Chapter 52: Concept Mech

Li Hao left. Long Danni rubbed her forehead. When she first took the position, she was full of ambition; how hard could it be to manage a school?

Only now did she realize that one truly cannot be as swift and decisive as in the military. Here, one must boil the frog in warm water. The key issue was that their strength was insufficient. While the strength of Gao Yunfeng's team had improved, compared to their greenness during S10, they had reached their peak state with juniors and seniors as the main force. The problem was, based on her understanding, this situation was far from enough, because their opponents were improving even more.

The problem Li Hao just mentioned was indeed quite realistic. Zhou Naiyi, Ye Tong, and Wuzang were all very outstanding, but their combat experience was still far from enough, especially their tactical literacy in team battles. In fact, she knew about their scheduled match against the Marco Polo Second Team, and the result was not too surprising. Wuzang and Ye Tong were still stuck in their own individual rhythms; in their minds, they thought about considering the team, but when it came to action, they became hesitant. As the Team Leader, Zhou Naiyi's intentions were good, but she lacked a certain dominance and prestige. Her personality made it easy for teammates to accept her, but this acceptance was not the same as conviction. When encountering difficulties, she lacked the ability and confidence to turn the tide.

This was also the problem with newcomers. Was one year enough?

Long Danni's original intention was to break before building, but it was not that simple.

Li Hao was sending a message to A Youyou, but A Youyou did not have time today; she had to train.

"Senior, I'll slip out as soon as I find a free moment!"

A Youyou also left a big smiley face. Thinking of A Youyou's appearance, Li Hao was also all smiles.

The news quickly reached Zhou Naiyi, Ye Tong, and the others. They all called via Skynet to complain, leaving Li Hao with no choice but to comfort them. This matter could not be blamed on the principal; from the very beginning, he had not held high hopes.

Ye Tong wanted to ask her family for help, but Li Hao refused. Ye Tong did not have much say in this matter. If one were to calculate, the Nangong Family would certainly be the most hateful, but if they were going to retaliate, they would have done so long ago. If they were preparing some plan, they would be even less likely to alert the enemy over such a trivial matter, so no matter what Ye Tong said, it would be useless.

After the afternoon classes ended, Zhou Naiyi and the others suddenly became busy. Professor Meng Ye had already agreed. He was a staunch supporter of USE mechas. Gao Yunfeng and his group had invited him before, but Meng Ye believed these people had already been brainwashed by NUP tactics and were already set in their ways. Their tactical habits were fully formed, and without a strong subjective will, forced changes were meaningless.

However, Zhou Naiyi's team was different; they possessed individual ability and had a strong desire to win, making them very suitable. Plus, with the two supernovas Ye Tong and Wuzang, there was great potential.

Li Hao, on the other hand, suddenly became free. He opened his EMP account,...?

One zero, two zeros...??

Li Hao was stunned. Why was there a huge sum of over seventy thousand?

But it didn't matter. Li Hao casually transferred it to another account; that place needed money more than he did. Soon, the balance of over seventy thousand was reduced to only two thousand. Feeling the charm of money, Li Hao went to the EMP Building with great interest after eating. It seemed that even this brightly lit building was a bit more handsome than usual.

The principal was still very kind. Although he could no longer fight for the school, his status in the EMP remained, which allowed Li Hao to quickly have his own training room.

What Li Hao did not know was that at this moment, in the EMP system, many players, especially ROM ones, were waiting.

Facing the overwhelming barrage of challenges, Li Hao scanned through them. There were all kinds of people, many of whom were just there to join in the fun. He had to pick one with a high score from among them.

In the EMP system, there were two sets of names: one was a nickname, and the other was the real name plus the academy. The latter was mostly used for formal training.

ID: Purple Flash, real name Mashu, from the NUP Yongye A-Grade Military Academy. As a fourth-year student, he represented the academy in the S10, participating in the light-type mecha individual competition, and eventually won 15th place. He had graduated this year and became an EMP-signed professional player. Besides being a streamer, he also participated in the Super Mecha Tester Program. His concept mecha was the Flash Knight.

"Our Moon Person light-type mechas are the mainstream of human mecha development. There is really no need to argue about the Earthlings' old antiques or the Martians' 'neither fish nor fowl' machines. I will wait for this person to come online for the next few days to show everyone what a new-era Mobile Suit really is!"

Mashu spoke eloquently, then played his Flash Knight combat highlights. His popularity on the Moon was quite high, and the Flash Knight mecha model enjoyed great popularity throughout the Solar System Alliance.

After graduating and becoming an EMP professional player, he formulated his own path to rapid fame: specifically selecting well-known professional players from the USE and ROM to challenge, demonstrating the all-around superiority of the Moon.

Before this, he would occasionally go to Titan to bully some newbies in the USE and ROM. This kind of scripted challenge had great entertainment value, and coupled with his genuine strength and the lingering prestige of last year's S Tournament, Mashu quickly accumulated popularity and became a top-tier streamer in the NUP.

Recently, a web-famous professional player named Puppet had emerged in the USE. His popularity was extremely high, and he had many followers. He was called "the delusion of a declining empire" by other federations, as he very stubbornly used Armor Series mechas to win, in order to gain the favor of USE audiences. Clearly, it was intentional. In essence, this kind of combat effect could indeed satisfy the bit of self-esteem of Earthlings, but the problem was, the higher the popularity, the easier it was to become a target.

Mashu was not only strong but also had a sharp business mind. He had a clear plan when he gave up entering the military to transition into a professional player. On his list were several targets, including Puppet. Puppet was considered middle-of-the-road, but recently Puppet had been a bit hot. If he didn't take the opportunity to harvest this big leek now, it might not be his turn later.

Winning was inevitable because he was using the Flash Knight. The only question was whether the other party dared to accept the challenge. In any case, no matter the situation, he wouldn't lose out on this wave.

In mecha warfare, nothing is impenetrable; only speed cannot be broken!

Even for NUP's medium and heavy mechas, speed was always the main subject for designers.

Speed is life.

If the opponent used a similar mecha, the difficulty would increase, but he still had confidence. After all, he was an S Tournament player. And if it were old antiques like the Armor Dragon or Armor Tiger, he would hang them up and beat them!

"Friends, let me state my point. Now all federations are preparing for the S11. I think our NUP will complete the first three-peat in human history and achieve a dynasty. The USE and ROM do not constitute any threat in general; they can at most find some face-saving excuses in individual events. This Puppet is likely a web celebrity manufactured by the USE to regain some face. He doesn't even dare to speak, and he has rejected most challenges. As soon as he comes online, I will issue a VIP-style challenge to see if he dares to accept. If he doesn't, then I can't help it..."

Mashu spoke eloquently, occasionally adding humorous jokes. On the road of showing off, the Moon People's level and sense of superiority were stronger. Although Martians would bite at anyone, they wouldn't bite the Moon People unless absolutely necessary.

While the USE and ROM were making a fuss, he came out to harvest. For a web celebrity like Puppet, losing once would make him worthless, but this one time could bring him super-high attention, and advertisements and everything else would pour in.

Therefore, among EMP professional players, unless they happened to meet in rankings, they were quite cautious about scheduled matches.

Tianxing Martial Arts training room.

"Is this guy an idiot? The Flash Knight is a Concept Mech; the opponent can refuse." Feynman couldn't help but curl his lips.

In the EMP mecha arsenals of the Four Great Federations, there were a certain number of "Super Mechas." These mechas were also known as Concept Mechs. Their performance was super excellent, but there were still certain problems with their existence in reality, mainly for collecting further information.

Military academies would use them, but they could not be used in the S Tournament. Top players like them would not choose them for sparring or team battles; this was an unspoken agreement.

And in the development of Super Mechas, the NUP led the way. In this regard, the other three federations were indeed lagging behind.

The Flash Knight was a super version of the Silver Knight mecha, about two generations ahead of the Silver Knight. This was also why Feynman was annoyed. Relying entirely on the mecha to show off—although he had lost, Feynman respected Puppet; he was someone with real strength.

"He's not stupid at all. Don't you think Puppet never cares what his opponent uses?" Alzi laughed. "In case Puppet accepts, and he ends Puppet's winning streak, wouldn't this wave of popularity be worth it?"

"Damn, does winning like this count as winning? That's the victory of the mecha!" Feynman just didn't accept it; he looked down on such people, even if the other party was a Moon Person.

"What's there to accept or not? Mashu and that Centaur Mecha user from last time, they are EMP professional players. They need popularity and victory; they don't care about these things, and their fans don't care either. And I think with Puppet's strength, even if he chooses the Armor Dragon, he still has a chance to fight," Alzi laughed. He could understand that Feynman had developed admiration for Puppet, but honestly, there was no need.

"What if it's the Armor Tiger? I suspect he chooses mechas randomly and has limited the pool to the Armor Series," Feynman said with a bitter smile. He didn't want to see the opponent he admired fall in such an inexplicable and meaningless battle. A person like him couldn't possibly accept a challenge for that bit of money.

"Then there's nothing to be done," Alzi shrugged, a bit confused about what Puppet was actually trying to do.