The Mech Touch

The Frokyn suffered a blow no one wanted to suffer. Men especially reacted with horror at the final blow of the Valkyrie Redeemer.

A knife had been struck straight through the underside of the crotch of the Frokyn!

It would have been worse if Dr. Navarro equipped this particular mech with organs, but even in its bare and smooth form, it was still a place where no mech wanted to get hurt!

The Frokyn obviously lacked an independent consciousness, but Carter Day's instinctual behavior caused the mech to bend in a manner that was very characteristic of mech who got hurt in this fashion!

More blood poured from the biomech than ever before as the Valkyrie Redeemer cruelly twisted the knife before pulling it out. It was as if the Hexer mech delighted in paying back the suffering it endured at the hands of the formerly-hairy mech.

It was the female mech's turn to torment its opponent!

As an experienced mech pilot, Mireilla Linschoten was not stupid enough to let down her guard. While the Frokyn belatedly recovered and attempted to put up a guard, the Valkyrie Redeemer was already a step ahead.

Even though the Frokyn descended from the air in an attempt to generate some distance from its opponent, the Valkyrie Redeemer was already a step ahead. The metallic mech dove and maneuvered around until it was able to stab its knife straight into the flight system of the organic machine!

The Valkyrie Redeemer acted as if it had gone psychotic as it repeatedly stabbed the rear of the Frokyn in rapid tempo!

In order to make sure the bleeding mech wasn't able to escape, the feminine mech snaked its legs around the Frokyn's torso and rode the biomech's backside as if it was a mount!

Stab! Stab! Stab!

Over a dozen different stabs pierced the Frokyn's inadequately-protected rear. The flesh and bone that made up its rear hardly posed an obstacle against the Valkyrie Redeemer's repeat strikes.

Mireilla Linschoten had piloted the Frokyn just before. She still remembered much of its properties when she interfaced with her mech, including where all of the critical parts were located and how she could damage them from the rear!

This knowledge came in very handy at this time as her seemingly thoughtless attacks were actually premeditated. Each stab struck a critical component or cut through some vital connections!

The sheer amount of purple blood flooding through the stab wounds was indicative of how much suffering the Frokyn must be going through!

In desperation, the biomech attempted to swing its biometal axe over its head so that its blade was able to chop into the mech that had glued itself onto its back, but the Valkyrie Redeemer merely reared its torso back, causing the attempt to fail!

After suffering so many small but critical blows, the Frokyn already lost a lot of strength. Its flight system had already been knocked offline so the two entangled mechs were rapidly approaching the surface.

Before the Frokyn impacted the ground, the Valkyrie Redeemer nimbly jumped away, allowing the arena antigrav modules to form a gravity cushion around the biomech that stalled its descent.

Everyone looked at the victorious Valkyrie Redeemer. Wielding a modest blade that was covered in blood, the damaged mech looked as if it wasn't done yet! The Hexer mech looked as if it was eager to emasculate another organic machine!

"This is why mechs need codpieces!" Vincent winced as he moved his hands over his lap.

[The ninth match has concluded.] The announcer stated in a neutral voice. [Mr. Larkinson has achieved an upset. The Valkyrie Redeemer's unanticipated success brings the score to 6-3 in favor of our foreign guest.]

The response to this result was graver than the previous one. It took a long time for the audience to process what had happened, but once they did, they became swept by denial and anger!

"This can't be! The Frokyn was clearly in a better shape than the Valkyrie Redeemer, so why did our biomech lose?!"

"What the hell was Dr. Navarro doing?! Why didn't he regrow the Frokyn's hair? Did he actually think that stupid net launcher was going to work?"

"Our current record looks awful! Our score has already gone negative and it's not possible for us to recover anymore. At most, we can make our defeat more graceful if we manage to win the final match."

"What good will that do? And didn't you forget that we lost the previous heavy artillery mech bout? Dr. Navarro's last biomech will have to fight an uphill battle if it wants to win."

"It's hopeless!"

The people's faith in Dr. Navarro's abilities had sunk to a low point at this time.

Previously, the Lifers watching the matches were still able to believe that the biomech designer was putting up a decent fight. After all, the outcomes of the latest matches fell in line with the past. The mechs that won the previous time also achieved another victory today.

The Valkyrie Redeemer broke this pattern. The Frokyn effectively countered the metallic mech in their first confrontation, but during the second one, the biomech was no longer able to grow out its hair for some reason.

Without its absurdly-effective hair, the Frokyn wasn't that impressive anymore. It fought like any other biomech, but that was not enough to prevail against the Valkyrie Redeemer.

The most emotional and unstable Lifers lashed out again as a result! While the people who were spectating the design duel in person remained calm under the suppression of the guards, elsewhere the citizens of the LRA vented their anger in many different ways!

Some shouted in the air as if they tried to warp reality with their words!

Others started to abuse maintenance beetles left and right in an attempt to channel their frustration!

Lots of beetles got kicked, stabbed or crushed as angry mobs of people descended upon these innocent creatures to get their taste of blood!

The authorities largely allowed the mobs to do so. In fact, more beetles flooded from the tree buildings and conveniently turned themselves into targets.

As long as the mobs were preoccupied with trashing cheap, disposable beetles, they weren't doing something worse!

Biomechs and bioshuttles bearing the markings of the Planetary Guard flew from one problem site to another problem site throughout Prosperous Hill VI. While the authorities desperately tried to suppress the unrest, there were too many angry mobs for them to calm all at once!

More fires started to break out. While automatic fire suppression measures quickly doused these potential hazards, there were some instances where creative firestarters managed to ignite a number of vehicles!

Fortunately, no one launched any powerful attacks or detonated any explosives, but the authorities received worrying signals.

The responses from all of the people on the VIP platform were mostly grave. The conservatives such as Master Cline all smelled trouble on the horizon.

However, those who aligned themselves with the opposition did not seem too trouibled by the latest turn of events.

Master Brixton did not even bother to put on a facade. The taunting grin on his face rubbed a lot of adherents of the conservative faction the wrong way!

"See what your complacency has led us to?" The old man passionately spoke. "Look at how fragile our people are. The false pride that you have instilled into their heads has kept them docile but also blind to reality. We were never as strong as we thought. Our biomech industry has stagnated for so long that not even our foremost professionals are able to pull themselves out of the pit they dug. Now look at us! Once we are stripped of our delusions, our true faces are revealed!"

Master Cline sent a very sharp glance towards the leader of the combinants. "Master Brixton, the design duel has yet to come to an end. Let us wait until the winner has been decided before we talk any further."

"Heh, I hope you will make the correct choice by that time and shed all pretenses, my friend."

After this public exchange ended, the Masters no longer spoke to each other.

"I don't know what is going on, but I feel less and less comfortable at the moment." Venerable Jannzi quietly said. "We should leave."

Ves shook his head. "We can't leave. I'm one of the main stars of the show. My absence is inexcusable. I'm sure there will be people who will attempt to stop us if we try to get away. We have to wait until the final act has ended before we can exit the stage."

The contradictions between the conservatives and the other factions had become more blatant. Though the conservatives dominated this viewing platform, those who held other viewpoints had grown bolder all of a sudden!

Strangely enough, Dr. Navarro schooled his face into a neutral expression. Even though he previously showed different emotions, the fall of the Frokyn caused him to wall himself up. He did not reply to anyone attempting to speak with him and even his student Yelkin seemed to disappear from his mind!

Ves didn't know what to make of it. It was Dr. Navarro who originally led them to this path. It was the biomech designer who took the initiative to propose a duel to determine which mechs were more alive.

Any passionate mech designer who cared about his work and the principles behind them should feel despair at this point.

Yet despite losing six out of nine matches, Dr. Navarro did not exhibit any of the pessimism of his fellow conservatives.

"Strange."

Ves didn't try to puzzle this situation out any further. He just wanted the final match to conclude as quickly as possible so that he could end this stupid show and leave this stupid planet as soon as possible.

He had long lost his fascination for Prosperous Hill VI! The people who lived on this planet were way too preoccupied with frivolous matters! A lot of people were fighting and dying in a neighboring star sector, but the citizens of the LRA were already starting to stir up trouble amongst themselves.

This was pure madness in his opinion!

After several announcements attempted to quell the unrest, the last match was about to start. Perhaps the conservatives wanted the design duel to end before it got any worse, but the opposition didn't want that to happen!

At this time, two different heavy mechs stepped onto the field.

The Transcendent Punisher looked like a bad second-hand mech. Its worn and patched exterior and its hastily-repaired legs only partially restored the defensive strength of the heavy artillery mech.

Its weapons looked fully intact though. Ves paid special attention to the armament systems. He knew that offense was its strongest trait and the quality it needed to rely on to prevail once again.

With six fully-functional cannons, the Transcendent Punisher was able to hit just as hard as in its previous match!

"Now let's see what it has to face."

The Swarm Monarch looked a bit different from before. Its exoskeleton adopted a slightly different shape as the areas that had been patched up looked a little incongruous.

Six cannons were mounted on its back this time. Two of them looked like they were positron beam cannons, but the other four were mounted at the same angles as the drilling beetle cannons.

Will the Swarm Monarch launch dangerous insects at the Transcendent Punisher once again? What if they fired conventional explosive shells?

With how shaky the upper side of the Transcendent Punisher looked, Ves was worried that his mech might not be able to endure the bombardment!

[The final match is about to begin. The Swarm Monarch must fight to preserve Dr. Navarro's honor. Since the Valkyrie Redeemer was able to overcome its barriers, the Swarm Monarch might do the improbable as well!]

Even though the situation seemed bleak, winning the last match might do much to soothe the Lifers! Many important figures hoped that Dr. Navarro invested enough time and effort into the Swarm Monarch to alter its strength.

[Begin!]