Chapter 71: Star Mind Energy

“Boom”

The black exosuit was simultaneously torn apart by the claws of several yellow monsters, then exploded in a burst of fire.

Wang Yu felt a sharp pain in his body, his vision went black, and he returned to the pitch-black game pod, yet his skin still throbbed with lingering heat.

Before he could steady his mind, a beeping alert sounded in his ear, and a flicker of white light appeared before him—a shape resembling an envelope materialized.

“This is…”

A flicker of suspicion crossed Wang Yu’s eyes, and he instinctively tapped it with his finger.

“Puff.”

The envelope shattered open, and a golden certificate stamped with the large red characters “EXCELLENT” floated into view, accompanied by the game’s melodious female voice:

“Citizen Ding Yu of Blue Star, China, has passed the Star River Recruit System test with excellent results. You are now entering the hidden training scenario.”

As soon as the words ended, the golden certificate blazed with light.

A surge of golden radiance swept across Wang Yu’s vision, and the surroundings reappeared—he stood inside a transparent glass room, its exterior filled with an endless expanse of deep blue seawater, as if he were submerged in the ocean.

At the room’s center stood a flat metallic platform, ejecting a white light column one meter in diameter.

Within the column stood a lifelike projection of an old man in a white robe.

The old man looked bizarre: his facial features resembled a Western Caucasian, but his head was twice the normal size, completely bald with deep wrinkles, his body short and emaciated, resembling a giant-headed doll.

Wang Yu stood in the room, dazed, staring at the projection.

The white-robed old man’s projection began speaking on its own:

“Star Mind Art, also called Mind Energy Art, is a specialized cultivation method developed over thirty years by the Blue Star Alliance government, based on the Royal Mind Techniques of the Kli Empire, using five Blue Star S-rank psychic abilities.”

By cultivating this art, mech pilots can greatly increase their mental energy capacity, better control advanced mechs, and directly attack enemies with psychic force through their mechs—it is a mandatory ability for every Star-class mech pilot.”

Star Mind Energy is divided into nine levels, each corresponding to a mech’s rank. Theoretically, a Nine-Star Mech Master can, with mech amplification, disrupt planetary gravity in space and redirect large meteorites to strike enemies.”

Star Mind Energy cannot be cultivated by everyone; those who fail the mental energy test have no qualification to train. The detection now begins…”

As soon as the white-robed old man finished speaking, his tiny eyes, previously hidden beneath layers of eyelids, suddenly widened, and a pale white crystalline light shot from his pupils.

The moment Wang Yu’s gaze met the crystalline light, his head grew heavy, his eyes glazed over, and he could no longer think at all.

…

After an unknown length of time, Wang Yu suddenly came to his senses and found himself still standing in the glass room, but the white-robed old man’s projection now had normal eyes and spoke to him calmly:

“You have passed the mental energy test. The first three levels of Star Mind Energy cultivation methods and Star Mind Energy shackles have been implanted in you.”

According to the Blue Star Alliance’s Special Abilities Confidentiality Act, you must not disclose any information regarding Star Mind Energy to anyone outside the mech pilot corps.”

You must not reveal Star Mind Energy cultivation methods above your own rank to any mech pilot of lower rank.”

You must not use Star Mind Energy in violation of regulations toward ordinary Blue Star Alliance citizens.”

You must not use Star Mind Energy for any purpose violating the Blue Star Alliance’s First Interstellar Constitutional Code.”

…

Should you violate any of these rules, the mental shackles implanted in you will automatically detonate your Star Mind Energy.”

The white-robed old man rattled off more than a dozen rules, leaving Wang Yu stunned.

But the next moment, the old man waved his hand, and his projection vanished from the light column—only for a new figure to flash into view: a middle-aged soldier with a stern face.

He sat behind a silver-white metal desk, wearing the standard Blue Star Alliance military uniform from the game.

“Congratulations, Subject GLX. You have been secretly conscripted by the Blue Star Alliance government into the Special Reserve, assigned to the Interstellar Tactical Mech Squad. This conscription is mandatory, non-refusable, non-appealable, and non-disclosable. Estimated service commencement: October 10th, ten years from now.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldier picked up a seal on his desk and stamped it heavily onto a document, then tossed it toward Wang Yu.

“Whoosh.”

The document passed through the light column and materialized as a phantom shadow, landing directly before Wang Yu.

The moment he reached out to touch it, the document instantly dissolved into a burst of white light and settled onto his wrist.

The white light condensed, revealing a translucent, high-tech wristwatch.

On its rectangular screen, a countdown of year, month, and day was clearly displayed—exactly ten years from today, ticking down second by second.

Wang Yu was speechless, about to ask the soldier more questions, but the man waved his hand—and vanished in a shower of white light from the glass room.

In the base, the glass cover of the black game pod suddenly opened.

Wang Yu stepped out, his expression strange, glanced at the digital clock on the table—it had been exactly one night.

He raised his hand and looked at his wrist—empty. He closed his eyes, and instantly, the cultivation method of “Star Mind Art” appeared in his mind.

He had already read this method inside the game pod—it was simple and clear, but the cultivation technique was peculiar, and some auxiliary tools were extremely rare, impossible for ordinary people to obtain.

At that moment, Zhao Jun’s voice echoed in the room:

“Ding, get up and eat. After breakfast, I’ll be waiting for you in the training hall. This morning, I’ll train you. This afternoon, you’ll instruct the others.”

Wang Yu paused, temporarily setting aside the bizarre events from the game, and hurriedly left the room.

…

Inside the silver-white hall, Wang Yu stared at a metallic sphere floating in the air. Opposite him, the muscular Zhao Jun stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed intently on the same sphere.

Under the influence of their abilities, the sphere drifted left, then right—until Wang Yu’s strength gave out and he collapsed onto the floor, allowing the sphere to float steadily to Zhao Jun’s front.

“Hah! Even though you’re both D-rank, Ding, you clearly haven’t trained enough—you don’t know how to use your ability with technique,” Zhao Jun said, laughing as he settled the sphere gently on the ground.

“Technique?” Wang Yu blinked.

“You really think using psychic abilities means just brute-forcing them?” Zhao Jun glanced sideways at Wang Yu with a grin.

“Isn’t it?” Wang Yu countered.

“Heh, watch this.” Zhao Jun said nothing more, chuckled, pulled a short wooden stick from his pocket, tossed it into the air, and widened his eyes.

The stick began spinning on its own, faster and faster, until tiny wood shavings flew off from its tip.