The Green Tea is Always Targeting The Wrong Person (GREENTEA)
As they stepped inside, a wave of heat and deafening roars washed over them, accompanied by foul language that made Yue Chu's stomach churn. The long corridor was dark and low that made it hard to breathe.
Guided by the attendant, Yue Chu and Wei Xieyang finally reached the viewing area.
The enormous fighting arena was dazzling in its grandeur with two lifelike dragon heads carved on either side.
Bloodstains from the previous match still stained the ground, vivid like crimson peonies imprinted on gold foil. The stands were packed with each face hidden behind a grotesque mask and eyes were burning red as they focused on the stage where a spectacular kill was about to unfold.
They waved their weapons with wild excitement, their frenzied expressions like demons unleashed.
Red lights, like blood, soaked every corner that stirred the darkest desires within. The clash of kindred spirits meant they no longer needed to hide, shedding the skin they wore during the day to indulge in this frenzy.
This was the underground mecha gladiatorial arena.
Every participant had to sign a life-or-death contract.
Unlike the mecha competitions where the goal was to merely outmaneuver, here, the focus was on violent, bloody spectacle.
Anyone with the ability could directly kill their opponent.
It was a true fight.
A battle to the death.
No second chance.
Yue Chu had brought Wei Xieyang here for two reasons: to give him more real-world combat experience and to show him that the textbook only taught the basics.
True combat demanded more flexibility and adaptability.
Yue Chu said, "Have you thought it through? If you sign up for the competition with me, there's a high chance of getting injured."
This was a Yue family business, so he had arranged for Wei Xieyang to face opponents he could handle. Even for training, he wanted to ensure Wei Xieyang's safety.
Wei Xieyang's eyes sparkled.
He didn't enjoy being a spectator in this kind of place, but he unexpectedly wanted to try Yue Chu's method. His proud eyes burned with an unyielding will, like a blazing fire that consumed the remnants of his former weakness.
Wei Xieyang said, "I've thought it through."
Wei Xieyang entered the arena.
He had never experienced such a thrilling battle.
His opponent was no longer just a normal enemy, but an enemy with whom there was no truce and not showing any mercy.
Every attack was sharp and deadly that relentlessly aimed at his weaknesses, which sent him flying.
The cheers and jeers from the crowd served as the perfect beat that stirred the unrest in his heart and pushed his emotions to their peak.
He staggered to his feet.
His mecha was battered and broken, but his eyes shone brighter and his white cheeks flushed crimson.
His mental energy, like a pump, frantically squeezed out the last ounce of strength.
Wei Xieyang's mecha charged towards his opponent again.
Just as they were about to clash, he suddenly ducked and knelt on the ground. The harsh metal scraped against the floor that created a grating sound.
A thin blade suddenly sprung from the mecha's abdomen, which he grabbed with his backhand and sliced open his opponent's chest.
Wei Xieyang won!
Amidst the thunderous applause, he collapsed to the ground while panting heavily. He looked up at the high ceiling through the visor with a smirk playing on his lips.
Interesting.
………….
Twenty days later, the second round of the preliminary selection began.
Yue Chu frowned as he watched Wei Xieyang in the arena with his fingers gently rubbing against each other.
Wei Xieyang's transformation was drastic, far beyond his expectations that stirred a sense of unease in his heart.
He had been bringing Wei Xieyang to the underground mecha gladiatorial arena every other day. A frequency that ensured Wei Xieyang's safety while pushing him to improve.
But now he realized the effect of this training was too significant. Wei Xieyang's style had completely changed. If he hadn't seen him go in, no one would have connected him to the reserved, rigid fighter from last week.
Wei Xieyang had abandoned his previous long-range combat style and switched to close-quarters combat with cold weapons.
His twin blades danced like butterflies flitting through flowers, graceful yet deadly sharp. Wherever the silver light touched, it was like the flutter of butterfly wings that mercilessly struck at his opponent's weak points.
His mecha was still black, but now it was like a devil returned from hell that bare its ferocious fangs and ready to tear its opponent to shreds.
Wei Xieyang's mecha soared into the air.
Its massive shadow obscuring the sunlight, like a descending reaper. The blade in his hand mercilessly cleaved his opponent in half from head to toe. If he hadn't remembered this was a competition, he probably would have pierced the core area that could kill the mecha warrior inside.
The entire arena fell silent.
Little Bear, however, was well-adjusted as it just yawned boredly because he was not interested in this human competition.
Little Bear said, "What's the big deal? Don't forget that Wei Xieyang is the protagonist. The protagonist, understand? Beloved by the world, he looks down on mortals, a being above all. Once the protagonist's aura is activated, forget about this, even if he went to war right now, he wouldn't fear anyone."
Yue Chu thought about it, and he couldn't help but agree. He thought about Wei Chu, the guy who was once just an ordinary worker bee that gradually transformed into the strongest queen bee and led the Empress Empire to strike back, wasn't he also a force of nature?
He smiled while clapping when Wei Xieyang came down. He walked over to embrace him.
Yue Chu said, "You were amazing."
Wei Xieyang's lips curved into a slight smile and a glint of something different flashed in his black eyes, then quickly vanished into silence.
He had lied to Yue Chu.
When he realized the unimaginable progress the gladiatorial arena had brought him, he had been fighting five matches a day.
The Yue family already knew what they were doing because not only did they not stop him, but they also assigned someone to arrange for him. He was afraid Yue Chu would worry, so he kept it a secret.
Fighting was undoubtedly difficult, but Wei Xieyang gained a lot.
He stood up from the blood again and again.
Draining his mental energy again and again because the potential he unleashed in the face of despair had propelled him forward by leaps and bounds.
He finally knew what he lacked.
All along, he thought he was different from those pampered flowers in the greenhouse. But he was wrong. He was no different from those caged Omegas, just as naive and immature.
Wei Xieyang knew he had to go out because the door to the real world hadn't opened for him yet.
He had to go further, see further to truly stand at the top.
The mecha competition was just the beginning, but being able to have this kind of start was undoubtedly his good fortune.
He turned to look at Du Guzhou and wanted to tell him that he could now stand beside him. But Du Guzhou just gave him a cold look before directly taking his own helmet and putting it on without a word then entered the cockpit because his next match was about to begin.
Wei Xieyang's newly kindled hope vanished like fireworks in the vast night, leaving only loneliness and desolation.
‘Why?’
Du Guzhou had already agreed to let him participate in the mecha competition, but he didn't seem happy at all to see him win.
Wei Xieyang clenched his fist, causing a prominent vein to pop out on his white hand, like a writhing green snake coiled on his back.
A wave of bitterness surged through his chest, but after the bitterness came a calm coldness.
The battles between life and death had made him better at controlling his emotions. As his horizons broadened, the problems that had once troubled him began to seem less profound.
Yue Chu gently took Wei Xieyang's hand to separate his tightly clenched fingers one by one before rubbing the red marks on his palm with a touch of heartache.
Yue Chu said, "Du Guzhou has a competition later, so he won't have time to talk to you. After his competition ends today, you two can go celebrate properly."
Wei Xieyang's heart softened like water and the guilt he felt towards Yue Chu almost made him say something irrational. But the words died on his lips, and for a moment, he couldn't even understand his own thoughts.
Wei Xieyang said, "We'll go together."
Yue Chu wasn't interested in seeing Du Guzhou's sour face, "No, I want to have a little world with Your Highness, so we'll go together tomorrow."
Wei Xieyang thought about it and agreed, "Okay."
After the competition, the way everyone looked at Wei Xieyang and Yue Chu had changed.
Yue Chu had won a decisive victory that secured his spot in the next round with a 2-1 win.
Wei Xieyang had also made tremendous progress because his next opponent was weaker, so winning was almost guaranteed.
Besides them, there was Du Guzhou and Luo An.
Meaning, this year's Imperial University team would be made up of two Alphas and two Omegas.
A first in history.
Wei Xieyang walked over to Du Guzhou as his gaze fixed on those dark eyes.
In those familiar yet alien eyes, he saw no joy, only irritation and displeasure.
He chuckled mockingly in his heart.
It seemed it was all his wishful thinking.
He thought Du Guzhou had changed.
That he had become someone who could support him. But reality had slapped him hard to remind him that it was just an illusion.
Perhaps because of too much pain, people become numb. He couldn't even tell how much sadness he felt.
Wei Xieyang said, "Let's talk later, okay?"
Du Guzhou's face was gloomy and his mood wasn't much better than Wei Xieyang's.
His cold gaze swept over Yue Chu.
He couldn't figure out what kind of tricks this person had used to make Wei Xieyang change so drastically. He didn't want this change, in fact, this change had disrupted all his plans.
Wei Xieyang's draw was arranged by him.
He had used his position as his fiance to apply to the school for protection of his Omega and conveniently assigned the stronger players to Wei Xieyang. He thought it was a sure thing, but Yue Chu had unexpectedly jumped in.
Du Guzhou suppressed his anger and said in a low voice, "Okay."
Yue Chu watched the two figures leave with a faint smile playing on his lips and a meaningful glint in his eyes.
Little Bear was puzzled.
As far as it was concerned, Yue Chu should have followed them and using the Green Tea Manual it had taught him, he could definitely make Du Guzhou bow his head in defeat.
But Yue Chu couldn't be bothered to pay attention to it.
He had figured it out that this system was just a complete novice, completely useless.
Forget about managing the protagonist, it couldn't even outsmart its own host, a complete waste.
Talk?
To have two stubborn people with opposing views discuss a topic they couldn't possibly agree on, there could only be one outcome.
……………
The quiet night enveloped the campus.
A round moon hung high overhead that cast a gentle silver light that bathed the two figures walking side-by-side along the lakeshore in a soft glow.
Ripples danced on the water's surface, while the trees on either side stood tall and lush with their shadows stretching at their feet that added a touch of darkness to the scene.
Wei Xieyang looked at Du Guzhou.
The figure that once seemed too tall and imposing to reach had somehow become less insurmountable.
He said, "Guzhou, after graduation, I want to join you at the military camp. We'll defend the Empire's borders together and never be separated again."
Even now, Wei Xieyang still wanted to spend his life with Du Guzhou.
Perhaps there were still many things they needed to work out, but he believed that time and affection would gradually soften those rough edges and transform them into the most compatible lovers.
Du Guzhou's lips tightened and a raging fire ignited in his dark eyes.
He had had enough!
First, the mecha competition and now this desire to join the military.
Was Wei Xieyang crazy?!
Du Guzhou said, "Impossible! Remember your place! There will never be an Omega in the military! Think about the consequences of your heat cycle. No enemy attack is needed because just you alone, and the entire army will be destroyed."
Wei Xieyang was stunned as the stars in his eyes fell and were replaced by boundless gloom.
Yes, he had forgotten.
Forgotten the most important thing —his heat cycle.
He wryly curled his lips.
So, his dream would always be out of reach, wouldn't it?
Du Guzhou said coldly, "I don't know what kind of nonsense Yue Chu has been feeding you, but I can tell you one thing very clearly. As my fiance, your duty is to live a quiet life in the Imperial Capital and manage the Du family properly."
If not for his affection for Wei Xieyang, he would have said these words long ago.
He just couldn't bear to see Wei Xieyang's disappointed look, so he indulged him again and again. But now it seemed that the consequence of indulging him was pushing things in a worse direction.
Du Guzhou said, "Think about it yourself. I have something to do, so I'm leaving first."
Wei Xieyang watched Du Guzhou's mercilessly departing back, and suddenly laughed.
The sound grew louder and louder that it even sounded with madness that startled the birds in the forest to take flight with a flurry of wings.
He leaned weakly against the railing by the lake with his tears silently sliding down his cheeks and falling into the lake and disappearing, like his unseen sorrow.
Wei Xieyang's face gradually turned cold.
He looked at his reflection in the lake and calmly wiped away the tears that shouldn't have been there.
This was the last time.
He was foolish to the extreme.
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