Chapter 632: Chapter 651: Huo Jia: You Told Me to Fight, So I Fought
He had heard that after discovering she was a natural person, Jiang Qiuqiu had begun training frantically and pushing herself to improve.
This made Huo Jia think even more highly of her.
Who wouldn’t admire such a motivated girl?
He had also heard some of his classmates comment on Jiang Qiuqiu’s efforts, saying things like, "It’s just the desperate struggle of a natural person. No matter how hard she tries, this is her limit."
He hated that kind of gossip and had even secretly stood up for her.
In the brief moment their eyes met, all of this flashed through his mind.
"Are you here to train, too?"
"Ah, yeah." ’What else would I do here besides train?’
Jiang Qiuqiu said, "Do you need anything else, Huo? If not, I’m going to go train."
She was like a gust of wind.
But Huo Jia stopped her. "Have you trained up to using a Medium-sized Mecha yet?"
"Not yet. Why?"
"Well," Huo Jia paused for a moment. "I’ve been practicing my Light Armor maneuvers recently. If you’re training too, we could spar."
As if afraid she would get the wrong idea, he quickly added, "You probably know this, but sparring against a real person is more effective than practicing against an AI by yourself."
People are unpredictable; facing an opponent who can adapt forces you to consider more possibilities.
Jiang Qiuqiu didn’t answer right away, which made Huo Jia a little flustered. ’What’s wrong? Was I too obvious?’
If Jiang Qiuqiu knew what he was thinking, she would have told him that he was seriously overthinking things.
After all, Huo Jia’s expression hadn’t changed in the slightest.
He didn’t look at all like someone with a rich inner life.
In the end, Jiang Qiuqiu agreed. As they walked to the Light Armor simulation area together, she said, "Thank you," to Huo Jia.
She had paused earlier because she was wondering why Huo Jia wanted to help her.
As an S-Class, he was far stronger than her. Sparring was only beneficial for both sides when they were evenly matched.
When one opponent was strong and the other weak, the stronger one might get even less out of it than they would from fighting an AI.
After lying down in the simulation pods, they soon appeared in the virtual space, each piloting a Mecha.
Before the fight began, Jiang Qiuqiu said, "Please give it your all, Huo."
"Alright. I will."
Giving it his all was a sign of respect for his opponent.
And so—
He charged at Jiang Qiuqiu with overwhelming momentum. She saw him coming like a storm and tried to dodge, but her control wasn’t precise enough. The evasion failed, and she was slammed hard onto the ground.
This was only nine seconds after the match had started.
Since she failed to get back up within ten seconds, the system declared her defeat.
Amid the pain and the jarring impact, the second match began.
It was a similar opening. This time, Jiang Qiuqiu noticed Huo Jia’s subtle movements sooner and managed to dodge—
Her Mecha brushed past Huo Jia’s. She wanted to catch her breath for a moment, then launch a counterattack just like she had during military training—using offense as defense to last longer.
However, Huo Jia wasn’t the same opponent as before. After his first strike missed, he instantly pulled back his arm. Before Jiang Qiuqiu could even react, her Mecha was struck in the back.
The shockwave was even stronger than the first time. She crashed to the ground almost instantly, unable to get back up for several long moments.
Only then did Huo Jia realize he might have been too rough.
He froze, then quickly ran over and knelt, intending to help her Mecha up. But more than ten seconds had already passed, and the system declared Jiang Qiuqiu defeated once again.
Everything reset to the starting positions.
Huo Jia apologized, "I think I was too forceful."
