"Bro, when are you going back to training?"
"Based on your previous record of consistently placing first, as long as nothing else goes wrong, it won't be long before you can pilot a large mech... You might even get to pilot Mom and Dad's Storm Red!"
"Now that you're pretending to be sick at home, you haven't forgotten what we agreed on before, have you?"
As Luo Yun spoke, she no longer looked as animated as when she had been talking about braised pork.
"We agreed we'd avenge Mom and Dad. But look at you now... It's embarrassing! So embarrassing!"
Luo Bing helplessly patted Luo Yun's little head.
"I'm not pretending to be sick. Xiao Yun, your brother has a serious mental condition right now. I really can't go train."
"If I took the Spiritual Connection Index assessment now, I probably wouldn't even score as high as you."
Luo Bing would never dare attend training.
If the secret of him being a transmigrator was uncovered, it would probably be even more shocking than news of a full-scale monster invasion.
No matter how substantial his parents' legacy was, it wouldn't be enough to protect him!
Luo Yun looked up at her older brother.
"Really?"
Luo Bing nodded heavily.
"Really! Truer than pure gold!"
In the end, Luo Yun still cared about her brother. She softly acknowledged him, then comforted him in turn.
"It's okay, Bro. You're so strong and healthy—you'll definitely recover soon."
"Even if you can't pilot a mech in the future, it's fine. You still have me. I'll definitely pass the assessment, and I'll definitely avenge Mom and Dad!"
Luo Bing gently rubbed his little sister's hair, his heart aching slightly.
A child driven by rage and hatred was already difficult to persuade otherwise.
Perhaps that hatred had even been the motivation behind Luo Yun's efforts all these years.
For the time being, Luo Bing had no way to change Luo Yun's mindset.
All he could do was try his best to make sure Luo Yun failed the assessment.
He raised his head and saw the enormous clock standing in the base plaza ahead.
It was the most precise timekeeping instrument, and it also sounded before every deployment and every victorious return.
Whenever it rang, the base would instantly shift from quiet stillness into a feverish state of tense combat preparation.
Because whenever the bell rang for a long time, it meant a monster had appeared!
Every time those monsters, sleeping peacefully in the deep sea, emerged, they inflicted unimaginable casualties and losses upon humanity!
To fight these creatures, with the destructive power of all kinds of conventional weapons proving insufficient, nations around the world created monsters of their own.
Those big mechs!
When conventional weapons lacked the power—at least the power needed to deal with monsters—humanity could always come up with a way to respond.
When conventional weapons became nothing more than toys scratching a monster's itch, the appearance of mechs would use steel-forged fists to tell the monsters that the big boys were always big boys. They had merely changed form.
It wasn't just that the era had changed. The world itself had changed!
All sorts of big boys created with humanity's peak technology had become humanity's pillars, protecting countless lives.
A major nation like the Celestial Dynasty was still relatively sensible. For now, it defined mechs as strategic weapons against monsters, respecting them without blindly worshipping them.
But some smaller nations directly treated mechs as Guardian Gods, and mech pilots enjoyed unbelievably lofty status and prestige.
If they ran for president after retirement, they would be practically guaranteed to win!
As far as Luo Bing knew, Sakurajima beneath his feet was currently just such a place.
Woooo—!
Just as Luo Bing's thoughts were wandering, a low but incredibly penetrating bell rang out.
"This... Bro, is that?"
Hearing the bell, Luo Yun froze and hurriedly looked at her brother.
Luo Bing gazed deeply at the base, which had suddenly come alive, and nodded lightly.
"That's right. A monster attack!"
Monster—Iron Hammer
When the bell rang, the previously quiet base plaza instantly became bustling and noisy.
Murong, the examiner who had just bid farewell to the Luo siblings in the distance, changed expression and shouted at Luo Bing from afar.
"Take your sister and get back to your room!"
Then, with absolutely no ladylike grace, she took off running toward the distant control area.
Besides her position as an examiner, she also served as a liaison officer in the Command Hall!
More accurately, being an examiner was merely a part-time role. Her main job was liaison officer in the Command Hall!
After all, this was the Far East Sakurajima Mecha Base. The overwhelming majority of Sakurajima's eligible candidates went to Sakurajima's own Mecha Base.
Only a handful of exceptional cases like Luo Yun participated in the assessment programs at the Sakurajima sub-base!
The open-air platform on the other side of the plaza had already opened up, revealing the big guy hidden inside.
Logistics personnel moved back and forth through it, preparing for the large mech's activation.
Even from several hundred meters away, one could see just how much power that pinnacle creation of modern technology possessed!
It was a large mech standing seventy or eighty meters tall. Its outer layer consisted of a gray waterproof structure, while more of its various mechanical components were exposed, along with...
A considerable amount of armor plating that clearly came from monster shell tissue!
After defeating monsters, modern mech technology had become capable of making use of local materials, using the monsters' "remains" to reinforce a mech's armor performance!
And because of their biological structure, those monster exoskeleton armor plates were lighter and more protective, making them deeply favored by the maniacs in the Scientific Research Department!
On the shoulder of that massive gray humanoid mech, four diagonal stripes—one gold and three silver—were particularly eye-catching.
They represented that this large mech had once killed one monster and driven back three others!
"Wulei, a large mech manufactured by the Far East and assembled in the East Sea. Seventy-five meters tall, speed seven, strength eight, armor six!"
Luo Bing calmly recited the large mech's codename and stats.
As a reserve pilot, Luo Bing knew perfectly well that those so-called stats could only serve as reference and could not be treated as the standard for real combat.
But in most situations, the combat power system represented by those stat panels still had meaning.
"Bro, is that Wulei?"
Luo Yun stared at the gray large mech in the distance, Little Stars practically shining in her eyes.
"The pilots of Wulei are those two older sisters from the Lin Family, right? I heard Mom and Dad personally trained them... If they could teach me a few things, I'd definitely pass the assessment!"
Luo Bing frowned and called out sternly.
"Luo Yun!"
Luo Yun immediately stiffened, her expression turning dejected.
"Yes, yes, yes. I know they're large mech pilots, and their time is extremely precious. I can't bother them over some personal matter of mine!"
Luo Bing took Luo Yun's little hand and nodded. Looking at her disappointed expression, he offered a few words of comfort.
"I'll teach you a few things after we get back. We'll rely on ourselves!"
"Mhm, mhm, mhm! You're the best, Bro!"
At once, Luo Yun perked up again.
Seeing how big-hearted his little sister was and how quickly she recovered, Luo Bing sighed inwardly.
He didn't know whether having so many good qualities was a blessing or a curse for his sister.
She studied so diligently and worked so hard to improve, yet the source of it all was that hatred!
For an adult, that might be both good and bad, but for a child, it was simply too cruel.
With their parents' blood feud right before them, Luo Bing couldn't openly oppose Luo Yun.
He could only hope that as her number of failures increased, Luo Yun would gradually let go of it all.
"I'll avenge Mom and Dad... At least have a little faith in your brother."
Luo Bing tapped his own head, as though reminding himself to pull himself together as well.
Then, amid the crowds moving through the base, Luo Bing shielded his sister as they turned this way and that, returning to his room.
This was not an asset left behind by their parents.
It was a dormitory Luo Bing had been assigned within the base because of his own talent.
Before he began pretending to be sick, he had been a mech pilot capable of freely operating small mechs.
If something happened to a large mech's pilots, then under the reserve system, he had a good chance of filling in as a temporary wartime replacement.
That's right—the Wulei currently powering up outside.
After another year or so of training, Luo Bing could become the Lin Sisters' backup. If either of the Lin Sisters became unwell, Luo Bing would take her place!
"Satellite detection has found a monster rapidly approaching the North Sea coast of Sakurajima!"
"It's a previously encountered monster species, codenamed Iron Hammer. It came ashore in Chile three years ago and was driven back!"
"This Iron Hammer isn't the one that came ashore in Chile. The one driven back then also had one arm severed and lost three eyes. This one is completely unharmed!"
The data observer relayed the information she had obtained to everyone in the Command Hall so they could arrange the most appropriate response.
Upon hearing the report, everyone immediately smiled.
"The one that drove Iron Hammer back in Chile three years ago was the Azure Cutter manufactured by Lighthouse!"
"The Azure Cutter is a genuine antique by today's standards. It can't compare to our Wulei at all! Isn't this battle an easy win?"
"Maybe Wulei can add another gold stripe to its shoulder today!"
Some people bragged happily, while the more cautious ones could only smile helplessly.
"Please, I'm begging you, stop raising flags. What you just said is making me panic."
Unlike the cheerful mood in the Command Hall, General Luo, the highest-ranking commander present, had furrowed brows and did not let down his guard.
He calmly asked a question.
"How does the Body Size of the Iron Hammer that appeared three years ago compare to this one?"
The data analyst froze upon hearing that, then his face turned somewhat pale.
He looked around before quickly reporting.
"The one from three years ago was seventy meters tall. This one is roughly estimated to be seventy-five meters!"
General Luo's expression turned cold.
"Are you sure?"
The data analyst hurriedly replied.
"Certain! Although most of Iron Hammer's body is still hidden beneath the seawater, according to satellite detection, the error in our body length estimate won't exceed one meter!"
The Command Hall fell silent, and in an instant, not a sound could be heard.
An increase from seventy meters to seventy-five meters might not seem like much.
But one had to remember—that was a full five-meter increase.
Before you continue