Chapter 53: Nowhere to Escape

Night.

Nan Gong Kexin squinted her eyes, weary, leaning against the wall of an abandoned building. At this moment, she longed to sleep.

Since selecting her mech equipment, she had been automatically assigned to this area. She had not left, instead waiting here as agreed upon with Nan Gong Yuchen and Angel.

At first, it was fine—she was alone. But as time passed, other students began to appear in this area. Especially by dusk, more than a dozen contestants had gradually arrived, and they immediately started fighting upon meeting. Nan Gong Kexin dared not engage; relying on her speed and the various structures around her, she kept evading.

However, the hourly map device left her with nowhere to hide, forcing her into constant flight. She had considered fighting back, but many of them were not alone, and some were very powerful. Having never operated a mech before, she was simply no match.

Thus, she ended up in this desperate predicament.

“If only Yuchen were here!” Nan Gong Kexin slightly opened her beautiful, watery eyes and glanced toward a direction in the dark. If Nan Gong Yuchen were by her side, how could anyone be chasing her?

Especially those two boys who had been relentlessly pursuing her since afternoon—she was both furious and vexed.

One of them was even Lili’s...

Just as the thought crossed her mind, she suddenly heard the sound of footsteps nearby. Nan Gong Kexin tensed, her heart pounding wildly.

“What should I do? They’re coming!” In a panic, she mustered her strength and stood, dashing into the building. She planned to use the cover of night to buy some time, hoping Nan Gong Yuchen and Angel would soon arrive.

She had not run far when suddenly, inside the pitch-black abandoned building, lights flickered on, immediately revealing her silhouette.

“How could this be...?” Nan Gong Kexin’s complexion paled. She never expected there to be lights here...

“How could there be lights, huh? Haha... Forgot to tell you, when we started chasing you this evening, we discovered this entire area has an energy source!”

The voice fell, and two male students emerged from a broken wall about twenty meters away. The leader had short blond hair, a skinny build, and an utterly ordinary face twisted into an arrogant grin that made one want to kick him. This was Tuoba Feng from Class 1, Grade 10, and also Lili’s suitor. The other boy looked much more docile, with a standard black buzz cut and an unremarkable appearance—one who would easily blend into a crowd without standing out.

“Nan Gong Kexin, I’ll go easy on you for Lili’s sake, but you better come quietly. Otherwise, don’t blame me if my gun goes off!” Tuoba Feng threatened, then flicked his finger at his time-space ring, which shimmered silver. A black crystal block engraved with codes emerged, coalescing and wrapping together until it formed a fifty-centimeter-long black rifle in his hands. A B-G5SE-25 model energy rifle.

“Tuoba Feng, don’t even think about it!” Nan Gong Kexin refused to yield. She despised the boy before her—he had not only pestered Lili at school but also had serious conflicts with Nan Gong Yuchen. Turning sharply, she fled toward the outside of the abandoned building.

“Hmph, you asked for this!” Tuoba Feng accelerated, raising his rifle to fire a barrage ahead of Nan Gong Kexin’s escape route. The dense bullets streaked like yellow beams, completely blocking her thoughts of escape.

At the same time, the boy with the black buzz cut sprang forward in an instant, covering the short distance of about twenty meters to reach Nan Gong Kexin’s side.

Nan Gong Kexin’s face turned pale at the sight. Despite her panic, she quickly drew her chosen mech weapon— the Piercing Silver Dragon Spear.

The spear was over two meters long, shimmering with a silver glow along its shaft. Its tip was a distinctive triangular prism shape, with blue crystals embedded on either side that complemented the sharp purple spearhead, both elegant and formidable. Grasping the shaft, she swung backward in haste, sweeping the buzz-cut boy aside to create some distance before turning to flee in another direction.

“Mo Qing, chase her! She won’t get away this time!” Tuoba Feng sneered at the buzz-cut boy. He had planned to meet his elder brother Tuoba Lin here but unexpectedly ran into both his brother’s classmate Mo Qing and Nan Gong Yuchen’s sister—Nan Gong Kexin!

This was an unexpected boon for his plan to take revenge on Nan Gong Yuchen. Capturing Nan Gong Kexin here meant he could eliminate Yuchen without a fight.

Mo Qing drew a long knife from his time-space ring and dashed after the fleeing figure.

Tuoba Feng followed calmly, confident in Mo Qing’s speed.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!”

With the buzz-cut boy closing in, Nan Gong Kexin’s anxiety deepened. Both she and her pursuer were speed-focused students, and Tuoba Feng with his rifle was right behind. She could only use the ruins around her to conceal her body; exposed in the open, she would have been riddled with bullets long ago.

Her attempts to dodge bullets naturally slowed her down, making it impossible to shake off Tuoba Feng’s pursuit.

After several minutes of running, she reached a wall over three meters high and felt a surge of hope. Pushing off with both feet, she vaulted cleanly over it.

“Thud!”

Landing on the pavement below, she confirmed her suspicion—they had escaped the abandoned building.

“Boom!”

Suddenly, the wall behind her collapsed with a roar. Before she could rise and continue fleeing, she turned to see the buzz-cut boy gripping his long knife, swinging it down at her.

“Clang!”

Startled, Nan Gong Kexin instinctively crossed her spear before her to block the blow. But the force from the blade’s strike knocked her off balance, sending her flying backward.

“Bang!” She slammed hard onto the pavement. Pain radiated from her back, and her eyes reddened. Ignoring her injuries, the buzz-cut boy raised his knife for another strike.

The relentless pursuit all afternoon had fanned the flames of Nan Gong Kexin’s fury to its peak, with no outlet. Now facing the blade again, she disregarded her fear, gripping her spear tightly to counterattack.

The purple triangular spearhead clashed with the pale blue blade. This time, she didn’t retreat an inch but fought back fiercely.

“Clang!”

The knife was blocked, then shifted direction, suddenly slashing toward Nan Gong Kexin’s head. She ducked and leaned back swiftly to evade, then flicked her spear upward, thrusting at the attacker’s chest.

Mo Qing’s eye twitched in surprise. He hadn’t expected the girl who had only been fleeing to suddenly fight back. No time to ponder, he twisted his blade against his chest to block the spear’s deadly tip. Otherwise, that terrifying triangular spearhead would have pierced him and ended the fight.

“Bang!” The force from the blade caused a sharp pain in Mo Qing’s chest. The spear’s attack, focused on a single point, was partially mitigated but still left a sting.

His expression darkened. As a senior student, his combat experience far surpassed a freshman’s, but he had suffered a minor setback due to carelessness. Angered, he unleashed his full strength.

Blending speed and knife work flawlessly, Mo Qing flashed to the left and slashed fiercely at Nan Gong Kexin’s right shoulder.

“Clang!” She just blocked the strike, then saw Mo Qing dart behind her, sweeping his blade horizontally at her waist.

Nan Gong Kexin's awkward spear skills began to falter under the relentless, lightning-fast assault. She quickly lost ground. Several times, her spear was knocked from her hands. If Mo Qing intended to eliminate her, she would have been overwhelmed long ago.

“Bang!” The spear slipped from her grasp once more, clattering beside the pavement.

Her face pale and battered, pain from wounds and weariness weighing heavily, Nan Gong Kexin looked utterly disheveled. Yet she persisted, firmly believing that Nan Gong Yuchen and Angel would arrive any moment.

Warily watching her opponent, she saw he was not attacking again. She hurried to the roadside to retrieve her weapon.

Before she could touch it, a volley of bullets shot through the air, completely stopping her.

From nearby came a mocking laugh: “Haha, Nan Gong Kexin, looks like you have nowhere left to run this time!”