No a single shot was fired. Vrooom, in a straight line, he deviated from the designated direction and flew quickly towards the opposite direction.
Instantly, everyone was dumbfounded. What happened a while ago…
Lost control?
Wang Zheng had actually lost control! Wasn’t this too outrageous?
After a long time, the mech finally stopped at a faraway location. After which, it flew slowly back and Wang Zheng said, “I’m sorry. I lost control…”
Wang Zheng’s voice came from the communication device.
Everyone was in a daze. Wang Zheng, who always performed well, suddenly scored a zero. No one could believe it. Zhang Shan rubbed his eyes and said, “It’s just a mistake, everyone makes mistakes. Moreover, this was just your first time.”
“Mountain Maiden, stop your nonsense. It’s your turn.”
A voice from the communication device was urging Zhang Shan to hurry. It was obvious that Zhang Shan was acting a little weird after he entered the space mech. For someone who always liked to show off, there must have been a problem when he passed the opportunity to perform while shrinking backwards.
“Yes, Mountain Maiden, hurry up.” Various voices were urging him. Zhang Shan clenched his teeth and his mech rushed out. His movements were just like a mad drunkard… Even the mech looked like it was drunk and could not keep up with the directions given by the system. Just like this, after rushing for less than half the distance, Zhang Shan stopped immediately while still swaying. After which, his voice came from the communication device. “I can’t take it anymore….. I… I give up…”
Grrr— Zhang Shan had not completed his sentence when vomiting sounds came from the communication device. He felt airsick.
In the control room, General Drachmach was smiling gently. Apparently, he had expected this result. Su Yan shook his head and said, “It is just as expected. The deeper one’s understanding about space, the more likely it is that one will have cognitive errors when they enter a space mech. However, once he gets used to it, he will experience a great leap forward.”
Drachmach smiled and said, “Let’s not give our conclusion. To always be successful wouldn’t be great. It would be better for them to experience some setbacks.”
Su Yan nodded. With a change in focus, the second stage of the performance training was starting.
Under the control of Su Yan, the surrounding images of the training ground underwent another change. The space targets lost their colors within the lights and a huge mothership appeared opposite of them
“Seems that there won’t be time for rest,” said Zhang Shan as his face turned pale. He had forgotten to switch off the communication device when he vomited. The respect and awe he had built up thus far was gone in an instant.
Wang Zheng was speechless too. He couldn’t understand. Zhang Shan and Wang Zheng had the best understanding of space. Their judgements on the effects of zero gravity in space were clearly the strongest among the rest. So why had they become the weakest once they entered the space mech?
At this moment, they did not have much time to think about it.
Buzz, buzz, buzz… Rays of lights shone from the mothership from the opposite end. It was a massive collection of spaceships, and they were rushing out from the mothership. Within the crowd of spaceships, there were multiple black, camouflaged space mecha.
Space mecha were mainstream in today’s space warfare. However, spaceships had not been eliminated, as compared to mecha, the costs of training operators of spaceships were lower and had lower requirements. This made it suitable for large scale frontal battles. Space mecha were used either for defense or attacking or were used under the coordination and protection of spaceships for raiding the enemy’s capital ships… which was what the mothership was doing now. A space mech would be paired with 10 spaceships, forming a battle unit. Approximately 10 of such battle units would form a knife-shaped formation and were used for assault.
“The second stage of the assessment will be a defensive battle!”
“If you do not want to lose to bots, you will have to show your true abilities.”
Lie Xin roared loudly as she led the group of people from Mars and was the first to rush out.
Achilles smiled and brought the crowd from the Moon and Taros to face the bots head on.
Wang Zheng flew towards the direction but stopped after a short distance. Zhang Shan did not even move… Meng Tian and Zhang Runan formed a circular defensive formation together with Yuan Ye and were able to block the spaceships and mecha from one direction.
Clearly, the difficulty level of artificial intelligence in the simulation wasn’t very high. The coordination between spaceships was a little rigid, but the sheer number of them was able to pose some threat. The firepower of the people from Mars was strong. They were most adept in fighting such tough battles. When Lie Xin and Lie Guang worked together, they weren’t just fierce but were fierce and violent. Not only were they able to defend, they even crushed the spaceships at one side and headed towards the mothership for a counterattack.
Boom, boom, boom. At this moment, the crowd from the Moon became serious. This was their home ground and clearly they could not allow the people from Mars to treat it as a place to showcase their battle strength. The Eight Stars from the moon formed an arrow formation with Achilles and Taros as the tip and went straight into the enemy’s formation. Along the way, they weren’t just destroying enemy spaceships, they were also heading towards the mothership for a war on board the mothership!
In contrast, Yuan Ye’s tactics were somewhat dogmatic. However, with Meng Tian and Zhang Runan, together with the spiritual Ability X from the three man team from Europa, they were still a terrifying force. There were non-stop explosions occurring everywhere. Whenever an enemy ship approached them, it would be destroyed instantly. Meng Tian’s sniping, Zhang Runan’s defensive skills, and Yuan Ye’s control of the battlefield. Combined, they were invincible. The three man team was in charge of warning the rest and dealing critical damage.
Everyone was able to get something out of it and no one was destroyed by the bots. At this moment, everyone looked towards the bottom of the display screens in their mecha. There was a tabulation of the number of spaceships one destroyed. After a few minutes had passed, the number Wang Zheng had destroyed was still a zero.
His cheeks were twitching. Wang Zheng rushed out forcefully. He had felt that his control of the mech was unsatisfactory. A nauseating feeling became stronger with the constant movement of the mech. How could he still expect to be accurate with his laser shots?
A simple bot AI spaceship wasn’t just a target, it would also execute tactical movements to dodge attacks.
As for Zhang Shan, he had been unknowingly caught in the midst of the enemy’s spaceships. The battlefield was constantly changing. A moment ago, he was still beside his comrades. However, he was now surrounded.
“Oh, damn, no one bothered to come to save me…” Zhang Shan did not have the chance to complete his sentence before one of the enemy’s battle units had him surrounded. A burst of fire blasted off. Zhang Shan had been included into the death list by the simulation system. Even the engine of the mech had been forcefully stalled.
The mech shook strongly. Vomiting ensued…
Zhang Shan switched off his communication device quickly while grabbing the airsickness bag at the side. He had felt like vomiting but nothing came out. Only the gastric acid from his stomach rushed out.
Faraway, Achilles had entered the mothership and had started the onboard battle. This simulation system simulated a perfect real battlefield. Space guns and the defending mecha all tried to hold him back with their lives. In the era of great navigation, the mothership was just like a home to interstellar warriors. If the mothership was destroyed, the warriors would lose their supplies. Even the strongest warrior would be dead. From a defensive standpoint, when there was no longer any place to retreat, it could often invoke amazing strengths. The system was able to succinctly account for this unique point. Every defensive mecha was rushing forward crazily one after another as though they were willing to sacrifice their lives.
However…
With Achilles at the forefront, such bravery was futile. Achilles wasn’t wasteful even in such a situation. Every shot was critical. The cooperation between the Eight Stars from the Moon and Taros was also seamless. They were responsible for depleting the enemies’ energy shields. The last shot would be dealt by Achilles.
At the instant, when the crowd from the Moon had destroyed the mothership, the simulated battlefield faded like melting snow…
On the display of each mech, a series of numbers were displayed, indicating the number of kills.
Wang Zheng had a score of zero. As for Zhang Shan, he received a negative one, indicating that he was killed in battle.
They were ashamed.
However, when Zhang Shan turned his head around and saw Wang Zheng, tears welled up in his eyes. Zhang Shan was touched and said, “Wang Zheng… you are a true brother!”
Who was Wang Zheng? The first person to advance to the IG selections! Wang Zheng must have seen that his performance was too poor, and in the name of brotherhood, Wang Zheng wouldn’t have wanted him to be at the bottom alone. Zhang Shan sighed. He should have put in more effort, as he had let Wang Zheng down. A negative score. Truly disappointing.
From the communication device, Meng Tian and Zhang Runan were dumbfounded. Meng Tian blinked her eyes several times and could not believe it. If it was true, wasn’t this too weird?
Wang Zheng touched his nose and said, “It’s not what you think…”
“Wang Zheng, you know me best. I have no idea why I would feel like vomiting whenever I moved. I also felt giddy.” Zhang Shan waved his fists and clenched his teeth. A weird sensation rushed upwards and he could no longer hold it back. Wasn’t it just the feeling of wanting to vomit and giddiness? Why couldn’t a young and strong man like him hold it back?
“In fact, me too…” Wang Zheng forcefully smiled. The truth was that he had the same problem. Looking at Zhang Shan’s circumstances, they seemed to be similar to his.
“Wang Zheng, do what you should have done. You do not have to bother with me. I can still hold it in. Rest assured, I will get used to it soon…
Wang Zheng was frustrated. Could he just let him finish his words? “Can you let me finish? The truth is that I wanted to vomit too.”
“I know that you didn’t want me to be sad about being in the last position. Eh? What?… What did you just say?”
“I said that I felt giddy and felt like vomiting too,” Wang Zheng said as he touched his forehead. “We have the same feeling, and there must be a reason behind it”
“Yeah…” Zhang Shan’s lips trembled and he was petrified in an instant. “Could it be that the rumors were real?”
“What?”
“I heard it from my father. It’s a curse. Those who have a deeper understanding of space are more likely to be suppressed by the universe….. I always thought that it was a joke. Yeah, was it just a joke?” Zhang Shan had zero resistance to some of these mysterious things.
Wang Zheng’s eyes flickered. Suppression from the universe must be bogus. However, the issue definitely lay with one’s deeper understanding of space…
Mecha and humans were different. It was just like the feeling of one using a beast-type mech and one using a humanoid-type mech. In addition, they were in the zero gravity environment in outer space. Humans usually had the habit of looking for references to determine one’s position. However, in the middle of the void, a normal person would use their comrades and their own mech as references. As for them, their understanding of space was different. What they chose for reference was the enormous space, faraway stars, and the changes in the surrounding environment…