"Naturally, my boyfriend is that talented," Lorelie said proudly as she heard Dulaebella's praise.
"I have to agree with Dulaebella on this. I have attended the UMB Cup competition many times now, and I don't think I have ever seen a mech pilot as skilled as Adam," Aphrodite remarked as she subtly crossed her long, sexual legs to hide the part between them that was getting wet before asking, "Where did he learn to pilot a mech so well?"
"No idea," Stacey replied.
"You've never asked?"
"This is also the first time I am seeing him pilot a mech in person, so the conversation has never come up."
"Why did you say it that way?"
"What way?"
"In person, why did you add in person instead of just saying the 'first time'?"
"Oh, errr, because I've seen him practice piloting in VR training; however, his moves never compared to what we are witnessing now," Stacey said as she quickly came up with an excuse.
"Hmmm," Aphrodite replied, though it was obvious she didn't quite believe Stacey.
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"Such a shame," Director Brarseth Opalbeard said with a sigh as he watched Spector Unit 6 evading the laser shots on the holographic screen before him.
"Director?" Maiya asked after hearing him speak.
"Oh, sorry, I was just thinking that it's a shame he's not part of the main competition," Director Opealbeard replied.
"It seems you agree with Dulaebella's statement on how talented Diva Lorelie's boyfriend is as a mech pilot."
"Indeed, we rarely see pilots of his calibre even in the UMB Cup."
💫💫💫
"And look at Spector Unit Six go, it's evading those laser shots from the turrets and other mechs that have now noticed him trying to pass them with the minimum of distance, damn, I wouldn't be surprised if the heat from those lasers sears some of the paint on the mech there passing that close," Honcho stated in excitement.
"It's not just how he's rolling, but he's strafing so slightly to avoid the laser shots that it almost seems like he didn't move, and the laser passed right through him," Raella remarked.
"Not only that, but pay attention to Spector Unit Six's shoulder cannons and the part where the original Black Knight's drones detached from," Dulaebella remarked.
"What do you mean?" Honcho asked.
"When it looks like a laser shot is going to hit them, the shoulder cannons and what would be the drone attachments are also moving slightly to avoid being hit."
"Is that another sign of how skilled the pilot is?" Raella asked.
"It is, he is simultaneously piloting various sections of the mech," Dulaebella confirmed before adding. "But not only that, it's another sign of how much effort went into the construction of this Black Knight replica. While the shoulder cannons moving is nothing special, the drone sections moving are something I have never seen before. Even replicas in the past who have managed to have up to four functional drones never had this ability when they were still attached."
"Is it really that extraordinary?" Raella asked.
Dulaebella was about to reply when Honcho suddenly cut her off by saying.
"Oh my, it looks like Spector Unit Six has become the primary target of not only the mechs but also the turrets, as all eight have opened fire on him."
"Just look at how he's dodging and evading all those attacks, it's almost as if the mech is an extension of his own body," Dulaebella remarked.
"I don't think Spector Unit Six is too happy about everyone ganging up on him; each shoulder cannon appears to be rotating in the direction of one of the four mechs," Honcho remarked.
"Is he seriously going to return fire while evading the attacks of eight enemies? And against four targets as well? Raella asked in disbelief just before they witnessed a red flash at the tip of each shoulder cannon, which was almost instantly followed by a red flash somewhere on each of the four mechs.
"HE HIT THEM, HE HIT THEM. Can you believe it? Even while evading eight simultaneous laser attacks, Spector Unit Six somehow found time to return fire and hit Universal Bank, Dwarfinian Pride, Excess Surplus, and Eyes of Blood, further reducing their speed," Honcho said in excitement.
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Dude, that was sick.]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): If you're feeling ill, go see a doctor.]
[StealthAssassin9 (Earth): Huh?]
[Whostolemyduck (Earth): Hahaha, 'that was sick' is another way of saying that it was cool.]
[Superior4horns (Vinox 3): Seriously? That's just weird.]
[Noobkiller9000 (Earth): That was cool though, the way the streamer dodged the attacks while also firing back.]
[Gunlovergirl (Earth): That was so fucking cool, I just orgasmed slightly from watching his performance.]
[Justiceistruth (Earth): TMI.]
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"Haha, yeah, yeah, that's the way, Adam," Tephe cheered happily.
"The capabilities of his mech are incredible. Whoever built that thing is a genius mech mechanic," Mika said in awe.
"I know Dulaebella was raving about it before, but even you think it's that good?" Becky asked.
"I do, its specs are at a level that it still be in the hands of the military," Mika replied.
"Military?" Tephe asked curiously.
Mika was about to explain when Honcho's excited voice suddenly attracted their attention.
💫💫💫
"Oh no, it looks like something happened to Speed Stone, the mech overlay says he's just lost fifty per cent of his speed. Unfortunately, because we were all amazed by Spector Unit Six, we missed what happened.
Fortunately, however, that's what we have instant replays for," Honcho said as everyone's feed switched to showing Speed Stone flying through the asteroid field with [Replay] in the top left corner.
As everyone watched, Speed Stone nimbly avoided several small asteroids that were heading towards it when, all of a sudden, a shockwave erupted from behind Speed Stone, pushing it forward.
"What was that?" Honcho asked in surprise.
"It seems to have been a force mine," Dulaebella answered.
"Force mine? Is that a seismic charge?" Raella asked in curiosity.
"Not exactly, the force charge is nowhere near as powerful and is not designed to destroy anything, unlike the seismic charge.
Instead, it sends out a wave of energy that pushes anything it touches away from its point of activation. You see how there's an arena of clear space around where Speed Stone was?" Dulaebella replied.
"Shouldn't it have gone off before he reached it, not after he passed it?" Raella asked.
"You would have thought so, maybe it was programmed wrong, or something interfered with its activation," Dulaebella replied in an unsure tone.
"Regardless, it seems that Speed Stone lucked out because the force mine pushed him further towards the centre of the asteroid field, increasing the distance between it and the other competitors," Honcho stated.
"Even with the fifty per cent speed decrease, it will take Spector Unit Six, which is the closest mech, some time to catch it," Dulaebella remarked.
"Now what's happening, why and how has Excess Surplus grabbed hold of Dwarfinian Pride?" Honcho suddenly said as the feed switched.
"It looks like Dwarfinian Pride is being used as a meat shield to absorb the laser shots the turrets fire at Excess Surplus.
Look at the mech overlay. Excess Surplus speed reduction timer is dropping rapidly." Raella remarked.
"How did Excess Surplus manage to grab hold of Dwarfinian Pride, though? They were both suffering from speed reduction," Honcho asked.
"Think back, Excess Surplus alone managed to dodge one of the turret attacks and that gave him a speed advantage. He must have used that advantage to close in on Dwarfinian Pride, which was the closest competitor," Dulaebella analysed.
"A truly evil yet brilliant idea by Excess Surplus. If it can keep using Dwarfinian Pride as a meat shield until its speed reduction goes away, then it will be able to flee from the turrets' attack range and chase after Speed Stone and Spector Unit Six," Honcho remarked.
💫💫💫
"It appears that your sponsored mech won't be making it into the next stage, Director Opalbeard," Maiya stated as she looked at the Dwarfinian next to her.
"So it seems," Director Opalbeard replied with a sigh just before one of his assistants approached him and said.
"Director, I have a report regarding the viewership numbers."
"Is there a problem?" Director Opalbeard asked with a frown.
"No, sir, quite the opposite, the viewership numbers are actually rising steadily, and more viewers are watching this year's charity match than the one four years ago," the assistant replied.
"Oh? Do we know why this is?" Director Opalbeard asked happily.
"Our theory is that they are watching the feed after seeing posts made on Xer-verse."
"Excuse me?" Director Opalbeard asked with confusion.
"Two of the competitors, Prime Black and Spector Unit Six, are actually streaming the match on their own streaming channels.
This has led to their viewers clipping the exciting moments and posting them on Xer-verse, which in turn is raising the charity match's visibility there and bringing in new viewers."
"It's rising because of streamers?" Director Opalbeard asked in shock.
"That appears to be the case."
"Why have we never seen this happen before?"
"We have never had any streamers compete in the UMB Cup before, director, either the charity match or the main competition."
"Not surprising really, most streamers are all cowards who fear putting their lives in danger and fake everything after all," Maiya stated disapprovingly.