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Genius Mechanic: Chapter 253.2
Asta Contaminated Zone(Star Domain Tournament: Start)
253.2: End of the First Half
Proofread by Cloud Chip Cake
The official livestream switched perspectives, and viewer comments flooded in.
The other strong teams were all searching for fragmented teams. Two fragmented teams were fighting not far from KID, yet KID seemed completely oblivious, fully absorbed in handling pollutants and showing no intention of moving further in.
【I hate that I can’t pop into Asta right now to give them directions.】
【Are they doing this on purpose, or do they not know!?】
【Can’t you just fly another 4 kilometers to the right?? If you fly over, you’ll see them!】
【KID, you’re just 4 kilometers away from being first in the entire domain!】
【Forget about handling pollutants, there are even two mechas blatantly AFKing.】
【Is the monitoring team not going to remind them?】
The monitoring team focused on KID’s perspective: “…”
If reminders were useful, why would they still be squatting here?
As the competition went on, time became tighter.
Some teams had essentially secured advancement slots, while others were still fighting for points.
During the last few days, KID roamed everywhere. They did encounter mecha teams, but whichever team it was, they all ran off quickly. Since KID hadn’t brought weapons for pursuit, they couldn’t catch up, and could only watch the other mechas escape. Over four days, they only managed to capture one fragmented team, earning one mecha point.
ZUOY, ranked second, utilized these four days to secure another mecha point, ending up two points behind KID and finishing as second in Zone C. YOU, which had previously lost two mechas, didn’t collapse after losing their Medical mecha. Instead, they quickly secured third place through guerrilla control tactics.
The initial round of the Asta Contaminated Zone’s Star Domain Tournament was announced to stop on the twelfth day. All mecha teams on the field ceased fighting. The entire data board calculated the mecha divisions, and after the battle records of the four zones were finalized, a massive floating results board appeared before all the teams.
The Aries Galaxy’s Aegis ranked first across all zones with 13 mecha points, followed by JIAZI in second place with 12 points. Surprisingly, starting from third place wasn’t the familiar YOU, but rather the Dawn Galaxy’s KID in third, with ZUOY in fourth.
YOU, previously ranked third in the Star Domain, was pushed to tenth place.
【Fuck, was Zone C this intense? YOU got pushed out?】
【It’s not just YOU. Did you see the other teams’ standings? The top eight from the last Star Domain Tournament didn’t even make it into the top eight this time!】
When the overall rankings for the first half were revealed, spectators were shocked by the new top eight rankings. Some of the previous top eight teams hadn’t even made it into the top ten this time. Even though this competition included the addition of Medical mechas under the new rules, such a near-complete reshuffling of rankings was entirely unexpected.
The top eight rankings were based on the top two mecha teams from each zone, while the ninth and tenth places were determined by the combined scores of the remaining four zones.
【Huh? Are you only looking at the rankings?】
【I didn’t notice… Dawn Galaxy actually has three teams in the top ten this time??】
【Is it the one Dawn I know? Three teams!?】
Among the top ten in the rankings, besides KID, who were in third place, Gale was in fifth. The remaining team was Black Crow in ninth.
The Star Domain Tournament included 15 galaxies, and Dawn alone occupied three of the top ten spots. This was the same Dawn Galaxy that was previously known for its poor performance.
As one of the galaxies with all eight of its strongest teams participating, the leadership and spectators of Dawn Galaxy also paid close attention to the matches across the multiple zones. Among the eight teams, several were severely damaged by powerful opponents, and one team was wiped out and eliminated. However, the overall performance of these teams exceeded the expectations of Dawn’s audience.
【I originally thought our eight strongest teams would be eliminated early.】
【Empty Cicada wasn’t bad either! They kept holding onto their tactics and securing kills even as a fragmented team.】
【Opportunities to participate in the Star Domain Tournament are rare. Every extra minute played is valuable experience.】
The situations in each zone naturally fell under the gaze of the leaders on the podium. For Dawn Galaxy to achieve its current results was already the best outcome for Li Jingyan. He did not demand that all mecha pilots achieve rapid progress within two years and perform brilliantly in the Star Domain Tournament. As long as they didn’t waste the opportunity that KID and the others had secured through the Star Alliance Mission, and as long as they accumulated combat experience against stronger teams in the tournament, the Dawn teams would perform even better when they returned the following year.
The further the score gap widened, the more tightly the total mecha point pool was locked.
Black Crow and YDS were somewhat unfortunate.
Li Jingyan’s gaze fell on the scores at the lower end. In Group D, where Black Crow competed, there were no strong teams. Without strong teams, there were no dominant mecha teams to suppress other teams, resulting in a very balanced attrition and evenly distributed mecha points. Black Crow ranked third in Group D, just one point behind second place, and couldn’t squeeze into the top two in the zone rankings, ending up in ninth place and unable to advance to the second half.
In contrast, Group B, where YDS competed, had a more pronounced division after their top two. The top two teams collected a large number of mecha points, causing their scores to be disproportionately high, thus YDS also ended up in third place. In the overall rankings, YDS’s mecha score from Zone B tied with YOU’s from Zone C.
Both teams focused on control systems. YOU fought fiercely in the later stages after losing two mechas, continuously battling fragmented teams. In the end, with a marginal difference in energy output, You narrowly surpassed Dawn’s YDS and secured tenth place, while YDS regrettably placed eleventh, just missing the Star Alliance Championship qualification.
“What a pity. YDS was so close to qualifying for the Star Alliance Championship.” A leader from Dawn expressed regret. “If the selection rules for the Star Alliance Championship still followed the old system, it would have been fine.”
The rule allowing only the top ten to participate in the Star Alliance Championship came with the revisions to the new documents. A few years ago, the qualification spots for the championship allowed up to 15 participants, meaning teams ranked in the top 15 had a chance to enter. After the rule changes, only ten spots were available.
Li Jingyan looked at the mecha pilots on the screen. “They aren’t lacking in strength. It’s just that the competition for the top ten this year was too intense.”
Even YOU, who ranked third in the Star Domain in the past, was pushed down to tenth place. This showed the strength of the teams in each zone. Luck played a small part, but the main factor was the disparity in strength. Black Crow and Gale had participated in the Star Domain Tournament before and quickly adapted. YDS, with less experience compared to the other two teams, managed to come so close to last season’s third-place team, this was already an astonishing improvement.
In the rest area of the competition venue, while there was some regret among the YDS team, they didn’t become discouraged.
YDS’ manager comforted the nearby staff, “Don’t overthink it. Before this, we didn’t even have the chance to participate in a Star Domain Tournament. At least now we know our ranking within Dawn Galaxy.”
“Everyone else, get ready. They should be teleporting as soon as they arrive at the base station.”
Outside the competition venue, the release of the new rankings sparked widespread discussion. Inside, all mecha teams were uniformly assigned to a specific zone’s base station, as each of the four zones corresponded to a designated base station point. After the first half ended, the next stage was three days in an emergency maintenance area, and the maintenance conditions would directly impact performance in the second half.
Once KID’s six mechas arrived at the base station, all the mecha pilots exited their cockpits. The maintenance team that had entered with KID at the very beginning of the tournament quickly took control of the mechas over from the pilots. Shen Xingtang, who had been waiting there for a long time, saw the KID mecha pilots come down and solemnly said, “Good work. Leave the rest to us.”
KID’s maintenance team immediately got to work, and Ying Chenlin and the others had a three-day rest period.
To prevent information leaks, the maintenance teams stationed here could only view footage from their own team’s matches. After arriving, the KID members also received no new intelligence and could only analyze other teams based on the updated scoreboards to prepare for the second half.
Ying Chenlin’s gaze stopped on the tenth-place position.
“If we’d known, we could’ve taken down one more at the time.”
Ji Qingfeng, aware of how close the gap was between YDS and YOU, said, “It was just a few points of output. Unbelievable that we can’t go to the Star Alliance Championship with Luobo.”
Huo Yan added, “It’s a pity about YDS. Captain Ke’s tactics weren’t bad.”
KID stood in front of the floating scoreboard for a long time, discussing non-stop.
You Su was about to walk away after looking at the results when he noticed Ying Chenlin still standing in front of the scoreboard. “Still thinking about YDS?”
“Team battles involve many more uncertainties than Individual Soldier battles.” Ying Chenlin, who hadn’t seen the matches in the other zones, could only analyze based on the scoreboard. “Control system tactics don’t hold an advantage in this kind of points-based competition.”
Hearing this, You Su chuckled. “These factors are just part of it.”
He said nonchalantly, “In any competition, strength determines the results. Small margins, even a single point, still come down to insufficient strength.”
Ying Chenlin turned to look at him.
“What are you two doing over there!” Huo Yan called from the staircase when he saw Ying Chenlin and You Su still lingering. “Let’s go rest up and discuss tactics.”
Ji Qingfeng turned his head. “What are you two whispering about? Hurry up; there’s a living area here where we can get some sleep.”
Lin Yao stretched. “Huh? Sleep already? Weren’t we going to discuss tactics?”
Lu Xi looked around for a moment and saw KID’s sign: “Our rest area is next door.”
Their eight opponents for the second half were basically confirmed. In the next three days, they needed to come up with appropriate strategies to deal with these teams. The top eight matches wouldn’t be as easy to muddle through, and aside from Gale, who were old opponents, they didn’t know any of the other teams.
They returned to the quarters prepared by the tournament committee and briefly discussed tactics against the new opponents.
Since it was uncertain what type of format the point matches in the second half would adopt, they needed to decide on appropriate weapon configurations. Taking away a few tactical weapons and increasing the number of multi-functional and versatile weapons would allow them to handle more complex opponents.
After a brief discussion with his teammates, Ying Chenlin drafted an initial set of weapon configurations and planned to discuss it with Shen Xingtang at the maintenance area the next day.
There was plenty of rest time during these three days of the competition. Ying Chenlin, who always maintained an earlier schedule than the others, woke up to find that his teammates were still resting. Just as he was about to look for Shen Xingtang, he noticed that the meeting room not far away, prepared for them by the tournament committee, was lit.
Puzzled, Ying Chenlin walked over and saw Huo Yan sitting inside the brightly lit meeting room with a serious expression. A data board was on the table beside him, along with a large amount of weapon data.
Seeing Ying Chenlin, Huo Yan asked in a low voice, “Awake? Why not sleep a bit longer?”
“I’ve had enough sleep.” Ying Chenlin noticed some of the maintenance data and guessed it came from the maintenance area. He lowered his voice to avoid disturbing the others. “Is there an issue with the mecha maintenance? Can the wear and tear be fixed within three days?”
“The wear and tear on the mechas isn’t a problem; everything can be repaired within three days.” Huo Yan flipped through the data and, unable to find a solution, handed it to Ying Chenlin. “The issue is with the weapons. While basic wear and tear can be repaired, accumulated wear and tear has been detected in the weapons. Two of them won’t make it to the second half. Tang Jie suggested we revise our tactics and replace those two weapons.”
Ying Chenlin took the data board from Huo Yan and saw that the two weapons were exactly the ones he had been most worried about.
One was Ji Qingfeng’s Mirage Chain Mace, and the other was Huo Yan’s Counter-Damage Shield.
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