BATTLE FOR STARS

“This mech has ten engines distributed across its body,” Lina explained quickly. “Each finger controls one. You can adjust their direction and output individually. The more force you apply with your fingers, the stronger the engine thrust. And if multiple engines point in the same direction, you get higher speed. If you can switch their directions instantly, you can chain engine bursts and keep changing direction mid-air.”

Ding Yufei tried it twice and finally understood how engine bursts worked. He also realized why Lina had been able to change direction repeatedly during bursts—there were actually ten engines working in coordination behind it.

“As long as you keep applying force at your fingertips, you can trigger the engines,” Lina added.

Without further warning, she launched an attack.

What sounded simple in her explanation was anything but. Without AI assistance or neural link control, coordinating ten engines simultaneously required an enormous amount of training.

Lina accelerated forward using engine bursts, aiming a heavy punch straight at the cockpit area of Ding Yufei’s mech. Even without weapons, a hit like that would still shake the pilot inside.

But just before her fist landed, Ding Yufei’s mech suddenly slid backward.

He had activated engine burst as well.

Lina hadn’t expected him to grasp the technique so quickly, even though he had mentioned earlier on the shuttle that he had experience with similar systems.

Her interest instantly sharpened.

She hadn’t intended to seriously beat him up—but letting a newcomer easily dodge her wasn’t something she enjoyed either.

She pressed the attack.

Ding Yufei retreated rapidly, then began to block with his arms and legs. The training mech and the simulator were essentially the same in operation, both driven by neural feedback of human motion. Once adapted, control came naturally.

Of course, chaining engine bursts for continuous mid-air direction changes was still beyond him. For now, he could only use bursts for simple evasions.

Lina hadn’t even used full strength, but Ding Yufei still managed to block or evade several strikes. That alone surprised her.

Piloting a mech wasn’t something most people could master easily. Even though it was a neural feedback system, the pilot wasn’t literally moving inside the cockpit—the system translated muscle tension into mech motion. To truly treat the mech as an extension of the body required long-term training.

Lina shifted her approach. Since engine bursts would just let him escape, she switched to normal movement but increased her speed and precision.

As expected, Ding Yufei was quickly struck on the shoulder and leg. Forced into defense, he used engine bursts again to regain distance before re-engaging.

Ding Yufei was also a competitive person. Being hit repeatedly made him dissatisfied. He knew there was a gap between their skill levels, and Lina wasn’t using full power—but he still wanted to continue.

This time, he took the initiative.

He charged forward, then suddenly activated engine burst at close range.

But the sudden acceleration threw off his timing. His movement became distorted, and the punch that should have landed was easily evaded by Lina.

She took advantage of his imbalance and kicked him from behind.

Ding Yufei tried several more times. He had become quite proficient at using engine bursts for retreating and repositioning, but attacking while bursting still felt unstable. The sudden acceleration disrupted his control.

In the following exchanges, he was hit several more times.

From Lina’s perspective, he was already performing surprisingly well for a beginner. But Ding Yufei himself felt like he was being completely overwhelmed.

Belina, watching from the side, didn’t entirely agree with that assessment.

Lina was a top-tier mech fighter—one of the strongest contenders in the competition. Even so, the interval between Ding Yufei’s successful defenses was getting longer, and the areas he was being struck were becoming less critical.

The fight continued back and forth with increasing intensity, though for Lina, it was still far below tournament level.

Eventually, Ding Yufei stopped attacking. He retreated to a distance and froze his movements, clearly thinking.

“That’s enough for today,” Lina’s voice came through.

“Wait,” Ding Yufei replied.

“What are you planning now?” Lina sounded curious.

Instead of answering, Ding Yufei lowered his mech’s stance. Both knees bent slightly, arms raised in a loose circular guard in front of his chest. Then he motioned for Lina to attack.

“What kind of stance is that?” Lina had never seen anything like it before. Even defensive-oriented mechs didn’t adopt such an unusual posture.

A soft exclamation came from the observation area.

“Ah!”

It was Belina.

She recognized it immediately—it was the opening stance of Chinese Taiji.

In recent years, Ding Yufei had trained in martial arts outside of physical education, focusing specifically on Taiji. Not long ago, during his global exploration journey, he had even encountered a Taiji master who personally guided him.

Belina had witnessed that process herself, so she immediately recognized the posture.

But even she wasn’t sure—could Taiji really be applied to mechs?

Ding Yufei didn’t know either.

After all, Taiji relied heavily on borrowing force and sensing contact between bodies to redirect momentum. Here, the interaction was between machines.

He only knew one thing for certain:

In terms of speed, he was no match for Lina.

So he had to counter speed with slowness.

Taiji was the best defensive system he knew.

And unlike human combat, mech movement still depended on ground reaction forces for acceleration and stability.

If he could adapt Taiji principles to mech control—using timing, redirection, and force borrowing—then maybe, just maybe, he had a chance.

Because if he kept fighting Lina in pure speed and movement, he had no chance of winning at all.