Chapter 37: Panther Shadow Step, Modified

Battle Arena, Ruined City.

“Gangzi?”

Wang Yidao of the Blue Enchantress stared in shock at Meng Gang, who had just been shot through the head from a distance. Among the seven starters, Meng Gang’s strength didn’t rank at the very top, but hovered around fourth or fifth place. Captain Chen Ya often criticized his dodging as inadequate—but that was only her opinion.

To the other team members, Meng Gang’s evasion was flawless, leaving no room for improvement.

Yet now, for him to be taken down by three headshots from a top thirty-two national player—who would believe it?

Before Wang Yidao could recover from his astonishment, three more flashes of light appeared a kilometer away.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

After finishing off Meng Gang, Fang Zhen wasted no time and executed another triple micro-maneuver, sending three bullets streaking straight toward Wang Yidao’s mech.

“Trying to kill me? Not that easy!”

Wang Yidao instinctively raised his shield to block and then sidestepped.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

At such a distance, Wang Yidao had more time to react compared to Meng Gang. Two bullets struck his shield, while one grazed his shoulder, slightly impairing the arm wielding his combat blade.

“Triple micro-maneuver?”

“Li Ranxing?”

Hiding beside a building, Wang Yidao glanced at his injured shoulder, his expression darkening.

Li Ranxing, the rising star of Mech Continent, excelled in both blade and gun. He ranked sixth in the last national individual tournament and was a formidable opponent even for captains of the top four teams.

Everyone expected Li Ranxing to use a melee mech to challenge the captain in this tournament, but he had chosen a ranged mech to ambush instead. This made things difficult for Wang Yidao.

“Run!”

After a brief 0.3-second pause, Wang Yidao spun around and dashed toward the city center, evading bullets while using ruined buildings for cover. Thanks to the agility and speed of his close-combat mech, he soon vanished from Fang Zhen’s sniper sight.

This scene stunned everyone gathered in the club's first-floor hall.

“What’s going on?”

“Is that really Fang Zhen controlling the ranged mech?”

Those familiar with the veteran Fang Zhen gawked in disbelief.

One man against two, from a kilometer away, facing off two melee mechs—one dead, one escaped. And these melee mechs were piloted by starters of the Blue Enchantress team.

Even at his peak, Fang Zhen had never achieved such a feat.

More importantly, the triple micro-maneuver was a shooting skill that only team captain Li Ranxing could execute.

These facts led the Storm Shadow team members to suspect that the person piloting the ranged mech was not Fang Zhen at all.

One after another, they looked toward the coaching staff.

This simulation match roster was arranged by the coaching team, and no one present understood the situation better than the coaches.

Even the coaches themselves wore puzzled expressions, their eyes wide, evidently as clueless as the players.

“Triple micro-maneuver! It’s really triple micro-maneuver! Who is piloting that ranged mech?”

“Does anyone know?”

“As far as I know, only Li Ranxing among the starters can pull off that technique. It’s nearly impossible for the others.”

“Could it be a substitute rookie? Fang Zhen’s recent performance has been off; Li Ranxing might have temporarily replaced him.”

“A replacement rookie? Looks like our club is aiming for glory again this year.”

The coaches exchanged glances, leaning toward the idea that Li Ranxing had indeed swapped in a newcomer. After all, this simulation was vital for Li Ranxing.

Unlike the coaches, Li Ranxing trained with the rookies regularly and knew their levels well. The club had recruited many new talents recently to prepare for the national tournament—many so unknown to the coaches they couldn’t even recognize them all.

Every year, new talents emerged in the national Mech Continent tournaments. Seeing one appear now in Storm Shadow was unsurprising; otherwise, they wouldn’t have finalized the national tournament roster.

As the coaches chatted with satisfaction, the large screen showed Fang Zhen’s ranged mech rapidly closing in on Wang Yidao.

In less than twenty seconds, both approached the main street near the city center.

“I’m being chased by Li Ranxing. Does anyone know where the captain is?” Wang Yidao shouted frantically on the team channel while dodging bullets.

Normally, once battle started, no one used the team channel.

Firstly, it distracted teammates, causing them to miss crucial details and get eliminated.

Secondly, the team channel was prone to monitoring and hacking, so players preferred short-range radio communication during battle, making it easier to locate teammates and avoid interception.

But now, chased by Li Ranxing, Wang Yidao didn’t care. The captain had ordered him to notify at once if Li Ranxing was spotted.

“Daozi! What are you talking about? I see you clearly. Behind you is just a ranged mech chasing, not Li Ranxing,” a female Blue Enchantress member suddenly yelled over short-range comms. “The captain is battling Li Ranxing right now. Don’t cause trouble, or you’ll be the one practicing with the captain’s real blade when we get back.”

“Not Li Ranxing?” Wang Yidao was stunned. He shouted back, “That’s impossible! That pilot used triple micro-maneuver. If it’s not Li Ranxing, then who else?”

“Don’t believe me? Look northwest!”

The female player gave no further explanation and simply pointed a direction.

Without hesitation, Wang Yidao seized a chance, peered through a gap between buildings, and looked northwest.

Five kilometers away in a square, two close-combat mechs—one red, one blue—were fiercely clashing blades, sparks flying. Their reaction speed was so fast even Wang Yidao was astonished.

“Damn! It really is.”

Only Li Ranxing could keep up with Captain Chen Ya’s speed within Storm Shadow. No one else stood a chance.

Especially since Chen Ya was using the godly Eight-Leaf Sword Slash; only Li Ranxing could block it. Others would die instantly.

“Damn! That guy’s impersonating Li Ranxing!”

“Zilan, cover me; let’s take him down!”

Seeing the real Li Ranxing, Wang Yidao felt tricked and looked back with growing disdain at the red ranged mech chasing him.

“Just a Storm Shadow member? You need me to team up?” Zilan scoffed.

“Daozi, have you been partying too much? Your mental state’s off.”

“Shut up! I haven’t been to any clubs! I’m perfectly fine!” Wang Yidao snapped. “That guy’s triple micro-maneuvering. I can’t beat him alone; I need your ranged support!”

“Triple micro-maneuver? Alright, I’ll snipe him. You get close!”

“Don’t worry. With your help, he’s dead meat!”

Wang Yidao spun and darted behind a building, preparing to charge.

With Zilan as a ranged sniper, whether Fang Zhen focused on Wang or split attention to Zilan, they would have a huge opening. Triple micro-maneuvers wouldn’t matter.

At worst, it would be a one-for-one trade.

“Any backup?”

Fang Zhen noticed Wang Yidao’s sudden retreat beside the building and sensed something amiss.

Soon, a flash of fire appeared in the distance. Instinctively, Fang Zhen dodged back just in time, narrowly avoiding a bullet.

“Ranged support!”

As he dodged, Fang Zhen saw Wang Yidao burst from the building, charging toward him with speed rivaling Meng Gang’s earlier.

“Trying to impersonate Li Ranxing?! You’re dead this time!”

Wang Yidao charged with his shield raised, ignoring Fang Zhen’s intentions. Whether Fang aimed at him or Zilan, someone would get hit.

In an instant, Fang Zhen emerged, firing three shots at Zilan without hesitation, engaging in a duel.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Zilan countered fiercely, firing two shots in return.

Bang! Bang!

Two bullets hit Fang Zhen’s shots, but couldn’t stop his third bullet.

Boom!

Zilan, caught off guard, was shot through the head.

“Picked Zilan?”

“Then die!”

Wang Yidao was unsurprised. Mechs with shields weren’t easy to snipe. He raised his blade and slashed at Fang Zhen, now less than a hundred meters away.

Within a second, Wang Yidao closed in. But Fang Zhen’s bulky mech moved like the wind—fluid, swift, like a real leopard. His speed rivaled Wang’s melee mech.

“How is this possible?”

Wang Yidao stared as the distance between them widened instead of closing. He was dumbfounded.

Which of them was the melee mech?

Even with a heavy shield, he shouldn’t be outpaced by a ranged mech.

“It worked!”

Fang Zhen’s face lit up with excitement. The leopard-step footwork he learned from the High Martial Arts descent had actually worked.

Though he tried it on a whim, it surprisingly helped.

His relentless training had made the leopard-step instinctive. Now fifty-three percent proficient, every step was etched in his mind.

Even if the mech couldn’t exert power like a real leopard step, causing strong recoil, the sturdy mech didn’t care.

With the leopard-step footwork, his movement speed increased by about ten percent. Compared to Wang’s heavily shielded melee mech, he was just a bit faster.

“Damn it!”

Wang Yidao’s anger flared as Fang Zhen pulled farther away.

He threw down his heavy shield, instantly boosting his speed and closing the gap. The distance shrank to fifty meters.

For a mech towering over ten meters, this was nearly face to face.

“Take this!”

Fang Zhen leapt, twisting midair, firing three shots at Wang Yidao.

Wang Yidao reacted instantly, swinging his blade.

Clang!

One shot was deflected, but two bullets came too fast to block at such close range.

Boom!

One shot blasted Wang Yidao’s head, the other pierced his chest. He died instantly.

“Finally done.”

Fang Zhen exhaled deeply, relieved. Without the lucky leopard-step modification, he would have been killed by Wang Yidao.

After eliminating Wang, Fang Zhen turned his attention to the blue melee mech battling five kilometers away.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots fired in quick succession. The bullets flew so fast they reached the blue melee mech’s side in under two seconds, almost simultaneously hitting.

Captain Chen Ya was trapped, unable to evade.

“Damn it!”

Chen Ya’s eyes blazed with fury.

The divine skill, Eight-Leaf Sword Slash!

In an instant, six of the eight slashes repelled Li Ranxing; two deflected bullets.

But one bullet struck her neck directly, causing her mech to collapse and her life to end.