82: Chapter 82 Challenging the "Scrapped Training Puppet" (Part 2)

The dust in the warehouse was still swirling.

Lin Qi held his heavy sword, his footwork changing.

It was no longer the stiff, head-on charging posture, but rather like a hunting feline; his center of gravity was pressed extremely low as he began to circle the massive machine.

Boom!

The metal giant punched into empty air once again.

A large crater appeared in the concrete floor.

Lin Qi slid away, brushing against the wind of the punch, even finding the leisure to glance at the gap in the armor under the giant's armpit.

"You run quite fast."

Old Mo blew on his tea by the second-floor railing. "But what's the use of just running? Its energy core can still last for half an hour. Can that stamina of yours last for ten minutes?"

"Who said I was going to run?"

Lin Qi didn't stop moving, his eyes locked firmly onto the giant's back.

Every time this iron hunk swung that half-ton mechanical arm, the armor plate on its back would pop open, venting a burst of scorching white steam.

That was the power furnace dissipating heat. This was a common flaw of older models; in the pursuit of instantaneous explosive power, the design of the cooling System was quite crude.

And there was that right knee.

Although it had been covered by a fresh coat of paint, under intense movement, that layer of paint had cracked, revealing a twisted welding mark underneath.

Clearly, this leg had been broken before, and the repair work was quite shoddy.

"If the mechanics from back in the day saw this weld, they'd probably be angry enough to crawl out of their graves."

Lin Qi spat out the blood in his mouth, his eyes gradually turning cold.

Found it.

Since I can't outmatch you in hardness, I'll just dismantle you.

He suddenly stopped, just five meters directly in front of the giant.

This was a very dangerous distance.

If the giant took one step forward, that huge metal palm could flatten him like a mosquito.

"Come on."

Lin Qi stuck his heavy sword into the ground and hooked his finger at the giant. "Big guy, did you eat? Why are you so weak?"

Although this was just a machine without emotions, that chip programmed based on kill commands reacted immediately.

Threat Rank increased.

Purge mode activated.

Zzzzt—

The giant's single red eye flared brightly. Its right arm pulled back violently, the cooling plates on its back opened completely, and the turbines inside spun frantically, emitting a sharp, shrill whistle.

Charged heavy strike!

"Now!"

Lin Qi didn't draw his sword.

The moment the giant punched, he stepped out with an extremely strange footwork.

Eight Steps Chasing the Cicada.

This wasn't just about speed; it was about using explosive muscle power to forcibly change his movement trajectory within an extremely short distance.

Whoosh!

The giant iron fist roared past, grazing Lin Qi's scalp.

Lin Qi could even feel the wind of the punch scraping his skin painfully.

But he didn't retreat; instead, he hugged the giant's thick arm and slid behind it like an eel.

At this moment, the giant's old force was spent and its new force hadn't yet generated. The cooling vents on its back were wide open, unguarded, venting rolling waves of heat.

Lin Qi didn't use his sword to slash.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of rusty, large nuts.

These were all "treasures" he had picked up from the scrap heap, usually used to practice hidden weapon techniques, but now they had a better destination.

"Have a treat."

Lin Qi flicked his wrist, and the handful of nuts whistled through the air, accurately drilling into the frantically spinning cooling fan.

Clack, clack, clack, clack!

A teeth-grinding sound of metal grinding echoed.

Sparks flew everywhere.

The once smoothly running turbine instantly jammed, and several fan blades snapped off and flew out, pockmarking the warehouse walls.

Woo—

The giant's movements suddenly froze.

A muffled sound came from within, like an old ox with asthma.

The overheat protection mechanism was forcibly triggered, and that fluid, murderous movement showed obvious stuttering.

"It's not over yet."

Lin Qi didn't give it a chance to reboot the System.

He pushed off the ground and circled to the front of the giant.

The heavy sword was still stuck in the ground, but he had already lunged in, placing both hands on the giant's welded right knee.

It wasn't a push, nor was it a smash.

His hands exhibited a strange vibration frequency.

Inch Power · Bone Piercing.

All his strength erupted the moment of contact, passing through the thick metal shell and acting directly on the aging connecting axle inside.

Snap!

The crisp sound of snapping was exceptionally jarring in the empty warehouse.

The giant's massive body lurched to one side.

That right leg, which was supporting its center of gravity, was actually snapped off at the knee, with only a few cables still connected, sizzling and sparking.

Boom!

The giant, having lost its balance, fell to one knee, making the ground tremble.

It tried to swing its arm to swat away this damned "flea," but because its center of gravity was unstable, the slap hit empty air, almost causing it to fall over instead.

Lin Qi stepped on the broken leg and vaulted into the air.

Like an agile ape, he scrambled up to the giant's shoulder in two or three steps.

That single red eye was right beneath his feet, still flickering frantically, seemingly calculating how to correct this damned error.

"Stop calculating, just crash."

Lin Qi backhandedly drew the heavy sword from his back.

Gripping the hilt with both hands, the sword tip pointed downward.

There were no fancy Moves, only pure gravitational potential energy combined with the strength of his entire body.

Pshhh!

The sensation of piercing into the metal was extremely rough, but the heavy sword still pierced through that red crystal cover, plunging deep into the giant's brain core.

Zzzzt—

After a burst of rapid, chaotic electrical hissing, the red light in that single eye flickered twice and then went out completely.

The behemoth that had still been struggling finally stopped moving.

Lin Qi hung on the giant, gasping for breath, sweat dripping from his chin onto the scorching mecha shell, making a sizzling sound.

This fight was more exhausting than those on the arena.

But this was the first time he had truly used his brain to dismantle an opponent much stronger than himself.

Before, he had relied on the experience of a Martial Saint to crush them, but this time it was genuine, on-the-spot improvisation.

"Clap, clap, clap."

Sparse applause came from the second floor.

Old Mo tucked his thermos under his arm and slowly climbed down the ladder.

He circled the pile of scrap iron, finally stopping in front of the cooling vent jammed by the nuts, and tutted twice.

"That's a dirty trick."

Old Mo raised an eyebrow. "Using nuts to block an exhaust pipe—who taught you that Move?"

"Life experience."

Lin Qi jumped down from the giant and stretched his sore shoulders. "When I used to fix tractors, the thing I feared most was sand getting into them. I figured the principle for this big guy should be about the same."

"About the same?"

Old Mo couldn't help but laugh and scold. "This was a war weapon that cost billions back in the day, and you're comparing it to a tractor?"

He pulled out a greasy rag and tossed it to Lin Qi. "Alright, since you can beat this thing in a single fight, it means your current true combat power can at least go toe-to-toe with a Rank 20 elite monster. You have the strength to challenge for the top eight."

Lin Qi took the rag and wiped the machine oil off his sword, feeling a pang of heartache as he looked at the few chips on the blade's edge.

"Walking sideways might not be certain, but this sword is probably going to go first."

"It's just a few chips. I'll get you some 'Star Iron' to patch it up later."