Chapter 194: The Leader

The military found it odd that Yang Bo didn’t play the game. However, the military was too busy—most of the hostages had been rescued, and the follow-up tasks proceeded smoothly.

From politics to public opinion, everything needed to be handled meticulously. So, no one had time to care about Yang Bo’s strange choice.

Yang Bo decided to quickly solve the problem at hand. He sent an email to Robert’s superior, using Grey Ash Organization’s cipher, asking for detailed information about the investigated individual.

Yang Bo then entered a strange state, sensing the email within the planet’s server, as if pulling his perception a long distance.

“I should be observing now, undetected, as long as I don’t make changes.”

“If I modify the data, the system will surely notice.” Through his photonic powers, Yang Bo sensed the email on the network.

In less than five minutes, Yang Bo sensed a signal opening the email and quickly traced it.

At the other end of the signal was another server, filled with streams of information, but Yang Bo followed the signal and squeezed through the server, arriving at a location.

“The Western Continent?” To Yang Bo’s surprise, the opposing party was also on March Planet, in the northern hemisphere of the Western Continent.

Yang Bo didn’t take further action because each device has an encryption system. To convert the data into raw images or text, one must break through the device’s encryption system.

In fact, for the same photo, if numbers are used, the code would differ between devices.

For example, if the photo is coded as ’01’ on Yang Bo’s phone, it might be ’02’ or ’05’ on another’s.

That’s how the encryption system of this society works. Of course, the system is breakable, but its defenses are tight.

Yang Bo couldn’t guarantee that reading data from the enemy’s mobile device wouldn’t be detected, either by someone else or the system.

Yang Bo immediately opened a map of the Western Continent and examined it carefully.

As long as he located the person’s position, even if they were renting, he could find their information.

“The next step is to practice reading information from others’ devices. Buy more mobile devices and set up a small local network in my basement to train.” Yang Bo decided to further explore his ability.

Yang Bo logged into the mecha game again, this time entering the forum first.

Sure enough, several people were ranting at the game officials, saying they were disconnected mid-game.

Some players also questioned the game’s numerous inconsistencies.

The official response was clear: the closed beta would continue to be optimized. Afterward, the beta would resume, with lessons learned and compensation for the players.

The message was clear: when there’s something new, there’ll be another beta. If not, you’re free to leave.

Then the mecha game launched a new expansion, featuring humans and mutants in multiple great wars. Some mutants became neutral, while others continued their fight against humans in the Underground World.

Yang Bo knew that some mutants were unwilling to submit to the Alliance.

The mecha game essentially became a grind fest, just like before. Because the mutants were powerful, provoking one would summon many.

Players entering the game in the past mainly aimed to earn money. If the game didn’t turn a profit, no one would play it, which is why it was dubbed ‘garbage.’ Yet, a large number still played.

Because it did, in fact, pay real money! “Base No. 9!” Robert’s account data showed he was at Base No. 9, which Yang Bo had heard of, though it was quite far from where Iron Bull was stationed.

Yang Bo went out to test the game and found out the mecha game now involved remote control.

He quickly exited the game and re-evaluated things, successfully earning qualification to use a 13th-generation mecha.

He repaired Robert’s old mecha and swapped it for a 13th-generation unit, opting for two mecha weapons.

Mecha weapons, quite the valuable items, so he gave Iron Bull an extra one.

After leaving the base, he ventured into the Underground World, moving toward his territory.

This time, Yang Bo manually controlled the joystick, carefully sensing the photonic signals input by the keyboard. These signals connected to the mecha on Green Demon Planet.

He meticulously analyzed the photonic signal frequencies and planned to memorize them to later use his powers for remote control.

“This is fairly simple. After all, there are only so many keys on the keyboard. Memorizing the photonic signals each key releases is enough.” Yang Bo thought it would be difficult, but after a closer look, it seemed easy.

Once he memorized the signal frequencies for each key, he could start stringing them together.

In the Underground World, a mecha marched forward, making all sorts of chaotic movements while its weapons flailed wildly.

Some neutral mutants weren’t as afraid of these Alliance mechas anymore.

Yet seeing the erratic movements of Yang Bo’s mecha, they kept their distance, unsure if the operator had lost his mind.

After more than four hours of running, he finally reached his territory. It was quite far.

Soon after entering the territory, the mecha’s warning system activated. It was a neutral zone, and all weapon systems were deactivated.

Minutes later, a flash of gold appeared. Iron Bull came into view. Yang Bo recognized him immediately—the differences between Iron Bull and his brothers were obvious.

Yang Bo pushed his mecha toward Iron Bull but was quickly slammed by a full-force charge from Iron Bull, shattering the mecha.

Yang Bo’s screen went black. His virtual screen darkened immediately. That’s how he delivered the mecha to Iron Bull.

Yang Bo had one more free respawn. He controlled another mecha and ran toward Iron Bull again.

Thus, a rumor began spreading among the mutant tribes in the Underground World… that several maniacs were controlling advanced mechas, sprinting through the land and acting crazy.

A day later, Yang Bo looked at the balance in Robert’s account. He had no other choice.

He had stretched Robert’s loans, mortgages, and credit lines entirely just to send four mechas to Iron Bull. The 13th-generation mechas were just too expensive.

“Goodbye, Robert.” Yang Bo looked around Robert’s house, transformed into Robert’s appearance, and sailed away on a yacht.

“Did he commit suicide?” When Yang Bo returned home and entered his basement, he discovered that Robert had already killed himself, apparently by poison. “Wonder if I got his abilities?” Since Yang Bo wasn’t sure if the guy granted him abilities during the mecha game.

Yang Bo bagged Robert’s corpse and stored it in his mecha’s compartment. In the dead of night, while invisible, he carried the body to the inland mountains behind his house, throwing it into a cave filled with voracious ants that could devour even bones.