After finishing the introductions of both teams, Dr. Dig spoke again,
"Before this, I asked the contestants in the arena, and to my surprise, not a single person was willing to fight the Mechanical Squad. Only the 'Black-and-White Twin Fiends' stepped up to accept the challenge.
"'Cold Dragon Young' even boldly declared 'whatever,' and 'White Strip Riding the Waves ' also volunteered eagerly, wanting to see just how strong the Mechanical Squad really is!"
At this moment, on the arena stage, inside the iron cage, the two teams faced off.
On one side were the Black-and-White Twin Fiends, their momentum overwhelming, as if they already stood at the peak. In front of these two, no matter who it was, all seemed like insignificant nobodies, not worth mentioning.
On the other side was steel forged through countless refinements, bodies built of iron. Even if facing thousands upon thousands of troops, they showed no fear in danger. With metallic clangs ringing out, their momentum did not fall behind in the slightest.
Though the match had not yet begun, just the clash of momentum between the two teams already felt like blades and swords everywhere, the gusts cutting at one's face, the smell of gunpowder spreading and igniting the entire venue.
Before the match even started, the spectators below the stage had already begun discussing it. The scene was so heated and noisy that it felt like falling into a swarm of flies.
March and Stelle couldn't help but join in as well.
At first, no one knew who started the discussion. They only heard a man in the crowd shout, "In this match, 'Cold Dragon Young' and 'White Strip Riding the Waves ' will definitely win!"
Immediately after, a woman retorted, "On what basis are you saying they'll win? The Mechanical Squad will beat them until they can't even open their mouths!"
Then another woman chimed in, "'Cold Dragon Young' has won battle after battle. His strength is unmatched. If he doesn't win, who will?"
But as soon as she finished speaking, a middle-aged man shouted angrily, "Shut up! 'Cold Dragon Young' may have won continuously, but hasn't the Mechanical Squad also held the championship and won nonstop before this? If you ask me, the 'Black-and-White Twin Fiends' are definitely going to lose."
And just like that, a great battle erupted.
The audience of the fighting club all expressed their own views and started arguing.
The louder they argued, the more intense it became, and the more they argued, the harder it was to reach any conclusion.
Anyone who didn't know better would think that the ones fighting right now were them, while Dan Heng, Nero inside the cage, and those automated soldiers were just the audience.
March and Stelle were squeezed within the crowd. They had no intention of arguing, but then they heard a man wearing glasses beside them say, "Based on the information I've investigated, the Automated Soldier, Spider was originally manufactured to help humans do heavy physical labor."
"As for the Automated Soldier, Grizzly, it was originally created as a weapon of war, fighting on the battlefield together with the Silvermane Guards."
"The upper and lower levels have been cut off from each other for a long time, so who knows what the Silvermane Guards are like now. But it's not hard to imagine that in the distant past, they were definitely a ferocious fighting force."
"When all is said and done, the 'Black-and-White Twin Fiends' are still flesh and blood humans. Wanting to rely on such weak human bodies to fight against mechanical weapons like automated soldiers, hard! They don't stand a chance at all!"
Hearing this, Stelle and March couldn't ignore it anymore and immediately began arguing with the man.
March said to him, "Hard to contend with? That's just because your vision is short-sighted and you've never seen the bigger world!"
Stelle also nodded and said, "Both of them have faced the Voidranger, Trampler head-on."
But then the man with glasses turned his head and said disdainfully, "Hmph! I'm short-sighted? The short-sighted ones are you youngsters!"
"You don't actually believe Dr. Dig's introductions, do you? That stuff is all just boasting to hype up the atmosphere."
"You really think that so-called 'Black-and-White Twin Fiends' have fought the Legion and rift creatures?"
"Of course they've fought the Legion and rift creatures! We saw it with our own eyes!" March said.
"That's right, and it was an overwhelming victory!" Stelle echoed.
However, the man with glasses merely raised his eyebrows and said contemptuously, "You saw it with your own eyes? Then show me the evidence."
"Evidence? This… uh..." Stelle opened her mouth, but got stuck.
March also froze in place.
Even though those things were experienced firsthand, who would have the leisure to take photos or record videos in the middle of such tense and intense battles?
Seeing that the two of them couldn't say anything, the man with glasses began to sneer.
"Heh heh. Can't produce any evidence, right? You youngsters always believe whatever you hear.
"But I'm different. I've looked up a lot of historical documents that are still preserved today regarding automated soldiers!"
"What do you know? They're really strong!" Stelle said unhappily. "In a moment, they'll smash those scrap machines to pieces!"
"Exactly! Little Nero can even smash the head of something as huge as a Doomsday Beast, an anti-planetary weapon, in one hit!" March refused to back down.
However, all they received was the glasses-wearing man's scornful treatment.
"Heh heh, what's a Doomsday Beast? An anti-planetary weapon? Never even heard of it!"
"What, can't produce evidence, so now you're starting to make things up?"
"Don't think you can scare me just by pulling out some random thing from stories or myths."
"Little Nero? Oh, you mean that boy called 'White Strip Riding the Waves ,' right?"
"Heh, in my opinion, he's not that impressive either."
"With that size, my fifteen-year-old son could beat him until he calls him dad!"
"You… damn it! Just you wait and see!" March said angrily.
March and Stelle clenched their teeth. But they couldn't argue their way past this man, so they could only wait for the final match result to slap him in the face.
Watching the increasingly heated arguments, a smile appeared on Dr. Dig's face.
Seeing that the atmosphere was just about right, he finally shouted loudly, "Then, the semifinals of the 1,758th Arena Champion Challenge now begin!"
As Dr. Dig announced the start of the match, the noise in the arena died down quite a bit.
Most people turned their attention to the stage. They all understood that no matter how reasonable their arguments were right now, it was pointless, the real situation would still depend on the match result.
Of course, there were still some people who continued arguing even now.
If their opponents had already turned their attention to the stage, they would argue even more fiercely, their voices louder and their attitudes smug, their words full of sarcasm.
As if, compared to the match result or their supported team winning, they cared more about the satisfaction of arguing at this very moment.
The match began.
But the contestants on the stage, whether Dan Heng and Nero, or the Mechanical Squad, neither side attacked immediately.
Only to see Grizzly take a few steps forward, its massive body arriving in front of Dan Heng and Nero.
A huge shadow covered the two of them, the sense of pressure overwhelming.
Grizzly extended its hand and pointed at Nero. A burst of electronic mechanical sound came from within its body.
"Kid, you should concede. You're very similar to Clara. I don't want to fight you."
Dr. Dig immediately began commentating, "My goodness! The gunpowder smell between the two sides looked so intense just now, yet they didn't start fighting right away!"
"Our Grizzly contestant steps forward, stretches out its hand, and points at 'White Strip Riding the Waves ' to provoke him. How will our young contestant respond?"
Grizzly turned its head and glanced at Dr. Dig.
'Don't talk nonsense, damn it!'
'I'm not provoking anyone, okay?!'
As a mechanical creation that had already developed a certain level of intelligence, it was now experiencing an impulse that strongly resembled wanting to curse.
Then looking at Nero, he still had both hands in his pockets, wearing an expression that said, "I'm invincible under heaven".