After a tough battle, they finally emerged victorious.
Having dealt with the two opponents, Antonia wanted to rest, but Reno urged her to move to another location to avoid more mechs rushing towards them.
"Why do we have to hide?" Antonia shouted. "The more, the better. We can take them out one by one!"
Her body exuded vigorous fighting spirit.
"First, I hate engaging in encounters. As you said, I don't have such great skills, and every direct confrontation results in huge losses. Second, now is the peak of everyone's strength. Don't you understand the danger of facing them head-on? Third, overly concentrated fighting will make the ammunition factory unable to keep up with production, and both our stamina and firepower will continue to decline. Slowing down the pace will allow both us and the mechs to replenish. Otherwise, if there are any unexpected situations, we'll be in trouble. It's only the second day; you don't want to be eliminated so soon, do you?" Reno explained.
Rolling her eyes in a manner unseen by Reno due to the mech blocking his view, Antonia retorted, "Is there no fourth reason?"
"There is. I need to do something, and until it's done, I don't want any other troubles," Reno replied.
"What is it?" Antonia asked.
Reno had arrived at a small hill. Looking down from above, he pointed to the beach in the distance. "There's a research institute over there. I need to get something important from there."
He didn't say it was his mission. After all, he and Antonia were only temporarily cooperating, and there was no trust between them. Perhaps out of obligation, Antonia wouldn't shoot him in the back, but she had no obligation to help him complete his mission.
So, in talking about this matter, Reno played a little trick.
"A research institute? Something important?" Sure enough, Antonia's eyes lit up.
When someone mentioned a research institute, almost anyone would think of powerful new weapons, valuable research data, and so on.
Antonia was no exception. She asked, "What is it?"
Reno shrugged while controlling the mech. "It's not something very important."
If I believe you, there's a ghost! Antonia thought bitterly.
Then she smiled and said, "Since that's the case, I'll accompany you."
"Is that okay?" Reno hesitated.
"There's nothing wrong with it. We're partners, aren't we?" Antonia became more determined when she saw his hesitation.
"But there might be some trouble on the way. I mean, there might be some dangers inside," Reno warned.
"We're here to fight. Wherever we fight doesn't matter," Antonia said.
"Besides points, there might not be any other benefits," Reno added.
"Points are the greatest benefit," Antonia replied.
The more Reno tried to persuade her, the more resolute Antonia became. In the end, Reno could only nod helplessly and say, "Okay, let's go together. But you have to promise me, listen to my arrangements on the way, and don't just rush in and grab things randomly."
Hearing the words "grab things randomly," Antonia's lips curled into a beautiful smile. "Got it."
So, the two of them headed towards the research institute together.
The beach wasn't far from the hill, but there was still quite a way to go.
Along the way, they encountered several contestants, but they were easily dealt with by the two working together.
Boom!
With a loud blast from a large energy cannon, a mech fell to the ground.
Reno ran over and asked, "What are you doing? Why did you use the energy cannon? You're wasting energy."
"Didn't you say we should quickly defeat the opponent to gain energy from them?" Antonia retorted.
"But I didn't say there was only one way with high-energy weapons. And don't you observe carefully? This guy is using the Kong II heavy armor. It's an old-style heavy armor, with sturdy structure and powerful firepower, but weak energy generation ability. So, he's destined to not be able to activate too many energy generators. You can see that he didn't even open his energy shield just now. I'm sure his energy is very low!" Reno explained as he opened the energy compartment of the mech, revealing its meager energy reserves.
But what he got for being right wasn't a humble apology from Antonia.
She walked over angrily. "I'm really fed up with you. It's always this or that. Hey, you should use the energy cannon, so you can gain energy. Hey, you shouldn't use the energy cannon, so you can save energy. Hey, you should aim for his abdomen, that's the weak spot. Hey, don't fly in the sky, that will alert the enemy... Do you ever stop? Is everything I do wrong in your eyes?"
"I just hope you can make judgments based on the situation, instead of doing whatever you want," Reno replied.
"But I like it this way. I have my own way of fighting, and I don't need you to tell me what to do," Antonia retorted.
"Your way is wrong."
"Even if it's wrong, it's none of your business. Besides, why do you think you can judge so many mistakes? Maybe I'm suited to this way?"
The two argued back and forth.
Cooperation was never easy; everyone had their own ideas. When two strangers became partners due to various reasons, collisions were inevitable.
Reno and Antonia were no exception.
These two young people moved forward amidst quarrels. They might fall apart because of it, breaking up the combination they had formed with difficulty. Alternatively, they might overcome their differences, gradually understanding each other better. But the more likely scenario was that they would muddle through the competition together, leaving some impressions on each other before going their separate ways.
At that time, Reno didn't think too far ahead. He just hoped to use Antonia's help to quickly reach the research institute and complete his mission.
An hour later, the two finally arrived at the beach, with the roof of the underground research institute not far from them.
"We finally made it," Antonia whistled and said with a smile, taking a step forward.
"Wait a minute, Antonia," Reno said.
"What now?" Antonia asked.
"Wait for another minute and a half. My signal receiver is about to become usable, and I want to observe first," Reno explained.
"What's there to observe? Is there some kind of ambush here? Didn't you already check once?" Antonia didn't understand.
Reno sighed. He couldn't blame Antonia too much for being careless about this matter. After all, Antonia didn't know it was a mission.
Thirty points!
The points were very tempting, but they also meant that the mission would be very difficult.
But along the way, apart from the battle with Antonia, Reno hadn't encountered any other obstacles.
Reno didn't believe that the organizers would hand all the difficulties over to the contestants. Such an approach had too much uncertainty. As long as luck was good, it was possible to come all the way without encountering any other contestants. That would be like giving away points to others, which didn't fit the organizers' principles.
So the most appropriate approach for the organizers was to adapt to the situation, observe the situation first, and then make adjustments based on the actual situation.
Arrangements like Blue Thunder Ape were embodiments of this approach.
Since Reno hadn't encountered too much trouble on the way, theoretically, there would be arrangements near the research institute. Moreover, this was the most convenient place to arrange, after all, no matter which route Reno chose, he would eventually come here.
Although he had checked once half an hour ago and didn't see any ambushes, others didn't know. The organizers were the ones who knew which devices he had. The observation results half an hour ago didn't prove anything.
But unfortunately, Reno couldn't tell Antonia all of this. He could only say, "Anyway, it's always good to be careful."
Antonia looked disdainful. "Maybe you think caution is a good quality, but in my opinion, besides having a calm mind and outstanding observation skills in battle, what's more important is bravery, passion, and combat skills. Obviously, you have the former, and I have the latter."
With that, she turned and walked forward.
"Damn it!" Reno cursed. Antonia wasn't under his command, so he had no authority over her.
Looking at the signal receiver, with seven or eight seconds left, Reno could only wait anxiously. Seeing Antonia getting closer and closer to the research institute, Reno suddenly shouted, "Antonia!"
Antonia stopped in her tracks and turned to look.
Snap, the signal receiver finished its last second.
Reno pressed the button, and the terminal map began to receive messages.
Reno saw several conspicuous red dots flashing near the research institute.
"Get out of there!"
Reno shouted with all his might.
Gunshots rang out, with at least eight heavy artillery shells and four missiles flying towards Antonia.