Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
Mu Fan knew nothing about this!
Chubby Harry was here. Young Master Harry was a bit rushed on his way here, mainly because he woke up late.
He had heard the loud chitchat when he passed by the lobby, but he thought that it was normal for the Budokan with this many people; he didn’t care much and went straight upstairs.
Don’t know when Mu Fan’s going to go; I’ll have to talk him out of this.
Then, it was like deja vu when they first met as Chubby Harry and Mu Fan stared at each other without saying a word.
“You… you didn’t go yet?” Chubby Harry looked around and asked anxiously.
Mu Fan was sitting straight up, so straight that his back was almost curving backward. He scared Chubby Harry with his grimacing expression in pain.
This seems odd; shouldn’t Mu Fan be either in the individual training room or be in the virtual world with the optical computer helmet on? What’s this all about?
I didn’t do anything bad these days… Chubby Harry went through the schedule that he had over these few days and couldn’t think of anything wrong.
“Ahem, ahem.” Chubby Harry pretended to cough with his fist covering his mouth.
“Uhm, Mu Fan… What are you doing? Are you waiting for me?” Chubby Harry asked dully as his mind dazed off.
Mu Fan’s face suddenly twitched. “Siii… Ouch!”
Chubby Harry’s heart lurched slightly as he wondered, What’s with Mu Fan’s weird tone. Did he take the wrong medicine?
The intercom near the door suddenly rang. “Beep, Practice Partner Mu Fan, please answer.”
“Practice Partner Mu Fan, please answer.”
It was definitely the internal telecom of the Budokan as it repeated the call.
“It’s Mu Fan.”
Chubby Harry’s heart lurched seeing Mu Fan picking up without hesitation. Is Mu Fan going to head to Wen Zheming’s room now? Chubby Harry’s brows pinched together as he was about to speak up, but what he heard afterwards stunned him on the spot.
“It’s Charison, hahahahaha. Well done, boy! You’re getting an extra 2,000 star coins bonus today. Young Master Wen left in a good mood and even left some money for Man Kun and Jereff. That’s like a miracle! Jereff’s not crippled, so he can still fight, and Man Kun will be moved onto administrative duties. Boy, they should really thank you for this; you really did withstand Young Master Wen!!! You’re going to be the gold medal practice partner of our Starfall Budokan now! Hahahaha… Oh right, do you know what made Young Master Wen change his mind?” Charison’s laughter came right through as soon as the call was picked up. Clearly, he was in a great mood as he talked non-stop, and Mu Fan and Harry could only stare blankly at the wall as they listened.
“Uhm…” Chubby Harry opened his mouth softly.
“Uhm what?! I’m asking about what happened with Young Master Wen today?” Charison was displeased when he got interrupted, but he decided to forgive Mu Fan for his work today!
“This is Harry Fuwen, Manager Charison!” Chubby Harry got mad at Charison, who wouldn’t let him speak, especially when he was still in front of Mu Fan.
You are making me look bad!
“Ugh… Good day, Young Master Harry. I apologize; I didn’t know you were there as well.” Charison paused a bit, and then his attitude turned 180 degrees; he was fawning when he spoke up again.
“Eh.” Chubby Harry nodded in satisfaction. “Mu Fan is my practice partner, who’s going to be here if it isn’t me? You?”
Charison became speechless and politely said his goodbyes before hanging up the call.
Seeing Chubby Harry looking at him with glistening eyes, Mu Fan rubbed his nose and said unnaturally, “Uhm, it has been resolved… With Young Master Wen.”
Chubby Harry was stunned for three seconds. Then, he charged at Mu Fan’s legs. “You’re amazing! Come here!!!”
“F*ck off!” Mu Fan blocked Chubby Harry’s big face with his hand, pushing him away.
“What’s with your hand?”
“It’s injured. That Young Master Wen was strong when he unleashed his power, but I’m fine. The injury is lighter than it seems.”
Finally, taking in consideration of Mu Fan’s status, Chubby Harry dragged Mu Fan into the PO Battle Network with a legitimate excuse of letting his arm muscles rest.
…
Both of them logged on!
Lemon Balloon – location: No. 171 battle lobby VIP room no. CC1029.
Lord Egg – location: Rookie Training Camp 341.
Lemon Balloon asked, “Mu Fan, how come you’re back at the rookie training camp?”
Lord Egg replied, “Yeah, I need to practice piloting the mech. You go first.”
Lemon Balloon said, “That’s not going to work. How are we going to form a team if you’re in the rookie training camp all the time?”
Lord Egg answered, “Give me five days.”
Mu Fan clenched his teeth together after sending the voice message. He had to learn, starting from the basic mech knowledge. He didn’t even know the theories yet. Black had stopped the body motion synchronization, so he didn’t know how to control a mech at all!
He must find Black.
Lemon Balloon replied, “I’m going to be so bored. Alright, I don’t expect you to be amazing at piloting mechs. I think you’re better at the hand-to-hand combat zone.”
Chubby Harry accepted the current schedule in the end.
Mu Fan stood in front of that familiar metal rotating door, and the system notification sound came again.
“Welcome, Rookie ‘Lord Egg’, this is your Base Training Camp 341.”
“Please choose your training program: 1. Individual Combat Training; 2. Mech Operation Training.”
“Mech operation training.”
The night-time quickly approached Mu Fan, and stars lit up the entire sky. This time, Mu Fan wasn’t standing on synthesized material. Instead, he was standing on a flat soil ground that was common on Planet Loga. With simulation level at 85%, Mu Fan could feel the breeze that was blowing at him.
Deng, deng, deng.
Suddenly, the sound of strong lights turning on came from his sides and continued in front of him. The sound of electricity passing through wires seemed like it was endless.
Mu Fan’s eyes were stimulated by the intense light, so he squinted his eyes before opening them again. He was at an empty base surrounded by walls in all directions, and that white skeleton which Mu Fan once rode on, the generation-zero human form general purpose mech, Model EH01, was at the end of his vision.
Mu Fan couldn’t forget the experience when he turned into the mech itself and fought against the two Raiders, nor could he forget the moment when he was blown up in the end.
Although this white skeleton-like mech was heavy, crude, and out of date, none of this was in the way of how excited Mu Fan felt towards his first ever mech!
Mu Fan was unable to use language to express how excited he was when he touched his first mech again. The cold sensation from the metal was transmitted through his warm hands into his brain.
Cluck! The sound of a camera shutter appeared.
Mu Fan jumped away in alert.
“Hahaha! Mu Fan, I’ve left a backdoor program in the mech operation training. Your entrance will automatically initiate my program. I was lucky enough to capture the scene when you were feeling up the mech with that dirty smile.” A silver ball bounced out and flew around Mu Fan cheerfully.
Black!
Mu Fan didn’t even have a temper anymore! Black was like a spirit, disappearing when he needed it the most and reappearing at random times. This mischievous A.I. was even more out of control after having a physical body within the PO Battle Network.
“You’ve finally picked mech operation, and I’ll be teaching you this time. Mech operation is your weakness right now, and you can go for your individual combat training when you have time.” Mu Fan could imagine Black’s playful expression when it said that. But when he looked over, it was still a levitating ball with a simple smiley face.
“Now, let’s enter the cockpit!”
Mu Fan stood still for a while without a reaction, and he scratched his head, looking at Black. “How?”
“Oh right, I forgot to introduce this. This mech is a very old model, so it requires the traditional entry… Go to the back of the leg and climb up; that shouldn’t be a problem for you.” Black’s cyber voice didn’t sound like he was sorry at all.
Mu Fan was at a loss for words.
With the bright lights illuminating the night sky, a young boy looked like a snail as he climbed up the six-meter-tall metal skeleton.
“At least tell me how to open the door!” The young boy’s roar echoed in the base training camp.