Chapter 1: Pan-Solar System Mech Combat Race_2

Marlon is the president of the photography club, his wish is to capture youth and beauty.

The 4396 dormitory at Tianjing Mecha Military Academy is quite famous, it is a gathering place for elites in Asia's number one military academy. Li Hao, Zuo Xiaotang, Musashi, and Marlon are from the class of '87. Among them, Musashi was especially admitted into the Mecha department. The Wu family is well-known not only in Tianjing but also all over Asia as a family with a martial arts background. Their foundations are solid and Musashi represented new students in Mecha last year in a speech.

Marlon, male, likes women, from Longgang City. He was specially admitted to the Star Wars Department, and became famous with a song at a freshman party. Within a week, he won over the senior Sheng Man, who is the president of the dance club, a great beauty from the journalism department. Since then, they have both become inseparable, seeming to be in a romantic relationship. This didn't greatly please the buddies in the dormitory.

As for Li Hao and Zuo Xiaotang, they're childhood friends, both born and raised in Tianjing. Zuo Xiaotang is a bit chubby, his round face is cute and harmless. His fighting style is heavily biased, a total trash in close combat but he has a talent for shooting, especially sniping. The teachers had a quite a debate when they admitted him.

Li Hao, the head of room 4396, is the oldest... He signed up for the journalism department at Tianjing Mecha Military Academy, but somehow got transferred to the Mecha department. At first, it caused some controversy with Musashi and Marlon. After all, young people cannot tolerate the idea of connections. According to Marlon, using connections doesn't matter as long as one has some talent. Talent?

At first, they were adversarial towards Li Hao, but he never lost his temper. But then they found that Li Hao was an orphan without connections, and he himself was pretty unassuming. They let it go. The buddies in the same trench quickly hit it off.

"Bro Hao, Little Fat, you two really have to be careful this semester. You know our principal has changed, right? The Federation is going to undergo a major surgery this time. Major Long Danni is not easy to mess with. You two really have to strive. Bro Hao, don't use the virtual mode for your EMP training anymore, it's useless besides being fun." Marlon said.

The EMP system was developed by the research headquarters of the Solar System Alliance, covering four major alliance Mecha types, and is updated from time to time. It is divided into two modes: virtual and reality. The virtual mode provides a kind of Mecha experience and is open to everyone. This is also an important reason why the Mecha tournament has so many fans.

Professional military academy students or amateur players with a score of over 500 points and pass the physical test can gain access to the real mode.

In real mode, one experiences 70% of the impact and body burden caused by real Mecha collision. It requires professionalism.

At first, the alliance opened the virtual mode due to funding issues, hoping to raise some funds. No specific promotion was made, but it got out of hand due to its popularity. Later, even the alliance found it difficult to abandon such a large source of income. It has now become the absolute mainstream entertainment mode. Surprisingly, women account for 40% of the users in the virtual mode, which is a considerable ratio.

The scoring rules in the EMP system mean that the scores obtained from winning in virtual mode are very low, with entertainment being its principal purpose. Hence, top-level masters only get scores around four or five hundred points, but real mode contains a lot of high scores.

For instance, the basic conditions for applying to participate in the selection of this Pan-Solar System competition in the Asia area are EMP scores above 1200 points, or reaching A-level in some single abilities.

The student in the 4396 dormitory with the best results is Musashi, with a year-end score of 1296. He didn't try particularly hard to rush the score, but he confidently expects to reach over 2000 points this year. Marlon comes next with 1020 points. Keep in mind that Marlon's major is in spacecraft, this level is quite high. He is a typical case of being able to hit on girls and study at the same time. He also has hobbies in photography and drama, leading to a colorful life.

Li Hao and Zuo Xiaotang score around 800 points, but Zuo Xiaotang has achieved an A- score in shooting training. The only one they are worried about is Li Hao. In fact, all three of them knew that Li Hao had been "working hard" during the first year. He was super disciplined and he often disappeared early in the morning, but he would always bring breakfast back for everyone. He played EMP the most, but his score seemed to be only around 800. This implies that his win rate must be quite terrible. But even as roommates, everyone was too embarrassed to ask too much about it.

"Don't worry, I will use less virtual mode in the future. Even for you guys, I can't go. Without me, you guys would starve to death," Li Hao joked.

"Brother Hao, if you need help in any way, just let us know. Don't be shy!" Marlon patted his chest and said. Although his major was not Mecha, he was still quite confident about his own level.

Musashi glanced at Li Hao but didn't say much.

At night, Marlon went on a date with a girl, claiming it was their last supper. His main target for the new year would be younger female students.

Zuo Xiaotang, being a die-hard fan, was a busy person. Arhts's performance in the Grand Mecha Tournament made her even more popular. As loyal fans, they were overjoyed, with lots of things to do. There were always two or three Arhts-related hot searches in the top ten news on Tianjing News. Although Zuo Xiaotang, nicknamed "Little Fatty," appears meek and submissive in daily life, once he enters fan mode, he goes all out.

Li Hao and Musashi went to the EMP building together. The 18-story building was brightly lit; it's also one of the iconic buildings of Tianjing Mecha. There were many people who loved training, as well as those who enjoyed displaying their skills.

They found a way to combine training with entertainment.

"Bro Hao, although Marlon likes to brag, this time, he did not exaggerate. The defeat in the big competition angered the higher-ups, especially because a few EMP records were taken away by the Moon people. Our old principal still had three years to retire, but he left directly. Almost all of the major military academies switched to younger leadership. It's impossible to mix the Mecha department and the spaceship department... If you need a training opponent, I am always available," Musashi said.

Musashi didn't talk much in the dormitory and was very active in training. If it weren't because he didn't qualify, he could have participated in last year's grand competition based on his level. Of course, compared to the competition standard, he still lacked a bit of maturity. It's quite possible for him to achieve results this year after polishing his skills for another year.

Li Hao patted Musashi, "Don't worry, I can handle it…"

"Bro Hao, I have noticed that you have been to EMP more often than me, but you have to find the right method. Especially in virtual mode, you can't use it. The more you lose, the more you have to find your feeling from real fights. Our physical condition is too advantageous. Although it's fun and smooth, it does not have any advantage. It feels like Principal Long will ban military school students from using virtual mode this year. Any operation without enough endurance and burden is just for show," Musashi said earnestly.

Li Hao touched his nose. Musashi was a straight shooter who didn't mince words. "Okay, okay, I swear I'm not using virtual mode, and will study diligently every day!"

In fact… sigh, how should I put it? He really didn't use virtual mode, but in a way, he also did use virtual mode.

Musashi chose a machine room and walked in, Li Hao smiled. Suddenly, a message came on Tianjing News. Li Hao glanced at it, a strange color flashed in his eyes, and the next moment it returned to normal.

The message was from an anonymous mail.

(I started preparing for the new book last year, and I have been going through a twisting and turning process as I was constantly lacking a certain feeling. After eating a peach, I felt enlightened and that's why there is "Storm of Mecha" with the fiery passion of mech battles from the previous storm series and some new elements. This is also what I want to share with you all. You guys can also give more opinions. The previous one should be youthful enthusiasm, this one is more about reminiscing and suspense from the perspective of an old man. There is a bit of pre-written draft. You can bookmark it, thanks!)