Mecha Chapter 103: Once

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Lhachril

 

He didn’t know if it was due to the Source of Consciousness he consumed the day before, but Luo XiaoLou slept so soundly that he didn’t even feel when Yuan Xi left him.

Since the competition started, 125 had become Luo XiaoLou’s full-time alarm clock. He got up early, fussed for a while, saw that it was about time, and jumped into bed to wake Luo XiaoLou up. When 125 woke Luo XiaoLou up, Luo XiaoLou was having a nightmare about being an exotic beast, and as he was stammering, Yuan Xi looked at him coldly and said, ‘Give me the ring! Give it to me.’

Luo XiaoLou crawled out of bed with an ugly face, washed up and started to eat the breakfast that Yuan Xi had left on the table. While doing so, Luo XiaoLou kept wondering if reality would be so dogged. If there was really such a day, Luo XiaoLou imagined it himself, and could only think of the scene where Yuan Xi grabbed him in a rage and violated him.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t dare to think about it any further, instead he decided to become an ostrich first. Or find a chance to imply to Yuan Xi that exotic beasts weren’t scary at all, so that he would suffer less when he really had to face that day. The dream reminded him that Luo XiaoLou should take off his ring and find a chain to hang it around his neck.

At that moment, Luo XiaoLou noticed that the necklace around his neck had turned blue and had a delicate silver wire wrapped around it, and asked, “You’re a Tyrannosaurus rex now, so why has the necklace changed color?”

125 cocked his tail and came over to Luo XiaoLou, handing him the object in his hand and asking, “How is it?”

Luo XiaoLou picked it up in surprise. It was the green necklace he often wore around his neck.

“This?” Luo XiaoLou wondered. He could tell that the one around his neck was the real chain.

125 replied with a smug look, “I made a high replica and put some Blue Origin Star in it. Even if we do get caught, it’ll be enough to annoy them for a while.”

“Fine, I’ll bring this necklace to Luo ShaoFan someday, so he won’t have to keep about it every day,” Luo XiaoLou said.

“Don’t bother, in fact, Luo ShaoFan was standing guard not far from your door this morning after Yuan Xi left, which is why I stepped up my time to make it.” 125’s tail cocked high, staring at Luo XiaoLou clearly waiting to be complimented.

“You’re good with your hands,” Luo XiaoLou laughed. He studied the necklace in his hand, which even he himself had trouble telling if it was real or not, and muttered under his breath, “Ah, at last it’s of some use.”

Pretending not to hear, 125 just said proudly with a straight face, “Well, of course, seeing as the energy box you provided is fine, don’t be too grateful to me.”

After a moment’s hesitation, 125 said again, “By the way, your Source of Consciousness has increased to a high level, and the microchip your mother left you is ready for you to open.”

Luo XiaoLou was stunned, and for a moment he wanted to see what was inside right away, but time was about to run out. Finally, Luo XiaoLou pushed down his excitement and said, “Wait until tonight or when we come back this afternoon, and we’ll take a look.”

125 also agreed.

Luo XiaoLou gathered his things and opened the door. At 125’s direction, Luo XiaoLou walked in the direction Luo ShaoFan was hiding.

To be on the safe side, Luo XiaoLou wrapped his whole body with the Source of Consciousness. Then the moment he saw Luo ShaoFan, Luo XiaoLou immediately ducked to the side where no one else was. He said fearfully, “You – What else do you want to do? Told you I didn’t bring it.”

Luo ShaoFan looked at the knife in his hand depressed. His plan had been to wait for Luo XiaoLou to come over and hold the knife to his neck to make it easier to threaten him. But the person in front of him was already frightened like a shivering mouse that was being stalked by a cat, before he even made a move.

Luo ShaoFan’s heart rose with an unprecedented feeling of superiority. As long as he thought of his life, he felt as if he had a thorn in his heart. Now looking at Luo XiaoLou like this, he was immediately soothed a lot.

Luo ShaoFan took two steps forward and blocked Luo XiaoLou, then played with the knife in his hand and threatened coldly, “I don’t have time to spend with you. This is the last chance, think about it. I either want something or want your life!”

Luo XiaoLou shrank back into the corner and looked hesitantly at Luo ShaoFan, but said with a hard mouth, “That was given to me by my mother-“

As soon as Luo ShaoFan heard the word mother, it touched his heart again. His face immediately grimaced, and he grabbed Luo XiaoLou by the collar, pulled him over, and yelled in a low voice, “That’s mine! That necklace wasn’t even meant for a bastard like you!”

Then he raised the knife in his hand and stabbed toward Luo XiaoLou’s eye. Luo XiaoLou was shocked but immediately dodged to the side. The knife slipped by the Source of Consciousness force and stuck into the wall.

“Don’t! Don’t do it! I’ll give – give it to you …” Luo XiaoLou’s body trembled even more.

When Luo ShaoFan heard this, his senses returned a little, but in his heart he thought, This kid really was scared. It’s just as well that he didn’t need to try to force him to give it up anymore. Luo ShaoFan had been a little worried that the necklace really hadn’t been brought here by Luo XiaoLou, and he didn’t have much time left.

Luo ShaoFan had already been eliminated from the game but had planned to stay here for a few days to play with his friends, and to get his hands on that necklace along the way. But for some unknown reason, his family suddenly contacted him and asked him to come home immediately.

If he didn’t get it now, he wouldn’t dare to go home this time.

Luo XiaoLou shivered and reached for his collar, Luo ShaoFan was impatient and yanked it open himself, pulled out the green necklace, observed it carefully again to make sure it was right before quickly taking it off and putting it around his own neck.

“You, you, let go of me first,” Luo XiaoLou couldn’t get his hands free, and his body kept shrinking back.

Luo ShaoFan had solved an important matter and settled his heart. He thought about it, then held the knife to Luo XiaoLou’s neck and whispered, “You better remember clearly. This necklace was originally mine. No matter who asks, you have to say so. If you say the wrong thing-“

Luo ShaoFan narrowed his eyes, attached himself to Luo XiaoLou’s ear and said grimly, “I’ll kill you and Lady Jin.” 

If Luo XiaoLou wasn’t Yuan Xi’s man and hadn’t been accepted as a disciple by Master Yan, he would actually be more than willing to make Luo XiaoLou disappear without a word right now so as to eliminate any future troubles. However, someone like Yuan Xi would tire of Luo XiaoLou sooner or later, and it wouldn’t be too late to make a move then.

Luo XiaoLou was stunned, then his face paled as he said, “Don’t – don’t do that. It’s yours. I will just say that after I’d taken it, someone found out that it was given to the wrong person by Lady Jin. Don’t you kill me, and don’t kill…her.”

“And don’t even think about entering the Luo family. You’re just the bitchy seed born by that woman Lady Jin. The Luo family will never accept you!” Luo ShaoFan finished with a gloomy face. The knife in his hand pretended to slip, and Luo XiaoLou’s neck immediately showed a faint blood mark. Then seeing Luo XiaoLou was even more scared, Luo ShaoFan was satisfied to leave.

Once Luo ShaoFan was out of sight, Luo XiaoLou let go of his neck and calmly stood up, took medicine, and the shallow gash disappeared.

“Oooooh, I love this kind of disguise play, I guarantee you can go undercover as a villain!” 125 cheered in his ear.

Your sister is…… a villain!

Checking the time, Luo XiaoLou found a place to finish his make-up and headed to the competition venue.

This time, Luo XiaoLou entered the venue by stepping on the spot. After meeting Luo ShaoTian yesterday, Luo XiaoLou’s heart started to drum. What if he met someone he knew again? Mu Chen, Yates, Ling Xu, and even worse, in case they encountered Yuan Xi. Thinking of Yuan Xi, Luo XiaoLou shivered with excitement – there was some kind of excitement and eagerness in his heart, but Luo XiaoLou didn’t dare to think about it.

Hiding in the mecha, there wasn’t much of a chance of being recognized. When training with Yuan Xi in the virtual network, 125 had stressed to Luo XiaoLou that he should only train for melee combat against Yuan Xi. The long-range hadn’t been used at all, and his speed was also controlled as much as possible. However, should he meet in person in the lounge, Luo XiaoLou had no idea how he would not be recognized.

Fortunately, there were no acquaintances among the eight people today. Strictly speaking, there were no acquaintances he knew in reality, and as Luo XiaoLou observed the players in the lounge, a young black-haired man greeted Luo XiaoLou with a smile, “521, it’s fate that we meet again.”

Luo XiaoLou’s mouth trembled, it was the terrifyingly powerful Shao Rong that he had met on the first day. Dogshit! He didn’t want to be fated with him at all.

As expected, the later it got, the more powerful the contestant became.

The format of the race was still a survival race, but this time it was a little more difficult. The contestants had to reach the finish line from the starting point, and they could find a way to finish off their opponents in the middle of the race. After four of them reached the finish line, the match automatically ended. Failure at the halfway point, for whatever reason, would also disqualify them from the competition.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t have much time in the lounge, before the door to the tournament venue opened and the group went out.

Once they were outside, they saw a white expanse. The arena they were in was actually filled with fog, and it was so thick that they could barely see their fingers.

From the white fog, came Shao Rong’s low laugh, “So, everyone, see you at the finish line.”

The sound was so bizarre that people who couldn’t quite bear it began to wince.

Luo XiaoLou cursed under his breath and beckoned out 125. As far as the visual problem was concerned, it was nothing to him. With Source of Consciousness, Luo XiaoLou knew exactly where 125 was, and lent him strength to allow 125 to pull him into the cockpit. Luo XiaoLou clicked on the holographic view.

Luo XiaoLou was stunned when he saw the terrain map, then smiled. Even though 125 had limited Luo XiaoLou’s mecha level when they were attacked, the holographic view was unmatched by any other mecha.

Seeing the terrain map, Luo XiaoLou couldn’t help but feel that it was much harder than the last game. There were grassland areas, forests, and even a strip of desert. 125 had marked some areas with quicksand on it, and on the far right of the map, there was a bare rocky belt.

The other seven had already moved forward, but Luo XiaoLou wasn’t in a hurry, he knew he had poor melee strength but could still fight with speed and distance. Therefore, he had to be more careful than the others.

Luo XiaoLou studied for a while and decided to take the rocky path. There was a path there, with steep vertical rocky mountains on both sides of the road, like the East African Rift Valley on the topographic map. The crack-like trail was much longer and twisted compared to the flat and varied territory of the central part of the arena.

But Luo XiaoLou felt that it was simpler that the terrain didn’t change, and more importantly, it was hard to spot the path without an advanced holographic view like 125, and even if they did, they probably wouldn’t bother going the long way around.

After deciding on a route, Luo XiaoLou maneuvered the mecha to fly directly to the right.

After walking for a while, Luo XiaoLou was surprised to find that the situation was more complicated than it looked. There were also simulated monsters on the ground that might attack them.

After killing the three one-horned rhinoceroses, Luo XiaoLou increased his speed. He noticed that the mimics were catching up to them from the rear, and there was a growing trend of them. In other words, the slower they were, the more likely they were to fall behind.

It took Luo XiaoLou twenty minutes to reach the far right, and he couldn’t help but start to worry if someone was already nearing the end.

Luo XiaoLou’s eyes lit up when he saw the rocky road. It was a surprise that there was no fog here.

After entering the crevice, Luo XiaoLou discovered that the lack of fog was actually fair, but the width of the rocky path could only accommodate three mechas.

After Luo XiaoLou entered the rocky road, the rocks piled up behind him suddenly moved, and several mock monsters of the same color as the rocks slowly appeared.

Half an hour later, Luo XiaoLou was cursing as he moved his fingers rapidly. From time to time he had to finish off the rock monsters chasing his ass. The scariest part was that he couldn’t always turn around and shoot because of the terrain, and time didn’t allow for it, resulting in more and more rock monsters, and there was already a large group behind him.

Luo XiaoLou would only shoot those monsters that were close to him. It was just like the long-range training that 125 had arranged for him, but a few levels more difficult.

Dodging the boulders thrown by its face again, the blue mecha flipped over at a weird angle.

The terrain ahead was becoming increasingly difficult, and stopping was simply not an option. He definitely couldn’t make mistakes with the virtual monsters chasing him getting faster and faster. Luo XiaoLou believed that as soon as he slowed down, he would be overwhelmed by a group of monsters.

The thought of regretting choosing the rocky path without fog flashed through Luo XiaoLou’s mind, but then, he wouldn’t even have time to regret it.

And that wasn’t the worst of it, Luo XiaoLou was making three consecutive nearly 90-degree turns when a boulder fell from the sky. Luo XiaoLou’s fingers hardly knew how to move, and he barely leaned towards the rock wall, so his left side was scuffed. The system reminded him that according to the level restriction, the left mecha arm and the left particle gun were temporarily unavailable.

Cursing, the right side turned around and fired five shots, knocking out the virtual monster a meter away, Luo XiaoLou slapped the console and maneuvered the mecha forward again.

The system’s warning indicated that 125 was still intact, but with that level of damage it was impossible for a level 4 mecha to withstand. Luo XiaoLou was relieved, but at the same time, he fought against the rocky road.

In the next half an hour, boulders continued to fall from the sky, but Luo XiaoLou wasn’t hit again, and the fake monsters behind him didn’t catch up to Luo XiaoLou after all, despite their terrifying numbers.

The rocky path of falling boulders was indeed the final stage of the test, for after half an hour, Luo XiaoLou’s eyes instantly opened up and he emerged from the rocky path!

Luo XiaoLou was relieved because both of his arms had begun to cramp up. The mock monsters, which were on a grand scale, only watched the exit of the rocky road for a moment before dispersing again.

A short distance ahead, on a tall platform, was the finish line. Luo XiaoLou wasn’t sure how many times the system announced that someone had quit the race, but he knew the race wasn’t over.

Thinking of this, Luo XiaoLou got excited and maneuvered the mecha to fly quickly toward the platform, and the moment he landed, Luo XiaoLou was almost moved to tears, he had successfully advanced!

Someone else had already arrived on stage, but Luo XiaoLou hadn’t expected to be the first to arrive. The first to arrive was a blue mecha, which Luo XiaoLou knew as Shao Rong’s. He was the second to arrive? It seemed that the terrifying rocky road might not be without its benefits.

Luo XiaoLou was slumped in the driver’s seat when the blue mecha suddenly approached.

Luo XiaoLou saw it, but didn’t move. He was exhausted, his arms were still sore, and he didn’t have the energy to talk to Shao Rong. However, as Shao Rong approached, he suddenly kicked 125, who was standing on the edge.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t react, in fact, he himself knew that even in his full state, it wasn’t easy to dodge that kick. What’s more, right now, there was no question that Luo XiaoLou had been kicked away.

Shao Rong didn’t give up, but followed it up with another leap.

After ravaging Luo XiaoLou to his heart’s content, Shao Rong realized that Luo XiaoLou did not have the strength to fight back, and pointed the Particle Gun at the 125’s cockpit.

Three shots later, the system prompted: According to the level restriction, the level four mecha was no longer able to fight, and it was recommended to retrieve the space button.

“Hey!” Luo XiaoLou was dumbfounded. After discovering that 125 was beginning to play dead very responsibly, Luo XiaoLou could only take it back in frustration and stand on the platform.

Only then did Luo XiaoLou realize that there was a man lying not far away. When he saw Luo XiaoLou, the man raised his hand in greeting with a bitter face. It turned out that he wasn’t the second person to arrive after all, but rather a poor third, the second had also been killed by Shao Rong.

Luo XiaoLou was so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood. He was actually killed by the maniac after coming here so easily.