The one waiting outside should have been Sprent, but the host interviewed Aicks before he went on stage. Aicks gave Sprent's name.

Thus, the champion was naturally Sprent.

Aicks admitted it without batting an eye: "Brother."

The host carefully grasped Aicks' wrist, lifting his hand toward the cameras so all the spectators could see. "This is truly moving; for his brother, he used his own hands to wrench open this one-hundred-and-twenty-degree hatch and drag his brother out. This sibling bond is truly rare."

The host's words were touching, and the audience was even more moved.

This scene successfully captured countless young girls' hearts; the twins had certainly earned their tears.

If they hadn't been in the lounge, where outsiders were forbidden, the lounge door would likely have been swamped. Finally, an official staff member announced, "Student Sprent is currently very weak; we need to conduct a full physical examination. The awards ceremony will be held next Friday evening; we look forward to seeing everyone there."

The host repeated the official's words, clearly informing the audience of the exact time and date of the ceremony, and then departed. Afterward, Aicks and Sprent were rushed to the hospital, while the other four left the lounge to accept congratulations.

Nearly half the audience had swarmed the entrance to the lounge, creating a human tide that momentarily overwhelmed even the reporters, who were shoved into forgotten corners.

In stark contrast, Fei Fei's team, who had lost the match, was desolate, with barely anyone in sight.

Iliya stared at the giant screen, grinding her teeth, unable to quell the fire raging within her.

Peizhe actually lost!

Peizhe, having injected the strongest XX5 toxin needle, still lost to Chuxiao!

It was just a tiny margin; she could have been the champion, but with that tiny sliver, they failed!! She knew it wasn't Peizhe's fault—he had done his best—yet she couldn't help but hate.

She hated it with heart-wrenching anguish!

The fairy-type mech, sliced in half, was teleported back. Iliya glared fixedly at the wreckage and didn't move forward.

Seeing that Iliya hadn't moved, her teammates, her juniors, also remained still, casting looks of contempt at the mech, as if it were the primary culprit of their defeat.

Instead, an official staff member stepped forward and opened the mech's cockpit hatch from the outside.

Peizhe did not descend.

The staff member climbed into the mech and gasped upon looking inside: "Oh my God, Peizhe has collapsed onto the control panel, blood slipping down from the console, illuminated by the light of the control panel, glistening with a frightening, seductive sheen."

The staff member cried out in alarm, "Call an ambulance quickly!"

Iliya snapped out of her daze, moved to the side, and watched the medical personnel gently lift Peizhe out and place him on the stretcher. Peizhe was already unconscious, his entire forehead bloody; lying down, his eyeballs seemed to protrude, looking like he couldn't rest in peace.

He wasn't dead, but in that state, death was not far off.

The staff member, shocked by the severity of his injuries, hastily pushed him toward the exit.

Iliya suddenly regained her senses. She opened her Omni-Com and sent a message to the junior standing beside her: "Before the doctors take over, transfer him to our hospital."

The junior opened the Omni-Com, saw the message, nodded to her in acknowledgment, and immediately rose and left.

Iliya stood rooted, a wave of stagnant anger she couldn't release.

She had intended to wait for Peizhe to dismount, only to scold him severely, but now he looked like this—neither human nor ghost!

Gazing at the severed Fairy-type, she suddenly had the urge to set the unsightly mech ablaze!

Her junior spoke from behind her, "Eldest Miss, are you going to check on Peizhe?"

Iliya snapped back without thinking, "Check on him for what? If you want to look, you go look at him!"

The junior realized he had misread the mood and dared not speak further, quietly stepping back.

Iliya gritted her teeth, seeking someone upon whom to vent her frustration, when she suddenly caught sight of her own fierce expression reflected in the polished metal surface ahead.

"No, I absolutely cannot let anyone see me looking like this. Absolutely not." Iliya repeated this phrase internally until she finally managed to suppress her rage, allowing a faint smile to surface.

Though they had lost the mech battle, her spirit had not yet been defeated.

The staff member had intended to offer some comfort, but seeing the curve on her lips, he pretended not to notice and walked past her.

There were few people left in the lounge; everyone else had gone over to Peizhe's side. The silence was unnervingly profound. Iliya felt on the verge of going mad in the quiet.

Why did Peizhe lose to "Sprent"?

Why?!

Why was there a damned halftime break?

If Peizhe had fought straight through, perhaps he would have won.

Why did "Sprent" suddenly counter-attack so fiercely after the break? In the first half, he couldn't land a blow!

Just as Iliya was about to roar out her frustration, a thought suddenly struck her: How did Sprent recover his strength so quickly in just five minutes? Did he use a stimulant too?

If that was the case, if she could obtain proof, the championship would still be hers!

The mere thought brightened Iliya's mood considerably. She used her Omni-Com to dispatch a junior to the hospital to monitor Sprent; if he specifically requested a transfer or deliberately hid his location, it was almost certain.

Of course, she wasn't the type to pin all her hopes on a single possibility.

After the junior confirmed the task, she immediately began contemplating a second possibility.

If Sprent hadn't injected a stimulant, what method could he have used to restore his spirit and stamina so rapidly? Iliya fell into deep contemplation...

Just then, the giant screen began playing the heart-warming footage of the twin brothers. Iliya’s heart lurched, and she instantly grasped the truth.

—They weren't using stimulant injections; they were using a rotation tactic!

If her guess was correct, they must have swapped the pilots during the halftime break.

Once she understood this, Iliya felt utterly relieved.

She turned to the staff member and spoke in a tone laced with feigned grievance: "May I go take a look at the Chuxiao team's mech?"

The staff member, seeing that she maintained such composure despite losing the match, was greatly impressed by her attitude and kindly replied, "The Chuxiao mech has just been sent to the cooling bay. After cooling, it will be displayed in the exhibition hall for this year's mech competition. You can go see it then."

Iliya shook her head: "No, I mean, I want to go inside the cockpit. As you know, I'm the designer for my team, and I want to examine their mech's advantages."

The staff member's voice became even more affable, "That's an excellent idea. Only through comparison can one truly know their strengths and weaknesses. I will apply for you."

Iliya nodded slightly, like a diligent student: "Thank you very much."

The staff member kept his word. Five minutes later, the application was approved, and Iliya successfully boarded the Jian (Sword) type mech belonging to the Chuxiao team.

At this moment, apart from the twins, everyone else from the Chuxiao team was receiving congratulations from various parties; absolutely no one was paying attention!

-RS