The reason why it seems different than the rest

His opponent must have thought that without a sword it would be difficult for him to win this fight.

But that's where he's wrong.

Aleks' eyes glinted.

With sharp claws out, Aleks charged again.

—Swoosh! Woosh woosh!

He immediately released a series of quick scratches. He needed to get back at the enemy immediately or else he would look weak in the eyes of his companions.

At this point, Aleks wanted nothing more than to get back at the enemy as soon as possible.

Falling into the trap of an opponent who was weaker than him was really humiliating, especially for someone like Aleks who had never been in this situation in his entire life.

Other people thought highly of him, so he must not show weakness in front of them. And especially because he was here for an important reason, which was to show that the wise merchant's product was more advanced. And while on it, he also wanted to demonstrate the skill of an elite from their country.

But, as important as the two reasons mentioned were, his personal goal was still more weighty for him—- his goal to make everyone here realize how worthless people they were!

This was the very reason why he agreed to become one of the merchant's fighters in this expedition.

However,

What madness is this?! Aleks asked himself and his face showed annoyance.

"Aleks' attacks didn't hit?" Katya said in disbelief.

On her side, Isaak's face could be seen frowning.

"What's Aleks doing? Why doesn't he hit the enemy? The enemy's actions are not that agile. It's impossible that he can't hit that."

Katya agreed with what Isaak said. Aleks's opponent's actions were indeed not nimble. So this was impossible. Except if Aleks did it on purpose.

"Is he just playing?"

Katya looked at Isaak when she heard Isaak say that. They seemed to have the same thoughts. But that was impossible.

Playing? Alex? No no. That's not how she knew Aleks' personality. Katya whispered in her mind.

Katya returned her gaze to the match. Her gaze was focused on Aleks' opponent this time.

While staring, she noticed something in it.

"Uhm, that mech… there's something about it that's not in the previous two", Katya muttered.

"What? What do you mean by it? Aren't you just hallucinating?" Isaak asked. No matter how he looked at it, there was no difference between that mech and those previous two. They look the same, except for the numbers that could be seen on their shoulders.

The first two had numbers, 01778-01, and 01778-02, and this one was 01778-04. Aside from that, he could not spot any difference. That was if his memories served him right. Even their colors were the same. They looked like exact copies of each other.

Katya frowned. "No. I'm sure there's something different about it", she said, but she could not figure out what it was. But her gut feeling was telling her that there was indeed a difference in that one.

Isaak's eyes narrowed at Katya's answer.

Like Katya and Isaak, Commander Guren couldn't believe what he was seeing. He knew Garry was a good mech pilot, but he had never seen him this good. He looked very technical in this duel.

"Garry looks impressive in this fight, no, Commander Guren?" Guren heard his companion say that.

He nodded.

However, it looked like it wasn't only because of Garry's skill. Honestly, he felt something different in the M4 Warlord. There was something different about it than the previous two. But what is it?

At this point, they saw that the supposedly most talented pilot of the three in the merchant's team was helpless against his opponent.

The M4 Warlord dodges and sometimes catches Aleks' attacks with the back of its palm. Guren understood Garry to do that because the back of the palms of the Warlord Series mechs was made of a special stone. And that was really the purpose of that thing. Still, Garry's timing was very amazing. Not everyone could do that impressive timing.

But is that really the main reason why the enemy seems helpless? Maybe that was one of the reasons, but Guren thought there was something else.

Aleks was also wondering. All his attacks were avoided by the opponent and sometimes caught with the back of his palm.

What is with this opponent and his hand? Why can't it be crushed by my sharp claws made of high-grade metal? Aleks asked in his mind.

"That's because the back of the palm of the Warlord Mechs is made of Gourmite Stone", Cai explained to Noir.

"Gourmite Stone?" Noir repeated in a morbid tone. That sounded familiar to her. And it brought back a bad memory from the past.

"It's a type of stone that can be obtained from a type of Zerg called the Gourmet Stone Beetle."

"Gourmet Stone Beetle?!" Noir screamed when she heard what Cai said. That Gourmet Stone Beetle that swarmed the Mining Village a couple of years ago?" Noir sounded shocked.

"Yeah. Gourmite Stone is so tough that even a mithril or titanium sword could not hope to damage it. Anyway, I'm more surprised that you remember it", said Cai as she glanced at Noir.

"Grr~ are you looking down on my memory? We were both on that vacation in that place when that happened, right?"

"Uh, so you still remember it."

The two then fell silent as the memories of that day returned to their minds. That day, both the Rin and Lyn families went on a vacation in that village. It was also at that time that the two young girls met a dirty-looking young boy in that village.

But that incident happened.

While reminiscing, the expression on their faces started to turn horrible. Unexpectedly, they suddenly heard a shout.

"Whoa! Go Senior Garry! Beat him! Show them how to show respect once you are in a foreign land!"

When they looked at the battlefield again, they saw Aleks mech on the ground once again.

Inside his cockpit, Aleks looked shocked.

What was that? He didn't anticipate that attack. His head felt dizzy at this moment and blood dripped from his mouth.

Since the enemy's backhand repelled all his attacks, he tried to deal a strong blow at the enemy's chest, but the enemy used that moment in his favor. He threw him using a shoulder throw. It was a judo technique.

In this era, this kind of technique was very rarely seen. Also, it was difficult to execute especially when the one using it was a mech and the target was also a mech.

His enemy suddenly moved so quickly that Aleks wasn't able to respond faster.

"There's something about that M4 that is different from M1 and M2", Ruru thought. "Is it the pilot?" She asked. "Possible… but…" she felt skeptical to agree with that.

"That didn't seem to be the only reason."

She wrinkled her forehead as she tried to think and observe what it was that seemed different about that M4.

Based on her observation, those previous two didn't move as smoothly as this one. Wait! That's right. This mech moves smoother than the rest!

She quickly browsed her tablet and quickly examined the statistics of the three Warlords. She noticed all their stats and body parts were the same. But upon further examination, she noticed something different in their mainframe setups.

Wait, could it be because of this?! Ruru widened her eyes.

Uh, that's right. Isn't the M4 Mainframe being reprogrammed by us?

Ruru suddenly remembered this matter. But since Commander Beth forced her to come here to observe the merchant mechs, Rose Lala was left with the programming duty. Apart from her, only Rose Lala could take over her job that was left behind because they were the only two who know how to reprogram a mech's Mainframe in their department.

"Hey, I think I know the reason why the M4 looks different—" she looked at the person beside her but stopped her words when "Eh? He hasn't returned yet?" She noticed the seat was still empty.

Anyway, that M4 seems to have a better setup. That's why it could move very smoothly. Rose Lala did a good job. Ruru thought. I must praise her once I return.