Assist Module

"There are several aspects to the trouble."

"First, the Surveillance Department."

"Our people failed to plant a Mind Seal in Li Yi. If the Surveillance Department uncovers it during the Divine Mech selection, the consequences could be minor or severe."

"Second, the Liang and Lin families. Their top ten seeds were all knocked out of the top ten. Since they lost their Divine Mech selection rights because of Li Yi, there's a strong chance they'll try to sabotage his selection."

"Third, the True Ring Church..."

Teng Baixin listened patiently at first, but when Lin Guotao mentioned the True Ring Church—

He immediately cut him off.

"Stop. Are you planning to list every problem and then have me deal with them?"

"You flatter me, Fleet Captain. I have no such intention. Of course, if you assigned me two of them, I could handle that."

"You've got quite the imagination!"

Teng Baixin stared at Lin Guotao with an ambiguous smile. After a brief pause, he said,

"I'll speak with the Liang and Lin families. As for the Surveillance Department, if they really find something, you'll take the blame and accept the punishment yourself. Don't damage the future of a talented newcomer. Of course, if the Surveillance Department insists on targeting someone, I'll step in when appropriate."

After speaking, Teng Baixin added meaningfully,

"Little Lin, sometimes you need to look further ahead. Don't keep your eyes fixed only on my position. What does being Fleet Captain of the Jade Pool (Yaochi) No. 7 amount to? The Deep Space Fleet is vast."

When Lin Guotao heard from Teng Baixin's tone that he had no intention of making things difficult for him, he had initially felt relieved.

But now, Teng Baixin's meaning sounded a little off.

"You're joking, Fleet Captain. Reaching my current position would already be the limit of my life. How could I dare covet your position? I only want to add more bargaining chips for our Jade Pool (Yaochi) No. 7 in the wars to come."

Lin Guotao hurriedly stated his position.

"Enough. You may leave."

Teng Baixin ignored Lin Guotao's declaration and dismissed him directly.

In the blink of an eye, the three-day martial competition came to an end.

In the minds of many, the first twenty-four hours of the livestream had undoubtedly been the most exciting.

Many classic battles had taken place during that period.

Li Yi's several fights in particular had relied entirely on hand-to-hand combat, positioning, and counterattacks to defeat opponents with powerful Inherited Skills.

As a result, many people became fans of Li Yi.

The controversy surrounding Li Yi's vicious style and merciless attacks also faded as his points surged far ahead into first place.

After all, the fleet was fundamentally martial-minded. Strength came first.

With strength, it was called style.

Without strength, it was called underhanded.

The two could not be lumped together.

What disappointed the audience greatly was that, until the countdown ended, Li Yi had never encountered Liang Shaocong's team.

In the end, Liang Shaocong trailed Li Yi by more than a hundred points but held firmly onto second place.

Hiss—

The helmet sprang open, and the connecting rod automatically slid backward.

Li Yi opened his eyes. After taking a moment to adjust to the outside environment, he finally stood up.

After being immersed in virtual reality for too long, one's senses could become misaligned.

Given enough time, it could lead to cognitive imbalance.

A small number of people with genetic defects or prior brain damage could easily be disturbed by this imbalance and fall ill.

In severe cases, it could even cause serious mental disorders.

The first stage of the Deep Space Fleet entrance test specifically targeted this issue, screening out groups with high incidence rates in advance.

At that moment.

The lights in the venue suddenly dimmed.

Ten spotlights converged.

The ethereal, melodious voice of Evergreen Fairy AI sounded at just the right moment.

"The top ten of the first-round virtual reality battle in this newcomer martial competition have been decided."

"Please come onstage: tenth-place Lei Lan, ninth-place Chen Changxiu, eighth-place Xie Zhenye, seventh-place Pang Haoren, sixth-place Zhong Xiufa, fifth-place Lin Qi, fourth-place Long Guanshan, third-place Lin Hua, second-place Liang Shaocong, and first-place Li Yi."

Li Yi swept his gaze around, identified the others who had risen, then walked onto the raised platform beneath everyone's watchful eyes.

Other than Liang Shaocong, the rest of the top ten were considerably weaker than he had expected.

But after a moment's thought, Li Yi understood.

Right.

Because Liang Xing and he had hunted so aggressively, quite a few of those now in the top ten were not especially strong.

They had more or less gotten there by picking up the leftovers.

At the very least, Lin Qin, Liang Xing, and some of the stronger members of their teams—as well as Miao Wanwan and Shi Zijun—had all had a chance at the top ten, yet they had been eliminated early.

As he pondered this.

Under Evergreen Fairy AI's guidance, everyone took their positions.

Then Evergreen Fairy AI began to speak.

"Welcome, outstanding colleagues."

"Next, I will announce the rules for the second round of live mech combat."

"The top ten determined in the first round will receive different priority levels for selecting Divine Mechs according to their points ranking, and will participate in the second round of live mech combat."

"After the first-place contestant finishes selecting from the inventory, the second-place contestant will select, and so on."

"Additionally, aside from the top ten in points, the remaining eliminated contestants will take part in an eight-hour revival match. There will be two revival slots, with Divine Mech selection priority ranked eleventh and twelfth."

"The second round of live mech combat will determine the true newcomer rankings."

"Among them, the first-place contestant in the second round will be directly granted mech pilot status, receive Fleet Level Two clearance, one million Star Credits, and an A-grade Assist Module."

"The second-place contestant in the second round will be directly granted probationary mech pilot status, receive Fleet Level One clearance, five hundred thousand Star Credits, and a B-grade Assist Module."

"The third-place contestant in the second round will be directly granted probationary mech pilot status, receive Fleet Level One clearance, three hundred thousand Star Credits, and a C-grade Assist Module."

"Fourth through fifth place in the second round will receive one hundred thousand Star Credits."

"Are you all clear on the above rules? Do you have any questions?"

At this point, Evergreen Fairy AI turned her gaze toward them.

"If the rules are confirmed to be correct, you may follow me into the mech reserve."

Li Yi asked, "What is an Assist Module?"

The moment he spoke, quite a few people looked at Li Yi with surprise.

He didn't even know what an Assist Module was?

Any reasonably knowledgeable family should know, shouldn't they?

Li Yi's expression remained unchanged. He did not care about those slightly strange looks.

"You can think of an Assist Module as a pressure regulator for the pilot."

"When operating a Divine Mech, an excessive amount of information enters the brain, while an overload is transmitted to the pilot's body."

"Therefore, if a person's physique has not improved, the time they can operate a Divine Mech within a short period is usually fixed and limited."

"An Assist Module of superior quality can help extend your operating time, allowing you to attempt to activate divinity and receive Divinity Radiation."

"This is also an artifact originating from the ruins of an ultra-ancient civilization. Its quantity is limited; even across our entire Deep Space Fleet, there are not many."

"It can be said that the most valuable reward in this competition is the Assist Module."

Evergreen Fairy AI wore a gentle smile as she patiently explained.

Li Yi understood. With this thing, he could receive Divinity Radiation for longer.

He was determined to get that A-grade Assist Module.

So he nodded. "Thank you for clarifying."

"You're welcome."

With the question settled, everyone followed Evergreen Fairy AI into the exit passage from the raised platform, boarded an internal elevator, and descended all the way down.

Their destination was the mech reserve.