Full Effort

"You've successfully let everyone know you're a rookie!"

In the cabin of the Belgrade Mechanic Shop, the Countess was like a wild beast, shouting at Reno.

"You're the biggest failure of my life!" Annette Bayard covered her face and wailed, "You've ruined my reputation!"

Watching her, Reno felt very embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, madam," Reno said.

"Don't call me madam, I'm not married. The Countess is just a code, a code! Of course, with your intelligence, you probably don't even understand what a code means!" The Countess yelled hysterically.

Reno wisely kept silent.

Imogen Gad came over to comfort her. "Come on, Annette, he didn't mean it. Anyway, his last statement wasn't bad, was it?"

"The last statement?" The Countess looked up. "The one 'they may be excellent mecha pilots, but they are not warriors'? And you think that's not bad? That's just stupid! He offended all the mecha pilots! Mark my words, Imogen, when he steps onto the battlefield, he will face the full force of every pilot's attack. Those guys will show him what it means to be an excellent pilot but not a warrior... He'll be torn to shreds!"

Everyone fell silent.

Facing the public is an art, and the essence lies in pleasing rather than offending the masses.

The Alpha Military Academy teaches only how to defeat enemies, not how to please opponents.

So Reno successfully messed up this performance.

The mecha pilots would be displeased with him, and so would their loyal supporters. They would attack Reno relentlessly, teaching him the consequences of speaking thoughtlessly. To some extent, he did attract attention, but this attention was not focused on making him a star. Truly savvy businesses wouldn't invest in someone who's being criticized; that would only damage their own product's image. Only foolish businesses seek celebrities at the expense of their reputation.

"What do we do now?" Little Dot asked.

No attention means no sponsorship, and without sponsorship, everything they've done would be meaningless unless they win the championship.

"What else can we do?" The Countess yelled rudely. "It's over, there's no future in this. The best choice is to disband immediately!"

With that, she stormed out.

"Annette!" Imogen Gad called out and hurried after her.

Half an hour later, Gad returned.

Alone.

He hadn't managed to bring the Countess back.

Not only that, he shook his head at Reno and said, "I'm afraid I can't help much."

With that, he left.

Claire stopped him. "No, Gad, you can't leave!"

Gad shook his head. "Sorry, I've done my best. Annette's right, there won't be any sponsorship, and there's no hope left in this."

Watching Gad leave, Sperfield shook his head, grabbed his coat, and headed out.

"Where are you going?" Claire asked.

"Where else can I go? I'll stroll around town, find a bar, have a drink, have some fun. I've been here for so many days and haven't had a good time yet," the bald man said grumpily. "Anyone willing to accompany me?"

Li Zonghan raised his hand.

"And me," Little Dot hurried to catch up.

The three of them left together.

"I still have a mech to fix," Rademar stood up and walked out.

Then Nora.

She walked out without a word.

"Are you leaving too?" Claire asked.

"Just going to see the sights," Nora replied as coldly as ever.

Watching the figures leaving one by one, Claire knew this team was finished.

Any newly formed organization is the most fragile and often can't withstand any adversity. It's like a sapling that can be easily broken by a gust of wind.

People from all over the universe gathered together for the same dream, only to separate because of shattered dreams. It was simply the most normal thing.

She looked at Reno, and Reno looked at her.

His eyes were full of apology.

He said, "I'm sorry, I messed things up."

Claire angrily said, "It's not over yet, you still have hope, don't you? We can still strive for the championship!"

Reno shook his head. "You know I can't win the championship."

Claire couldn't say anything more.

In fact, she wanted to shout that as long as you work hard, there's nothing you can't achieve in this world.

But she knew it was just empty words. Many people work hard, but only a few succeed.

Victory always belongs to the few, but not every failure is due to lack of effort.

Reno was never a person who refused to work hard. If hard work could make a difference, he would surely do it.

She looked at Old Bell. "Mr. Bell, is there really no way?"

Old Bell sighed.

In a low voice, he said, "If you want to give up, I won't blame you."

Hearing Old Bell say this, Claire was completely desperate.

But just then, Reno suddenly said, "But I'm not planning to give up, Mr. Bell."

What?

Claire looked at Reno in astonishment.

Reno continued, "Our dean once taught us that as soldiers, we never give up. And you've said that we can't decide success or failure; all we can decide is whether we try our best. Success and failure don't matter anymore; what matters is whether we give it our all."

Looking at Reno's expression, after a while, the old man smiled.

Early the next morning, Imogen Gad was awakened by the sound of intense fighting.

Opening his eyes, he saw two mechas battling it out on the courtyard outside. One was the Silver Wing Angel, and the other was the old mecha piloted by Nora.

"What's going on?" Gad rushed out of his room, shouting, "What are you doing?"

"What else? Mecha practice. Tomorrow is the opening day of the competition," Claire replied as she walked by.

"Practice? What is there left to practice?" Gad didn't understand. "I thought this was all over."

"It's over for you, not for him," Claire replied.

She looked at Reno, who was maneuvering the Silver Wing Angel on the playground, dodging attacks from Nora.

"Damn!" Gad finally understood.

He stood there, watching Reno fight with all his might. Although he couldn't see Reno's face, he felt the indomitable spirit and determination in Reno's battle.

Then came Sperfield, Li Zonghan, Little Dot, Rademar...

They came out one by one, looked at each other, and said nothing.

Then Sperfield suddenly walked out and headed for the playground.

"Where are you going?" Claire asked.

"Of course, I'm going to suit up in the mecha. I'm also a sparring partner," the bald man said.

"Weren't you the one who quit last night?" Claire said.

"I just went for a drink, didn't say I was quitting," the bald man shrugged.

Claire chuckled. She looked at Li Zonghan, who grunted, "If he doesn't give up, why should I?"

"I'm staying as long as everyone else is," Little Dot shrugged.

Not far away, Rademar, who was repairing a mecha, also wore a gentle smile on his face.

The team, which had already fallen apart, came back together at this moment. Each person went to their position.

Watching this touching scene, Imogen Gad couldn't help but sigh.

He said to Claire, "I must apologize for what I said last night. You all are commendable."

He bowed to Claire.

A gentleman's salute.

Claire accepted it calmly.

Three days later, the Red Scorpion League officially began.

That morning, the Winston Red Square was packed with a massive live audience, and there were banners everywhere, with the names of the supported players written on them.

As a maintenance technician, Old Bell arrived early and waited at the venue.

However, he waited until the start of the league, and Reno still hadn't appeared.

This made Old Bell somewhat anxious. He tried to contact Reno but found that his terminal couldn't connect.

After waiting for a while, Old Bell finally saw Claire's figure appear.

He rushed over anxiously and said to Claire, "Why hasn't Reno come yet? The match is about to start soon. He will be on the field in the second round. If he doesn't show up, he will be considered forfeited."

"Reno withdrew from the competition," Claire replied.

"What did you say?" Old Bell was stunned.

Withdrawn? He could hardly believe his ears.

"More precisely, he withdrew from the Red Scorpion League and joined the Death Island League," Claire sighed. "I came to inform you of this. Reno requested to inform you at the last minute. By now, he should have started the match."

Death Island!

Of course, Old Bell knew what kind of competition that was.

The third category choice, Survival Challenge!

It's also the competition with the highest death rate among all survival challenges!

Old Bell stared blankly at Claire and asked, "Why would he do this?"

Claire replied:

"Because this is what it truly means to give it your all!"