Chapter 60 Discovering Players

Fang Zhuo first sent a message to Cheng Che, asking him to come to the factory, and then replied to Yang Yurong: [Our team has people ready, no need to bring in people from elsewhere]

With thick black engine oil still sticking to his hands, Yang Yurong scratched his head in confusion.

He was quite certain that he had only been in seclusion for four days. Where did President Fang find a pilot capable of handling an S-class mecha?

Because he was too busy with work, he hadn't paid much attention to mecha competitions before, but Yang Yurong also knew that geniuses who could adapt to S-level were extremely rare, and even in the secondary league, you might not see many such players.

Could it be that they forcibly brought over a player who usually drives in A mode just for the purpose of conducting an experiment?

Just as Yang Yurong was about to give the boss some more instructions, she saw the factory gate open. As usual, Boss Fang walked in front, followed by a 1.3-meter-tall child and the dark-skinned boy she had seen a few days ago.

The factory was backlit, and Yang Yurong squinted to make out the person walking at the back—it turned out to be the famous coach of the Star Alliance League.

He definitely made the right choice in following the right boss; President Fang actually managed to invite such an important figure over.

If he had known back then that President Fang was so capable, he should have directly purchased S-class mechs for experimentation.

Although not a fan of Tao Tao, Yang Yurong still felt the excitement of meeting a celebrity. He hurriedly took a rubber glove from his box, put it on, and warmly shook hands with the other person.

"Coach Tao, I didn't expect to see you here. Are you here personally to test the new powered mech?"

"Oh dear, I have to put the unpleasant truth first. The mech used for testing was originally an A-class mech, but I modified the piping and increased the energy delivery. It's about 20% stronger than a typical S-class mech. I suggest you find a professional to handle it; I'm afraid your body can't take it."

Tao Tao patted Cheng Che on the back and pushed him forward a little: "It's not me, it's this young man who's here for the test."

Yang Yurong was utterly shocked.

Didn't he just meet this person four days ago? Back then, this young man hadn't even entered the virtual reality pod. How could he be piloting an S-class mecha so quickly?

Even eating rat poison wouldn't produce such rapid progress.

Seeing the engineer's hesitant expression, Tao Tao assured him:

"Don't worry, we've trained at 150% of S-level in the virtual pod before, and there's absolutely no problem. This is a good opportunity for him to train in real armor."

Yang Yurong was skeptical, but personally escorted the boy onto the teleportation ladder:

"In a bit, you'll pilot your mech and fire three shots at that target. The online data will be synced directly to me. If you feel uncomfortable, just let me know. Don't hold it in."

Cheng Che nodded, and the next second, the sliding door of the mecha's core compartment slammed shut.

The operation was almost identical to that in the virtual pod. After pressing a handprint on the control panel, the entire core pod was filled with a jelly-like gel.

The mecha's energy output parameters were said to have been increased, but Cheng Che didn't feel uncomfortable at all. He raised his hand and fired the first energy cannon at the bullseye.

Fang Zhuo heard a loud bang, and then the five computers and eight monitors on the table began to frantically refresh various data.

When a person is truly ecstatic, it is extremely difficult to even utter a sound.

Yang Yurong could only express his excitement through body language. He picked up the nearest baby and excitedly lifted the child high into the air.

The small backpack traced an arc in mid-air. After landing on the ground, Nie Shuyang straightened the collar of his new clothes, raised his chin slightly, and said, "You are very offensive."

Yang Yurong hadn't heard a word the child said; his eyes were glued to the data displayed on the computer screen showing the second energy cannon shot. He was even more certain that the live-fire experiment was more successful than he had initially thought.

His hands were even trembling.

As an engineer, Yang Yurong understood all too well the significance of the successful research and development experiment. He not only changed the course of mecha development, but his name would also appear in university textbooks from then on.

Not only does the company make countless amounts of money, but just from the 6.2% royalty on the patents, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he'll be living off mountains of gold for the rest of his life.

"Mr. Fang, it's done, we've succeeded."

Yang Yurong held the main screen up to General Manager Fang and began explaining rapidly and enthusiastically:

“Previously, mechs were powered by pure electricity or oil-electricity, and the external energy cannons were powered by electricity to attack on the field. But my research allows mechs to store energy in energy stones and use the energy stones to generate electricity to drive motors.”

Fang Zhuo and Tao Tao exchanged a glance. Tao Tao shrugged and said, "Sorry, I didn't quite understand. What are the benefits of directly storing energy and generating electricity with energy stones?"

Yang Yurong put it more simply: "Future mechs will no longer need large batteries and fuel tanks, reducing the weight of the mechs by 20% and reducing the acceleration time from 0 to 100 km/h by 25%."

"In short, the cost of each level of mech can be reduced, and the performance is much better than before."

After he finished speaking, he looked at President Fang expectantly.

This project burned through over 10 billion yuan in its early stages, yet the boss showed no sign of the passion or excitement of winning a gamble; instead, he appeared as indifferent as if he had just won the lottery.

Yang Yurong was never this calm even when he won 100 yuan in the lottery. He couldn't even imagine how many zeros Fang Zong had in his bank account.

Fang Zhuo was quietly thinking. He wasn't concerned about the performance improvement parameters, but rather how much profit this technology could generate in the future.

After listening to Yang Yurong's explanation, Fang Zhuo quickly came up with a marketing plan to promote the product to the market.

"Get ready, and we'll hold a technical press conference after the subsequent verification experiments are completed."

Yang Yurong's eyes widened. Although he knew that President Fang was indeed rich, Giant Technology was not famous at all, and probably not many people would watch the press conference.

Rather than holding a failed press conference, it would be better to directly connect with established mecha factories and quickly sell the technology. A dismal press conference might actually negatively impact the commercial value.

He hesitated before reminding him, "Mr. Fang, I'm worried that the public doesn't pay much attention to our company..."

"Don't worry, it will happen." Fang Zhu patted the other person on the back: "What is the success rate of the verification experiment? Can you guarantee that it will definitely be launched on the market?"

When the topic turned to technical issues, Yang Yurong perked up immediately: "All the preliminary research and development has now been completed. The next step is to adjust the detailed parameters through verification experiments."

"I wouldn't dare say 100%, but based on the research data that has been left, even if I suddenly left halfway through, someone else could take over and finish the work."

As Yang Yurong spoke eloquently, Fang Zhuo gradually fell silent.

In the original book, Yang Yurong left a document like this for Bocheng Technology. It was complete and comprehensive, just as he said. Even if someone else took over, they could still finish the job.

This person is really naive, able to say such things so bluntly, without considering whether the boss might kick him aside and monopolize the profits.

Fortunately, Yang Yurong was the first to get rid of the Platinum Cheng.

Before leaving, Fang Zhu patted the other person on the shoulder: "Send me a copy of the research report before the verification experiment is over. If you need more funding, just let me know."

Now that he has received confirmation from Yang Yurong that the verification test is 100% successful and that he will have a stable source of income, he can start signing other contestants one after another.

Having resolved the issue of the long and short blades, one of the two core damage dealers, the next step is to find a suitable support position for the team.

Support players often serve as commanders in mech competitions, a crucial position that requires both experience and skill.

They not only have to constantly calculate the refresh time of various resources on the map, but also find the right moment to eliminate the opponent's carry. Their weapons are two heavy grappling hooks, which have the fastest movement speed and put a great strain on the players' stamina.

This is arguably the most balanced position in mech battles, requiring players to have a good mind, as well as exceptional skills and reaction speed.

Most professional players didn't even finish high school, so expecting high intelligence from them is really asking too much. There are very few people who can truly excel in this position, and most of the star players in the support role are poached by established teams as soon as they show their talent.

There are many support players mentioned in "Broken Army Soul", but not many of them are capable enough to lead the team to victory.

One of the contestants is currently on the male lead Lin Yuzheng's team. Before figuring out what went wrong in this world, Fang Zhuo doesn't plan to rashly make a move against the people around the male lead.

The other player is already in his early thirties and may retire in a few more years. His annual salary is ridiculously high, making him a poor value for money to buy.

After eliminating all other possibilities, only one person remains—Wu Yucun, the commander of one of the four top teams in the original book.

This person started out as a live streamer, but due to poor family circumstances, he suffered from stunted physical development and unsurprisingly failed the official ability test.

Fortunately, Wu Yucun was very intelligent. He ranked among the top students in school and spent his evenings streaming the PC version of mecha competitions on a broken computer. His energy was comparable to that of a nuclear-powered donkey. In just a few years, he single-handedly broke through the poverty of his family.

As he gradually gained fame in the game, the coach of a small mech team took the initiative to extend an olive branch to him, inviting him to try out for the team.

A talent for hard tanks or information positioning might be buried for a while, but the brilliance of a good support player cannot be completely hidden.

In his first season on the field, Wu Yucun led his small team, which had never even made it to the secondary league, all the way to the main league, where they shone brightly and quickly transferred to another top team.

Of course, as expected, the unexpected still happened.

Just before the match against the protagonist's team, fate played a cruel joke on him. His uncle, who had become the coach of the small team he used to be on, was arrested before the start of the competition for embezzling team funds and then made all sorts of accusations against Wu Yucun in front of reporters.

Wu Yucun was caught up in public opinion and no amount of apologies could help. The top team, which already valued its public image, quickly brought in another support player.

He himself endured unwarranted online abuse for a long period of time, spending almost a year on the bench and unable to play in any game.

The author did not reveal Wu Yucun's final whereabouts, and the comments section of the original book was filled with praise.

Readers don't care about the fall of geniuses or the bizarre reasons why these supporting characters are written out of the story; all they care about is whether the protagonist's halo will be stolen by someone else.

After all, this book boasts a top-tier wealthy family's lucky male protagonist, and its main selling point is to make the geniuses suffer all kinds of misfortune and misery in front of the rich and handsome male protagonist Lin Yuzheng, paving the way for the protagonist with their tragic experiences, thereby highlighting the protagonist's lucky charm status.

This time, Wu Yucun's situation is even more precarious.

His name couldn't be found in any of the major teams in Star Alliance. He was never discovered by the coaches of small teams, never received a top-tier contract worth tens of millions, and remained a faceless game streamer in his rented apartment.

Fang Zhuo opened the original text in the system and used the automatic pathfinding function on Wu Yucun.

At one o'clock in the afternoon, Youyou stretched and woke up from bed. The nearly 1.8-meter-tall boy washed up in front of the mirror with sleepy eyes.

Looking groggily at the height markings next to the mirror, Wu Yucun reached out and touched the 179 mark with a hint of resentment, deciding to add another glass of milk to his "breakfast".

He just turned seventeen at the beginning of this year, so he might still grow taller.

He skillfully turned on his computer and replied to messages from other members of the team while eating.

It's currently summer vacation for his second year of high school, and based on his usual grades at school, there's a high probability that he'll be able to get into the top-ranked mecha university in the Star Alliance.

The tuition for the mecha pilot major is extremely high, so he plans to settle for the less expensive maintenance major, which will still allow him to get in touch with real mechas.

He felt that he had some talent, at least in the PC game similar to the mecha competition, he had maintained a 1000-point ranking in the King rank for several consecutive years. Not only was his live streaming very successful, but he also made friends with a large number of high-scoring players and formed a fixed high-scoring team with him as the core.

In recent years, he has been doing live streaming, taking on game boosting jobs, and managing to balance his studies and physical exercise. On average, he can earn at least 50,000 to 60,000 yuan a month.

Wu Yucun doesn't feel tired at all; he's full of energy every day.

This money cured Grandpa's illness, allowing the over-seventy-year-old man to still have the strength to grow loofah in the yard, and also paid off the family's previous debts, so that Dad no longer has to work three jobs a day like before.

He didn't come away empty-handed either; he used 15,000 yuan of it to build a computer that wouldn't lag, and he even replaced the three-handed motion capture peripherals that his relative's child had thrown at him with the new model released last year.

Once he goes to university, he'll have more time to do live streaming, and he'll be able to earn more money then.

His next plan is to save enough for a down payment so that his family of seven can move out of this leaky yard and into a bustling county town.

Of course, what he's looking forward to even more is life after university.

I heard that outstanding graduates of the maintenance engineering major have the opportunity to be recruited into the mecha team, and maybe he will be able to personally replace the outer panels of the mecha for his favorite player in the future.

Thinking of this, Wu Yucun's lips unconsciously curled up.

He hastily ate a few bites of his steamed bun, and was just about to press the live stream button to start his opening remarks when he suddenly heard the yellow dog in the yard bark, as if someone had arrived at the gate—