Chapter 39: Harvesting a Little

Such a human-nature-trapping strike actually missed; the Armor Dragon Fighter only feinted, poking its head out and immediately pulling it back. The lurker on the opposite bank, which had been like a rock, was directly exposed, and the Thrust it wanted to retract had already been caught by the Armor Dragon Fighter like lightning!

The Armor Dragon Fighter used the momentum to get ashore, leaving the audience dumbfounded; this was absolutely done with anticipation.

Boom...

Dark green liquid splashed; having lost its Thrust and Mimicry, the lurker was quite fragile, and while baring its fangs and brandishing claws in impotent rage, it was stomped to death.

Clearly, this was an extreme test of catching a lapse in psychological guard. After completing every incredible challenge, at the very end, when victory was within reach—the moment human nature is most fragile—came a cold-blooded, counter-psychological strike.

However, the Armor Dragon Fighter noticed it.

Either it was an instinctive judgment, or it was constantly observing the surroundings during the leap, even noticing the potential danger on the opposite bank; it had a considerable understanding of the Giant Insect.

At the same time, it possessed the precise multi-threaded mental ability of a top-tier pilot.

The Armor Dragon Fighter on the edge of the cliff threw away the Thrust in its hand, its whole body covered in insect blood and dust, covered in wounds. At this moment, the base was right before its eyes, but the Armor Dragon only looked at it silently, then turned to look back at the Kepler Jungle behind it.

The big screen froze.

EMP network-wide system announcement: ID Puppet has achieved the first clear of "Kepler Retreat Mission," obtaining an S-rank rating!

Every EMP player online across the Four Great Federations, whether in Virtual Mode or Real Mode, received this message—the kind you couldn't ignore even if you wanted to.

Roar~~~~

Zhuang Zhou completely stopped caring; screw his image, he jumped up and pounded his chest, "Puppet God, truly invincible!"

At this moment, the popularity of the Zhuang Zhou and Huonan livestream room had already broken five million, and with the system announcement, this number was still soaring.

An incredible and magical first clear.

Puppet's fans were completely crazed. After all, many were from the Xuni Qu and were even less capable of restraint. This was what they wanted; who said those in the Xuni Qu were all trash? Puppet God was their representative—one was enough!

A god-like performance, a perfect combination of ability, wisdom, and experience!

The stunned Huonan knew that the best choice at this time was to shut up. He wanted to find this guy's weak points in the replay; if that didn't work, he would use a feint to attack from the east while striking in the west, looking for flaws in his personality!

Damn it, this guy is too capable of causing trouble. This test isn't a solo test; it's a multiplayer test. As long as one person can pass at the end, that's it.

With you doing this, how are others supposed to live?

But only by doing this could one obtain the incomparably harsh S-rank rating, which meant telling everyone that this was the benchmark, this was the limit.

Puppet's first test journey concluded perfectly.

Li Hao had already taken off the device on his body. He wasn't breathing heavily, and his complexion had mostly recovered. There was consumption, but it hadn't reached that level; he simply loathed the Giant Insect and Kepler.

This was a place where hell and heaven merged. Most people only saw the heaven part, while Li Hao had had a deep experience of the hell side over the past few years under the care of Bleem. It was as if he were destined to go to that hellhole eventually. Fortunately, he had no money; even if he wanted to go, he couldn't, and it wouldn't matter who came.

Trash, it made even him hungry.

Hungry... a late-night snack? Suddenly, student Li Hao had an epiphany and hurriedly dialed the Skycom, and the other side answered almost instantly.

A gentle voice rang out, "Aiyouyou, are you hungry? Do you want a late-night snack?"

"Sure, Senior, I'm a little hungry too." A Youyou actually had no sleepiness at all, but she felt that a girl shouldn't be too proactive.

What is called like-mindedness, what is called tacit understanding? Ever since A Youyou appeared, Li Hao's world had also begun to become colorful. This was probably the fate that Ma Laoshi often talked about.

Puppet had logged off, but the EMP world at this moment suddenly became lively. The online rate, which had been gradually decreasing, soared all of a sudden. To this day, every first clear was a hot topic; after all, the easy ones had long since been ravaged over and over, and an S-rank first clear was bound to be explosive, not to mention it was the currently popular Kepler Battle Royale.

The first reaction to hearing this news was simply that it was a fantasy; even if it was a system push, they didn't quite believe it. How could it be possible!

Seeing... solo clear, they were even more suspicious that the system push was an error.

Wuzang was training when he received Zhou Naiyi's Skycom.

"Team Leader, what's up?" Wuzang wiped his sweat. Li Hao's performance still gave him great motivation; he was just such a straightforward boy who was easily focused.

"Wuzang, the Kepler Battle Royale has been first-cleared with an S rating."

What?

"Maxis or Fan Liweite?"

"Puppet!"

Wuzang was dumbfounded. He stood stunned for a long time before opening the EMP section of the Skycom. It was already exploding with heat. It not only attracted many military academy students but even more players from the Virtual Zone. In the past, the Reality Zone was something they couldn't reach, and many people had tried to challenge it before, but in the end, all their flashy moves were crushed in front of experts. But now, Puppet, who walked out of the Virtual Zone, not only didn't fall but also set a record. This was a natural sense of kinship, and a massive number of supporters were forming.

And in the commercial street outside Tianjing Martial Arts, nightlife had just begun. At an open-air barbecue restaurant, delicious grilled meat paired with beer—life was satisfactory.

The big screen was playing a Mecha competition. Li Hao was currently drinking beer and eating popcorn chicken with A Youyou.

Looking at A Youyou's cute appearance, Li Hao couldn't help but be in a good mood, "Aiyouyou, you wouldn't happen to be drinking beer for the first time, would you?"

A Youyou playfully wrinkled her little nose, "This tastes so bad."

"That's because your method of drinking is wrong. Like me, take a big gulp; what you want is that refreshing kick!" Li Hao drank half a cup in one go.

A Youyou tried it, and sure enough, the taste wasn't as bad anymore. A surge of energy rushed up, and there was also an inexplicable sense of refreshment.

"Come, have another one of these." Li Hao naturally reached out toward A Youyou, though he was panicking inside.

A Youyou hesitated for a moment, opened her mouth,... the taste really seemed different.

The Mecha battle highlights on the big screen suddenly switched. People who were drinking and chatting immediately protested, "Boss, what's the situation? Switch it back."

"I was just watching the climax, it was halfway through, why is it gone?"

Being right near Tianjing Martial Arts, almost all the restaurants and bars with big screens were showing Mecha battles.

At this moment, the big screen switched to the latest livestream, the first-clear analysis video of the Kepler Battle Royale. The timing was a bit late because both the officials and various civilian experts had to prepare.

Instantly, everyone became interested. This was the official EMP analysis being played. At the same time, the livestream room of Zhuang Zhou and Huonan hadn't stopped either, and the popularity had already reached 7.5 million.

A Youyou's interest was also very high, "Wow, this is very impressive!"

Li Hao smiled slightly, "You even know about this mission?"

"Hmph, Senior, I heard a hint of mockery in your tone." A Youyou blinked, carrying a bit of defiance.

"How could that be? I'm praising you for being so knowledgeable about cross-disciplinary subjects." Li Hao was no fool; he hurriedly waved his hands, refusing to admit it to the death.

"Then Senior has praised me; I really want to go to Kepler to see it, so I specifically looked into it."

"There's nothing good about that place Kepler. If you can avoid going, then don't go. Safety first," Li Hao said while drinking a cup.

This was not just a first clear; it was an S-rank first clear.

The first step: while almost everyone would try to find a way to escape, Puppet chose to deal with the twelve Razor Giant Insects first.

"This involves some specialized knowledge; after Giant Insects die, their bodies undergo a silicon-based hardening reaction, becoming extremely hard, and the claws of the Razor Giant Insects become even sharper, which the Puppet God made full use of," Zhuang Zhou said. They were using the official analysis video, and although Junior Zhuang was a newcomer, he was very lucky to have become an officially contracted streamer.

When the Flying Swallow Double Flight appeared on the screen, the entire cafeteria cheered, and caught up in the atmosphere, A Youyou jumped up along with them.

It was simply because this move was too cool and stylish.

Of course, for those wanting to complete the Kepler Battle Royale, such flashy maneuvers are something most experts avoid as they consume too much stamina, but he just did it anyway. Wuzang and Zhou Naiyi were watching in the VIP livestream room, and both were wondering how he would proceed after such a maneuver.

After finishing off the Razor Giant Insects, he advanced rapidly; the second wave was facing a pincer attack from Lurkers and Flame Bomb Giant Insects. The reverse retreat in this wave was fine, but it didn't solve the problem, and he ultimately fell into a deadly encirclement.

Then the critical moment arrived, and the analysis video, being very considerate, provided an ultra-slow-motion breakdown.

When the move is spent and the Mecha cannot make any further directional changes, how does one deal with the attack of the Bomb Insects?

Everyone widened their eyes; this was a certain-death situation.

However, when the Razor curved claw made contact with the Bomb Insect, it did not explode—a bug???

Not only did it not explode, but it was also flung away; why?

The slow-motion footage appeared: the curved claw did not collide directly with the Bomb Insect, but rather caught it, using the curved claw as a flat sliding rail, effectively performing a rotation to fling the Bomb Insect back out.

At this moment, the camera zoomed in again, highlighting the hand movements.

The Armor Dragon Fighter actually relied on finger movement to make the curved claw perform an internal rotation within the palm; only in this way could the Bomb Insect be handled without any sense of collision.

Everyone was stunned, because in the first slow-motion replay, they had only seen the swinging of the arm and had completely failed to notice the rotation of the curved claw in the hand.

Holy crap, my old darling, this maneuver!

Everyone who saw this scene was stunned; this level of detail...

"Those who professionally study Kepler should know that the explosion of Bomb Insects mainly relies on contact and impact; they are very sensitive to non-silicon-based substances and explode upon the slightest touch, but for silicon-based substances, they require a certain amount of impact. The Puppet God clearly has a deep understanding of this, using the curved claw as a bridge to dodge a fatal killing blow. Besides 'awesome,' I don't know how else to describe it. Senior Huonan, what do you think?" Zhuang Zhou asked; since it was an interactive session, he decided to add some interaction.

Huonan's expression remained unchanged. *Heh*, let me show you what professional is. He said indifferently: "It's alright, it seems he came prepared."

(This Swallow Double Fly is not that Swallow Double Fly, it's a move similar to Ukyo Tachibana's... I have seriously corrected the typos twice, there shouldn't be any this time; this thing is truly my lifelong nemesis.)