and his Tri-Titanium alloy blade sliced out—shua, shua, shua—returning three quick strikes!
Bran nodded as he watched.
Tang Wen, observing from the spectator seats, showed a degree of surprise. In just a few days, her positioning had improved considerably. While it still didn't meet his standards, it was barely passing grade.
He pondered for a moment, opened his digital drawing interface, and with a few sparse strokes, sketched Ziye’s movements, adding a diagram next to it showing a more precise positioning route.
If her positioning were just 3 percent more precise, and her strike speed one second faster, she might have managed to hit Bran with that first blow!
The two dueled intensely for a full half hour. Naturally, she only lasted that long because Bran was intentionally training her and holding back.
She enjoyed sparring with Bran because his immense power allowed her to learn much more, but simultaneously, it demanded greater mental fortitude and physical stamina, and the pressure from his sheer presence was more intense.
When it was over, Ziye crawled out of the cockpit covered in sweat, her entire body aching as if her bones had been disassembled.
Seeing her miserable state, Tang Wen felt unexpectedly pleased. A slight curve touched his lips as he sent her the new drawing from his stylus pad. “Contemplate this yourself, and then train again in half an hour.”
He didn't specify what he had sent. Ziye opened the virtual screen of her light-computer with surprise, received the file, and opened it...
The next second, she rushed to Tang Wen’s side, nearly collapsing to her knees, and said in a voice brimming with immense adoration and sincerity, “Teacher, let’s be friends!”
On the battlefield, the speed at which they moved was terrifyingly fast; often, a single action took less than a second. Yet, Tang Wen had meticulously drawn down every movement, yes, every offensive and defensive move.
What kind of terrifying hand speed was that!
The images were rendered in just a few lines, yet they captured the most crucial elements, capturing both form and spirit. Ziye instantly grasped the issues with her positioning just by glancing at it.
In a nutshell: Tang Wen wasn't human; he was a god!
Faced with her fawning, opportunistic attitude, Tang Wen narrowed his eyes slightly. “Is being a teacher not good enough?”
Ziye instantly realized she had spoken incorrectly. She nodded frantically like a chick pecking rice. “Being a teacher is great, being a teacher is great, being a teacher is exceptionally great! Teacher, teach me how to draw!”
Tang Wen glanced up at Bran, who was standing nearby, trying to suppress a laugh but failing. He mercilessly rejected Ziye’s request. “I am not an art teacher.” He glanced at his watch. “Furthermore, only 25 minutes remain until your next session.”
Ziye felt a slight disappointment at his rejection. Considering she had to spar with Bran again in half an hour, she couldn’t afford to waste any more mental energy on this. She immediately sprang up and sat in the spectator seats directly behind Tang Wen to study his movement diagrams.
Seeing her trying to distance herself from Tang Wen yet unable to let go, Bran smiled faintly and sat down beside her, leisurely beginning to plan Tang Wen’s schedule for the next week.
Ziye studied her positioning diagrams while contemplating her control state at the time, cross-referencing that with how she should execute the movements drawn by Tang Wen.
Because Aikesibent had instructed her previously, Ziye could deduce most of the positional shifts, but for a small portion that required significant adjustments and higher-difficulty maneuvers, she couldn't figure out the correct execution no matter how hard she tried.
She lightly poked Bran’s elbow with her fingertip, gesturing for him to look. Bran glanced over, silently pointed toward Tang Wen, signaling her to ask him.
Intimidated by Tang Wen’s aura, Ziye shot Bran a look of dissatisfaction and crept toward Tang Wen at a snail’s pace. She cautiously asked, “Teacher, excuse me, could I ask how this move is supposed to be operated?”
Tang Wen turned his head, pulled out a stylus from beneath the light-screen, and in three swift motions, sketched out the control interface. His pen tip tapped lightly over the control sequence. After finishing, he asked, “Understood?”
Ziye was still in a daze, immersed in the speed of his drawing. Hearing him speak, she snapped back to attention, her face flushing crimson. She replayed the control sequence he had indicated in her mind and replied dumbly, “Understood.”
Tang Wen tapped lightly on the bottom right corner of the light-screen. “Half an hour has passed.”
Ziye hastily closed the light-screen. “Yes, I’ll go immediately.”
As she returned to the battlefield, three other people quietly arrived in the spectator area: Aikesibent and Li Chunyu.
The three saw Ziye engaging in the PK and dared not make a sound, quietly taking seats in the back row to watch.
Whether it was adrenaline or some other reason, Ziye fought more fiercely, her technique becoming more practiced with every exchange, astonishing the twins. Indeed, with the teacher personally overseeing things, their morale was clearly different!
Only Li Chunyu, because Tang Wen was sitting not far in front of him, was so nervous he couldn’t sit still. He was entirely unable to watch Ziye’s PK, his eyes glued to Tang Wen, unable to look away.
The result was that the twins, deeply impressed by Bran’s PK skill, rushed up to demand a match with him as soon as Ziye finished. Meanwhile, Li Chunyu immediately went over to Tang Wen, his face bright red, and introduced himself. “Hello, Teacher. I... I am Li Chunyu from Design Class 1 in the second year. Could I possibly ask you a few questions?”
Tang Wen turned his head, his smile as warm and gentle as a spring breeze. “Please, go ahead.”
Li Chunyu was so agitated he could barely control himself; the hand holding his light-screen trembled slightly. He took a deep breath and began asking the series of mech design questions he had spent all night compiling the previous night, starting from the beginning.
Tang Wen did not refuse. After reviewing the questions, he succinctly stated the key points. While Li Chunyu pondered those critical points, Tang Wen compiled a list of issues that arose in Ziye’s previous combat session and sent it to her light-computer for her own consideration.
After explaining three questions, Tang Wen noticed the dense cluster of queries below. He said, “Ziye has a duel this afternoon. We can schedule another time after her duel concludes.”
Li Chunyu immediately realized he had misstepped and hurried to apologize. “I’m sorry, Teacher. I got too excited when I saw you. Please forgive me. You attend to your work first; my questions aren't urgent. We can schedule another time after the duel.”
The morning passed quickly.
At noon, Tang Wen took Bran to the independent laboratory building provided by the Ling Si school administration. Ziye, along with the three others, finished lunch and returned to the apartment to sleep. She was somewhat exhausted from the morning’s training and needed sufficient rest to maintain her energy for the afternoon.
While she slept, the support for her surged dramatically. Many girls who had previously been skeptical were now completely energized!
The reason was singular: someone saw Tang Wen visiting Ling Si that morning, and someone else saw Tang Wen and Ziye walking out of the Mech Pilot Training Base together at noon.
Rumors were flying across campus that Tang Wen was personally supervising Ziye’s duel training!
Tang Wen’s reputation was too formidable; everyone simply assumed that with him involved, there would be no issues. They had all forgotten that Tang Wen was merely a designer, not a mech pilot.
When Du Shuangyu heard the news, he merely gave a cold sneer. The higher Ziye was praised, the harder she would fall!
When Ziye went to the research institute to train her mechs, he had specifically investigated Tang Wen’s background. In Tang Wen’s entire history, there was no record of him ever piloting a mech in a real combat scenario!
Every piloting task had been handled by his assistant, Bran.
If Bran were the one teaching her, he might have felt a bit wary, but Tang Wen teaching? Hmph, we’ll just wait and see!
However, Du Shuangyu knew that if Tang Wen wasn't teaching, Bran certainly would be.
Therefore, Du Shuangyu had thoroughly researched Bran’s combat style, adding in Aikesibent’s habits, and compiled a detailed plan for Mei Jing. He arranged for Mei Jing to collaborate with the instructors specifically to devise moves designed to crack their techniques... As for everything else, well, business as usual.
After waking from her nap, Ziye practiced the set of martial arts techniques An Junlie had taught her from beginning to end. Thinking about the duel against Mei Jing she would have in front of the entire school faculty and students that afternoon, she felt a faint, underlying excitement mixed with a tiny thread of nervousness.
Just then, her ultra-communication device chimed. The incoming message was from Shuangzi: “Ziye, I’m downstairs at your apartment building.”
Ziye was slightly surprised by her appearance and hesitated. “I might be quite busy this afternoon.”
Shuangzi’s expression remained impassive. “It doesn't matter. I'm here to protect you.”
Ziye let out a soft chuckle. “You say that so seriously. But fine, come on up. I’m a bit nervous, and having you here will be good company.” If it had been Ling Yin or the others, she really wouldn’t have dared to meet them. Among that group, only Shuangzi was consistently calm and collected, making her the most suitable companion.
She checked the time—it was nearly time. After grabbing some supplementary food, she headed to the base with Shuangzi.
Shuangzi proactively took the controls of the maglev vehicle for her.
There was no need for a shuttle within the space station. Shuangzi automatically dismissed Ziye’s shuttle, meticulously inspecting the maglev vehicle. Only after confirming everything was perfect did she let Ziye climb inside. Once inside, Shuangzi activated the self-check routine with such practiced skill that Ziye stared, astonished.
So high-tech! RS