Chapter 62 First Appearance on the Field
Although "Strawberry Bobo Milk Beads" is an anonymous ID, given the previous revelations about Cheng Che, this anonymity is practically the same as having the name welded onto one's face.
Recently, Cheng Che's matches have garnered at least tens of thousands of online viewers. The team itself already attracts a large audience, so this post immediately stirred up a hornet's nest, generating hundreds of comments as soon as it was published.
[CHE has been playing really well lately, what happened? Is the team owner upset about CHE's success and decided to give him a different teammate to boost his performance?]
[They've gotten addicted to opening blind boxes and picking up random people, speechless.]
[JR's other four teammates are all veteran players. Their skills aren't particularly outstanding, but at least they play like normal people. What's the point of suddenly bringing in a new player?]
[Reborn, I'm now bound to a reverse scoring system. Every time I lose a match, I get a huge cashback! So I sold all my virtual pods and brought back a kid from the countryside who had never been in a virtual pod before. Unexpectedly, this kid was too good and won several matches in a row.]
This time, I'm determined to improve and have decided to replace another experienced veteran player with a newcomer who has only played the PC version of the game. I'm hoping the new player can step up and lead the team to defeat...
[Here's the pen, you write it. I'd actually click on this opening... Unless JR's owner really wants to lose, I really don't understand why he would make a substitution right before the finals.]
[Are the guys upstairs just joking? What's there to guess? It's obvious that JR's owner has almost run out of money from the bank loan and wants to loan out the original players to make some extra cash.]
[It seems like CHE's team won too easily; the owner got a little too cocky too quickly.]
My worst fears have come true...
[A local from Star6C, if the owner of the JR team sees this reply, could you please open an online crowdfunding platform? Our Star6 team has finally seen some hope, and we don't want it to fall apart because of funding issues. Please!]
[+1, My grandma is over seventy years old, and she still follows JR's every game without fail. CHE will probably transfer to another team next season. If the owner needs money, all of us can help.]
[^^It's been five years since any top players from the game "T-Mech Souls" have competed in a tournament. Boss, shouldn't you think about why? Of course, it's because they're bad!]
[Is JR's boss addicted to opening blind boxes? There's no such thing as a free lunch. If geniuses were everywhere, everyone would be making mecha teams.]
Over the years, only a handful of teams have made a name for themselves; quite a few, however, have gone all-in and ended up ruined.
[Is it settled? When will the new contestant take the stage? The entertainment team has come to investigate.]
[The MEK players are probably grinning from ear to ear right now, while the other JR players should cover their eyes and run forward, or they'll burst into tears.]
By 10:30 p.m., the post already had thousands of comments and had undoubtedly been pushed to the most prominent position on the forum.
Having just finished a match, his teammates came over and asked if he wanted to go to that newly opened private club for a half-hour drink that evening. Lin Yuzheng waved his hand and declined, saying he was a bit tired.
"No good, Lao Lin. You've only played for about ten minutes today, and you're already tired?"
His teammate made a tactful joke and didn't force him to join in, instead taking the other two away with his arm around their shoulders.
Mechs are a game that only the wealthy can afford to play. Players earn tens of millions of yuan a year, plus a lot of additional business income. If they maintain their form, they can play for ten or more years without any problem. This salary cash flow will further consolidate the business position of their family businesses.
Lin Yuzheng's teammates are all young talents from wealthy and influential families. They all have family businesses that control the economic lifeline of the Star Alliance. He is the only one in the team who comes from an ordinary middle-class family.
Even in mecha teams where everyone is well-off, the concentration of wealth is astonishingly high.
Lin Yuzheng often wondered if this was just a coincidence.
But he quickly convinced himself that perhaps there was simply a certain attraction between wealthy second-generation heirs.
One day, on their way back to the base after a match, Lin Yuzheng noticed one of his teammates engrossed in reading a novel.
After the group got off the bus, the teammate went to the equipment area to practice for a while, while Lin Yuzheng, as if possessed, picked up the other person's terminal and took a look—he discovered that the novel was called "Broken Army War Soul," and the male protagonist's name was exactly the same as his own.
The first ten chapters of the novel almost completely recount his life before joining the mecha team, and many of the details of his life are known only to his family.
...He thus opened Pandora's box.
It turns out he's the lucky male protagonist in a novel, who is invincible no matter what he does, and the probability of failure is even smaller than the chance of bird droppings spinning 180 degrees in the air and flying into his mouth.
His teammates also have countless opportunities and good luck, while his opponents suffer misfortune one after another for various inexplicable and strange reasons.
Why is this book here? Why are his current teammates completely different from those in the original book?
Moreover, it wasn't just that the teammates changed; some of the promising young talents in the original book seemed to have vanished into thin air.
Could someone have sabotaged the plot? And who is this person interfering with the storyline?
Lin Yuzheng didn't ask, nor did he dare to ask.
He suspected that his teammates knew he had read the novel, or even deliberately put the terminal on the table for him to see, but he hesitated to confront them.
He has a good memory. After reading the original text that day, he has been quietly paying attention to the current living conditions of the other supporting characters in the original text.
When Cheng Che appeared in the JR team, he remained silent, thinking it might be a coincidence.
But when the same whistleblower said their boss had recruited a player from the "MechWarrior" leaderboard into the team, Lin Yuzheng finally couldn't sit still anymore. Only Cheng Che's turnaround could be somewhat explained as a coincidence, but what about the other two...?
The other three teammates each drove out in a limited-edition luxury sports car to go drinking. It's already 11 p.m., and the base is pitch black.
After getting out of the car, Lin Yuzheng hesitated for a long time before vaguely calling out to his teammate Zeng Ge:
"Brother Zeng, did you see that post on the player forum? Is it him?"
Zeng Gebi is two or three years older than the other players on the team, and he is also the one with the strongest financial resources. He plays the hard tank position, which is easy to play. He usually has a kind and honest smile, and even the cook at the base affectionately calls him Brother Zeng.
If Lin Yuzheng hadn't seen that book in Zeng Ge's terminal, he might have developed a dependence on him without any reservations, just like the others in the team.
Under the streetlights, Lin Yuzheng couldn't see Zeng Ge's expression clearly, and even felt that the man was somewhat unfamiliar.
Seeing that Zeng Ge did not reply, he boldly continued:
"Could that support player brought over from the PC game by the coach be Wu Yucun? How did he and Cheng Che suddenly get together? Does the owner of the JR team know something about this?"
Because of the backlighting, Zeng Ge's face was mostly hidden in the shadows, but his tone was very warm:
"Don't worry, Yu Zheng, a team owner who's so poor but still tries to put on a show of wealth won't cause any trouble."
"I'll have someone check tonight to see if that newcomer is Wu Yucun. Don't worry, I've got everything covered."
It was already midnight when the two finished talking. Fang Zhuo leaned back on the sofa in the base training room, idly looking at the Star Alliance's various new policies for mecha competitions on the terminal.
On the floor in front of him sat a child in overalls, and a large array of electronic devices were placed in front of Nie Shuyang.
Inside were virtual cabins developed by Platinum Technology, new fully enclosed motion capture equipment developed by Yingjing, and semi-automatic upper limb strength training equipment launched by Baishi Technology... All these electronic devices were connected to the network, with a cable at the interface, and connected to a computer using complicated plugs.
The manufacturers behind these devices are all family companies owned by the teammates of the male protagonist Lin Yuzheng's current team.
Nie Shuyang, still sleepy, pried open his eyes with two fingers: "Boss, all this newly purchased equipment costs tens of millions, and you're just using it for fishing?"
Fang Zhuo ordered a new cup of coffee, placed it next to the child's feet, and teased:
"Aren't you some young master from a mechanical family? Tens of millions should be a small expense for you."
Nie Shuyang exhaled through his nose, raised his chin, and said, "Of course, what kind of extravagant scenes haven't I seen? This is nothing."
At 3:30 a.m., just as Fang Zhuo was amazed at how calm the other party was, a piece of data finally appeared on the computer.
Which device is retrieving the records?
Nie Shuyang's eyes widened: "Damn, how did you guess before that the opponent would access the usage records of network devices based on the address?"
"It's a virtual pod from Platinum Technology. It just showed that their headquarters issued an order to retrieve the user's palm print information."
Having obtained the desired result, Fang Zhuo stood up and confirmed with Nie Shuyang:
"Are the other devices in our base fine as long as they're not connected to the internet? Does the tech company headquarters have any other privileges?"
Nie Shuyang pursed his lips: "I feel like you're the kind of person who would believe that a research and development company has a way to remotely control a virtual cabin to explode automatically. Yes, it will explode, and the lower the intelligence, the greater the explosive power."
Fang Zhuo gently patted the child's head: "Don't think I don't understand that you're being sarcastic."
Having learned the true identity of the person interfering with the plot, Fang Zhuo realized that the enemy was in the open while he was in the shadows, but he did not act immediately.
It wasn't until a few days later, after receiving news from Yang Yurong that the verification experiment had ended, that he sent a message to Wu Yucun:
[Get ready, you're going to play in the next match.]
Wu Yucun replied quickly: [At your service, my lord!]
The next match is actually quite important; it's the final promotion match after the points-based system ends, and it's the most crucial game that will determine whether they can advance to the second division.
The opponent is still MEK, but they will be bringing in a new support player.
Before that, Fang Zhuo had something even more important to do.
This final match is different from the regular points matches; more than 3,000 spectators from Star 6C will be watching the game offline. In addition to footage of the players arriving at the venue before the match, the official live stream will also show some empty shots of spectators leaving after the match.
With the support of multiple sources of traffic, the number of online viewers for this match will definitely not be lower than that of Cheng Che's debut match, and Fang Zhuo cannot possibly fail to take advantage of this popularity.
After driving around the competition venue in mid-air, Fang Zhuo turned his gaze to the park directly opposite the venue.
This park is the largest urban park on Star 6C, covering an area of nearly 200,000 square meters. At the park entrance is a huge plaza surrounded by flower beds, which is directly opposite the entrance to the competition venue and is a place that the live broadcast cameras will inevitably pass through.
Upon receiving the invitation to discuss the matter, the park management staff hesitated for a moment, but with the intention of supporting outstanding local teams, they made an exception and met with the owner of the JR team.
"Director Wang, let me be frank. If you don't have any other activities planned for the night after tomorrow, I'd like to rent the park for a day for a commercial promotional event. We'll also be setting up some equipment. What's the approximate daily rental price for the park?"
The leaders exchanged glances, but in the end, it was the director who stepped forward and declined:
"I'm sorry, Mr. Fang, but I believe you can see that we strongly support the development of our team. Otherwise, we wouldn't have agreed to meet with you."
"But we also have our difficulties. The property rights of this park belong to the Xing government. It's not a matter of how much rent there is; it's that this has never happened before..."
If you are rejected, it must be because the offer is not attractive enough.
Fang Zhuo changed his tune: "I plan to sponsor a sum of money for the park's daily maintenance. I don't know if ten million is enough."
As soon as he said that, the eyes of the people opposite him lit up.
This isn't just a team owner; this is the biggest tycoon of their entire Star Six C.
This price is enough to occupy not just one day, but a whole month.
Director Wang, who had been calmly sipping tea, immediately stood up from his seat and eagerly shook Fang Zhuo's hand:
"Don't worry, our park will definitely give strong support to young entrepreneurs who make outstanding contributions to the Xing government. What a coincidence, the park will be closed for maintenance starting at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, and the maintenance will not be completed until at least noon the day after tomorrow. You just need to submit an activity registration form to the Xing government."
"As long as the event is compliant and does not involve sensitive issues, we will definitely not interfere in any way."
"Mr. Fang, please feel free to contact me if you have any other needs. There are about ten young colleagues in the park management office, and we are all looking forward to contributing to JR's brand new team."
After the contract was signed, several leaders from the park management office saw Fang Zhuo off at the gate, reluctant to part as if seeing him off for miles.
Only after the other party's van disappeared into the horizon did they exchange their shocked words:
"Didn't everyone online say that the JR team was about to run out of money? Why is their boss suddenly spending so much money, spending ten million on a venue?"
"They may have raised funds from other sources. There may be other wealthy individuals who are optimistic about SixC Star's team."
"Why don't the other rich people build their own teams instead of investing in them? I'm guessing they've gotten another loan from the bank..."
"That would be best. Hopefully, JR won't let that guy he poached from the game play the day after tomorrow. All the coaches in Star Alliance have given up on finding players from the game. It must be because the overall level of these players is ridiculously bad."
At 2 PM, just two hours before the match, Giant Interactive's official account suddenly posted an update, pointing out that this crucial match would be the debut of a new player in the support position.
The post had barely been published when, like a firecracker thrown into a cesspool, the number of comments below it even exceeded that of the post on the players' forum.
[This is insane! Is the JR owner crazy, or am I? We were just one game away from promotion to the second division, why are we suddenly gambling at this crucial moment?!]
[The original support player was loaned out, since other teams from other stars are playing in the Single Star League finals today.]
[Don't force yourself if you don't have enough money. My head hurts. SixC Star's most promising year has been ruined by this unscrupulous boss. If they opened a sponsorship channel, I believe many people would donate.]
[How about the boss just starts a live stream outside the venue? I'll support him with a rocket!]
[It's hard to imagine how well a complete newbie who has never played a match before can perform. I wonder if he'll learn how to push the mech on the spot? I'm so scared, I don't really want to watch the live stream anymore.]
[You don't want to watch this kind of fun? I'm definitely going to watch it^^]
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