Chapter 462 - Naming —— Ling Lan Shooting Art!
"Hmph, he hid that real deep. He's probably really an operator of a balanced mecha," snarked Han Yu, a quick flash of envy passing through his eyes. He was secretly hateful that such excellent long-range control talent did not belong to himself — Han Yu was a long-range mecha operator; he knew in his heart that Ling Lan's operation was better than his by not just a little bit.
However, right then, Ling Lan, who was rapidly flying backwards, was contemplating another matter. She was wondering what that target point she had seen earlier was all about. Ling Lan was well aware that that target point had not been something she had managed to calculate and deduce on her own. It had appeared out of thin air in her mind, just as if someone had specifically told her about it and was just waiting for her to carry it out.
Could this also be an ability of her innate talent Profound Insight? This was the first thing that came to Ling Lan's mind, and her intuition would not be wrong.
In truth, Ling Lan was still unclear what the innate talent Profound Insight was truly capable of. In the past, during close combat, Profound Insight was able to penetrate and see the opponent's fatal weakness at a glance. While watching from the side-lines, it could clearly determine the outcome of a battle, and now, if she was not wrong in her speculations, Profound Insight could accurately predict effective target points for long-range attacks ...
Ling Lan decided to try it once more and see if her speculations were correct. At this time, she was flying at high speed to pull away from the opponent, and then, with a sudden twist, she turned to face her opponent. Her mecha's engines abruptly shifted from forward thrust to reverse thrust. Although this operation was extremely damaging to the engines, it helped Ling Lan maintain her original speed and flight path, allowing Ling Lan to swiftly enter attack mode.
Right then, Ling Lan had cut loose — in order to prove her speculations as soon as possible, she did not care if she had to pay some price. Facing that Tongli mecha chasing after her, Ling Lan's gaze once again turned ice-cold. She had entered an extremely cold and focused mode — this was an ability she had obtained after going through countless massacres inside the learning space.
Her mind was cleared of all distractions; the opponent's mecha was all she could see ... Ling Lan's finger moved. A string of operations was carried out under her hands, dazzling everyone's eyes with their speed. At one point, her fingers actually disappeared under the layers of afterimages.
All of the audience could see the right arm of Ling Lan's mecha hitching up and flicking down, and that low-hanging giant long-barrelled beam gun drew a semi-circle through the air under the mecha's arm movements. Immediately after, her mecha's left hand lifted up.
With a 'pop', the giant gun's lower half was hitched up by the mecha's left arm and its muzzle pointed straight at the mecha running towards her.
Will it be a ranged interception? Or perhaps, like Qiao Ting, Ling Lan would display advanced target-locking arts and seal off all of the opponent's possible avenues of escape? When everyone saw this, they began guessing at Ling Lan's next attack. In rapid flight, the gun art that could be displayed were limited to just a few.
Ling Lan aimed at the opponent but did not shoot blindly, nor did she try to calculate or deduce anything. She only concentrated and stared intently at the opponent's mecha, just waiting for that sudden chance to appear.
"Right there!" Several seconds later, as expected, Ling Lan saw an extremely clear shooting trajectory. This was not the result of careful calculation; she had just been able to see it just like that. For no reason whatsoever, and a reason just could not be found, she had simply been able to see it.
Without any hesitation, Ling Lan pulled the trigger. Whether or not this opening was accurate, the facts would have to prove it. This shot was of the utmost importance.
A beam shot out from the muzzle, so dazzling that it seemed almost able to split the air above the combat field into two parts.
Ling Lan constantly adjusted her shooting position and the target point of her beam shot in accordance with the opponent's movement. All this showed that Ling Lan's attack method was still that basic technique — fixed-point shooting.
Everyone was in an uproar. The reason why fixed-point shooting was called fixed-point shooting was that it was used to attack an opponent during situations of absolute stillness, with a fixed and accurate target-lock to ensure a one-hit kill. On the battlefield, it was the best ambush method.
Due to its ambush-like qualities, fixed-point shooting was actually not suitable for a mecha combat match. Ling Lan's previous successful shot with it had already wowed the audience, and now, this current shot had once again shattered the people's understanding of fixed-point shooting. Could it be that fixed-point shooting could also be effective while on the move?
Several experienced mecha operators could not help but shake their heads, thinking that Ling Lan had let the previous success go to her head. Actually audacious enough to try creating a new record and a new form of gun art ... but how could those things be so easy to achieve?
" What a nonsense move 1 !" The two imperial operators monitoring from above instantly swore out loud at Ling Lan's unreasonable actions. Ling Lan's previous outstanding performance had earned Ling Lan their admiration, but his deluded efforts to break the mould now by using a completely unsuitable gun art to deal with his opponent made them very angry and disappointed.
Witnessing this, Ling Xiao could not help but clench his fists tightly. He knew his daughter, so he believed that Ling Lan definitely would not do anything crazy for no reason — she must have some degree of certainty for her to have done this. Some hard to conceal pleasant surprise in his eyes, he waited to see the final outcome ...
No one believed that Ling Lan could hit the opponent — that final landing point of the beam she was shooting was obviously wide from the perspective of the onlookers.
"Ah!" At this moment, the audience burst out into exclamations.
The Tongli mecha operator who had obviously been travelling along a safe flight path had suddenly changed the direction of his mecha's flicker movement and had actually ended up crashing into the range of Ling Lan's beam. This suicidal action left everyone in the audience gaping in astonishment.
The Tongli mecha operator had just finished his flicker action when he suddenly found that he had charged right into the path of a beam attack. His mecha was instantly consumed by the brilliant beam of light.
"Ah!" The Tongli mecha operator could not help but scream in shock. Being hit under this type of circumstances, caught completely unprepared, anyone would have panicked like him.
"Boom!" The mecha exploded with great force.
Although the Tongli mecha operator had tried his best to change his mecha's flight path once more to escape the range of the beam attack, unfortunately, when he had jumped into the target zone of the beam attack, his motion was still in progress. To abort the half-complete action, a new command had to be given to first clear the original command. Only after the first command had been erased could the system accept a new motion command. Not just that, when aborting an incomplete action, regardless of how fast an operator's hand speed was, a special-class mecha would still have some freeze time, and the transition to the new action would also require some buffering time. This series of complicated controls was impossible for a special-class operator to complete in just five seconds. And so, the Tongli special-class operator was doomed to tragedy!
"It hit?"
"It hit!"
The audience members scrubbed at their eyes vigorously, unable to believe what they had just seen. The dissipating smoke and half-destroyed mecha turned their disbelief into acceptance.
With a great furore, everyone took to their feet. Could it be that they would have the honour of bearing witness to the naming of a new mecha technique? They could not help but be excited — mind you, the last time a technique had been named after its creator was over 50 years ago. It had been so long that the people of the Federation had almost forgotten that the Federation still had this naming channel for newly created skills and techniques.
In the Federation, there were two types of naming with regards to mecha techniques. One was for official skills and techniques developed by the Federation military Mecha Skills Research Department. These techniques would all be given an official name, such as Fixed-point Shooting, N-point Blockade, Chain Combo Art, etcetera etcetera. And the other type was for those techniques which had been created by an individual mecha operator. If these techniques were proven to be fully developed and effective in combat or battle, the skills would be named after their creator. Examples of these include the Thomas Fullspin, Yelu Semi-Flight, Louis Double-Cut, etcetera etcetera ...
And now, Ling Lan had created mobile fixed-point shooting — building a new gun art on top of the original fixed-point shooting. According to Federation law, the name of this technique would carry her name.
Sitting beside Ling Xiao was the attending military representative, the main organizer for this Grand Mecha Tournament. He abruptly stood up and said emotionally to Ling Xiao, "General Ling, a new technique ... a new technique has appeared! I ... I must report this to headquarters!"
Ling Xiao suppressed the exhilaration he was feeling, smiling gently as he nodded and said, "Well, congratulations. You all have a new personal-name technique." Personal-name techniques were in fact also a means to display the might of a nation — it signified that the Federation was filled with talent. The military would certainly use this opportunity to glorify their nation to the rest of the world.
Even as he felt proud of his daughter, Ling Xiao was silently mourning this new headache. The more famous Ling Lan was, the harder it would be for him to free Ling Lan from her current identity. Ling Xiao smiled wryly — he really wasn't sure whether his blunder in sending his daughter to study at the First Men's Military Academy was doing her a service or harming her?
Watching the military representative hurry off excitedly to report to his superiors, Ling Xiao began to fret over how he could protect his daughter. He felt that things were spinning further and further out of his control, yet he was filled with joy and pride inside. He even thought that, if he was given the chance to do it all again, he would still choose to let his daughter study at the First Men's Military Academy, otherwise his daughter's exceptional control talent would have been wasted.
This kind of thinking made Ling Xiao feel rather guilty. He carefully peeked at Lan Luofeng, hoping that she had not noticed his little selfish thought.
At this moment, however, Lan Luofeng was completely lost. She had not understood the conversation between Ling Xiao and that military representative. The fact was that she really did not understand much about mecha even though she had married a god-class operator.
"What's going on? What is personal-name naming?" Lan Luofeng would always ask directly if there was something she did not understand. This was also one of the things Ling Xiao liked about her — she would not pretend to be more knowledgeable than she really was.
"That last attack by Lan-er has created a new shooting technique, which is why this technique will be named after her. It'll be called — Ling Lan Shooting Art!" Ling Xiao's gaze shone with pride. This was his daughter! How lucky was he!
"Ah!" Lan Luofeng covered her mouth in her joy and surprise. She stared disbelievingly at Ling Xiao, and when Ling Xiao nodded once more to confirm, Lan Luofeng started shaking Ling Xiao in her excitement. If not out of consideration for the time and place, she would definitely have leapt up to scream and shout.
Ling Xiao smiled as he embraced Lan Luofeng, letting the other calm down in his arms. He looked towards Ling Lan still floating in the air, and the growing smile at the corners of his lips could not be suppressed.
Backstage, Qiao Ting and the rest were gobsmacked. Zhao Jun slapped himself harshly and then asked Qiao Ting non-stop, "Am I dreaming? Am I dreaming? Qiao Ting, that's a new technique, right? Right? Right? Right?"
1. 乱弹琴: The phrase here is actually derived from the Chinese 4-character idiom 对牛弹琴, which means to 'play a lute before a cow'. Basically, doing something nonsensical and pointless, a waste of effort. Here, the author shortened it to just 'randomly playing a lute'.
Chapter 463 - Qiao Ting's Plans!
Qiao Ting took in a deep breath and looked searchingly at Ling Lan on the field. He then said in a low voice, "You're not dreaming. That technique ..." It should count as a new technique. Qiao Ting did not voice it. He was afraid that if he did, he would not be able to maintain his nature.
That was personal-name naming! It was something all mecha masters dreamed of obtaining, but how many people would ever truly earn this honour? Throughout human history, techniques that fell under personal-name naming numbered less than sixty, and most of them were from the early days of mecha development ...
Excluding those people, in the past thousand years, only a small number of 12 people have attained this honour successfully ... how lucky was Ling Lan? Having done what countless people could not, even if that technique could not be widely promoted, it was still envy-jealousy-hate inducing for Ling Lan to have an exclusive technique belonging to him! Qiao Ting could not suppress the tendril of bitterness that welled up in his heart. This era should have been his, but Ling Lan's performance today was enough to put them equal ground. Profoundly, he wondered why fate had chosen to give birth to both of them in the same time frame 1 .
Meanwhile, on the field, the referee saw the Tongli mecha being destroyed in one shot by Ling Lan and his expression changed greatly. He quickly waved his red flag vigorously, suspending the fight, and then piloted his mecha over quickly to check on the condition of the Tongli mecha.
Stunned, Ling Lan lowered the gun in her hands. If a quick flash of thought had not struck her at that instant when she had taken the shot, making her subconsciously raise her gun's muzzle by a few inches, she would absolutely have hit the opponent's cockpit directly. That shooting trajectory she had visualized was not merely an effective path to hit the opponent — it was a fearsome trajectory which would have resulted in a one-hit kill.
Ling Lan was instantly gripped by a pang of belated fear; the sweat on her back felt cold. If she had not had that flash of insight and made some minor adjustments at the instant, perhaps her opponent might be dead right now.
"Profound Insight is one of the top-class innate talents in the Mandora star system. It is the best innate talent for mecha piloting. Cherish it, and use it well." The words Instructor Number One had said to her that year once again rang out by Ling Lan's ear.
"Instructor Number One, before this, I have probably disappointed you!" thought Ling Lan with a dry mental chuckle. She had never really paid much attention to this innate talent of hers, thinking that it only provided a little more accuracy to her piloting through its predictive ability. This lackadaisical attitude towards it had made her neglect Profound Insight, thus wasting a lot of time ... still, Ling Lan's frustration only lasted for an instant. She very quickly rallied herself, thinking, "Luckily, it's not too late. I will definitely master all of the abilities of Profound Insight."
Just solely excavating that little bit of its abilities had already proven to be so heaven-defying ... Ling Lan had the feeling that perhaps this Profound Insight innate talent was the true cheat she had been given in her transmigration, the true foundation which would allow her to stand at the pinnacle of strength in this world.
When the referee came up to the Tongli mecha, he found that the upper half of the mecha had already been battered by the beam shot, becoming extremely dilapidated, but the cockpit area was perfectly untouched. This meant that the situation was not too terrible; the referee's heart settled. That scene just now had caught everyone off guard — even if someone had had the heart to help and save the Tongli contestant, they would not have made it in time.
The referee instantly made contact with the mecha operator inside the cockpit, and when he heard the other respond back that he only had some minor injuries and that everything else was fine, the referee instantly let out a sigh of relief. Only then did he announce the end of this mecha fight, with the winner being Ling Lan of the First Men's Military Academy. Leaving aside the fact that the Tongli mecha was no longer fit for battle, even if the mecha had been completely undamaged after that last encounter, that shot of Ling Lan's alone was enough to reduce the opponent's points to zero.
After his initial surge of emotion, Ling Xiao calmed down, and confusion settled in. That shot of Ling Lan's ... the execution of it was incongruent with her actual age and experience. Logically, Ling Lan should not have been able to make such an accurate prediction — it should have been impossible for that sure-kill trajectory to be discovered by anyone below imperial level ...
Predictive judgement was a skill which mecha masters had to learn, but the extent to which the ability can stretch completely depends on the mecha master's own strength and experience, and of course a keen intuition was also indispensable. Ling Xiao believed his daughter's intuition was not weak — he had already known this from when he had sparred with her before — but Ling Lan logically should not have been able to achieve such a step at her current level of strength and experience.
How had Ling Lan, his baby daughter, discovered this trajectory? Was it luck? Or had she really seen it? For some unknown reason, Ling Xiao believed deep down that his daughter must surely have seen it. It looked like his daughter still had secrets unknown to him ...
A subtle smile appeared on Ling Xiao's lips — he was not planning to delve any further into the matter. No matter what secrets his daughter was keeping, he did not care, unless his daughter herself was willing to tell him. The parenting bible had clearly stated that one of the taboos was trying to dig into all the secrets of one's child and trying to control them. This would make a child very resentful, angry, and unhappy — the child may even become hateful of the parent, affecting the relationship between father and son (father and daughter).
As a wise and intelligent father, he would never make such a low-level mistake! Ling Xiao thought proudly.
Ling Lan returned victorious and was welcomed back by four gazes filled with envy-jealousy-hate from the other contestants of the First Men's Military Academy. Ling Lan quirked a small smile and alighted using the elevator platform.
Striding up to the four people, Ling Lan looked at Qiao Ting and said calmly, "To complete the mission, it all depends on you now, Senior Qiao."
Qiao Ting stared at her meaningfully and said in a tone steeped in connotation, "I will not lose!" He moved past Ling Lan to the area below his ace mecha and stepped onto the elevator platform before finally walking into his cockpit.
Right then, Qiao Ting already knew that Lin Xiao or Jiang Shaoyu or whomever were all not the people he needed to watch — his greatest rival in this life was this currently still inconspicuous Ling Lan, whose name would spread far and wide later on following the creation of this shooting art. Actually, from the start, from the moment Ling Lan had turned Leiting on its head, they were destined to be lifelong rivals.
As soon as Qiao Ting left, Mu Shaoyu smiled, raised a big thumbs up, and said in a low voice, "Regiment Commander Ling, awesome 1 !"
Mu Shaoyu's words made Han Yu beside him harrumph coldly before turning to walk away. Mu Shaoyu could not help but smirk coldly and say, "Don't worry about him. This fellow's pettiness is acting up again." As a long-time rival, Mu Shaoyu knew Han Yu too well — Han Yu had always thought that his mecha control was better than Ling Lan's, but reality had just slapped him in the face. Among the six people who were participating in the group mecha combat event, other than Zhang Jing-an, Han Yu had proven to be weakest of the bunch. He found this hard to swallow right at that moment.
"It's fine. I've only defeated a top 32 opponent. It's nothing worth mentioning," replied Ling Lan nonchalantly. Ever since she had stolen Li Lanfeng and Zhao Jun from Wuji, her relationship with Han Yu could not be described as friendly. If her own regiment members had been stolen away by another regiment commander, Ling Lan believed that she too would not be big-hearted enough to still play nice with the other.
"Not worth mentioning?" Mu Shaoyu gaped. "Regiment Commander Ling, you are the first to have created a mecha technique in over 50 years. I believe that from tomorrow onwards, no no, maybe from now onwards, you will be renowned throughout all of human society."
"Created a technique? Renowned throughout all of human society? What does this have to do with me?" Ling Lan frowned and cast a cold glance at Zhao Jun, asking him what Mu Shaoyu really meant. Was he actually mocking her?
Zhao Jun quickly explained, "As long as a heretofore unseen technique appears, if it was created by an individual, the technique would be named after the individual. Boss Lan, that shot you sent at the opponent as you were flying will be named after you, Boss ..."
In the mindspace, Little Four abruptly clapped a hand to his head. He seemed to have, probably ... forgotten to tell his boss about this.
As Zhao Jun explained, his entire face was filled with envy and respect. Them cadets were at most fighting to be the number one within their respective academies. Creating a new technique? That was not something they even dared to think of. In their minds, this was something much too distant from them and so had nothing to do with them. Who could have guessed that his clan leader Ling Lan would actually manage to do this right before their eyes? And so easily too!
"Ah, is that a new technique?" Zhao Jun's words surprised Ling Lan.
"Isn't it?" Zhao Jun was dumbfounded. It was obviously a new technique, right? He had not seen wrong, Qiao Ting had not seen wrong, none of the others had seen wrong.
"What do you say?" Ling Lan cast a cold glance at him. This Senior Zhao ... did he not learn his basic controls properly? She had obviously just used the fixed-point shooting technique in basic controls, so what did this have to do with a new technique?
"..." Zhao Jun became rather flustered by Ling Lan's oppressive gaze. Could it be that he had really made a mistake? He asked carefully, "That ... ah, Boss Lan, may I ask, what technique did you use earlier?" Feeling tentative and unsure, Zhao Jun actually began speaking more formally.
"Fixed-point shooting. You really couldn't tell?" Ling Lan was even more worried now, which made the chill surrounding her body become even colder. It looked like Senior Zhao Jun's basic controls were really not solid enough. She needed to think of a way to help him fix that as quickly as possible.
The higher her level, the more Ling Lan understood the deeper meaning behind her dad's legacy which had emphasized the importance of the basic controls. This was because once one had entered ace level, the basics were the key to advance to the next realm. And yet, after one had entered ace level, one's personal operation style would gradually begin to form. By the time they reached the late stages of ace realm and wanted to advance to the next realm, the mecha master would find that this problem was an obstacle restricting their advancement. At that time, it would already be too late to turn back and train up their basic controls. Having already formed their own operation style, they would not be able to develop their basic controls any further. Only if their brains were switched so they would forget their own style, then perhaps there would still be a chance to do so.
Ling Lan had already come to a decision in her mind — before Senior Zhao Jun left the academy, she would use basic controls to have a few good spars with him. She had to make sure his foundations became a little more solid.
Zhao Jun could not know that just by asking such a simple question, he had signed himself up for a great amount of torment under Ling Lan's hands before he would enlist into an army division. He would be tortured so badly that he would almost lose all confidence to even board a mecha to fight ever again ...
Right then, still blissfully ignorant, Zhao Jun once again asked tentatively, "But fixed-point shooting can only be used in a stationary state. Fixed-point shooting while running, is it still fixed-point shooting?"
"Isn't it essentially still the same? I merely applied it more flexibly," answered Ling Lan blithely. "It really isn't a new technique!"
When Instructor Number Three had been teaching her, he had said so very clearly — there was no technique which would never change. Only by incorporating techniques into real battle would techniques become truly useful. She had merely adapted a stationary fixed-point technique for use during motion — there was no difference in the nature of the technique.
If this counted as a new technique, Ling Lan really did not know how many new techniques she had then. Basically, with the guidance and assistance of Instructor Number Three, she was now able to make some changes to every single basic technique.
Sensing that his boss was speaking the truth as Ling Lan was so calm and indifferent towards the whole new technique naming business, Zhao Jun found himself awed and speechless. The great and supreme honour of having a technique named after him was actually unable to move Boss Lan ... he really did not know what else could successfully crack Boss Lan's ice-block face.
In truth, all of the members of the clan secretly wished to see this happen. They were even betting with each other, betting to see who would be the first to see Boss Lan's expression change. Just now, he had really thought he was about to win ... but reality proved that he had still underestimated Boss Lan and had been gleeful for nothing.
On this end, Ling Lan and Zhao Jun were discussing about whether the technique was or was not a new technique, while on the other end, Qiao Ting was already operating his mecha onto the field as prompted by the staff.
Ling Lan and the rest saw this and turned their attention to the combat field. As for whether that move of Ling Lan was considered a new technique, there was actually no need to argue over it — in the end, the final decision would depend on the military. If the military felt that it was, then it was; if they felt it wasn't, then it wasn't.
In reality, among the general public, there were many extremely unique and dangerous mecha techniques spread around in secret. Due to some problems and flaws here and there, or perhaps some doubts with regards to their safety, these mecha techniques had all been unable to receive official military recognition in the end and had been relegated to pseudo-techniques.
Qiao Ting's opponent was the weakest of the Tongli mecha operators — the outcome of this match was already clear even before it started. If not for the fact that giving up without a fight would disgrace their military academy, the Tongli mecha operators might have just chosen to raise their hands up and surrender right at the start.
The match officially began with the downward swing of the referee's green flag. Qiao Ting instantly pulled away from the opponent — his speed was comparable to Ling Lan's, leaving the audience exclaiming in awe. Only some top-class operators noticed that there was still some gap between the reaction speed of the two.
Likewise, Qiao Ting himself noticed it too. After he pulled away, the corners of his lips tilted downwards in disappointment. At the instant when he had moved his fingers to control his mecha, Qiao Ting already knew he had still been a beat slower than Ling Lan. It was not that he did not want to start piloting from the very moment the flag swung down, but his fingers had still slowed a little beyond his control in the instant that he had intended to move. And this brief pause had made him slower than Ling Lan by 0.1 seconds.
With regards to mecha piloting, even the difference of 0.01 seconds was enough to change the tide of a battle. What more this delay of 0.1 seconds? This amount of difference in their reaction times was enough for him to die more than a dozen of times.
At this moment, Qiao Ting deeply admired the strength of Ling Lan's heart — how bold did this person have to be to dare to execute such seamless operation right on the line? Was he not afraid of committing a foul?
Qiao Ting's opponent did not hurry to chase after him when Qiao Ting pulled away. Instead, he stood his ground, calmly waiting for Qiao Ting to pull away till the optimum long-range attack distance for him, looking for all the world like he was resigned to his fate.
No one boo-ed him for his decision, because the audience was well aware that up against an ace operator several times stronger than him, even if he chased after the other with all of his might, he would not be able to close the distance. At most, he would only be able to buy himself some time; the outcome would not change. In that case, he might as well wait calmly and use these brief few seconds to properly think about how he would handle what comes next.
As soon as he achieved the distance he needed for his long-range attack, Qiao Ting drew a long-barrelled gun from his back. This gun was not Qiao Ting's favoured weapon, the ballistic sniper rifle, but the same weapon Ling Lan had used, the standard equipment of long-range mecha: a long-range long-barrelled beam gun.
With a snap, the long-barrelled gun arced through the air to hitch securely on his shoulder, held up by his left hand, sight aimed at the opponent.
A "bang", and a beam shot out from the muzzle. From setting the gun into place and aiming to pulling the trigger, the entire series of actions had been completed in just two seconds. Qiao Ting almost gave his gun no time to lock onto the target ...
This time frame startled cheers out of the audience. Compared to Ling Lan, Qiao Ting's actions had been even more well-practiced and compact, his posture was more elegant and natural, and the time he used was so short that it made the people's eyes bulge.
With a boom, the beam accurately landed where the Tongli mecha had been standing, instantly creating a shallow pit. As with Ling Lan's first shot, the Tongli mecha master accurately dodged this shot.
When Zhao Jun saw this, his expression shifted and he whispered to Ling Lan, "Boss Lan, Qiao Ting seems to be replicating your movements."
Right then, Ling Lan was standing before the large screen and watching the match with her arms folded across her chest. When she heard what Zhao Jun said, she nodded calmly and said, "Hn. The same fixed-point shooting, from taking aim to shooting, this shot of his took at least one second less than mine did. In terms of long-range, he is indeed better than me." Ling Lan was not afraid to face the truth. If her innate talent Profound Insight had not been so nature-defying, she would still be unable to compete against these aberrant prodigies with long-range innate talents at long range.
Zhao Jun chuckled, not at all taking Ling Lan's words seriously. Frankly, Zhao Jun did not think Ling Lan was weaker than Qiao Ting by much. Speed did not mean anything — managing to hit the target was what really mattered.
After evading this first shot, the Tongli mecha operator did not act like his teammate had and try to close the distance between him and the opponent. Instead, he continued to stay in place, cautious, waiting for Qiao Ting's next attack.
He knew very well that even if Qiao Ting's close-combat abilities were very bad, with the distance between their mecha now, he had no chance at all of winning. In that case, he might as well maintain this distance and carefully deal with the opponent's long-range attacks. Perhaps that way, he might still be able to hold out for some time.
The Tongli mecha master's thoughts were quickly seen through by Qiao Ting. He frowned lightly and shook his gun's muzzle, and then ... "Bang! Bang! Bang!" Three shots rang out.
These three consecutive shots of Qiao Ting's landed in sequence at different positions. The first shot landed where the Tongli mecha operator had been standing at the start, and the subsequent two shots landed where the Tongli mecha operator had moved to after he had dodged that first shot.
The Tongli mecha operator could only keep dodging, dodging, dodging. His figure flashed three times in quick succession, but he was unknowingly moving forwards as he dodged.
Some of the top-class mecha masters could already see the real purpose behind Qiao Ting's three shots at this time. They felt speechlessly amused at Qiao Ting's youthful competitiveness, and some were shaking their heads, thinking silently that he was still too young, not able to keep himself grounded.
On the rostrum, Ling Xiao saw this and quirked an eyebrow. Was this a challenge towards his daughter? He looked at Qiao Ting's mecha with interest and wondered how exactly this youth who was known as the second Ling Xiao would perform.
After the Tongli mecha operator evaded those three shots, before he had a chance to stop to catch his breath, Qiao Ting had followed up with another three shots, forcing the Tongli mecha operator to dodge once again.
These three shots of Qiao Ting still did not manage to hit the opponent, but the Tongli mecha operator was again forced to fly forwards because of the three shots. Unconsciously, he had already moved forwards by 300 metres.
After once again safely dodging the three shots, the Tongli mecha operator had already sensed that these last six shots of Qiao Ting's were different from his first shot.
That first shot had obviously been intended to hit the opponent, and so it was outstanding in terms of both speed and accuracy. However, the subsequent six shots after that were not intended to hit the opponent — they were meant to force the opponent to a specific target point. The Tongli mecha operator was not stupid — how could he miss the meaning of these six shots of Qiao Ting?
A strong sense of humiliation jabbed at his heart. The Tongli mecha operator was infuriated and also extremely aggrieved. The power difference between them left him no choice but to move according to the opponent's plans ...
Fine, since you want to do things this way, then let me see if you, Qiao Ting, can also carry off an attack like the one your teammate had. The Tongli mecha operator no longer wanted to be forced by Qiao Ting. He decided to go for broke and, as Qiao Ting wished, he piloted his mecha to fly forwards at a frenzied pace. Perhaps his fury had reached its limits because, despite operating his mecha in a rage, his mecha's speed did not decrease but seemed instead to be even a level higher than before.
Seeing this, a satisfied smile appeared on Qiao Ting's lips — this was what he wanted.
Yes, Qiao Ting wanted to reproduce the move Ling Lan had used to defeat her opponent. He wanted to tell Ling Lan that, whatever the other could do, he could it too.
Just when the opponent was about to enter close range, at that final shooting point within long range for fixed-point shooting, Qiao Ting finally fired that shot he had long had ready.
With a boom, a bright beam of light leapt at the opponent. The Tongli mecha dodged with all its might, but the beam still managed to hit it ... however, the opponent soon broke free, though the power of his mecha's beam shield had been drained considerably, the shield becoming dull and lightless.
"Sure enough, Qiao Ting is trying to completely reproduce your attack methods. After this, it should be that running fixed-point shooting of yours, Boss Lan. I wonder if he'll succeed." Zhao Jun's expression was rather grim — regardless of whether Qiao Ting's running shot worked or not, his behaviour could be labelled as provocation.
"This shot ... Qiao Ting held back." Ling Lan saw things differently than everyone else. Her eyes were telling her that Qiao Ting had not gone all out. Perhaps Qiao Ting did not want to end the match like this — like Zhao Jun said, Qiao Ting wanted to try that in-motion fixed-point shooting of hers.
When she was done speaking, Ling Lan turned back to look intently at the screen. Zhao Jun did not dare to say anything more, afraid to disturb Ling Lan. Zhao Jun did not know that Ling Lan seemed very focused on the match, but she was actually analysing everything she had just seen in her mind. Were all these information also given to her by her innate talent Profound Insight?
As soon as Qiao Ting's shot ended, as expected, he did exactly as Ling Lan had, turning around to fly swiftly forwards. This obvious movement clued the audience in as to what Qiao Ting was planning to do. In the resulting commotion, they eagerly anticipated the outcome — could this number one of the military academies replicate his teammate's attack?
Was it coming now? When the Tongli mecha operator saw the opponent turning to glide swiftly away, he clenched his teeth and slowed down. Even though he was very angry, he still remembered what his teammate had said after his match. He had said that the reason he had been hit by that shot was that he had been flying too fast. By the time he noticed he had flown into the range of the beam shot, there was already no more time for him to change his motions. If he had been a little slower, perhaps the outcome would have been different.
He would learn from this lesson of his teammate. Since the opponent wanted to try that move, then he might as well slow down his speed. He too wanted to know whether Qiao Ting could still hit him after he slowed down.
1. 既生瑜何生亮: This saying has been brought up before in chapter 441. Please refer to the footnote there if you need it. The whole Zhou Yu and Zhuge Liang rivalry thingy.
2. 牛: It might amuse some of you to know that the word used here is literally 'cow' or 'bull', as in the animal. It's Chinese slang to use this word as an adjective when someone does something particularly impressive. Don't ask me why.
Chapter 464 - Give Up!
"Could it be that everyone from the First Men's Military Academy knows this move? Or maybe this move was created by Qiao Ting to begin with? And that person just used it first?" In the audience, some people had begun their wild speculations, contemplating this possibility. They felt that their guess was very likely to be true — after all, Qiao Ting was the number one of the military academies, and he was also the supreme prodigy known as the second Ling Xiao. It was much more convincing for him to be the creator of this new technique rather than that unknown youth earlier.
Of course, they also did not dare to claim their conclusions were true just like that — their speculations had to be established upon the premise of Qiao Ting's success in executing this move.
When the distance between the two combatants was once again stretched far enough for fixed-point shooting, Qiao Ting operated his mecha to turn around swiftly. This series of operations were almost identical to Ling Lan's in the previous match ...
The seamless operations left the audience gasping in awe and also made the top-class mecha masters nod silently in approval.
Even one of the two imperial operators monitoring the match from up above could not help but praise, "This kid's pretty good. Almost copying the previous one's movements exactly without making any mistakes."
"Not bad. The title of second Ling Xiao, he's still worthy of it." The other person seemed to be a little pickier with regards to Qiao Ting; his tone was extremely indifferent.
His companion's words surprised the first imperial operator who had spoken. "Ah, so he's the one!" General Ling Xiao was renowned throughout the entire Federation. Ever since that imperial operator had returned to the Federation and found out that it had such an amazingly talented god-class operator, he had been filled with admiration. "Speaking of General Ling Xiao, I heard that there is no technique he doesn't know. They say he's a complete comprehensive talent."
His companion was stunned by his words. "You ... do you not know that General Ling Xiao's innate talent is Duplication?" In the Federation, this was practically an open secret.
In response, that imperial operator said somewhat embarrassedly, "You've forgotten where I'm from."
His companion was suddenly enlightened, recalling the other's background. He said apologetically, "Sorry, I had forgotten you are from the Lawless Lands."
The Lawless Lands was one of the three ungoverned zones at the fringes of human-populated star systems. It was hundreds of thousands of light-years away from the Federation. The resources there were extremely scarce and the climate was frightful, even worse than that of fourth-rate planets which had been labelled by the Federation as possessing the worst living conditions for human beings. Without a certain level of strength, it was impossible for someone to live there.
The Lawless Lands was a place of sin. Aside from the rare aborigines, all who stayed there were criminals and fugitives from the various nations.
At the Lawless Lands, war and strife reigned all year round — different factions warred with each other, vying for their own territory. There, ace operators were as common as dogs. Anyone who was not an ace just could not survive, and only imperial operators could live like actual people, obtaining a secure place for themselves.
Of course, once someone in the Lawless Lands succeeded in ascending to imperial operator level, they would have the chance to start anew and choose their future path again. They could choose to return to the world of human order (war criminals and refugees mostly chose this option), and their past crimes would be wiped clean. Of course, they could also choose to continue remaining in the Lawless Lands (the aborigines mostly chose this option) and become a duke in their own right.
That imperial operator was originally a deserter from the Federation. When he had advanced to imperial level, he had chosen to return to the Federation and become a member of the foreign deterrent forces of the military. However, when he had run away to the Lawless Lands back then, Ling Xiao had not been born yet, and there had always been an embargo on news and material goods enforced by the various human nations against the Lawless Lands. Thus, it was impossible to hear news of Ling Xiao there. The imperial operator had only heard bits and pieces of General Ling Xiao's exploits after returning to the Federation, and so he really did not know some of these open secrets.
His companion's apology swept away the imperial operator's awkwardness. He continued to say, "Duplication for an innate talent ... that's insane! So this innate talent can fully duplicate an opponent's techniques after seeing it just once 1 ?"
"Yes, you can say that. That's why everyone says that he knows every technique. Even for those he doesn't know, he just needs to see others perform it once and he'll know them," said his companion in an envious tone.
It should be known that the average mecha master needed multiple rounds of tough training to fully comprehend and master an advanced technique and make it their own. In contrast, this innate talent of Ling Xiao was like a cheating device, greatly shortening the time needed to acclimatize. As long as Ling Xiao wanted a skill, just observing it once would do. What's even more frightening was the fact that video recordings of many of the existing present-day mecha techniques could be found in the virtual world. Therefore, as long as Ling Xiao wanted, there really was no technique he could not obtain.
Of course, this did not rule out the fact that some secluded elite families would have their own secret techniques. These definitely could not be found in the virtual world, but they had to be very careful and remember to never display these skills before General Ling Xiao, otherwise these top-secret techniques which symbolised the sect and family clan would become General Ling Xiao's too.
"Perhaps, this is also why General Ling Xiao was able to ascend to god-class," said the imperial operator from the Lawless Lands enviously. At their level, they could already tell what their limits were. They had already exhausted their potential to become imperial operators, and so they were destined to be imperial operators for life now. Not fated to become god-class operators ... it had to be said that this was their regret.
The two of them only chatted casually a bit more before their attention was drawn to Qiao Ting's strange condition.
In mid-flight, Qiao Ting had adjusted his shooting direction several times, and just when everyone thought he was about to shoot, he did not move, holding back. From the time he had turned to fly in the opposite direction till now, three minutes had passed. In contrast, from turning around till shooting, Ling Lan had only used one minute. There was no doubt that the time Qiao Ting was using had already exceeded Ling Lan's by double the amount ...
Qiao Ting's gaze was tightly locked onto the opponent within the sight of his gun; he could almost see the chance to shoot again ... his finger could not help but twitch, but in the end, he still eased the pressure off his finger and endured, once again choosing to give up.
He clearly felt that there was a chance, but he did not have the courage to take the shot because he was not 100% certain, no, he was not even 50% certain he would succeed. Otherwise, with more than half the chances, he would have been willing to take the gamble. Only at this time did he know that he had still underestimated this seemingly simple mobile fixed-point shooting ...
"Should I give up now?" Sweat started to flow down from Qiao Ting's forehead, sliding over the curves of his eyebrows to drip down along the bridge of his nose ... he, who had always been confident, began to doubt himself for the first time. Could he really recreate that move of Ling Lan's? Perhaps he should have used a more stable shooting art to complete this sure-kill.
"No, I cannot give up! Once I give up, that would mean I have admitted defeat to Ling Lan!" Another stubborn voice in Qiao Ting's mind leapt out to stop him.
"If you cannot complete that move, you would still have lost to Ling Lan!" Rationality once again calmly asserted the facts. "In that case, you might as well do what you should."
"Should I really just end things like this?" Qiao Ting was very reluctant.
" Even a decade is not too late for a gentleman to take revenge 1 , and besides, your true battle with Ling Lan is a year later. Why are you in such a hurry to suppress the other now? Envy will not let you improve ..." Rationality once again won the upper hand. Qiao Ting's gaze settled and he made his decision.
"The time is fast approaching 4 minutes. Compared to that teammate of his, he has already used almost three minutes more. It looks like that mobile fixed-point shooting has stumped him," the imperial operator from the Lawless Lands could not help but grin and say. Qiao Ting's abnormal state naturally could not fool the eyes of the two imperial operators up above.
"He is still a little too young and wilful, thinking that his control skills cannot be weaker than the other, conceitedly thinking to replicate the other's special technique. Unfortunately ... this special skill is not something one can learn with just one look. Even if he knew all the numerical data and operation methods, to perfectly execute it would still require countless practice runs," his companion sighed and said, shaking his head. Qiao Ting's mecha operation innate talent was indeed very outstanding, but that alone was not enough. The only question now was whether this Qiao Ting would realize this in time — the imperial operator hoped that Qiao Ting would not disgrace the title of 'second Ling Xiao'.
"There is only one General Ling Xiao!" said the Lawless Lands imperial operator. Similarly, he too was not optimistic about Qiao Ting's decision to replicate the move.
Qiao Ting's hesitation was very quickly discovered by the audience members. They all began discussing among themselves — some who had initially thought that the mobile fixed-point shooting was created by Qiao Ting had also decisively discarded this notion at this time. Right then, they were no longer concerned with the final outcome. Instead, what they wanted to know was whether Qiao Ting would take that shot at the end and whether that shot would succeed.
Qiao Ting had been a decisive person from the start — he only hesitated out of self-doubt for an instant. Once his mind was firm once more, he no longer hesitated. He quickly changed his shooting stance. This shift threw the audience into an uproar — they had not expected Qiao Ting to choose to give up after hesitating for up to 4 minutes.
"Good. Daring to ignore any taunting and giving up decisively to choose the most accurate method of attack ... this Qiao Ting's future is immeasurable."
Unlike the audience, the eyes of the top-class mecha masters in attendance as well as the representatives from the various army divisions lit up. The current Qiao Ting, compared to before, had grown again in terms of mentality. Moreover, within this extremely short time frame, he had been able to decisively make the most accurate judgment. Even if he was put into a battlefield, he should be able to live a little longer than others.
The Federation truly valued ace operators, but they valued this kind of ace operator who could live longer even more. This was because only ace operators who survived could climb even higher and higher peaks to become the Federation's ultimate weapon and become a deterrent against other countries.
Without question, this performance of Qiao Ting's had proven that he was likely to be this type of person. Several army division representatives even decided that they would return to report to their commanders to fight for Qiao Ting to join their divisions.
Qiao Ting very quickly corrected his stance and once again reverted to his most proficient attack method. That feeling of having everything within his control returned, and he quickly took aim at the opponent, locked on instantly, and pulled the trigger.
"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!" Almost without any pause, four shots were fired simultaneously. In the end, Qiao Ting had still chosen his best advanced shooting art —— the N-point Blockade.
The N-point Blockade could fire up to nine bullets simultaneously, sealing off all possible landing points of the opponent at the same time. To begin with, this shooting art combined with the extraordinarily powerful ballistic sniper rifle was a match made in heaven, capable of instantly strangulating the opponent in its web. Now, executed with a long-range long-barrelled beam gun, although its power had been reduced by n-levels, it was still exceedingly easy to land hits on the opponent and deal damage with this technique.
1. T/C: It's a Sharingan!!
2. 君子报仇十年还不晚: As translated. A gentleman should be patient in seeking revenge, waiting till the perfect time to catch his target unawares.
Chapter 465 - A Bizarre Line-Up!
The Tongli mecha operator had not expected Qiao Ting to not display mobile fixed-point shooting in the end and choose instead to use his best shooting art, so the Tongli operator's slow speed made things even easier for the N-point Blockade. The Tongli mecha operator was unable to dodge these four shots — three beam projectiles successfully hit his mecha one after the other, causing his beam shield to once again become dull and dim.
Before the Tongli mecha operator could recover from the shots, Qiao Ting pressed his advantage by suddenly bringing his mecha into a rapid stop in the air with only a slight shake to show for the strain. Qiao Ting quickly counteracted the issue with his controls. And then, he once again changed his shooting stance, and a powerful beam shot out from the muzzle of his gun, heading right at the opponent.
"Fixed-point shooting!" This stance that Qiao Ting had shifted back into right before shooting was all too familiar to the crowd, causing almost all of the spectators to exclaim in surprise.
Having already been hit by three shots from the N-point Blockade, the Tongli mecha operator had yet to stabilise his mecha when he was struck by this powerful beam. With a loud boom, his mecha's beam shield was instantly destroyed by the beam. Without the protection of a beam shield, the mecha suffered an intense explosion and a thick cloud of smoke rose into the skies.
The referee quickly waved the red flag in his hands, suspending the match. In his anxiety, he was also quietly taken aback at how ruthless the students of the First Men's Military Academy could be, actually blowing up yet another mecha. He could only hope that this time, the Tongli cadet was also safe and unharmed.
After checking on the mecha, the referee sighed in relief. Like his teammate earlier, Qiao Ting's final attack had only struck the opponent's head and not the cockpit. After the referee made contact with the contestant inside the mecha, the contestant's safety was confirmed.
"Who'd have expected that after Qiao Ting had given up on mobile fixed-point shooting, he would still use fixed-point shooting to finish the match? Looks like he's very persistent ..." Zhao Jun was amused.
Ling Lan also smirked silently at those words. She had not expected Qiao Ting to be so persistent, really. Although his provocative actions were very annoying, Ling Lan did not have any strong negative feelings towards Qiao Ting. Just as with the previously arrogant and haughty Li Yingjie, even though she felt that he was rather troublesome, she still did not hate or dislike him.
The referee very quickly declared Qiao Ting the winner. Overall, the First Men's Military Academy defeated the Tongli Military Academy with a score of 3-2 and advanced to the next round.
With the end of this round's matches, the First Men's Military Academy moved into the top 50. However, the morning's matches were not done yet. After this, there was still an additional round for the competitors to advance from the top 50 into the top 32. However, not all the military academies would participate in these extra advancement round matches. The military academies in the top 10 of the last tournament would directly advance to the top 32 in this tournament, unless any of them were unexpectedly eliminated during the top 50 advancement round.
Consequently, not long after, the First Men's Military Academy was once again informed by the organizers that they had successfully advanced to the top 32. This meant that their morning matches were done; now they only had to prepare for the top 32 into 16 round.
Right then, Qiao Ting had already operated his mecha to return backstage. He returned the mecha to its spot and then walked out of the cockpit, stepping onto the elevator platform to slowly descend to the ground. Expression stern, he walked over, and when he passed by Ling Lan, he gave her a deep stare.
Ling Lan thought Qiao Ting had something to say, but surprisingly, Qiao Ting just walked on by with that one look, moving over to a chair in a corner to sit down.
That Tongli mecha operator whose mecha had been destroyed by Qiao Ting had also returned from the field. Of course, he had only returned in person as his mecha had already been broken by Qiao Ting and had been taken directly to the repair shop. When he saw Qiao Ting sitting in the corner, he could not hold back his immense frustration and so he scoffed loudly and said, "Hehe, this match was really too godd*mn irritating! Clearly not one's style, yet insisting on doing things that way, clowning around in front of a true expert ... this is a self-inflicted loss of face!"
He seemed to be talking about himself, but anyone with a clear mind could tell who he was alluding to. Everyone could not help but turn to look at Qiao Ting in his corner, wanting to see how he would react.
Qiao Ting did not seem to have caught the other's allusion, still remaining seated, his expression glacial. Compared to these trivial sarcastic remarks, Qiao Ting was more concerned about having been shown up by Ling Lan in long-range combat. This had put him in a very bad mood.
If Ling Lan had shown this strength in close combat, Qiao Ting would not have felt this way, but this had just so happened in long range. Qiao Ting had been very confident that there was no one in the military academies who could rival him in long range. When he found that Ling Lan's skills in long range were no weaker than his, even good enough to forge a special move when he could not, his initial sense of superiority was blown to pieces and he found that he could no longer maintain his composure.
Han Yu glanced over at Qiao Ting with schadenfreude in his eyes. He was very happy to see Qiao Ting fail to reproduce Ling Lan's attack method and lose face. In the same year as Qiao Ting, he had been so frustrated from being suppressed by him for five years. Just seeing Qiao Ting suffer and lose face gave him a sense of catharsis.
Meanwhile, Mu Shaoyu looked contemplatively at Qiao Ting and then glanced at Ling Lan — he decided to maintain the high ground and not get involved in this mess.
Zhao Jun was grinning widely. With his tough and built appearance, combined with his smile, he really had the look of a silly giant, looking for all the world like he did not have a single deep thought in his head 1 . This appearance of his made quite a number of people think that he might really not have understood the allusion that had been made.
Only Ling Lan turned a piercing cold gaze over when she heard this!
The Tongli mecha operator had originally wanted to throw another verbal jab at Qiao Ting, but Ling Lan's sudden and unexpected cold glance made him shudder violently. Ling Lan could already control her force of presence freely, so although she still gave others a very cold impression, she already no longer gave others the same oppressive feeling as before. This was also why she had been overlooked at one point during the tournament.
However, Ling Lan had threaded this stare of hers with her force of presence, stabbing directly at the other's mind, inflicting terror so the other no longer dared to say anything more.
The other observers were waiting for the Tongli mecha operator to continue mouthing off, but unfortunately, after just that one opening salvo, his expression had changed and he had suddenly fallen silent. The observers felt it was a bit of a shame — they had wanted to see some drama unfold.
With nothing to see, the crowd's attention dispersed. Only then did Zhao Jun's smile retract, and then he asked quietly, "Boss Lan, why did you help?" This was clearly a chance to deal Qiao Ting a blow — why did Boss Lan want to prevent it?
Ling Lan glanced coolly at Zhao Jun and said, "We're representing the First Men's Military Academy!" That said, she turned and walked away.
This statement jolted Zhao Jun's heart. He was abruptly enlightened, and cold sweat broke out all over his body ... his apprehension towards Qiao Ting had made him forget that right now, he and Qiao Ting were not opponents but comrades-in-arms. When a comrade had been insulted by someone else, he had just stood on the side-lines and watched — this had completely tarnished the term 'comrade'. Zhao Jun felt very ashamed.
Standing to one side, Mu Shaoyu had also heard what Ling Lan had said. He too was stunned to awareness, and like Zhao Jun, he was silently ashamed at himself. Watching Ling Lan's upright back, his emotions were complicated. He had not expected that he would lose to a junior three years younger than him in terms of magnanimity 1 .
Likewise, Han Yu had also heard Ling Lan's words. His expression changed, and even as he felt frustrated and regretful, he also could not help but begin envying and hating Ling Lan. Who was Ling Lan to say this? They were the seniors, the seniors! Did he think they did not already know this?! Did they need him to teach them this? Unable to face the darkness in his own heart, he could not help but push the blame onto Ling Lan and get angry at her instead.
Qiao Ting had also heard every single word Ling Lan had said. He snapped his head up and looked towards Ling Lan's back, his gaze dark and difficult to fathom. After a good long while, he sighed heavily and said with a wry smile, "Having such a junior is really an unpleasant thing!"
Qiao Ting's dejected mood after coming off the field was completely gone. He stood up and prepared to leave, and as he passed by Zhao Jun and Mu Shaoyu, Mu Shaoyu suddenly called out to him, "Qiao Ting, sorry for earlier."
Qiao Ting glanced at him calmly and asked, "Sorry? What for? We're not gossiping aunties. Why should we quibble with others?" He had not been bothered by the opponent's words to begin with — this type of low-level methods ... he, Qiao Ting, did not think much of it.
Qiao Ting's words made Zhao Jun and Mu Shaoyu laugh, and there was a sense of the tension of unresolved emotions dissipating. At this time, Han Yu also walked over and with a hint of pride on his face, he said, "Qiao Ting, during this time, I am no longer the regiment commander of Wuji!" The connotation being that he would cooperate in playing the role of being purely a member of the First Men's Military Academy for this duration of time.
Although Han Yu's attitude was not the best, his words truly showed that he was willing to lay aside all grudges for now to work together. This result pleased everyone else there — the rather motley group which struggled to cooperate thus far had finally stepped onto the right track.
Ling Lan did not know that her offhand remark would lead the First Men's Military Academy to be united like never before; she had set down solid foundations for the final battle royal.
Very quickly, the afternoon arrived. Qiao Ting, Ling Lan, and the rest once again came to the combat field to wait for the organizers to announce the name list for the matchups of the top 32. The announcement time was set as 1 p.m. — Ling Lan peered at the time displayed on the large screen and saw that there was still about half an hour before then.
As all the participating students of the top 32 round had come to the backstage to wait, the initially empty and spacious backstage was now rather crowded. In particular, it was packed three layers thick on top of another three layers thick before the large screen.
"Ah ah! We still came too late," said Mu Shaoyu regretfully, looking at that large pile of people before the screen. He really did not have the confidence to squeeze his way through that many hulking stout men.
Nonchalantly, Zhao Jun said, "We'll definitely find out what the results are eventually. We don't have to rush it down to this minute and this second."
Ling Lan had even less interest to go squeeze with the crowd and be squished — she immediately sought out an empty corner and sat down. With Little Four around, even if she did not stand watch in front of the large screen, she would still be able to get the match-up lists at soonest notice.
Seeing Ling Lan find an empty spot and sit down, Qiao Ting also found a spot three seats down from her and sat down. Seeing that both their public leader and secret leader had chosen to sit down and wait, the other three very quickly found seats as well and sat down.
Soon, half an hour had passed. In their drowsiness, they heard someone shout out, "The name list is out!"
In her seat, Ling Lan was resting with her eyes closed, utterly still, just as if she were completely unmoved by this, her expression calm and centred. This patient and unruffled demeanour affected Zhao Jun and the others as well — they saw that the area around the screen was even more crowded now due to that shout, and so they did not stand up either. They decided to wait till the crowd dispersed before going to take a look.
In reality, Ling Lan did not move because she had already received the match-up list. Little Four was as reliable as always, stealing a copy of the name list as soon as it came out.
The First Men's Military Academy's opponent was the military academy from planet Tianyu 1 . The Tianyu Military Academy was ranked number 32 in the entire Federation, thus making it the weakest among all of the military academies, even worse than the Tongli Military Academy. For them to win three matches against the super strong First Men's Military Academy ... hehe, unless the First Men's Military Academy dropped the ball themselves, it would be completely impossible. It should be said that as soon as the match-up list was out, the First Men's Military Academy already had half a foot into the top 16.
On the other end, when Jiang Shaoyu from the Second Men's Military Academy found out who his academy's opponent was, his brow furrowed lightly. Their opponent was the rank 22 academy whose mecha operators were all pretty strong. He would have to think well on the matches to win three of them.
Jiang Shaoyu had been feeling very stressed in the past few rounds; having been banned for five rounds, he was very afraid that his academy's team would encounter a strong team early on. The First Men's Military Academy had been thoroughly studied by the other schools, but they still managed to enter the top 32 with little trouble due to their formidable strength. In contrast, the Second Men's Military Academy had had to take great pains to change their line-up and come up with versatile arrangements to avoid pitfall after potential pitfall, shakily making their way into the top 32. There had even been a few matches where there was a certain element of luck to their victory, making Jiang Shaoyu's heartrate swing high and low, enduring quite an ordeal. Without him to hold the fort, the strength of the other mecha operators of the Second Men's Military Academy was just too average, not much different than that of the other military academies. This was another reason why the Second Men's Military Academy was finding it difficult to advance.
Jiang Shaoyu then went on to inquire about the opponent of the First Men's Military Academy. When he learned that it was the Tianyu Military Academy, he could not help but envy and hate the First Men's Military Academy for their amazing luck, actually being matched against the weakest academy of the top 32. Barring any accidents, they were almost confirmed to advance into the top 16.
Reality turned out as Jiang Shaoyu had predicted. Against Tianyu, the First Men's Military Academy won a clean set of three straight matches to advance to the top 16. It should be said that this kind of outcome did not surprise the audience. What did surprise the audience was that the First Men's Military Academy's thus far fixed and unchanging battle line-up had changed.
The first to fight had actually been Qiao Ting. When the large screen displayed the pair for the first match, the appearance of Qiao Ting's name had gobsmacked the entire audience. In everyone's impression, Qiao Ting had always been the one to hold the fort and fight last. They had never expected to see the day where he would play the role of vanguard.
As Qiao Ting being the first to take the stage had shocked the audience so much, whoever took the stage after that could no longer shock the audience as much. Even though the second to take the field was Ling Lan, and the third was Zhao Jun, and the two of them were nothing to sneeze at, the audience was still not as stirred up after that.
For this round, the First Men's Military Academy had seemed to be using a regressive line-up, with the strongest coming out first and the weakest coming out last. In the eyes of the audience, this kind of arrangement was an extremely retarded move. If not for the fact that the members of the First Men's Military Academy were overall stronger than the opponents by a head, this kind of retarded arrangement might have caused them to be eliminated right in the top 16 round.
The afternoon matches did not end there — once the top 16 were determined, the round for the top 16 into the top 10 began immediately after. First, the 16 remaining academies were matched up to fight to determine the top 8. From there, the losing 8 academies would again fight against one another until the final 2 spots in the top 10 could be determined.
This time, the First Men's Military Academy's opponent was the Federal Defence Military Academy which was part of the top 10 in the past. Compared to the Tianyu Military Academy, the Federal Defence Military Academy was much stronger. Due to the First Men's Military Academy line-up in their last round, after much consideration, the Federal Defence Military Academy decided to arrange their line-up in the following sequence of strength: 5, 1, 2, 3, 4.
However, the line-up of the First Men's Military Academy had changed again this time. The first to fight was Mu Shaoyu — with his strength at the top-level of special-class operator, he felt no pressure at all against his opponent who was someone who had just advanced to special-class operator level. He managed to gain the upper hand right from the start, and after 30 plus moves, he had completely whittled away all of the opponent's points to clinch the opening victory.
Many of the audience believed that the First Men's Military Academy had regained their reason and would now arrange their line-up in a logical order, but the second person to step out once again upended this view — Qiao Ting had been sent out again!
This unexpected opponent here left the Defence Academy students beating their chests in frustration — their second fighter was the one they had pinned their hopes on to win their first match for them; he was the strongest special-class operator in their military academy. However, even the strongest special-class operator had no chance of winning against the ace operator Qiao Ting.
Here, the Defence Academy cadets were even a little suspicious — while they had been arranging their line-up, had there been a First Men's Military Academy's spy by their sides who had stolen this intel for the opponent? Of course, this was impossible. The Defence Academy cadets were well aware that this was just a spur of the moment insight on the part of their opponents. It could only be said that the First Men's Military Academy was just too lucky (having calculated things so accurately?).
Having lost two matches in a row, the Federal Defence Military Academy had their backs to the wall now. Their only hope was that the third person to fight for the First Men's Military Academy would be their weakest member — this way, they could still win one match with their second strongest operator and save some face. However, reality was cruel. When Zhao Jun stepped up, they knew that their hopes were dashed.
Zhao Jun, who was a special-class operator endlessly close to breaking through to ace level, the third rank of the single mecha combat event ... how could he be someone the second strongest of their military academy could defeat? Sure enough, once the two contestants started fighting, the Federal Defence operator was completely suppressed by Zhao Jun. After struggling to hold out for around 10 moves, he was defeated by three combo hits from Zhao Jun.
Just like this, the First Men's Military Academy won three straight sets, easily entering the top 10. This also pushed the Federal Defence academy who was initially part of the top 10 into the extra round, where they would have to fight with the other 7 military academies who had lost to fight for the final last spots in the top 10.
However, another military academy that was initially considered no weaker than the First Men's Military Academy unexpectedly lost as well, and that was the Second Men's Military Academy. This was the fifth round of Jiang Shaoyu's ban — as long as his academy could weather this round, Jiang Shaoyu would be able to officially take the field for the rest of the tournament.
But the Second Men's Military Academy's luck seemed to end here. Their opponent was the 7th strongest in the last tournament — their individual mecha's strengths might perhaps not be as good as Qiao Ting's or Jiang Shaoyu's or Lin Xiao's, but their overall strength was rather substantial. All six participating members were all at the top tier of special-class.
Although Jiang Shaoyu tried all kinds of methods to hold out for five rounds, his school still lost with a score of 2-3 in this latest round, resulting in the greatest upset this tournament thus far. Fortunately, they still had the opportunity to participate in the additional round to fight for the final two spots in the top 10 along with the other 7 defeated academies. In all this bad news, the Second Men's Military Academy still had the consolation of one piece of good news — Jiang Shaoyu would be able to officially take to the field again in the extra round. This significantly increased the chances of their school advancing into the top 10.
It should be said that Jiang Shaoyu's ban had lifted at a very timely moment. In the extra round, due to the presence of Jiang Shaoyu, after several tough matches, the Second Men's Military Academy obtained one of the final two tickets into the top 10 along with the Federal Defence Military Academy.
The finalisation of the top 10 also marked the end of the second day of the group mecha combat competition. The night passed in silence, and then it was the third and last day of the group mecha combat competition. On this day, the top 10 military academies would decide the final champions and runner-ups, as well as the rest of the ranking. The top 10 academies were rubbing their metaphorical palms in anticipation, prepared to go all out to bring honour to their school.
In the morning, the top 4 would be decided. The original top 8 would be paired up to compete against one another, with the winners becoming the tentative top 4. At this time, the two academies who had obtained the final two spots in the top 10 would be able to challenge any of the defeated four academies. If they succeeded in their challenge, they would be able to continue on to challenge one of the top 4, and if they succeeded in that challenge as well, they would replace their opponent to become a top 4 candidate.
Likewise, if any of the four defeated academies managed to defend and hold their ground against that first round challenge, they would also earn the right to challenge any of the top 4 academies again. If their challenge succeeded, they too could replace the opponent as one of the top 4. Thus, a first round win here at this stage of the competition did not mean that the winner would be able to laugh till the end.
Very soon, the top 8 into top 4 matches begun. The closer to the end of the competition, the narrower the gap between the strengths of the respective academies became. It was possible for either side to win or lose. The First Men's Military Academy's opponent was the Jingan Military Academy, ranked number 6.
The Jingan Military Academy was very strong, but when they found out that their opponent was the First Men's Military Academy, their expressions became very troubled. No matter when, the First Men's Military Academy was not an opponent any military academy would like to meet early on in the competition.
It could not be helped. In terms of mecha piloting, the First Men's Military Academy was clearly a head above all of the other military academies. Even though the First Men's Military Academy had always ended up ranking second in the Grand Mecha Tournament overall, they had still never lost the championship position in the mecha combat competition for both single mecha combat and group mecha combat. This also showed that the First Men's Military Academy was holding absolute dominance in the arena of mecha combat.
The Jingan Military Academy did not pull anything strange in their line-up. They arranged their members from the weakest to the strongest in ascending order. The First Men's Military Academy's strange and unfathomable line-ups in the previous two matches had made the Jingan Military Academy give up any thoughts of trying to take advantage of an opportunistic line-up.
Backstage, the five members of the First Men's Military Academy were huddled up together. With a sour expression, Mu Shaoyu asked, "Are we still going to continue using this method to arrange our line-up?"
Zhao Jun grinned and said, "Mu Shaoyu, don't you think this is very interesting?" Zhao Jun was very willing to play along with this; he felt that this way of arranging their line-up was very fun.
Han Yu's expression was filled with displeasure, just eager to get on with things. He tugged harshly on his own sleeves and said impatiently, "Hurry up, hurry up! It's almost time to submit our line-up!"
Qiao Ting frowned at Ling Lan and asked, "Will it be fine?"
Ling Lan quirked a brow and answered calmly, "We just need to win three matches." The implication being that she did not really care.
Qiao Ting glared pointedly at Ling Lan — this idea had been his to begin with, and now he was acting like all this had nothing to do with him ... it was really quite irritating. Qiao Ting turned to look at the other three there and said, "Let's do it!" He definitely would never admit that he too found this way of arranging their line-up rather exciting.
" Ping, Ling, Pang, Lang —— Cai 1 !" Following this cry by Mu Shaoyu, the five of them put out their hands!
"Haha, this time, I'll be the first to fight!" Zhao Jun raised his scissors-hand up high, laughing gleefully. The other four had actually all chosen to throw paper this round, and so he had managed a one-hit kill.
"Tsk, this guy is just too lucky, getting to be among the first three to fight for three times in a row!" Han Yu was unbelievably annoyed. He had already been unable to fight for two rounds already and was about to be bored to death. Tenaciously, Han Yu rolled his sleeves up high, and with the air of a gambler intent on turning things around, he shouted, "Once more!"
1. 没心没肺: The original phrase here is 'no heart no lungs', which can sometimes mean someone doesn't have any feelings/compassion, but here I took it to mean that Zhao Jun looked like he had no depth, an empty big well-built husk of a body.
2. 心胸气度: Literally 'heart and chest capacity and general air of bearing'. Generally used to refer to one's ability to be a bigger person. I like this definition by the Merriam-Webster dictionary for 'magnanimity' which explains the concept being conveyed here pretty well IMO. "Loftiness of spirit enabling one to bear trouble calmly, to disdain meanness and pettiness, and to display a noble generosity."
3. 天宇星: Well, if I had to translate it out, this would be 'planet Skyworld', which is ... meh. So, I chose to leave it in pinyin.
4. Think of this like the utterance for a kids' game, like 'iniminimainimo' or 'alakazam, walakazoo', etc. It doesn't particularly mean anything.
Chapter 466 - Where Is Your Moral Integrity?
The four of them once again put their hands forwards. Han Yu stared with red eyes at the scissors his hands had formed, so angry that he wished to just chop it off. Why did you play scissors? Why did you play scissors? Damm*t, couldn't you have stretched out three more fingers? His entire face a rictus of violent fury, passers-by who inadvertently looked in their direction were instantly sent scurrying back three feet away in fear ...
'My luck is just too horrible!' Han Yu was so frustrated he was gnashing his teeth. The other three had all played rock; he was the only one to play scissors. According to the rules, he was instantly relegated to the final spot, becoming the last person to fight this round. It sounded great, as he would be the finale act, but the problem here was that the four people before him were all like godd*mn bloody wolves and tigers ... would they even give him the chance to come out and fight? Would they? Would they? Would they?! Even thinking with your butt you would know that this was absolutely impossible.
"This round doesn't count!" All worked up, Han Yu demanded this outcome be repealed. Having lost so badly, he had long stopped acting like a gentleman who would never regret a play he had made.
Mu Shaoyu and Qiao Ting, who had been standing beside Han Yu, did not hesitate to grab Han Yu when he displayed such petty behaviour. They summarily tossed him out of their circle — since you have lost, then scram and stay at the side and be quiet. What do you think you're doing blabbering nonsense here?
They were not so stupid as to let a competitor who had already been defeated have a second chance to overturn the results.
Zhao Jun, who already had the right to the opening fight in hand, consoled him with some unholy glee in his tone, "Oh Han Yu, let it go. You'll still have a chance next round!" This sort of insincere consolation was like sprinkling salt on an open wound, instantly enraging the already sullen Han Yu. With a roar, he leapt at Zhao Jun.
The two of them did not use any physical skills, relying solely on the strength of their bodies to grapple with each other. That stance and that momentum ... it was truly the epitome of classical wrestling.
Qiao Ting, Mu Shaoyu, and Ling Lan all wore calm expressions, completely indifferent to the ruckus beside them. The gazes of the three were extraordinarily cold, radiating with powerful fighting spirit. No one was willing to give up on the two slots left among the first three to fight in this round. They all knew that no matter who would be the first three to fight, those three would definitely not show any mercy and give the two members after them the chance to take the field ...
"Ping, Ling, Pang, Lang —— Cai!" shouted the three of them in unison, playing their hands at the same time ...
Draw!
Draw!
Draw!
Ten consecutive draws were enough to show how fierce the battle was among the three. None of them were willing to ease up and take a step back.
"Senior Qiao, you are the number one of our military academy. You are most suited to be the last to fight." After a long fruitless struggle, Ling Lan threw a cold glance over at the stern-faced Qiao Ting beside her and began to prod at him verbally. In order to obtain victory, Ling Lan had made a sneaky move!
"Yeah, Qiao Ting, you've already fought for two consecutive rounds already. You can't keep all the good things for yourself — that'll incite the wrath of the heavens! It's time you take a rest. It's our turn now." Mu Shaoyu's eyes lit up at Ling Lan's words and he immediately jumped on board to put pressure on Qiao Ting.
Qiao Ting's gaze narrowed at their words, revealing a flash of coldness. He asked in return, "Junior Ling, as a junior, you should know how to respect your elders. How can you fight with your seniors?!"
"Yes, yes, Junior Ling, just cede these two matches to your seniors, okay?" Mu Shaoyu also felt that what Qiao Ting said made sense, so he instantly jumped ship to stand on Qiao Ting's side, turning against Ling Lan.
Fight, fight! Only this way would he be able to sneak profit amidst danger 1 and obtain a spot among the first three to fight ... Mu Shaoyu's eyes glittered, glee blooming in his heart 2 as he did his best to fan the flames between his other two competitors.
Qiao Ting and Ling Lan had already locked horns — their sharp gazes clashed against the other's, neither willing to back down.
Just as Mu Shaoyu thought that the two would definitely decide a winner between the two of them, they both suddenly turned to look at him and shouted in unison, "Rock!"
Mu Shaoyu's reflexes were extremely fast — without conscious thought, his hand had already stretched out to obediently play rock.
Looking down at the paper Qiao Ting and Ling Lan had both played, Mu Shaoyu was livid. He pointed a shaking finger at the two of them, looking to be on the verge of fainting as he said, "You two actually tricked me! That's too shameless!"
Sob sob sob ... and these two were their public and internal regiment commanders too! Where was their moral integrity? Where, where, where?! Mu Shaoyu was bawling in his heart, silently berating himself for having such quick reflexes, accidentally falling for their trick just like that.
"Idiot!" Qiao Ting and Ling Lan glanced coldly at Mu Shaoyu, scorn in their eyes. With that standard of his, actually thinking to fan the flames between them and benefit from their discord 1 ?
Mu Shaoyu was an old rival of Qiao Ting's, so Qiao Ting was naturally well aware of Mu Shaoyu's strengths and weaknesses. As for Ling Lan, after this period of observation combined with the data Little Four had gathered, she too had learned of Mu Shaoyu's characteristics. Qiao Ting and Ling Lan both knew very well that, among the three of them, the easiest person to handle would be Mu Shaoyu. If the two of them really went after each other, it would definitely end with an internecine outcome, which would just ultimately benefit Mu Shaoyu.
The two of them were intelligent people — of course they would not give Mu Shaoyu the chance to profit from their discord. When the two of them had locked gazes, they had already come to a mutual agreement to work together and trick Mu Shaoyu.
Reeling back their disdainful gazes, their eyes met once more as they focused on the final battle between themselves.
Qiao Ting and Ling Lan were completely ignoring him now. Knowing that the outcome had already been set in stone, Mu Shaoyu mournfully squatted in a corner in the backstage area, comforting his poor little wounded soul. He silently bit on his little handkerchief 1 , poking at the ground grumpily, thinking: Villains, villains, they're both villains ...
Ling Lan and Qiao Ting's contest proceeded in a tense silence. Together, they threw out their hands and both of them played rock ...
Ling Lan raised her head and said, "Senior Qiao should play paper!"
Qiao Ting's eyebrows lifted — when did this Junior Ling become so kind, willing to let him win?
And then Ling Lan continued to say, "I'm very interested in scissors!"
D*mn you and your scissors — aren't you just trying to beat me? Qiao Ting replied with a stony expression, "Well, I like to play rock!" Got you! Punk!
Ling Lan raised her head to look calmly at Qiao Ting, her eyes so bright that Qiao Ting's heart was already shouting that things were not good ...
"Senior Qiao is too kind. Actually, I like playing paper!" And with that, Ling Lan did not wait for Qiao Ting to respond, immediately walking over to the staff member to report their line-up for this round.
"This punk!" Qiao Ting's teeth were aching from his frustration. He was so bloody irritating! Actually setting up a verbal trap ... just a moment of inattention and the other had taken advantage of it. Still, he was still part of the first three to fight, so Qiao Ting wasn't all that displeased. He just felt that it was a shame that he had not managed to suppress Ling Lan a little.
Seeing that Ling Lan had gone up to submit their line-up, Han Yu, who was already tired from fighting, finally stopped, and Mu Shaoyu had also recovered from the mental blow he had received to stand up once again. The two of them shared a commiserating look, mourning their misfortune together. They knew very well that they would not have any screen time again this round. The three people before them ... leaving aside Qiao Ting, who needed no mention, even if they did not want to admit it in their hearts, they had no choice but to acknowledge that the other two were indeed stronger than they were by a little. It was a very remote possibility for them to make a mistake and lose ...
Just like that, amidst the sorrows of Han Yu and Mu Shaoyu, the curtains rose on the matches between the First Men's Military Academy and the Jingan Military Academy ...
On the large screen, the names of the first pair to fight appeared. When they saw Zhao Jun's name, the Jingan Military Academy could not help but curse mentally. What in the world was up with the First Men's Military Academy's line-up? Sending their second strongest to fight right off the bat?
In the audience's eyes, Ling Lan, who had been hiding her true strength all this while, ranked third or fourth among the five representatives of the First Men's Military Academy for this group mecha combat event. They believed that she was only a little stronger than Han Yu, at about the same level as Mu Shaoyu but weaker than Zhao Jun by a little. And of course, she could not be compared at all with the ace operator Qiao Ting.
This misperception of the audience was due to Zhao Jun performing so well in the single mecha combat event, forcing a draw with an ace operator at just special-class operator level himself. This result was just too shocking, leading everyone there to believe that Zhao Jun as a special-class operator was an existence who had no rival below ace level. As such, it made complete sense for Zhao Jun to be considered the second strongest in the First Men's Military Academy after Qiao Ting.
Zhao Jun's appearance crushed the hopes of the Jingan contingent for the first match. How could they compete against someone who could force a draw with an ace operator? With this fearful mentality before the fight had even begun, the Jingan mecha operator behaved extremely cautiously from the very beginning of the match. Initially quite strong, he actually only managed to display 70 to 80 percent of his true strength due to this negative mindset.
This caused the difference between Zhao Jun and him to be highlighted even more starkly. Zhao Jun, who had initially intended to have a grand all-out fight, efficiently struck the opponent's cold weapon from his mecha's hands after only 20 moves, easily obtaining the first victory of the round.
Having lost the first match, the Jingan Military Academy could only place their hopes on the second match. For this match, they hoped that Qiao Ting would be the one to appear because they had placed their second weakest member there in hopes of wasting the strength of the strongest mecha operator of the First Men's Military Academy. Then again, they also hoped that the First Men's Military Academy would send out someone of average strength so they could win a match first ...
After a 15-minute recess, the dark large screen finally lit up again to display the following words: "The First Men's VS Jingan — 2nd match: Ling Lan VS Zhu Jing."
"It's Ling Lan! That super newbie who created a new technique!" The appearance of Ling Lan's name caused a commotion among the audience. The response of the audience was even more passionate than when Zhao Jun had taken the field — it looked like the appearance of a new technique had indeed earned Ling Lan some degree of fame within the Federation.
The Jingan Military Academy saw who the First Men's Military Academy had sent and their hearts sank. Compared to Ling Lan, they really wished that it could have been Han Yu or Mu Shaoyu instead, because they were very familiar with those two, having studied their operation style and attack methods very thoroughly, even having conducted targeted training with them in mind. Up against them, Jingan was confident that there was the possibility of victory ...
But this Ling Lan was very mysterious — he had not participated in the single mecha combat event, and in the group mecha combat event, he had only come out to fight two times thus far. These two times had shown Jingan his excellent long-range skills as well as his perfect foundational attacks ... but that was all!
Everyone knew that a special-class operator could not only have mastered some basic attacks; they must have some sure-kill special techniques which were a mark of being a special-class operator ... this was undoubtedly a dangerous thing. If they did not know what special moves the opponent was proficient in, they would not be able to prepare any special defences. Therefore, it would be very easy for the opponent to flip the tables on them at a critical moment. This was another reason why Jingan was so apprehensive of Ling Lan.
"I hope Zhu Jing can perform well and win us this match!" Jingan's strongest mecha operator, who was also their representative team leader, finally placed their hopes on Zhu Jing. If Zhu Jing could successfully take this match, then they would have hopes of obtaining the final victory.
1. 火中取栗: Cutely enough, the original phrase here is 'to steal chestnuts from within a fire'.
2. T/C: Oh dear, I sense a flag here. The flag of misfortune. Prepare yourself, Mu Shaoyu ...
3. 渔翁得利: The original phrase here is from a short parable. The full phrase being 鹬蚌相争,渔翁得利. Literally translated, the full phrase goes 'when the snipe and mussel fight, the fisherman profits'. In the parable, a snipe and a mussel were fighting, because the snipe wanted to eat the mussel and the mussel naturally did not want to die. Neither wanted to give way, so they were locked in battle together when a passing fisherman came by and caught them both.
Mu Shaoyu was planning to be the fisherman in the story, but snipe Ling and mussel Qiao were just too smart for him. Lol.
4. Please refer to chapter 446 for a review of this saying. It was used in relation to Li Shiyu there.