"Boom!"
The black mecha was torn apart by the claws of several yellow monsters at once, then exploded in a blaze of fire.
Wang Yu felt a stab of pain through his body. His vision went black, and he was back in the pitch-dark Game Pod, though a faint, searing pain still lingered across his skin.
Before he could collect himself, a beeping notification sounded in his ears. A speck of white light flashed before his eyes, and an envelope icon appeared.
"What's this...?"
A trace of suspicion flickered in Wang Yu's eyes, and he instinctively reached out to tap it.
With a soft pop.
The envelope burst apart, and a golden certificate stamped with the large red word "Excellent" appeared before him. At the same time, the game's melodious female voice sounded in his ears:
"Ding Yu, citizen of Huaguo on Blue Star, you have passed the Star River Recruit System test with excellent results. You will now enter a hidden training scenario."
As soon as the voice fell silent, the golden certificate blazed with light.
Golden light swept across Wang Yu's vision, and his surroundings appeared once more. He now stood inside a transparent glass room, surrounded beyond the glass by an endless expanse of deep-blue seawater, as though he were deep within the ocean.
At the center of the room stood a flat, circular metal platform, which projected a column of white light roughly a meter in diameter.
Within the column stood the lifelike projection of an old man in white robes.
The old man looked exceedingly strange. His features somewhat resembled those of a white Westerner, but his head was twice the normal size and completely bald, without a single hair. Deep wrinkles furrowed his forehead, and his body was short and withered, making him look