Majestic

The elevator descended quickly, yet it seemed to take an eternity.

Li Yi was secretly astonished. Just how enormous was Jade Pool (Yaochi) No. 7?

Judging by the duration and speed, he estimated that the elevator had descended nearly a kilometer vertically.

In other words, Jade Pool (Yaochi) No. 7 was at least a kilometer tall.

During the elevator's descent, the floor numbers that flashed by had already exceeded a hundred.

Tsk, tsk. What a colossal behemoth.

Sure enough, the Deep Space Fleet was large enough to sustain an entire civilization within itself.

At last, amid Li Yi's musings, the elevator stopped, and the mechanical doors slid open automatically.

"From here on, this is no longer within my jurisdiction. After you leave, other AIs will guide you."

Evergreen Fairy AI smiled gently.

"Please complete your selections within forty-eight hours and return to the venue for the second round of live mech combat."

"A friendly reminder: manage your rest well. Return to the arena only after bringing your mental state to its peak."

"I wish all my colleagues success in selecting a Divine Mech and shining brilliantly!"

Once she had finished speaking, the people leaving the elevator watched Evergreen Fairy AI depart as the mechanical doors closed behind her.

Li Yi turned his attention to the vast expanse before him, and for a moment, he was genuinely stunned.

At that instant, everyone else who had turned to look also held their breath.

An overwhelming sense of insignificance rose in every one of them.

Ahead of them—

Countless enormous humanoid mechs, each hundreds of meters tall, stood in orderly ranks. Their massive eyes were half-closed, and they towered like majestic mountains.

Li Yi looked up at the giant mech nearest to him, yet he could not even make out the details near its upper half.

Even its foot resembled a small villa, huge and broad.

On closer inspection, these giant mechs possessed little of the cold feel of steel. Instead, they carried a strange, organic texture.

"Are these the Divine Mechs we'll actually be operating?"

Someone swallowed hard.

"Hehe, of course not."

At that moment—

A lively voice came from above them.

They looked up.

A bright-eyed, energetic girl in a red spaghetti-strap dress was circling overhead atop a huge gourd.

"I am Red Gourd Fairy, an AI from the Jade Pool Nymph AI series. You may call me Red Gourd."

As she spoke, Red Gourd Fairy leaped from the flying gourd. The hem of her dress billowed in the wind like a lotus blossom.

Seeing the stunned expressions on everyone's faces, she burst into laughter.

"Don't be surprised. To make managing the mech reserve more convenient, I'm one of the few intelligent AIs in the Jade Pool Nymph AI series with a bionic human body."

Li Yi looked at Red Gourd Fairy's collagen-rich face, more vivid than that of a living person, and nearly could not resist pinching it.

He had not expected the Deep Space Fleet's technology to have advanced this far...

"Alright, enough idle chatter. Let me briefly explain what you'll be doing next."

"First, the several-hundred-meter-tall Divine Mechs you see before you are currently sealed. They require at least mid-tier Evolvers to operate, so don't get any foolish ideas."

"For non-Evolvers, thirty-meter-class Divine Mechs are the limit."

"Follow me."

With that, Red Gourd Fairy jumped onto her flying gourd and sped deeper into the reserve.

"What are you standing around for? Run and keep up!"

Left with no choice, everyone began running, deeply doubtful of this unreliable intelligent AI.

Along the way, a man gradually drew level with Li Yi and greeted him.

"Li Yi, the points leader. I've heard plenty about you over these past three days."

"You're Liang Shaocong?"

Li Yi studied the man for a few moments. His features somewhat resembled Liang Xing's, but his shoulders were broader and his eyes brighter. Compared to Liang Xing, he was clearly more masculine.

"That's right. I'm Liang Shaocong."

Liang Shaocong smiled warmly. "Over the past few days, I've had to thank you for sparing my life. Otherwise, I might not have had the chance to stand here."

Li Yi replied casually, "I never ran into you, and I'm not even sure I could have beaten you. It doesn't count as sparing your life."

"No. When you fought Lin Qin, I was observing from a distance."

Liang Shaocong continued, "Once that battle ended, I knew I was absolutely no match for you. So I kept arranging for people to monitor your movements from afar, making sure I wouldn't run into you."

"No wonder I could never find you during the last two days."

Li Yi smiled. "Even so, it still doesn't count as sparing your life."

"No. If you had seriously searched for me, you probably would have found me."

"...Fine. Since you insist on giving me credit for sparing your life, I'll accept it."

"Thank you."

"Uh... you're too polite for someone from the Power Clan," Li Yi said.

"There are different kinds of people within the Power Clan. I prefer treating others kindly. If you're well, then I'm well too."

Liang Shaocong responded with a smile.

As he ran, Li Yi glanced at Liang Shaocong, unable to read what the man truly had in mind.

Deeper inside the mech reserve, as the group advanced, they began to see numerous mechs over a hundred meters tall, as well as many standing several dozen meters high.

With such a terrifying number of them... Li Yi grew curious. Why did the Deep Space Fleet restrict the number of people allowed to pilot Divine Mechs?

Soon, thirty-meter-class Divine Mechs appeared before them.

There were surprisingly quite a few at a glance—at least several hundred of them. It was astonishing.

"Li Yi, the top scorer, right? Come here."

Li Yi walked over to Red Gourd Fairy and saw a projected light screen roughly seventy or eighty inches wide before her.

The screen was covered in densely packed lists.

However, with a tap of Red Gourd Fairy's finger, the page cleared, leaving only the information below.

"Wind God Series, E-107, Vine Bee; E-114, Falling Hawk; E-128, Green Dragonfly."

"Thunder God Series, E-105, Magnetic Abyss; E-116, Wrathful Thunder; E-121, Electric Surge."

"Fire God Series, E-103, Zhurong; E-112, Li Fire; E-124, Magma."

"Gravity God Series, D-103, Heavy Core; D-105, Progenote."

"Celestial God Series, D-102, Mars; D-104, Pluto."

"Gaia God Series, D-101, Gaia."

Li Yi quickly scanned the list.

Just as he was about to ask—

Red Gourd Fairy explained.

"What you're seeing now is a list of all the ownerless thirty-meter-class Divine Mechs currently in the reserve that are suitable for non-Evolvers to choose."

"Generally speaking, the higher the grade you can choose, the better. E is the lowest, A is the second-highest, and S is the highest."

"For thirty-meter-class Divine Mechs, D-grade is the highest rank."

"Every Divine Mech represents a different direction of human evolution."

"Every pilot receives different Divinity Radiation, which also produces different abilities."

"You now have twenty minutes to read the detailed information on these Divine Mechs."

"After that, you may begin trying to select a Divine Mech that suits you."

"But remember, you have three selection attempts."

"If none of the three mechs you choose can be activated, you will lose this opportunity and be eliminated directly from the second round!"

Li Yi's heart tightened at those words.

"What causes a mech to fail to activate?"

Red Gourd Fairy smiled. "Do you even need to ask? Naturally, it means your personal compatibility doesn't match it."

"Then how can I determine my compatibility with a Divine Mech?"

"Well... that depends on fate."

Red Gourd Fairy tilted her head. "Since you're fairly handsome, I can give you an extra five minutes to touch those Divine Mechs and get a feel for them."