"Enemies either flee or fall before me!"
The Firebolt Frost Moon Blade spun behind Fire Thunder's back, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground.
"Who are you?!"
Ji Lin and Wang Yan's mechas lay powerless on the ground, barely managing to lift their heads to stare at Fire Thunder.
"Defeated foes aren't worthy of knowing my name. You should worry about yourselves instead." As Zhou Luo spoke, he maneuvered Fire Thunder into a crouch, concentrating all the mecha's power into its legs while the blade prepared to strike.
Free combat energy was too good to pass up. By eliminating these two, Zhou Luo's combat level would likely break through to rank six.
Solo leveling had allowed him to reach rank six in just half a day—a terrifyingly fast progression.
"You're going to kill us?"
"No! This is the Dark Hall's way! You can't kill us!!"
The pair panicked instantly.
"What a joke. You can kill others, but others can't kill you?"
"Prepare to die!"
The combined roar of mecha and human voice echoed as, under their despairing gazes, the Frost Moon Blade sliced through their mechas' necks. The two inside the cockpits were cleaved in half.
Flame energy charred both mechas black.
Two surges of combat energy flowed into Fire Thunder and Zhou Luo, filling them to the brim and successfully breaking through to rank six.
"My lord, are we being too cruel? They seemed to be Vehicle Warriors and humans too." Fire Thunder murmured thoughtfully.
"Fire Thunder, you're still the same as ever. Mercy is your greatest weakness. Have you forgotten your master's final words to you?"
"I, Zhou Luo, have never enjoyed fighting—only killing."
Fire Thunder's deep blue eyes flickered with light as he remembered his master Limitless Fire, whose words echoed once more in his ears.
In the next moment, Fire Thunder's gaze hardened.
"You're right! Mercy is my greatest weakness. My lord's lesson is well taken."
Zhou Luo nodded slightly, pleased that Fire Thunder understood.
His greatest fear was that Fire Thunder wouldn't synchronize with him mentally, preventing them from unleashing their full combat potential in battle.
"Zhou Luo??" Liu Qingxue's beautiful eyes flashed with surprise and doubt.
She quickly activated her Combat Glasses to analyze the Fire Thunder before her.
[Mecha: Fire Thunder!]
[Level: Six!]
[Ultimate Move: Unknown!]
Beyond the mecha's name and combat level, Liu Qingxue couldn't discern any details about Fire Thunder.
After all, her Combat Glasses weren't Zhou Luo's Battle King Glasses.
"Wait... could Zhou Luo have some intentions toward me..."
Closing her eyes, Zhou Luo's face surfaced in Liu Qingxue's mind. Remembering he was also her savior, she bit her red lips with mixed emotions.
Should I resist later... or not?
Not that I could resist anyway...
As Liu Qingxue's thoughts ran wild, she suddenly felt the Ice Empress tremble.
Fire Thunder grabbed the Ice Empress by the ankle and began dragging it across the ground.
"Is he going to force himself on me? What a scoundrel!!" Liu Qingxue inwardly cursed Zhou Luo.
The next moment, Fire Thunder hoisted the Ice Empress onto its shoulder and sprinted deeper into the county town.
After running at full speed for over ten minutes, Fire Thunder was beginning to take its toll on Liu Qingxue, who could barely hold on any longer.
"Enough, just dump her here. What a foolish woman—taking twenty rounds just to deal with two pieces of trash."
Liu Qingxue nearly coughed up blood in anger, but before she could retort, she finally succumbed to unconsciousness.
Outside the ruins.
"Time to bail—those lunatics from the Dark Hall are coming. Let's move!"
Zhou Luo didn't hesitate after cleaning up the scene, immediately bolting in the opposite direction.
Liu Qingxue was a ninth-tier Mecha, an irresistible temptation for the Dark Hall. Having her nearby was like sitting on a ticking time bomb.
Just ten minutes after Zhou Luo carried Liu Qingxue away, several black off-road vehicles pulled up at the site of the earlier battle.
The doors swung open, and a man clad in black combat gear stepped out, his face dark as he surveyed the wreckage of three shattered Mecha.
"Sequence Thirteen, we've found three mutilated corpses."
Two subordinates pieced together the mangled remains and laid them before Zhang Hao.
Zhang Hao stared at the three bodies in silence, his expression so grim it seemed like water could drip from it. How could he not recognize two of them? They were none other than the useless Wang Yan and Ji Lin.
"The ninth-tier Mecha got away! I never should've trusted these two failures!" Zhang Hao stomped down, crushing Wang Yan's skull beneath his boot.
Zhang Hao was the Thirteenth Sequence of the Dark Hall, a fourth-tier Mecha Master by the age of twenty. He had been biding his time, waiting for a Mecha with immense potential to appear.
After a year of waiting, he had finally caught wind of a ninth-tier Mecha. Today was supposed to be the day he seized it—but thanks to the incompetence of Wang Yan and Ji Lin, everything had gone to hell.
"Sequence Zhang, judging by the battle traces, there was a third party involved. The fatal wounds on Wang Yan and Ji Lin's Mecha bear traces of extreme fire-attribute energy!" two masked men reported in low voices.
"Some meddlesome fool. I'll make sure they regret ever being born."
"Search County 0321 inch by inch. No matter what, find Liu Qingxue before the Liu family arrives."
A flicker of deep apprehension flashed in Zhang Hao's eyes. The Dark Hall had no fear of the Liu family, but he couldn't report this operation to them—otherwise, the ninth-tier Mecha would never fall into his hands.
He had only brought a handful of high-tier Mecha Masters with him, nowhere near enough to hold off the Canglan Liu family. Faced with their elite forces, even Zhang Hao had no choice but to retreat—for now.
"Yes, sir!"
The group understood the urgency. They immediately activated their Mecha and stormed into County 0321, plowing through everything in their path.
High-tier Mecha Masters were terrifying not only for their Mecha's overwhelming power but also their own combat prowess—they could inherit fifty percent of their Mecha's strength.
As they swept through the ruins, unleashing energy to scan for traces, they found no signs of Mecha energy and pressed deeper.
Unbeknownst to them, the ninth-tier Mecha, the Ice Empress, lay buried deep within those ruins.
In her unconscious state, Liu Qingxue had triggered the Ice Empress's autonomous skill—Ice Seal. Unlike an ultimate technique, this was an innate ability of the Mecha.
Meanwhile, the instigator of it all, Zhou Luo, had long since left County 0321 behind, making his way to County 0112 for another round of carnage.
Time was running out.
In just half a month, the national Mecha college entrance examination will take place. During these two weeks, almost all senior high school Mecha Masters will be upgrading their skills with full effort to prepare for the exam!
The college entrance examination in this world is extremely unfair and brutal, with an annual death quota almost every year.
Those who are eliminated can only wait for admission from Mecha universities. If they fail to get accepted, then tough luck—they'll hav
e to find another path!
In this world's Dragon Kingdom, martial prowess is highly valued above all else. Everything is decided by strength.
(End of Chapter)