Chapter Thirty-Eight: Simulated Mecha

Li Daoran observed the group's positions and could clearly see that Chen Ming seemed to be isolated at the moment. He quickly spoke up, "It's fine. I understand what Brother Chen is saying. Indeed, now is not the time to relax. I'll do my best."

Chen Ming's expression softened. But then David suddenly interjected, "Are you truly content to be a pawn in their hands?"

Chen Ming's face changed, and he immediately kicked at David. However, David was prepared and dodged easily. The two exchanged blows again, each move swift, their offense and defense shifting so rapidly that Li Daoran was left dumbfounded. He had thought, after learning a few moves, that he could hold his own against them, but only now did he realize just how far behind he truly was.

Natasha and the others stepped in front of Li Daoran to shield him. The two combatants, understanding the gravity of the situation, quickly moved their fight further away. In the end, Chen Ming gained a slight upper hand—a leg for a punch—before they separated. Chen Ming's arm, which had blocked the blow, trembled slightly as he held it behind him. David was limping, and it looked as though they might start fighting again.

Li Daoran shouted, "Stop! Enough!"

All five of them looked at him.

Li Daoran hesitated, then summoned his courage and said, "We achieve a little, and you immediately turn on each other. You, Chen Ming, enough with the lectures. I understand what you're saying—stop nagging, it's annoying. And you, David, stop trying to sow discord. I'm not an idiot. Spare me your theories about freedom—do you really even believe them yourself?"

Natasha applauded, looking at Li Daoran with approval, which made him blush.

Chen Ming massaged his arm, while David squatted to inspect his bruised, swollen calf.

"Alright, gentlemen, that's enough fighting. Our savior has spoken—let's get back to business," Natasha said, clapping her hands.

Chen Ming and David exchanged a glance and reached an unspoken agreement. Their differences were only a matter of stance, and now that the matter was settled, there was no lasting grudge between them.

The six of them returned to Li Daoran's bedroom. David took possession of a small sofa, still grimacing and protecting his right calf.

Looking at him, Chen Ming couldn't help but laugh. "Come on, stop pretending. With skills like yours, who else could you be if not the Lord of the Underworld? Such a minor injury, and you still put on a show. You're overdoing it."

David replied, "Who is the Lord of the Underworld? Never heard of him. What are you talking about? It hurts like hell—you're so reckless, don't you know your own strength?"

"Fine, let's say you're just an ordinary fish, alright? Hurry up and get the stuff out," Chen Ming said helplessly.

David, still limping, produced a keyboard with 328 keys. It was identical to the virtual keyboard Li Daoran had seen in the login pod. David then connected it to a monitor, and a mecha in the shape of a Pioneer appeared on the screen.

David's hands flew over the 328 keys, and the Pioneer mecha on the screen responded instantly, performing a series of smooth movements under his command.

Afterward, David set down the keyboard and explained to Li Daoran, "We can't make a real login pod, but the pod's main purpose is to help trainees like you get familiar with mecha control commands. So we made something with the same effect. Top programmers worked overtime to get this done. Looks pretty good, doesn't it?"

Li Daoran looked at the keyboard, thoughtful, understanding what David meant.

"There’s no time to waste on low-level mechas. Sure, they're simpler to operate, but if you want to rise quickly, this mecha is our best option. Your intuition is sharp—the Pioneer may not have any top stats compared to other mechas, but it’s balanced, with all parameters in the mid-range. Overall, it ranks highest. That means it can adapt to almost any combat environment. With limited time, this mecha is the obvious choice," Charles explained, pointing at the screen and comparing the data for various mechas.

"We've seen the actual mechas in the mecha bay. In reality, piloting a mecha must be somewhat different from using the login pod. The pod is just a tool to familiarize you with the controls," Chen Ming reiterated.

Li Daoran nodded, showing he understood. Truly piloting a mecha required great physical strength and an external skeletal support system—topics covered in their mecha operation courses.

The load from eighth-generation mechas was immense. Being able to operate one in the pod didn't mean you could do so in reality. Judging from how many times Chen Ming had stressed this, choosing the eighth-generation mecha as the breakthrough point was not the decision of the Central Nation.

Next, David began to explain each key's function to Li Daoran, which combinations could achieve what kind of movements, and so on.

The following time passed entirely in study, until Li Daoran began to feel mentally fatigued.

"Go back to the Daoran World for now. Most of your time from now on will be spent training here on Bluestar. The only reason to return to the Daoran World is to sleep—once you wake up, come back immediately. Understood?" Chen Ming instructed him.

This was the most efficient way to study mecha operation: making use of Bluestar's time suspension advantage. That way, every moment would be used to reach their goal.

Li Daoran nodded to show he understood.

He lay down and slipped immediately into the Daoran World.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself still in Liu Meng's room, alone. On the table was a note and two roast chickens.

"Are you a pig? You can really sleep. When you wake up, get lost. I’ve taken your merit points—you still owe me nine. Remember to pay me next month."

He stuffed the note into his pocket, ate both roast chickens, washed up, yawned, returned to his own room, and went straight to sleep.

It looked like most of his time in the Daoran World would be spent in bed.

But when Li Daoran woke up again, he realized he’d been naive. The red flashing light on his wristwatch told him things weren't so simple.

He had to run five laps around the base within two hours. There were still those grueling physical tasks—he’d forgotten all about them yesterday. The mission wasn't complete, so today the watch was flashing red.

With no choice, Li Daoran went to find Liu Meng again to borrow medicine.

"You want to borrow again? You haven’t even paid back last time," Liu Meng said, raising an eyebrow with a half smile.

"Yeah, there’s still nine points left, but I’ve paid back most of it, right? At least the principal. I’ll definitely pay it off next month," Li Daoran said, patting his chest.

"So confident? Next month is the minor electives exam, isn’t it? Are you going to take over two hundred courses at once?" Liu Meng became interested, resting her chin in her hands.

"Not necessarily, but I’ll definitely pay you back," Li Daoran replied. Because of his mecha training, he hadn’t been able to keep up with his courses in the Daoran World, so he still had over a hundred electives left and didn't know if he’d have time to finish them.

"How much do you want to borrow?" Liu Meng tilted her head.

"The same as last time," Li Daoran said decisively.

"I can lend it," Liu Meng drawled, but didn't continue.

Li Daoran gave a wry smile. "Come on, sis, just tell me what you want. Would I dare refuse?"

"Then take first place in next month’s mecha operation. The prize is exactly 100 merit points, and you’ll give them all to me," Liu Meng said quickly.

"Wasn't it that the top hundred thousand get 100 merit points? I heard nobody won last month, but someone might this month. I think Little Star is pretty close," Li Daoran said, recalling last month's rules and realizing he might not make it.

"They changed it. Since no one completed the task last month, everyone failed, so they released a new task. First place gets 100 merit points and must be in the top eighty thousand. Anyone not in the top hundred thousand will be eliminated from the mecha operation course."

"How come I didn’t know about this?"

"Why are you asking me? How many classes have you skipped? If it weren’t for the fact it’s not mandatory, you’d have been expelled by now," Liu Meng said, getting up to choose a syringe.

"You really believe in me that much?" Li Daoran asked, because Liu Meng sounded so certain he’d win first place.

"As long as you want to, there shouldn’t be any problem," Liu Meng tossed out, picking a medium-sized syringe.