“…” Lian Yu unbuckled his seat belt without saying a word and silently changed seats with Cen Zhen. After they both sat down, the cockpit remained eerily quiet, and no one moved for a while.
Finally, Lian Yu couldn’t help but take the initiative, and patted the seat: “What are you doing? Drive! I am rarely reserved, is it so difficult to allow me to shut up and think about life quietly?”
Cen Zhen: “How to turn it on? What button do you press to start it?”
Lian Yu: “……”
Lian Yu’s heart skipped a beat, “Obviously you press the start button.”
“Which is the start button?”
Lian Yu: “……”
Lian Yu waved his hand to turn on the semi-auto pilot mode, “I turned on the dummy mode for you. Now you don’t have to worry about anything except the direction and speed… I was joking about the entry-level, but looking at how you are now, we might actually have to start there.”
“I’ve only been here four months. In the beginning, even ‘Guide’ was a completely new word to me. How much do you expect me to understand?” Cen Zhen looked down at the joystick on his left-hand side and the thruster on his right hand. One is responsible for moving left and right, and the other is for up and down. In Lian Yu’s hands, he can use these two little things to showcase any tricks he wishes on the battleship, but now in his hands…..
The training pause ended, and the familiar red countdown reappeared on the windshield, but this time after the word “1” ended, the battleship leaped forward and then stopped moving…
“Moving the joystick alone is useless, you have to speed up.” Lian Yu commanded. Cen Zhen turned to look at him expressionlessly. Lian Yu suddenly understood and pointed to the other joystick on his right, “Pull that, haven’t you ever driven a car?”
“No.” As a sophomore student in school, there isn’t much need for a car, and who has the spare money to get a driver’s license? Cen Zhen answered and held the joystick where Lian Yu pointed. As he exerted force, the battleship roared forward rigidly. Followed by a crazy tremor, if weren’t for the seat belts being fastened tightly, both Cen Zhen and Lian Yu would have flown out.
After this violent impact, the top of the windshield flashed and displayed a row of large characters: The aircraft collided with a flying bird, 5 points will be deducted for the 5% damage, and 10 points will be deducted for injuring an animal.
“……”
“……”
“How about not participating in aerial combat?” Lian Yu suggested sincerely, “With your current level, even if we train day and night for the next four or five days, we probably still won’t be able to pass the auditions.”
Cen Zhen was silent for a while, “Then at least finish this one.”
Lian Yu agreed. He leaned on the driver’s seat as if he had prepared to die, and suddenly smiled: “I thought Guide Cen Zhen was omnipotent, but it turns out that you are not expert at everything, huh?”
“You are the one who can do anything. I’m just a little cannon fodder who finished their part early.” Cen Zhen calmly readjusted the joystick and slowly pulled down the thruster. Since he always had no expression and never panicked at any time, just by looking at Cen Zhen’s calm demeanor and orderly operation, Lian Yu almost thought that he had mastered the secrets to driving by analogy in just a few minutes and was about to become a blockbuster. As if he was going to showcase some extraordinary skill and impress him, but in reality, the battleship was humming and crawling forward like a tired old scalper under Cen Zhen’s steady control.
Lian Yu dragged the radar screen to the passenger seat and unlocked the weapon system. Five or six floating interfaces immediately surrounded him. This simulation training was created under his name. Lian Yu has no will to gain his first [Fail] in his lives.
Cen Zhen continued to drive the battleship methodically like riding a tricycle. As for the missiles launched by enemy ships that needed to be dodged by action, as well as the roadblocks deliberately set up in the simulation training, such as flying birds, tall buildings, etc., Lian Yu busily moved his fingers all over the place, and enclave the obstacles using all kinds of weapon by force.
If they are willing to watch the replay of this session, they would see a ‘retro ship’ moving in a distorted course, while ammunition was set off in all kinds of sizes and power from both the bow and stern of the ship like rapid fireworks sweeping out all obstacles simply and crudely. Everything around was destroyed to pieces to allow the slow and swaying ship to pass.
This doesn’t seem like a bad way to pass the level, huh?
After leaving the training ship, Lian Yu had just warmed up and was excited to have a big fight. He took Cen Zhen and started another simulated shooting training. Of course, before that, he reveals another unknown secret of the shooting division guiding NPC.
When Cen Zhen was young, in the icy and snowy Russia, he had come in contact with firearms. His adopter also gave him pointers in his spare time. He was not an unparalleled genius, but he was not stupid either. His qualifications were on the higher side. After a long period of training, he could shoot flawlessly. As he got a bit older, he often went into the mountains to hunt wild deer and rabbits to improve his meal options. Moreover, when he was unlucky, he had to carry a gun and fight bears.
After playing two rounds of fixed targets with Lian Yu, Cen Zhen sat next to him and started flipping through White Tower’s first-grade driving textbook. Although he was extremely bad at driving battleships, he was inevitably seduced by battleships like countless young Sentinels. The experience aroused a strong interest in his heart.
Although Lian Yu’s rambunctious driving skills caused him to spend eight out of ten minutes holding back vomiting, the feeling of excitement and invincibility remained in his cerebral cortex, stimulating his nerves all the time.
After reading two pages of basics, Cen Zhen suddenly realized something and said to Lian Yu, “I can ask Pan for help…”
Pan in the original novel has also been preparing for aerial combat in the past few days. Because of his lack of talent in shooting, his bullet missed the target every time, and the bad guy “Cen Zhen” plotted against him and ruined his chance during the mixed melee audition. Performance in close combat division mainly depends on the Sentinel’s ability, so he was just responsible for pulling hair with the opponent Guide. Therefore, he and Yao Jin went to great lengths to focus on aerial combat. Then in just one month, by fighting against enemies that grew from weak to strong, he suddenly burst out from a theoretical rookie to dazzling brilliance and discovered his unique piloting talent.
Since then, he has become more confident from the inside out, and his mental strength has gradually improved too. The author explains in the novel that this is because Pan has not believed in himself since he was a child and has been suppressing himself, so his mental power has also been suppressed. Now that his mood has suddenly brightened, his mental power is no longer restrained. After all, it is just something to give the male protagonist a golden finger, anything and everything that can benefit the male leads regardless of whether they are reasonable or not.
This period of time is a great opportunity for Cen Zhen to seek advice. Since he knows that there is a genius near him, why not make good use of it?
While Cen Zhen was speaking, Lian Yu was holding guns in both hands and fighting with nine hell-level artificial intelligences. This act of seeking death inevitably left him with gunshot wounds all over his body, his clothes and forehead were dripping with blood, turning him red top to bottom. When the last enemy was dealt with, Lian Yu couldn’t even stand up straight and fell to the ground while holding on to the wall, gasping for breath.
“…Why are you pushing yourself so hard?” Cen Zhen pulled out the key, and Lian Yu immediately lay down in the crowded square like a fool. The fatigue and pain immediately subsided. Lian Yu stood up and said, “Aren’t you bored? I have been in the peaceful Tower for so long that I have almost forgotten those bloody days. You think the situation just now was risky and difficult to deal with? They are just brainless virtual machines. I have even been through situations ten times more dangerous than that before.”
“Then what?”
“I almost died.”
“…” Cen Zhen was about to say something but when he looked up, he saw two figures who looked just like Yao Jin and Pan in the corner of the square. They had two silly names that complemented each other, “Xiao Hong” and “Xiao Lan”(1). While talking, they walked in the direction of the aerial combat guiding NPC.
“Aren’t those the male leads?” Lian Yu followed Cen Zhen’s line of sight and saw them. The Sentinel acted quickly and stopped Yao Jin and Pan in a flash. He greeted generously: “What a coincidence, you two finished the copying assignment? ”
“Uh, [Sweet Dream Comes True]…” Yao Jin looked confused, but he quickly calmed down and replied: “Not yet, but after discussing it, we think your suggestion makes sense. Pan stood zero chance in mixed melee and close combat. However, he is very good at the driving lessons, so we want to try simulated driving first.”
Pan said embarrassedly: “Although my driving theory has always been perfect, actual combat is different from theory after all. Don’t have too much hope.”
Yao Jin smiled and said, “You really think we can make it to the rank? Just think of it as a matter of fun. I’m happy to spend time with you.”
“Who said that!” Pan said seriously: “You and Fan are so good at shooting. Even the seniors are not as good as you. You will definitely make it to the rank!”
Hearing this, Cen Zhen and Lian Yu exchanged looks quickly, a lot was going on in their eyes. However, the latter was not satisfied with simple eye contact. He hooked onto Cen Zhen’s neck in front of Yao Jin and Pan and took Cen Zhen to a distant place and talked quietly.
“Tsk.” Yao Jin couldn’t help but smile and said, “Look, you are bragging too much. Cen Zhen and Lian Yu even went and hid in the corner to laugh at us.”
Pan blushed and shouted: “You…I, that’s not…”
Not far away, Lian Yu whispered in Cen Zhen’s ear: “How come? In the novel, didn’t Yao Jin force Pan to team up and participate in the shooting competition because he was afraid that leaving him behind would hurt Pan’s fragile self-esteem? The two of them even have a big quarrel because of it, and Pan says—”
Lian Yu started his career as a voice actor in addition to being an actor and raised his voice to mimic Pan: “‘The more you act like this, the more pressure I feel. I feel suffocated by your excessive care~’
Hahahaha, I remember it so clearly. I almost choked when reading this line. By the way, why did Yao Jin form a team with Fan this time? ”
“Both of them are Sentinels, can they form a team?” Cen Zhen asked.
“Yes, there is no mandatory rule in the best combo competition that a team must consist of one Sentinel and one Guide, it is just an unspoken convention. However, aside from the shooting division that requires firearms as the sole attack method, double Sentinel or double Guide combinations wouldn’t work in any of the other divisions.
For example, in a melee competition, if two Sentinel compete, the opponent Guide can just hide behind their Sentinel and destroy them with spiritual attacks; if two Guides compete before their mental tentacles can form, the opponent Sentinel can wipe them out with just one hand. ”
Cen Zhen nodded. After a while, he analyzed: “I mentioned before that because of your existence, Pan’s mood has changed before the turning point in the novel, and Yao Jin is probably willing to team up with Fan because of this. ”
“Doesn’t it sound like I should charge him for therapy advice?” The villain boss has always been unwilling to suffer losses when he spends his effort. “No, no, no, my road to love is still bumpy, and I must not let these two achieve success before me.”
With that said, Lian Yu jumped back in front of Yao Jin and Pan. With a smile, he began to shake the foundation of the two male leads’ view of the world: “Let’s drive a four-person battleship and train together. Cen Zhen is very good at driving battleships. Let him guide Pan. You will definitely improve your driving skills by leaps and bounds.”
Original Author’s Note:
Fan: I am just a Fxxxing brick, being moved restlessly wherever is needed! …Why haven’t you arranged a Guide for me yet!
Yao Jin: Recognize the reality, brother, you won’t have a Guide
Fan:..(sob)
Translator’s Note:
(1): Xiao Hong means little red and Xiao Lian means little blue. As mentioned previously, ‘xiao’ is a Chinese character often used when making nicknames and is added to show affection. As for the color, there is a pun in China that red and blue makes a great couple. When two characters can be represented with respecting color, they are ‘unofficially’ seen as couple because there is a high ratio of official couples being red and blue in drama, movies, and anime.
