Chapter 310: X192!
Trantor: ryuxenji Editor: H2dH2mr
In Mecha World, for every ten major cities, there would be a sky metropolis connecting these ten major cities. As its name suggests, the sky metropolises existed in the sky. However, these sky metropolises were not for human inhabitation; they merely functioned as spaceports.
Every day, there would be massive numbers of spacecrafts, military vessels, and cargo ships passing through these metropolises, departing from them or merely stopping by. Many lone wolves, expedition parties, and battle ns which needed to travel to distantnds for their missions would need to enter the sky metropolises to hitch a ride on a starship or some cargo ship. However, though battle ns could freely choose between military vessels andmon ships, regr lone wolves andmoner expeditions could only ride civilian spacecrafts.
This was another reason why battle ns were so popr in Mecha World. After all, in Mecha World, 70% of ships were military vessels of the Federation. Furthermore, some military-governed areas could only be essed by military vessels — general civilian spacecrafts could not even approach. Oftentimes, the spots with the greatest profits were all located in those areas ...
For instance, the base camp at the Neb Boundary where the Swift Dragon Fleet was stationed was an area where only military vessels were permitted to enter. This was also why they would find it troublesome — not yet having the right to board military vessels, they would never be able to get close to their destination by using civilian ships alone.
In any case, today, the initially already extremely bustling sky metropolis was even busier than ever. This was because the once-a-seasonary remation activity was about tomence officially, and this was also the one and only time when ordinary lone wolves andmoner expedition teams could board military vessels.
ary remation was an official activity organised by the Federation government. They would release some newly discovered wild and unexploreds to the public, allowing civilian individuals or groups to go explore and cultivate thend. If they discovered any resources beneficial to the Federation or any new biological organisms, the Federation would reward them with countless credits.
Many troubled lone wolves or expedition teams that were not doing well financially had been able to revive due to this activity, bing famous people or renowned expedition teams in their own right. Therefore, thisary remation activity had be the premier shortcut for ordinary lone wolves or expedition teams to fame and fortune.
"They only see the glory of sess but fail to see the consequences of failure. Tell me, these individuals or parties who go on this exploration — how many of them return alive?" As the person in charge of ferrying these adventurers this time, amanding officer could not help but sigh as he looked at the spirited civilian adventurers down below controlling their mecha to board the starship from the screen of his mainship.
"This is their own choice. Perhaps this failure will let them understand what it means to act within one’s means," responded an adjutant coldly from beside themanding officer. The adjutant did not think highly of these untrained civilian adventurers. If this were not an assignment, he would never have willingly made contact with these trash.
"Oh you. You should not have these kinds of thoughts. Have you never heard the old saying of ’prodigies sprouting from the civilian world’?" said themander with augh, shaking his head.
"That saying has long be obsolete. With the perfected system of the Federation now, any prodigies would have long been excavated for cultivation. Would they have been able to remain hidden until now?" said the adjutant scornfully. These trash which could not even form proper battle ns could only remain mediocre all their lives. "The only thing that perplexes me is why we have toe to this virtual Mecha World to do this mission. It’s seriously aplete waste of our time."
At his adjutant’s words, the smile on themander’s face vanished. Grimly, he said, "Because the Federation mainframe has sent an emergency notification to us. At the Neb Boundary of Mecha World, some strange phenomena has urred. Although it has tried its best to eliminate the problem, it has failed, and it simply cannot discover the reason for its failure."
The adjutant’s expression changed. "Could it be that our Federation mainframe has been invaded by an enemy nation’s virus?"
Themander nodded solemnly. "Highly possible. This is also why we have secretly entered Mecha World to rece these NPCs under the mainframe’s arrangement. You should know that once the Federation mainframe is sessfully corrupted by a virus, the entire order of the Federation will utterly copse. At that time, we will be like deshelled turtles, helpless on the chopping block."
"Are we enough to handle this?" The adjutant was rather concerned. After all, he was not a hacker who was proficient on this front — he really had no certainty in handling everything in the virtual world.
"Don’t worry. We are not the only ones who havee. There’s still those top-ss hackers of the military. Headquarters has even sent out some of those top-level spectres this time ..." Aggression shed across themander’s face. "Thinking to destroy our mainframe, don’t they even dare think they will live to tell the tale."
The adjutant could not help but clench his fists. As someone on the verge of breaking through the barrier of ace to advance to imperial operator, this was undoubtedly a great chance for him. He believed that if this was truly an attack by an enemy, they would certainly have top-ss operators as escort. Perhaps this was why headquarters had sent a prodigy like him on the verge of a breakthrough here right at this moment.
’Ling Xiao, I will definitely be a legendary figure surpassing you!’ Ambition red in the adjutant’s eyes for a brief instant. That god-ss operator General Ling Xiao who had broken records multiple times hadpletely trodden other prodigies under his feet. No matter how outstanding they were, inparison to his records, they were all not even worth a mention. But all of that was in the past now — if he could advance sessfully this year, he would break Ling Xiao’s record of being the youngest ever to be an imperial operator ...
At this thought, the adjutant could not help but shiver in excitement. He would definitely pull Ling Xiao down from his godly pedestal!
Among the crowd of mecha registering to board a starship was Ling Lan’s party. Around them were all advanced mecha which had been modified, and there were even quite a few formidable special-ss mecha. In contrast, their team appeared extremely pdash. Qi Long and the other four of Ling Lan’s original team, Li Lanfeng, and Li Shiyu were all using standard Federation mecha, while [No Mecha Unrepaired] and Ling Lan were using intermediate mecha which were one level below the others. Even though [No Mecha Unrepaired]’s mecha had obviously been modified quite a bit, no matter how well it was modified, it was still nothing before an advanced mecha.
The level difference between mecha was not something which could be bridged with modification ... Of course, this was only referring to ordinary modifications. This may not necessarily be true of a mecha which had been modified by a master-level mechanic.
That said, no one would believe that an ordinary expedition team whose advanced mecha were still just standard mecha would have intermediate mecha modified by a master-level mechanic ...
"Combat, it’s our turn." Ling Lan saw that it was finally their turn and quickly urged Qi Long on their partyms to go up and register. As her present mecha was still an intermediate mecha, she was really rather unsuited to be the party leader.
"Got it, Boss!" Receiving his boss’s reminder, Qi Long, who had been in a constant state of excitement, finally scrambled over to register. All this had been arranged beforehand — from the moment they set off on the mission, the public leader had been Qi Long.
As Qi Long was registering, Han Jijyun finally voiced his doubts, "Boss, why won’t you let us help you redeem an advanced mecha?"
A lower mecha operator could of course pilot a more advanced mecha, but they would not be able to draw out the full power of the mecha and may even be unable to use it for long periods of time. This was because the more advanced a mecha was, the higher the demands it would ce on the operator’s physical constitution and stamina. Some people have tried using advanced mecha as intermediate mecha warriors — 10 minutester, they would be utterly drained and no longer able to continue piloting the mecha. This stark truth dispelled all thoughts of any operator thinking to take a shortcut; they all practised honestly to advance.
However, Han Jijyun and the others believed that with their boss’s capabilities, even if he piloted a mecha at a higher level, he would be able to y around with the advanced mecha like it were his own arms. Thinking back on how terrifying Ling Lan’s control skills were that year back then, after so many years, his skills could only have gotten better.
"Because, this is more convenient for my mobility. No one will pay attention to an intermediate mecha. Besides, as far as I know, boarding details must match actual ranking, otherwise the mainframe will refuse boarding," exined Ling Lan calmly. She was too embarrassed to admit that she already had a secret weapon, although this secret weapon was not something she really wanted ...
Han Jijyun was just about to say something when he heard Qi Long yelling in thems channel, "GO, GO, GO~" It turned out he had finished registering and was now urging them to get on the military vessel.
Seeing this, Ling Lan said, "Let’s board the ship." That said, she was the first to follow Qi Long to walk towards the boarding entrance of the military vessel. As these were all transport ships, after entering through the entrance, they saw an extremelyrge empty space. Right then, there were already quite a few mecha inside. They followed the order they entered to walk over to their exclusive secured seats.
In order to ensure the stability of the mecha during transport, the hold of transport ships were all equipped with this type of mecha-specific secured seats. Once a mecha was buckled in, the mecha would not be able to move. Other than the transport ship activating the release of the secured seats, the mecha could only try to break free by breaking the seat with brute strength.
Ling Lan’s team walked over to their secured seats in an orderly manner, and then they all settled in to rest respectively. This so-called rest just meant they were sleeping in their respective cockpits. Once the ship left the spaceport, no one would be allowed to log off until they arrived at the next save point.
Fortunately, this journey was not a very long one; it only took one night. Besides, Ling Lan and the others had already made the proper preparations. All of them had requested several days’ leave from their instructors, and their virtual login pods were also properly filled with energy replenishing fluid, which should be enough to sustain them till they arrived at the new save point.
This time, the destination the Federation had organised for theary remation activity was X192, which was not too far away from the Neb Boundary. Ling Lan was aiming to use the X192 as their springboard, so they would have the chance to enter the stationed camp grounds of the Swift Dragon Fleet at the Neb Boundary.
Right then, they did not know that a bunch of people from the Federation military were also nning on doing the exact same thing.
The night passed in silence. The transport fleet very quickly arrived at the Neb Boundary and began its descent towards X192.
At the same time, relevant information on X192 was announced on the public channel of Mecha World:
X192; Gravity 29.7, Strength of Maic Field 15e-18 te. Temperature: 56 1 . Normal Wind Strength level 12; Extreme Wind Strength level 19. Atmospheric Elements: Carbon Dioxide 87%, Hydrogen 3%, Chlorine 8%, Others 2% ...
"F*ck, is there really life on this?" Listening to these details that were not at all suitable for human life, Qi Long asked hispanions as he adjusted the settings of his mecha to amodate for X192.