The whole CT system was bustling with activity during this downtime. It had been a while since this happened, and Solon had even mumbled Skeleton's name in his dreams. The new plans were great, but there was also the matter of his rate of appearance. Although Skeleton should have appeared at least once a week, the contract simply did not regulate that, and hence Solon could not complain.
Solon was just like a general, merely giving directions calmly.
The list of challengers in the system was already extremely long. The players appeared but did not go into battle immediately, which intrigued the spectators. What was more baffling was that even more challengers showed up this time compared to before.
Moreover, an announcement about the battle was made in advance.
The problem lay with the opponents!
Wang Zheng had almost managed to attain what he wanted in the last round of training. He was just a small step away from mastery, but he just couldn't seem to master the laser technique. He thought that he could manage to do so, but instead he failed time and again.
But having been through the training for the Five Elements, Wang Zheng now had a completely different understanding of himself and even the world.
Laser gun in hand, he swung his arm, shooting it with an exaggerated move. It was not a normal way to shoot, and not even children would do that. Yet Wang Zheng found joy in it.
In the natural world, a laser was a type of light, and this solidified light was no different from matter.
Looking at it from the aspect of "air," everything had a form of physical existence. The only reason why others could not see this was because they could not understand its mysteriousness and intricacies.
They could not feel it.
Student Wang was able to feel everything around him. On the other hand, he was having a great deal of fun training. Solon was busy settling some matters while Young Deer and Bubbly Foam were already ready and preparing to commentate.
In Europe, Lear was sitting in an enormous room. A huge screen was in front of him.
"This is the oddball you were talking about?"
"Yes, Sir. After conducting multiple battle analyses, I have found that this man is fairly skilled. If you do not care for his physical quality, he has a well-rounded battle quality and makes for a good practice opponent," the caretaker answered with utmost courtesy.
Lear had returned to Europe. Losing in Ares College was just a tiny setback. He had chosen the entire team himself, so instead of punishing that fatty, he studied the problem. The team needed training, but mistakes could not be repeated. That was his rule.
The Tri-College Exchange was just a stepping board for him. Outsiders could only watch it for fun. That was his warm-up match before the first audition among military schools in the Solar System.
There were only five spots for Earth. He was naturally one of them.
"Do you think this man is more suitable as an opponent compared to the others in the army?"
Lear trusted the caretaker's judgment more than anything else, as he was the one who discovered all the opponents. There were now more than 10 mecha of different types from the real world piling up in his backyard…. "Home" might not be a suitable name now.
Looking from a bird's eye view, the entire mansion was seated in the mountains. There was a takeoff and landing strip for airplanes, which was a whopping 10 hectares large. It looked no different from a military base.
Lear's training opponents were usually selected from the army.
Skeleton's competition videos were playing on the big screen. Lear did not care much for them at first, but he smiled after watching parts of it.
"He is pretty interesting."
The Caretaker smiled. "Young Master, his standard is considered top-notch on Earth. It's rare that he only uses the Wargod No. 1. That'll help you solidify your fundamentals, which is considerably valuable."
Lear nodded. "Go ahead. I'll go get ready."
"Yes, Sir."
The caretaker left the room. With a wave of his hand, all sorts of equipment started flashing in the other room. A dozen staff were busy working.
Over at CT, the matched opponent's name was out, too.
ID: Magical Bird.
Region: Earth. He was consistently one of the Top 10 snipers in the past six months. Diamond rank. Most used mech: Shadow Demon Ur.
Shadow Monster Ur was one of the best aerial mecha on Earth. It possessed excellent flight abilities and was quick and agile. Its performance on ground was not too bad either, and in the cityscape battles, which Magical Bird was best at, he had held the super record of 20 consecutive wins.
He was definitely a strong opponent.
Bubbly Foam and Young Deer had appeared on the screen.
"The opponent is out! Magical Bird! This player seems to be in pretty good form recently. It will be the first time Skeleton deals with a mech that can fly. I am not too sure how he will perform, and I can't wait to see how this battle will progress!" Bubbly Foam exclaimed. It was apparent that this beautiful girl had put in a lot of effort into her appearance. She knew that there was a good possibility that Skeleton would look at her.
"Haha! Skeleton did not show up last time. Seems like he's not doing that great. Let's hope he won't get away again this time," Young Deer said.
Bubbly Foam rolled her eyes. "Comrade Young Deer, why don't you face reality! I heard you've started a CT training class. Have you had any attendees?"
Young Deer smiled confidently. "Of course! The class is full. I'm pretty good at teaching. I welcome everybody to come and join the Young Deer God Training Class, especially pretty girls. You'll even get a 30% discount!"
"How many Skylinks of pretty girls have you asked?"
Young Deer shook his head in seriousness. "I'm a serious person. Learning is learning. How could I ask for pretty girls' IDs wantonly? In fact, if any pretty girls face technical difficulties, they can get a room and wait for me. Face to face coaching would be much better."
Bubbly Foam's face turned grey.
It was said that Young Deer's narration was becoming more and more colorful. Bubbly Foam had thought it was a rumor at first, but now it seemed to be true. She had heard that when mentally agitated, these individuals took things to the extreme.
"Do you think Skeleton will be able to win this battle?"
"If I were Magical Bird, I wouldn't think of going at Skeleton directly in a head-on confrontation. Instead, I would opt to destroy the Wargod No. 1's weapons, placing myself in a superior position before toying with him!"
The Wargod No. 1's weapons system was terrifying, but the Shadow Demon Ur was equipped with even longer distance targeting systems.
Shadow Demon Ur's flying system's main purpose was not to battle in the air. Rather, it was to use the mech to snipe from a superior position. It could also escape the battlefield faster. Combined with the fact that it was equipped with a pretty outstanding Driss Heavy Sniper Laser Cannon, it had horrifying long-distance combat capabilities.
There was a benefit to such a heavy sniper cannon. Even if it didn't hit the target directly, as long as the shot landed nearby, the strong laser's magnetic field would destroy the mech's equipment. For instance, the Wargod No. 1's laser gun would definitely be affected by the area of interference. Moreover, it had been rendered obsolete in the real battlefield for many years now.
In order to deal with the new equipment that was constantly being developed, the different mecha had to come up with anti-interference systems. Otherwise, players would be defeated so badly that they wouldn't even be able to remember who their own mothers were!
The Skeleton Corps was on fire. The key members, Chen Xiu, Yao Ailun, Rainbow, and Qiangsen, had arrived and taken their positions. Presently, the Skeleton Corps was the most active group in Asia.
Rainbow and Qiangsen knew mecha like the Shadow Demon Ur very well, as they had encountered it in battles before. As of now, although there were no large scale battles in the Milky Way Alliance, clashes had never ceased since the dawn of humankind. Mecha were the tools of such clashes. However, they were designed and utilized based on terrain.
This type of Shadow Demon Ur was commonly used in skirmishes, but could Magical Bird use it to defeat Skeleton?
Both of them expressed doubts. Having battled Skeleton, they knew very well the unpredictability of his ability to adapt.
The discussion forum, on the other hand, possessed varying views. What was more curious was that half of them supported Skeleton despite the seemingly disadvantageous situation.
If it had been any other player, they'd definitely be defeated.
Wargod No. 1 vs Shadow Demon Ur?
There's no need to even battle to know the result.
But right now, many believed that there was a solution to every battle situation.
Wang Zheng was happily training, while his opponent was already ready.
The battle was right about to start, but Magical Bird had suddenly gone offline.
Such situations were rare, and the officials hurriedly contacted him. Renowned players like Magical Bird had public contact details.
This was a live show, and this was a situation not to be taken lightly.
Luckily, Magical Bird came back on after a few minutes.
Back in Europe, in the mansion among the Alps, Lear was ready.
The Caretaker took his leave. The Cronos could achieve anything on Earth.
Lear Cronos was the god of the Cronos family. What he wanted to achieve was not to solidify the family's standing. The Cronos family was already the first and foremost family on Earth. Their influence was immense, and they had been this way for two centuries. What Lear wanted to achieve was to extend their influence outside of Earth.
Humankind originated from Earth, and it had to be someone from Earth to dominate the Milky Way!
To achieve this, Lear had gone through inhuman training since childhood. Yet he passed every single one of them. It was a feat no other man could achieve.
In fact, it was not just Lear. The Moon and Mars also groomed a new generation of successors with the ambition to regain the status of the Solar System. It was the most secretive alliance made.
The Solar System had dominated the Milky Way Federation for centuries in the past. But now, their position was merely symbolic.
Not one country had as much pride as those of humankind on Earth.
Lear did not think of it as a burden. The training sessions were all easy to him. There were no obstacles in taking in knowledge of all aspects. His genetic score was S class.
For ordinary men, outstanding talent of one in a hundred was classified under A class. For geniuses that occurred only once in a hundred million, they were classified as S class.
Within the A class, only a few had Ability X. But all men who were classified S had Ability X!
In the last battle at Ares College, Lear was only trying things out. At that level, there was no need to perform exaggeratedly. It was just that nobody had expected Wang Zheng to appear and turn the tables.
This time round, although things took a little longer, the opponent still made it in time.
The caretaker made a Skylink call outside. "Hope we'll have a pleasant time working together."
On the other end, Magical Bird gaped at his account balance. There was another million credited into it.
"You're not worried I'd log in here and take advantage of you?" Magical Bird could not fathom why these people would spend 2 million just for an opportunity to battle Skeleton.
The caretaker smiled. "I believe in you. You know the value of 2 million. A life might be too much, but a leg would be just nice."
Magical Bird shivered. "Haha! Just kidding! We'll have a good time working together! Remember to get in touch with me the next time you've got such a great deal!"
He hung up quickly. Just who were these people?
Although they were unable to fight, people were still waiting to watch the battle go on.
Both parties were to choose the terrain.
Skeleton never chose anything. Lear could not care for much and set the map choice to be random..
The Battle Map -- Resuscitating Island!
This was an island that had a long history on Earth. On it, there was a giant sculpture of a human head. It was said to be an extraterrestrial masterpiece and was considered an unsolved mystery a couple of centuries ago. Of course, today, there was no secret to what it is.
It was a mark made by the Yatelands people when they left.