Chapter Forty-Nine: Dynamic Duel

In the end, the enemy gained the upper hand, and they chose to break the stalemate proactively.

An energy sphere streaked across the screen, heading straight for Gentle Breeze. Li Daoran immediately pivoted his aim, searching for the mech that fired the shot.

Yet, to his surprise, the shooter’s mech hadn’t moved at all—it stood brazenly in place, unleashing a barrage of energy cannons that blasted Meteor Fall to pieces.

“Come on out, you’re the last one left. Are you thinking you can take us all on, five against one? We know your close combat skills are sharp, but you can’t overcome the weak long-range capabilities of the Jumper. If you show yourself now, it’s certain death. Just surrender already—don’t waste our time; it’s only a game,” a deep male voice boomed.

“Well, they’re certainly arrogant. Time for us to teach them a lesson, Daoran. Don’t rush to attack him; find the positions of his other four teammates first,” David spoke with an easy confidence.

Li Daoran remained silent, maneuvering his two little bee radars to locate the other mechs.

“There aren’t enough radars. You can only track two mechs, plus the one already in your field of vision—at most, three. That leaves two out of sight. The enemy is cautious; they’ve already spread out. And your long-range option is only a sniper rifle—this round will be tough. Their mechs are all seventh-generation heavy firepower Night Fortress models, boasting ample energy and superb ranged attacks, essentially abandoning melee. They came prepared,” David analyzed calmly, seeing Li Daoran’s serious expression and ceasing his usual banter.

“If you’re exposed, you’ll face the full firepower of five Night Fortresses. I doubt you can dodge them all.”

“Weren’t you just saying we’d teach them a lesson? If you’re not up to it, let Chen Ming take over,” Li Daoran retorted.

“You can’t lose your nerve, but realistically, your chances of winning are slim. Chen Ming? If he was capable, would I be here instead? There’s a method—have you heard of dynamic counter-sniping?” David sounded aggrieved.

“What do you mean?” Li Daoran asked.

“That’s it, then. Surrender,” David said decisively.

“I won’t. Aren’t you going to explain?” Li Daoran said angrily.

“Do you think you can just listen and master it? You underestimate us. Dynamic counter-sniping means snipers reveal their positions and engage each other while moving at high speed. My best was one against four. You’re up against five, all heavy firepower. Forget it,” David deliberately tried to provoke Li Daoran.

“Just tell me what to do—don’t waste time with useless talk. If you can’t, let Chen Ming speak,” Li Daoran couldn’t stand it anymore. The difference between Chen Ming and David was stark—David was all chatter and little action, while Chen Ming always gave decisive instructions.

“Fine, fine. Right now, you’ve found three mechs. That means you have a slight advantage over those three, but they still have energy shields. Whether your attack works is questionable. That’s the trajectory of this world—long-range attacks are heavily countered by energy shields. But in group combat, like now, long-range advantages can’t be ignored. Your mech is so big; sneaking up is a fool’s dream,” David rambled in analysis.

“Can’t you say something useful instead of so much nonsense?” Li Daoran interrupted.

“You won’t get anywhere like this. I’m giving you all this information—don’t you have any ideas? The key is whether you can dodge all that firepower. If you can, you’ll dominate; if not, you’re dead. How am I supposed to command you? You have to rely on yourself, Daoran,” David said, unusually earnest.

Li Daoran fell silent for a moment, understanding David’s point—just as in the last match against Cold Wind, when Chen Ming abandoned command, this time was up to him.

He glanced at his hands and quietly asked himself, can I do this?

“Theoretically, yes—if your hands are fast enough,” David, as if reading Li Daoran’s thoughts, spoke up.

“I’ll assist you—that’s why I’m here instead of Chen Ming. In the hail of bullets, analyzing the best evasion route—only Tam can do that by instinct, but you can’t expect him to command you. Fortunately, your view is split into sixteen screens; analysis is my specialty,” David said with pride.

“Alright.” Li Daoran, after listening, decisively fired a shot at a mech hidden in a mountain hollow, found by the radar. He didn’t choose the one exposed in the open, knowing it was well prepared.

However, the shot didn’t succeed. The energy projectile struck the shield instantly—everyone was a top player with over twenty thousand points; hoping to score a sneak attack with an energy cannon was naive.

And Li Daoran’s position was immediately revealed.

“Finally came out—prepare to die.” The five mechs unleashed their full firepower in an instant.

After firing, Li Daoran immediately stood and switched positions.

“Left, right, right, right, left.”

David kept prompting Li Daoran to change direction as he advanced.

It felt as if Li Daoran was playing a bullet hell game, controlling his mech as it ran and dodged on the ground. He didn’t leap because, while auxiliary thrusters in midair allowed for direction changes, they weren’t agile enough; ground movement was better.

The ground was left in shambles, riddled with bottomless craters—fortunately, the energy cannons worked by dissolving rather than exploding like those on Aquamarine Star. If the firepower here had been explosion-based, Li Daoran would’ve been finished long ago.

To be fair, the speed of cannon shells on Aquamarine Star was nowhere near that of energy blasts—most shells probably wouldn’t even catch up to the Jumper’s speed. Energy cannons, however, arrived instantly, requiring only predictive dodging.

David’s unparalleled calculation skills made all the difference. After the first volley, he deduced the positions of all five mechs, guiding Li Daoran to preemptively evade. Still, it was inevitable that a few shots grazed him. That’s the nature of expert firepower coverage—you can predict it. If amateurs were firing randomly, David’s calculations wouldn’t hold, and Li Daoran might even run straight into danger.

“All five mechs’ positions are identified. You can’t just keep taking hits—you must strike back. Otherwise, you won’t last long. They’ll change tactics; right now, they’re all firing at your location. When they switch to covering separate areas, you won’t be able to dodge,” David said calmly.

The Jumper mech Li Daoran piloted was now battered, dozens of keys on the keyboard glowing red, over fifty yellow—the damage was severe. This was only possible because of the generational gap; the Jumper’s specs gave it some resistance to energy cannons, allowing it to barely survive.

That’s a hallmark of eighth-generation mechs—though they generally lack long-range attack options, they all have resistance to energy blasts. The material of melee-focused eighth-generation mechs is fundamentally different from the seventh-generation models.