When Twin turned her head, the sight greeting her was Ziye looking at her with starry eyes, which softened her expression. "Let's go."

Upon arrival, the base was still mostly empty. Ziye entered the pilot lounge, calming her nerves while poring over the various hand-drawn schematics Tang Wen had sent her.

She made no particular effort to avoid Twin.

Twin was equally conscientious, refraining from glancing at the contents, choosing instead to sit on another sofa nearby, minimizing her presence to the barest degree. Ziye sat for a moment, just contemplating standing up for a drink, when Twin immediately handed her an unopened bottle of water. "Drink this, replenish your energy."

Seeing Twin's earnest display, Ziye felt a little awkward as she accepted the water and opened it. "You don't need to be so specific, it's fine."

Twin nodded, indicating she had heard, "It doesn't matter."

Who knew what had been done to the water in the training base? For her to drink it? Maybe it was fine now, but during the competition, who could say? Twin snorted disdainfully. To resort to such a base tactic, how shameful!

However, if the opponent had a first move, they surely had a second. She pondered for a moment, then advised Ziye, "Before the match ends, do not casually touch anything, nor consume anything else. Before the competition, thoroughly inspect the mecha, eliminating any potential issues."

Ziye, seeing her serious expression, patted her shoulder. "No need to be so dramatic, nothing's wrong."

Twin remained expressionless. "It never hurts to be cautious."

Ziye had no choice but to agree.

Only 20 minutes remained until the duel commenced. Spectators streamed in, the crowd surging and bustling; some were already covertly placing bets on the victor.

Lings forbade gambling, but overlooked small wagers among students.

Instantly, except for the top students completely detached from their surroundings, everyone else, under the guise of going to cheer on the cheerleaders, positioned themselves next to whomever they supported.

The alignment was stark: females dominated the right side, males the left, some top students sat in the middle. Some who wanted to support Ziye, upon sitting on the right, were shouted at as traitors and reluctantly moved to the center. Meanwhile, girls fond of the tall and spirited Mei Jing quietly shifted towards the middle as well.

As for the visiting students from other academies, the majority sat in the center—with the exception of Axebent. Dressed in their military academy uniforms, they strode over and sat firmly on the right side, explicitly declaring their support for Ziye.

They were handsome and possessed good temperament, utterly unconcerned with the stares of others. Furthermore, being twins, their already high rate of attracting attention increased. Thus, the moment the two were seated, the surrounding girls flocked over, trying to strike up conversations, asking why they had such courage to risk the scorn of the entire male student body.

The twins smiled brightly. "Supporting someone has nothing to do with gender. Ziye is our friend; supporting her is only natural."

This statement sparked immediate agreement from all the girls, who raised their flags. "Ziye will win!"

Later, Li Chunyu arrived.

He glanced at his classmates, then at Axebent nestled among the girls, and decisively walked in full view of everyone to sit next to Axebent.

The entire audience erupted!

Li Chunyu openly supported Ziye!

Li Chunyu, the very image of Lings’ male students, had sided with Ziye!

This single step instantly elevated his status in the eyes of the girls, who were so thrilled they nearly rushed forward to take pictures with him and Axebent!

As for the boys, two words were written across all their faces: Traitor.

The soundproofing in the lounge was excellent, and they couldn't see what was happening in the stands, so Ziye remained completely unaware of these developments. As she nervously peeked outside, she saw Tang Wen and Bran walking in.

She immediately stood up, adopting an air of welcoming them.

Tang Wen passed by her with a detached expression, and in the brief moment they brushed past, he dropped a sentence audible only to her: "You are not allowed to lose!"

Ziye turned her head in astonishment; Tang Wen had already moved toward the sofas. Ziye turned back to look at him, her eyes filled with determination, silently conveying six words: I absolutely will not lose!

Tang Wen seemingly looked away, unconcerned.

Seeing their childlike expressions, Bran couldn't help but smile faintly.

—Tang Wen was clearly a proud, prickly child who wouldn't allow his own person to be defeated!

When Twin saw them enter, she stood up, nodded, and sat back down, her posture as straight and rigid as a soldier’s.

Bran saw a reflection of her younger self and offered Twin a friendly smile.

The duel entered its final countdown.

The stage, normally used for Lings’ base award ceremonies, was temporarily repurposed as the hosts' post. The department beauty of the hosting major, partnered with Bor*.Emanite, became the hosts for this duel.

"Hello everyone, I am Rita."

"Hello everyone, I am Bor*.Emanite. It is my honor to co-host this long-awaited duel with you all."

Although Rita excelled at hosting, she was unfamiliar with mecha combat. To properly appreciate the duel between the two, the school specifically invited Bor*.Emanite as the male host to compensate for Rita's lack of expertise.

With only a few minutes until the duel began, Bor* started warming up the crowd. His smile was flawless, his tone respectful yet confident, occasionally peppering in a charming gesture that captivated the girls in the audience, who whipped out their cameras to snap continuous shots.

Rita’s smile was sweet, and her appearance won her immediate support from many boys, making her hosting duties effortless.

"Next, we will introduce the Lings-type mecha used in this duel."

"This is our most classic model at Lings University. Through generations of inheritance and upgrades by Lings students, it has evolved into what it is today. It is not flashy, but it carries the past of Lings... We hope that the two students dueling today, Ziye and Mei Jing, can feel this legacy of Lings in their combat and, ultimately, shake hands in peace."

"Speaking of Ziye and Mei Jing, I’m sure everyone is very familiar with them. Mei Jing is ranked in the top 50 of the Mecha Combat Department. He began studying mecha combat at age 16 and has won several major mecha awards; he is one of the powerful combat assets of the Lings military. And Ziye, everyone is even more familiar with her. Her mentor is Tang Wen, and rumors suggest he personally supervised this mecha battle... He is also here today..."

The audience members frantically searched the VIP seats in the first row, only to be disappointed when Tang Wen was not visible.

After Bor*.Emanite finished his introduction and noting the time was approaching, the photo of Tang Wen on the screen was replaced by the large circular map for venue selection. He announced, "Next, venue selection. We have Barren Planet, Gas Giant, Ice Body Planet, Storm Planet, . . . and Normal Space—ten options in total. Each one will have a certain impact on the mecha combat. Now, Rita will press the selection button to choose a field that allows them to best display their abilities."

Rita nodded slightly, her smile sweet. "It is my great honor." She walked to the selection console and gently pressed the selector with her slender finger. The pointer on the disk began to spin rapidly.

In truth, everyone present could see that among the ten options, every single one—save for Space—was increasingly difficult.

For students, wasn't this a bit too harsh?

Some questioned it internally, while others were thrilled; this was certainly a much-anticipated duel that challenged limits!

Perhaps the most composed person there was Axebent.

As the pointer slowed down, everyone held their breath.

Then, the pointer mercilessly locked onto Storm Planet.

Everyone in the audience was stunned. Storm Planet was clearly the most difficult battlefield of them all. Was this intended to be a mutual annihilation?

Rita herself looked slightly taken aback after her selection; perhaps her luck had been too wicked!

The Storm Planet battlefield was one of the harshest environments in space. Not only were there unpredictable Void Storms, but magnetic interference frequently occurred, causing instability in the mecha's operational instruments.

Additionally, there was a crucial point: the six-fold gravity field!

Rita’s sweet smile almost faltered; blushing slightly, she managed, "The more difficult the environment, the more it showcases the pilot's fortitude. We trust that both Mei Jing and Ziye possess extraordinary abilities in mecha combat, and we hope they will exhibit their skill in this duel!"

The battlefield selected, the hosts moved to the side.

The audience's view shifted to the sky above Storm Planet: very few stars, even fewer nebulae, only the rampant Void Storms capable of blowing everything away.

The two Lings-types simultaneously landed on the surface of Storm Planet.

For ease of differentiation, Ziye’s was red, and Mei Jing’s was blue.

Mei Jing charged straight toward Ziye the moment they landed!

Ziye had prior experience with this field and knew that on Storm Planet, the higher the precision of the mecha's system, the greater the impact from the storm. Essentially, most Lings systems not only became unusable but also introduced errors into attacks. Therefore, before the duel, she planned to shut down all necessary systems and adjust everything required beforehand.

She shut down three systems in one breath. Before she could even check, Mei Jing rushed over. He probably wanted to test the equilibrium on Storm Planet. He swooped in and slashed at her, but Ziye didn't need to evade at all, because his mecha was so unstable he couldn't possibly hit her.

Ziye kept one eye on his movements while adjusting her own machine.

Because she had practiced this before, her adjustments were lightning fast!

Mei Jing was certainly no less capable than Ziye.

He had two reasons for that feigned attack.

First: To prevent Ziye from completing her system adjustments in a short time.

Second: Du Shuangyu had 'guessed' the final venue selection in advance and provided him with a set of system adjustments; the mecha began automatically calibrating the moment it activated, halfway done by the time he launched his attack.

The feint was merely to get close to Ziye and lull her into complacency.

After the feint concluded, he cleanly swept his arm in a horizontal slash toward Ziye’s mecha waist!

The audience gasped!

How ruthless!

Fortunately, Ziye was fast enough. By the time his second strike came, her systems were already adjusted. She utilized the force of the Void Storm, flying diagonally dozens of meters away before settling back onto the planet’s surface, awaiting Mei Jing’s next move.

Mei Jing assumed her systems were not fully adjusted and that she was stalling for time, so he charged forward, delivering three rapid slashes—the 'Three Suns Opening' technique. Ziye lightly evaded each one, continuing to fall back.

To the audience members watching, it looked as if Mei Jing was hacking wildly while Ziye offered absolutely no resistance. Lingyin watched anxiously, unable to contain herself, and shouted out, "Ziye, fight back quickly!!!"