Returning to Base 341 Training Center

Mu Fan was somewhat distracted all afternoon. When Fatty insisted on sparring for over half an hour and truly could not hold on any longer, Mu Fan stopped and stood there.

"Mu Fan, what's wrong?"

"There's something I want to deal with."

"What is it?" Fatty asked curiously, rubbing his wrist.

"Do you know Young Master Wen?" Mu Fan asked quietly.

Fatty was a little confused. "Which Young Master Wen?"

"The Second Councilor's only son." Mu Fan repeated what he had heard from Man Kun.

"Wen Zheming!?" Fatty frowned and asked Mu Fan, "Why are you suddenly asking about him? That guy is ruthless. His reputation in our circles isn't very good."

"He's here too."

"What!?" Fatty suddenly jumped up. He was actually Wen Zheming's neighbor? What kind of joke was that? How had he not known?

Mu Fan organized his thoughts before saying to Fatty, "My friend's leg was broken. I want to find him."

Fatty grew anxious as well. "Absolutely not! That man is too dangerous."

Mu Fan narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "I have to go."

Fatty suddenly remembered that this guy was also a pig pretending to be a tiger, but he still said worriedly, "Mu Fan, you absolutely, absolutely must not provoke him. Otherwise, we really won't be able to handle the consequences."

Mu Fan nodded. "I just want to find time to be his sparring partner."

"He's gone crazy." Fatty muttered to himself. Believing that sentence from Mu Fan would be even more outrageous than saying a space pirate had turned over a new leaf.

"You don't believe me?" Mu Fan raised the punching target in his hand and nodded at Fatty. "Again!!"

Helplessly, Fatty forced himself back to his feet.

After an afternoon of training, Fatty was so exhausted that he did not want to say another word. Since he had made a friend like Mu Fan, he could do whatever he wanted.

There was not the slightest trace of fatigue on Mu Fan's face. The entire afternoon had passed without incident.

But it was like the calm before a storm. The calmer things were now, the more violent what came next would be.

After changing clothes, Fatty immediately fled the hell that was having Mu Fan around. They agreed to meet again tomorrow at ten. Mu Fan also went downstairs to change.

Hmm? That figure?

Mu Fan was walking toward the changing room with his head lowered when he suddenly saw someone staggering past from the side. As the man passed Mu Fan, his body swayed.

Mu Fan quickly reached out to steady him. Looking up, he saw Jerff!

Jerff's right eye was swollen shut, while blood kept flowing from the corner of his left eye. His eyes were nearly reduced to slits. Not realizing that Mu Fan was supporting him, he tried to shove him away.

"Get lost. I don't need your help."

Mu Fan's hand steadily supported Jerff's shoulder. Jerff was a full head taller than Mu Fan and almost twice as broad, yet Mu Fan held him firmly in place.

"It's you, kid?" Only then did Jerff see that Mu Fan was the one supporting him.

"Young Master Wen?" Mu Fan mentioned only one name, but Jerff understood what he meant and raised a hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Yeah. He hit too hard. Couldn't dodge it. Tough bastard. But I took it, heh..." Jerff's mouth tugged at his wound, and pain made his face twitch.

"I'll find Chanisen tomorrow. I'll go." Mu Fan looked up at the burly man whose face had been battered beyond recognition.

"This is my job. Nobody's taking it!" Jerff felt as though Mu Fan was looking down on him. Angered, he shook off Mu Fan's hand and staggered into the changing room.

Mu Fan did not stop him this time. He watched Jerff's back in silence, his eyes bright. The sense that battle was about to come drew ever nearer.

After work, he accepted the 500 Star Coins with both hands. An hour later, Mu Fan appeared at the abandoned factory on time. No one had triggered the alarms, and claw marks in the fine sand showed that birds had been feeding here.

The meat had been finished in three meals. Should he carry back a few boxes of Nutritional Meals at night from now on? Covered by a blanket, Mu Fan gazed at the stars overhead as waves of hunger rose in his stomach again. Today, his Helmet had been locked in the safe in Room 9. He would wait for tomorrow.

Mu Fan felt incomparably calm as he drifted into sleep, soft starlight bathing his entire body.

The next morning, Mu Fan appeared at the martial arts gym early again. The cleaning staff were carrying out their daily cleaning. After nodding to the burly man in black at the entrance, Mu Fan went inside, ate ten boxes of breakfast in one go, wiped his mouth, and headed up to the third floor.

The restaurant staff watched Mu Fan's departing back and thought that the gym would have to cut someone's salary in half to afford keeping him fed. Otherwise, they would lose too much money. Was this guy here just to freeload meals?

Naturally, Mu Fan had no idea what the people behind him were thinking. He leisurely entered Training Room 4 on the third floor.

After changing clothes, the wound on his back had faded greatly and was almost gone. Mu Fan was incredibly careless about such things. All he knew was that he had been especially hungry when he came in this morning!!

PO Battle Network? Gravity Room?

A lot had happened at the gym yesterday. Today, Mu Fan had a faint urge to talk to someone. After thinking it over, he decided to go to the PO Battle Network and see if he could find Black! If he could not find him, he could always fight that perverted Fighter Instructor a couple of times. He was feeling inexplicably irritated!!

Mu Fan took out his optical computer Helmet and pressed the activation button. His vision went dark, and he returned to the familiar scene.

Dear "Egg Lord," would you like to enter the PO Battle Network?

Yes. Wait, system, is there an option to change my name?

"Sorry, player Egg Lord does not have permission to change names."

Damn Black. Mu Fan gritted his teeth slightly. Forget it, enter.

The light mist dispersed, and Mu Fan returned to where he had logged off yesterday. Once again, the place was bustling with people. After all, this was not just one planet's population. People came and went here at every moment.

He quietly watched the interzone transport vehicles weave through the broad streets. There were no traffic jams like in reality, no blaring horns, no chaotic crowds. Hover Cars of every model, some seen in reality and others not, most of which he could not name, came and went in orderly streams.

Standing among them, Mu Fan stared until he nearly lost himself in thought. This place was like a pure land. No wonder people were fascinated by it.

On both sides stood all kinds of shops with signs such as "Mechanical Repair Shop," "Mecha Parts Shop," and "Underground Exchange." The sight made Mu Fan's heart stir.

Could it be because he still had something on his mind? Today, he kept feeling as though there was something he had not done. Mu Fan confirmed it. The root of it was Man Kun. He had not finished what needed to be done, and the thought would not settle.

If Jerff could take it, he would go to him himself.

If Jerff could not take it, he would go to him himself.

Mm, simple and brutal. Mu Fan's thoughts felt a little clearer. So what next? Go fight the Fighter!!!!

He had died twice. He could not accept that! Mu Fan still held a grudge over yesterday's brutal deaths. What the hell had Black done? He could not even bring out seventy percent of his strength. Still, he had adapted a little to the PO Battle Network's rhythm yesterday. Today, he would fight again!!! He would deal with the rest after Fatty arrived!

He set off at once and found the nearest Teleportation Point!

Mu Fan stepped into the circle of light, his destination Base 341!

On a distant planet, within a massive supercomputer database occupying vast grounds, a segment of code finally passed logical screening after more than ten hours of automatic refinement.

PO Battle Network data sub-database!!

A stream of data instantly took shape. Several ripple-like flashes crossed the monitoring screen before vanishing, while the staff happened to be away from the screen.

The PO Battle Network data sub-database, the recruit Training Base codenamed 341, split into two within the battle network world as though overlapping, then merged back into one. The mystery lay in the metal door at the entrance.

The many players inside the original Base 341 recruit Training Base only felt their vision go dark before returning to normal.

Mu Fan was now standing in the corridor of Base 341. Before him was the familiar metal revolving door. The countdown on the electronic screen beside it had reached zero, and the screen's background had turned green.

"Hello, recruit 'Egg Lord.' This is your Base 341 Training Center."

Mu Fan did not notice that the system's words contained two extra characters.

"Please select a training program. One: Individual Combat Training. Two: Mecha Piloting Training."

"Individual Combat Training."

The metal revolving door opened, and the dark, silent corridor disappeared...