Mecha Competition

Of course, Yu Sheng couldn't maintain his current appearance and log onto the Interstellar Network. Even on Earth, he had to have a username, let alone a holographic network. He looked at himself in the mirror and thought about the interstellar people he had met.

"My hair turned chestnut, my height increased by 20 centimeters, and my facial features..." Yu Sheng paused, "Please change them randomly for me."

A spot of light sprinkled on Yu Sheng's body. Yu Sheng saw that the person in the mirror had suddenly grown a lot taller, his hair turned from black to chestnut, and his facial features changed into a delicate and handsome face like a star.

Yu Sheng frowned and said, "Let's change it to something more ordinary."

The light fell on Yu Sheng's face again. The Yu Sheng in the mirror had become a slightly handsome man, but the type that would not be noticed in a crowd. Yu Sheng nodded with satisfaction, "That's it."

"Do you need to make any changes to your voice?" The gentle female voice sounded again.

"Just make it thicker and change it up a bit."

"Sound setup complete."

"Dear user XP_419, please choose a name for yourself now."

"Call it..." Yu Sheng thought for a while, "Let's call it 'Blue Hometown'." The earth has always been the white moonlight in Yu Sheng's heart.

"I'm sorry, your username 'Blue Hometown' has been taken. Please choose a new name for yourself," said the female voice.

Yu Sheng was stunned. Thinking about the fact that there were so many people in the galaxy, the rate of having the same name was indeed too high. He shook his head helplessly and said, "Just randomly come up with a unique name."

"Assembling, please wait."

"You are named 'Tailless Ballmon'. The basic settings are complete and are being loaded into the interstellar hall. Please wait--" As the female voice faded, Yu Sheng's eyes fell into darkness, and then a white light came on, illuminating Yu Sheng's vision. At the same time, the noise of a bustling vegetable market rang in his ears.

There are so many people! This was Yu Sheng’s first feeling.

So many... compatriots?

Yu Sheng's eyes widened in surprise. He saw countless men and women passing by, many with black or blond hair. However, the interstellar people, whose natural hair was blue or brown, which Yu Sheng saw most often, only made up a small fraction. Yu Sheng suddenly realized that these people probably liked the blue beasts, so they set themselves up to look like them, just like how netizens on Earth use cute cats and dogs as their profile pictures.

When he first arrived here, the country bumpkin Yu Sheng didn't know where to go or what to do, so he wandered around aimlessly while looking at the map provided by the system.

He first came to a place that looked like a shopping mall. The goods inside were dazzling and strange, in short, they were all things that Yu Sheng didn't recognize. Seeing that Yu Sheng was the type who didn't know anything, the vendor came forward and enthusiastically pulled Yu Sheng to sell his products.

"Handsome man, come and take a look! I have nuclear magnetic guns, solar shields, and light energy cannons that are essential for mechas..." The vendor talked incessantly, and Yu Sheng, who was about to leave, was indeed attracted by the two words in the vendor's words.

"You just said... mecha?" Yu Sheng asked uncertainly.

The vendor's eyes lit up, "Yes, yes, you just came to Interstellar Network, you don't have your own mecha yet?" Mechas are big orders, and the vendor sold them like crazy.

"To be honest, I actually have a mecha in stock. Since you look friendly, I'll give you a 20% discount. This one is modeled after Master Yunxiao's Thunder! The Interstellar Network Mecha Competition is about to begin in six months, so you could use this time to practice with a mecha. You'll definitely make it to the finals and soar to the top!"

The peddler's flattery was so exaggerated that even people passing by Yu Sheng avoided him with a look of dismay, unable to bear it any longer.

Half a year? Practice? Can you master something like a mecha in half a year? And making it to the finals is just fooling fools.

Moreover, the mechas of these small vendors probably have no other functions except being able to sit and run. They are just for playing house with little kids. Today's vendors are making money by cheating.

Even though everyone around them thought the vendors were abominable, no one wanted to get involved. Just as the vendors were spitting and Yu Sheng was earnestly asking about mecha-related matters, someone finally couldn't stand it anymore.

"Hey!" A very tall young man suddenly stood in front of Yu Sheng. "Are you stupid? You believe this kind of exaggerated marketing?"

The vendor's face flushed with anger. "How can you be so uncultured? I'm introducing the merchandise to customers. Who the hell do you think you are?"

The young man crossed his arms, his face calm and composed. "Then show me your so-called Thunder-like mecha."

The vendor looked evasive and panicked, "Why should I show it to you if you don't want to buy it?"

"Tsk—" The young man disdained to argue with the vendor anymore and turned around to teach Yu Sheng a lesson earnestly, "Have some brains. The mechas sold at this stall are probably not even as good as children's toys. Don't just think about making a small profit, you will suffer a big loss!"

"..." Yu Sheng looked at this young man who looked flamboyant and handsome, but was actually as kind-hearted as Mother Earth, and couldn't help but laugh. "Thank you, but I didn't plan to buy it. Because I don't have a penny."

The young man was stunned. Yu Sheng thanked him again and turned to leave. The young man thought about it and followed him.

"Then why did you listen to the vendor's nonsense for so long?" The young man chased after Yu Sheng and asked, "Are you just looking for fun?"

"..." Yu Sheng's forehead was filled with black lines, almost becoming concrete. "No, I'm just interested in mechas and want to ask a few more questions."

"You can ask me!" The young man patted his chest enthusiastically, "I'm a student of the 'Moose Military Academy'!"

The young man puffed out his chest proudly, waiting for Yu Sheng to look at him with surprise and admiration, but after waiting for a long time, there was no change in Yu Sheng's expression.

He wondered, could it be that the best military academy in the entire galaxy was nothing in the eyes of this person?

"Moose Military Academy? Hmm, it's a military school, right? You're pretty impressive then." He said it was impressive, but anyone with a discerning eye could see that Yu Sheng was being perfunctory. After all, Yu Sheng had never heard of the Moose Military Academy, leaving the young man speechless. What primitive planet did this person come from? A remote planet that just got internet access?

The young man, who felt more and more that he had discovered the truth, felt full of sympathy for the bumpkin in front of him.

"Come on! I'll be your tour guide!" The enthusiastic young man patted his chest and said, "Let me introduce myself. My name is Shield of the Sea. You can just call me Sea Shield." As he said that, he showed Yu Sheng the online name on his head.

Yu Sheng didn't know how to display a name above his head, so he followed Haidun's instructions and summoned the system panel with his mind. Soon, the words "Tailless Ball Beast" appeared in large letters above Yu Sheng's head. Haidun chuckled, "Tailless Ball Beast? Is this your pet? Why did you give it such a name?"

Yu Sheng was also speechless. Randomly naming someone was such a strange name. He waved his hand, signaling Haidun not to pay attention to these details. "Just call me..."

"I'll just call you Qiuqiu!" Haidun said familiarly.

Although Yu Sheng rejected the nickname "Qiuqiu", he compromised after Haidun ignored his opinion and called him several times.

It's just an online name, so just use whatever comes to mind.

As a military academy student, Haidun took Yu Sheng to the mecha training ground first.

In the hall of the mecha training ground, there was a constant stream of people coming and going, some were asking about matters related to the mecha competition, some were renting venues for mecha training, and some were staring at the names of the two players who were about to start the game with frowns on their faces, unsure who to bet on.

"Choose 'Bald Chicken,' uncle!" Seeing a middle-aged man struggling over who to bet on, Haidun said casually, "I've faced both of these players, and 'Bald Chicken' is better."

The middle-aged man's eyes flickered between the light screen and Haidun. Perhaps he wasn't sure who to vote for, so he simply followed Haidun's advice and bet 500 copper star coins. He then paid an additional 50 copper star coins, and a circular blue teleportation array immediately appeared beneath his feet. Light shone, and the middle-aged man disappeared into the array.

Seeing Yu Sheng's puzzled expression, Haidun explained, "50 copper star coins are for the ticket to watch the game. Uncle, if you don't want to watch the game live, you can wait outside for the results. If you want to watch the game live, you have to pay an extra 50 copper star coins. Come on, let's go watch it too!"

Yu Sheng paused, "I'm sorry, I really don't have any money."

Haidun guessed that since Yu Sheng had just come online, he might not have connected the money in his personal terminal to the network yet, so he said, "It's okay, it's okay. I'll pay it first, and you can pay me back later."

Yu Sheng originally wanted to decline, as he didn't want to owe anyone a favor, but he really wanted to see with his own eyes what the mecha competition was like, so he agreed to Haidun's proposal and secretly decided to find a way to make money when he returned.

Haidun paid the fee on the screen, and soon, the same blue teleportation array appeared beneath Yu Sheng and Haidun's feet. Yu Sheng felt a flash of white light before his eyes, and the next second, he appeared in the stands of a huge, empty stadium. The stands were packed with people, holding banners, waving their arms, and cheering loudly for their favorite players.

However, unlike various stadiums on Earth, the stands and central venue of this mecha competition arena are separated by a transparent glass-like object.

"Why do we need to separate the stands?" Yu Sheng asked his doubts.

Haidun rolled his eyes. "Isn't that nonsense? If we don't separate them, when the fight starts, with radiation cannons and laser guns, won't they all hit the audience?"

"But, isn't this a virtual network?" Yu Sheng still didn't understand. Since it was a virtual network, the audience shouldn't be harmed in reality.

"You're completely wrong," Haidun patiently explained to the country bumpkin Yusheng. "We can enter the holographic interstellar network because our thoughts and brain waves are being extracted. An overly realistic death experience will give our brain waves the illusion that we're dead. Therefore, death in the virtual world is very likely to cause brain shock in the real world, resulting in a vegetative state."

Yu Sheng listened silently and nodded. Just then, it was time for the contestants to prepare for the competition. The atmosphere in the venue was like a frying pan filled with water, boiling violently.

Amidst screams, Yu Sheng watched as two mechas, over ten meters tall, whirled into the arena. One was a very low-key mecha, its silver-gray exterior reflecting a dark glow. Its massive wings folded, transforming into arms with cannon barrels. It was a humanoid mecha.

The other mech, however, was a completely different beast. Its design was that of a rooster with its head held high, its colors dazzling and dazzling. This contestant, however, had quite a few fans, many of whom held banners and howled, "Bald Rooster! Bald Rooster! Ahhhh, we love you!"

Yu Sheng: “…” He doesn’t really understand the aesthetics of interstellar people.

As the host read out the rules of the game and the life and death agreement, the referee gave the order and the game officially began.

The rooster mech immediately leaped up, each feather on its wings a sharp weapon, like a deadly fan of blades, stabbing straight at the silver mech. The silver mech clearly wasn't going to engage head-on, dodging the blow with a mid-air backflip. It then fired a cannon upwards, hitting the rooster mech squarely in the rear. This part of the rooster mech's rear seemed to be where its energy source resided, and streams of white light streamed out from the cannon hole.

The entire crowd sighed. No one had expected that after just the first move, the "Bald Chicken" would be facing elimination. The opposing "Gail Silver Wheel" didn't even need to actively attack. All it needed to do was dodge and delay. Sooner or later, the "Bald Chicken" would run out of energy and win without a fight.

Compared to the madness at the beginning of the game, the current atmosphere among the audience was not so quiet that you could hear a pin drop, but at least it was silent. Everyone was looking at the center of the field anxiously, fearing that the game would end like this.

Yu Sheng whispered, "Don't let that uncle see you later. Who told you to swear that Bald Chicken was a good player? Now you've been slapped in the face, right?"

Haidun raised his eyebrows and said loudly, "Don't worry, my judgment is correct. Although Bald Chicken is particularly impulsive when entering the market, his skills are definitely much higher than Gale Yinlun's. Just watch if you don't believe me."

When the people around heard Haidun's declaration, they glanced at him with either contempt or sympathy, as if they were looking at a fool.

Haidun was furious, muttering to Yusheng, "Qiuqiu, don't disbelieve me! I'm a student in the Mecha Combat Department at the Mousse Military Academy. I know so much more than these half-baked online gamers. They're just here to gamble and make a little money, but I'm going to carefully study every competition above the 'Third Division'!"

Yu Sheng actually didn't quite understand words like "third-class competition group", but he still nodded in cooperation, which greatly soothed Haidun's depressed mood.

As Haidun spoke, a rooster on the field raised its head and opened its mouth. Yu Sheng instinctively thought it was about to crow, but it was actually firing a cannonball from its mouth. The silver mecha must have anticipated the rooster's move and easily dodged it with a sidestep. A middle-aged man's voice rang out from the silver mecha, "Are you starting to lose your composure, bald chicken? Hahahaha!"

Without a word, the bald chicken dove towards the top of the silver mech. Just like at the beginning, its sharp wings pierced the core control area of ​​the silver mech. Yu Sheng was stunned. Was he going to fall into the same pit twice? Was he worried that he wouldn't leak the oil fast enough?

Gail Yinlun narrowed his eyes and was ecstatic in his heart. This bald chicken was actually impulsive to this extent, so it was no wonder that he seized the opportunity!

The silver mecha also dodged backwards like it did at the beginning, and then fired at the rooster's butt.

At that moment, one of the rooster's claws suddenly extended and stabbed straight down, instantly ripping the silver mech, which had flipped right-side up, apart. Its core control system instantly collapsed. A red light flashed above the silver mech, indicating immobility. Simultaneously, the rooster's butt was struck again, and the trickle of energy turned into a waterfall, quickly draining away. The rooster's comb also lit up red.

But no matter what, the loss of energy also takes a certain amount of time. The rooster lights up seven or eight seconds later than the silver mecha.

The "bald chicken" won the final victory and the audience applauded and cheered.