288 Missing.
After the battle ended, Shi Lang stood in the arena with a sword in his hand. The people could not see his face but they could tell that he did not care about killing the second pilot of the Saladar empire. His mood was very calm as if a sea in spring.
The staff quickly acted and they all cleared up the debris on the ground, and before Arianta could say anything, the third opponent from the other side had walked over. The lady was helpless, this seemed to be happening a bit too frequently.
Even if they have put forward the challenge of cycle battles, it was still the best of three, and Shi Lang had won two rounds. She wanted to refuse but the crowd was exploding in cheers. They were anticipating this battle.
The Saladar captain looked at Shi Lang and said, “I will kill you.”
Shi Lang did not say anything to him but only raised his free hand and pointed at him with one finger. His action was very insulting and the enemy was even more eager to charge at Shi Lang.
Arianta sighed and said, “Let the battle begin.”
She did not go much into details because this fight was farming a lot of viewership and the higher-ups had told her to jump right into it. She made her way to the Terran observation room and was shocked by the thick murderous intention coming from everyone.
Jane looked at her and said, “We have guests.”
The murderous intention vanished in a blink. Arianta asked, “Can I disturb you all with a quick question?”
Jane nodded and the hostess continued, “I was very curious and confused about the gesture, Leader Ace made just now. Can you tell us what did it mean?”
Lucas said, “He will finish this fight with one blow. Do not think he is looking down on the enemy, but he will be using his best attack to deal with the obstacle in front of him. That is what he meant.”
Arianta nodded and just as she was about to ask something, the monitoring station speaker let out a sound, “Neural Link, initiated.”
She understood that the people were not lying to her, initiating the neural link meant that the pilot was going to push the limits of his body and mecha.
…
On the field, Shi Lang held the sword to the side, with the tip pointing at the ground diagonally. The computer finished the timer and the battle began.
Just when the people were thinking that the Saladarian pilot will push himself to the edge, the person in question seemed to have frozen, in his spot. Shi Lang had used the sonar system in the mecha to project his brain wave in form of sound waves.
This technique was something he comprehended a few days ago during a battle. Since his brain was connected to the Mecha, he could control every single part of the metal giant. Even if it was a bolt in the mecha, that was under his control, just an analogy.
The brain wave he projected was a spell, the Shura Domain.
The saladar leader was now standing surrounded by a thousand copies of the Terran Mecha. He was fighting again and again, but the enemy was killing him over and over again. He had no idea how much time has passed but he was not able to move ahead or take down the enemy.
He was shocked, he was not a fool to not realize that he was trapped in an illusion. However, despite knowing this, he was not able to break through the illusion, suddenly, the shadows vanished, and then all he saw was a shadow falling on his head.
The saladar leader was ready to embrace death, he knew that the enemy was not a soft-hearted person who might spare him. But he woke up when he heard a loud sighing sound from the crowd. He opened his eyes and found that the sword had sliced through the mecha but the edge stopped three inches away from his forehead. If he was to move, then the edge might slice him in two.
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, mixed with his ego, and said, “We cannot compare, we admit defeat.”
Shi Lang looked at him and found that the host was not on the site. He turned his head and found the person to be standing in his observation room. Arianta sensed his gaze and her body experienced a chill running through her body.
She instantly appeared in the void above the arena and said, “Winner, Ace.”
The crowd was shocked, they did not even comprehend what happened, to them, the Saladar leader was standing and allowing Shi Lang to kill him, however, the Terran pilot stopped the moment before his sword could see blood.
The result was announced but the pilots did not move from their spots. The Saladar leader asked, “Why?”
Shi Lang replied, “Your pilots followed your order and they pointed the intent to kill, thus they died. Since it was your order that sent them to their deaths, why should you have an easy way out? From now on live with the burden of their deaths, if you are a man, then carry this weight with pride as your soldiers did not hesitate, however, if you are a coward, the choice is yours.”
That said, he retracted his sword and turned around to walk away. Showing your back to the enemy had a great meaning, either you trusted the person’s character, or you did not put them in your eyes. Shi Lang was the person who did not put a defeated enemy in his eyes.
He walked back to dock the mecha below the observation room and jumped back inside. He did not care about the reward or the price. Next was going to be a five-way match and only the last one standing will be able to reach the finals.
Shi Lang was going to prepare; his mind was calm but a lot of things were still yet to be done.
…
Shashi was drinking a cup of tea when he heard the statement Shi Lang gave after defeating Saladar, and spewed it out. He stood up from his chair and rushed to meet the team. He was not prepared for such a thing to happen, after all, the cycle battle was a lowly tactic, who will initiate it? To consume the energy of the person inside, this tactic was used, but in the end, the result was still the same.
The federal team stood undefeated. Shashi wanted to go and congratulate them and also talk to them about the next round. The envoy reached the observation room and found it empty. He made his way to the mech bay and found it empty as well.
He was confused and worried about where might the people be. He found a bench and sat down on it before he called them, the call was picked up and Shashi shot off, “Where the fuck are you guys, I have been looking for you like a fool.”
On the other end a voice sounded, “Hehe, you do not need to know, who we are little envoy, just follow the command if you want your people to come back. At this moment, they are fine and fancy, but I do not know for how long can they be like this.”
Shashi was shocked, he did not expect such a thing to happen, however, since the other party could take over the federal communicators, they must have a higher level of technological achievement.
The envoy calmed himself down and asked, “What do you need me to do?”
“Hahaha, you are a good boy, what you need to do is to have your people, forfeit the competition. I do not wish to see you in the arena and rain on my parade.”, said the other party.
Shashi calmed himself forcefully and then said, “I cannot do this on my own, give me some time to contact the president. Give me twelve hours.”
The other party shook his head and said, “Do not reach of the mile when given an inch. Your people are under my control. If you care about them do as I say, you have twenty four hours, goodbye.”
Shashi was shocked and then he contacted the galactic council board and the forces were mobilized to investigate and rescue. The next thing he did was to call the federation and discuss this with the president. However, he mentioned that the president must not tell the close ones or it will cause panic among the citizen.
This matter was then left for Shashi to deal with, while the president called the allies in the galaxy to help him find out about his people.
…
At this moment, in a dark room, twenty people sat in a circle and they were all meditating. They did not show any discomfort or panic, the reason was that it will not help them at all. The door of their room was pushed open and a man walked in while chuckling.
Shi Lang opened his eyes and the person froze.