Chapter 27: Compensation Scheme

Numb! Yang Bo is completely numb!

Dazed! The people at Base 16 were stunned, watching as Yang Bo’s mecha and a few mutants were hit by the orbital laser cannon. One of them fled into a cave, while the other three were obliterated on the spot.

“Bastard! Bastard!” Inside the cave, the Blood Bat cursed angrily, spitting blood. As one of General’s five trusted guardians, he’d been outwitted.

The Blood Bat now looked like a middle-aged, blond, white man. His armor squirmed like it was alive.

“It’s definitely an inside job!” The Blood Bat continued spitting blood, racking his brain to connect the dots from recent events. Three incidents in a row made him reach the conclusion: there was a mole.

Mecha Piloting +16!

Mecha Piloting +16!

Mecha Piloting +16!

Three consecutive notifications popped up, accompanied by a message about Sonic Control.

“Three died. What was that flash just now?” Yang Bo muttered to himself.

“How did these guys just appear out of thin air? What kind of ability is this?”

“Were these four targeting me?” Yang Bo was frozen. He just wanted to entertain some little animals, for heaven’s sake! Who told you to hide in the bushes? And whose idea was it to mess with the fisherman’s catch? Black screen. Then, an email arrived. Yang Bo opened it.

“We apologize, dear player. Your mecha was damaged by the Base’s remote defense system. We are providing you with a new mecha free of charge. Additionally, for identifying an enemy unit, you’ve been awarded 500,000 gold coins.” This was the official email.

Below was an ‘Accept’ button—there was no appeal option, or even a complaint form.

Yang Bo sneered coldly, “Damn it, I’ve got to relocate. Base 16 is not safe anymore. Those invisible guys definitely started watching me as soon as I left the Base.”

He immediately called customer service!

“Hello, how can I assist you?” The customer service voice was slightly robotic.

“I want to change bases. Base 16 blew up my mecha again. It’s caused me serious mental and emotional harm,” Yang Bo demanded directly.

“We apologize, sir. The game currently doesn’t offer a base transfer service.”

“What the hell are these bases even doing? Every time, they blow up my mecha! This game is absolutely inhumane! I’m taking you to court. This is a violation of human rights and a blatant mockery of the law!” Yang Bo was certain—he was changing bases.

At that moment, a video of Yang Bo’s mecha getting blown up was circulating on the forums. It actually started when Yang Bo deployed a Shockwave Bomb, drawing attention. Other mecha pilots thought someone was fighting pollution creatures. However, when they arrived, they saw four mutants surrounding Yang Bo. Then, his mecha was destroyed. One of the mutants dove into a cave.

The witnesses didn’t dare to pursue. If someone could survive being hit by the Base’s defensive weapons… this…

“Wait, isn’t that Bird Slayer Bro?”

“What kind of broken game is this? Instead of dying to the enemy, you get killed by your own people!”

“Bird Slayer Bro? What’s the deal with that?”

“This is Bird Slayer Bro’s second time being blown up by the Base. How could this game be like this? Damn, better report it outside.”

“Right? How can anyone tolerate this? Every now and then your mecha gets blown up! The mental stress is real!”

“Mental stress? These folks are just nuts. Killing small animals for fun, now this guy’s off killing bats again today!”

“Bro above, use your brain! The guy was just casually mowing grass and bam! A stealth attacker shows up?”

“This deserves mental compensation, no doubt about it. No one could handle this!”

“From a legal perspective, this should be compensable. The player paid for the service, after all. The contract is valid.”

“You know, what if… what if this Bird Slayer Bro is actually a master?”

The forum erupted with debates about Yang Bo’s mecha being blown up by the Base’s defense system, for the second time.

Meanwhile, higher-ups at the Base were puzzled. The first time it was an internal Base defense hit, fine, they accepted that. But the second time, it was the orbital defense system, and they didn’t even have control over that.

As for changing bases—it’s complicated. It involves data channels, and those channels are highly secure and use new technology. The Base doesn’t have permission over that secure channel.

“We suggest you change your IP address and re-enter the game,” the support could only respond.

Yang Bo immediately asked, “Will my in-game data transfer over?”

“You can exchange game currency for credit points,” the customer service replied.

Completely indifferent to the hassle, Yang Bo, though knowing this was remote-controlled, was still speechless.

“Then compensate me with 300 Shockwave Bombs and 300 Mini Hydrogen Bombs.” This was Yang Bo’s ultimate objective.

“Shockwave Bombs are fine. At most, we can give you 100 Mini Hydrogen Bombs,” the customer service replied after a 30-second pause.

“A total of 600?” Yang Bo smirked to himself. If I can’t change bases, I’ll grab whatever I can get.

It’s no big deal. I just need to be a little more careful in the future. Worst comes to worst, I’ll just stop playing.

In fact, Yang Bo had an even crazier idea. The way things were looking, the space weapons around his controlled mecha’s planet were highly sensitive. What if those mutants targeting him were an opportunity in itself? If he just attacked the mutants first, waited to get blown up again… wouldn’t that be a golden chance to farm his own abilities?

“Deal.”

“Done.” Yang Bo eagerly agreed. Mental damage? That’s nonsense. He wasn’t as hypersensitive as the rest of the world. So what if the screen went black a little? What’s the big deal?

Looking at his brand-new mecha and the pile of 500 Shockwave Bombs and 100 Mini Hydrogen Bombs in his storage, Yang Bo was thrilled. Honestly, he had asked for an exorbitant amount. Their combined market value exceeded 10 million gold coins.

But Yang Bo suspected that granting gold coins wasn’t feasible for the Base’s authority. After all, gold coins could be exchanged for credit points, but material items were different. Yang Bo was honestly expecting just 50 Shockwave Bombs and 10 Mini Hydrogen Bombs.

The blast wave from a hydrogen bomb came with a temporary energy disruption, capable of interfering with all sorts of mecha systems, even bio-mechas used by mutants.

That’s why fully intelligent systems couldn’t control mechas entirely—once disrupted, they would completely fail.

He happily logged out of the game and checked his skills next. The biggest change was Sonic Control: Master (14350/100000)

Mecha Piloting: Intermediate (56/100)

Lying in the bathtub, Yang Bo carefully meditated on Sonic Control. It was drastically different from the Sonic Location skill he’d learned earlier.

He whistled softly….

“Tsk tsk.” In an instant, as if from an omniscient viewpoint, Yang Bo’s senses expanded. Everything within 300 meters of his home became visible to him, much clearer than the initial wireframe vision—it was as if his actual eyes could see everything. There were exceptions, though. Areas with electric and cable lines, equipped with shielding, appeared fuzzy.

In the building next door, more than one young lady seemed to be taking a bath….

Yang Bo thought for a moment, glanced at the cup on his sink, and snapped his fingers. [Suggested modification by a certain great individual. Thank you.] Crack! The ceramic cup on the sink instantly shattered into countless pieces.