Who else could it be?

This turn‌⁠‍‌⁠​⁠⁠​⁠⁠‍‌​‌‌‍‍⁠⁠‌⁠⁠​ of events was completely unexpected!

Due to the neural link with his mecha, the moment Wan Jiang’s head was smashed into the ground, Zhou Jiuya felt a sudden buzz in his head, and his vision went black.

The ground of the entire training field, which had already been reinforced several times by the Zergs, was instantly shattered with a deafening crash, sending dust flying. The force was so great that it sounded like an explosion.

A deep crater appeared where Wan Jiang had landed, with cracks spreading out like a spider web, rapidly branching out like tree roots.

“…”

For a moment, everyone around was utterly shocked, frozen in place, unable to make a sound. Then, a faint and dazed voice came through the communication channel,

“No way… this can’t be real…”

“Wan Jiang was taken down by Bai Ze…?”

In everyone’s eyes, ever since Marshal Huo Chao’s death, the strongest representative of the Empire’s military power was the Commander of the First Legion, Zhou Jiuya. After all, he had fought his way up step by step from the Alliance’s Seventh Group, the predecessor of the Dawn Legion.

From the end of the Alliance, the fall of Earth, the establishment of the Empire, and through hundreds of years of war, Zhou Jiuya had earned his place. His prestige and status in the army were built through blood and battle, and even Emperor Pei Changyun found it difficult to challenge him.

As for Jiang Ci, though he was exceptionally gifted, he was too young. While he could defeat most alpha officers, he still seemed inexperienced compared to Zhou Jiuya.

Both Wan Jiang and Bai Ze were SS-class mechas, derived from the same main program in the Forbidden Abyss, but there were still differences. Wan Jiang originated from the Alliance, while Bai Ze was built after the Empire’s founding. The industrial systems of the Alliance bore the influence of the Illusory God Church, which gave Wan Jiang a slight advantage in performance and attack power.

So, by all logic, Wan Jiang was expected to easily surpass Bai Ze.

—But what did they just witness?!

Just ten minutes ago, Wan Jiang had been dominating Bai Ze. Yet, suddenly, without anyone even catching a clear glimpse of the silver giant’s movements, after a loud crash, Wan Jiang was pinned to the ground by its neck and slammed down by Bai Ze.

“How is that possible…”

“Am I dreaming…?”

“Damn it! Did anyone catch Bai Ze’s moves just now? I should’ve recorded it!”

“…”

Meanwhile, Jiang Ci, seated in the main cockpit, suddenly opened his eyes, letting out a startled gasp.

“You—!”

He saw what had happened in front of him and his mind, blank for a moment, finally registered what had occurred—Huo Xianfeng had suddenly taken control of Bai Ze and slammed his uncle into the ground.

Actually, Jiang Ci wasn’t surprised by the result. He already had a good sense of Huo Xianfeng’s strength from the time he controlled the Forbidden Abyss. What confused him was what Huo Xianfeng had said earlier—

[To deal with big, clumsy guys like this, you have to be smart.]

“…This is what you call smart?”

From the final outcome, Huo Xianfeng’s combat style seemed anything but smart—it was simple and brutally effective. While he had indeed taken down Wan Jiang, there didn’t seem to be anything particularly clever about it.

Upon hearing this, Huo Xianfeng clicked his tongue lightly,

“Major General, in matters like this, it’s the process that’s important, not just the result.”

He had just pulled off such a stylish series of combos—how could this omega only focus on the final head smash?

In truth, when Huo Xianfeng had slammed Wan Jiang down, it wasn’t just raw power at play—there were plenty of intricate details.

For instance, when Bai Ze was knocked back by Wan Jiang, it had quickly stabilized in mid-air. Then, by seizing a gap in Wan Jiang’s attacks, adjusting the angle of the silver spear throw to apply pressure, Huo Xianfeng had forced Wan Jiang to focus entirely on the spear.

Finally, the key moment was transitioning from its airborne state to a counterattack, closing the distance rapidly. All of these actions were filled with precision and skill.

As for the final result, where the opponent was slammed into the ground, it was purely because Huo Xianfeng hadn’t fully controlled his strength and used his own fighting style. It could even be considered a minor teaching mishap, yet, of course, everyone only saw that last moment.

Before Huo Xianfeng had a chance to explain, he suddenly noticed that Wan Jiang seemed to be making a move. In fact, Wan Jiang’s pinned-down position lasted only a few seconds. Zhou Jiuya’s years of combat experience and instincts kicked in, and he quickly recovered his senses.

Although Zhou Jiuya didn’t fully understand Jiang Ci’s psychological state, nor had he ever truly grasped the sensitive, soft-hearted nature of the boy, he knew Jiang Ci’s combat style like the back of his hand. Without needing to ask or probe further, he knew immediately—

The pilot of Bai Ze had changed.

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However, Zhou Jiuya didn’t feel intimidated. Even though Marshal Huo Chao’s projection had repeatedly praised Huo Xianfeng’s strength, and while Zhou Jiuya acknowledged that the Zergs were naturally stronger than humans in terms of physicality, when it came to piloting mechs?

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The next moment, the black mecha giant suddenly pushed off with one hand, flipping through the air in a way that seemed utterly impossible, instantly escaping Bai Ze’s one-handed grip.

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“…Huh?”

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“Boom—!” 

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Bai Ze wasn’t the same as the Abyss, so blocking the sword head-on like before would be impossible. And more importantly, at this critical moment, his weapon—the silver spear—was behind Wan Jiang, making it impossible to retrieve.

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Huo Xianfeng began to feel a rush of excitement.

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“Huo—!”

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But what shocked everyone was that Huo Xianfeng didn’t block at all. Instead, he advanced! His five fingers formed into a claw, and the tips transformed into sharp, rotating blades, akin to feline claws. His entire body lunged forward like a spear, aiming directly at Wan Jiang’s heart.

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He also sensed the Zerg’s natural sensitivity to everything around them.

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—This was probably one of the most thrilling and intense confrontations ever witnessed.

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In a split second, Bai Ze’s deformed claws severed Wan Jiang’s wrist mechanical nerves. However, this small action wasn’t enough to stop the terrifying momentum force behind the sword.

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However, compared to the possibility of losing its entire head, this injury was relatively minor. At this moment, Bai Ze lowered its body and supported itself with one hand on the ground, perfectly replicating the rotational flip Wan Jiang had used earlier to escape and it narrowly dodged the greatsword’s edge.

“?????”

Zhou Jiuya’s pupils contracted in shock.

He had practiced that move for months!

And he learned it in a second???

But there was no time for astonishment because Bai Ze wasn’t finished. Its hand tightly gripped Wan Jiang’s wrist. Seizing the opportunity, it leveraged the immense force from Wan Jiang’s previous attack, using its momentum to throw the opponent several hundred meters away.

Bang! Bang! Bang—!!!

The speed and sudden nature of the assault caused Wan Jiang to spin wildly in mid-air, unable to maintain stability. It spun out of control, crashing into the ground repeatedly. In that moment, the Empire’s most powerful SS mech resembled a flat stone skipping across the water’s surface, bouncing and crashing, leaving behind a trail of dust and debris like a series of explosions.

“…”

Jiang Ci, observing everything from his first-person perspective, was completely stunned.

The violent gusts of wind stirred up by the impact blew the white hair of the elderly spectators standing on the edge of the central temple’s outer corridor, making them look like dazed dandelions.

Even the soldiers of the First Legion were frozen in place.

“Holy crap—!”

The onlookers were dumbfounded!

They couldn’t even comprehend what had just happened!

“What the heck was that??? Wan Jiang looked like it was about to win, and then suddenly it was thrown away???”

“That move looks familiar, but I couldn’t see it clearly!!!”

“Has Bai Ze’s pilot changed?”

“It must have. This fighting style doesn’t seem like Major General Jiang Ci’s…”

The First Legion’s public communication channel exploded with chatter, and no one cared that Zhou Jiuya could hear it too.

But changing the mecha pilot during battle? 

How was that even possible? 

This was completely unimaginable.

For mechs above Grade A, they were no longer manually controlled but linked to the pilot’s mental energy via a neural chain. The pilot’s mind was connected to the mecha’s neural system, creating a bond that allowed them to control the mecha as effortlessly as their own limbs.

Of course, this required an extremely high mental threshold from the pilot. Since everyone’s mental energy is unique, each mecha and its pilot are precisely matched. Even if someone with a higher mental threshold could control a mecha that wasn’t theirs, achieving full synchronization would be difficult.

It usually took a long time for an unmatched pilot to successfully link with a mecha.

Therefore, changing pilots during an intense battle was utterly impossible!

—That was common sense.

But now, this widely accepted truth was shattered.

Inside the First Legion’s training grounds, whenever Zhou Jiuya wasn’t busy, he would often give combat guidance to officers. This applied not just to Jiang Ci but to many other talented individuals as well.

However, people most enjoyed watching Zhou Jiuya and Jiang Ci train. After all, it was a sparring match between two SS mechas, and also, Jiang Ci was an omega. Despite Major General Jiang Ci’s fierce demeanor, he was still an omega!

Alphas naturally had reproductive instincts, and their genes dictated that they would be drawn to omegas. The more outstanding the genes, the stronger the attraction. Although Jiang Ci was often too intimidating for anyone to approach openly, the fascination remained.

So, it wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen Wan Jiang and Bai Ze spar before. In fact, they had watched many times.

From the moment Bai Ze threw the silver spear in this fight, many could clearly sense that the pilot had changed!

But now, inside Bai Ze, there was only Jiang Ci and the Zerg King.

Who else could it be?

—The answer was obvious.