Lu Ju felt her scalp go numb, realizing she was no match for Ji Heng alone. Lu Ju, for the first time, resented the recognition of such a disparity, unable to fearlessly confront Ji Heng.
Xiang Cha: "Whatâs happening?"
"Iâll explain when I get back." Lu Ju chose to retreat.
Neither side gained any advantage the first time they encountered the Vegetable Farmer Team. They previously thought that with tacit cooperation, they could at least tie with the Vegetable Farmer Team.
It seemed they could only rely on cunning. Ji Heng was more of a bug than the Yun Ji people, with formidable combat power and hidden effects.
...
As soon as Peony exited the game, she attempted to report Ji Heng for cheating, but was quickly proven wrong.
The AI filed the complaint immediately. Seeing Ji Hengâs superpower, Xiao Zhi didnât know whether to report to the military or the Law Enforcement Department.
Because Xiao Zhi had instructions that any "Superpower User" should be reported to the military first, to better protect the geniusâs information.
However, the protocol stipulated that any cheating complaint had to be reported to the Law Enforcement Department.
After weighing it, Xiao Zhi asked the senior Wisdom 03 for advice on how to handle it.
Wisdom 03 genuinely believed Xiao Zhi needed an upgrade, as its intelligence seemed problematic, "Is the opponentâs behavior considered cheating?"
"No, itâs not."
"Then just report it to the military."
Xiao Zhi found it reasonable, "Thank you, Brother Three Three."
Xiao Zhiâs report startled the five Admirals.
The second son of the Ji Family had such an extraordinary superpower, it was virtually a cheating machine.
Wu Qingqingâs stunning shot was still much admired by the five Admirals, who wanted to recruit her, but since Admiral Bai had already made a move, they couldnât act.
Now with Ji Hengâs "Dead Objectification" superpower, even with Admiral Baiâs obstruction, they had to compete for him.
Xiao Zhi was still waiting for a response from the military.
Admiral Bai replied first, "Tell the complainant everything is normal."
He then turned to contact Su Xiaocai, asking what was going on with Ji Heng, and whether anyone else had superpowers, and if she had a way to trigger superpowers without causing genetic collapse.
Su Xiaocai sent six dots and then told him, "Just as you saw, once he joins the military, just take extra care of him. Whether I have methods to trigger superpowers, you donât have to worry about it. Iâm not a charity organization here."
Admiral Bai stroked his chin.
Well, it seemed Su Xiaocai was starting to ask for something.
She didnât say what she wanted, but he had to show sincerity.
Indeed, the free things were always the most expensive, and he had no choice but to ponder what would exchange for what she had.
Xiao Zhi reported back to Peony, making her furious enough to smash the simulation pod. If it werenât for the note saying the response was from the Law Enforcement Department, she would have thought it was the Extraordinary Island AI playing tricks.
The complaint was futile, so the only option left was to ask the coach what was going on.
The Miracle Patchi Coach, who was constantly watching the student live streams, was studying how big the gap was between his first team students and the Vegetable Farmer Team to catch up during the competition.
But his information collection wasnât enough, and he hadnât thoroughly understood the capabilities of each "Vegetable Farmer," now having to deal with a new "cheating" issue.
Although there were some people in the first team with "cheating" capabilities, which were superpowers.
But having a superpower didnât mean you could win, as of all the superpowers discovered by humanity so far, or the ones the Miracle Patchi Coach had seen, very few were so overt.
Ji Hengâs mecha piloting skills were impeccable and loved by all the coaches. Combined with a superpower, the Miracle Patchi Coach couldnât help wishing he were on his team.
Peony explained the situation to him. Her account was accurate, but the matter of superpowers wasnât known to everyone.
This issue, even if it got out, would be difficult to explain.
Because this was the wondrous transformation happening within a human body.
"Donât worry, itâs not cheating, just compete as usual."
Peony put away her indignation, sat woodenly, "Such an outstanding person, if you coached him, he would surely be even better," Peony believed Su Xiaocai had buried Ji Heng.
The Miracle Patchi Coach chewed his gum and felt envious, yes, very envious.
He also wished to affirm Peonyâs statement, but couldnât.
"What are you thinking about? Go read the online reviews more often. My team members have superpowers, and I may not be able to discover them. Just within her team of ten, there are two Superpower Users, maybe more, proving that her eye for talent and training direction is not wrong."
Peony pouted, she just didnât want to admit that the schoolâs second team had such a big gap with the military training Vegetable Farmer Team.
Having nothing else to do, she returned to her pod to watch the live stream.
Lu Ju ran away in fright, Ji Li tossed aside the already damaged Magnetic Blade Short Knife, and the bluff worked.
If Lu Ju hadnât left and wanted to fight him, he might have not been able to win completely since the mechaâs two energy devices seemed to have some issues, consuming energy too quickly.
When the energy ran out, he would be vulnerable to counterattacks.
He packed up his things and carried them back to the camp.
This time, the camp could be freely accessed, with no restrictions on how long they stayed.
As expected, the balance of the competition venue was that the more advanced the camp, the higher the defense, and the more strictly the entry time was controlled.
Like now, this simple camp allowed them to stay as long as they wanted.
Upon returning, Ji Heng put down the supply pack and checked its contents. There were relatively more weapons compared to previous packages.
It included ten tracking missiles, a ballistic launcher, a Magnetic Blade Long Knife, and high explosive grenades.
Then there was a large pile of nutrition pills and parts.
"My mechaâs energy device is having some problems, can it be fixed first?" Ji Heng asked Li Leilei, "Is there anything I can do to help you?"
Li Leilei: "Drone assembly, come on, finish assembling and send them out."
The hastily assembled drones were one-use items and required no major technology, mainly carrying ground detectors for landing.
The ground detector was a tennis ball-sized wheel that sent out special wavelengths, allowing Li Leilei to map out distant areas through feedback.
There was a lot of stuff at the camp; it was a bit messy.
Li Shanchun, who didnât understand assembly, was assigned by Li Leilei to sort out materials.
He liked powerful weapons, and asked: "Can we get some chain mines?"
"First, put the stuff away properly. Otherwise, itâs easy for us to blow ourselves up," Li Leilei warned after asking if they wanted a video recording.
She watched the playback at five times the speed.
Li Leilei looked serious, Ji Hengâs wasnât particularly notable, but it was Li Shanchunâs turn.
When she saw him throw mud blobs at me in red underwear, Li Leilei asked Li Shanchun, "Where did you get so much water?"
There wasnât much water in this area; only Ji Heng went to the farthest drop-off point and found a river, which was polluted.
"I used nutrition pills," Li Shanchun responded naturally, "They gave so many nutrition pills. Can a competition last several months between just two small teams?"
Several months referred to the competition time, not real time.
The communication stayed open; Hu Ping, upon hearing this, quietly gave a thumbs-up. Heâd merely given Li Shanchun an idea, and Li Shanchun ingeniously used nutrition pills as water.
Upon replay, would the Vegetable Farmer Team be cursed like dogs by some backward planets?
"Da Chun, youâre invincible. Youâre our best teammate."
A word of praise really swelled Li Shanchunâs ego.
He puffed out his chest, "You can compliment me more."
Li Leilei replayed Hu Pingâs video twice, "Da Chun, youâve really done something remarkable."
Praised face-to-face, Li Shanchun blushed shyly, "Even if you praise me, I wonât get arrogant."
Wu Feiyang lightly scoffed, "Alright, alright, youâre not arrogant, just cocky."
What were Hu Ping and Wu Feiyang up to? Naturally, they were tracking down the camp in the direction of Lu Ju and Xiang Chaâs retreat.
The competition rules were simple: either take down the opponents until they surrender, or destroy their camp.
Based on the direction of Lu Juâs retreat, it could basically be determined that their camp was in one direction.
The route was about the same, but the Miracle Patchi camp seemed to be in a large old building.
An underground city was hidden beneath.
From a distance, there was a peculiar structure above ground, but it was clear that only a part was exposed above the surface.
Hu Ping dared not move any closer, so they dismounted from their mechas, concealed themselves in rock fissures, and peered at the distant underground city through binoculars.