Chapter 301 – Federation Peers Practicing Mecha
The progress of her mental power growth had already reached a stagnant stage.
For example, today, she had killed at least eighty alien beasts. Each one contributed between 10,000 and 100,000 mental power points, and one of them even offered 160,000 points. Yet, her collection progress only increased by 2%.
From 69%, it rose to 71%.
As the “Tally Board” indicated, the further she advanced, the harder it became to make progress.
*
While Tu Ran was risking her life on Star 4344 to accumulate mental power, the Federation peers on the main star weren’t having it easy either.
“This useless mecha! Not worth learning at all!” Zhou Ming, after once again failing to make the mecha stand, threw in the towel, climbed out of the cockpit, and began punching and kicking the mecha, which lay sprawled on the ground.
Of course, he was hitting a virtual mecha; he was still inside the simulation room.
As he vented, Young Master Qi, passing by, casually threw out a remark, “Idiot,” before maneuvering his mecha away from this pitifully frustrating scene.
Zhou Ming’s frustration ran deep. It was especially maddening to see others skillfully piloting their mechas, walking with ease, while he couldn’t even manage to stand. And when he thought of how Tu Ran had only been here a few days and was already showing off her impressive skills in piloting a mecha, his chest tightened even more.
“I refuse to believe this!”
Unwilling to accept defeat, he climbed back into the cockpit, determined to try again to make the mecha stand.
In the air above, the instructor, who was piloting a mecha and hovering at low altitude with its wings extended, had been watching Zhou Ming’s struggles all along.
The instructor still remembered the last student he saw who couldn’t make their mecha stand. By the next day, that same student was skillfully piloting a mecha and chasing him around.
If this had been a year ago, the instructor would have shaken his head upon seeing such poor performance, convinced that the student lacked talent, and would have advised them to give up.
But now, seeing Zhou Ming’s situation, he couldn’t help but wonder if this student might turn out to be the next Tu Ran.
Therefore, he didn’t rush to judge Zhou Ming’s abilities but instead continued observing from above, providing real-time, meaningful guidance as needed.
Besides Zhou Ming, the instructor also kept an eye on a few other individuals.
Li Wenchuan, Yao Bei, and Ding Naiqing.
These individuals displayed promising talent, especially Li Wenchuan, whose aptitude was apparent at first glance.
Li Wenchuan was already capable of performing technical maneuvers with his mecha, such as drawing and sheathing a blade and executing simple combat moves.
In contrast, Ding Naiqing was struggling. He had just learned how to balance on one leg and couldn’t help but speak up when he saw Li Wenchuan practicing sword techniques. “Captain Li, how are you learning so fast? Is there some kind of trick?”
As soon as Ding Naiqing asked, the others in the room perked up their ears, eager to hear the answer.
Inside his cockpit, Li Wenchuan’s fingers moved deftly across the control panel, navigating the dense array of buttons and data displays with astonishing ease, as if this wasn’t his first time piloting a mecha. Hearing the question, he replied with a meaningful tone, “There’s no trick. Just familiarity.”
“Familiarity?” Ding Naiqing muttered, glancing at his own hands and then at the complex mecha controls. “It’s everyone’s first time with mechas, so how could you possibly be more familiar than us?”
In the simulation room, the instructor could monitor the internal and external conditions of every mecha if he wanted.
The state of Li Wenchuan’s cockpit was crystal clear to the instructor.
Li Wenchuan’s finger movements across the control panel were as fluid as flowing water, entirely devoid of the clumsiness expected from a beginner.
If the instructor hadn’t known that this batch of students came from another world, he would have assumed Li Wenchuan was a native of the Haenden star system, a seasoned veteran who had been playing in virtual simulation rooms since childhood.
What the instructor didn’t know was that, in the vast universe, there existed something other than virtual mecha simulators—something called games.
And as for Li Wenchuan…
“At last, I’m getting my old touch back. Years without practice nearly rendered these hands useless.”
…
Meanwhile, Zhou Ming, still unable to make his mecha stand after half an hour of effort: “…”
Upon seeing Li Wenchuan exchanging blows with the instructor during practice: “!!!??”
Why?!
After finishing his sparring session with Li Wenchuan, the instructor couldn’t bear to watch Zhou Ming’s struggles any longer. Using the instructor’s control interface, he took over Zhou Ming’s mecha and at least managed to make it stand upright.
“Stop paying so much attention to other people’s progress. Focus on your own mecha. I’ll teach you again, so listen carefully.”
The instructor repeated the instructions he had already explained earlier, guiding Zhou Ming step by step on how to practice.
Despite this, Zhou Ming remained utterly confused. He understood the lesson perfectly when listening, but when it came to actual operation, it felt completely disconnected.
What did it mean to “sense the existence of the mecha with your mental power”?
And how exactly did one “link your body to the mecha through mental power”?
He had injected ten thousand units of mental power into the mecha this morning, and now a third of it was already gone. Yet he still hadn’t linked with the mecha. Could it be that this mecha had signal interference turned on?
“Instructor!” Zhou Ming shouted at the instructor hovering in the air. “I need to change mechas—this one is broken.”
The instructor sighed. “This is a virtual mecha. No matter how many times you switch, it will always be this one. As long as it’s you operating it, it’s the same.”
Zhou Ming closed his mouth.
“So it’s not the mecha that’s the problem—it’s you,” chimed in Qi Tongda, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
Zhou Ming: I’d really love to rip his mouth apart right now.
“Hurry up and practice,” the instructor urged. “If you keep going like this, you won’t make it to the front lines.”
“Then where would I go?”
“The backline factory assembly line,” the instructor replied.
“Factory assembly line?!” Zhou Ming was incredulous.
A prodigy marksman like him being sent to work on an assembly line? If the Federation had him, they’d cherish him, make him a guard, and let him show off his skills. And here? They wanted to shove him into a factory?
Zhou Ming couldn’t accept it. He was speechless for a moment because he knew his current skill level. Tomorrow, the day after, and even the day after that, he would probably still be in this same state.
Meanwhile, Young Master Qi, who had been eavesdropping the whole time, was thoroughly entertained.
He was finally going to get rid of Zhou Ming.
Laughter came without any attempt to hide it. “The assembly line is perfect for you—no need to think, just right for someone with a brain problem like you.”
Zhou Ming was too exhausted to roll his eyes.
Suddenly, the instructor interjected. “Don’t laugh at him. With your current progress, you’ll be joining him on the assembly line soon enough.”
Qi Tongda’s smile froze on his face.
This time, it was Zhou Ming’s turn to retort. “Ha! You’re laughing at me? Do you really think we’d be in the same squad if we were on the same level? What, you think you’re so smart?”
“Why?” Qi Tongda, controlling his mecha, tilted his head and looked up at the instructor. “Instructor, look! I can already control my mecha to turn its head. I can make it walk too. I’m not like Zhou Ming, who’s stuck with his butt in the air, unable to move for half a day.”
Zhou Ming, being directly called out: “…”
The instructor remained calm. “You can look at the progress of the others. You’re only a bit better than the worst one.”
Zhou ‘the Worst One’ Ming: “…”
Looking around at the others, Qi Tongda made a declaration with renewed determination. “Instructor, don’t worry, tomorrow, I’ll definitely be able to balance on one leg like Ding Naiqing!”
Ding ‘Balancing on One Leg’ Naiqing thought to himself, ‘You sure know how to pick your targets. Why not make a vow about Li Wenchuan? Wouldn’t that sound more impressive?’
