Chapter 209: Schools of Thought

Yang Bo actually didn’t know that mecha pilots at the master level generally don’t play this game.

Others can easily earn over a hundred million a year, no matter where they go.

Not to mention ace mecha pilots. Most players here are low to mid-level mecha pilots. Even high-level ones are rare. High-level pilots can easily become instructors anywhere or join powerful factions, earning tens of millions a year without breaking a sweat.

This tens of millions is pure income. All living expenses, including food, shelter, and other necessities, are covered by the employer.

This is also why other game players were so excited to see Yang Bo. A mecha pilot’s success may rely on their talent, but experience is equally important.

Yang Bo waved his hand and quickly ran off, heading to a relatively safe area before logging onto the forum.

“That fat boss and his crew are nothing but trouble. Next time I see them, I’ll find a way to kill them and make them repair mechas.” Yang Bo logged into the forum, quickly understanding the situation, and cursed in his heart.

This forum post blew up. Some people didn’t believe it, thinking it was fabricated.

Another part of the community speculated about Yang Bo’s identity, trying to deduce which school of combat he belonged to. Turns out, most mecha pilots learn their skills at academies, and different schools have their own unique styles, which eventually form distinct schools of thought.

Yang Bo didn’t have time to delve into these schools, though, as his mecha was still in the Underground World.

But the fat boss’s team was getting flamed by forum users. After all, someone helped them, and they turned around and posted the footage online. Master-level mecha pilots usually come to sharpen their skills a bit, and if someone lends them a hand, you don’t post their videos behind their back.

A mecha pilot’s combat style is typically kept secret, especially at the master level. Each master has their own unique style.

Some excel in burst attacks. These masters prefer to finish battles in a few seconds. If you’re their opponent, all you have to do is withstand the initial flurry. Afterward, there’s a good chance you can defeat them.

Some are more cautious. As a result, the fat boss’s team was harshly criticized by many mecha pilots.

Yang Bo didn’t see any of that. He wandered around the Underground World for over an hour.

By now, he was more than 1,000 kilometers away from his last battle site. Yang Bo’s control over the mecha using his Optical Ability was becoming increasingly proficient, to the point where he could use it with ease.

His hand merely rested on the control lever and keyboard. He didn’t need to move at all, as his Optical Ability simulated signals and sent them out directly.

This was why Yang Bo’s mecha movements exceeded many pilots’ expectations. No matter how fast you move your hands, you can’t beat the speed at which Yang Bo released Electro-Optic signals. The moment he thought about an action, the signal was already sent.

As Yang Bo thought about his next moves, he simultaneously released Electro-Optic signals.

“A monster?” In an underground space about 200 meters wide, with the highest point reaching 15 meters and the lowest only about two to three meters, Yang Bo spotted a monster. He had no desire to fight it.

The monster resembled a giant slug. The entire underground chamber had a sticky feeling.

The ground, walls, and ceiling were all covered in slimy mucus.

“What does this thing eat to get so big?” Yang Bo stared at the slimy creature. Its head resembled that of a snail, with two tentacles extending from the top, each bearing a pair of bulging eyes.

“Whatever. Worst case, I’ll just have to clean the mecha later.” Yang Bo drew his mecha weapon and prepared to engage.

The slug-like creature had already noticed Yang Bo, its two tentacled eyes fixated on his mecha.

As soon as Yang Bo drew his weapon, the slug’s body started secreting viscous liquids at an alarming rate.

It was then that Yang Bo noticed a layer of fine scales covering the creature. The thick liquid seeped from the gaps between the scales.

Yang Bo aimed his laser cannon and fired a probing shot at the creature.

The laser hit the slug’s body, but all it did was explode a bunch of sticky liquid. The slug itself wasn’t damaged at all.

“It’s this tough?” Yang Bo was surprised.

In the next second, the massive slug suddenly moved, instantly sliding along the slimy ground and rushing up the stone wall, hiding where Yang Bo’s mecha couldn’t see it.

When Yang Bo moved his mecha into the underground space.

The next second, the mecha’s legs started moving wildly. The ground was incredibly slippery, but the mecha’s stabilization system kicked in.

Accompanying it was the sound of piercing alarms. Yang Bo looked closely. “That sticky liquid is highly corrosive!”

A split second later, something moving at high speed was already aiming at the mecha.

Yang Bo slid his mecha forward, dodging the oncoming object like a skater.

Before Yang Bo could react, the object, which had slammed into the opposite wall, climbed up and redirected itself back at him. Yang Bo quickly dodged again.

“Holy!” Yang Bo finally understood why the entire underground chamber was so sticky. That giant slug used the sticky environment to charge at his mecha at high speed.

Once again, Yang Bo dodged. But the mecha’s alarms were blaring like crazy. Even though the slug hadn’t hit his mecha directly, the mucus it sprayed while zooming around was landing on the mecha, corroding it aggressively.

“Disgusting!” Yang Bo activated his jetpack and escaped, sliding along the ground like he was on ice.

The problem was that the sticky liquid was too corrosive, and the slug moved too fast—over Mach 3.

His mecha couldn’t maintain stability in the slick environment, making it impossible for Yang Bo to deploy his full control abilities.

His mecha indicated that if it wasn’t cleaned soon, it would be rendered inoperative within 30 minutes. The corrosiveness of the slime was too powerful.

“It even has energy corrosion?” Yang Bo analyzed the data and quickly realized that the slug’s mucus had an energy-corroding effect.

Normally, regular corrosive fluids wouldn’t affect a mecha much. Mechas are made from special alloys, but their metals struggle to resist energy-based corrosion.

Within five minutes, Yang Bo discovered an underground river and promptly plunged the mecha into the water.

He thrashed about madly in the river.

After half an hour, the mecha finally stopped blaring alarms, but the numerous red error messages on his screen left Yang Bo utterly speechless.

After inspecting his surroundings, Yang Bo decided to head to the nearest base to get his mecha repaired.

His mecha had sustained 40% damage, but luckily, it was mostly the outer metallic layer. The internal control systems were mostly intact.

As long as the control systems weren’t damaged, the repair costs wouldn’t be too high. What you really want to avoid is needing to fix missing arms or legs, as that kind of repair is expensive.

“Base 18?” Yang Bo checked his map. The closest base was Base 18.

After emerging from the Underground World, Yang Bo gazed at Base 18 in the distance, built into the mountains. The base was surrounded by massive stone mountains with little to no vegetation.

As Yang Bo carefully recalled this place, he realized it was closer to his territory.

“Maybe I should develop this area in the future?” Yang Bo realized he needed to focus more on the Underground World. He could no longer openly hunt small animals in the Grassland.

“That giant slug probably needs a mini hydrogen bomb to take down.” Yang Bo thought about how to deal with the slug.

“I wonder if it’ll drop some disgusting abilities.” He mused about potential loot drops.

Arriving at Base 18, Yang Bo spotted other players eyeing his busted-up mecha with astonishment.

“Did this guy fall into lava?”

“Or did he tumble into an acid lake?”

“Judging by the look of it, he must have gone into lava. Definitely a newbie who doesn’t know the terrain yet.”

“It has to be a newbie mistake. I ended up in a place like that once. It looked fine on the surface, but the ground temperature was off, and I knew something was wrong. Sure enough, I was standing on a river of lava. Thankfully, I reacted fast enough.”

“It looks bad, but actually, his mecha movements are fine. The control systems aren’t damaged, so it won’t cost him much.” Nearby players speculated while watching Yang Bo’s beat-up mecha.

At Base 18, Yang Bo applied for mecha repairs, and the price made him inhale sharply—1.85 million game credits, which equates to 1.85 million in real currency.

Upon closer inspection, he realized not only had the mecha’s outer covering been corroded, but also some of the sensor equipment.

Moreover, the sensors needed repairs rather than replacement, or else it would’ve cost even more.

A Ninth-Generation Mech’s official price is around 60 million credits.

Military-grade equipment is far more expensive than civilian models. Civilian models are no match in comparison to military gear.

Then Yang Bo applied to have his mecha storage transferred to Base 18.

Base 18 had some open storage rooms, and after paying a fee, Yang Bo’s storage content would be transferred there.

Each base distributes a certain number of mechas. Yang Bo had visited these bases before and knew there was a slight difference between what you saw and what was actually there.

In reality, there were stationed troops at these bases, along with plenty of logistical maintenance personnel. Some even had research staff.

Each base has a limited number of remotely controlled mechas, though for game players, the base appears to have only a few NPCs while the rest are hidden from view.

“Looks like this will be my new base. I wonder what strange creatures live in the mountains here?” Yang Bo wasn’t too concerned about gaining new skills; he already had plenty of them. His main goal now was to find a way to keep refining his current skill set.

Yang Bo logged out of the game as it would take three days for his mecha to be repaired.

Out of the game, Yang Bo browsed the forum again and found himself trending once more. People were debating which school of thought he belonged to, each posting their own reasons.

Yang Bo looked into it and found that mechas are divided into three schools of combat, originating from three distinct military academies.

The Academy School is the flagship style of the Alliance’s First Military Academy. This academy focuses on speed, with the belief that if a mecha is fast enough, it can finish battles in a single move.

The First Military Academy is under the Ministry of Defense.

The Warrior School is affiliated with the Mecha Pilot Association. This academy teaches that mechas should be like warriors, capable of both offense and defense. Moreover, the school places a strong emphasis on personal integrity, and its combat style values aesthetic beauty and fluid movements.

The Practical School is part of the Ministry of Education. Graduates from this school prioritize winning above all else, with no regard for style or honor. For them, the goal is to take down the enemy by any means necessary. This school produces the largest number of mecha pilots, with many bodyguards for famous politicians coming from here. It also has the lowest entry requirements: pay the fee, and you’re in.

Even if you don’t know how to control a mecha or your hand speed is too slow, you can still enter, and the school will train you.

Academy and Warrior School students are typically military cadets. Warrior School members must also be associates of the Mecha Pilot Association. Both of these require candidates to meet certain entry criteria, and only then can they become certified mecha pilots.

Basically, the first two schools are elite education systems with strict gatekeeping, while the third is more like an everyone-gets-a-chance kind of deal.

“I don’t belong to any of those schools,” Yang Bo chuckled. He also knew that before these three dominating schools, there had been many smaller schools, but as technology advanced, they eventually faded away.

“Looks like I’ll have to upgrade my mecha next time.” Yang Bo decided it was time for a new machine.

“I wonder how beast-form mechas feel in combat?” Mechas come in roughly three shapes: reptilian, humanoid, and beast.

Beast-form mechas vary between tigers, leopards, and wolves. Their fighting styles are completely different from humanoid mechas, and each beast-form mecha has its own unique configuration. Typically, once a pilot chooses a particular shape, they stick with it.

Thinking about it, Yang Bo opened the mecha game and meticulously studied the beast-form mechas.

“Their mouths actually house laser cannons?”

“And their tails carry high-voltage electric attacks?”

“While their claws feature high-energy ion blades?”

“Why do I feel like this setup is perfect for the Underground World?” Yang Bo felt impressed with the design of the beast-form mechas. What stood out most was that these mechas were generally shorter than human-shaped mechas. The shortest humanoid mecha is about eight meters, while beast-form mechas can be as low as 1.8 meters, with the tallest ones standing seven or eight meters when upright.

The key feature of beast-form mechas is that they usually come with built-in camouflage, enabling them to blend with their surroundings.

“Crawl-form mechas!” Yang Bo then turned his attention to crawl-form mechas.

“This thing is more suited to me!” What Yang Bo saw was a nine-legged spider mecha.

This mecha had six legs for swift attacks and three for movement support. The six legs could be outfitted with high-energy particle cutters, lasers, high-voltage electric currents, or even carry specialized paralysis drugs.

Yang Bo could just imagine how high his attack frequency would be if he controlled this spider mecha’s six legs using his Optical Ability.

“Oh wow, this feels tailor-made for me.” Yang Bo didn’t have any particular attachment to humanoid mechas. He just wanted something that suited him.