Chapter 209: Smacked in the Face with a Xenobeast Corpse

"The most important thing is to stop him. If necessary, we can resort to certain tactics," Bader continued.

Though Bader hadn’t said it outright, Beau knew what he meant.

It was a friendly match, but Bader had no intention of losing. He had used a euphemism because everyone could hear what they were saying on the channel.

’Certain tactics,’ Beau knew, meant ’extreme measures.’

His Highness was, at his core, a fiercely competitive person. Having no rival his age in The Empire, he absolutely could not tolerate failure.

Objectively, however, Beau felt the match could go either way.

In fact, with Miles Sherman’s ability to nullify spiritual power and the dark horse Omega, Zoe Pierce, the Imperial Squad was even at a slight disadvantage.

After all, Miles Sherman and his squad were the cream of the crop in The Federation for their age group.

When two such forces clashed, one was bound to lose.

There was destined to be only one victor in their generation.

"Understood." He wouldn’t voice these thoughts, however.

He just needed to focus on doing his job. He glanced at Anna, who sat nearby, equally serious and focused. ’Sometimes, my own Omega is just like that—proud and fiercely competitive.’

Tsk. ’It’s a hopeless case.’

’Am I just destined to be attracted to people like that?’

They didn’t have to wait long. About ten minutes later, several clusters of lights appeared in the deep, black night.

"Whoo-hoo! Nathan, you called it again," Erin Xavier said from inside his mecha.

The other four were standing at the canyon entrance, clearly lying in wait for them.

Since they were all in mechas, the darkness barely affected their vision. Bader immediately recognized the lead mecha as Miles Sherman’s.

Long before the match, everyone had memorized the opposing team’s information, including their registered mecha models and appearances.

"Engage." Bader wasted no time. The key was one thing: speed.

Owen’s mecha surged forward, drawing its Longsword and swinging at Miles Sherman’s machine.

Relying on his Perception, Zoe Pierce wrenched his mecha around, drew a greatsword of his own, and blocked the attack.

Owen’s goal was to force the enemy mecha out of the area. As long as Miles Sherman was present, the Imperial Squad’s spiritual power was completely suppressed, while the Federal Squad remained unaffected.

That’s why his every attack was a series of wide, powerful swings.

It all happened so fast. Erin Xavier and his team hadn’t expected Owen to attack a mere five seconds after they met.

The mecha’s legs carved a deep trench in the snow as the massive inertia forced it back more than ten meters to the left.

A slight vibration could even be felt inside the Mech Bay.

Miles Sherman’s gaze remained fixed on the mecha before him. He was composed and said nothing.

Although things had happened so quickly that there was no time for him to switch places with Zoe Pierce, he wasn’t panicking.

Zoe Pierce’s every action was not only flawless but also perfectly timed.

There was no need for him to intervene at all.

Meanwhile, Beau intercepted Erin Xavier. He instantly expanded the Token to the size of a mecha. The sudden surge in weight was too much for Erin Xavier’s mecha’s arm to bear, and it slammed heavily onto the ground.

But the next second, as Beau approached, the Token immediately shrank to the size of a fist, and he grabbed it.

He turned to leave, shrinking the Token even smaller so that even if the Federal Squad tried to snatch it, they wouldn’t be able to find it.

But he had only taken two steps before his entire mecha felt as heavy as if it were carrying a mountain.

He was completely unable to move it.

’Shit, it’s Chase Shaw’s ability.’

Erin Xavier had already caught up from behind. He went straight for Beau’s mecha arm and struck it fiercely, causing the Token to slip from its fingers and bury itself deep in the snow.

In just a few short minutes, the Token had passed from the Federal Squad to the Imperial Squad, only to be knocked into the snow.

The audience, already buzzing with excitement at the sight of the two teams meeting, now didn’t dare to blink.

It was too fast.

Even though they had heard both sides strategizing, when the teams actually met, their reactions were purely instantaneous.

A clash of raw, savage mecha combat and strategic cunning.

Seeing that Beau was in trouble, Bader immediately moved to attack Chase Shaw.

Chase Shaw was forced to retract his spiritual power to deal with Bader.

The pressure on Beau’s mecha vanished, and he instantly looked down for the Token in the snow.

"Erin, half a meter to your right, one meter deep."

The Token emitted a signal, but it only gave a rough location. Just as Erin Xavier frowned and began searching for it, he heard Nathan Lockwood’s voice.

The moment his mecha’s hand reached down, Beau’s caught it, and an unavoidable struggle began.

Beau’s mecha forced the other’s hand down. The next moment, he shrank the Token again, until it was no bigger than a small building block.

Erin Xavier was getting seriously pissed off. It was too small, almost impossible to grab.

His mecha’s hand touched something in the snow. Without thinking, he grabbed it and flung it at Beau’s mecha.

Beau’s vision went dark. Before he could react, he felt the hand on his arm—Anna’s—instantly tighten.

When he looked again, a Xenobeast corpse was plastered across half of his mecha’s viewport.

The mecha reached up, tore it off, and tossed it to the ground.

The audience watching was completely overwhelmed, unable to keep up.

"Holy shit, this is so intense! So fast! Aaaah, this is insane!"

"That’s just dirty, Erin! Throwing a Xenobeast corpse on them, so disrespectful! Hahaha."

"Ah, who’s going to get the Token? Their reactions are all so fast!"

"Er... why are there so many corpses?"

"Is this some kind of Xenobeast mass grave?"

"What’s under the snow is kind of terrifying..."

The entire mood of the fight shifted when Erin Xavier proceeded to fling three or four more corpses, all identical to the first one.

Watching the footage, Quentin Ford’s expression grew increasingly grim.

A sharp-eyed viewer had already noticed. "These Xenobeasts... they look like the ones Bader’s team ran into earlier."

They had the same white fur, just in different sizes.

Their eyes were closed in death, making them hard to see clearly in the dark.

Quentin Ford gave a laugh of pure exasperation and turned to the person beside him. "Haven’t you found any in the other areas?"

"Haven’t you caught that Xenobeast yet?"

The person beside him replied, "That Xenobeast seems to be extremely good at hiding. A few cameras have caught glimpses of it, but it always gets away."

This Xenobeast was a little too good at escaping.

The snow concealed everything. If Beau hadn’t shrunk the Token, they never would have discovered the Xenobeast corpses.

"Nathan, help me find it again. Where is it now?" Erin Xavier said, getting annoyed as he watched Beau’s mecha standing motionless to the side.

’That guy Beau would rather keep the Token tiny than make it big enough for anyone to see.’

Looking over at Nathan Lockwood, he saw that Nathan was now tied up by another member of the Imperial Squad.

"Zoe, raise the right arm twenty degrees." Inside Miles Sherman’s mecha, seeing the next sword strike descending, he immediately ordered, "Power to one hundred and ten percent. We’re punching through."