Chapter 14
Du Ruo pushed open the door to the lounge. Jing Ming was wearing red headphones, a black hoodie, and ripped jeans. He was slumped on the sofa playing games, occasionally moving his jaw as he chewed gum.
The huge lounge was quiet with only him.
Du Ruo closed the door gently, walked over and stood aside, hesitating whether to disturb his gaming. He caught sight of her, raised his eyes and strangely said: "Sit."
"Oh." She sat at the end of the sofa, and he continued to play games.
Only then did she see the little robot leaning at his feet, staring quietly with its big bright eyes.
With nothing else to do, Du Ruo flipped through the pamphlets she had picked up earlier. As she was looking at it carefully, Jing Ming's faint voice came from the side: "Look at the last page."
"Huh?" She looked up.
"The last page." He finished playing the game, took off his headphones, put away his phone, and threw it into a paper bag to the side.
"Oh." Du Ruo turned to the last page of the pamphlet and saw a lot of cited references and cutting-edge information in the field. She could take it back and do her own research according to the pictures. Some even had links to courses!
She felt like she had found a treasure.
Jing Ming stood up from the sofa, picked up the control panel from the coffee table, and said: "Let's go."
"Ah." Du Ruo quickly put the pamphlets into her school bag and stood up, but heard the sound of a machine. The little robot obediently followed behind Jing Ming, who glanced back at her.
He had been talking to the robot.
Du Ruo: "..."
Jing Ming left the lounge and walked down the corridor with Du Ruo following behind him. When he came to a closed door at the end of the corridor, he stopped, and she heard faint cheers from the other end - that was the inner court of the stadium.
He stood in front of her. Suddenly, he looked back at her, and asked: "Have you ever watched a robot competition before?" The corridor was narrow, and even though his voice was low, there was a faint echo.
"No," she shook her head.
He turned back: "Then you should watch some serious matches first."
"What's a serious match?"
"Robot dance competitions, football matches, etc, with a higher research component. Unlike today’s match, which has more flashy and fun components, a bit more violent and bloody."
Violent?
She was a little confused: "Isn't this competition just a fight between robots?"
He neither affirmed nor denied, and seemed to snort a laugh: "Don't be scared later."
Du Ruo was puzzled. She had watched professional robot fights in videos. The cute robots slowly raised their arms to poke each other, and the other would sway and harmlessly raise a leg to kick back in response.
Just like that day in his dorm, the little robot ran over and hit her ankle with a “bang”, and then ran away joltingly.
With this thought in mind, the door was suddenly opened, and the usher bowed to invite Jing Ming to enter.
The lights were bright. He walked into the arena with his hands in his pockets. The stadium erupted in cheers, and it felt like the roof was about to be blown away.
Du Ruo was guided to a seat closest to the arena, with enthusiastic spectators behind her.
The surrounding stands were full of people, most of whom were students from nearby universities. There were some professionals sitting in the front row, presumably those interested in robots or people working in related industries.
All males.
The competition arena wasn't big, similar to a gymnastics stage. It was square in shape and surrounded by solid iron walls as short as steps. Above the walls were protective wire mesh.
The centre of the field was empty. The robots had not come on stage yet.
Suddenly, the lights shining on the stands dimmed, and the venue gradually darkened. With a "clap," the lights came on, and focused on the centre of the competition field.
The electronic boards on both sides lit up, and the information of both sides of the battle were displayed line by line:
On the left, in the first row of the electronic sign, the most eye-catching words were:
MJING
Followed by his basic information.
Jing Ming
AGE: 18
ROBOT: EVA
MATCHES: 6
AVERAGE KILL TIME: 47s.
On the opponent's side:
KYI
AGE: 22
ROBOT: SONNY
MATCHES: 6
AVERAGE KILL TIME: 49s.
Yi Kun's robot was called Sonny, with an average finishing time of 49 seconds.
Quite strong.
Du Ruo's gaze moved down from the electronic screen. Jing Ming stood on the left side of the enclosed field with small in-ear headphones. Eva was spinning around at his feet, with two big bright eyes.
The live screen cut to this scene—
Eva was a short, tank-like robot with two legs made of tracks, a short body, two hands on the side, and two big eyes on top, making it look quite cute. Naturally, the scene elicited laughter from the audience.
As for Yi Kun, his appearance was in sharp contrast to Jing Ming. His face was frosty, expression serious, and he was wearing a rather smart casual suit.
His robot, Sonny, was a bit taller than Eva, with a shell that seemed to fit perfectly without any gaps, very fortress-like.
The scariest thing was that Sonny had two long, mantis-like arms, and his fists looked as big and ruthless as hammers.
The match was about to begin. The host livened up the atmosphere, raising the microphone towards the audience, asking them to shout out their favoured champion.
For a moment, the stadium was filled with cheers:
"Jing Ming! Jing Ming!"
"Yi Kun! Yi Kun!"
Du Ruo was infected by the atmosphere and trembled slightly with nervousness. She glanced at Jing Ming. He had lowered his head slightly, and with his dishevelled hair covering his eyes, his expression was difficult to make out. All she could see was the high bridge of his nose and the well-defined arc of his jaw. Occasionally, he shifted his jaw and would lick his upper lip.
The headphone wire swayed gently against his cheek.
At this moment, Eva stopped running around and stood obediently at his feet.
The host signalled the two contestants to let their robots enter the arena. Jing Ming took off his headphones and stuffed them into his jean pocket. Then bent down and patted Eva's head like a parent.
Eva immediately ran away happily, circling to where the host was and entered the enclosed competition arena. Sonny also entered steadily.
When both sides were in position, the host announced: "Let the games begin!"
As soon as the words fell, the gates opened with a “pop”, and the low walls surrounding the arena suddenly lit up, but it was definitely not just for decoration.
There were four walls. Two sides were lit up with hot blue flames, and the other two sides had high-speed rotating steel blades!
If the robots collided with the walls, the damage would be unimaginable!
Meanwhile, Sonny instantly launched an attack, rushing to Eva and delivering a powerful punch!
Bang.
Eva's eyes immediately went askew.
Du Ruo was so shocked that her whole body trembled.
There were no cute, slow-moving robots here.
There was no room to be slow. To be slow was to wait for death.
Eva, abandoning its cute appearance, swiftly turned around, slid to Sonny’s side, and slammed into him. The high-speed spinning blade on its chest instantly cut through Sonny’s metal shell.
Sonny immediately changed direction and punched again, but Eva was faster. Once again, she circled to Sonny's side, stretching her hands under the shell that had just been cut, and raised her hands to lift it.
Sonny, who was a little bigger than her, fell upside down, and the metal shell made a clanging noise as it hit the ground.
The audience stared and watched with bated breath.
Sonny struggled for a bit, and although it appeared clumsy, it somersaulted flexibly, and stood upright again.
Sonny changed tactics, suddenly accelerating and rushed towards Eva. He was big, bulky and extremely fast, knocking Eva into the wall with the rotating blades. The blades cut Eva’s body rapidly, causing sparks to fly and sizzle. Sonny took turns hitting Eva on the head with two hammers.
Too brutal!
Du Ruo's heartbeat could no longer be controlled. She was so nervous, she didn’t dare to look anymore. She looked anxiously at Jing Ming. He was standing on the sidelines, staring at Eva who was trapped by Sonny in the corner, slender fingers operating quickly on the control panel.
Eva was caught in the corner, and with a forceful push, the scroll in front of her emitted sparks. The blades on the scroll pierced Sonny's shell, and blue electric light penetrated into Sonny's body.
Sonny immediately backed away. Eva took advantage of the situation and escaped from the wall.
The tracks on her feet were scratched by the blades on the wall, but she didn't flinch. She rolled in front of Sonny and lifted his lower base again!
Sonny flipped over once again, this time rolling towards the wall of flames!
The collision caused sparks to fly!
The flames licked Sonny’s body. Although the metal shell was not afraid of fire, the circuit board and engine inside could not withstand the high temperature.
Sonny toppled next to the fire, struggling to flip over.
Eva stopped and stood in the middle of the field waiting.
The people in the stands were watching with blood boiling: “Attack! Attack! End the game!”
In the centre of the field, the time on the timer was at 43 seconds.
But strangely, Eva did not attack, but waited for Sonny to escape the predicament first.
Tired of waiting, Eva tilted her head cutely.
The audience burst into laughter.
Du Ruo looked at Jing Ming, the controller who was directing all this.
He stood at the side, fingers tapping on the control panel, indifferent to the cheers and laughter around him. He didn’t blink, focusing intently on his opponent on the field: Sonny.
Finally, Sonny rolled over and stood upright, away from the wall of flames.
His controller, Yi Kun, didn't give him time to rest and recover, and used his maximum speed and power to crash into Eva.
Jing Ming narrowed his eyes, and Eva also accelerated at full speed towards Sonny!
There was a loud ‘bang’ sound.
The audience was stunned. The speed was so fast and the force was so powerful, it was like two cars colliding!
The two robots were pressed tightly against each other, with Sonny repeatedly pounding Eva hard with hammers—bang, bang. Her eye casings were cracked, and her shoulders shrank, but she didn't retreat. The rotating blade continued to fiercely cut through Sonny's shell, emitting sparks and hissing sounds.
The audience fell silent. Du Ruo bit her finger and stared intently.
On the field, Sonny pounded it a few times and found that it could only damage the shell but not the inside. So he increased his power and pushed Eva onto the rotating blades on the wall, trying to twist her tracks.
Eva was pushed back continuously but persisted in damaging Sonny's shell using electric shocks and blades. The moment she was forced into a corner, Eva nimbly turned around and dodged.
Unable to evade, Sonny crashed into the blade wall himself and became motionless.
One second, two seconds, three seconds, and remained motionless.
The host announced: "The match is over!"
All the boys in the audience stood up and cheered wildly! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh howling like a wolf.
The excitement and fever brought by the match had not yet subsided. Du Ruo gasped and applauded with everybody.
Jing Ming curled his lips and moved the control panel. Eva, on the field, tilted her head, stood up on one foot, and raised the other foot high in the air, like a shoe box standing at an angle, still whirling around in a circle. Very cute.
At this moment, a red light flashed from the gap in Sonny’s shell, getting bigger and bigger. The audience’s applause turned into a buzz of discussions, and they all pointed in that direction. Amid everyone’s surprised eyes, a burst of flames suddenly unleashed, and Sonny ignited. During the battle, Eva’s persistent efforts eventually severed Sonny’s internal circuit board. And his master hastened his destruction by jumping into battle immediately after he escaped the flames without waiting for him to recover.
Sonny instantly burst into flames.
He was the first robot to die in this competition of the dozens of group matches and knockout rounds.
There were sounds of admiration and regret in the stands, and many people stood up and took photos with their mobile phone.
But Eva, with scars on her face, ran to the entrance and raised her head, waiting obediently. When the staff opened the door, she slipped past the person’s feet and circled back to Jing Ming.
Jing Ming stepped forward to greet her. He knelt down and touched Eva’s little robot’s head, then picked her up and put her in his arms, checking the scars on her body.
It was a touch of tenderness. He patted her head, lowered his head, and kissed her on the eyes.
The boy in that moment was clean, gentle, and pure.
Du Ruo's heart inexplicably skipped a beat. For some reason, she felt moved by this scene.
And in that moment, it felt like the most genuine portrayal between him and her.
On the brilliant stage, he ignored the eyes and applause of the audience, and only cared about his Eva.
In the dark stands, her eyes followed closely, never leaving for a moment.
Because, one day, she would also stand on that stage.
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