Newbie Gift Pack

As Demon Scorpion retracted its Scorpion Tail back into the spine beneath its armor, all the monster mechs had been taken down.

Cobra's armor damage had reached 89%. It had run out of ammunition, and even the barrel of its energy rifle was close to melting from overheating.

Demon Scorpion was in somewhat better shape. Thanks to its reinforced heavy armor, it had sustained only minor damage, but it had also used up every last chemical missile. Fortunately, it still had a thermal cannon directly connected to its power core, which could be used for close- to mid-range attacks.

Xingtian was in the worst shape of the three mechs. Its armor was almost completely shattered, and its shoulder-mounted cannons had been wrecked in the explosion just now. Apart from the Slayer wrist blades and its fists, it had lost every other means of attack.

"Is it over...?"

Yu Xiao felt like he was on the verge of losing his mind. The prolonged, high-intensity battle piloting two mechs had nearly overloaded his processing memory. If that happened, he would lose control of the mechs for a short time.

He was at his limit.

If not for the two third-generation mechs that vastly outclassed their opponents, Yu Xiao couldn't imagine what would have been left of Xingtian!

"Crimson Hurricane isn't here. We have to get back to Xuanse Cangqiong right now!"

Bai Ying's words jolted Yu Xiao back to his senses.

At present, the only mech stationed at Xuanse Cangqiong was the specialized second-generation Raider. If monster mechs attacked the base, those tireless, pain-insensitive machines would have every advantage over Raider!

Rumble!

A deafening boom shattered their hopes of escaping.

Yu Xiao could feel the ground shaking beneath his feet. Even the distant mountains were trembling!

The sea, which had just fallen calm, grew turbulent once more. A massive shadow began to emerge from the water, like a black hole growing without end!

[Unknown energy fluctuation detected, energy level: 5]

The moment the system notification appeared, Yu Xiao's heart sank to the very bottom.

Level 5 meant that this unknown behemoth was powerful enough to take on an entire mech army!

At that moment, Yu Xiao couldn't even feel fear or unease. Faced with an enemy he had no chance of defeating, he was instead surprisingly calm.

Was it because he had died once before, or because that fearless girl had rubbed off on him?

"Xingtian," Bai Ying suddenly said.

Yu Xiao didn't have enough processing power left to create a hologram and interact with Bai Ying, but she didn't mind.

"Thank you for saving me last time."

Yu Xiao didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a pleasant surprise to hear Bai Ying thank him, but this was clearly not the right time for it.

"Are you saying thanks now because you're afraid you won't get another chance?"

"I told you, even if I die, I'll die inside a mech." Bai Ying said it so naturally.

"Then why don't you ask whether the mech wants to die?"

Bai Ying's eyes widened. She hadn't expected Xingtian to give her an answer like that!

Before they had reached the Silent Graveyard, Yu Xiao had already bought what the system store called "insurance"—the Newbie Gift Pack.

The Newbie Gift Pack had been sitting at the top of the promotional section in the Mech Soul Store all along. But when Yu Xiao first got the system, he hadn't had time to look through the Mech Soul category. He'd focused entirely on the parts in the Mech Body category.

Yu Xiao didn't understand why the system was set up like one of those pay-to-win mobile games he'd played in his previous life, with tabs for limited-time offers and weekly promotions.

Most importantly, the store didn't even have a top-up button. He had no idea what kind of spending these promotions and discounts were supposed to encourage.

But in terms of value for money and contents, this Newbie Gift Pack was unquestionably a bargain!

[Product name: Newbie Gift Pack]

[Product description: A gift pack tailored for new Mech Souls. Limited to one purchase per lifetime. Contains: Consciousness Backup ×1, Mech Body Backup ×1]

[Note: Consciousness Backup and Mech Body Backup will activate automatically upon the death of the Mech Soul. The strength of the Mech Soul and Mech Body at the time of backup will be based on their strength before death. Once backup is activated, a new Mech Body will be air-dropped to the safe hangar where the Mech Soul last underwent repairs.]

[Price: 0]

This was insurance in the truest sense—free insurance that would let Yu Xiao come back to life once!

Although the store also sold standalone Consciousness Backups and Mech Body Backups, they were far beyond what Yu Xiao could afford right now. Every time a backup activated, it deducted evolution points based on the current strength of the Mech Soul and Mech Body. The stronger they were, the more points it cost. If his balance was too low, the backup wouldn't activate.

So even with this insurance, Yu Xiao couldn't go around throwing his life away like Bai Ying did.

One reason was that he only had one backup. The other was that the backup used the strength of the Mech Soul and Mech Body at the moment of death as its baseline. If he used it while he was still this weak, it would be a colossal waste!

But fate didn't unfold the way people hoped it would.

Like right now.

[Escape pod guidance program initiating...]

"What are you doing!?" Bai Ying realized that her synchronization rate with Xingtian was plummeting.

"Making sure you get out alive, obviously." Yu Xiao had already decided to use up this insurance, but he couldn't back up the pilot. "Trust me. You'll see me again at Xuanse Cangqiong."

[Escape pod guidance failed. Cause of error: Linkage device damaged. Escape pod unable to reach designated launch position.]

"You..." Bai Ying tried to say something, but Yu Xiao immediately cut her off.

"Trust me."

After Yu Xiao repeated those three words, Bai Ying swallowed the rest of what she'd been about to say.

The linkage device was damaged, but Yu Xiao still had a more brute-force option: he could simply use Xingtian's hand to throw the escape pod out!

[Neural synchronization disconnected]

Bai Ying jumped down from the control seat and climbed into the escape pod behind the cockpit.

Bang!

Xingtian tore open its own armor once more and grabbed the sealed escape pod in its hand.

Bai Ying pressed both hands against the transparent hatch. Her red eyes met Xingtian's enormous single eye.

As if sensing Bai Ying's anxiety and unease, Xingtian raised its other hand and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Trust me."

Even though their neural synchronization had already been severed, Bai Ying understood what Xingtian's gesture meant.

[Power core output has reached its limit]

The next second, Xingtian swung its arm and hurled the escape pod like a javelin!

Watching the silver object hurtling across the horizon, nearly breaking the sound barrier, Yu Xiao finally felt the weight lift from his heart.

"Too bad I barely got to break in my two new mechs." Yu Xiao mocked himself. He knew that the appearance of a monster of this caliber would immediately put the Watchman Alliance on top alert. All its legions would deploy together to exterminate it.

More than a dozen red dots of varying sizes appeared on Xingtian's energy radar!

"Looks like this'll be a major battle. But before that, I need to hold you off."

A massive flood of data filled Yu Xiao once more, making his consciousness surge in an instant!

All three mechs entered overload mode!

"Come on!"