The Silly Prince Successfully Cancels the Engagement, But the Fiancée is His Childhood Sweetheart - Chapter 20

Chapter 20: Victory

The night before the finals, Bai Qing, for once, chose not to train. Instead, he went to bed early, preparing to face his duel with Xiang Zhuo in a state of full alertness and optimal physical condition.

Continuous days of fighting had left his body in a state of extreme exhaustion, and he genuinely needed a good rest.

Bai Qing arrived very early today. After entry was permitted, he was the first to enter the mecha cockpit.

He crossed his arms and supported his chin, his eyes lightly closed. The blue electronic fluorescence illuminated half of his face, while the other half was hidden in the shadows, like a deity contemplating good and evil.

The comments section went wild:

“prprpr My Qingqing will definitely win today!”

“Enough, you in front. Aren’t you ashamed of letting your morals follow your face every day? He was lucky to win the previous rounds, but today, don’t you see who his opponent is? Xiang Zhuo! That’s Xiang Zhuo, the Eternal Empire’s only Alpha with double SSS-grade physical and mental strength—a human killing machine! How can your Bai Qing win?”

“Move aside! From today on, I am Qingqing’s biological mother. Let’s see who dares to say my Qingqing will lose?”

“Rational discussion from a passerby: Bai Qing can’t win today.”

“Bai Qing is my classmate. In one simulation training session, Bai Qing’s score wasn’t as high as Xiang Zhuo’s. Bai Qing will most likely lose this match.”

“But, but, but this face is just too superior! He is an angel! An angel descended to save my eyes!”

Bai Qing quietly closed his eyes, carefully contemplating his strategy against Xiang Zhuo. His opponent was Xiang Zhuo; even though they had fought many times, he could not be careless.

Xiang Zhuo arrived relatively late, entering the arena just before the match was about to begin.

Before entering the mecha cockpit, Xiang Zhuo suddenly looked back, glancing at Bai Qing from afar.

The two of them shared one common goal: to win this match.

The moment the bell rang, the eyes of both mechas simultaneously burst forth with light.

A conflict ready to erupt!

The two shared an astonishing tacit understanding, launching into an extremely high-intensity duel, just as they had countless times in the underground arena.

Bai Qing was composed and calm, countering every move, and even managing to fire a high-energy particle beam at Xiang Zhuo during the brief pauses. This time, he chose the Balanced Offensive/Defensive mecha to counterbalance Xiang Zhuo’s high attack and high defense.

Just as he predicted, Xiang Zhuo chose the Close-Combat Offensive mecha.

Bai Qing proceeded methodically, but Xiang Zhuo felt somewhat destabilized.

Everything was too familiar. With every move’s flash, his mind could even find the corresponding battle from the underground arena.

If he hadn’t already confirmed his opponent was Bai Qing, he would almost suspect his opponent was Bai Yu.

That genuine feeling of soul collision, flesh-and-blood friction, nervous tension, and full-body trembling that he had longed for had returned.

But the opponent was Bai Qing.

His mind was strangely resistant, yet his body was extremely honest; he was enjoying the process of this confrontation.

Suddenly, as if to snap him out of his wandering thoughts, Bai Qing fiercely delivered a Head Cannon shot!

This move!

The powerful SSS-grade mental power nearly shattered the control panel. Xiang Zhuo’s eyes turned crimson, his pupils trembling violently. He almost screamed out: “You better give me a reasonable explanation, Bai Qing.”

The veins on Xiang Zhuo’s forehead throbbed. He struggled to suppress the excitement that was fiercely backlashing in his mind from being suppressed for too long. His heart pounded fiercely, and he examined Bai Qing’s moves again.

Indeed, tricky.

This was the first time he had formally grasped a concept of Bai Qing’s strength.

However, although tricky, it was not entirely insurmountable.

…

Fighting Xiang Zhuo was extremely exhausting. The battle had already lasted two hours without any sign of a winner, yet Bai Qing already felt the taste of rust in his throat.

Worthy of Xiang Zhuo, worthy of an Alpha with SSS-grade combat power. Bai Qing couldn’t find a breakthrough. Just as he was forced by Xiang Zhuo to dodge in mid-air—

Xiang Zhuo’s mind instantly recalled the sentence Bai Yu had said to him in the underground arena: “Let go of your obsession with winning in one hit.”

As if by a ghost’s hand, Xiang Zhuo immediately relaxed the hand that was about to make a secondary trajectory adjustment.

It was extremely difficult for an opponent in mid-air to adjust their posture. Moreover, everything in mid-air was almost still.

Bai Qing’s face instantly changed as he watched the incoming cannonball whistle towards him.

If he couldn’t dodge, it would definitely hit his power source.

It seemed that Xiang Zhuo had indeed listened to his words that time in the underground arena.

Xiang Zhuo had grown stronger.

Bai Qing’s face darkened. He could only cross his arm in front of his chest at the fastest possible speed. Dodging was too late; he could only use a part of his body to weaken the cannonball’s power.

Xiang Zhuo’s mecha had very high attack power. The cannonball completely destroyed one entire arm of Bai Qing’s mecha, and the mental power flow to that arm was severed.

Bai Qing remained calm. With one arm disabled, his offense became even more intense, his rhythm faster. The continuous attacks shook the ground, forcing Xiang Zhuo to also accelerate his combat rhythm.

This period of high-frequency combat lasted for an unknown amount of time. The arena floor was filled with deep craters smashed by both mechas and scorched wasteland from artillery bombardment. Both mechas were covered in wounds, yet they still couldn’t determine a winner.

Xiang Zhuo’s chest heaved violently. This battle was so exhilarating; it had been a long time since he had felt such pure enjoyment.

On the other side, Bai Qing was completely overdrawing his physical strength. He was drenched in sweat. Even though the combat suit had a temperature regulation function, given Bai Qing’s current state, the combat suit was running on overload, and it was hard to estimate how much of its true function remained.

The battle wasn’t over until a winner was decided.

Bai Qing took a deep breath, allowing the gradually spreading metallic taste of blood in his mouth and enduring the sharp pain in his chest caused by his breathing.

He would risk it all!

The dying mecha suddenly burst forth with incredible vitality, even the light of its electronic eyes brightened slightly. No one expected that Bai Qing, piloting the mecha, could accelerate his combat rhythm even further!

Xiang Zhuo’s breathing stopped for a moment.

Only a phantom image remained before his eyes. The next moment, a fiery red light beam exploded in front of him.

Fortunately, Xiang Zhuo dodged in time, or what would have been blasted away would have been his power source.

The two immediately re-entered the fighting state. In a flash, the sky and earth turned dark.

This wave of combat cycle lasted for another two hours.

That is to say, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM, the two had been fighting non-stop for six hours without food or water.

Everyone held their breath for them.

The more critical the moment, the less careless one could be. In a duel between masters, the influence of a small detail is enough to change the whole situation.

But suddenly, Bai Qing felt a surge of heat throughout his body, and the flow rate of his blood seemed to become turbulent.

This feeling was all too familiar to Bai Qing.

The precursor to the heat period!

Bai Qing internally cried out in alarm. The movements of his hands inadvertently deformed, and Xiang Zhuo immediately seized this momentary flaw, lunging forward, his movements merciless, seemingly intending to use this one flaw to completely defeat Bai Qing.

But Bai Qing was definitely not to be trifled with. He struggled to ignore the discomfort in his body, clenching his jaw until a genuinely coppery taste of blood spread deep in his mouth. He fought fiercely, gritting his teeth, pushing his body to its limit, and tangled with Xiang Zhuo again.

Xiang Zhuo had never met such a difficult opponent.

But in his heart, respect for Bai Qing also surged.

Bai Qing was a respectable opponent.

Bai Qing was breaking out in a cold sweat in the cockpit, but he desperately restrained his instincts. His hand operations remained precise. He had never been so calm, methodical, or offensively aggressive as he was at this moment.

Finally, Bai Qing found an opportunity.

Xiang Zhuo’s mental power flow was momentarily severed!

The higher the mental power rank of a mecha warrior, the better the integration with the mecha itself, the higher the compatibility, and the more smooth and even the flow of mental power within the mecha, the lower the probability of flow severance.

However, as the battle time extends, the longer the battle, the more fatigued the mecha pilot, and the greater the probability of mental power severance.

Generally speaking, the probability of mental power severance for Grade S is extremely small.

But Xiang Zhuo, with SSS-grade mental power, experienced mental power severance, although it was only for $0.02 text{s}$. In the context of this mecha duel, it was enough for Bai Qing to turn the tables.

The moment Xiang Zhuo realized his mental power was severed, he understood.

The winner was decided. He conceded.

Xiang Zhuo persisted for nearly another hour, but under Bai Qing’s high-pressure attack, the fatal flaw caused by the mental power severance was completely irreparable. Xiang Zhuo was finally hit in the power source by Bai Qing’s cannon shot.

In this round, Bai Qing won by half a point.

The arena was filled with cheers, and dazzling lights constantly flashed and leaped.

Bai Qing stood dazed in the center of the arena, his mind operating sluggishly and with difficulty, gasping for air. He could barely comprehend the scene.

The blinding light shot into his brain but transmitted no signals.

His brain seemed to have completely shut down.

Then, the entire mecha crashed down with a roar—

Xiang Zhuo suddenly went insane. Ignoring his body’s exhaustion, he pushed his physical limits, leaped out of the cockpit, and ran towards Bai Qing’s shattered mecha, which lay fallen on the ground. He ignored the nearly $200^circ text{C}$ temperature of the hatch, gritted his teeth, and burst into the cockpit. Disregarding the blood covering his hands, he fiercely grabbed the collar of Bai Qing’s combat suit, which was stained with blood from his cough:

“The quick offense style,” Xiang Zhuo’s voice was distorted, “Where did you learn all this?”

Bai Qing was on the verge of losing consciousness. He vaguely sensed someone shouting angrily at him. He managed to open his eyes a slit and forced a very weak smile.

But blood kept welling up from the corner of his mouth.

Xiang Zhuo’s voice choked. He abruptly pinned the person against the seat. His fingertips pressed hard on Bai Qing’s scorching hot scent gland, and he roared: “So, was it very interesting for you to listen to me whine and see me turn cold every day, watching me schizophrenic like an idiot? Speak!”

“You knew, you clearly knew…” Xiang Zhuo suddenly lowered his head, pressing his lips fiercely against Bai Qing’s neck. If he opened his mouth, his sharp canine teeth could pierce the hot, fragile scent gland.

Ye Sheng rushed onto the arena regardless of the consequences. He pushed Xiang Zhuo away, shouting desperately: “Medics! Ambulance! Where are the emergency personnel? The player has fainted, didn’t you see?”

Xiang Zhuo was breathing heavily, standing aside blankly as if his entire system had crashed.

He clearly saw Ye Sheng’s face.

A flash of electricity. Something connected illogically.

Xiang Zhuo’s hands trembled violently. The double blow of defeat and the impending engagement cancellation brought his mind to the brink of collapse. He wanted to log into the genetic matching service system to check the photo Bai Qing had uploaded.

But he didn’t dare.

He remembered now. The photo Bai Qing uploaded was adjusted based on Ye Sheng’s face. And the face of Bai Yu in the underground arena was identical to Bai Qing’s human-skin mask.

He should have known all along.