What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 86

Chapter 86: The Bet

At first glance, no one would ever associate Ou Ye with the serious, composed elite officers of the military’s special units. Especially when she wore her private clothes, she looked more like a rock singer who spent her years drifting through street taverns.

Although Shu Qiong and Yan Xiangyu had long known her identity, seeing her in this setting still caused a brief moment of surprise. The two exchanged a glance, wondering if her presence carried a deeper meaning. Perhaps Lin Yuan had a new plan and sent Ou Ye to facilitate coordination?

Chu Yimeng frowned as she looked at this casually postured woman—who was reportedly the youngest Colonel in the military—and coughed twice. Ou Ye pulled her hands out of her pockets and straightened her back, trying her best to look like a reliable senior.

Chu Yimeng gave the group a lingering, uneasy look before entrusting them to Ou Ye. “Colonel Ou, I’ll leave them to you.”

Ou Ye nodded solemnly. “Of course, Instructor Chu.”

Once Chu Yimeng was gone, Ou Ye turned to size up the students lined up before her. She was wearing her military uniform today; as long as she didn’t speak, she did look somewhat professional.

But the moment she spoke, the image crumbled. She clicked her tongue. “Hey, I heard you guys saved Instructor Chu on Base Star? And protected her while she was heavily injured during a breakthrough? Are you really that good?”

Shu Qiong and the others were waiting for her to begin the lecture; they didn’t expect her to bring this up and weren’t sure how to respond. It was the captain, He Xuchou, who answered: “It wasn’t just us. Students from many other military schools coordinated together.”

“Don’t be modest,” Ou Ye laughed, shaking her head. “I’ve seen the scores the instructors gave you during training. They’re quite good.”

She walked in her combat boots from He Xuchou at one end to Chang Xichun at the other, eventually stopping in front of the latter. “I heard you’re a graduating senior and have already submitted your application for the special units? I looked at your scorecard, little sharpshooter. You seem a bit… lopsided in your skills.”

Chang Xichun stepped forward, stiffening as she forced out a “Yes.”

Ou Ye pointed at the silver-white holographic simulation pods behind them and said with interest, “Come, let’s have a round. My training program is very simple and direct: fight me. Maybe you’ll improve as we fight.”

Chang Xichun immediately raised her hand in protest: “Colonel, our captain is also a senior. Why don’t you pick her?”

Ou Ye clearly wanted to give them a “show of strength” entry, but why did she have to be the first victim? She was just a weak, kind-hearted sniper!

“Just assume I enjoy bullying the weak,” Ou Ye fabricated casually. “Hurry up. The sooner we finish, the sooner we rest.”

With a long face, Chang Xichun walked toward the row of oval pods. Halfway there, she looked at her teammates for help. Shu Qiong and the others immediately gave her thumbs-ups of encouragement but remained rooted to the spot. Chang Xichun turned back indignantly and climbed into an adjacent pod with Ou Ye.

They uploaded their respective mecha data, and the pod covers slid shut. The remaining teammates turned to the massive floating screen, which was split into three different perspectives.

Shu Qiong touched the silver pod curiously. “Is this the same kind of simulation pod we used for the school team trials?”

Qin Liang looked over. “Yes, but last time we weren’t in Mecha Mode.”

Shu Qiong nodded. Upon entering the pod, the human five senses are mapped and read. This principle is somewhat similar to the coupling elements of mecha operation, though the former leans toward finer perception while the latter emphasizes detailed control. Recalling her previous experience, Shu Qiong remembered the tactile sensations were incredibly realistic—the power of technology was truly boundless.

The sound of metal grinding echoed. On the screen, both Ou Ye and Chang Xichun had entered their mechas and were testing their joints. Since they were in Mecha Combat Mode, Ou Ye spoke through the combat channel: “Student Chang, you choose the map.”

Chang Xichun opened the selection box, her brain working at high speed. He Xuchou provided a brief explanation for the two freshmen: “In Mecha Mode, you can choose maps like an open arena, mountains, or deserts.”

Qin Liang stroked her chin. “Which map do you think she’ll pick?”

Shu Qiong wasn’t sure of all the map types, but she could analyze the strategy. “She’s a Sniper-position pilot, specializing in long-range thermal weapons. The more complex the terrain, the better for her. Colonel Ou is experienced, and based on her mecha… she seems to be the close-combat type. I bet she’ll pick something with lots of cover or ambush spots, like a canyon.”

As she spoke, Chang Xichun pressed “Submit.” True to Shu Qiong’s words, she chose a canyon map with significant elevation changes—perfect for ambushes.

The map loaded instantly. From the third-person view, the team saw a rugged landscape dominated by a long, narrow, winding trench in the center. Steep mountains rose on both sides, looking as though a giant axe had split the earth. Chang Xichun’s Lianzhu loaded in one corner on the eastern mountain, facing Ou Ye on the western side.

Lianzhu reacted instantly, diving behind a protruding boulder while deploying its cannon—this cannon was far more powerful than the one used during the mid-term trials. Three consecutive shells slammed into the exact same spot on the opposite cliff. Rocks showered down as a massive crater was blown into the western mountainside.

However, it missed. Ou Ye’s reaction speed was even faster. When the dust settled, Chang Xichun peeked out to see the western side completely empty. She frowned. From her brief glimpse of Ou Ye’s mecha, she guessed it was a typical Assault type, specializing in cold-weapon melee.

With limited map space and invisible barriers, Ou Ye would have to descend into the trench and climb up the eastern side to reach her. The route was treacherous; Ou Ye would inevitably expose her trajectory. All Chang Xichun had to do was maintain her altitude advantage and rain fire down from above.

Thinking this, she left her cover to find a better vantage point. From here, she could see almost half the canyon.

Outside in the training hall, the spectators were talking.

“Is Colonel Ou going to descend and cross the trench?” Qin Liang asked.

Yan Xiangyu shook her head. “Doesn’t look like it. She seems to be just walking south along the ridge, maybe observing the terrain.”

As they spoke, Ou Ye exposed half her mecha’s body from behind cover and was instantly targeted by Chang Xichun’s long-range shells. After a series of explosions, the spot where Ou Ye had been hiding was leveled, but she had dodged with incredible speed, vanishing from sight again. This repeated several times—every time Ou Ye appeared to initiate a descent, she was met with a barrage of ammunition.

“Is it going to be a draw? If this keeps up, the Colonel won’t even make it across before the time limit.”

“I bet the Colonel wins. Anyone want to bet?” Shu Qiong said with a smile.

Yan Xiangyu turned to her. “What’s the wager?”

Shu Qiong said without hesitation: “The loser has to volunteer to fight the Colonel in the next round on an ‘Open Arena’ map.”

The Open Arena was the most basic setting—small, with zero cover. It was designed for melee fighters to test raw skill.

“Deal,” Yan Xiangyu was the first to agree. “I also bet on the Colonel.”

Shu Qiong arched an eyebrow at her and turned to He Xuchou. “Captain, you in?”

He Xuchou weighed her options. “I’ll support Ah-Chun. I bet on her.”

Qin Liang pondered: “Hmm… I still think it’ll be a stalemate. I’ll bet on a draw.”

Shu Qiong snapped her fingers. “Done.”

Just then, Yan Xiangyu spoke up: “The Colonel is moving.”

Ou Ye had moved to the southwest corner of the map, where the two cliffs were closest. She flexed her joints, seemingly determined to charge down the slope into the trench. Like before, she was met with Chang Xichun’s shells as soon as she showed her head. But because the distance was so great, Lianzhu’s accuracy faltered. Ou Ye dodged and leaped, diving down the slope.

Grass and dirt sprayed into the air as Ou Ye finally raised the single cannon equipped on her mecha and fired toward the opposite bank. However, her range was insufficient, and her arsenal was far inferior to the sniper-type Lianzhu. Unsurprisingly, her shells fell short, hitting the slopes below Chang Xichun.

Qin Liang remarked: “The advantage of a sniper mecha on this map is too great. If Colonel Ou were in a Scout type, it would be different—Scouts can fly for long periods and cross the gap directly.”

He Xuchou noticed something else: “Did anyone see the Colonel’s movement clearly? What model of shell did she fire? Why didn’t they explode when they hit the mountain?”

Yan Xiangyu shook her head. “I didn’t catch it.”

Shu Qiong frowned, remaining silent as she fell into thought. She felt that “cannon” looked familiar, like something she’d seen before.

Ou Ye moved too fast. Almost the moment she fired, she slid down the slope, seemingly unconcerned with whether she hit her target. The spectators watched through Ou Ye’s cockpit view, but the footage was a blur—the typical visual distortion experienced during high-speed movement. This meant she was falling, likely landing in the deepest part of the trench, as Chang Xichun could no longer track her.

Chang Xichun moved south along the eastern ridge, her cannons aimed downward to guard against an ambush.

Thump!

The sound of a heavy impact rang out. Chang Xichun whipped her head around, but her screen showed no one.

Shu Qiong hissed, finally remembering what Ou Ye had fired. She asked Yan Xiangyu: “Do you remember the retractable grappling hook we used in the elevator shaft at the signal tower? Boss Ou just fired one of those!”

In her excitement, she instinctively used the nickname “Boss Ou.” But the others didn’t notice, focused on the implication.

Yan Xiangyu understood first. “You mean the Colonel actually fired a grappling hook? She’s planning to swing across the void?”

“But that was clearly a cannon sound,” Qin Liang said, confused.

Shu Qiong said solemnly: “The sound was just an air cannon used for cover. An experienced pilot can fire an air shell immediately after a grappling hook to provide extra thrust, driving the hook into the opposite cliff. Boss… the Colonel’s view was blurry not because of a free fall, but because the retraction of the cable was pulling her mecha forward at high speed…”

Her voice trailed off as the situation on the screen flipped entirely within seconds. Just as Shu Qiong explained, the “thump” Chang Xichun heard was the sound of the cable fully retracting and the mecha slamming into the cliffside.

Ou Ye’s mecha was now clinging to the nearly 90-degree slope in a climbing posture. The hook was withdrawn, and her movements were fluid and agile as she scrambled up the final stretch. She was less than ten meters from the top.

Chang Xichun approached the sound warily. Shu Qiong and the others watched tensely.

Suddenly, a mecha arm reached up from beneath the ridge and gripped the edge with a resounding clack. Using the strength of its upper limbs and the engine’s thrust, the mecha vaulted onto the level ground. Simultaneously, the sensors on both mechas flashed red. They were within a kilometer of each other.

Terrified, Chang Xichun didn’t think twice. She raised her cannon to fire a barrage. The first shell hit the edge where Ou Ye had climbed up, but Ou Ye had anticipated it. She jumped high without pausing, closing a massive gap toward Chang Xichun as she dodged.

She pushed her engine to the limit. At such high speeds, the mecha moved like a ghost. Less than a second passed, and Chang Xichun didn’t even have time for a second shot before her cockpit view went dark, covered by a massive shadow.

A deafening roar and a cloud of dust erupted—but this wasn’t from a thermal weapon.

Shu Qiong widened her eyes to see Ou Ye’s movement, but she only saw that the Colonel had already pinned Lianzhu to the ground. Lianzhu’s cockpit was deeply dented from the impact.

Ou Ye’s voice rang through the channel: “Against me, you only get one chance to shoot. Remember that?”

With that, Ou Ye maneuvered her mecha to raise an unusually long blade. With a single, clean strike, she cleaved through the opening in Lianzhu’s cockpit.

One strike. Chang Xichun was forced offline.