Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!-Chapter 1051 - 719: Underwater Battle (Part 2)

Gu Lan added, "Moreover, I believe there's another crucial point—if we let the commander join the battle, it sends a clear signal to the outside that we are afraid of underwater combat. The enemy will surely seize on this point and target us relentlessly. There are limits to how many times a person can join a battle, but there are no such limits on maps. I even believe they will arrange our upcoming battles to all take place in similar deep-sea environments!"

"So that's the cruelty of the elimination rounds." At this point, Catherine sighed helplessly.

"This is precisely where the teams from 'Sons of the Empire', with their deep resources, have an advantage. They have sufficient talent reserves and can dispatch specialist teams for different environments without overly relying on a few core members. We... do have a shortcoming in this regard."

Bai E quietly listened to everyone's discussion, his fingers gently tapping the tabletop.

He understood his team members' concerns.

On one hand, this is a single-elimination tournament with no room for error.

On the other hand, his power is a limited resource that must be used judiciously.

Premature exposure or depletion may lead to hidden dangers in more difficult battles ahead.

"Everyone has valid points," Bai E finally spoke, his voice steady. "Indeed, it's not suitable for me to appear directly in this battle."

He looked at everyone: "There are three reasons. First, revealing my adaptability and tactical style in extreme environments too early is detrimental to subsequent matches. Second, I need to conserve my strength and state for potentially stronger opponents later. Third, and most importantly..."

His gaze swept over Kuang Xin, Rose, Catherine, Gu Lan, Zero, Ares, and others.

"I trust you all. Each of you is a companion I've selected, trained, and fought alongside through countless battles to reach today. You possess courage, wisdom, and combat skills that rival anyone's. 'Deep Blue Guardians' are underwater experts, but you are no less."

His words lifted the spirits of everyone.

"Of course... we can't be blindly confident. Underwater combat is a new challenge for us. We need a pilot who is specially adaptable to underwater environments or, at the very least, not averse to it and can learn quickly."

His gaze scanned the faces of everyone, finally falling on... a young mech pilot who had not been part of the core discussion circle but had been quietly standing on the periphery.

This young man had short, deep-blue hair, a calm gaze, and though not particularly burly, exuded a steady and reliable presence.

He was one of the players who came to 'Star City' with the 'Fire Hammer' guild and subsequent support teams, his ID was 'Tideflow'.

"Tideflow," Bai E called out.

The young mech pilot, momentarily taken aback by being named, immediately straightened up: "Sir!"

"I remember your details," Bai E recalled. "You come from a planet with over 90% ocean coverage and were a deep-sea resource exploration squad's escort pilot before joining the 'Fire Hammer' guild. You have extensive field experience in underwater and high-pressure environments and are especially good at using underwater terrain and currents for stealth and surprise attacks. Your mech handling style leans toward agility and precision, correct?"

Tideflow was somewhat surprised that Bai E knew so much about his background and quickly nodded: "Yes, sir. I have accumulated over three thousand standard hours of underwater operations and am familiar with the characteristics and modifications of various underwater mechas."

"Good." Bai E nodded, "In this match, I need you to serve as one of the core assault members. Your task is not to launch a frontal attack but to use your familiarity with underwater conditions to conduct reconnaissance, harassment, and look for opportunities to disrupt the opponent's formation or key equipment. You are our eyes and dagger underwater."

He then turned to the others: "Catherine, you'll be in charge of tactical command for this match. Your calmness and insight are just as important underwater. Zero, although your precision shooting will be affected by the currents, a critical fatal strike is still indispensable. Ares, your strength will be greatly reduced underwater, but you remain valuable as the focal point of attracting fire and making breakthroughs. Rose, Gu Lan, you will be the reserves, making full use of the time for underwater simulation training and ready to deal with unexpected situations anytime."

He lastly looked at Gong Yan and Elorin, who had been relatively silent: "Gong Yan, use the 'Money Eye' network to gather more detailed terrain and hydrological data of 'Silent Sea Trench', even if it's just publicly available exploration data. Scholar Elorin, please continue to focus on competition details, especially the specific criteria for the 'Capture and Control' mode."

Having made the arrangements, Bai E looked at everyone: "In this match, we will fight with Tideflow as the core, along with Catherine, Zero, Ares, and you..."

Bai E pointed to another player mech pilot present, "A total of five of you will be the participants in this battle. Perform your best, with no regrets. As for the outcome... just do your best. When necessary, you will win..."

"Can we win?" Tideflow, being the core, hadn't expected that his first appearance would come with such significant responsibility.

More importantly, did the commander think they would surely win?

...But I don't even have that much confidence in myself.

"It's alright." Bai E smiled, patting his shoulder, "Believe in yourself, our warriors never fear any environment or opponent. Underwater is just another battlefield. Let's go conquer it together!"

...

When the five-member team, piloting the 'Dawn's Edge' mechas equipped with temporary underwater modules, descended into the cold darkness three thousand meters below in the 'Silent Sea Trench', they genuinely felt the oppressive pressure of the environment far beyond imagination.

Inside the 'War God' mecha, Ares was the first to sense something unusual, "The water pressure... the mecha's hull is making noise."

The immense pressure from a depth of three thousand meters caused the 'Dawn's Edge' series, not designed for professional underwater use, to emit faint metallic groans.

Temperature sensors displayed the external water temperature near freezing, requiring additional energy from the mecha's thermostat system to maintain cockpit temperature.

The icy seawater seemed to seep through the armor, sapping the heat and morale of both mech and pilot.

Catherine reminded on the comms channel, "Pay attention to energy allocation, underwater propulsion, and life support systems will increase energy consumption."

"Visibility is poor as well," Zero calmly analyzed, "Optical visibility is limited, sonar interference is severe. I suggest reducing propulsion speed to avoid colliding with reefs."

His 'Silent' mecha was equipped with the most precise sensors but was significantly less effective in this environment.

The searchlights could only illuminate less than fifty meters in the murky water, with the sonar screen filled with complex terrain echoes and chaotic biological signals.

Tideflow, as a professional underwater pilot, supplemented, "The seawater here contains special mineral particles, which will continuously interfere with unshielded electronic equipment. Our communication distance and clarity will be affected."

The team cautiously advanced under Tideflow's guidance.

They quickly discovered that the terrain of 'Silent Sea Trench' was extremely complex—

Steep cliffs, deep trenches, protruding seamounts, and occasionally erupting thermal vents.

The direction of ocean currents was unpredictable, sometimes calm, sometimes suddenly forming strong undercurrents.

"Watch out for the updraft on the left," Tideflow warned timely, "It will push us towards that crystal cluster area."

Catherine observed that maintaining balance in the current required additional thruster energy, "In such an environment, mobility and endurance are severely affected. We need to plan the most energy-efficient route forward."

As the absolute core, Tideflow was mentally tense, "I'll do my best."