Prelude to the Feast

Prelude to the Feast "I want to see how many levels this skill has, and whether the Flight skill can eventually let me fly." Yang Bo left the game after playing for two hours. The information service fee was 600 Credit Points, while mech maintenance cost 1,500 points.

"Too bad the Laser Gun used by mechs costs at least a million Credit Points." That was right. Since Yang Bo had no in-game currency, he could only use Credit Points. The game's currency exchanged one-to-one with real-world currency.

"I wonder where I can find Electric Eels." Yang Bo looked at his newly acquired skill. Flight: Advanced (135/1000).

That was right. In just two hours, at least 135 birds had been cut down by the five-meter-long Plasma Blade.

What Yang Bo did not know was that some people in the game had already captured images of him leaping through the air to slash birds.

They had even added a caption: Thieving Bird, take my blade!

The image showed Yang Bo piloting the Blade Mecha as he cleaved a tiny bird in midair. This was no longer using a sledgehammer to crack a nut—it was using one to swat a mosquito.

"Is this guy mentally disturbed?"

"There's definitely something wrong with him in real life."

"Yeah, maybe he's here to vent."

"Could this be the Keyboard Warrior from ancient legend?"

"Haha, maybe."

"Who is this player? I want his detailed information. Damn it, how dare he cruelly kill small animals?"

"Bro, this is a game. Who hasn't killed small animals? I think this player is honing his combat skills."

"Combat skills my ass, Sha Bi..."

"You're the Sha Bi..."

There were all kinds of people in the game, saying all kinds of things. Some were animal rights activists verbally attacking Yang Bo, while others took the attitude of, I'll do whatever the hell I want—what, you're still going to nag me in a game?

Of course, Yang Bo's information could not possibly be leaked. No one knew who was inside the mech, and game names were not displayed.

Feeling ravenous, Yang Bo was about to wash his face and get something to eat when an idea suddenly struck him.

He could just charge himself!

Twenty minutes later, Yang Bo was somewhat stunned. His entire body felt full of strength, and he was no longer hungry.

"Am I even human anymore? No, I need to drink a carton of milk to calm myself down." Yang Bo felt that his body was becoming rather strange.

Moreover, this charge had consumed 10% more power than when he had returned that afternoon. The battery displayed the amount. What did that mean? It meant his body's total energy capacity had increased? Yang Bo then discovered that his reactions seemed to have become faster as well.

"Tomorrow, I'll go to work first. After work, I'll improve Dynamic Vision." After thinking it over carefully, Yang Bo realized he had overlooked an important ability: Dynamic Vision. Without it, he would basically be unable to predict a bird's flight path while piloting a mech.

Although the mech had computer assistance, who could accurately predict a bird's path through the air? Besides, time was also needed for the computer prompt to reach the pilot and for the pilot to react. That was still slower than reacting on his own.

In supersonic combat, the minimum speed was 400 meters per second. One-tenth of a second meant 40 meters. Being slower by 0.01 seconds meant a difference of four meters.

Lying in bed, Yang Bo recalled something Wu Bing had said: some of humanity's Administrative Stars had already disappeared.

Had the planets exploded, or was it like in the game? On Sunday, he had earned 5,400 Credit Points in double wages. Wonderful. Besides, the game required spending money, and Yang Bo did not intend to use points anymore.

After returning home that evening, he was a little tired. He took out a battery to charge himself and relieve the fatigue. Yang Bo charged directly using the charging equipment provided by Property Management. It took ten minutes to fully charge, and each session cost fifty Credit Points.

He still needed to eat. After eating, he entered the game.

Yang Bo looked into it carefully and found that the Rocket Pack had the highest maintenance costs. It could instantly propel a mech weighing over a hundred tons to a maximum of three times the speed of sound, and break through six times the speed of sound in three seconds.

Compared with advanced mechs that could break through ten times the speed of sound in a second, it was trash among trash.

But trash or not, it was still a mech. Most beginner and Intermediate mechs used Nuclear Batteries, while some advanced mechs used solid energy, which had incredibly explosive output.

"The first target is rats. The second target is birds." Yang Bo did not plan to go too far from the fortress. He would just wander around nearby, because traveling too far back and forth would waste time.

However, there were no large animals nearby, only small animals such as birds and rabbits.

Yang Bo did not mind. As long as they could increase his skills, that was good enough.

Splat! He stepped into a clump of grass.

Dynamic Vision +1!

That was right. He had stepped on and killed a rat.

Because time was money, and every movement of the mech required maintenance, which was also money, Yang Bo did not go after rabbits or other animals. His radar only tracked birds and rats.

On the game's minimap, he could see quite a few green dots. Those were targets identified by the radar based on the mech's equipment.

The more Yang Bo used the mech, the smoother it felt. The Plasma Blade in his hand was like Death's scythe, taking down a bird with every swing. Under the Flight Backpack's instantaneous thrust, the mech weighing over a hundred tons shot eighty meters into the air. Yang Bo swung his blade, and a bird was cleaved in two.

Then, under the reverse thrust of the Rocket Pack, he landed safely... Perfect! Base 16 was an all-metal base with a diameter of one thousand meters and a height of eight hundred meters, built atop solid granite.

Yang Bo spent two hours clearing out the rats and birds within one thousand meters around the base twice before leaving the game.

Naturally, Yang Bo did not know that he had gained a little fame on the Mecha World game forum. His performance around the base that day had once again been captured by others.

"Tell me where this place is. I'm going to report this idiot."

"Tsk, tsk. This guy must be so miserable in real life."

"He's definitely a coward and a loser in real life."

"Haha, brothers, I know where this bastard is. Wait for my scout's report."

Yang Bo had never visited the game forum. He did not have the habit, and playing for two hours every night was already his limit.

"Looks like I need to buy something to test my strength." After finishing his charge, Yang Bo felt the changes in his body.

He checked his skills again. Flight: Advanced (265/1000), Dynamic Vision: Advanced (375/1000). "I wonder where I can find Electric Eels or Fluorescent Poisonous Frogs."

"If I could find a cave with thousands of bats, that would be perfect."

Before falling asleep, Yang Bo continued to fantasize about it.

Meanwhile, three kilometers from where Yang Bo lived, a blond young man in an apartment looked over the documents in his hand. He tossed them aside, activated his communicator, and asked mockingly, "For someone like this? Just a resident, nothing more than the lowest-ranking employee of Anzhi Clean Company. Is he worth hiring someone like me?"

A mechanical voice from the communicator said, "Sir, are you taking the job or not?"

"I'll take it, but the time limit here needs to be changed to forty days." The blond young man looked at the reward and agreed immediately.

"Why?" the other side of the communicator asked.

"Don't ask about things you shouldn't." The blond young man stood up and looked toward a massive building in the distance.

"Fine," the voice on the other end replied.

"Thirty-eight days left. A grand feast—and we will be its rightful protagonists." The blond young man stared at the enormous building in the distance. A row of glowing words was displayed on it: Thirty-eight days until the thirty-second stop of the Li Duoai Federation Tour. The red words filled the blond young man with excitement.