Crossing the meteorite belt
"No." Randy's instinctive thought was to object. "First, you can't pilot a mecha, and your physical functions are weak. Going there won't be any help to the mission. Second, you are the pillar of the Freedom Alliance. If anything happens to you, the Freedom Alliance will be in chaos."
Caesar's fingertips tapped the table unconsciously. "Randy, I've thought this through carefully."
"When I was with Moss, the Moss Palace was once robbed, and I was the victim. Of course, those people ultimately failed. Moss kept one of them alive and tortured him to interrogate their organization and purpose. In the end, he only managed to pry out two words: blue beast and reproduction."
"That was the year when the Blue Star Tunnel exploded unexpectedly and Yu Sheng was auctioned off."
"We all know that it's difficult for female Blue Star people to survive in the interstellar space. Among the women captured by the Wuke Company, there was only one, Sharin, who was sold to Caesar, the former emperor of Wenxing. But until her death, she never gave birth to a life. After the Blue Star tunnel explosion, Yu Sheng was the last Blue Star person in Wuke's hands. If you were Wuke, what would you do?"
Yu Sheng and Randy fell silent at the same time, a word on the verge of coming out of their minds:
"Reproduction."
"Yes, reproduction. However, until now, interstellar technology has not been able to allow interstellar people to reproduce asexually, let alone the blue star people with different body structures." Caesar frowned, "Unless..."
"No, there's a method that's been around for a long time, but because it violates ethics, it was abolished by interstellar law a hundred years ago." Randy suddenly said, "Cloning."
Yu Sheng and Xi Ze exchanged a glance, and Xi Ze continued, "I'm sure the Wuke R&D Base is definitely conducting research in this area. They're trying to steal back the Blue Star people they sold, probably for experiments, but they haven't been successful yet."
"So, Wuke Company must have kept Yu Sheng's sample. I'm afraid Yu Sheng might see something... something beyond his mental preparation, which might affect the completion of the mission. So I have to go with him."
After hearing what Caesar said, Yu Sheng's heart skipped a beat, and a feeling of unease spread in his mind. "Wait, Caesar, what does this mean? How did they get my sample? I've never been captured since I was sold to Frey. Besides, if they really needed the sample, why would they auction me off? Wouldn't it be better to just keep me for experiments?"
"Because your existence is known to the entire galaxy, the Oak Corporation wouldn't dare do that." As an old rival of the Oak Corporation, Randy knew their tactics all too well. "Interstellar animal protection organizations are no pushovers. Oak Corporation wouldn't do anything that would damage its reputation. They have many spin-off companies under their umbrella. If news of them using Blue Beasts for live experiments were to get out, they'd be condemned by the entire galaxy, and their market value would be impacted."
"Yusheng, when the Wuke Company found you near the Blue Star Tunnel, you must have been seriously injured," Caesar added. "I'm afraid that during the rescue process, your blood, tissue, and DNA were all preserved by Wuke."
Yu Sheng's mind was in a mess. There was too much information in Xi Ze's words. He simply couldn't imagine what the consequences would be if his genes were used for experiments.
What will be waiting for him at the Wuke R&D base?
After returning from Randy's place, Caesar saw that Yu Sheng had remained silent. He couldn't help but reach out and rub Yu Sheng's head. "I say, stop imagining things, okay? I'll protect you when the time comes. What are you afraid of?"
Yu Sheng finally regained some energy and lifted Xi Ze onto his shoulders. "That's all the strength you have? Save it! I can still protect you!"
"Fuck, put me down!" Xize narrowed his eyes with a smile and reached out to pat Yu Sheng's butt.
Haydn, who had come to open the door after hearing the noise, hadn't even uttered a word when he saw the dog abuse scene. He collapsed and slammed the door shut. Haydn's aggrieved roar could be heard from inside, "Don't come back, you two dogs!"
Yu Sheng & Nishizawa: "..."
In the evening, StarNet training continued as usual.
Yun Xiao frowned as he watched Yu Sheng's absent-minded actions. "Are you worried about something?"
"Ah?" Yu Sheng came back to his senses. "No, it's okay." He just thought that there was a person who looked exactly like him who wanted to kill him and replace him. He couldn't help but shook his head and drove these absurd thoughts out of his mind.
Seeing that Yu Sheng had no intention of saying anything, Yun Xiao did not ask any more questions, but continued to guide Yu Sheng step by step.
The next day, the preliminary round of the Interstellar Mecha Competition officially kicked off.
Countless contestants stood in a vast arena, each nervously waiting for the official announcement of the competition rules.
Finally, as the countdown ended, an electronic voice sounded: Please step into the circular teleportation array on the right.
The contestants stepped in with either trepidation or determination.
A blue light flashed, and all the contestants disappeared from the scene, accompanied by the last words of the electronic voice:
"Please find your own way to pass the level. The top 100,000 will advance to the semi-finals. Good luck."
Damn, who organized this preliminary competition? I promise I won’t beat you to death!
This was the last thought of all the contestants when they were teleported over.
Opening his eyes, Yu Sheng found himself inside the Silver Dragon's mecha cabin. The scene on the screen was clearly in space, with countless stars glittering in the darkness, a beauty so beautiful that it seemed to draw you in.
"Start a maximum range panoramic search."
"Panoramic search in progress, please wait."
Not long after, Yinlong sent the picture back.
"Five thousand kilometers ahead of you, there's an endless asteroid belt. Conservatively, the danger rating is five stars. Please detour."
Asteroid belt? Five-star hazard rating?
Yu Sheng realized that this meteorite belt might be the topic of the preliminary round. Even if the danger rating was ten stars, he had to pass it today.
Extending his mental power throughout the silver dragon's body, Yu Sheng pushed the power device towards the meteorite belt without hesitation.
It was not until he arrived in front of the meteorite belt that Yu Sheng realized how naive he was.
He originally thought that he could get through this meteorite belt by just dodging rocks, but looking at the flames burning in front of him and countless meteorites flying around in the chaotic atmosphere in this area, cold sweat broke out on his palms.
The firelight appeared on the light screen of the mecha and was reflected in Yu Sheng's pupils, as if mocking this human being who was as tiny as dust and overestimated his own abilities.
Yu Sheng pursed his lips and tensed his body.
The next moment, the silver giant rushed into the burning meteor belt like a meteor!
Left! Right! Side and front! Directly above!
Meteorites came down from all directions without mercy. Yu Sheng's mental power was completely integrated with the silver dragon, and he dodged these deadly meteorites with ease. His fingers were almost as if they were shadows on the operating table.
However, the intense tension lasted too long, and the red blur in front of Yu Sheng's eyes made it almost impossible to see the trajectory of the meteorite's flight. Yu Sheng gritted his teeth and concentrated some of his mental energy into his eyes. In an instant, his vision became clear again.
What Yu Sheng didn't know was that outside of StarNet, he had become one of the few live broadcast screens of the game that was still lit.
Netizens watching the game looked at the few hundred remaining live broadcast screens and shouted "666" wildly.
"Don't the remaining contestants think that only by passing the meteorite belt can they advance?!"
"Haha, don't they know? As long as they can survive in the asteroid belt for ten minutes, they'll be automatically promoted. Now all they have to do is commit suicide!"
"This is called the naivety of the bosses, hahahahaha!"
“…”
No matter what happens in the outside world, Yu Sheng has no extra thoughts to think about anything else.
The deeper you go into the meteorite belt, the denser the meteorites become and the more complex their flight paths become, making it difficult to guard against them.
What's even more terrifying is that as the speed of meteorites increases, after exceeding the speed of light, it will create an illusion of time and space. You watch this stone hitting you from the front, but in fact it may have fallen from here a second ago. Once you follow your instinct to avoid it, you may hit other meteorites, causing the plane to be destroyed and people to die.
The only way to see the true trajectory is to use mental power to detect it.
In just a few dozen minutes, Yu Sheng was already sweating profusely, as if his whole body was thrown into the water, and every part of his body was soaked.
In the live broadcast hall, as the screens dimmed one after another, the laughter in the hall grew fainter and fainter, replaced by cries of surprise:
"Fuck, no way?"
"Not dead yet?"
"Is there something wrong with my eyes? How could someone last more than thirty minutes in a five-star meteorite belt?!"
One hundred yuan, ninety yuan, eighty yuan...
When only ten screens were left lit in the center, the venue was as quiet as a mountain and you could hear a pin drop.
"Silver Dragon, how long do you estimate it will take to pass the asteroid belt?" Yu Sheng felt like he was about to collapse. If he still hadn't passed the asteroid belt after so long, he was probably doomed to be eliminated from the preliminary rounds of this mecha competition.
"It is affected by the abnormal magnetic field of the meteorite belt and is unpredictable." Half a moment later, Silver Dragon's reply came from the mecha cabin.
Live broadcast hall.
"It's the forty-fifth minute of the preliminary round! We can see that out of the one billion contestants, only eight remain navigating the asteroid belt!" The TV reporter was excited, gesticulating. "Among these eight contestants, one is the familiar Yunxiao and his Thunder! Currently, the Thunder's hull damage rate is only 46.73%, the lowest among the eight!"
"Wait, that's not right!" The reporter flipping through the data was stunned for a moment, then his voice suddenly rose. "I missed it! The Thunder's damage rate is only the second lowest! The top-ranked player has a damage rate of only 30.01%! He's also a familiar figure, the dark horse champion of this fighting tournament, the tailless Bulbulmon!"
After forty-five minutes of traveling through a five-star-rated meteorite belt, his damage rate was surprisingly only thirty percent! Even last year's champion, Yun Xiao, was left far behind. This level of agility and mental strength was truly terrifying, reaching an inhuman level!
After an hour, the density of meteorites on the screen had reached a level where the audience could not see the mecha clearly. The only two light screens left, one belonged to Yunxiao and the other belonged to Qiuqiu Beast.
The audience subconsciously tensed up their bodies. When dozens of meteorites hit the mecha, they couldn't help but clench their fingers and clench their fists. Especially since the damage rate of the shell had reached 80%, the Thunder, which looked dilapidated, was even more worrying.
"We all know that the higher the hull damage rate, the more lax the protection of the mecha cabin will be. The Thunder's hull damage rate of over 80% means that Yunxiao will be subjected to pressure three times greater than his own body and a temperature of nearly 8.2 degrees Celsius (nearly 49 degrees Celsius)!" The reporter's voice was hoarse. "Although this is a virtual world, we still can't imagine how Yunxiao can still accurately operate the mecha under such difficult circumstances. Regardless of the outcome, Yunxiao is the well-deserved God of War in our hearts!"
The United Interstellar General who was also watching the live broadcast fixed his eyes on the Thunder on the screen, "Such willpower is no less than that of soldiers who have undergone severe tests, but what a pity..." Unfortunately, no matter how many olive branches he extended, Yunxiao rejected them all.
In the audience, waves of voices gradually formed:
"Yunxiao God, don't insist! We all know you're the best!"
"I feel so sorry for Yunxiao male god! Come on Yunxiao male god!"
The next moment, a huge, flaming meteorite smashed towards the front of the Thunder. The audience standing in the God's perspective knew that the boulder was an illusion, but they still subconsciously held their breath.
The Thunder suddenly activated its upward momentum and flew upwards to avoid the boulder, but it collided violently with the meteorite floating above.
The light screen goes out.
The entire audience breathed a sigh of relief. To say they didn't feel any regret would be a lie, but they were more impressed by Yunxiao's tenacious willpower. Everyone understood the significance of a five-star-rated meteorite belt. Even the powerful female general Hilton had been surrounded by Zerg and forced into a five-star meteorite belt, ultimately failing to escape.
Now, everyone's eyes are focused on the last lit screen.
Amidst the flames, a silver mecha still stubbornly shuttled through countless meteorites. The damage rate of its shell had exceeded 70%. Every movement could cause the audience to exclaim in surprise. The eyes of the reporters who were broadcasting live were red, and the excitement reached a climax.
"The tailless Ballmon is still holding on in the asteroid belt! We can't imagine how powerful his mental strength is. Until now, the Silver Dragon hasn't made any mistakes! Even from a God's perspective, our eyes can hardly keep up with the Silver Dragon's speed!"
"It's said that the distance of the meteor belt set for the preliminary round is 500 million meters, and the tailless ball beast has already traveled 490 million meters! This has clearly exceeded the organizers' expectations!"
"Can a miracle be created without a tail, Ballmon?!"
All the audience seemed to have transformed into the Silver Dragon in the interstellar space, with only one goal, which was to move forward!
In the last hundred meters, everyone clenched their fists. A huge meteorite roared like a monster spewing fire and smashed towards the Silver Dragon. The tiny Silver Dragon was like an ant trying to shake a tree in front of the meteorite.
The light screen of the Silver Dragon was covered with a fiery red flame. Yu Sheng's mental strength was exhausted. He could not see the true trajectory of the boulder. His eyes were stinging and tears were streaming down his face, but he could not end it.
Yu Sheng finally shouted loudly, and instinctively pressed the command with trembling fingers.
Life and death are just a thought away.
Everyone held their breath together.
The Silver Dragon crashed straight into the meteorite without any evasive action, but the silver giant did not turn into dust. Instead, it passed through the illusion of the boulder and soared into the interstellar sky.
The whole audience erupted in screams and cheers, and countless people cried with joy, as if it was not the Silver Dragon that had just passed through the asteroid belt, but themselves.
The last light screen went out, and the preliminary round of the Interstellar Mecha Competition officially came to an end.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
