Chapter 66: Chapter 66: Ahaha

Mecha combat training was a built-in virtual training module in the mecha game.

Its main purpose was to train players’ operational methods and improve their adaptability. Or at least, that was what the game’s official developers claimed.

Yang Bo had done mecha combat training before. It pitted him against a virtual opponent whose speed would progressively increase while demonstrating a multitude of high-level techniques.

In the beginning, Yang Bo could defeat the opponent with ease. However, if the fight dragged into a stalemate, the training target’s strength would increase by a full tier every minute. Its speed would ramp up at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Yang Bo tried to imagine the mecha as his real body, though it naturally wasn’t as agile as a living person.

The core elements of mecha combat were speed, ruthlessness, accuracy, and anticipation. If you could predict your opponent’s moves, you would win.

Yang Bo’s Dynamic Field of View provided exactly this ability. He could anticipate his opponent’s actions and see exactly where their attacks would come from.

In this kind of fighting, it was impossible to avoid taking damage completely. Yang Bo adopted a mutually assured destruction playstyle—trading his own minor or major injuries to outright kill the opponent.

Due to the high intensity of the training, Yang Bo could only last about half an hour per session, enough time for two or three matches. After that, he had to rest, otherwise, he would end up with a splitting headache.

This was the side effect of his Dynamic Field of View, caused by his brain operating at maximum capacity.

"Energy Detector," Yang Bo muttered. He had recently discovered another avenue to uncover more of this world’s secrets.

That avenue was a shopping website. Yang Bo had intended to buy an Energy Detector to measure his own energy fluctuations. However, after taking a closer look at the listings, he realized that Energy Detectors could only pick up known energy fluctuations; they were completely blind to unknown ones.

"In other words, the energy fluctuations from my Sound Wave Detection and Invisibility haven’t been detected or recorded yet," Yang Bo reasoned aloud. Having read plenty of science articles in his past life, he knew that no matter what kind of energy it was, it always possessed a specific frequency or wavelength.

Even humans on Earth only discovered gravitational waves after continuous exploration.

Yang Bo browsed through a few other items and discovered that Energy Stones were divided into numerous categories.

They were split between artificially manufactured and naturally mined. The variety of artificial Energy Stones was much smaller than that of the natural ones. Many natural Energy Stones contained energy categories that couldn’t even be identified, whereas artificial Energy Stones could be tailored to specific categories.

Energy Stone accessories offered another benefit: in times of danger, a Genetic Warrior could absorb energy from a stone of the same elemental affinity.

Although this would cause some physical harm, it could save their life in a crisis. The damage occurred because the stone only shared the same affinity, rather than being a Homogeneous Energy Stone.

Since the exact bodily damage caused by absorbing a non-homogeneous Energy Stone was unknown, this method was generally avoided unless it was an absolute life-or-death situation.

"I’ll call you Phantom from now on." Yang Bo looked at the Energy Weapon in his hand—the Tang Saber-like weapon he had bought previously. Under the influence of his Metal Control superpower, it slowly transformed into a Horse-cutting Saber. Satisfied, he gave the weapon its official name.

This transformation almost made Yang Bo burst into laughter. In this highly technologically advanced world, showing one’s true face or a known signature weapon even once practically guaranteed exposure.

"Then the mecha in my spatial storage, which is literally my Homogeneous Metal, can be taken out and reshaped! Doesn’t that mean I can have a ton of different identities... Hahaha!" Yang Bo nearly jumped with excitement as another possibility crossed his mind. The third-generation mecha was far too conspicuous; the moment he brought it out, the Red Earl would immediately hunt him down. But if he could disguise it as other mechas... Hahaha, his alternate personas would be endless!

Yang Bo now possessed the Disguise ability, allowing him to morph into other people. His weapon could change shape, and he could even utilize Skin Metalization. With all these factors combined, it would be impossible for anyone to track him down based on his appearance.

His core strategy was playing dirty from the shadows. Head-on confrontations simply didn’t suit this highly advanced society. It was much better to lay low, quietly build up his strength, and strike when his enemies least expected it. Just like during the recent Red Earl incident—he had been the biggest benefactor, yet no one could trace anything back to him.

Moving forward, his plan was to grind his mecha combat training while familiarizing himself with his Metal Control. The weapon in his hand could already shift into a myriad of forms.

In addition, he would alter his own body into various shapes to create visual discrepancies. After changing his form and applying Skin Metalization, absolutely no one would be able to recognize him.

In the garden of a certain manor on Pado Star, two middle-aged men in sharp suits sat on a long bench.

"Over twenty thousand citizens have already applied to immigrate to other planets," one of them asked. "Among them, March Star has the highest number, reaching over nine thousand. Is our esteemed Administrator truly going to let this slide?"

"My dear Finance Minister, why would you say such a thing?" The other man was Leibo, the Administrator of Pado Star. Hearing the question, he gazed playfully at a white cloud drifting across the sky. "Citizens engaging in normal immigration activities within the Alliance is fully in accordance with Alliance law. It doesn’t violate a single regulation."

"Mr. Administrator, you know as well as I do that the law is just the law, but this directly impacts our core interests. Out of those twenty thousand citizens, over ten thousand are taxpayers. The rest are residents surviving on welfare benefits.

"If we let this situation continue, our tax revenue will plummet before long. Consequently, our fiscal deficit will widen. If the annual deficit growth reaches a critical threshold, the Alliance might launch an investigation into us," the Finance Minister added.

Leibo turned to look at his Finance Minister and shook his head. "Yes, my dear Finance Minister, we abide by Alliance law. However, there are certain individuals who don’t have to—such as the Interstellar Pirates prowling around the interstellar routes. I imagine that immigration is a highly dangerous endeavor. This current wave might just be the beginning. The subsequent wave of immigrants might suddenly decide they want to stay and continue living right here on Pado Star."

"Oh, what wonderful news. It seems our Administrator has already formulated a foolproof plan. This is excellent news for all of us." The Finance Minister whistled, a smug smile spreading across his face. "The Alliance compensated us handsomely for the recent attack. That massive sum will be more than enough to provide Spiritual Comfort to those victims who unfortunately suffer pirate attacks during their immigration process."

Leibo nodded. "Furthermore, we can publicly condemn the Administrator of March Star. We can claim that his reckless actions were what forced these immigrants to endure such suffering. When the time comes, we can even represent these victims in filing a lawsuit against the March Star Administrator and demand compensation."

"That truly is great news," the Finance Minister said, his eyes lighting up. "But why haven’t those idiots in the security department found that mysterious mecha yet? Those departments siphon off massive budgets every year."

"Indeed, the security department is full of idiots. Those fools should be exiled to a Mineral Star instead of wasting our taxpayers’ money," Leibo agreed dismissively.

"Agreed. What a beautiful day this is. I think this is the best news I’ve heard in a long time. Let’s just sit back and wait for the good tidings to roll in."

"Would you be interested in joining me in my study for a drink to celebrate these immigrants?" Leibo offered.

"Naturally!"

The two men left the bench and strolled toward an ancient castle a few hundred meters away.

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