Chapter 154: First Encounter with Mecha

In the boundless universe, a spaceship shaped like a golden leaf streaked across the starry sky like a shooting star, leaving behind only a golden afterimage before vanishing into the void.

Inside the vessel, Mei rubbed her eyes as she walked into the dining hall, then greeted the person who had been waiting for her there.

"Good morning, Gallor!"

"Good morning, Mei'er!" Gallor looked up from the virtual screen, a handsome smile breaking across his face. Noticing that she still looked half-asleep, he asked with a touch of concern, "Didn't you sleep well? Is it because you're not used to this yet?"

"It's all right! I was just browsing on the optical computer too late last night!" Mei sat down opposite Gallor, letting out an involuntary yawn as she spoke.

Ever since she received the optical computer from Gallor yesterday, she had also acquired a brand-new identity.

Mei St. Stica Fila, an S-rank citizen of the Interstellar Alliance!

Naturally, this proof of identity had been arranged for her by Gallor using his royal privileges. Aside from her, even Xiruel, Mo Chen, Ye Jingxuan, An Ziyou, and Lin Shaojie had all obtained new identity documents. Although they were not S-rank citizens like her, they were all A-rank citizens, placing them firmly among the privileged class within the Interstellar Alliance.

Even though Gallor had done all this with extreme reluctance!

Ever since he learned of what Mei had suffered on that planet, he harbored zero goodwill toward anyone belonging to it.

Even if they were her companions who had once shared life and death with her, he still could not bring himself to feel the slightest scrap of affection for them.

Not to mention the fact that whenever she made a request or asked for anything, she never forgot to secure the exact same treatment for those few individuals.

Honestly. Those weaklings—why did she have to treat them so well?

Gallor was filled with quiet resentment, yet he dared not show it in front of Mei. For he knew all too well that, in her heart, he—her older brother—simply could not compare to those people!

Hmph, sooner or later, he would definitely make Mei put him, her older brother, above all else!

When that day came, the very first thing he would do was separate his precious younger sister from those men!

His precious younger sister was not even an adult yet!

How could she possibly be allowed to get so close to other men?

With these thoughts in mind, Gallor looked at Mei with even deeper concern. "Since you didn't sleep enough, why didn't you sleep a little longer?"

"It's already late today. Usually, I wake up much earlier! By the way, where are my friends? Haven't they woken up yet?" Not seeing Mo Chen and the others, Mei asked with a hint of worry.

"They're already up and are currently doing morning exercises with the Royal Guard! What would you like for breakfast?" Gallor attempted to divert Mei's attention.

"Morning exercises? They really are full of energy! Actually, I should join them!" Mei felt a slight pang of guilt. She had assumed that now that they were safe, everyone would take the time to properly relax. As it turned out, she was the only lazy one.

"Why would you go join them? Back then, it was out of necessity, but from now on, you have your brother to protect you. If you still had to risk your life yourself, wouldn't that make your brother seem utterly useless?" Gallor said disapprovingly.

Hearing this, Mei tilted her head slightly, looking at Gallor with a troubled expression. "But I'm already used to that kind of life! Going on adventures together with my companions—I found it truly happy! If you just make me stay put all the time, I'll go crazy from boredom!"

Setting aside the need for self-preservation, she was naturally someone who could never stay idle. If she were forced to stay at home every day, she would undoubtedly suffocate from madness.

"Mei'er enjoys fighting?" Gallor asked, somewhat surprised.

"Rather than saying I like fighting, it's more accurate to say I prefer the feeling of being able to protect the people around me who matter! It makes me feel needed, and stops me from feeling useless. Besides, exchanging blows with others from time to time is actually a pretty nice feeling!" Mei thought for a moment and explained earnestly.

Although she still wasn't ready to call him "older brother," she didn't mind letting him understand her a little better.

Being needed?

Once again, a wave of guilt washed over Gallor. What kind of experiences must she have endured to give birth to such a mindset?

"Since Mei'er likes it, your brother naturally won't stop you! I promise you, once you reach adulthood, you can do whatever you like. But for now, you're still young, so leave the fighting to your brother, alright?" Unwilling to force her to obey his every whim, Gallor adopted a persuasive tone.

Wait until adulthood again!

There really were so many things minors weren't allowed to do!

Reluctant to make such a promise, Mei thought for a moment and changed the subject. "Is Gallor very strong? I haven't seen you fight yet! Oh, right, the things we saw that day—were those robots? Do battles in space all rely on those?"

"Whether your brother is strong or not, you will definitely get the chance to see it! As for what you mentioned, those aren't robots; they're mechas! Mecha combat is an indispensable form of warfare on the interstellar battlefield. You could say that mechas are currently the strongest individual combat weapons in the entire galaxy!" Gallor didn't expect her to blindly obey him right away, so he smoothly followed her lead and changed the topic.

"The strongest?"

Mei's eyes lit up. She immediately raised her hand, tapped her optical computer, and began searching the interstellar network for combat videos involving mechas.

With that single search, countless video links instantly popped up.

She picked the one with the highest click rate and opened it to play.

On the screen, a fiery red humanoid mecha could be seen weaving forward through an asteroid belt. Watching the flexible movements of that mecha—which were in no way inferior to those of a living person—Mei found it hard to believe, even witnessing it with her own eyes, that the metallic giants she had seen earlier could achieve such a level of agility.

The fiery red mecha soon found its target within the asteroid belt: a silver-blue humanoid mecha!

Although both were humanoid mechas, the silver-blue one appeared noticeably slimmer and lighter than the red one, and it possessed at least two more sets of thrusters on its body than the red mecha did.

The silver-blue mecha took the initiative, raising its arm to fire a laser cannon. A streak of blue laser light cut through the starry sky with dazzling brilliance, hurtling toward the red mecha. However, the red mecha effortlessly dodged it with a simple side step.

Without slowing down, the red mecha closed the distance while evading the continuous onslaught.

Rolling, leaping, dodging—the red mecha pushed evasive maneuvers to their absolute limit. No matter how fiercely the silver-blue mecha attacked, it couldn't inflict even the slightest scratch.

The moment the distance between the red mecha and the silver-blue mecha narrowed to a certain threshold, a flash of crimson light cut through the void, and the silver-blue mecha suddenly shattered into pieces!

What just happened?

Mei stared in astonishment at the silver-blue mecha that had abruptly broken apart into fragments, completely failing to catch what the red mecha had actually done.

Her fingers tapped rapidly across the screen of her optical computer. Slowing down and breaking apart the final sequence of footage, she finally saw that in less than a second, the red mecha had completed an entire chain of movements: drawing its blade, slashing ten times, and sheathing it once more!

"Too cool!"

Replaying that final sequence at normal speed once again, Mei couldn't help but sigh in admiration.

If a real person had executed that final strike, Mei wouldn't have been amazed, because she was capable of doing it herself—perhaps even better than that. But the opponent was piloting a mecha. Although Mei had never operated a mecha before, making such a massive metallic behemoth execute movements of such astonishing swiftness struck her as utterly miraculous!

"Gallor, are there many people in the galaxy who can reach this level?" Mei asked, pointing at the red mecha on the screen.

"Red? He's a well-known bounty hunter! Famous for his swift blade, there really aren't many people in the galaxy whose blade is faster than his. However, if it's just about defeating him, the number of people who can pull it off isn't all that small," Gallor evaluated after casting a glance at the screen.

"So that means his mecha-operating skill isn't considered top-tier in the galaxy, huh?"

Mei tilted her head to look at Gallor, only to see him shake his head and reply, "On the contrary, Red's mecha-piloting skill is definitely top-tier in the galaxy. Combat between mechas doesn't just test piloting skill; it also depends on the performance of the mecha itself and the capabilities of the pilot!"

"I can understand mecha performance, but what does the pilot's capability refer to?" Mei asked, somewhat puzzled.

"How should I put it? Mecha operation is divided into two parts: keyboard control and spiritual control. The two complement each other and are indispensable. A person's hand-speed can be rapidly improved through training, but spiritual power is extremely difficult to cultivate. Therefore, spiritual power is also an important benchmark for classifying a mecha pilot's rank. In addition, mechas are divided into ordinary mechas and demon-forged mechas. Demon-forged mechas can channel the pilot's unique innate abilities through the machine—these are the capabilities of the pilot," Gallor patiently explained to Mei.

"That sounds fascinating! Gallor, can I operate a mecha?" Hearing his introduction, Mei developed an intense interest in mechas and couldn't help asking.

"That depends on your spiritual power rank and physical constitution. According to the standards set by the Interstellar Alliance, spiritual power ranks start from the lowest, moving upward through F, E, D, C, B, A, S, with SSS being the highest. Physical constitution follows the same grading system. The minimum requirement to pilot a mecha is a double-B rank, meaning both stats must reach at least the B-tier standard."

"I see! I have no idea what rank I can reach. How do we test it?"

"There are specialized instruments on the spaceship. If you want to find out, I can take you to get tested!"

Unable to wait any longer, Mei sprang to her feet and urged, "Then let's go right now!"

"There's no rush; the instruments aren't going to run away! What you need to do right now is eat breakfast! Be a good girl, finish your breakfast, and I'll take you there!" Gallor hurriedly pulled her back, pressing Mei gently into her seat as he coaxed her.

"Oh!" Although somewhat reluctant, Mei obediently sat back down and tapped the electronic screen on the table to begin ordering.

She ordered a cup of hot milk and a ham sandwich for herself. Just as she was about to submit the order, Mei hesitated for a moment, looked up, and asked, "Gallor, have you eaten yet?"

"Thank you, I've already eaten! Just order your own share!" A radiant smile spread across Gallor's face at these words, clearly deeply touched by Mei's consideration.

His younger sister really was the most considerate, adorable, kind-hearted, and perfect person in existence!

Even though she wasn't used to calling him older brother yet, she was already starting to care about him, wasn't she?

He believed it wouldn't be long before he finally heard her sweet, gentle voice calling him older brother!