The Legendary Mechanic, page 168
Long Sky’s unbelievable comeback exploded in the forums. Fans of Long Sky were crying in tears as if it was a new year, and the tragic atmosphere and tone of the media quickly turned around; only words of compliments were seen on the news, no matter how badly they had performed previously.
Dynasty, Long Sky, and Fried Eggplants with Fish all held a press conference after the match. The reporters first congratulated the winning teams, and the representatives of the two teams appreciated the congratulations. Both teams replied to the questions with cliché formalities, thanking the fans and those who supported them along the way.
In the final session of the press conference, the reporter gave the microphone to Fried Eggplants with Fish and asked, “Would you like to share anything after your defeat?”
The representative for Fried Eggplants with Fish froze and said, “We performed poorly in the last match, and we did not meet our expectations. During the match, we made a lot of mistakes, and we could have done better. Long Sky is a strong opponent, and everyone witnessed how…”
This reply had been prepared before the press interview. They first started with acknowledging their mistakes and tried to learn from it, then they went ahead and apologized to the fans. This response was a standard procedure if one lost a game, so the reporter could only stay quiet, and he did not even bother writing any notes.
Suddenly, the team leader, Sun Eggplant, stood up. Even though he was known as the last of the Three Chariots, he was the leader of the three people.
Sun Eggplant interrupted the response and grabbed the microphone from the representative. He faced the confused reporters and stared at Long Sky. “I don’t want to say these fluffy words like ‘we tried our best’. We lost, and that’s an undeniable fact, but I can’t let it go. I will win the title back next time. Hao Tian, since we’ve both entered the quarterfinals in the individual bracket, if you see me, prepare to die.”
Hao Tian did not back down. “The result won’t change no matter how many times you challenge me.”
Both of them started at each other, and neither backed down.
Such exchanges were the ones that were exciting to write about. The reporters smiled and quickly recorded it.
Dynasty, who was on the side, glanced at the two. It was ironic that the first seed team was just a side character.
Second Prince clenched his fists and said, “The reporters are ignoring us now. I might as well go challenge…”
King Admiral was struggling to keep his eyes open as if he was sleeping. He slapped Second Prince on the back of his head and said, “Don’t find trouble.”
Second Prince pushed away his hand and replied with annoyance, “Stop hitting me, you freak. Why are you bitching about me joining the challenge?”
“B*stard, you are not even in the semifinals!” King Admiral’s poke through the heart of Second Prince.
Second Prince’s face turned red, and he stared at King Admiral with anger, as if he was going to kick him in crouch.
Second Prince felt that he was being mocked. King Admiral had not only advanced into the next stage in individual bracket, but he was also first seed and had the most points. He had been invited to the All Stars, while Second Prince had been eliminated. That was why Second Prince was upset.
At the same time, Temple of God also had their own press conference. They were lucky as they had been allocated into a group without much competition. They had also been invited to the All Stars games.
Li Ge claimed that they would bring trophy and pride to the country as they headed to the international competition.
Temple of God claimed that they were the strongest and that they were the dragon’s head of powerhouses. Li Ge walked on the path of China’s representative team. Even though he was ranked second of China’s players, the King Admiral was always timid and low-key with a casual appearance. On the other hand, Li Ge was handsome and strong, and they had the same popularity with tons of fans.
There was a significant number of females within Li Ge’s fanbase, while most of the fans for King Admiral were adult men. The fight between there fanbases was also interesting, and it was usually one of the biggest shows in the scene. As long as Li Ge and King Admiral fought against each other, this would be the extra show that would for sure show up.
The teams who had qualified for playoffs all had their press conferences, and all sorts of statements were made by the teams. Some were extremely confident that they would win the finals, while some were humbler and more reserved. These scenes sure showed the variety of stories that one could see in the professional scene.
And now, the schedule for finals was announced.
“Top eight of group bracket: Five Chinese teams—Dynasty, Long Sky, Thunder Storm, Thunder Storm, Mystic Nine. Three foreign teams—Son of Wind, Beast, Golden Orange.
“Top 16 of individual bracket: King Admiral, Sun Eggplant, Hao Tian, Li Ge, Frenzied Sword, Rainy Kim…”
Seeing the list, Han Xiao laughed as if it was harvest season.
Hehe, quite a lot of them are also players that were famous in my previous world.Han Xiao smiled. The other reason he had followed the professional scene was that it was a venue for him to pick out skillful players.
Anyone who got into the Planet Aquamarine competitive scene was a talent. In some nicer words, Han Xiao was preparing to bring natural talents to explore the galaxy. And this time, he would not only bring a few people—he would bring an entire fleet of players as his assistants.
Because they would always revive after death, players were an extremely useful tools. Even though they were a bit weak, but there would be room for improvement in the new version. Even though robots could be used as gunpowder, one still needed money to make them.
Players were free!
Han Xiao was planning to start a family by taking the younger talents. He already had a plan.
To create his own base!
In Version 1.0, players did not have a way to step into the galaxy, but if Han Xiao could provide the transportation, even the professional players would be shocked. Han Xiao had quite a lot of missions to complete, but there would not be much if he spread out the workload. This would limit the number of players that he could nurture. However, if the players were able to travel into the galaxy and be exposed to the opportunities around the universe, there would be endless missions, and it would definitely be attractive to players. This way, Han Xiao could bypass the threshold of missions that Han Xiao could take.
The players would be at an advantage if they were first to start their adventure in the galaxy. No one would not be jealous of the opportunity. At the same time, Han Xiao could again restate his presence and make headlines again.
The chosen players would slowly become closer to Han Xiao voluntarily and create a sense of acknowledgement. Han Xiao already had a blueprint for his plan.
The number of players that he could take still depended on the situation.
Inside his secret base, Han Xiao got up from his sofa, reached the armory, and entered the password.
The golden wall folded and opened up. A transparent pillar was in the room, and it was filled with gel and liquid. Inside the pillar was a brand-new Amphiptere suit.
“It’s time to go.”
Han Xiao pressed the button, and the gel was washed out of the pillar. The surface of the Amphiptere mechanical suit gave a cold shine under the light.
Chapter 304. The Visitor from Above |
In the night sky, far away from Planet Aquamarine, a few wormholes were opening and closing while leaking rays of rainbow and lighting up the dark universe into a colorful playground. These lights focused together and scattered away, as if it was a thin layer of silk drifting through space and mesmerized anyone who saw the view.
Around the center of the shattered wormhole was a large space station floating in space, and the shape was like three buildings stacked on each other horizontally. On the side and on the top of the space stations were different towers, some of which were the signal tower, some were space stabilizer, and others were weaponry and garages for convoys.
The bottom of the space station was a large metallic sphere, and a dark blue light surrounded the circle as if it was the path of orbit. This was the space station’s reactor, engine, and gravitation stabilizer.
The space station had a very complex and detailed structure, and it advanced and futuristic. The ‘windows’ of the buildings were space decks for spacecrafts to dock. One would have no perception of the space station without looking at the map. Each one of the decks could accommodate a spaceship that was a few hundred meters long. The space station had tens of thousands of decks, and it looked at an artificial mountain range.
It was Zuric Hub, the transit station of the Garton Galaxy.
The wormholes floating around the station were the different pathways to different civilizations in the Kerbal Stellar. Using an immense amount of resources in exchange for help from the advanced civilization, a stable stellar gate had been built, which allowed people to travel across different areas and solar systems in the Kerbal Stellar quickly and efficiently.
The space station took in thousands of spaceships every second, as if it was a beehive. A small spaceship covered in yellow and white flew into a space deck. The spaceship shook as it entered to gravitational area, and it headed into the garage after a few minutes.
The garage was filled with blue and white. The original materials for the garage were a combination of special metallic bonds and macromolecule materials. After a few seconds, the garage sounded with a women’s digital voice.
“Identity authorized. Permit granted to dock. Welcome, Captain Kerlodd, space investigator 741 of Godora.
Whoosh.
The door to the aircraft opened, and a man walked down as a platform extended onto the ground.
He was a male Godoran with light-golden skin. His hair was white and had seven braids on the back of his head. There were bolden spheres that were tied on the end of the braids. He had similar facial features to a human, but there was more space between the parts of the face. The body structure was also identical to that of human—one brain, two hands, two lands, and a schlong. There was nothing extra such as a tail or an additional limb. He was two meters tall, which was the average height of Godoran.
Kerlodd, who worked for the Godoran Space Investigation Department, was the captain of an investigation team. Even though his title was captain, he did not have any men under his command. He only had a Godora standardized suitcase, equipment, and the Observer, which was a small sized spaceship. The spaceship was thirty meters long, and it could only hold one passenger.
Kerlodd was the one who had been sent to investigated the ‘Inhumans’ on Planet Aquamarine.
“Oh wow, a pure-blood Godoran. It’s rare to see such an elite species.”
As the gate of the garage opened, a man wearing the work suit for the space station laughed. He had the same appearance as Kerlodd, but he was much shorter, and his skin was not as gold. This was half-breed Godoran, where one of his parents was another species.
“Huh, an inferior breed.” Kerlodd glanced at the worker and looked down at him. Godorans had extreme pride in remaining pure-blooded and denounces mixed breeds. It was part of their culture that they should discriminate against those who are not pure-blooded Godorans. That was why he called the worker ‘inferior breed’.
The man did not bother and said, “Just register. How long will you park here, and where will you be heading to?”
“Stopping for two days to refuel, then will head to Star Zone 9 to investigate a unusual phenomenon in a undeveloped civilization,” Kerlodd replied.
“Star Zone 9? Isn’t that a very dangerous place? Seems that you got the difficult work from your boss.”
“But since it was an uncivilized place, the reason that they thought that it was an unexplained phenomenon was because of their lack of technology. I can just take a look and come back in no time.” Kerlodd raised his chin, walked out of the garage, and headed to the resting station in the middle of the space station.
After the two left, the gate of garage closed.
After some time, a black gluey object crawled out from the platform of the space dock. It looked like it was a life form, and this unknown object was only a meter squared large.
The gluey liquid slowly crawled up to the ‘Observer’ and disappeared into the cracks of the spaceship.
…
In the icy mountain range of Planet Aquamarine’s Northern Continent, a black helicopter with the Dark Net logo rested on one of the mountains.
Han Xiao crossed his arms in front of him and viewed the clouds drifting in the mountain range. The cold air kept on slipping into his sleeves, but Han Xiao did not feel slightly cold.
On the other hand, the pilot who wore three layers of clothes was freezing to death. He asked with shaky voice, “Cough… Your Excellency, what are we doing here?”
Han Xiao looked at him with surprise. “Are you new? Did you not learn the principle to never ask questions?”
“Of… of course I did…” the pilot said with teeth chattering from cold. “But we have already waited for four days. Rather than not asking, I need to make sure if I need to prepare myself to die from hypothermia.”
Han Xiao laughed. “What’s your name?”
“Huang Jian, just finish pilot training last month.”
Han Xiao was surprised. “Huang Jian, both of the characters sound like he’s a creep. He must have a bright future ahead of him!”
With the boss joking around, what could Huang Jian do? He could only act like he did not hear it and ask, “Your Excellency, how long do we have to wait?”
“One day at minimum, but it might take up to half a month.”
Huang Jian’s face froze. The difference was too much!
After some thought, Huang Jian raised his courage and asked another question that violated the principle. “What are you waiting for?”
Han Xiao looked at him and replied, “You’ll know once it arrives.”
There were only two people in the chopper. They chattered to alleviate the boredom. However, most of the time, Han Xiao was watching the matches on the forum. The international all stars had started. All the top teams from each region competed fiercely, and the players brought endless entertainment onto the stage. Han Xiao used this to pass the time while waiting in the chopper.
All stars had players from other regions, and all of them were strong teams from their respective countries, such as Magic Field from the United States, Rose Knights from the United Kingdom, Kimchi from Korea, and Tulip from France. All of them were in the same position in their countries as Temple of God in China.
Seeing the familiar teams from the previous world, Han Xiao finally remembered that the champion of the first international competition was Tulip from France.
All Stars was the very first international competition, and all the players from different regions would pay close attention this event. The popularity was at least ten times greater than the competitions in local regions. All the winners from different countries would show their power and strength. Press conferences before and after the competitions were also filled with complements and enthusiasm. This event was a chance for the top teams to advertise themselves, and it was also to promote the upcoming international stage.
Temple of God from Planet Aquamarine also grabbed some fans from other countries as they performed well in the matches. Li Ge was happy with the result.
Three days after the end of the All Stars, every region started their quarter finals. The competition format was a best of five team battle. Long Sky was lucky that they met a weaker team from foreign country, so the powerhouses did not meet.
As for the individual bracket, Hao Tian was not so lucky. In the first round, he had to fight Li Ge.
Before the match, Li Ge was out of character as he issued an aggressive statement.
“The first opponent I will face is Hao Tian, and I think that it is good news. I can’t say that I will beat him for sure. If I’m being humble, I think my chances of beating him are around ninety percent.”
Chapter 305. The Crash |
Li Ge was very happy for suddenly becoming a hot topic among the players. Some even started to bet on his and Hao Tian’s match.
Although Li Ge had made it to the top sixteen, his main strategy revolved around slowly grinding opponents to death with his Esper abilities, and it was not all that entertaining. The vast majority of the bets were also made against Li Ge.
Frenzied Sword was matched with Thunder Storm’s Rainy Kim. Rainy Kim was also not an opponent to scoff at. Not only was she a pillar of the Thunder Storm battle team, she was also a great beauty.
It was not uncommon for attractive female players to be well-liked, especially in the esports scene, which was dominated by male players. Rainy Kim’s popularity was through the roof, and many of her crazed fans even went to Rivervale club’s official page to bash and threaten Frenzied Sword, saying that if he won, they would never forgive him.
Han Xiao had been waiting at the top of the mountain for seven to eight days, and the pros had already finished their first round of matches. Li Ge had surprisingly won the best of five against Hao Tian three to one, winning three straight rounds after giving Hao Tian the first win.
In the match recordings, Hao Tian was able to finish off Li Ge after the latter kited for ten whole minutes. Li Ge actually used the first game to analyze Hao Tian’s fighting style, and starting from the second game, Li Ge played much more proactively, as if he had seen through all of Hao Tian’s moves. His Esper abilities were also perfect for this kind of combat, and Hao Tian, like a prey caught in a spider’s web, lost three consecutive rounds.
Li Ge was actually quite a talented player. His career as a pro gamer was not long, but he had obtained many accolades. Han Xiao had even thought about adding him to his list of spare tires.
The media immediately moved its attention to Li Ge, who had now stolen all of Hao Tian’s previous popularity. He had now advanced to the top eight, and his next opponent was the one who had clinched victory over Rainy Kim, Frenzied Sword.
