In Mecha World, for every ten major cities, there would be a sky metropolis connecting these ten major cities. As its name suggests, the sky metropolises existed in the sky. However, these sky metropolises were not for human inhabitation; they merely functioned as s.p.a.ceports.

Every day, there would be ma.s.sive numbers of s.p.a.cecrafts, military vessels, and cargo ships pa.s.sing through these metropolises, departing from them or merely stopping by. Many lone wolves, expedition parties, and battle clans which needed to travel to distant lands for their missions would need to enter the sky metropolises to hitch a ride on a starship or some cargo ship. However, though battle clans could freely choose between military vessels and common ships, regular lone wolves and commoner expeditions could only ride civilian s.p.a.cecrafts.

This was another reason why battle clans were so popular in Mecha World. After all, in Mecha World, 70% of ships were military vessels of the Federation. Furthermore, some military-governed areas could only be accessed by military vessels — general civilian s.p.a.cecrafts could not even approach. Oftentimes, the spots with the greatest profits were all located in those areas ...

For instance, the base camp at the Nebula Boundary where the Swift Dragon Fleet was stationed was an area where only military vessels were permitted to enter. This was also why they would find it troublesome — not yet having the right to board military vessels, they would never be able to get close to their destination by using civilian ships alone.

In any case, today, the initially already extremely bustling sky metropolis was even busier than ever. This was because the once-season planetary reclamation activity was about to commence officially, and this was also the one and only time when ordinary lone wolves and commoner expedition teams could board military vessels.

Planetary reclamation was an official activity organised by the Federation government. They would release some newly discovered wild and unexplored planets to the public, allowing civilian individuals or groups to go explore and cultivate the land. If they discovered any resources beneficial to the Federation or any new biological organisms, the Federation would reward them with countless credits.

Many troubled lone wolves or expedition teams that were not doing well financially had been able to revive due to this activity, becoming famous people or renowned expedition teams in their own right. Therefore, this planetary reclamation activity had become the premier shortcut for ordinary lone wolves or expedition teams to fame and fortune.

"They only see the glory of success but fail to see the consequences of failure. Tell me, these individuals or parties who go on this exploration — how many of them return alive?" As the person in charge of ferrying these adventurers this time, a commanding officer could not help but sigh as he looked at the spirited civilian adventurers down below controlling their mecha to board the starship from the screen of his mainship.

"This is their own choice. Perhaps this failure will let them understand what it means to act within one"s means," responded an adjutant coldly from beside the commanding officer. The adjutant did not think highly of these untrained civilian adventurers. If this were not an a.s.signment, he would never have willingly made contact with these trash.

"Oh you. You should not have these kinds of thoughts. Have you never heard the old saying of "prodigies sprouting from the civilian world"?" said the commander with a laugh, shaking his head.

"That saying has long become obsolete. With the perfected system of the Federation now, any prodigies would have long been excavated for cultivation. Would they have been able to remain hidden until now?" said the adjutant scornfully. These trash which could not even form proper battle clans could only remain mediocre all their lives. "The only thing that perplexes me is why we have to come to this virtual Mecha World to do this mission. It"s seriously a complete waste of our time."

At his adjutant"s words, the smile on the commander"s face vanished. Grimly, he said, "Because the Federation mainframe has sent an emergency notification to us. At the Nebula Boundary of Mecha World, some strange phenomena has occurred. Although it has tried its best to eliminate the problem, it has failed, and it simply cannot discover the reason for its failure."

The adjutant"s expression changed. "Could it be that our Federation mainframe has been invaded by an enemy nation"s virus?"

The commander nodded solemnly. "Highly possible. This is also why we have secretly entered Mecha World to replace these NPCs under the mainframe"s arrangement. You should know that once the Federation mainframe is successfully corrupted by a virus, the entire order of the Federation will utterly collapse. At that time, we will be like desh.e.l.led turtles, helpless on the chopping block."

"Are we enough to handle this?" The adjutant was rather concerned. After all, he was not a hacker who was proficient on this front — he really had no certainty in handling everything in the virtual world.

"Don"t worry. We are not the only ones who have come. There"s still those top-cla.s.s hackers of the military. Headquarters has even sent out some of those top-level spectres this time ..." Aggression flashed across the commander"s face. "Thinking to destroy our mainframe, don"t they even dare think they will live to tell the tale."

The adjutant could not help but clench his fists. As someone on the verge of breaking through the barrier of ace to advance to imperial operator, this was undoubtedly a great chance for him. He believed that if this was truly an attack by an enemy, they would certainly have top-cla.s.s operators as escort. Perhaps this was why headquarters had sent a prodigy like him on the verge of a breakthrough here right at this moment.

"Ling Xiao, I will definitely become a legendary figure surpa.s.sing you!" Ambition flared in the adjutant"s eyes for a brief instant. That G.o.d-cla.s.s operator General Ling Xiao who had broken records multiple times had completely trodden other prodigies under his feet. No matter how outstanding they were, in comparison to his records, they were all not even worth a mention. But all of that was in the past now — if he could advance successfully this year, he would break Ling Xiao"s record of being the youngest ever to become an imperial operator ...

At this thought, the adjutant could not help but shiver in excitement. He would definitely pull Ling Xiao down from his G.o.dly pedestal!

Among the crowd of mecha registering to board a starship was Ling Lan"s party. Around them were all advanced mecha which had been modified, and there were even quite a few formidable special-cla.s.s mecha. In contrast, their team appeared extremely slapdash. Qi Long and the other four of Ling Lan"s original team, Li Lanfeng, and Li Shiyu were all using standard Federation mecha, while [No Mecha Unrepaired] and Ling Lan were using intermediate mecha which were one level below the others. Even though [No Mecha Unrepaired]"s mecha had obviously been modified quite a bit, no matter how well it was modified, it was still nothing before an advanced mecha.

The level difference between mecha was not something which could be bridged with modification ... Of course, this was only referring to ordinary modifications. This may not necessarily be true of a mecha which had been modified by a master-level mechanic.

That said, no one would believe that an ordinary expedition team whose advanced mecha were still just standard mecha would have intermediate mecha modified by a master-level mechanic ...

"Combat, it"s our turn." Ling Lan saw that it was finally their turn and quickly urged Qi Long on their party comms to go up and register. As her present mecha was still an intermediate mecha, she was really rather unsuited to be the party leader.

"Got it, Boss!" Receiving his boss"s reminder, Qi Long, who had been in a constant state of excitement, finally scrambled over to register. All this had been arranged beforehand — from the moment they set off on the mission, the public leader had been Qi Long.

As Qi Long was registering, Han Jijyun finally voiced his doubts, "Boss, why won"t you let us help you redeem an advanced mecha?"

A lower mecha operator could of course pilot a more advanced mecha, but they would not be able to draw out the full power of the mecha and may even be unable to use it for long periods of time. This was because the more advanced a mecha was, the higher the demands it would place on the operator"s physical const.i.tution and stamina. Some people have tried using advanced mecha as intermediate mecha warriors — 10 minutes later, they would be utterly drained and no longer able to continue piloting the mecha. This stark truth dispelled all thoughts of any operator thinking to take a shortcut; they all practised honestly to advance.

However, Han Jijyun and the others believed that with their boss"s capabilities, even if he piloted a mecha at a higher level, he would be able to play around with the advanced mecha like it were his own arms. Thinking back on how terrifying Ling Lan"s control skills were that year back then, after so many years, his skills could only have gotten better.

"Because, this is more convenient for my mobility. No one will pay attention to an intermediate mecha. Besides, as far as I know, boarding details must match actual ranking, otherwise the mainframe will refuse boarding," explained Ling Lan calmly. She was too embarra.s.sed to admit that she already had a secret weapon, although this secret weapon was not something she really wanted ...

Han Jijyun was just about to say something when he heard Qi Long yelling in the comms channel, "GO, GO, GO~" It turned out he had finished registering and was now urging them to get on the military vessel.

Seeing this, Ling Lan said, "Let"s board the ship." That said, she was the first to follow Qi Long to walk towards the boarding entrance of the military vessel. As these were all transport ships, after entering through the entrance, they saw an extremely large empty s.p.a.ce. Right then, there were already quite a few mecha inside. They followed the order they entered to walk over to their exclusive secured seats.

In order to ensure the stability of the mecha during transport, the hold of transport ships were all equipped with this type of mechspecific secured seats. Once a mecha was buckled in, the mecha would not be able to move. Other than the transport ship activating the release of the secured seats, the mecha could only try to break free by breaking the seat with brute strength.

Ling Lan"s team walked over to their secured seats in an orderly manner, and then they all settled in to rest respectively. This so-called rest just meant they were sleeping in their respective c.o.c.kpits. Once the ship left the s.p.a.ceport, no one would be allowed to log off until they arrived at the next save point.

Fortunately, this journey was not a very long one; it only took one night. Besides, Ling Lan and the others had already made the proper preparations. All of them had requested several days" leave from their instructors, and their virtual login pods were also properly filled with energy replenishing fluid, which should be enough to sustain them till they arrived at the new save point.

This time, the destination the Federation had organised for the planetary reclamation activity was planet X192, which was not too far away from the Nebula Boundary. Ling Lan was aiming to use the planet X192 as their springboard, so they would have the chance to enter the stationed camp grounds of the Swift Dragon Fleet at the Nebula Boundary.

Right then, they did not know that a bunch of people from the Federation military were also planning on doing the exact same thing.

The night pa.s.sed in silence. The transport fleet very quickly arrived at the Nebula Boundary and began its descent towards planet X192.

At the same time, relevant information on planet X192 was announced on the public channel of Mecha World:

Planet X192; Gravity 29.7, Strength of Magnetic Field 15e-18 tesla. Temperature: 56 1 . Normal Wind Strength level 12; Extreme Wind Strength level 19. Atmospheric Elements: Carbon Dioxide 87%, Hydrogen 3%, Chlorine 8%, Others 2% ...

"F*ck, is there really life on this planet?" Listening to these details that were not at all suitable for human life, Qi Long asked his companions as he adjusted the settings of his mecha to accommodate for planet X192.