Fuck!

Jian Weiliang was completely stunned; he only saw a flash of light before he was forced out of the assessment. What on earth happened?

The opponent was clearly more than twenty meters away from him; could he have used a machine gun?

But the first stage of the assessment only allowed Sea Swallow mechas to be equipped with broadswords!

Jian Weiliang immediately opened the replay.

Then.

He saw that at the moment he leaped, the opponent took a light step back and had already flung their broadsword, which like a meteor, went straight into his cockpit!

For a moment.

Jian Weiliang's face was ashen, his expression as ugly as if he had eaten shit.

In the audience, Feng Chen was dumbstruck, watching Feiying get killed by a single sword thrust. He was surprised by Duge's reaction speed but still shook his head. This was an unconventional approach---when does one throw their weapon in combat?

This guy, to pass the test, must have practiced this move who knows how many times, relying on the element of surprise.

When mecha pilots fight hand-to-hand, discarding their weapon means all they have left is to surrender if they miss their enemy; no pilot would throw their weapon away.

...

Idiot!

On the assessment field, Duge, watching the examiner he had impaled with one sword thrust, shook his head as well. Who leaps up in a fight and shows their undefended spots to the enemy? You think you're practicing Taekwondo?

Then.

Duge immediately applied for the second part of the assessment. If the examiners were all of this caliber, it wasn't worth wasting any more time on this.

He needed to hurry and become an official pilot, then enter the mecha combat training module to earn prestige. Being capable and famous without showing off---that was keeping a low profile; having no fame or talent was just being ordinary, not low-key.

Low-key in life, high-profile in action!

...

Seeing "Kill One Every Ten Steps" still had the nerve to apply for a second assessment, Jian Weiliang was furious, and decided once again to accept the assessment.

He wanted to show this upstart what a real mecha pilot was like.

The second part of the assessment involved ranged weapons.

Testing the machine gun.

The Sea Swallow system was a light-entry model mecha, equipped with only one machine gun, with three hundred rounds, capable of single shots or bursts.

The conditions for passing the second part of the assessment were simple: if the mecha was hit by the examiner and lost combat capabilities, the candidate would fail;

For the candidates, their bullets only needed to break through the instructor's mecha defenses to pass, without necessarily needing to destroy the instructor's mecha.

After all.

Shooting had higher demands on a pilot, and unlike the close-quarters first stage, ranged weapon assessments were conducted at distances beyond five hundred meters between the mechas.

And both sides could move.

Faced with moving targets, if one couldn't control well, it was all too easy to blow through three hundred rounds without a second thought.

Most students simply couldn't master the rhythm, being tasked with destroying a pilot-controlled mecha with only three hundred bullets was virtually impossible.

That's what the students did; as soon as they saw the instructor, they'd fire a barrage recklessly.

Focusing on a full spread of fire.

They'd succeed as long as they hit the instructor's mecha before being taken down themselves.

...

"Kill One Every Ten Steps, do you even know what you're doing? In battle, losing your weapon means you become a live target..."

As Jian Weiliang entered the arena and opened the public channel, he began to scold, "Someone like you, even if you become a pilot in the War Network, would be a disgrace to all pilots."

"Examiner, I didn't want to throw the broadsword either, but you jumped right into the perfect spot, I just couldn't help but throw it," Duge said sheepishly, "Rest assured, I won't do that next time."

"There won't be a next time. I'm not going to let someone like you pass," Jian Weiliang roared while evading and immediately lifting his machine gun to aim at Duge, pulling the trigger without hesitation.

He knew the level of the students.

As long as he performed standard tactical evasions, given such a distance, students who hadn't practiced moving targets couldn't possibly hit him, especially since he was known for his agility.

But the next second.

Jian Weiliang's eyes had already lost sight of Duge's figure.

Subsequently.

Bang!

A muffled sound.

Jian Weiliang was kicked out of the exam once more.

This time, the prompt that appeared before him read, "You have been killed."

Was he playing the fool only to go tiger hunting?

At that moment.

Jian Weiliang's expression grew incredibly serious. He opened the playback again, but what he saw nearly made his blood boil.

As he opened fire, the opponent clumsily dodged, didn't even look at the aim, and seemed to have fired a shot in haste while evading.

It might even have been an accidental discharge.

It was precisely this careless shot that penetrated his cockpit and lodged in between his eyebrows...

If he hadn't performed a tactical evasion, that bullet would have flown by three meters from him!

This damn luck!

Jian Weiliang cursed and then accepted Duge's application for the third time.

This time.

He didn't say much, only stating three words: "Let's begin!"

Then.

He raised his machine gun, stood still, and shot at Duge.

This time, he didn't make any tactical maneuvers; he didn't believe his shooting speed would lose to a novice on the other side, did he?

And then.

It was another bang.

Jian Weiliang was kicked out of the simulation once more, with the familiar prompt: "You have been killed."

...

Dammit!

What just happened?

Jian Weiliang was utterly dumbfounded; he was sure the other side didn't even raise their gun, so how was he killed again?