Chapter 2: The Appearance of a Gentleman, Section 5

A network of spirits, a virtual world.
Yet the battles are incredibly real.
Just as the black-haired figure pulled down his hood, the massive silver figure across from him suddenly paused for a moment before charging forward without even a greeting. Standing ten meters tall, each step it took was over four meters long. The roar of its enormous engines filled the sky. After just five steps, its speed had reached an astonishing level. With every step, deep footprints were left on the hard plain ground, and massive clouds of dust erupted into the air. With a soft “click,” its giant two-handed sword was raised, drawing a shiny silver line through the air—so fast, it resembled a suddenly appearing venomous snake!

Two hundred meters was utterly insignificant in the face of the close-combat mecha’s explosive power. Although it was taller than KT05, piloted by the black-haired figure, its agility was no less. In an instant, the blade of its giant two-handed sword was right in front of KT05!

“Boom!”

The plain was instantly filled with dust. Large amounts of sand and stones spread rapidly, forming a yellow cloud covering dozens of square meters. It was as if a ferocious beast had swallowed the massive silver mecha whole. The visibility was so low that even the silver glow from the sword became blurred.

At the same time, a harsh metallic scraping sound suddenly arose, quickly turning into a continuous roar characteristic of accelerating engines. Soon after, a small figure rushed out of the dust.

No, it couldn’t be called rushing—it was more like sliding, and moreover, sliding backward. It was a strange posture: the knees slightly bent, the upper body tilted far back, causing the mecha’s center of gravity to drop significantly. The legs didn’t move at all, yet it slid across the ground at incredible speed. Sparks erupted from the protruding auxiliary engines due to friction, falling like rain. At this moment, KT05 resembled less a robotic humanoid and more a figure skater—specifically, one performing a backward slide.

“Bang bang bang…”

As it retreated rapidly, KT05’s shotgun fired first. Countless steel pellets sprayed out like a rainstorm, covering an area of several meters in the dust. Their powerful force mercilessly lifted the ground, lifting large chunks of rock before crushing them into powder in an instant.

Such a distance, such a range, such visibility. I’m afraid even if the silver mech had incredible explosive power, it couldn’t escape and fall into Black Hair’s plan.
No one wants to use a shotgun—not because it’s ineffective, but because they don’t know how to use it. Black Hair was almost certain that when this weapon was first discovered, people didn’t understand its strengths at all. Let alone realize just how terrifying its sudden explosive power could be from a distance of thirty meters.
Of course, if the opponent’s armor wasn’t so sturdy…
“Screech…”
A long trench was carved into the ground. After retreating fifty meters at full speed, KT05 finally slowed down. It spun in place to reduce its massive inertia, then straightened up. Its bright red electronic eyes contracted and expanded several times. With a “click,” the bolt was pulled back, and three huge shells were ejected, reflecting golden light in the sunlight.
The first round was complete.
At this moment, in front of Black Hair, everything was in chaos. The dozens of meters around, covered in dust and fog, had completely changed. The originally solid plain was now littered with countless pits, with rocks of various sizes scattered everywhere, as if repeatedly crushed by bulldozers. As a whirlwind blew through, the dust and fog thinned out quickly, clearing the view.
Revealed… that huge silver figure.
God only knows how it had defended itself just now. But it was obvious that Black Hair’s attacks hadn’t dealt it fatal damage. Its originally bright silver armor remained intact, though covered in numerous dents. Its giant two-handed sword, like a battle axe, landed precisely where KT05 had stood before, cutting a deep trench in the ground. After the dust cleared, this massive mech, resembling an ancient knight, finally moved a few times and slowly stood up.
“Bastard! Who the hell are you? Is this how you treat an instructor? Novice!”
An angry voice suddenly rang out across the plain, startling Black Hair.
What? An instructor?
Could it be that the pilot of this huge silver mech was an instructor?
Black Hair in the cockpit curled the corners of his mouth, revealing a strange expression.

It’s not really his fault for not knowing. In fact, within the mental network, there are many ways to upgrade one’s mech piloting rank. As long as one can successfully control the mech to perform some simple actions and be classified according to their respective uses, they can basically obtain an F-grade certification. Thus, whether it’s ordinary people who want to use mechs for daily work or mercenaries who rely on them for combat, the first two ranks are never obtained through challenges. Similarly, such common knowledge isn’t governed by any specific regulations.

But Hei Fa was after all an outsider, still getting familiar with this world, so naturally he couldn’t know about this “rule that isn’t a rule.” So he simply chose the simplest method for him—combat.

God only knows how much attention was drawn when this beginner’s challenge room appeared on the arena’s room list. As a kind reminder, the arena authorities promptly sent a D-grade combat instructor to investigate.

In their minds, they already regarded this as a farce.

A beginner without any piloting rank opening a challenge room for an infinite rank? Such fools hadn’t existed on Xieke Star in over a hundred years. Even the instructor sent was somewhat amused. Of course, the silent combat upon meeting was also his little joke.

But no one expected that this joke might go a bit too far.

“Crash!”

The silver mech, which had barely managed to stand up, suddenly took a step forward under the instructor’s angry manipulation. Yet before its massive dual swords could even be raised, they suddenly emitted a loud cracking sound. The entire mech then sank lower and collapsed.

“What!?”

The angry reproach quickly turned into a shocked exclamation. Under the instructor’s horrified gaze, he suddenly noticed that in the middle of his powerful close-combat mech, Silver Knight’s knees… there were already two deep pits.