Match

edited by Shay

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Chu Xinglin and Gu Huan appeared together on the mecha competition stage. Although it was an exhibition match, it still followed the format of three rounds with a best-of-two-wins rule. Several celebrity presenters, well-prepared and charismatic, covered the battle, introducing the entire process and the two main figures of this event. Afterward, it was time for the competing participants to enter the stage.

Upon entering the arena, Gu Huan couldn’t help but be drawn to the holographic banner on the opposite side. The entire arena’s decorations had been set up by the event organizers, and the projection above the audience featured Chu Xinglin and Gu Huan’s interactive images, which were large, bright, and even flashing. Gu Huan couldn’t help but feel exasperated. Was this really necessary?

“Ah, they are both so handsome! They are even more attractive in person than the projection. I’m so thirsty; where is my suppressant?” a fan in the audience exclaimed.

“Sister, this is the optical network; it won’t release pheromones,”

“The atmosphere of the whole venue feels so great! It’s like being with family once we’re inside the game!”

“Are you supporting Chu x Gu or Gu x Chu?”

“They are not sisters. Isn’t Gu x Chu a bit of a cult?”

The flying cameras noted the enthusiastic discussions but soon shifted their focus to the two alpha contestants who were approaching each other near the entry gate.

There was no sound in the footage, but the close proximity of their heads created a howling of excitement.

“Is the intelligence team ready?” Gu Huan asked Chu Xinglin while leaning his head close.

Chu Xinglin lightly tapped on his light-brain and closed the communication interface. “We are prepared. As soon as those two girls enter the field, we’ll lock onto their signal and find out which planet they’re on.”

Gu Huan turned his head and observed the two girls as they raised their login signs from the ground.

In front of dozens of projection interfaces on a starship, the beta wearing glasses pushed his glasses up and reported, “We have already located the signal source and are currently calculating their position.”

“Your Highness, please go easy. Don’t defeat the young girls in the first round.”

Chu Xinglin turned off his private chat with Chen Weiwei and muttered, “I understand.”

He exchanged a glance with Gu Huan, and they both seemed to share a mutual understanding.

What Chu Xinglin meant was that in the training arena, let him solve it alone.

The two girls, Cheng Dui and Cheng Zhao, were as youthful and bright as before. Cheng Dui, who had no blemishes on her face, sported a stylish short haircut. She lifted her hand to shake hands with Gu Huan, but then retracted it without making contact.

“General Gu Huan, Crown Prince Chu Xinglin, it’s a pleasure to meet you! Seeing you both in person makes me so happy!”

Gu Huan withdrew his hand, and this interaction gave him a new perspective on Cheng Dui, who appeared friendly. Cheng Zhao, on the other hand, was even less tactful and didn’t bother to pretend.

The audience in the stands started to discuss the situation.

“What’s going on? These two girls are quite beautiful; why are they so impolite?”

“They’re so young, not afraid of anything.”

The two little girls chose the fighting venue first.

Because the commitment was made when registering, applicants will have the first choice of the competition venue.

Like He Qixing and Nie Chuan, Chu Xinglin and Gu Huan have never played this kind of game, and have not done much research on any maps.

So just leave this tangled matter to the fans to handle on their own.

Gu Huan doesn’t care what venue is chosen.

But after entering the place, Gu Huan’s motionless behavior aroused people’s surprise.

The commentator also followed up on the movements of Gu Huan and Chu Xinglin.

“Now we see that both sides have boarded the virtual mecha! General Gu Huan hasn’t figured out the terrain yet, why is he still motionless?”

“First round, and they seem to be underestimating the little girls. Isn’t that too bad?”

“In the first game, maybe they want to let Chu Xinglin chase after them. After all, if General Gu Huan and His Highness both use their full power, it won’t even reach the third round. Everyone, don’t take this too seriously; it’s just an exhibition match for the fans.”

However, after Gu Huan made no moves and seemed determined to go easy, it provoked the two girls. Cheng Dui’s eyes flickered with a golden hue.

“They don’t even take us seriously.”

Hearing Cheng Dui’s words through the team channel, Cheng Zhao’s eyes radiated with a golden light too. The sword light pointed directly at Gu Huan, who was still there. If Gu Huan was going to take it easy, why not just eliminate him from the game entirely in the first round?

“Oh no,” a few presenters remarked, their expressions becoming more serious. “They’ve already targeted General Gu Huan.”

“If the General doesn’t act, he should at least focus on defense.”

The match had just begun, and the audience didn’t want to see the General being defeated so easily.

Just as one of the girls’ mechas was about to approach Gu Huan, a completely black mecha with intricate golden patterns appeared, blocking her path.

“In this match, I’m your opponent.”

These experimental subjects were his to deal with.

The experiments were a problem left behind by his father, and even if there was to be an opponent, it should have been him facing the two girls. This had nothing to do with Gu Huan, and Chu Xinglin was upset that they hated Gu Huan.

This was the aspect that annoyed Chu Xinglin the most.

His large sword overcame the girl’s slender one, and Chu Xinglin’s movements were decisive and filled with dominance.

Sitting in the control room of the “Elf” mecha, Gu Huan watched the screen in the control room and observed the back of the entirely black mecha, pursuing his lips.

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[A Special Operations Starship]

“Team Leader Chen, have you found them?” Mo Xiao asked.

Mo Xiao and Andrew, clad in black military uniforms that were different from the others, stood out among the members of the Crown Prince’s Special Guard. Many people here regarded them with curious and somewhat suspicious glances. After all, Gu Huan was once considered a traitor. Although recent events had diluted this controversy, those who remembered the past were likely to remain wary.

It was their first time fighting alongside Gu Huan’s people, and there were no two great leaders this time. Building mutual trust was essential.

Fortunately, the individuals who had joined them were appropriate for the job. Mo Xiao’s achievements were indisputable and could not be questioned by anyone. The real challenge was determining who would listen to whom.

As Team Leader Chen put it, they provided the brains, while Mo Xiao’s team handled the brawn. One searched for the thieves, and the other apprehended them, making it a perfectly balanced collaboration.

“It will take some more time. They seem to be on an abandoned planet, or it wouldn’t be this difficult to locate them. If Major General Mo Xiao is in a hurry, you could watch the General and the participants’ match to pass the time,” Chen Weiwei can still talk like this while his mental power is connected to several optical brains. Fortunately, he is also an absolute mental powerhouse.

Mo Xiao returned to her seat, while Andrew indulged in eating fruits with no sense of urgency. Having spent most of his life waiting for missions on various planets while stationed at stopovers, a short waiting period like this was nothing to him.

“Commander, would you like to watch?”

“The match is quite exciting, with General Gu Huan as a spectator, and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince displaying his prowess.”

At Andrew’s strong recommendation, Mo Xiao turned her attention to the live broadcast he had opened.

Online, fans fervently supported Crown Prince Chu Xinglin’s defense of his beloved. Barrages of comments filled the screen as they cheered on his mecha and the matching outfits.

Mo Xiao couldn’t help but ask Andrew, “Do you find it odd… how close General Gu Huan and the Crown Prince have become?”

“Close? Indeed,” Andrew acknowledged without hesitation. “If they weren’t close, there would be no magazine, no match, nothing at all. General Gu Huan is the person His Royal Highness trusts the most, and that’s common knowledge. Moreover, they have an additional connection through the former Old Marshal. If they weren’t close, that would be the real problem.”

Mo Xiao still had her doubts. Was Crown Prince Chu Xinglin really just a fan of Gu Huan, which would explain the photoshoots for the magazine? As a fan, she should be able to sense his fan aura, right? Gu Huan’s true fans, like her and Nie Chuan, admired him with an entirely different sentiment. Crown Prince Chu Xinglin seemed somewhat different…

And then…

The magazine sent her a few extra photos when they noticed her increasing purchases. These pictures made it hard to claim that the two were just friends. Without the photos that Crown Prince Chu Xinglin had sent her, she could have tried to explain it as the magazine intentionally trying to appeal to fans of their ship. However, these photos left little room for doubt.

His Highness Chu Xinglin is very special to General Gu Huan, so special that he even wants to be at the top of the list of financial sponsors. No matter how she looked at it, it seemed like an assertion of dominance.

Mo Xiao pursed her lips slightly and asked Andrew, “Do you think it’s possible that His Highness and the General are a couple?”

Andrew almost choked on his grapes when he heard that. He looked at Mo Xiao as if she had just mentioned something completely outlandish. “Commander, aren’t you a fan of General Gu Huan? Are you starting to ship them now?”

“I’m not a CP fan. I’m just asking. Could it be possible?”

“The possibility is quite low, isn’t it? After all, both of them are Alphas.”

“Moreover, after Duke Chu Fengyuan became a criminal, His Highness Chu Xinglin, as the only heir to the entire empire, it is impossible for him not to marry an omega. Even though this CP is very popular, I think it can’t be true.”

“…” Mo Xiao, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, found her heart pounding again when Andrew continued, “But it’s not impossible either. After all, neither the General nor the Crown Prince has shown any interest in omegas, and any omega who meets them runs into a wall. In this way, two alphas that no one can match are quite compatible to a certain extent.”

And just as Mo Xiao was about to process that thought, Chen Weiwei exclaimed, “I found them!”

“I’ve found the location of the planet they’re hiding on!”

Mo Xiao immediately stood up after Chen Weiwei’s announcement.