Chapter 11: First Preliminary Match (Part 1)
Mingyu lay on the bed, put on the virtual helmet, and made sure that the plug-in for entering the Star Navigation Competition was working correctly.
Then he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
My mind suddenly fell into emptiness.
Mingyu stood in the virtual space specially created for the Star Navigation Competition based on the Star Network. The control panel before him was similar to the one he normally logged into the Star Network, except that below the Star Navigation Competition option was a long drop-down menu with options such as the Starship Manufacturing Room, Starship Repair Office, and Departure Port... Mingyu's default login location was the common room he had already seen once.
All functional modules are connected to this lounge, and one-third of the modeling room in the starship designer headquarters is designated for use in the Star Navigation Competition.
Pink starry sky roses grew lushly in the corridor, and a green branch of flowers draped over the lounge door. Mingyu pushed open the stone door again, but the lounge was empty.
A huge screen projected in the center of the lounge displayed a half-minute countdown to the start of the match. The seconds were gradually decreasing, from thirty to twenty, then ten, nine, eight, seven, six...
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Star Navigation Competition, held every five years. It is the cradle that nurtures the future stars of humanity—"
In the official livestream, the virtual rabbit host, dressed in a dark blue suit, looked excited. His image was projected across the three star regions, and even the screens in many shops in the Free Star Region were broadcasting the live broadcast.
"As everyone knows, the Star Navigation Competition will go through three months of preliminaries, one month of star field competitions, and finally a month of finals! The top three teams will receive generous bonuses and resources! In addition, we will also select the best pilots, operators, starship designers, and maintenance technicians—"
"During the preliminaries, there will be hundreds of live broadcast screens, showcasing exciting and thrilling match scenes. Viewers can switch between screens in the lower right corner. Additionally, during this preliminaries, there will be thirty screens focused specifically on our thirty seeded teams! Let me introduce them one by one. The first seeded team is Team Mingyan from the Central Star Region! Hearing this name, most residents of the Central Star Region should understand..."
"What's the Ming family worth now?" A strangely shaped young man, half human, half robotic, stood silently in the common room. A furry squirrel in an orange vest crouched on his shoulder. The squirrel's large tail curled up, brushing against his robotic face. Its small, round black eyes glared, its cheeks puffed. "It was General Ming Zhuofeng who sacrificed his life to save humanity. The current head of the Ming family is a villain who has stolen the fruits of others' victory and distorted history!"
Cui Xiaoduo was young, but he'd heard a lot from his grandfather. He clung to the young man's shoulders with his tiny paws, watching the countdown in front of him reach zero, his small, black eyes narrowed.
"It's not worth facing them in the qualifiers!" He shouted with domineering power under his squirrel avatar, "But when it comes to the Star Region Tournament! We must find a chance to eliminate them—"
The young man tilted his head, one turquoise human eye and one dark gray mechanical eye fixed on the small creature on his shoulder. He was slightly thinner than an average person, his face half pale, and his handsome features a hint of sickness. His face was expressionless, but he gently stroked the squirrel's back with his mechanical hand and said matter-of-factly, "Okay."
In front of them, the countdown finally jumped from five to one, and then returned to zero.
"Bang!"
The screen displayed a special effect of fireworks exploding, and even the sound effects were made very realistic. Mingyu subconsciously took a step back, and a hand pressed against his shoulder.
Mu Baixing's virtual image suddenly appeared behind him. Mingyu almost stepped on the other's foot. He quickly moved to the side and turned to look at him.
"The Star Navigation Competition has officially begun—" The afterglow of the fireworks illuminated their faces as the screen refreshed with information about the first round of competition. It was indeed the resource collection stage. Each team used an exploration starship and, following the star map issued in the first round, conducted a three-day resource collection mission. All starships must return to Area A, the center of the competition map, carrying their collected resources, before the end of the third day. Teams could attack each other, but the resources of the "dead" team would not be transferred to the winner.
The rules for the first round are simple, and the elimination criteria are clear: after three days, teams will be ranked by resource collection, with the bottom 50% eliminated. Teams that fail to return to Zone A on time will also be eliminated. Teams that are destroyed or disabled during the match will also be eliminated. If too many teams are destroyed or disabled, leaving less than 50% of the teams surviving, all remaining teams will advance to the second round.
"Let's go." Mu Baixing put his arm around Mingyu's shoulder and said calmly, "Let's go see the starship you designed for us."
“Boss—Brother LU—!”
Mu Baixing opened the door to the starship manufacturing room, and a group of colorful furs instantly turned to look at the two of them. Mingyu then realized why there was no one in the lounge just now; it turned out that everyone had come here.
"Brother LU—!" The red-haired guy was the first to rush over, excitedly saying, "You've made this exploration starship even cooler!"
This medium-sized exploration ship has a silver-gray hull and an ordinary triangular and narrow body. It is loaded with two Lambda gun barrels underneath and has a bunch of detection equipment installed by Ming Yu on the hull.
"What's so cool about it?" Mingyu thought it looked just like an ordinary starship. It was originally based on the most commonly used exploratory starship, so what big difference could there be?
"Here!" Red Hair pulled Mingyu around to the side and pointed to the paint job on the stern. "Brother LU! You painted the stern in our colors!!!"
The other colorful-haired creatures nodded.
Mingyu: “…”
Yes, he casually painted the top of the starship's stern in black, red, orange, green, blue, purple and white on the design drawings.
"It's a little bit of a ritual." Mingyu just casually drew a picture, but he didn't expect these people to like it so much. So he said, "Paint more next time!"
Elsewhere, Mu Boxing had already tapped twice on the control screen. The door at the end of the manufacturing room opened, and a conveyor belt carried the starship out of the manufacturing room and into the departure port.
Mu Baixing held the cabin door with one hand, turned to look at them, and his gaze finally fell on Mingyu's face.
Mu Baixing: "Come."
"Come!" Mingyu responded immediately.
This was his first time entering a non-civilian starship.
It was as if those unattainable, unrealistic dreams of childhood had regained color. Mingyu's eyes sparkled, and he crossed the intersection in two or three steps, practically leaping onto the gangway. Mu Boxing tugged at his elbow and warned, "Don't miss a step."
Several people with colorful hair followed behind the two of them.
The red-haired and orange-haired people in the front were carefree and oblivious. The green-haired and blue-haired people in the back were whispering to each other, looking a little nervous. The purple-haired person following in the back was a quiet, autistic teenager, just keeping his head down and walking forward.
The hatch closed behind them.
Mingyu followed Mu Baixing through the passage and into the main cabin. He had never been on a starship before, but he was already very familiar with it through the virtual projection and walked around it with ease.
Passing through the main cabin, the starship's cockpit was in front. In the center of the spindle-shaped cockpit were the pilot and co-pilot seats, with three observation seats on either side. Mu Baixing gestured, indicating that Mingyu should sit in the co-pilot seat next to him.
He was the only pilot in the team, and this position was empty. The view here was excellent, and it was the best place in the entire starship to enjoy the cosmic landscape.
Although most of the time, people sitting here don't have the mind or energy to appreciate the scenery.
Mu Boxing put on his driving helmet.
"Starship startup system self-test completed—"
"The mental power line is unobstructed—"
"The mental amplifier is working normally—"
"The mental pain shielding system is working normally—"
As the mechanical prompt tone finished broadcasting, a light came on in the cab.
Every pipeline embedded in the inner wall flashed with a dark golden light, and light screens unfolded one after another. The shield in the central ring of the cockpit wall changed color, becoming transparent facing the universe.
The indicator light on the side of the starship lit up, indicating that it was about to set sail.
It awakened from its slumber, like a behemoth from the ancient starry sky opening its eyes, a treasure culminated by the pinnacle of human mechanical skill. Out of sight, Mu Boxing's dark golden mental energy flowed through pipelines into the starship's mechanical heart. The half-biological, half-mechanical organ contracted instantly, as if pumped with blood, then expanded freely.
Mingyu's expression changed slightly.
He seemed to hear a heartbeat.
Derived from the mechanical heart of this starship.
This was the starship cockpit he had always wanted to be in since he was a child.
Mingyu involuntarily released his spiritual tendrils. Colorless threads of spiritual energy darted through the cockpit. Undeterred by Mingyu's command, several tentacles quickly surrounded Mu Baixing, tracing his calves and arms, climbing up his shoulders, and even rubbing against his neck...
Mingyu: “…”
A subtle blush spread across Mingyu's face.
The feeling was even clearer than touching Mu Boxing with his own fingers. He felt the man's strong muscles, the warmth of his skin, the powerful beating of his carotid artery...
Mingyu covered his face with his hands and quickly controlled his mental tentacles to withdraw, without noticing that Mu Baixing's fingers on the driver's seat trembled slightly.
There is something.
Although it was as light as a feather, Mu Baixing felt it.
Most of his mental energy had been poured into the starship. During the startup process, he was not distracted to think and make decisions. He just raised his left hand and casually stroked his neck.
The starship is rising.
The fixed track beneath the starport released its buckles. With a few soft clicks, the starship completely broke free of the track and accelerated upwards.
The vertical starport orbit was rapidly receding. Behind Mingyu to the right, Red Hair, wearing an observer helmet, was searching for resource points on the star map through the internal display screen.
This star map, provided by the Star Navigation Competition, depicted the virtual star field they were in. Redhead looked at it and muttered to himself, "After leaving the starport, the starship's position in the universe should be randomly refreshed. I hope we can get closer to this resource supply station, but hopefully there aren't other teams around... team... oh my god!!!!—"
"boom--!"
The crimson artillery fire penetrated the universe, with a burning flame tail, and suddenly bombarded the exploration starship where Mingyu was.
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