Chapter Two: Another Finch
Hero Shangguan, the founder of the Storm Corporation, the richest man in the Penta-Bull City.
Unlike other family firms, he was a lucky man favored by fortune. A few years ago, he was merely an ordinary manager in a regular mining company. He was an everyday person. The resources were gradually running out so some of the mining firms started to sell the “useless“ mines to private buyers. The buyers had to take all financial risks by themselves. During that time, Hero Shangguan decided to buy an almost abandoned mine in the countryside by getting a loan from the bank and some friends. Luckily, he found a vein of black crystal!
It was almost impossible because the mining company explored those mines many times. How did such a great mistake happen?
But in the end, it really did happen. Hero Shangguan found the treasure. Although the reserves were low, the quality of the black crystal was amazing, almost the highest quality.
He became rich overnight!
Some people said he already knew there was a vein of the black crystal, however, he didn’t report it to the headquarters. Some people said it was his destiny. A collapse in the caves happened after the company’s last check and the black crystal was uncovered.
Both theories made sense somehow but also did not cover everything. For example, mining and prospecting were two completely separate departments. He was just a small manager in the company, it was impossible for him to lie to the company’s board of executives. On the other side, if he didn’t know everything about that mine, it was too risk for him to borrow the loan and spend all his savings. It was a gamble.
Anyway, what was black crystal?
Black crystal was a precious resource, the main material of energy blocks. Currently, the majority of the weapons on this planet would be inoperable without it.
Hero Shangguan became rich and started to act wildly. He didn’t spend all his time managing this mine. Instead, although he didn’t know anyone in the military industry, he started to invest his money in the weapon development and private military contractors (PMC).
The Storm Cooperation had become extremely successful and the original mine had been emptied. The mining company was unnecessary but he still kept it because he didn’t want the miners to lose their jobs. Right now, Hero Shangguan started to pay more attention to the galaxy instead of Penta-Bull city.
He was successful in his career yet he found a difficulty with no solution.
No son.
Hero’s wife had poor health and only managed to give birth to their first daughter when she was 30, named Feiyan. At that time, life was tough so they didn’t want to have another kid. When the business started, they were too busy. Then, when the Storm Cooperation was successful and growing, he realized that he had to have a son, at least one.
Hero Shangguan then found that it was harder than starting a business …… He started to visit some famous doctors and even pray in some temples. In the end, Yishou Liu solved his problem.
Finally, Hero Shuangguan had a son and he would be the inheritor of the Storm Cooperation. However, his son’s mother wasn’t his wife, but the young woman who was walking beside Hero Shangguan.
Yidao Niu knew the inside story.
In addition, some rumors said Hero Shangguan’s wife was diagnosed with depression and was dying.
“Because of money.” Yidao Liu looked at the girl who stood beside Hero Shangguan and whispered.
“Poor child, forget her real mother ……”
“Shut up.” Yishou Liu said.
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“Mrs. Liu.”
Hero Shangguan said and walked toward them.
“Two days ago, I told Yinyin to ask you if you need the entrance tickets and she said you don’t need it. I planned to ask you again personally but a lot of my friends were coming here and I was too busy …… Yinyin, you should remind me. ”
Hero Shangguan was tall and had a loud and clear voice. Yinyin was the stepmother and she stood beside Hero Shangguan. She apologized to Yishou Liu for the inconvenience.
Honestly, it was not her fault. When Hero Shangguan complained about that, she didn’t argue with him and started to apologize.
At the same moment, Yidao Niu didn’t talk too much with Hero Shangguan. Yishou Liu noticed that and said something politely.
“We didn’t plan to come her but our Ben said that he wanted to see the suit Mecha Warriors wear.”
“……”
Ben Niu felt anger because he never said that. He was shocked because of the hypocrisy in the adult world.
Yishou Liu noticed that and patted his head.
“Where is Yuanwang?”
“He is too young and is staying at home.” Yinyin said.
“This is your son? Wow, he is so handsome. You like the suit? Do you want to be a Mecha Warrior? Well, my daughter wants to be a MechWarrior as well! Feiyan!” Hero Shangguan said.
Hero Shangguan was good at making observations and called his daughter.
“Say hello to uncle and aunt.”
Feiyan Shangguan was around 11.
She was curious and looked at Ben Niu who had the same reaction as herself.
Ben Niu was nervous and wanted to hide behind his mom.
“Aha!”
Feiyan Shangguan smiled. When she heard his father’s words, she ran toward her father and made a deep bow to Yishou Liu’s family. She was lively and polite.
“Hello, uncle and aunt.”
“Good, good kid.”
Yidao Niu felt strange and feared that the stepmother would abuse her at home.
“A Girl wants to be a Mecha Warrior? Is that appropriate……”
“Uncle, don’t be a sexist!”
The little girl argued and Yidao Niu had nothing to say.
She continued and asked Yidao Niu: “Uncle, do you know who is the No.1 Mecha Warrior?”
Yidao Niu became silent. He definitely knew the answer but he didn’t want to say it.
The No.1 Mecha Warrior was Mengyao Qin, the only Six Star warrior. She looked like an angel and had fantastic skills while piloting the Mech. She was recognized as the most beautiful goddess on the planet. Her opponents, especially male Mecha Warrior, called her Mech “Fei Dream”, since it would be a nightmare when they faced her on the battlefield or in the arena.
When someone said something about sexual discrimination, “Yaomeng” would be the best evidence to support female Mecha Warriors. It embarrassed Yidao Niu, but he was not the only one or the last one.
“This kid is so rude ……”
This was the truth yet, Hero Shangguan still admonished her for rudeness so Feiyan felt angry and said.
“I want to learn, I want to became a Mecha Warrior. MengYao is my idol and I want to catch up to her!”
This girl was so brave and looked to the future. She was excited and waved her hand when she talked about her future.
Several adults laughed but Ben Niu was stunned. He was ashamed and hid behind his mom.
That was the determination!
“Be quiet!” Hero Shangguan shouted: “You think you can catch up ……with her?!”
He rebuked his daughter but secretly, Hero Shangguan was looking forward to it and wanted it to come true as soon as possible.
“Feiyan always listen to her father. Hero, it’s good to have a dream and to work hard to achieve it.” Yinyin tried to speak for her.
“If your dream is too aggressive, you will be disappointed when you can’t achieve it.” Hero Shangguan said and laughed.
“Well.”
Yidao Niu sneered since he knew that Shangguan wanted his daughter became a Mecha Warrior. It would benefit the Storm Cooperation. For Yinyin, her thought was more simple. If Feiyan became a Mecha Warrior, there was a better chance for her son to inherit the Storm Cooperation.
“Of course, I can’t catch up in one night.” Feiyan had already planned out her steps. She continued her dream in detail.
“Firstly, I want to learn knowledge about Mechs. Then, I will practice in “Smoke Signals”. Next, when I grow up a bit, I will start to practice in the training Mechs. Then I will apply to the Central Military Academy and study at the Palace. ”
“Smoke signals” was a famous game in this solar system. It was an online game where players controlled a Mech suit and fought with other players on the battlefield. The Mech suit was not a toy, so not everyone could use it. Therefore, the “Smoke Signals” solved this problem because it was extremely realistic. Although the game wasn’t perfect, it could let the player practice their skills and learn more about the characteristics of each Mech suit. Thus, Smoke Signals became an effective way to scout potential Mecha Warriors.
Central Military Academy was located in Shangjing. It was the top military school in all the territories governed by the Hualong Federal Government. Feiyan Shangguan talked about an affiliate campus and the fans of the Mecha Warriors called it the “Palace”. Unlike Ben Niu, Feiyan Shangguan had a clear plan for her future.
In fact, the plan was too rough and there were lots of unknown factors in the future. However, it was already pretty good for an 11-year-old girl.
If this plan was her own idea.
“Someone must teach her.”
Yidao Niu looked at Feiyan and highly doubted that her father or stepmother taught her about this plan. All they cared about was showing off in front of others or whether their son could inherit the company in the future.
Ben was shocked and asked Feiyan: “How many students does the Central Military Academy recruit each year? Is it hard?”
“Of course it’s hard.”
Several people responded at the same time. Hero Shangguan continued and said loudly: “Central Military Academy recruits their students from the whole federation and the mark required for entry is different in each region. If the recruitment was based on the score, in Penta-Bull city, nobody can get in.”
Yinyin continued: “For many reasons, the Central Military Academy decided to allocate the seats to each region. The academy allocates the seats depending on the student’s performance in the previous year of each region.”
“Among the Six immigration planets and the main star, Mengfei Star is always the last one. For Penta-Bull city, only one student can be recruited by the academy.” Yidao Niu concluded. Ben Niu felt disappoint when he heard that.
“No matter what, at least one person can go to the Central Military Academy.”
Feiyan Shangguan already knew that. She knew it was tough but she still had hope for the future and believed she would be the chosen one.
“That means it’s valuable! I already checked the data and half of the students can graduate as a fully-fledged Mecha Warrior. If you can go to the academy, you have a fifty percent chance to become a MechWarrior!”
Although 50% sounded good, the other 50% would fail. The top students in each region went to the Central Academy but half of them would be eliminated… … It was too competitive.
“So hard!” The eight-year-old boy upset and realized the differences between reality and dreams.
“Of course it’s hard to be a MechWarrior.” Feiyan Shangguan waved her hand and declared.
“When I graduate from the military academy, I will become the best Mecha Warrior. Perhaps I can’t catch up with Mengyao but at least I can catch up with Uncle Qiang.”
“Uncle Qiang?” Yishou Liu was shocked and wondered who he was. This 11-year-old girl had compared him with Mengyao which means he must be pretty famous as well.
“It’s Qiang Zhang.” Hero Shangguan laughed and pointed at a strong man behind him.
“I invited him …… he was a Special Forces soldier a few years ago, a Mecha Warrior.”
It was him.
Yidao Niu heard some rumors about him. When he faced some difficulties, Hero Shangguan helped him, so he followed Hero Shangguan as a bodyguard. He was no doubt a good soldier and that was why Hero Shangguan helped him. However, Yidao Niu didn’t know he was a Mecha Warrior before.
When he thought about that, he sighed.
It was very common that rich people hired former Special Force soldiers to protect them because “Money talks”. If Qiang Zhang was a Mecha Warrior, this thing became quite different.
Theoretically, everyone could use the Mecha suit but in reality…… it was a one-in-a-million chance. Firstly, Mech suits were not toys, they were very expensive, especially the Military grade Mech suits. Compared with the normal Mech suit, the military grade Mech suit required more technology, so it was impossible for everyone to use.
Mech suits were rare but a Mecha Warrior was more valuable. From the economic perspective, it was also costly to cultivate a qualified Mecha Warrior. To train one, they would need to spend more time and money than just building a Mech suit. From the tactical perspective, unlike Mech suits, a MechWarrior’s experience could not be copied and they had to undergo long-term training and fight on the battlefield to become truly valuable.
You couldn’t buy experience, so people respected the Mecha Warriors and thus, they had a high social status. In the “Smoke Signals” game, some famous players had a large number of fans and they had their own guilds. It was a very common thing. In reality, those movie stars also had their own accounts. They might never play it, however, participation was necessary.
Ben Niu always said he wanted to be a Mecha Warrior, so Yidao Niu disliked everything about the Mecha Warriors. He guessed there were some secrets between Qiang Zhang and Hero Shangguan.
A MechWarrior faced some difficulties after he retired? Hero Shangguan could solve the difficulties he faced?
Hero Shangguan said with enthusiasm: “Yes, the relics of the God Kingdom are some broken pieces, common people don’t how to explain and understand. Qiang Zhang studied the relics in the military and he was a MechWarrior. He can explain it to the kids …… No other meaning, I just want the kids to know more about these relics. I will call Qiang Zhang. ”
Hero Shangguan turned around and waved his hand toward that man.
“Qiang, Qiang …… Ah?”
No one responded. Hero Shangguan frowned slightly. At the same time, Yinyin and his daughter Feiyan both looked at Qiang Zhang, confused.
“Qiang?”
“Uncle Qiang?”
“Qiang Zhang?”
Qiang Zhang was looking around and his eyes narrowed to slits.
He was looking at some girls like a greedy wolf.