Silicon Invasion

"Heh heh, don't worry, I'll go easy on you later." Xiong Wu grinned, absolutely confident in his own strength.

This confidence didn't come from fabrication or blind faith, but from battle after battle. Those battles against opponents who were also favored by the heavens convinced him that he was definitely a genius among geniuses.

The reason he wasn't fast-tracked was because he was low-key and didn't flaunt himself, so North Mountain Academy didn't discover his potential. If they had, he believed he would already be a level 24 senior student.

Luo Rui was just lucky. His talent might be good, but not necessarily better than his own, and he also had the advantage of being a year older. Now was the time to add some hardship to this little brother's smooth life path.

Luo Rui was too lazy to reply. How could someone with only 2500 points be so arrogant? He had already surpassed that rating for a long time, more than two months!

Luo Rui's silence made Xiong Wu even more arrogant. He thought Luo Rui was intimidated. Heh heh, hopefully, he wouldn't leave any psychological scars. The fall of a genius, thinking about it, was quite exciting.

Ignoring the still-rambling Xiong Wu, Luo Rui didn't waste any more time. He took the lead in putting on his anti-gravity suit, his speed causing Xiong Wu to narrow his eyes slightly.

So skilled and fast, this kid seemed to be in frequent contact with these things. But then he immediately understood. Just like the ancient saying 'poor scholars, rich warriors,' the same was true in modern times. If you wanted to be good at piloting mechs and stand out from the crowd, unless your aptitude was heaven-defying, then owning your own virtual machine was the most basic requirement.

According to incomplete statistics, among the students of the mech pilot department at North Mountain Academy, the proportion who owned a dedicated machine before enrollment was as high as eighty percent.

But in any case, this kid's talent had been tested by the teachers and couldn't be faked. Judging from the kid's familiarity with the suit, he must have practiced a lot in his spare time.

Talent plus hard work…

Xiong Wu's expression also became serious. Although he was flamboyant, he wasn't brainless. With so many people watching outside, he couldn't afford to lose the duel either.

Moreover, as the party that took the initiative to provoke, he would inevitably attract more ridicule.

He couldn't afford to lose…

Thinking of this, Xiong Wu also began to put on his anti-gravity suit. Anyway, when Luo Rui was familiarizing himself with the machine, he wouldn't be able to use the public address system. Him just waiting for the match to start was undoubtedly a waste of time.

He might as well go through the training levels to warm up.

"When is it going to start?"

The exhibition hall, which could accommodate more than three hundred people, was now crammed with at least five hundred people, and the flow of people continued to pour in. Even the corridors on the third floor were filled with people.

There were even many senior students who had just received the news and were on their way.

"This won't do. Tell them to start quickly. If this continues, there will be too many students gathered. Once an accident occurs, we won't be able to control the situation at all."

The speaker was Teacher Fu. Originally, the school had given him a few days off. After all, a business trip, plus the accident, it was only reasonable to let him go back and rest.

But Teacher Fu, after learning about Luo Rui's duel, didn't rush to take his vacation. Instead, he planned to watch the match before going back to rest. Who knew he would be caught and forced into service.

Teacher Li was in the same situation. He originally wasn't worried about Luo Rui, so he planned to pack up in the morning and go home for a peaceful vacation.

But he received an invitation from Teacher Fu midway. To be honest, the relationship between the two was originally just average, but after experiencing a life-and-death crisis together, their feelings quickly warmed up, upgrading to at least being close brothers.

Teacher Li couldn't refuse the invitation from his close brother. Plus, he was also a little curious, so he came with Teacher Fu, and was also caught and forced into service.

"They agreed on a time, so we shouldn't interfere. Luo Rui also needs some time to familiarize himself with the machine. As for these students, we can continue to apply for support."

Teacher Li rarely said so much.

"Alas, that's all we can do."

— —

"Do you guys think Lao Yao can win?"

The three roommates were comfortable. Not only were they the first to arrive, but they also snagged a great spot as "family members" of the contestant. For this, they had even had a small conflict with someone just now.

"I don't know. Although I hope he can win, we've never seen him fight. There's too little information to analyze."

"Yeah, Dongmu County, Boss, have you heard of Lao Yao's name before?"

Boss Zhang Jiasheng shook his head. This was also something he was a little puzzled about. If the other party was really that good, even if they weren't from the same city, he should have some impression.

Unfortunately, he couldn't remember Luo Rui at all. He even contacted the teachers and younger students from his original school, and they also had no impression of Luo Rui.

This was somewhat contradictory. Since Luo Rui was so unremarkable, how did North Mountain Academy know about Luo Rui?

If Luo Rui didn't get in through the back door, then North Mountain Academy was far more mysterious and powerful than he had imagined.

— —

"Please name the auxiliary AI."

Enter your student ID number, and the device will bind the AI for the first time. Luo Rui didn't hesitate: "Eight!"

"Eight is fighting alongside you!" Unlike the neutral voice of the AI in the 'Ace Mech Pilot' game, the default sound effect of the school machine's AI was an impassioned voice, sounding like a middle-aged uncle who had experienced the vicissitudes of life.

Of course, these could all be set, but although Luo Rui found it a little unaccustomed, he didn't have time to adjust them one by one. He wanted to get to the point as soon as possible.

"Next, choose your favorite mech to fight!"

Luo Rui grinned. Why was this AI voice a bit chuuni? When he had time, he would definitely study it carefully. He preferred that neutral, unemotional voice.

A row of mechs appeared in front of Luo Rui. The previous operation methods and order were almost the same as in 'Ace Mech Pilot.' He had learned this in advance through the teachers and roommates. The biggest difference between the two was the types of mechs.

And Luo Rui had already seen this difference.

Swift Rainbow wasn't there!

Thunder God wasn't there!

Bluebird wasn't there!

Not to mention King's Guard and other coin-concept mechs…

They were all gone!

There were very few types of mechs to choose from: warrior series, archer series, and that was it…

Luo Rui discovered that the available mechs had one thing in common: they were all mass-produced models independently developed by HG, with a complete industrial chain and production line.

It was at this moment that he realized that North Mountain Academy wasn't trying to train guys to play games after graduation, but to train real warriors who could go to the battlefield.

There was no fancy stuff here, only the most pragmatic options. The army couldn't equip all pilots with personalized custom mechs. More than ninety-nine percent of pilots used the most basic warrior series and archer series, which had been tested the most and survived.

Thanks to his mother's frugal upbringing, he had never been extravagant enough to use coin mechs before, so he was quite skilled with these two series.