The light screen showed a room. A young man entered, quickly stripped off his outer clothes, and put on a silver-white skintight bodysuit, leaving himself completely bare beneath it. He picked up a helmet and put it on. It looked a lot like a bicycle helmet from Blue Star, with ear covers and a chin strap. He even shook his head to check that it was firmly secured.
Then he fastened a wide belt, pulled on knee-high boots, and put on elbow-length gloves. It was clearly a complete set of gear.
He stepped onto a circular platform two meters in diameter.
Mi Feng explained, "This is a quantum remote-control workstation. It's pretty shoddily made, but it's good enough for controlling mecha."
The workstation lit up, and a circular field of light appeared. The young man's feet lifted off the ground, leaving him suspended in the center of the field. He quickly lowered the visor on his helmet and got to work.
The scene changed to a robot lying in a cramped space. This must have been the robot controlled by the young man. He reached out and pressed a button beside him, and the entire small compartment began sliding outward. The scene shifted again.
A huge wall was covered in countless compartments. One of them, a box like a drawer, slid out and then traveled down a track along the side. It soon reached the bottom. The camera pulled back, revealing dozens of similar walls in the frame, an awe-inspiring sight.
This was the robot safety zone for entering and leaving the starting area!
As the camera moved closer, the robot controlled by that man came into view before Zhang Hao.
"The robot he's controlling isn't all that impressive!"
Mi Feng stopped the video and said, "That robot is already considered pretty good. It's not a starter robot. I'll show you one of those."
Mi Feng started showing him starter robots one after another. They were so crude and awful that even moving smoothly was difficult. According to the locals, these were blank-slate robots. They weren't just unsuitable for controlling mecha; nobody would even hire them to do odd jobs in a base fortress. All they could do was go outside and scavenge for trash near the fortress.
He showed about a dozen models in total: starter robots, complete robots, enhanced robots, precision robots, elite robots, top-tier robots, and more.
Zhang Hao asked, "What level would my custom robot be?"
"That's different. Custom robots are generally owned by the powerful and the rich, because to order one, you need to have your own base fortress."
Even custom robots came in different grades. Zhang Hao was beginning to understand.
Mi Feng continued playing the short film. The man checked the robot's condition using an automated diagnostic program. It could flag potential problems, and if an issue was serious enough, the robot had to be taken in for repairs.
Remote control alone wasn't enough to fully operate a robot. An intelligent system was essential to help, allowing a person to make the most of their abilities. Of course, intelligent systems also came in different grades, and the more advanced they were, the more expensive they became.
Zhang Hao noticed the place where the man was standing. The crimson sky was visible, and all around him stood towering fortresses joined together in a continuous line. Countless gun barrels and other weapons could be seen on top. The fortresses almost completely concealed the entire base, leaving only a few gaps through which the sky could be seen.
"The environment here seems pretty harsh!"
"Of course. Ninety-five percent of the air here is carbon dioxide, with a little nitrogen mixed in. Humans simply can't survive here. The gravity is especially bad—it's three times that of Blue Star. A person who came here wouldn't even be able to walk. Robots don't care, though. They just use a bit more energy and can move around freely."
"Daytime temperatures of seventy or eighty degrees are normal here, and it's not unusual for them to exceed a hundred. At night, temperatures of minus forty or fifty are the norm. No one could withstand it without a robot."
"Big storms are common here, too. Storms with winds reaching a thousand kilometers per hour are nothing unusual. Even mecha can't withstand them. That's why the most common sight on Slaughter Planet is all kinds of shattered mecha. People often take crude robots out to collect parts from Broken Mecha. If they're careful, they can find some pretty good salvage."
"There are many kinds of storms, too. There's one kind you have to avoid if you see it: a black storm. It's extremely vicious."
Zhang Hao said, "It's that brutal..."
"It's already pretty good. At least nobody has to die. Losing robots and mecha isn't really a big deal."
As they chatted, they watched the man enter a fortress. It seemed to be one of his bases. A moment later, he hurried back out and ran quickly down the street.
Zhang Hao was curious. "Why's he running so fast?"
"The day lasts seventy-two hours, and the night lasts thirty-six. Once night falls here, you can barely do anything. Only high-grade robots and mecha can withstand the cold. The heat, on the other hand, isn't much of a problem."
"So he has to finish his job before nightfall."
Zhang Hao asked, "Why doesn't he bring a mecha?"
"Keep watching and you'll see."
The man ran to the base's main gate. Once outside, he quickly entered a large fortress. He took the tag hanging around his neck and inserted it into a row of machines. A moment later, the ground split open, and a lift raised a mecha—the machine was a sleek, all-metal leopard-type mecha, gleaming and about eight meters tall.
"That's a light mecha! This guy's pretty average, I'd say."
Mi Feng gave his assessment.
The man inserted his tag into the leopard-type mecha's abdomen. The hatch opened, and he quickly climbed inside. The leopard-type mecha ran off, and the short film ended.
Stored at the entrance, retrieved at the entrance? Zhang Hao was left utterly baffled.
Mi Feng said, "You're probably thinking of the item-storage space, right? They don't have that technology here! Only we have it. When we go out, we bring the item-storage space along. We can carry several mecha in a small backpack, which is really convenient."
Zhang Hao's face showed a bitter smile. That custom-made robot really was high-end; it could even express a bitter smile so well and so realistically.
Black Technology really is terrifying, he thought.
Mi Feng continued his explanation.
"As for why that man retrieved his mecha at the entrance just now, it's simple: mecha aren't allowed inside fortresses because they're too destructive. If someone decided to cause trouble, it would be easy to start a major disturbance inside. Only fortress owners are allowed to bring mecha inside, and they have to patrol designated areas. They can't just wander wherever they want. Of course, if something happens, exceptions can be made."
Zhang Hao said, "You said his mecha was a leopard-type mecha. Can you tell me about the different types of mecha?"
Mi Feng replied without hesitation, "No problem! I'll explain as simply as I can."
"There are many complicated categories of mecha, including Engineering Mecha, construction mecha, excavation mecha, communications mecha, reconnaissance mecha, ground transport mecha, air transport mecha, repair mecha, logistics mecha, and combat mecha. There are all sorts of types, mainly classified according to their different jobs."
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