Chapter 177: Hostage? No Hostage!

PS: Still not over my cold. There are two more chapters, I’ll do my best to finish by noon.

Yang Bo arrived at Robert’s place, grabbed some of Robert’s stored goodies, and while eating, he turned on Robert’s computer. Then, he opened the Mecha Game.

The closed beta info was exactly the same as what he saw at home. The team battle mode was simple—eliminate all armed enemies in sight.

The closed beta had both solo and team battle modes. After entering the game, players could freely choose their mode.

The top three ranked players in the beta would each get a limited edition Twelfth-Generation Mecha.

This mecha would later become the player’s personal item. If it got destroyed in the game and the player didn’t want to repair it, it’s no problem—the game officials wouldn’t hold them accountable.

Yang Bo thought this reward wasn’t bad since it was likely a real prize from the military. But to ordinary players, the reward was kind of useless.

After all, as long as you entered the game, you could use a mecha for free. As long as you were careful and didn’t break it, everything would be fine.

At 7:50, Yang Bo successfully logged into the Mecha Game from Robert’s place. The screen showed the game was in the preparation stage, and everyone was in a cockpit.

This time, the mechas were all standard Ninth-Generation ones. According to the game officials, this was to maintain balance among players.

“Isn’t this the same mecha I saw on the warship?” Yang Bo immediately recognized that the game environment was the same area where the warship stored its reserve mechas.

“This is just the warship’s drone mechas! And the game officials claim it’s for balance, huh?”

The screen displayed a briefing: This team battle was divided into blue and red sides. The blue side’s goal was to break through the red side’s defenses and kill as many of their enemies as possible. The more enemies you kill, the more rewards you earn.

Then came the mode selection. It had team and solo modes. Yang Bo quickly chose solo.

Yang Bo waited nervously as the time ticked down. Meanwhile, over at the Alliance Military, everyone was anxiously waiting too—this was an unprecedented experiment.

If the experiment succeeded, everyone would get credit. If it failed, this newly formed department would be immediately dissolved, and no information would ever be leaked.

There wasn’t much risk in remote controlling things on Green Demon Planet since it wasn’t under Alliance jurisdiction before. Now, it was about dealing with an internal threat to the Alliance.

On Pado Planet, the citizens could see the massive warships gleaming under the sunlight in the sky.

The Red Earl’s forces had taken control of Pado Planet, but they only controlled the rich and powerful. The common people weren’t much affected.

At most, the Red Earl’s people just notified them about an independent voting process.

Of course, some voted against it, but those who did were immediately taken away by the Red Earl’s people.

The people who were taken away loudly shouted about freedom and other rights, but sadly, no one ever saw them again.

It was then that Pado Planet’s citizens realized the Red Earl’s people belonged to an extremist organization and weren’t an Alliance law enforcement body.

So, the rest of the voting process went smoothly. Pado Planet’s citizens had a 100% turnout, and 100% voted for independence.

On the warship, the Female Captain looked down at the planet below. The Central AI System had already been disabled, so no one on the warship could see what was happening outside.

When the clock hit exactly 8:00, the warship’s hangar doors opened, and drones were launched one after another.

This warship had quite a lot of drone mechas—over eight thousand in total. While mechas were essential for the military, they weren’t used that often in actual combat.

Around six thousand mechas shot down towards the planet like meteors.

Two thousand mechas were held in reserve, just in case there were powerful mecha pilots. If a mecha got destroyed and the pilot performed well, they might even get a second chance.

Many of Pado Planet’s citizens, upon seeing this scene, rushed back to their homes to pray they wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire.

At 8:00 sharp, Yang Bo felt his mecha suddenly get launched out.

The screen displayed a countdown until the game began. The surroundings were all a blinding white, making it impossible to see anything clearly.

“Looks like this really is remote control. Otherwise, the military wouldn’t bother with these cheap tricks,” Yang Bo thought, breathing a sigh of relief since he couldn’t see what was happening around him.

When the final countdown ended and the battle officially began, Yang Bo found himself standing in a green landscape.

“Where are the enemies?” Yang Bo looked around the vast, empty map. It was too big, and the mecha only showed localized data, not the whole map.

Suddenly, laser beams shot from a distant building at a mecha a few hundred meters ahead of him. The mecha in front was fast, dodging the attacks while using its Energy Shield to block the laser fire.

The lasers collided with the Energy Shield, creating dazzling color explosions from the energy reactions.

Yang Bo’s hands swiftly coordinated as he locked onto the target and opened fire.

The lasers from the mecha’s shoulder cannons immediately blasted toward the enemy.

Mecha Piloting +8!

A notification popped up in Yang Bo’s mind, and he felt energized—it was definitely remote control.

“Where is this exactly?” Yang Bo’s mind raced as he tried to figure out where the military was conducting operations.

“Pado Planet?” Yang Bo immediately thought of the place—the location of the Red Earl’s rebellion.

His mind quickly ran through Pado Planet’s major cities, but unfortunately, the game map had been altered so significantly that Yang Bo couldn’t clearly remember the layout of its cities.

“Just go for it—it’s just a game, isn’t it?” Yang Bo quickly maneuvered his mecha into a nearby building.

It was a luxurious office building, and Yang Bo guessed the military had carefully chosen its mecha drop locations. His mecha happened to land nearby.

As soon as he rushed into the lobby, Yang Bo saw two enemy personnel in Energy Suits near the elevator passage. They were shouting at a dozen hostages, although Yang Bo couldn’t hear what they were saying.

“Hostages? What hostages? It’s not my reputation on the line. It’s not like they’re deducting my pay,” Yang Bo scoffed. With no hesitation, he pushed the joystick, and his mecha’s Jetpack activated, launching it forward.

At the same time, his hands quickly manipulated the laser cannons, blasting the two enemies in Energy Suits. They exploded in a flare of light as the nearby hostages screamed in terror.

Mecha Piloting +4!

Gene Mastery +4!

Yang Bo didn’t care about the hostages at all. His Jetpack propelled his mecha swiftly up the building staircase. No one was taking his kills.

This was the lesson learned from countless battles—the more you care about hostages, the greater your loss in the end.