Chapter 59 The Genius Mechanic
Unlike the main league, which operates with a relatively cautious approach, the Duxing League's playing style emphasizes recklessness.
Despite noticing the newcomer's unusually fluid movements, the group didn't pay much attention. After a token exchange of blows for two or three minutes, they grouped up and charged at the newcomer.
Once Cheng Che is dealt with, the remaining four familiar good-for-nothings will be easy targets.
But when the gunner charged up and fired an energy cannon at the enemy, JR's hard tank actually shielded itself and quickly blocked Cheng Che's path, remaining unmoved even after being blasted to half health.
A four-protect-one strategy? Is it necessary? Is this rookie so strong that the whole team needs to play around him?
However, Cheng Che quickly proved this necessity through his actions.
Captain MEK only felt a blur before his eyes, and then he was instantly blasted away by the energy wave attached to Cheng Che's long blade. Accompanied by the overwhelming firepower of the JR gunners, in the last second he only had time to see a short blade slashing at his core armor on his chest.
A clean and efficient way to break armor.
The newcomer then kicked him in the broken breastplate, using the force to swing the long blade at another MEK player.
Everything went black for a moment, and when Captain MEK opened his eyes again, he had already respawned in the red team's tower.
To make matters worse, the virtual pod in the arena was still using the old version of metal electrode plates. When he struggled and pulled on them, his already painful joints started to ache and itch even more.
Captain MEK couldn't help but reach out and touch his knee again, only to feel the cold, hard shell of the mecha.
How could the other side be so fast? Did that newcomer's graceful and nimble flip in mid-air really happen?
Before he could regroup and fly out of the tower, he saw that his three teammates had all respawned beside him.
"My elbow hurts so much. The electrodes used in the competition feel colder than the ones in the training room. I just got a tug on my wrist, and now my hand is so sore that I can barely lift the shield."
After the tank player said those words, the MEK team's voice chat seemed to return to its pre-match silence.
We can't beat them in a fight, and we can't compete with their equipment.
What else could we do but grit our teeth and take turns?
In the previous match, when Li Che was playing 1v2, it could be attributed to luck, but now that he's gotten a quadra kill, it's purely a matter of skill. And what's most terrifying is that this guy doesn't seem to get tired.
Despite each attack carrying terrifying force, Cheng Che's stamina seemed inexhaustible.
MEK originally planned to use a series of attacks to wear down their opponents, but all five of them ended up panting heavily inside the cabin, while the newcomer on the other side was in almost the same condition as when he first entered the competition.
Unlike the somber atmosphere in MEK's team voice chat, the other four members of JR's team had already started chatting casually.
"It's so great to be able to use the new cabin during the competition. Before, my joints would start to hurt after entering the cabin for fifteen minutes. But I didn't feel anything at all during today's high-intensity competition. Mr. Fang, I love you. If your dog gets lost, I will just take its place."
"...After hearing this, General Manager Fang had to wash his ears with disinfectant and then pack you up and kick you out of the base overnight."
"How much does it cost to hoist a virtual pod? Will we not get this treatment next time?"
"These were all transported from another planet. You tell me, each shipment must have cost at least tens of thousands of yuan. Hehehe, but I think our boss can afford it."
"Go Che-ge! Speed up and win this round, so that Boss Fang can still use the virtual pod to enter the arena in the future."
Cheng Che had just chopped the enemy tank into a tree in a few blows when he turned around and saw MEK's support position about to fly over with a grappling hook. Just as he was about to dodge, he found that his four teammates had stepped in front of him and taken all the damage.
The next five minutes were a one-sided stomp.
Under the airtight four-protect-one strategy, Cheng Che killed almost from start to finish, his movements never faltering. He racked up more than 30 kills in 15 minutes, taking down opponents just minutes after they left their towers.
Seventeen minutes into the game, he led his team to decisively destroy MEK's high tower, without dying even once throughout the entire match.
After the controversy surrounding the virtual pod and the coach, the number of viewers in the live stream had quickly surpassed 500,000, and the chat was refreshing at breakneck speed.
[I declare the birth of a new god! @UV Mech Arena, come and recruit him quickly, I must see Cheng Che in the main league next year!]
[Awesome! It's been a long time since I've seen such a one-sided, unilateral massacre. It's hard to believe this guy hadn't even been in a virtual reality pod a week ago.]
[A local from the Sixth Division, I really want to cry right now. My whole family is watching the game, and we hope the JR team owner can hold on until the end of this season. It's been too long since the Sixth Division has produced a truly strong team.]
[The camera just panned around, and CHE's virtual pod was in S mode?? Come on, that's ridiculous!]
The gap between people is bigger than that between dogs; I wonder how many professional gamers are secretly crying under their blankets tonight.
[MEK's faces are as black as charcoal. They said in the pre-match voice chat that they would finish the game in twenty minutes, but now they got wiped out in seventeen minutes. They were slapped in the face in front of more than 500,000 people. How can they sleep tonight?]
[I have a feeling that CHE will be snapped up by various teams for high prices during the next transfer window, I'd guess he'll get at least a 10 million annual salary.]
Why insist on having established teams poach players? JR's owner seems to have plenty of money, from installing virtual reality pods to bringing Tao Tao over. If they can just buy a few more players to strengthen the team, they might have a chance to compete in the main league next year.
"No, haven't you realized yet? It's obvious that Tao Tao volunteered to mentor the newcomers because CHE is so strong."
He's led teams from scratch before, so he's always been quite passionate about esports. This virtual reality pod is clearly something Tao Tao had the boss rent, all to make the players famous overnight.
[LOL, is that guy above related to the boss? How come he's speaking up for JR?]
In mech competitions, lack of funding is a cardinal sin. It's unbelievable; I especially hate seeing talented newcomers get dragged down by a small, struggling team.
[JR's owner has done a good job of discovering a talent. The prize money from promotion to the secondary league is enough to buy virtual pods. Use that money to strengthen the team next season. There's a long road ahead. Promise me you won't play the nostalgia card and tie CHE to this small team, okay?]
[Don't worry, at sixteen, he can count, and the annual salary of a top team is in a completely different league.]
For the MEK players, the past ten minutes or so were a nightmare.
Compared to losing the game after the opponent has taken all the map resources and managed the game to its fullest potential, being completely overwhelmed and exhausted is much more likely to cause psychological trauma.
According to the competition rules, after the game, they couldn't leave and had to wait for the opposing team to finish their first win of the season.
To their surprise, Cheng Che didn't take the microphone immediately. The JR members all looked towards the backstage area, and then the team owner strode out.
What's going on? Is the owner of the JR team really that powerful?
The group of people below the stage looked at each other and soon realized that not only was the newcomer extremely respectful, but even the coach acted like a greenhorn in front of the boss.
Fang Zhuo then took the microphone from Cheng Che and briefly said to the live broadcast camera:
"Hello everyone, first of all, I'm very happy that JR team won their first game after the reorganization. I'd like to cut in line here and post a recruitment notice."
"Our team is just starting out, and Giant Technology is recruiting for several positions, including physical therapists, nutritionists, and copywriters. Specific recruitment details have been published on the Giant Technology official website."
"The company currently strictly implements a five-day, eight-hour work system with flexible clocking in and out, and overtime is paid at five times the hourly rate."
"Starting salary of 50,000, 16 months' salary, six insurances and two funds paid according to Star Alliance regulations, 25 days of paid annual leave, and bonuses based on team performance. Upon joining, you will immediately enjoy a 95-square-meter employee dormitory, which is a three-minute drive from the core business district of Star Alliance 6C, making life convenient."
"Finally, we hope everyone will continue to support our team's long and short blade player, Cheng Che. Thank you for watching. JR will do better and better in the future, and we will definitely be able to represent SixC Stars on the main league stage this season."
After saying that, he put his hands together in a gesture of thanks and handed the microphone back to Cheng Che.
The match has just ended, and there are still over 400,000 viewers in the live stream. As soon as Fang Zhuo finished explaining the recruitment details, Juke's official website saw a surge of thousands of visits, and the chat was buzzing with excitement.
Unlike BC35, many remote planets in the Covenant are still struggling to survive, and this salary and benefits are simply unheard of.
[Wait, how come the cook's monthly salary starts at 40,000? The team only has five players and one coach, is it really necessary to hire three chefs??]
[Tears welling up, the dogs at the shelter are eating better than me QAQ]
[I suggest the boss send me the site plan so I can see where I'd be best positioned to tie myself down.]
[We still don't know exactly how much JR's boss borrowed from the bank. If the boss doesn't spend more frugally, I'm really afraid JR's cash flow will suddenly dry up before they even receive their bonuses.]
[I was just thinking that the team owner has a very respectable and decent image; if he were to do sponsorship work, he'd definitely attract big shots.]
[+1, it takes skill to borrow so much from the bank, I'm optimistic about JR's future development]
[A seasoned chef with 15 years of experience in the restaurant industry has arrived. In my past life, I was framed by a villain and failed to report to the team on time. Now reborn, I must consider whether this is my only chance to earn a monthly salary of 40,000.]
Seeing that the number of job applications in the backend was several times that of BC35, Fang Zhuo granted Jiang Yu the ability to screen applications, while he drove to a dilapidated factory to pick up the new employee he had obtained from the blind box.
If there's anything more terrifying than being refreshed on the vast ocean, it must be being dumped into the chimney of an old factory that's been abandoned for half a century.
Fortunately, the vehicles here have a hovering function. Fang Zhuo sighed and threw the rope into an abandoned industrial chimney that was dozens of meters high.
Watching a child who looked no more than ten years old struggle to climb out of the chimney, Fang Zhuo grabbed the car door with one hand and pulled the child into the car from the top of the chimney.
The system is quite cruel; it even allows child labor.
The system describes this SSR employee card as an expert in mechanical construction, but unexpectedly, it sent him a child.
It's quite remarkable that this kid survived for more than twenty minutes inside the dark industrial chimney.
"Little friend, how old are you today?"
The child, covered in dust from climbing, plopped down heavily on the back seat, unceremoniously grabbed a bottle of water from the back refrigerator, drank for a while, and then continued:
"Older than you."
The boy shifted his position, leaned back in his seat, and tilted his head to remind him, "Boss, remember to wash the car later. I'll reimburse you for the car wash next month."
Fang Zhuo set the vehicle program to the team base and chuckled upon hearing this.
The child first peered out the car window, then spent a while searching on the folding terminal, before introducing himself while standing on tiptoe:
"My name is Nie Shuyang, I am 302 years old this year. I used to be the young master of a noble family in the Weapon Master plane. I have some knowledge of mechanical structures. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to ask me."
Fang Zhuo opened the main page of his foldable terminal and flipped to the two project instructions issued by the system:
"Can you research new materials for the outer panels of mechs?"
The child in the back seat suddenly felt a little uneasy and shifted his bottom, clearly not expecting that the boss's first question would stump him.
He glanced down guiltily and honestly admitted, "No, I only know how to set directions mechanically; I don't know much about materials."
Fang Zhuo nodded and handed the folded terminal to the other party: "What about this? The mecha pilot's intelligent escape system."
Nie Shuyang tapped his finger on the terminal, frowned for a long time, and then assured him, "This is very simple. If I have enough materials, I can make it in a few days."
Having proven that he wasn't useless, he visibly relaxed a little, tilted his head back and finished the remaining half bottle of water, then rubbed his little black hands covered in cigarette ash.
Fang Zhuo never doubted the rating system of the system's employee cards; this kid must have some ability to be rated as SSR.
Having figured out the other party's area of expertise, Fang Zhuo then asked:
"Do you know how to repair mechs? Actually, you don't need to repair much. You mainly assist the staff in replacing the outer panels of the mechs in the preparation area and check the condition of the mechs during the competition."
Nie Shuyang's mood immediately improved, and his eyes brightened noticeably: "Great, great, this is even simpler."
He blinked, then pinched his right index finger and thumb together:
"Don't worry, boss. I'm very strong. I was able to climb up the rope just now. This is a piece of cake."
Having received a positive response, Fang Zhuo didn't rush to take Nie Shuyang to the R&D factory. Instead, he first took him back to his dormitory to take a shower and then asked Jiang Yu to bring over a set of children's clothes in the right size.
I never expected that I would bring my child here.
Although it is unknown whether the other party is really over three hundred years old, Nie Shuyang is at least much more mature than his physical age.
This relieved Fang Zhuo a little, at least he didn't have to worry about it too much.
After skillfully changing his clothes and quickly reviewing the basic information about this world on his device, Nie Shuyang ordered a small backpack online. After taking the backpack off the drone, he planned to take a car to the factory to inspect the materials.
"Let me take you." This was the first time Fang Zhuo had ever been so polite to a child, and the scene felt a little strange.
Nie Shuyang nodded and plopped down in the passenger seat like a little adult.
Before the two even entered the factory, Fang Zhuo's terminal lit up with a message notification—Yang Yurong had been in seclusion in the factory conducting research for the past few days, and this was the first message he had sent in four days:
[Mr. Fang, I have good news. The research on the new power system has just made a breakthrough, and the development cycle can be shortened by a few days.]
[I urgently need a player who can pilot an S-class mech to come and verify the experiment. Could you help me transfer one from another team?]
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