Chapter 78: Last One Standing (2/2)
Beep! The mechanical voice rang, ”Ye Chong, age, 20, external participation fulfilled the condition, please select the participating title.”
This was simple. Ye Chong just picked ”mech modification technician” himself without Yang An’s nagging reminder.
”Please input the index number of the participating group.”
…
Yang An stayed silent. Ye Chong was thinking just when he really needed a reminder, the person kept his mouth shut. Only after he gave a stare for a moment, Yang An hastily recited the group’s index number, ”That’d be HL659874!”
Thud! Thud! Thud! … Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
… Ye Chong checked the input for a few times. Yup, that was right! And he pressed ”Enter”, ”Congratulations! Registration completed!” the voice rang.
The registration process of Blue Ocean Academy was easy and hassle-free. This was to encourage participation of nonmembers.
”Alright. This walkway is where you would enter to get your show on. For now, calm down, collect your thoughts, muster your courage and skills because you are on your own without Yining. You are the last man standing, you know?”
”Okay,” a typical disyllabic reply from Ye Chong came flatly.
Ye Chong adjusted his breathing pattern accordingly. He was trying to calm himself to a point where he would feel serene yet a little worked up at the same time. And this! This is the battle! A war! And Ye Chong would not have letups for any war coming by! It was for his survival! 100% effort for 100% survival rate! The faith Ye Chong had in his battle!
Both of them actually waited for half an hour. It could be the longest 30 minutes for any 20-year-old newbie in the business but Ye Chong was not acting impatient. He was not agitated too. And Yang An was again impressed by Ye Chong’s mental clarity.
Beeeep! The electronic voice announced, ”HL659874! Group HL659874, please have your mech modification technician, Mr. Ye Chong ready. Your match is beginning in 5 minutes. Kindly prepare yourself!”
”Well…” Yang An sounded worried, ”Yining is not here… and I have no idea how the interior looks like. But… you know, just go in and do what you are good at!”
Ye Chong nodded his head.
The 5 minutes lapsed like seconds. Ding-dong!
”The match shall start immediately. Mech modification technician of Group: HL659874, HL659874, kindly enter the room right away.”
Ye Chong went right in front of the door.
Zzzzzt!
”Scan completed! Identity: Ye Chong, verified. Biography, matched! Please proceed.”
The two-paneled door slid open both sides in a hush. And right after he entered through the door, there was another door. The door only opened after the one at his back went shut.
Ye Chong casually stepped into the room.
The previous match had ended a moment ago and undeniably it was a remarkable performance, where the audience’s applause still roared inside the room as they anticipated the next contestant. Hologram screens projecting visuals in high-definition were everywhere in the school compound of various sizes going from screens as huge as 100 meters to screens as tiny as 10 centimeters. Whether it was a huge or tiny screen, there was no doubt that there would be hordes surrounding it. The Blue Ocean Academy held the tournament open to spectators who also wanted to join along the fun, but the entire event was not live on the media. This meant that if you wanted to watch the show, you had to come here by yourself. And of course, with the academy’s reputation, people would come flocking for the show of the year. The annual population of spectators was always as grand as the tournament itself.
The screens would cast the contestants from all angles. The camera skills were absolutely mind-blowing - they never failed to capture the best moments of every contestant which they would replay and cause exclamation among the crowd.
At the spectator’s area, Xiu gripped Xuelin’s sleeve nervously. Her crystal-clear eyes searched that very silhouette she recognized on the screens. Ke Han had already hit the ground running, preparing for his turn. Yang An on the other hand was guarding at the entrance of walkway No. 5, remaining the poor girls at the seats watching everything restlessly.
”The match will begin in T-5”
”4”
”3”
The figure rolled on the screen.
”2”
”1”
At the next moment, the screens were full of sparks and embers as the contestants jumped themselves on the machineries before them with tools in their hands.
The angles were ever-changing. The eyes were too busy watching.
Out of the blue, the audience cried out almost simultaneously, stirring up a fiasco in Blue Ocean Academy as the few hundreds of thousands of people roared on. And at one point, they stopped, like a sudden brake of the racing horses. They engulfed their scream as their eyes were all fixed on that silhouette on one screen.
The crowd went dead silent.