MORIC - Chapter 184

Chapter 184: Refusing to Admit It

Xi Zhoumeng was pushed squarely by Chi Yueshan and sighed helplessly, rubbing her shoulder.

Wen Xinghuo met Chi Yueshan's excited eyes and thought to herself, She doesn't look like a mother at all, still so boisterous.

She nodded. "Can't I?"

Chi Yueshan shook her head, then nodded, and finally shook her head vigorously.

"That's not right. Why do you want to be the commander? Aren't you…"

Before Chi Yueshan could finish, Xi Zhoumeng pulled her back into an embrace.

The young lady, rarely seen without a long dress, was dressed in a simple and sharp outfit, making her stand out among the people who were mostly wearing military uniforms.

She said to Chi Yueshan, "Didn't I tell you before?"

Chi Yueshan subconsciously retorted, "When did you… uh…"

Was it that time she mentioned it?

She bit her lip, her face turning red unconsciously, purely because the scene in her memory was too outrageous.

Seeing Chi Yueshan fall silent, Xi Zhoumeng stepped forward and extended a hand to Wen Xinghuo. "Long time no see."

Wen Xinghuo shook it. She stared at Xi Zhoumeng for a good while before asking seriously, "Have you really recovered completely? I heard your spiritual power was severely depleted before."

Xi Zhoumeng had always been a very capable person. Others might not know this, but Wen Xinghuo, who grew up with her, knew it best.

A typical case of a wolf in sheep's clothing. The problem was, Xi Zhoumeng couldn't even pretend to be a sheep; she had always been a flamboyant peacock.

But a peacock could have once been a phoenix. The aura Xi Zhoumeng occasionally exuded gave one the illusion that she had been born from blood and fire.

Now that she had fully differentiated into an Alpha, she didn't hide it at all. When Alphas shook hands, their pheromones naturally clashed. When two S+ Alphas stood together, even with pheromone patches on, it would be instinctively triggered.

Chi Yueshan was almost overwhelmed by the pheromones Xi Zhoumeng released.

She felt like she was truly done for. After being fully marked, it was like she had become a different person. It had been better in the ZR-Galaxy because there were no pheromones.

Now Xi Zhoumeng can practically toy with me as she pleases. As soon as her body recovered a little, she did whatever she wanted, almost driving me to death.

Sob, sob, sob, her current refreshed and vigorous state is built upon my half-dead condition.

Damn it, damn it, damn it.

Xi Zhoumeng nodded. "Don't worry. If you want to vent, give it your all."

She hadn't dyed her hair back. In the past, she had loathed her hair color, loathed her bloodline, but now she had completely accepted it.

She liked this world, even with the Zerg rampaging, even with the rotten political regime.

The rampaging things just needed to be driven out. The rotten regime just needed to be rebuilt.

Anyway, there are so many capable people. I'll use them if I can. All I want is for the people I care about to be well.

"But it won't be that simple."

She smiled at Wen Xinghuo. Even without an elaborate long dress, even now in her simply tailored clothes, the places where she could wear jewelry were still extravagantly adorned.

This time, Xi Zhoumeng wasn't wearing the Magnetic Star Meteorite. There was no need for an amplifier when fighting a person. Plus, she had just undergone consciousness splitting and needed time to recover.

At this moment, Xi Zhoumeng's smile was brilliant. Even Wen Xinghuo, who was used to her pretentious act, was momentarily dazed.

But Xi Zhoumeng turned and walked away, hooking an arm around Chi Yueshan's shoulder. The unmarried Alpha and Omega already had a child, and standing together, it was as if a natural magnetic field existed between them, as if they were a fated pair destined to be together.

Even their affection was so brazen.

What about me?

Wen Xinghuo took a deep breath. She didn't dare to ask for much. Anyway, Xi Zhoumeng always acted as if victory was assured. Wen Xinghuo didn't want to be that kind of hero anymore.

Who wanted to repeat the same mistakes? Right now, she just wanted to beat the other person up fiercely.

More than ten people had signed up tonight, most of them officers with military ranks. In comparison, an officer like Wen Xinghuo, who had skipped several ranks in her promotion, seemed less impressive.

Xi Shuang and Ling Xun were in the lounge helping Wen Xinghuo warm up. Another gasp erupted from the big screen. Xi Zhoumeng had fucking taken down another officer.

This mecha training ground was huge, with facilities for everything from mecha combat to command operations.

The command operation was a simulated battlefield VR, and the entire audience had an immersive experience. Xi Zhoumeng showed no stage fright at all.

Her voice was the same as always, like a natural-born siren, still carrying a bewitching power at a time like this, enchanting not only the enemy but also her own side.

Only an hour had passed, and she had passed all the command combat tests, even defeating six people in PK matches.

This challenge was only open to the military. After all, it was wartime, so there was no broadcast.

Xi Mingguang was sitting next to Shen Yu, with Lan Lan and Chu Jing beside them.

Shen Yu was no longer as lackadaisical as before. Her military career had always been iron-fisted. Even if she was an easygoing person in private, she was like a different person in uniform. At least at work, no one dared to joke with her.

Unfortunately, the fearsome Marshal Shen was now sitting in a corner, huddled with her senior, Xi Mingguang, watching Xi Zhoumeng, who had already won six consecutive victories. She asked with a smile, "Senior, how come Zhoumeng seems so experienced? Did you give her private lessons?"

Xi Mingguang still had difficulty moving. She had also been directly attacked by that Zerg with overly beautiful wings. Her mecha had shattered. If not for Chi Yueshan's suggestion back then for the Expeditionary Force's mecha division to re-forge and add defensive modules with special materials, she might have died on the spot like the commanders after her.

Due to the severe trauma to her spiritual power, Xi Mingguang was still pale. Chu Jing no longer kept her distance as she used to, under the pretext that it would keep their love fresh.

For the first time, she was worried her Alpha would die young, and she had become even clingier than when she was a girl.

Xi Mingguang shook her head. "She doesn't need any private lessons from me."

Xi Zhoumeng was undoubtedly a genius. Even though Shen Yu and Xi Mingguang, who were present, had been labeled as such in their youth, Xi Zhoumeng was on a completely different level.

After all, Shen Yu and Xi Mingguang had differentiated as Alphas and received elite Alpha education.

Xi Zhoumeng's schooling had always been sporadic. Even though she was exposed to it at the Xi family home and had vast resources to study from, she had no interest.

But the sudden differentiation didn't stop her at all. Instead, it was like wiping the dust off a pearl, revealing its brilliant, boundless radiance.

Shen Yu said, "She, ah, understands far more than we do."

She wasn't dissatisfied in the slightest. The previous generation would eventually grow old. Some secrets couldn't be spoken of; they remained secrets because there was no proof.

If Lan Lan had died, Shen Yu would have definitely exposed the scandal after grasping the Queen's secret.

But things were different now. She wanted absolute freedom in marriage, not for procreation, but simply out of instinctual love.

The new generation should be able to achieve this.

Lan Lan, like Xi Mingguang, now had mobility issues. It was rare for her to come out. She stared at Xi Zhoumeng on the field, then turned to Chi Yueshan sitting beside her and asked, "Are you nervous?"

Chi Yueshan was supposed to be in the lounge watching the huge shared screen, but Chu Jing came to get her, so she could only watch with this group of adults.

Logically, she was an adult now—she had even had a child—but at this moment, she still felt like she had been caught in a puppy love romance by the dean of students.

The problem is, where does puppy love even exist in our world? It's all Xi Zhoumeng's fault for watching those trashy dramas in that other world. My mind has been poisoned.

Chi Yueshan said, "N-Not nervous."

Chu Jing grabbed her hand. "Zhoumeng will be fine."

Shen Yu chuckled. "It's time for the mecha battles now, right? I had someone research this protective shield. Kids these days fight so fiercely."

"Take Xinghuo, for example. Last week she smashed through a training mecha. I feel like if she keeps training, we'll run out of funds."

Xi Mingguang asked, "There's one last one left. Is she also from your Special Forces?"

The AI announcer called out the last name.

"Let us welcome our final challenger—"

"Special Forces A-Team Captain, Wen Xinghuo."

The training ground wasn't even full; most of the audience were from the Special Forces. Cheers erupted from all around. Almost everyone who wasn't on rotation for combat duty was here.

Wen Xinghuo had always earned cheers through her strength. When the War God mecha appeared, the atmosphere was instantly ignited.

Chi Yueshan felt a bit conflicted. She now knew the mecha technician at Shen Yu's base, who was a classmate of the former mecha division captain from the Expeditionary Force.

She had been pulled into the circle of mecha technicians, so she inevitably heard discussions about the War God mecha.

I wonder to what extent Senior Wen's mecha has been optimized. I should be able to see it this time.

Xi Zhoumeng took a short break. Her mecha was already parked to the side. The previous few matches were barely a warm-up for her, which had dampened the spirits of the Special Forces members on the field.

The appearance of the towering mecha was coldly beautiful. The blonde Alpha drinking water on the side, lazily leaning against the railing, also had a special charm.

Blonde hair usually gives a sense of distance, carrying the inherent nobility of the color. But Xi Zhoumeng's nobility seemed to come from the highest heavens. Her hair was even braided with dazzling silver threads, making people even more hesitant to look too long.

When the cockpit of Wen Xinghuo's mecha opened, she tossed aside the water bottle she was drinking from and entered the cockpit.

"Verifying identities of both parties…"

"Moon-Swallower Mecha holder: Xi Zhoumeng, spiritual power S+."

"War God Mecha holder: Wen Xinghuo, spiritual power S+."

"Selecting sparring mode."

"Engines activated…"

The sounds from the cockpits were also broadcast through the training ground's speakers, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Xi Shuang and Ling Xun were sitting in the front row. Xi Shuang was practically dying of anxiety. "What do I do? I'm so nervous, I need to go to the bathroom."

Ling Xun said, "You've already gone four times. Sis, some problems are best treated early. Don't avoid the doctor out of fear."

Xi Shuang retorted, "That's not it! What should I do? It's like choosing between the palm and the back of my hand. I'm really afraid they'll both get hurt."

At this moment, it was as if her floodgates had been forced open. "Back at the academy, I was always worried they would fight. At first, I was worried Yueshan and Zhoumeng would fight. Then I was afraid Zhoumeng and Wen Xinghuo would fight. But wasn't Zhoumeng an Omega back then? I was afraid Xi Zhoumeng would hire thugs to beat up Wen Xinghuo…"

Ling Xun said, "You're overthinking it."

Xi Shuang slapped her thigh hard, and Ling Xun almost yelped in pain.

Xi Shuang said, "Sorry, slapped the wrong one. This is practically the battle of the century! Sob, sob, sob, it's so exciting and thrilling! And only we get to see it, how awesome!"

"I wonder if the original holders ever fought…"

"Who do you think will win? You can't use bombardment in sparring mode. Wen Xinghuo excels at close combat and is a power type. I still think…"

"She doesn't want to be the commander either, right…"

Ling Xun stated, "Senior Xi will definitely win."

Xi Shuang asked, "Why? Wen Xinghuo was top-tier in all the tests at the academy."

Ling Xun replied, "You don't think Senior Xi is inferior to Senior Wen just because she didn't take the tests, do you?"

Even though Ling Xun was obsessed with being number one, a single practical training session had been enough to make her realize the chasm that existed between people.

Secondary Differentiation, spiritual power, and so on were all specific values, just providing a range for measurement. Just like S+ was the highest level of spiritual power, but it was still a range defined by people.

It was the highest value a machine could detect.

Even if someone's value was higher, it would still only be S+.

Xi Shuang said, "Zhoumeng's physical stamina isn't that great, right? I saw she was already very tired when she came down just now, she was sweating so much."

Even from a distance, there were AI-controlled cameras following both of them. In the close-up shot, Xi Zhoumeng was panting, strands of golden hair sticking to her face. Even her breathing made one feel…

I'm an Alpha, what's the point of praising her, another Alpha.

Xi Shuang huffed, "Sparring is all about physical dominance."

Ling Xun asked, "Wanna bet who wins?"

Xi Shuang replied, "No point. The commander is appointed by Shen Yu, so it's definitely Zhoumeng."

Ling Xun clarified, "I mean, let's see who has the upper hand in the fight, not the final result. Anyway, even if Senior Wen wins, she won't become the commander. She just wants to fight on the Capital Star."

Xi Shuang asked, "What's the bet?"

Ling Xun said, "The contact numbers of your ex-girlfriends."

Xi Shuang exclaimed, "Are you sick? You want my ex-girlfriends' numbers too? You have that kind of hobby?"

Ling Xun replied, "It's annoying. They keep contacting me. You need to make a clean break, don't even be friends."

Xi Shuang conceded, "Fine."

The next second, the battle began.

The rose paint job on the Moon-Swallower mecha seemed to come alive upon activation, pulsing with a faint light, as flashy as a piece of installation art.

But it was Xi Zhoumeng who struck first. She showed no mercy, not caring that Wen Xinghuo was here to vent her anger.

The belligerence of a differentiated Alpha was fully activated today. Xi Zhoumeng smiled with satisfaction as a spinning guillotine blade, embedded with sparkling gems, chopped down. With a clang, Wen Xinghuo's mecha quickly blocked, but she was a step too slow in sidestepping, and a gash appeared on the previously pristine black paint.

Xi Zhoumeng's voice rang out, "What are you thinking about? The Zerg don't care if you're close-range or long-range."

"If you don't want to be a hero, do you want to be a coward, Captain Wen?"

This trash talk was amplified by the AI broadcast, echoing through the training ground. In the previous rounds, Xi Zhoumeng had been polite and courteous, perfectly embodying the elegant lethality of a noble.

Now, she was purely having fun, her mouth running wild on an open mic.

Chi Yueshan exhaled, telling herself not to get angry.

Sitting to the side, Lan Lan asked curiously, "Yueshan, did you install those gems on Zhoumeng's mecha?"

Chi Yueshan instantly felt so embarrassed.

She hesitated for a long moment before firmly denying it. "I didn't install them. I'm only responsible for the optimization."

"She did the decorations herself when she had nothing better to do."

I'm not that much of a show-off.

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