Inside the cockpit of the Rusty Anchor, a ship so old its oxygen scrubbers wheezed, Lin Feng closed his eyes.
"Mirror Locket," he whispered. "Scan the enemy."
[Target: Silver-Wing Destroyer (Grade B) Detected.]
[Structural Analysis... 100%]
[Weaponry Analysis: Dual Plasma Cannons... 100%]
[Mirroring Initialized...]
The cockpit didn't just display the enemy; it began to vibrate. In the vacuum of the simulation arena, the Rusty Anchor began to distort. To the spectators in the Grand Hall, it looked like a graphical glitch. But to Lin Feng, it was a miracle.
Behind his ship, a shimmer appeared. Then another. Then ten more.
"What is he doing?" Isabella whispered, leaning forward. "Is he using holographic decoys? That's illegal in a duel!"
"Those aren't decoys," the Academy Headmaster muttered, his eyes wide. "The mass readings... they're all real."
In the arena, Kaelen panicked. He fired his main batteries, the blue plasma lances tearing through the void. He hit one of Lin Feng's ships, blowing its hull to scrap. But for every one he destroyed, two more materialized.
"You can't hide forever!" Kaelen screamed, his Silver-Wing dancing through the debris.
"I'm not hiding," Lin Feng's voice came over the comms, cold and calm. "I'm multiplying."
Thirty identical Rusty Anchors surrounded the Destroyer. They weren't high-tier ships, but thirty volleys of primitive railgun slugs hitting the same shield-point at the same time is a mathematical nightmare. The Silver-Wing's shields flickered and died.
"Target engines," Lin Feng ordered his mirrored fleet.
The barrage was surgical. Kaelen's pride and joy was turned into a drifting hulk in seconds.