BATTLE FOR STARS

The previous tournament champion had already lost to Julia in the earlier rounds.

So if Julia won today’s final, the title of Strongest Mech Fighter would naturally belong to her.

But Lina didn’t understand the second half of Julia’s words.

She didn’t even know who Julia’s master was.

What humiliation was she talking about?

Julia then took out an old photograph and placed it in front of Lina.

It looked like a very old physical photo.

These days, very few people still preserved actual printed photographs.

But Lina immediately recognized this one.

It was a group photo taken years ago before her mother’s final match, something required by tournament regulations at the time. The image could still be found online.

But what did this have to do with her... or Julia?

“Did you know?” Julia said quietly. “Your mother and her opponent in that final were actually close friends.”

Lina’s heart trembled slightly.

Very few people knew who her mother really was.

Since Julia knew this much, she clearly did have some connection to her mother’s past.

As for her mother being friends with that opponent...

Lina already knew that part.

Back then, her mother had disobeyed the Emperor’s order and refused to kill her friend during the match. That was what led to the later challenge match, where her mother eventually died from exhaustion.

“I,” Julia finally revealed, “am that friend’s disciple.”

Then she looked straight into Lina’s eyes.

“But my master lost to your mother on purpose back then.”

“It wasn’t because your mother was stronger.”

Lina froze slightly.

She had never imagined there was another hidden story behind those events.

She simply stared at Julia in confusion, waiting for an explanation.

“My master told your mother at the time that she needed a huge amount of money to treat your illness,” Julia continued. “So she asked my master to deliberately give her the championship.”

“My master struggled with the decision for a long time before finally agreeing.”

“But during the match, your mother took advantage of the situation and completely destroyed my master’s mech.”

“And she permanently damaged the nerves in my master’s right arm.”

“She could never compete again after that.”

Julia’s eyes had already become moist.

“If my master hadn’t still been useful teaching me combat experience, our owner would’ve abandoned her long ago.”

“We struggled for years to get where we are now.”

“And today...”

“I’m going to reclaim everything my master lost.”

Julia and her master had suffered terribly all these years.

Because of the injury, Julia had effectively been forced to earn enough money for both of them alone.

She constantly reminded herself never to relax, not even for a moment.

And deep inside, she had always believed the true source of all their suffering was Lina’s mother.

Now Lina’s mother was already dead.

But her daughter was still here.

Still a Mech Fighter.

So all of that resentment had gradually transferred onto Lina herself.

Lina had never expected there to be such a hidden chapter in her mother’s past.

Her mother had never mentioned it.

But after the following three-day challenge match, her mother died soon afterward.

Perhaps she simply never had the chance to explain everything.

Lina’s lips moved slightly, but no words came out.

Receiving information like this right before the final match left her completely unsure how to respond.

Whether the story was true or not, one thing was certain:

She could never intentionally lose the match and place her fate entirely in someone else’s hands.

Lina had once carefully asked Joan — her mother’s old friend — about the events of that final years ago.

According to the official rules, competitors were never actually required to kill their opponent.

Victory alone was enough.

But at the time, the entire audience had been screaming for blood.

Even the Emperor himself had issued the order.

Yet her mother ignored everyone’s demands — especially the Emperor’s — and merely destroyed her friend’s mech instead of killing her.

That was what angered the Emperor.

Of course, he never directly punished Lina’s mother.

Instead, he arranged the additional challenge match afterward.

And that challenge ultimately led to her death.

So even after hearing Julia’s story, Lina still didn’t truly understand Julia herself.

Nor did she believe Julia would show mercy the way her mother once had.

In the end, Lina decided she would keep her fate in her own hands.

She wanted victory.

“Then we’ll settle it in the arena,” Lina said while looking directly into Julia’s eyes.

Let the match decide everything.

Soon afterward, tournament staff arrived to take an official photograph of Lina and Julia together.

This was the final procedure before the championship match began.

After the photo session ended, the two women walked separately toward their own mechs.

At that moment, however, a small pill quietly appeared in Julia’s hand.

Two days earlier, a mysterious person had approached her, claiming they could help her win the final.

At first, Julia hadn’t believed any of it.

At this level of competition, every inspection was extraordinarily strict.

Anyone caught cheating would be executed immediately.

But afterward, her master had gone somewhere with that mysterious person.

When she returned, her master told Julia only one thing:

The person behind this matter possessed unimaginable influence.

And the help being offered was absolutely real.

Although Julia still didn’t know who exactly was helping her — or why — she trusted her master completely.

Over all these years, her master had never once led her wrong.

Today, during the photo session, Julia quietly received the pill from one of the staff members.

She already knew what it was.

A powerful neural enhancement drug.

For a short period of time, it could increase the body’s reaction speed and physical capabilities by more than thirty percent.

And that thirty percent was enough to completely decide a match.

At this point, it was necessary to explain the Resk Empire’s neural modification technology.

Soldiers joining the Resk military all underwent a certain degree of genetic and neural enhancement after enlistment.

The purpose was to increase reaction speed, strengthen muscles, and improve overall combat ability.

Ordinary soldiers could generally achieve performance increases exceeding one hundred percent.

As for the Empire’s unique pig-faced troops, they underwent targeted genetic modification almost immediately after birth — sometimes even before birth.

As a result, their physical capabilities could improve by over two hundred percent.

However, forcibly accelerating cellular activity and regeneration also placed tremendous strain on the body.

Both groups suffered reduced lifespans.

Ordinary military personnel typically lost around thirty percent of their natural lifespan.

Pig-faced troops often lost over fifty percent.

Mech Fighters like Lina, on the other hand, had never undergone any genetic enhancement at all.

They were technically still ordinary humans.

But they represented the absolute peak among ordinary humans.

Through lifelong training from childhood onward, their reaction speeds and physical abilities could also improve by over one hundred percent.

Top competitors like Lina could even reach enhancement levels approaching two hundred percent through pure training alone.

Before every competition, contestants underwent extensive testing.

Part of it was to prevent temporary performance enhancement through drugs.

The other purpose was to ensure modified humans never entered the tournament.

Slowly, Julia and Lina ascended into the massive arena alongside their respective mechs.

This was the final match.

Naturally, the gambling stakes from the audience had reached their highest levels as well.

Many wealthy guests had poured enormous sums of money into the outcome.

After a brief introduction from the announcer robots, both competitors entered their cockpits.

And in that brief moment—

Julia quietly swallowed the pill in her hand.