Virtual Reality

Half an hour later.

Li Yi and the others, who had arrived at the venue some time ago, finally heard the central AI announce that the martial competition was about to begin.

An ethereal, melodious voice with a hint of sensuality rang out.

Countless beams of light converged above the venue.

Then—

A beautiful woman dressed in white feathered gauze materialized at the center of the light.

She was a holographic AI avatar, one of the Jade Pool Nymph AI series.

Spreading her sleeves with both hands, she spoke lightly:

"Welcome, Class of 2198 Mecha Trainees, aboard this vessel."

"I am the managing AI of Cabin No. 12, Jade Pool Azurefruit Celestial."

"The virtual reality for this newcomers' martial competition has been entirely generated through my calculations."

"I will record and broadcast every participant's actions throughout the event, subject to the supervision of all vessel residents."

"Absolutely fair. Absolutely impartial."

"Please take your seats according to your assigned numbers and put on your virtual reality access helmets."

"During the competition, the helmets will supply you with the necessary nutrients to sustain your lives."

"Colleagues who have already installed Mech-Caps need only select switching mode to change their information transmission ports."

"This round uses a points system. Killing an opponent, or having an opponent surrender, will grant you all of their points."

"Voluntarily withdrawing midway will halve your points. Those with zero points will lose nothing."

"The entire competition will last seventy-two hours. The countdown begins now. Please connect to your virtual reality helmets as soon as possible. Late entrants will receive zero points directly!"

After a brief daze, Li Yi opened his eyes again and found that the scene before him had changed drastically.

Deep night. Endless wilderness forest.

He stood atop a massive protruding boulder.

He immediately surveyed the surroundings but found no one else nearby.

It seemed the participants had been deployed at random.

"My physical condition and senses feel more or less the same as usual. Good."

If his senses had been weakened, his advantage would have been greatly reduced.

After all, his combat techniques had already reached perfection.

The continued absorption of memory fragments had also raised his mental capacity considerably, making his reaction speed far faster than an ordinary person's.

What he had not expected was that this virtual reality scenario did not include mech piloting.

It seemed that the first round tested more of one's basic physical abilities and combat skills.

Only by fighting their way out from among a thousand carefully selected elites through such fundamentals would they likely qualify to pilot Divine Mechs and stand the best chance of earning a Divine Mech's recognition.

As the thoughts turned in Li Yi's mind, he felt that this arrangement was not unreasonable.

He examined the surrounding environment and terrain again.

Then he reached down, grabbed a handful of dirt, and carefully felt it.

The soil was surprisingly quite similar to the soil found in the Martian wilderness.

Perhaps this virtual reality had calculated an ecological environment based on Mars?

"Hm?"

Li Yi's gaze shifted when he spotted, dozens of meters ahead amid the dense forest, faint traces of an artificial railway.

He immediately leaped down from the boulder, darted through the forest, and approached the tracks.

Since the terrain was complicated and Li Yi wanted to thoroughly investigate the actual conditions around him, he did not move at full speed.

Three minutes later, the distinctive reflection of the track material grew increasingly bright.

After walking a little farther—

Sure enough.

An artificially developed ground railway lay before him.

It was a rail line connecting the major Martian bases!

With Li Yi's familiarity with the railways in various regions, combined with the positions indicated by the stars above, he quickly calculated his location.

Near Base 11!

This virtual reality simulated the environment around Base 11!

Interesting. Those from Base 11 had gained a home-field advantage.

"Absolutely fair? Absolutely impartial?"

Thinking of the Evergreen Fairy AI's announcement, Li Yi found it absurd, but it also reminded him not to place expectations on an organization whose internal forces were so tangled and complex.

As he pondered—

Whoosh!

A stone shot toward him at high speed.

Li Yi calmly sidestepped and avoided it.

But that was only the first wave.

Immediately afterward, more than a dozen stones came flying at him from different angles and in staggered succession.

Li Yi continued evading, weaving left and right, and easily dodged them all.

He was just about to charge over in one burst and claim first blood.

Suddenly, the flying stones stopped, and a voice came instead:

"Not bad. Your vigilance, reaction speed, and fighting ability are all impressive. You're worthy of becoming our companion. So, would you like to join us?"

Li Yi looked over and saw three young men emerge from the bushes with faint smiles.

"Only a few minutes after the start, and you've already linked up?"

"That's right. Smart people should know that the earlier it is, the more cooperation should come first."

A young man with delicate features, beautiful almost like a woman, took two steps forward first, closing the distance between himself and Li Yi.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Long Guanri, and I come from the Base 23 Power Clan."

"In the early stage, we gain an advantage through cooperation and sticking together. Then, once it comes down to the final ten, we can kill each other. That at least guarantees us entry into the next round's finals, doesn't it?"

The other two remained silent, standing with their arms folded.

Li Yi shook his head. "You make a good point, but I refuse."

Compared with three teammates whose backgrounds he knew nothing about, he would rather take three points first.

Besides, the other side had opened with an unending barrage of flying stones. Had it been someone else, they would already have died in this virtual reality.

Long Guanri's expression darkened.

"Good advice can't save someone determined to die!"

He clenched his fists, signaled to the two beside him, and they moved to surround Li Yi.

"For the sake of our future status as colleagues, we won't make you lose too badly. But forget about getting any points!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!!!

Long Guanri spat out a mouthful of blood that flew far away. He crashed against the corner of a wall, his face utterly drained.

Beside him, the other two had also been struck in their vital points by Li Yi's casual punches, turning into particles of light and slowly vanishing from the virtual reality.

"How are you this strong?"

Long Guanri's face filled with horror at the sight.

Li Yi walked over slowly and said casually:

"I didn't expect the three of you together to be this weak either. Aren't you from a Power Clan? Why don't you have any special inherited family skills?"

Long Guanri smiled bitterly.

He did have family skills.

But in his current state, how was he supposed to use them?

"Spare me. Let me live, and I can guarantee that after the competition ends, I'll restrain my family from coming to trouble you."

Long Guanri said between ragged breaths.

Li Yi looked surprised. "You're only a few minutes away from dying in this state, aren't you? Can you still keep yourself alive?"

"I have a family skill. I only need some time and two days of rest before I can fight again."

Li Yi shook his head. "The only benefit of sparing you is your verbal promise to keep your family from causing trouble. That sounds pretty hollow. If I have to worry about this and that even in a martial competition, wouldn't the top ten all end up being Power Clan members?"

"How about this, then? I'll buy one point from myself. I'll offer one hundred thousand Star Credits, and I'll transfer it to you immediately after the competition ends. How about it?"

A strange glint flashed in Long Guanri's eyes.

Li Yi had to admit that hearing that number did make him a little tempted.

But the Evergreen Fairy AI was monitoring the competition, and outsiders were watching at all times.

Perhaps the moment the deal went through, he would be reported for violating the rules.

Tsk tsk. What a sinister trap.

"Goodbye."

Li Yi moved his toes and kicked Long Guanri in the throat, ending him directly.