Scoring

With the items obtained from Abbisulf, Reno began to rush back. He still had impressions of two suspected resource points, so Reno quickly headed towards one of them.

More and more contestants were arriving, and occasionally, jetpacks could be seen gliding through the air. Due to the rules, Reno couldn't attack those contestants, but those without mechs weren't bound by such restrictions and happily engaged in combat with each other.

They fought bare-handed in the air, entertaining the audience with aerial hand-to-hand combat before the mech battles began.

Occasionally, they would catch glimpses of mechs darting through the jungle, sparking envy in their eyes. Many realized the futility of their fights at this moment and hurried back to their mechs.

These were the ones who still had the qualification to fly, having failed to grab a shuttle. Their jetpacks were running low on energy, leaving them with no choice but to rely on walking.

They were destined to be left behind at the start, and while some might catch up, others would lose the opportunity entirely, becoming someone else's points.

Reno paid no attention to them, focusing entirely on his goal. Briefly leading the pack meant nothing; he had to strive for a better ranking with all his might.

The pursuit of victory was a man's instinct. Even without the million credits or brotherhood, Reno would still make the effort.

After running through a dense forest, Reno finally arrived at the storage site of the second resource point.

It was still a large iron box. Reno manipulated his mech to open the box and found a small energy cell and eight war axe short-range missiles inside.

All missile launchers and magazines in the mechs were empty, and unlocking the self-production device, even the lowest level, required twenty points. It could produce one missile approximately every ten minutes.

These eight war axe missiles were indeed meaningful to Reno.

However, just as he was about to pick up the missiles, he suddenly heard movement behind him.

He quickly turned around, aiming the cannon behind him, and saw a mech charging out of the forest.

The mech's design was somewhat exaggerated, with a large belly and eight missile launch holes on top. However, it should be empty inside, just for show.

The mech's right hand held a light saw, aimed at Reno. "Leave that box, and I might spare you. Believe me, you're no match for me, kid!" the driver said, raising the saw. This melee weapon was much heavier than a regular light sword but had much greater damage potential. Once it hit the opponent, with its high-frequency swings, it could greatly deplete the energy shield.

To ensure that the unique characteristics of the mechs were not affected by weakening, the organizers mostly employed proportional reductions in their weakening. Therefore, this contestant was confident in his melee combat.

At this moment, the light saw started buzzing, and his mech also began to show the flash of the energy shield.

Due to limited energy, he did not activate the full-power energy shield but lowered the defense strength to below three S&P, which was almost the maximum attack limit of the cannon. This approach could save energy to the greatest extent.

Reno didn't speak; instead, the barrel on his shoulder began to rotate, aiming forward.

The driver chuckled, "Who are you trying to scare? Kid. Now, besides the cannon and lightsaber, what else do you think you can use?"

He swung the light saw and charged forward.

"Die!" he shouted.

Reno looked at him expressionlessly and said, "One point."

He fired.

The positron cannon on his shoulder released a thick electron stream, hitting the mech. The energy shield, with a strength of only three S&P, couldn't withstand the impact of the strong electron stream. The mech was blown up on the spot, and the overflowing energy rushed into the mech's interior, instantly destroying its two small engines, causing the mech to collapse.

The Silver Wing Angel slid over and the lightsaber slashed heavily on the mech. This blow completely ended the mission of the mech in the competition. The contestant's eyes rolled, and he passed out cold.

He couldn't have dreamed that he would encounter someone who had unlocked the positron cannon right away.

The positron cannon was extremely powerful, with an attack strength equivalent to fifteen S&P points. Among ground mechs, it was considered one of the most powerful weapons, with great energy conductivity. It was the kind of weapon that could deliver a decisive blow, but its drawback was high energy consumption and long intervals between shots.

Perfect for the current environment.

Reno waved the lightsaber, cutting open the storage compartment of the mech, and took out three boxes of ammunition and one meal—a way of obtaining resources from opponents.

The only problem was that if the fight dragged on too long, causing everyone to run out of ammo and supplies, even if he won, he wouldn't gain much benefit.

That's why Reno unlocked the positron cannon. Quickly defeating opponents meant maximizing resource savings—the guy was practically taken out by Reno without consuming any energy.

After collecting the ammunition boxes, Reno extended a conduit into the opponent's energy compartment, extracting energy from the damaged mech. This was a common practice on the battlefield. When one's own energy was insufficient and self-supply couldn't keep up, energy was extracted from damaged mechs.

With these tasks completed, Reno returned to the box and packed away the energy cells and missiles. With the injection of the third energy cell into the energy compartment, the Silver Wing Angel's energy finally reached thirty-one percent, with four percent being the previous actions, battles, and extraction losses.

Gathering the equipment here, Reno headed towards the third resource point he remembered.

This time, luck was on Reno's side as he didn't encounter anyone else. Once again, he obtained a small energy cell, a box of 20mm high-explosive armor-piercing shells, and a satellite receiver from the box. The receiver could pick up island-wide signals every thirty minutes. These signals would notify the receiver of the positions of all contestants on the island, displaying only their mech styles and indicating special point creatures, but not revealing specific mech names or the locations of resource points and merchants.

The signal lasted for three seconds and could be downloaded.

In other words, activating this device would allow him to track the movements of everyone on the island, but only for three seconds; after that, the signal would disappear. Because people were constantly moving, such signals had significant limitations and decreased in value over time.

Nevertheless, it was still a very useful strategic "treasure," which explained why there were so few items in this particular box.

After receiving the satellite signal receiver into his mech, the system automatically prompted him that the connection was successful and asked if he wanted to activate it.

"Activate," Reno said without hesitation.

The initial phase of the battle was actually the most important. If he couldn't achieve the most crucial initial accumulation and pull ahead of others, then when it came to the bloody struggle later on, Reno, with his technical skill, would find it somewhat difficult to compete with those veterans who had been immersed in mechs for decades.

Fortunately, the all-around nature of this competition gave this military academy student an opportunity to showcase his talents. By being a step ahead, Reno was quickly creating advantages for himself.

He didn't know that at this moment, he had once again become the focus of others' attention—after three consecutive matches without outstanding performances, Reno once again amazed everyone with a dazzling opening move.

The investors were delighted.

With the use of the satellite signal receiver, a map of the entire island appeared before him. Each red dot represented a mech, swiftly moving through the jungle on the island. By tapping on those dots, he could zoom in until the mech's full profile was revealed.

The three seconds passed in an instant, and the image disappeared.

However, the three-second signal had already been downloaded into the system, and Reno could retrieve it at any time.

Reno focused the screen on his vicinity, scanning for any nearby mechs.

He quickly noticed that within a three-mile radius, there were approximately six mechs moving around, one of which was heading towards him.

Reno wasn't sure if the other party would continue to approach him, as he could only see the three-second image.

But after some consideration, he decided to give it a try.

He pushed the box out and buried four spider mines on the ground, then quietly retreated into the nearby woods, waiting silently.

The forest was quiet, with only the sound of the wind blowing.

Reno lay in the grass, motionless.

He didn't know if the mech would come or not; he only saw the direction it was heading.

This meant that it might come straight to him, or it might change direction midway.

If that happened, his plan would fail, and four spider mines would be wasted.

This made Reno a little anxious.

At that moment, he suddenly remembered a passage Dan D. Bag said to him: "In war, there will inevitably be some predictions. Most judgments are made under conditions of lack of information and uncertainty. In such situations, regardless of success or failure, one must maintain a calm mind. Only a commander who can remain calm on the battlefield is an outstanding commander."

"The so-called iron will is not only applicable to the disadvantaged side but also to the advantaged side!"

Thinking of this, Reno's heart calmed down.

He lay there, motionless, quietly waiting.

Not fretting, hesitating, or wavering over gains and losses, just silently counting the time.

If the other party didn't arrive within the planned time, it would mean failure, and he would have to leave.

Reno's luck was still good.

As the time reached the crucial point in his plan and a hint of disappointment inevitably crept in, just as Reno was about to leave, he saw the silhouette of the mech ahead.

It came over, swaying, and upon seeing the box, it rushed over with joy.

Completely devoid of any necessary precautions.

Then, four spider mines flew out in graceful arcs, slamming fiercely into the mech. Before the mech could react, a wild explosion completely ended its fate.