44 4.6 (2/2)
Distractedly dodging Murong Wen, Chen Yu hummed, glancing around to check if his suspicions were correct. Indeed, he discerned a mecha some distance away similarly fighting halfheartedly, most of his attention on staring at him. Zooming in, he recognized that damn Hou Yi's face in the pilot's seat. Cao, if he didn't want to abandon him for his mission, that was good and fine, but why did he have to interfere like this?
In his arena, Hou Yi had been watching Ah Guang from the start of the trials, and when he saw Murong Wen step in, he'd immediately triggered the slow-acting drug that he had directed a faculty member with military connections to plant inside the pest's cockpit.
Upon inhalation, this undetectable gas, which had been developed as a last resort for soldiers, would gradually invoke a kind of berserker mode that would only stop affecting the user after completely draining his body. In addition to forcing Murong Wen to destroy his own reputation, the aftereffects of the drug itself were severe. The user would never fully recover his health, strength, or mental stability. Most importantly, however, experiencing his rabid assault, Ah Guang would absolutely distance himself from that pest...
As Hou Yi had expected, once the drug kicked in, Murong Wen's mecha began to aggressively strike at Ah Guang's. Despite knowing for sure that Ah Guang could more than handle such a low-level opponent, Hou Yi was uneasy and somewhat regretful when he witnessed how violent Murong Wen was. Ah Guang was too soft-hearted, would he be able to resolutely fend off someone he considered a friend?
The student who had been paired to fight Hou Yi was coincidentally the unlucky Ding Bo. Stuck in this small space with this god, he cried silent tears...the god would neither attack nor let a blow slip through his defense, he merely flicked his attempts at hitting him away as if they were bothersome. The large boy crouched in the corner, drawing circles. If the god wanted to stalk that Jin Yongguang, couldn't he do it on his own? Why did he have to use this lowly one as a shield, what should he do if that freak Jin Yongguang blamed him instead?
At last, having spotted Ah Guang gently knocking out Murong Wen long enough for the teachers to restrain him, Hou Yi also turned to his opponent and struck him unconscious.
After all, he had no time to waste, Ah Guang would be most sensitive right now.
Thus, through Ding Bo's noble sacrifice, Hou Yi appeared in front of Jin Yongguang, who was slumped in the victor section, as soon as the frenzied Murong Wen was dragged away to the infirmary.
Caressing the downcast head, Hou Yi murmured, ”Ah Guang, I saw what happened. Are you alright?”
Chen Yu chomped on that annoying hand in his mind, but on the surface, he simply rubbed his forehead confusedly. ”I'm not sure what went wrong. It was almost like Ah Wen was controlled by something else.”
Hou Yi crouched down, lowering his eyes to hide the vicious thoughts in them. So, he'd been mistaken when he thought that Ah Guang wasn't too close to that pest. In the end, he was important enough to make him so sad, so worried, so staunch in his faith ah? Gloomy at the realization, he silently brushed through Ah Guang's hair and down to the nape of his neck.
A while later, somewhat soothed by Ah Guang letting him stroke for so long, he smiled. Well, no matter how Ah Guang wished otherwise, when the test results showed that no external forces had influenced Murong Wen, the academy wouldn't let a lunatic stay. Satisfied, he agreed, ”Perhaps, but don't worry, the teachers will definitely find out what happened.”
After some coaxing, Chen Yu resigned himself. Anyway, the result was fairly similar to what he'd been aiming for, and at least this lover of his hadn't planned to throw him to the dogs. Jin Yongguang revived slightly, thanking Hou Yi for his support.
Despite the disturbance, the remaining instructors swiftly resumed the trials, continuing on until the final match in the afternoon.
It was predictably Hou Yi versus Jin Yongguang, but the match wasn't the one-sided, quick annihilation it had been when the two faced each other before. Several rapid confrontations took place, then both of them returned to their original positions, waiting for the other to move.
Finally, Jin Yongguang's mecha charged first, the huge frame nimbly running in a zigzag pattern toward his opponent. Just a meter away, a roar suddenly sounded as Chen Yu turned on his thrusters to bounce his mecha off the transparent wall behind Hou Yi, then gathered even more momentum by pushing off the other walls. Having maximized the standardized mecha's speed, he flew parallel to the floor like a streak of light, throwing the fist of his mecha toward Hou Yi's cockpit.
In response, Hou Yi simply controlled his mecha to swivel sideways, reaching out his hand to seize the outstretched arm that couldn't possibly be retracted in time. But just at that moment, Chen Yu cut his engine, rotating in midair as he dropped toward the floor. When he'd fallen enough, he hooked his legs on either side of the other's waist in a pincer movement and, supporting the weight by planting his mecha's arms on the floor, moved to flip Hou Yi onto his head.
When Hou Yi shot several shock beams at him and turned on his thrusters to escape, Chen Yu grinned. For the students' safety, the academy's mecha could only issue five shock beams a day, each of which would inflict ten percent damage on the target. Chen Yu pushed his arms off the ground to lift his torso, then, wrapping his mecha around Hou Yi's like a koala, he hung on as Hou Yi spun around the arena. When they began to swerve around due to their imbalanced weight, he flipped to be on top and shot all five of his shock beams at Hou Yi's cockpit, causing the half-destroyed mecha to plummet.
Gazing at the triumphant pilot who had comfortably landed on top of him, Hou Yi smiled and surrendered, promising himself that he would persuade Ah Guang to try reenacting this fight without the mecha.
---
Hearing the report of what had happened at the academy's assessment trials, General Hou's face darkened. Hou Yi had never failed an assignment before, why did he fail this one? Was it truly a mistake?
According to the instructor who'd been assigned to assist Hou Yi, the boy had told him to place a gaseous medicine that would briefly cause delayed reactions in Murong Wen's cockpit, so he'd clearly taken some steps to carry out the task. Only...Hou Yi wasn't the type to be careless, why had the effect been that of a different drug entirely?
Looking at the subordinates waiting for his command, General Hou resolved to figure out the facts after the meeting.
Since their scheme to use Murong Wen as a link to the traitors had failed, they could only find a substitute. Currently, their most viable option was Jin Yongguang. The boy had proven his skills at mecha operation this afternoon, and he was almost certainly not aware of his parents' treasonous activities. With their familial connection, using Jin Yongguang to probe Jin Zhong might even be more effective than it would have been to use Murong Wen.
Decided, General Hou directly sent one of his soldiers to relay the message to Jin Yongguang and also to investigate whether his son remained fully committed to the mission.