CH 127

However, whether it was a coincidence or not, Cheng Yi could not just kick Gu Qing out since he was already invited him in.

He sent a message to Steward Liu, asking him to pay more attention to the surveillance system in the house, and beware that the guest doesn’t do anything secretly. He put this concern aside for the time being.

The two days passed quickly. On the third day, the four went to the competition venue together.

Cheng Yang smiled and teased on the way, "We are now rivals, Yan Yan, so don't be merciful if we really meet."

An Yan thought about it and replied, "The mechas are all the same in the competition, and there is no way to communicate in real time. I probably won't recognise you even if we do meet, so I really won't show any mercy. "

Cheng Yang: "..." I’m just joking with you. Isn’t it a bit ruthless to analyze so seriously?

Gu Qing laughed and said, "Don't be afraid, Yang Yang. You still have me."

It was An Yan’s first time meeting Gu Qing, so he didn't say anything else.

He was actually a little nervous. It was his first time participating in this kind of competition. Although he said he was going for the championship, he didn't know the exact rules of this round, so An Yan was a little unsure.

Cheng Yi put his arm around his shoulders and kissed the corners of his eyes, soothingly saying, "Don't worry."

An Yan looked up and kissed him back, trying to steady his emotions. "Well, there's nothing to worry about with you around."

Cheng Yang, who was sitting in the back row, looked away with disgust when he saw the affectionate couple.

But Gu Qing's eyes flashed slightly before he lowered his head slightly.

After arriving at the competition venue, everyone finished gathering at the competition venue and was led to the preparation pod.

This round of the competition was also held in the virtual map, so the participants had to enter the preparation pod before they were sent into the virtual map as a group.

An Yan and Cheng Yi lay down in the spacious preparation pod next to each other, discussing the next round in hushed tones.

They were in the preparation pod, so An Yan subconsciously lowered his voice: "The rules for this round will be announced later, right?"

Cheng Yi said, "Mmm," and gently held his little one's cool hand. "The rules will be announced ten minutes in advance, so we’d have enough time to prepare and adjust."

With that, Cheng Yi softened his tone and said, "Do you think Yang Yang will be angry if we meet them and accidentally eliminate them?"

This question diverted An Yan's attention, and he thought hard about it. "Yang Yang won't be angry, but I don't know what reaction Yang Yang's partner would have." 

"Yang Yang’s partner is called Gu Qing. I've met his mother before, but I haven't dealt with her in depth, " Cheng Yi brought up the subject just to pass the time so that An Yan wouldn't have time to feel nervous, so he said a little more, "Do you know how Yang Yang ended up teaming up with him?"

An Yan replied honestly, "It seems that Yang Yang accidentally saw Gu Qing's matches on the virtual net. He thought he was quite good at piloting the mecha, so he took the initiative to send an invitation to form a team. Unexpectedly, the other party directly agreed, and they formed a team. "

"So that's how it was," Cheng Yi’s eyes flashed. "Did Yang Yang ever mention this person to you before?"

"He's been busy training with him for awhile," An Yan said. "He said Gu Qing was quite a nice guy. He is good-natured and strong, and Yang Yang seemed quite happy with him as a partner. "

There was a sudden electronic beep outside the preparation pod: 

[Ding! Attention all competitors: the rules for this competition will be announced shortly.

The rules of the competition are as follows:

1. All contestants will use the same type of mecha. It will provide only one type of attack, which may cause one third of the damage. A mecha hit three times will be completely broken.

2. The initial spiritual power for all mecha warriors is set to the same value, and the amount consumed with each attack will be the same regardless of the mecha warrior's level of skill. Each attack will consume one third of the initial spiritual power.

3. The pharmacist will be given one hour to prepare potions after the start of the match, and then comes the battle phase.

4. All participants may only bring three potions into the battle phase.

5. Contestants will be eliminated immediately if they run out of spiritual power, run out of energy, or have their mechas broken.

6. The competition is based on a point system, and each pair of contestants eliminated will count as one point. It will be a direct elimination if the score is less than 5 points at the end of the competition.

7. The points of the contestants will be displayed in real time during the competition.

8. The duration of the competition will be 1 hour.]

Almost all the participants were shocked by the rules because they never thought that it would be their partners or the potions they carried that would play a key role in this elimination match rather than the mecha!

These rules may seem complicated, but there was only one key point.

Whether they advance in the competition or not depends on whether the pharmacist's potions, or the potions carried by a single mecha fighter, can support them in gaining at least 5 points.

That was not the worst of it. The fact that only three potions are allowed would make the pharmacist's or the mecha warrior’s choice all the more important.

In addition, the rules state that one point is awarded for eliminating each pair of contestants, unlike in the previous round where you could get the points of those you eliminated.

To make matters worse, the game was only one hour long. They would still be eliminated even if they make it to the end if they don’t get enough points within that hour!

While most of the contestants were wailing in their hearts, An Yan was calmly going through the rules and he asked: "What does "attack can cause one third of the damage to the mech under normal circumstances" mean? Also, why do they say "may" cause direct damage? " 

Cheng Yi's gaze flickered slightly as he said with a smile, "It probably means that there are some special circumstances that allow a mecha to be attacked three times and still not get completely damaged."

Most of the contestants' first reaction was that it was too difficult to qualify under these rules.

They were either complaining and wailing, or already thinking about how they should approach the round. So most simply ignored the important message hidden in the rules.

A Mecha warrior can skillfully control the mecha to move, attack, and fight when they connect their spiritual energy to the mecha.

That is the most familiar effect of spiritual power on a mech. However, there are many other effects that a person's spiritual power can have on a mecha.

It can also be used to cover the surface of a mecha and act as a barrier; it can be used to cover parts of a mecha and increase its sensitivity; it can be used to power a mecha and reduce its energy consumption; and so on.

In these three cases, the first one can effectively reduce the speed at which a mecha is damaged, the second one can increase the attack speed of the mecha, and the third one can effectively reduce the energy consumption of the mecha.

All three are undoubtedly very important in this game.

The fact that An Yan was able to notice the key words in the rules showed that he had a high level of mental acuity. 

But without objective knowledge, it would be difficult for An Yan to make correct judgements, so Cheng Yi told him in detail, "Spiritual power plays a vital role in this round. In other words, whether one can successfully qualify or not depends on the performance of the pharmacist. " 

An Yan said thoughtfully, "So that's how it is."

Cheng Yi asked, "Have you thought about what kind of potions you want to make?"

An Yan said worriedly, "Only three potions can be brought to the competition, and I think that the spiritual recovery potion is essential. I haven’t yet thought about the other two potions."

"There's no need to worry. You'll have plenty of time to decide on which potions to make after you enter the game. " Cheng Yi said soothingly.

The officials had given an hour for the preparation of the potions.

For other pharmacists, this long hour was to probably allow them to make many attempts in order to find the one with the best effect, which was a different case for An Yan. Once he had an idea, he could make the potion of his satisfaction in a very short time.

An Yan was not completely clueless. He was just a little hesitant about which potions to choose between: Spiritual Strengthening Potion, Spiritual Defence Potion, and Spiritual Sensitivity Potion.

The Spiritual Strengthening Potion was designed to boost the attacking power of the mecha. This would be useful since all mecha would be set to the same attack power.

A spiritual defense potion could be used as a defensive layer for the mech. This could be used at critical times to achieve unexpected results.

The spiritual sensitivity potion improves the reaction speed of the mecha. If it is combined with Cheng Yi's excellent mecha control, his dodging ability and hit rate when attacking will be significantly improved. 

In addition, he was also worried about whether his spiritual restoration potion would be sufficient. After all, it meant elimination if a mecha warrior ran out of spiritual power.

They had to stay in the competition for more than an hour, so he had to make a spiritual restoration potion to support Cheng Yi's attacks and defenses for an hour.