The next day, Asaga continued to fill in for his teammate with the injured leg, repairing the mecha core in the hangar.
For some reason, the atmosphere in the hangar was unusually tense today. There were many people, including some mecha soldiers who were clearly from the elite battalion.
They said nothing, faces tense, focusing only on adjusting the mecha’s performance. If they sensed something was off during operations, they immediately pulled in logistics soldiers for maintenance.
The activated mecha was extremely hot inside, and Asaga could hear the logistics soldiers, drenched in sweat and complaining as they moved around inside the mecha:
“Dammit, I’d rather be assigned to clear the sewers! At least it’s clean and cool there.”
“What’s going on today? Even the second and third squads were pulled into the hangar. Is Heka Star System preparing for war?”
“No, I heard General Heidrich ordered a mecha assessment today. Those elite soldiers have been idle for a long time, and now they’re eager to prove themselves.”
“We just had a military exercise two days ago, then a high-level officer meeting, and now a mecha assessment? Maybe someone important from the Capital is inspecting Heka Star System…”
“I don’t know, don’t ask me.”
A stranger officer approached from a distance.
He searched the crowd for a moment, then called out, “Asaga, step forward.”
Asaga jumped down from the ladder and approached the officer.
Because he seemed intimidating, no mecha soldiers dared to ask for his help in adjustments, so he was relatively free.
“Report to the K41 mecha hangar at 3 PM,” the stranger officer instructed coldly. “Do not be late.”
Asaga nodded.
The officer crossed the bridge and returned to the shuttle.
Once the hatch closed, he touched the switch on the back of his neck.
The black Wolf Knight armor clanked, covering him entirely in an instant.
At 2:30 PM, Asaga, carrying his toolbox, arrived at the K41 mecha hangar.
Strangely, there were no logistics soldiers in this hangar.
All the mechas were gleaming, positioned as if ready for action, clearly having already undergone a round of maintenance.
He stood silently among the mecha soldiers preparing to board, accepting their puzzled looks.
“You’re here?”
The stranger officer appeared again, pointing to an unmanned training mecha parked against the wall. “The control panel inside this mecha’s cockpit is damaged and needs to be replaced immediately.”
Asaga climbed into the cockpit with his toolbox.
Inside, he tested all the buttons on the panel and moved the control lever back and forth but found nothing wrong.
He was momentarily dumbfounded, clutching the repair tools without knowing what to do.
The stranger officer checked his watch, seeing that it was almost time, and connected to the cockpit’s communication channel, telling Asaga, “Activate it now.”
Asaga and the ground instructor were both stunned.
A supervising instructor, uncertain, looked at the unfamiliar officer: “Sir, this is a XII-generation combat mecha, requiring at least 5000 units of mental power to activate. It might be too much for a logistics soldier. I’ll get an elite soldier to assist—”
Before he could finish, a sound of wheels and dull metal friction was heard.
To everyone’s amazement, the dormant metal giant began to move its head and joints slowly, lit up its eye lamps, and then stood up from the ground.
The mecha’s internal system began to report: [Activation rate: 35%, 69%, 100%. Mecha fully activated, entering combat state.]
The elite soldiers waiting in the cockpit were secretly surprised: “Fully activated in two seconds? Where did this guy come from?”
Activating a mecha, which is hundreds or even thousands of times larger than oneself with mental power, is like the brain awakening the body’s limbs and requires some reaction time.
This reaction time, in the human body, might only be a few microseconds; in a giant mecha, it ranges from seconds to minutes.
On the fierce battlefield, mecha units often face performance interruptions due to attacks and need to be reactivated. The activation time difference can sometimes decide crucial battles.
The officer said nothing, pulling up a light screen and starting to operate.
The crane hook at the top of the hangar began to descend, hooking onto the shoulder clasps of the mecha, and slowly lifted the heavy mecha.
Asaga sat in the cockpit, holding the control lever, his mental power tightly linked to the mecha system.
He was utterly confused, having no idea what to do, but as a soldier in the military, he had to unconditionally obey orders. So he asked nothing and quietly awaited developments.
The massive combat mecha was drawn into the transport elevator.
Here, many training mechas like his stood silently, waiting to be transported to the ground training field.
Then, the hangar’s top hatch opened, and a flood of light poured into Asaga’s eye lamps.
In that instant, a scene of mountains of corpses and scrap metal flashed before his eyes.
But just a second later, his golden eyes sharpened, quickly coming back to clarity.
His past and future belonged to his master; his soul and body were his master’s as well. From head to toe, he was his master’s private property. Even his sinful past was forcefully taken over, so without Nero’s permission, he could not let himself fall back into the dark abyss.
The crane lifted his combat mecha, slowly moving it to Heka Star System’s mecha training field.
The training field was vast, divided by light screens into checkerboard-like combat areas. Soldiers were paired off in groups, piloting their mechas in combat within the areas.
In space battlefields, humanoid mechas rarely face hand-to-hand combat.
But mecha soldiers have to deal with light cannons, galaxy defense turrets, and heavy starships, which are tens of thousands of times faster than fists and feet. In such harsh environments, only by utilizing mental power to the fullest, allowing the mecha to perform like an assault ship, can survival be maximized.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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From the start of the assessment, the atmosphere was tense.
Everyone was determined to make the deepest impression on the Emperor.
Adrian, the younger of the Joseph brothers, was supposed to attend a military theory class today.
But upon hearing that the Emperor would visit the training field, he started tinkering with his dedicated combat mecha at four in the morning. Not only did he spray it with eye-catching neon laser paint, but he also started painting a giant silver-leafed rose on the back of the mecha.
However, he hurriedly washed it off before it was finished.
His brother Abel, dragged up in the middle of the night as an aesthetic advisor, sleepily said, “Why wash it off? It looks good. The Emperor will definitely notice you.”
“Nonsense! I don’t want him to notice me!”
Adrian retorted loudly, “Who wants to be like Hermann Heidrich, clinging to the Emperor all day as if he’s the only favorite in the entire Empire!”
“First, General Heidrich is the Emperor’s right-hand man, so it’s natural he’s favored.”
Abel coldly struck back.
“Second, now and for a long time, no other commander can challenge his position. You’d better be respectful to your future superior.”
Adrian was taken aback, his chest tight with frustration.
Thus, during the assessment the next day, he fought his teammates fiercely, winning eight consecutive matches.
The Joseph brothers had mental power values nearing 7000+ and exceptional combat talent.
If not for the rebellion back then, they would have been eligible to join the Imperial Wolf Knights.
Moreover, Adrian’s arrogance was backed by his stronger abilities compared to his brother.
In noble military school, he was known as the king of combat in the command department, undefeated to this day.
A whole morning passed, and no one in the Heka Star System’s elite battalion could match him.
“Mecha number B0948, please be mindful of your attacks on your comrades!”
The scoring instructor couldn’t stand it and yelled at Adrian’s cockpit, “Scoring hits is enough, no need to force their mechas to a stop! This could damage their mental power!”
Adrian ignored him. After winning each fight, he drove his neon-colored mecha around the field, wanting to plaster his eight consecutive wins in the Emperor’s face.
“Is there no one left? Hey, logistics! Who’s next?”
The mecha’s lights had a farsighted function, allowing him to covertly glance at the observation platform hovering above the training ground several times.
He saw the silver-haired Emperor surrounded by senior generals, occasionally turning his head to converse softly with Heidrich beside him.
Damn it!
The Emperor hadn’t noticed him at all!
That impressive throw just now was completely wasted!
Adrian was frustrated, and before he could process his thoughts, he saw Nero on the observation platform suddenly stand up.
The young man, arms crossed, walked to the edge of the glass wall on the observation platform, thoughtfully casting a glance in Adrian’s direction.
Clearly, Adrian wasn’t the only one on the training ground keenly observing the Emperor’s movements.
The moment the silver-haired Emperor stood up, the intensity of the combat on the training ground instantly escalated.
“He really did notice me!”
Adrian felt a rush of excitement and immediately flexed his fists, causing the mechanical joints to emit a cracking sound.
Then he heard the heavy landing sound of a mecha behind him.
Evidently, his next opponent was ready.
“Mecha number B0948, return to your combat area immediately!”
To showcase his skills as much as possible, Adrian didn’t turn around. Instead, he leapt into the air, performing a backflip, and in mid-air, executed a swift hawk-like maneuver, drawing his arm-mounted light blade to slash at his opponent behind him!
The giant mecha, driven by over 7000 units of mental power, jumped ten meters high, and the light blade fanned out, creating a blue shimmering arc.
This was Adrian’s signature sword technique. The light blade fanned out to obscure the enemy’s vision, making it hard for them to discern the direction of the strike. The leaping slash also provided complete suppression. Whenever he used this move at the right moment, the opponent typically ended up being KO’d.
During that split second mid-air, he only saw a plain-looking standard mecha at his landing point, looking up at him with its lights.
Clang!
A metallic collision reverberated.
Adrian didn’t even see clearly what happened. The sensory system transmitted to his mental sea that his right wrist holding the blade seemed to have been grabbed—
It wasn’t a block or a heavy hit; his full-strength slash had been effortlessly intercepted by the opponent with a gentle grip.
Then, with a slight twist of the opponent’s wrist, Adrian’s mechanical claw was forced to drop the light blade.
“You…!”
Adrian landed, and due to the inertia of the backflip, he embarrassingly rolled on the ground for several meters.
Trying to salvage his dignity, he quickly leaped to his feet, assumed a fighting stance, and reassessed his opponent for this round.
An unknown soldier piloting a plain combat mecha, its unadorned lead-grey armor making it look quite rustic amidst the field of flashy personal mechas.
Seeing Adrian stand up, the opponent seemed to hesitate for a moment before extending a hand to return the light blade that had just been taken.
“Dammit!”
Adrian interpreted this action as a taunt.
He pounded the ground heavily, and with a kick, charged forward to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
However, the more exchanges they had, the stranger Adrian felt.
The mecha assessment scored by hitting specific parts of the mecha, but after hundreds of lightning-fast exchanges, he hadn’t lost a point, but he hadn’t scored against his opponent either—
More precisely, Adrian couldn’t even touch him.
The opponent’s combat speed always seemed to be just slightly faster than his. Not by much, just half a body length per second, approximately 8-9 meters.
Determined, Adrian gritted his teeth, focused his gaze, and channeled his mental power to its peak, increasing the mecha’s agility, intending to force the opponent into a ground battle.
But he still couldn’t touch him. Even at his maximum speed, he was always half a body length, 8-9 meters, short.
It felt like he was fighting a ghost mecha. The opponent was clearly within his sight, but no matter the punch, grab, or knee strike, he could only hit air.
“Damn it, damn it—!!”
Adrian grew increasingly frustrated, his eyes reddened, and sweat dripping into his collar.
Especially when he saw the opponent calmly watching him with their lights, pacing slowly in the arena like a predator eyeing its prey.
Unable to hit or catch him, and feeling scrutinized, Adrian became convinced the opponent was toying with him.
Ignoring the humiliation of being disarmed, Adrian picked up the light blade simulator from the ground and stabbed it towards the opponent’s cockpit!
Of course, he missed again.
Not only did he miss, but due to the mecha’s added inertia and acceleration, he crashed towards the edge of the combat area.
The assessment rules stated that if a mecha touched the edge, it would count as out-of-bounds and deduct points.
Surprisingly, the plain mecha suddenly rushed forward, grabbing Adrian and stopping him just at the edge.
To stop him, the plain mecha’s foot touched the edge, causing it to shudder.
The scoring prompt sounded for the first time: “Mecha number G0417, out-of-bounds, 10 points deducted.”
The plain mecha seemed to freeze, then tentatively touched the edge again.
The training ground’s edge only had a light sensing function, unlike the arena which was laced with deadly high-voltage currents.
When touched by a mecha, the edge flashed, and the prompt sounded again: “Mecha number G0417, second out-of-bounds, 10 points deducted.”
“Mecha number G0417, third out-of-bounds, 10 points deducted.”
The plain mecha: “…”
It retracted its hand, not daring to touch again.
“Whose soldier is mecha number G0417?”
Some senior generals on the observation platform stood up, walking to the glass wall, watching in amazement.
Among them were many seasoned generals from the era of the previous Karagu Emperor, with far sharper eyes than the instructors on the ground. They immediately saw that the combat capability of that plain mecha was exceptionally high, to an unusual extent.
“The registration says it’s Christy Rehn from the elite camp, but he took family leave and shouldn’t be in the Heka Star System. So who’s in the cockpit now?”
“It should still be someone from the elite camp, right?” someone tentatively asked. “They must have undergone a mental strength assessment. I wonder what their mental strength value is.”
Heidrich: “…”
“At this driving speed, it could be over 12000.”
“Over 12000? That would mean a royal family member! If there were such a person in the Heka Star System’s military camp, we should have known about it long ago.”
Heidrich: “…”
The senior generals whispered among themselves and cast puzzled glances at the Supreme Commander of the Heka Star System.
They found that the famous war god of the Empire remained seated, his handsome face as dark as a pot’s bottom.
And his gaze was fixed on the silver-haired Emperor standing by the glass wall, with mischievous red eyes and a slight smirk.
“Mecha number G0417, score: -30; mecha number B0948, score: 0. Second round!”
The assessment on the training ground continued.
For Adrian, the second round offered no more breakthroughs than the first.
The high-intensity mental input even caused hallucinations in the cockpit, making it seem as if the opponent was a ghost in the training ground, a presence that others couldn’t see or touch.
But others clearly could see.
Because in the surrounding combat areas, many mecha soldiers and instructors had already noticed the anomaly and were watching from the edges, ignoring their own assessments.
“I can’t beat him…” The immense frustration and mental pressure made Adrian’s eyes red in the cockpit. “Brother, I can’t beat him…!”
He swung his fists wildly, causing his mecha to stumble, nearly tripping over itself.
Nero watched with lowered eyes and suddenly spoke: “Mecha number B0948, cease assessment, return to the mecha hangar.”
Huge steel cables descended from the ceiling, lifting Adrian’s mecha from the field and moving it toward the entrance of the mecha hangar.
Nero pulled on his uniform jacket and, under the astonished gazes of the generals, strode toward the elevator leading to the mecha hangar.
After the elevator doors closed, the young Emperor’s suppressed displeasure finally showed: “That guy hit me much harder before! He’s become weaker after removing the Asimov Collar.”
The White Wolf Knight beside him gently coaxed: “Your Majesty, that was for the sake of your soldiers. The elite soldiers of the Heka Star System haven’t undergone high-pressure training. If they are overly stimulated and suffer mental damage, it would be counterproductive.”
Nero: “Hmph.”
As he walked into the mecha hangar, the dazzling, neon-lit mecha was just being lowered at the docking bay.
The young Emperor walked straight up the docking bridge, knocked twice on the cockpit door, and directly opened it.
Inside, Adrian was secretly crying. When he turned and saw who it was, he was completely stunned.
“What are you staring at?” Nero frowned but didn’t mock his tears. “Get out.”
“Your, Your Majesty! I, I, I…”
“Get out. Transfer the driving permissions to me.”
“Oh, oh… oh!”
The System noticed Nero driving Adrian out and sitting in the cockpit himself and immediately became alert:
[Teacher, wait! Remember last time you fought Big Bull, you ended up going crazy. You should remember that, right?]
Nero thought for a moment, and it indeed happened.
The high concentration state required for driving a mecha could trigger his madness, but during the all-out fight with Star Pirates, the intensity and duration of the battle were much higher than in the arena, yet it only triggered when fighting Asaga—
This suggested that if the opponent’s strength closely matched his own, the risk of triggering increased significantly.
But this time, he was facing Asaga in his peak state, without the Asimov Collar.
Nero gripped the control stick tighter, feeling an itch in his palm, and decided to bite the bullet, pulling on his tactical gloves and muttering softly: [Just a three-minute fight…]
The System was exasperated: [Instructor, seriously! Now I understand why only Alphas go crazy. You Alphas are all battle maniacs. If you could restrain yourselves, it wouldn’t be like this!]
Under Adrian’s tearful gaze, the giant mecha flexed its fingers, moved its limbs, and slowly stood up from the ground.
Then, without any assistance from hooks, it suddenly kicked off the ground, leaping straight up to the dozens of meters high entrance of the mecha hangar!
On the training ground, most of the mecha assessments had come to a halt, with everyone craning their necks towards Asaga’s direction.
Asaga, piloting his mecha, stood silently on the field without an opponent, unsure of what to do next.
A loud thud echoed as a mecha landed heavily!
The dazzling neon mecha, which had just been hoisted out of the training ground, now leapt from the entrance of the mecha hangar and landed heavily behind Asaga.
Realizing it was Adrian’s mecha, all onlookers in the field questioned in their minds.
The disparity in combat strength between the two was evident to even the newest recruits. No matter how stylish the return was, it couldn’t hide the fact that Adrian was humiliating himself…
Before a single thought could be processed, everyone saw the neon mecha kick off the ground and perform a backflip. While flipping mid-air, it drew an arm-mounted light blade and slashed directly at Asaga!
The move was identical to the initial attack, the same motion, but the speed and range of the light blade were unprecedented in the Heka Star System and even within the Empire.
Asaga was forced to retreat rapidly. Years of combat experience instantly told him that the opponent had changed.
Without time to think, he gripped the control stick tightly, channeling his mental power to the maximum into the mecha.
The plain exterior of the mecha suddenly lit up as it was infused with immense mental power. As it slowly lifted its head, a ferocious aura like that of a giant beast surged out, flooding the entire training ground.
“Retreat! Retreat! Clear the area!”
The mechas at the edges, sensing something momentous, excitedly retreated, clearing space equivalent to over ten combat zones.
The flashy mecha’s jump attack was dodged, but it seemed almost anticipated.
It retracted its light blade and stomped heavily, causing a massive explosion in the training ground!
“Wow! A sonic boom!” someone shouted, covering their ears.
The flashy mecha casually broke the sound barrier, surrounded by a torrent of air and sonic boom clouds. Its giant mechanical claw opened to its maximum extent and grabbed the head of Asaga’s mecha!
“…It actually grabbed it…!”
“Just a moment ago, it couldn’t even touch the mecha—”
The sonic boom made the glass walls of the viewing gallery tremble slightly.
All the generals had already moved to the glass walls.
Someone excitedly called, “General Heidrich, look! There are actually two mecha geniuses in the Heka Star System!”
Turning around, they saw Heidrich’s dark face: “…”
“…General?”
Heidrich: “…”
Ha, he shouldn’t be called Hexagon but Vinegaron.
Lmaooo
😂
Hahaha Heidrich is the only one I’ve seen eating so much vinegar 😂😂