After Winning The Esports Championship I’m Going To Pilot A Mecha: Chapter 135

135. “Bye, everyone.”

Rain fell over Jiusheng City.

It was the only heavy rain in several months, pouring down in torrents and shrouding the entire city in a gray mist. The dampness filled every corner, making the streets nearly empty. From a bird’s-eye view, Jiusheng City exuded an inexplicable sense of decay.

Thud, thud-thud—

In the gray cityscape, several mechs sped between the buildings, their massive bodies creating loud noises and splashes with each step.

Boom!

Sitting in the cockpit, Ji Mingzhu pulled the control lever, causing the entire mech to execute an exaggerated sidestep. A bright laser beam narrowly missed the Void Rift, erupting into a burst of flames behind it.

The fire was quickly extinguished by the downpour, and thick black smoke billowed up. Several mechs emerged from the smoke, their cold muzzles lifting once again to aim at Ji Mingzhu.

Persistent as ever.

Ji Mingzhu’s eyes narrowed slightly as he maneuvered the Void Rift with fluid, elegant steps. The rhythm of the mech’s movements changed repeatedly in a short time, making the dark-colored mech appear ghostly in the rainy night. This made it difficult for the pursuing mechs to track him.

“Damn it.”

An A-class mech from the Netherworld Organization lost sight of its target in the complex urban terrain and cursed under its breath.

“C9, A5, report your positions.”

“This is A5, we’ve lost the target’s direction.”

“This is C9, the target is out of range.”

Two Netherworld Organization pilots’ voices echoed through the comms, carrying not only urgency but also a hint of barely perceptible awe.

The Void Rift was merely an A-class mech. Even though it was a special model adept at stealth operations, under normal circumstances, shaking off the radar lock of an S-class mech and several A-class mechs was impossible. Yet, it was happening right before their eyes.

Ji Mingzhu expertly utilized the terrain for evasive maneuvers. Under his control, the Void Rift seemed like an assassin blending into the rainy night, elusive and unpredictable. Despite being elite pilots within the Netherworld Organization, they felt as if Ji Mingzhu was toying with them like monkeys. This was a display of absolute superiority in piloting skills—no one else could manage to evade multiple advanced mechs with such ease.

“Seven o’clock, in the building cluster. He’s there.”

A woman’s voice came through the comms.

Her name was Hong Pingyun, a top pilot of the Earth Womb squad and one of its aces, similar to Tian Shu’s role. In terms of piloting skills, Hong Pingyun had already reached the level of a Titan pilot.

At this moment, Hong Pingyun was piloting an S-class mech. With her Titan-level piloting skills and tactical vision, combined with the S-class mech’s targeting assistance, Hong Pingyun wasn’t fooled by Ji Mingzhu’s maneuvers. She quickly pinpointed his location.

In the Netherworld Organization, Hong Pingyun had heard of Tian Shu’s reputation. Although the two had never met, she had long considered Tian Shu her greatest rival. The objective of this mission was Ji Mingzhu himself, which made Hong Pingyun slightly excited.

“Flank him from both sides on my signal.”

Hong Pingyun commanded, charging her S-class mech, [Mingguang Mammoth], towards Ji Mingzhu’s position.

The Mingguang Mammoth was a heavily armored mech, perfectly countering stealth assassin-type mechs like the Void Rift. As long as they engaged in a direct confrontation, Hong Pingyun was confident she could take down Ji Mingzhu and complete the mission flawlessly.

The massive steel body moved like an unstoppable train, crashing through every obstacle in its path. Hong Pingyun soon burst through the debris, arriving at a plaza.

This was a well-known plaza in Jiusheng City. Due to the heavy rain, it was empty and desolate. The surrounding high-rise buildings provided a broad view, but there was no sign of the Void Rift.

“How is this possible?”

Hong Pingyun froze for a moment. She had clearly seen the Void Rift head in this direction. Without flight capabilities and with other routes guarded by Netherworld Organization mechs, how could it have possibly flown away?

Just as this thought crossed her mind, a piercing whistle split the air behind her!

*Buzz—*

Hong Pingyun whipped around, quickly catching sight of a dark grey blur.

The Void Rift clung to the side of a high-rise building like a massive dark spider, silently and stealthily. Its feline-like hind limbs clung tightly to the smooth surface. Though its size wasn’t particularly large for an A-class mech, standing nearly ten meters tall, it blended seamlessly with its surroundings when crouched against the building. Its specialized armor absorbed all surrounding light, reflecting none, and its presence went undetected by radar.

A perfect assassin.

It wasn’t until the Void Rift launched itself like an arrow from the building that Hong Pingyun spotted it.

But by then, Ji Mingzhu had already secured the first strike!

A dark grey dagger shot out from the Void Rift’s arm. As a specialized combat mech, the Void Rift lacked conventional mech armaments. Its weapon was a small, incredibly sharp dagger made from Ramses II alloy, usually hidden within its arm armor and springing out silently, catching opponents off guard.

In an instant, the distance between them closed. Hong Pingyun could see every detail of the Void Rift. The torrential raindrops were pulverized into mist upon contact with its spinning power core, scattering into the air. The Void Rift’s eyes glowed a faint blue, exuding a sudden, fierce killing intent!

Clang!

Unable to dodge, Hong Pingyun relied on the Mingguang Mammoth’s armor to withstand the blow. A massive collision followed, shaking the raindrops off both mechs.

Crack—

They parted instantly. The Void Rift moved with astonishing agility, its movements hinting at the complex maneuvers executed by its pilot. After the collision, it quickly retreated, putting distance between them.

Click—

The pattering rain continued to wash over the earth. After a moment of silence, Ji Mingzhu spoke up.

“Who are you?”

Hong Pingyun: “…”

Ji Mingzhu genuinely had no idea who Hong Pingyun was. He wasn’t the real Tian Shu and had no clue about the grudges Tian Shu had formed within the Netherworld Organization.

*Whoosh—*

As the two exchanged brief words, from the other sides of the square, two A-class mechs emerged from the torrential rain, attacking Ji Mingzhu from both sides in a pincer formation!

Hong Pingyun had only been stalling for time.

These two newly appeared A-class mechs were also elite pilots of the Netherworld Organization. Facing Ji Mingzhu, who was also piloting an A-class mech, they felt confident in their victory. They moved swiftly, pushing their power cores to the limit in an instant, aiming for a quick battle to capture Ji Mingzhu and bring him back.

Hong Pingyun acted simultaneously with the appearance of the two mechs. The massive Mingguang Mammoth charged forward like a colossal tank, breaking through the rain. Standing at around twenty meters, nearly twice the height of the Void Rift, it exuded a palpable sense of oppression.

Clang—

The A-class mech on the left struck first. An alloy straight blade shot out from its sheath, maintaining its momentum, and slashed diagonally at the Void Rift!

Ji Mingzhu’s eyes flickered as he maneuvered the Void Rift to dodge sideways.

The A-class mech on the right immediately followed, raising its cannon and aiming a laser blast at the Void Rift. A blue light illuminated!

The Void Rift’s feline-like hind legs compressed like springs, then released with immense force, propelling the entire mech upwards!

Swish—

In mid-air, the Void Rift performed a graceful spin. The alloy dagger on its arm shot out and lodged itself at a tricky angle into the joint of the right-side mech, severely hampering its flexibility and making it difficult to aim its laser cannon.

The next moment, Hong Pingyun’s Mingguang Mammoth arrived!

To Hong Pingyun, Ji Mingzhu’s maneuvers were indeed impressive, but he had made a fatal mistake by daring to throw his mech’s dagger in such a situation. Without its primary weapon, the Void Rift, already ill-suited for head-on combat, was no better than paper against the heavy Mingguang Mammoth.

The Mingguang Mammoth charged at the Void Rift like an out-of-control train, but just before impact, the dark gray mech was pulled by some force, changing direction mid-air and disappearing from the Mingguang Mammoth’s sight, leaving Hong Pingyun to crash into nothing.

What?!

Hong Pingyun’s heart skipped a beat, and she turned to look.

She caught sight of a semi-transparent steel cable. The dagger’s end was attached to a clear steel wire, extending from the Void Rift’s arm. After throwing the dagger, Ji Mingzhu retracted the steel wire, swinging himself like Spider-Man to avoid Hong Pingyun’s attack and position the Void Rift one-on-one with the A-class mech.

“Watch out!”

“It’s fine, I can handle it.”

The A-class mech pilot was confident in response to Hong Pingyun’s warning.

So what if you’re Tian Shu? We’re both in A-class mechs. You think you can take me down in one second? Even if I can’t beat you, I can hold out for five or six seconds.

In the next moment, Ji Mingzhu proved him wrong.

No, you can’t hold out.

Boom—!!

As soon as the two mechs clashed, the Void Rift performed a backstab with incredible speed. Its body shifted, dodging the opponent’s mech blade, and it seemed to perform a face-to-face dance move, swiftly turning like a specter. The alloy dagger retracted, and an overclocked burst initiated, completing the backstab.

This move was a famous assassin technique from Ji Mingzhu’s professional days, developed by an assassin in his team. It used a brief visual misdirection to deliver a lethal blow. With Ji Mingzhu’s added overclocking, its lethality increased further.

The attack was fierce. Under Ji Mingzhu’s control, the Void Rift’s dagger retracted, causing the A-class mech to stumble. It was then followed by a swift, powerful high kick to the head. The alloy dagger struck again, piercing the blue-glowing power core.

Destroyed on the spot!

Everything happened so quickly that Hong Pingyun didn’t have time to react. As soon as the two mechs made contact, Ji Mingzhu had already finished the kill. Despite both being A-class mechs, the opponent didn’t last a single round against him.

“Damn…”

“Three more mechs are approaching from the ten o’clock direction.”

Axiu said, “Don’t linger in the fight.”

“Got it.”

Without a moment’s pause after the kill, Ji Mingzhu’s dagger shot out from his arm, hooking onto a distant building and propelling him upwards.

Amid the torrential rain, the Void Rift soared like a gray wild goose into the sky. Rain droplets splattered on its dark gray armor, and then the entire mech seemed to blend into the gray city, vanishing from Hong Pingyun’s sight in an instant.

Hong Pingyun didn’t even have a chance to pursue. She had thought Ji Mingzhu would attempt a forceful breakthrough, but she hadn’t expected his actions to be so swift—killing one opponent instantly and then disappearing, fully embodying the essence of an assassin-type mech.

Only Ji Mingzhu’s clear voice echoed in the rain.

“Bye, everyone.”

If you're enjoying the story don't forget to support the author! You can also support me on KOFI for site maintenance, raws purchase or as an energy boost~ 

Join discord to get notified whenever a new chapter is uploaded since I'm  incapable of keeping up with a schedule~