Chapter 156: 156. Discovery (Requesting Subscription)

156. Chapter 156: Discovery (Requesting Subscription)

"An interesting person has arrived…"

Inside the silver-metal building, a window opened, revealing a pair of eyes like autumn waters.

Hu Hu Yanqiu Shui gazed at Fang Xing in the square, a faint smile touching her lips.

"Hmm, today is the intern reporting day—let them enjoy one day of pride… Tomorrow, they'll be screaming for their mothers and fathers."

A massive man in armor sat by the bar, gulping down liquor in large swallows.

On the sofa beside him, a young man in black clothing, with a cold and rigid aura, wiped a pitch-black longsword.

"Luo Kai… you're a mecha engineer, yet you came here to intern in the virtual space battlefield? You really aren't afraid of death."

The black-clad youth finished polishing his sword and spoke.

"I came purely out of loyalty—we're the top three on the combat rankings, forming the 'Top Three Squad,' invincible…"

Luo Kai laughed: "Besides… truly accomplished mecha engineers all endured trials in the Secret Realm during their weak days… To awaken 'Inner Light,' this step is unavoidable. I feel my resonance with my mecha is already very high—maybe one day I'll deceive the Secret Realm's laws with my own mind and bring the mecha inside…"

The Secret Realm is profoundly idealistic, rejecting all technological power.

Yet the definition of technology itself is vague—some martial artists once tried bringing black powder weapons into the Secret Realm using martial will, but they couldn't even pierce the defenses of lower-tier servants.

Yet this suggests a possibility!

The possibility of deceiving the Secret Realm's laws!

Legend says mecha engineers who have refined Inner Light and fused nearly completely with their mecha can directly bring the mecha into the Secret Realm… though only into those with very high upper limits.

Currently, in virtual space combat, mecha engineers face heavy restrictions: they must design and build their own mecha to fight, precisely to mimic the Secret Realm, forcing them to not only master mecha modules but also develop an idealistic resonance, laying the foundation for future Inner Light development.

Legend also says many mecha engineers who developed Inner Light were exceptional mecha designers, even crafting their mecha primarily by themselves…

"Even without a mecha, your armor martial arts are enough."

Hu Hu Yanqiu Shui smiled at Luo Kai: "I have a promising junior—should we add someone to our squad?"

"No. If we add another, are we going to call it the 'Top Four Squad'? Sounds ridiculous…"

Luo Kai shook his head.

"No… I know who you mean. He's strong—he defeated a junior from my academy who held the top spot on the combat rankings. It made our Nine Swords Academy look bad."

The dark-haired, dark-eyed An Xing also shook his head: "He might be excellent, but our trio already syncs well. Adding someone new would require adjustment… and I don't want anyone splitting our military merits."

"Fine. Two against one—I withdraw my suggestion."

Hu Hu Yanqiu Shui sighed.

At this moment, the interns in the square began dispersing in small groups, heading to their dorms.

Beep!

Following the Omniscient Brain's map, Fang Xing arrived at a building.

Liquid metal automatically opened, revealing a dorm room.

The dorm was sizable—over thirty square meters—and crucially… he was the only one living here!

The shower, bathroom, and other facilities were fully equipped.

"Not bad!"

Fang Xing glanced around, mostly satisfied, then sat cross-legged on the bed, using meditation instead of sleep.

In the military camp, the privacy rights of Blue Star Federation citizens became Schrödinger's state—he resolved not to shuttle between worlds here.

But… in the Secret Realm, he could try.

'If I sneak a mecha into the cultivation world ahead of time, could my cultivation avatar bring it into the Secret Realm?'

?? ￠o

'If that doesn't work, what if I put it in a storage ring first?'

Fang Xing's mind filled with numerous plans to test the Secret Realm's sensitivity to rules.

But he'd just entered the military internship—better not play around yet.

He entered deep sleep, and soon after, he was jolted awake by a shrill whistle.

"Assemble!"

A gruff voice echoed through the dorm.

Fang Xing sprang up instantly; his nanofiber suit shifted, transforming into a second lieutenant's uniform, and his body blurred into a streak of light as he shot out of the dorm.

One second later, he stood on the square.

At the same time, other students descended, enveloped in their domain powers.

Most were martial artists of the Courage Realm, sprinting in with various body techniques—chaos erupted.

Ten seconds later, the square was packed with interns, all facing their instructor.

The instructor's profile had been sent to their emails yesterday: a major named John, with golden hair, blue eyes, deep features, and an immensely muscular build that stretched his training uniform to near bursting.

"Too slow!"

Major John stood with his hands behind his back, eyeing the elite students: "I waited ten full seconds! At this pace, you'll die on the battlefield! Now, all of you—run with weights. I won't stop you until I say so!"

Boom!

The moment he finished speaking, Fang Xing felt as if a mountain had crushed his back.

A large-scale gravity device had activated, reaching a level even Courage Realm martial artists struggled with.

'Of course… the first lesson is obedience, obedience, obedience!'

He silently shook his head but had no intention of being a troublemaker—he joined the other students in running.

They ran until afternoon, when several students were carried off to the infirmary, and only then did Major John call a halt.

"Now, you brats, what I'm about to tell you concerns your lives!"

Major John looked at the panting students, a mischievous grin spreading across his face:

"The virtual space has five alert levels! The highest, S-class, triggers appearances of unimaginable divine children, extraterrestrial demon gods, or similar threats—such events occur once every few decades, but when they do, it's up to the Federation's Wu Saints, Wu Gods, and mecha engineers to handle—you're not involved… A-class alerts mean upper-tier familiars appear; B-class, lower-tier familiars; C-class, upper-tier servants; D-class, lower-tier servants…"

"Generally, you'll receive only C or D-class missions. B-class and above are closed to you—but exceptions exist…"

…

The students listened with grave expressions.

Even lower-tier servants were terrifyingly powerful, requiring several martial artists to handle together.

Especially in the Secret Realm battlefield, where technological support was nearly impossible.

Upper-tier servants were even more fearsome—ordinary Outer Scenery martial artists couldn't match them.

As for lower-tier familiars? They were already comparable to minor natural disasters.

"Generally, rookies like you stand no chance against the demon spawn of the Secret Realm… but thanks to the Federation's space technology, we now hold numerical superiority…"

Major John continued: "Simply put—if you encounter a familiar one major realm above you, our side will deploy several times more warriors than they do. If the realms are roughly equal… there's no numerical advantage."

Fang Xing immediately understood.

The Federation could gain slight numerical advantage, but control over the Secret Realm constantly shifted between them and the extraterrestrial demon gods.

"Next, go to the weapons depot. Each of you take a hundred kilograms of weight, then we head to the Secret Realm for field training!"

Seeing many students turn pale, Major John grinned like a trickster: "Don't worry… we're using Federation-made space bubbles—you won't be thrown straight into death as rookies!"

Fang Xing and the others arrived at the weapons depot and were immediately awestruck.

All manner of blades, spears, swords, shields, bows, crossbows…

Black powder weapons, smoothbore cannons…

Even modern firearms…

Then laser guns, nanosuits, exoskeletons…

And of course, mecha.

Each weapon type filled an entire warehouse.

"Most of these weapons, except the most primitive ones, are useless—but better to have them and not need them…"

"In reality, in many situations, you can't even bring alloy weapons inside. The only thing you can truly rely on is your own fists!"

John said: "Now, just experience it. Load your weights and assemble in the space chamber!"

Fang Xing nodded, selecting an alloy battle knife, a flintlock pistol, and a laser gun—reaching his weight limit.

The group followed John into a metal castle.

Inside, the atmosphere grew even more grim.

Veteran students formed squads, standing at attention, occasionally entering a large metal room.

"There are eight space chambers total. We're going to Chamber 8—the training zone."

John arrived at a massive metal door marked with an "8," and opened it.

The group stepped into the metal hall.

Empty!

That was Fang Xing's first impression.

He'd expected high-tech equipment or strange rituals and arrays learned from extraterrestrial demon gods.

But he saw nothing at all.

"Has the Federation's space technology surpassed my understanding?"

"Perhaps the actual location isn't here… this is merely a 'station'… the true space teleportation equipment is hidden deep within layered space?"

Fang Xing was genuinely interested in space technology, but clearly, he wouldn't get to experience it this time.

Clank!

The metal door slowly closed, and a silver glow appeared.

Fang Xing suddenly recalled how easily Wei Wei Shentong had dominated him during the Hundred Stars Exam.

He felt the ground vanish beneath his feet.

When he reappeared, he stood on a barren wasteland.

A cold wind blew, not freezing, but unsettling.

He looked at himself and found his nanofiber outerwear had vanished entirely.

In his hands, the flintlock and laser gun were gone too.

Only the alloy battle knife remained.

"You bunch of rookies!"

John's signature roar rang out: "You've made too many mistakes along the way—I won't even mention your weapon choices, but the critical error was during the transit!"

He barked: "Those who still have weapons, step forward!"

Fang Xing stepped forward and found only a handful of students stood beside him; he fell into thought.