Chapter 444 – The True Pilot – I Am the Mecha!

Things didn’t work out with Xu Mingguang, but returning home, Lu Yuan found an unexpected surprise.

“The mecha has been returned?!”

Lu Yuan heard the good news from Housekeeper Victor as soon as he stepped out of the hover car.

Lu Yuan was immediately delighted and quickly said, “Take me there.”

Victor responded, and Lu Feng followed closely behind, almost like a shadow.

Lu Yuan had been waiting for this moment for a long time. The more he mastered mecha control in games, the more he longed to touch a real mecha in real life.

In this process, he even understood why Xu Mingguang would willingly risk severe injury or even death to venture into the high-temperature and radiation-filled meteorite just because Lu Qiyuan promised him a chance to see and touch a real Level 1 Mecha.

In an era when the Starry Sky was not yet explored, and technology was not so advanced, there were still many people worldwide who were fanatically obsessed with certain makes and models of cars.

Not to mention combat mechas, which surpass cars in countless ways.

For Xu Mingguang, who aspired to become a Mecha Engineer, making such a crazy move was not surprising at all.

If you don’t genuinely love something… who would willingly be a sycophant?

“Didn’t they say it would take at least a month to repair?”

On the way to check the mecha, Lu Yuan casually asked Victor.

By his calculations, it was still far from a month.

Victor replied, “Yes, but the master ordered a new one for the Young Master, which happened to arrive today.”

“Ordered a new one…”

Lu Yuan was a bit surprised.

The cheapest Level 1 Mecha on the market costs over fifty million. If customized to meet personal specifications with modifications, the price could easily double.

If he remembered correctly, Lu Qiyuan’s original mecha cost just over a hundred million.

Now, with the old one still not repaired, Lu Lingfeng bought another new one.

Should he say the Lu family has deep pockets, or that Lu Lingfeng truly dotes on his only son?

Soon, Lu Yuan arrived at the hall of the house, and without further ado, Victor had the prepared items swiftly brought in.

There was a black box with a textured, high-quality finish, not large, with a minimalistic Blue Falcon emblem imprinted on its surface.

Like the original, it was from the Blue Falcon series of Level 1 Mechas.

Lu Yuan opened the box to find a palm-sized device resembling a mobile phone quietly nestled inside.

This was a spatial device specifically used to store mechas.

Duoling’s spatial technology had developed to a rather mature level, and spatial devices were widely used in various domains.

Certain large transport vehicles or engineering equipment could be managed with a small spatial capsule-compact, lightweight, and extremely convenient to carry.

“It has already been thoroughly checked and is issue-free. The Young Master can proceed with the binding process,” Victor said beside him.

Lu Yuan nodded and, following the procedures, step by step input his fingerprint, voice, facial, and genetic information into the spatial device in front of him.

After completing the binding process, he looked around, thought for a moment, and decided to release the mecha directly in the hall.

“Boom!”

Accompanied by the special refining process’s unique, albeit not particularly pleasant, scent, a dark blue, slender, six-meter tall humanoid mecha appeared before Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan’s eyes glowed as he quietly admired what was, for him, his first combat mecha.

After a while, Lu Yuan gradually noticed some differences in the details of this mecha’s appearance compared to the familiar Blue Falcon Type 3 Mecha from his memory.

He looked at Victor beside him and asked, “Isn’t this the Blue Falcon Type 3 Mecha?”

Victor smiled and nodded, “No, this is the latest Blue Falcon Type 4, with performances in all aspects exceeding the Type 3.

It just hit the market last month, and its price is also about 30% higher than the Type 3.”

Dad really went out of his way…

Lu Yuan couldn’t help but feel a surge of appreciation.

Suddenly, Lu Yuan noticed something else and couldn’t help but frown.

“Why do the weapons of this Blue Falcon Type 4 seem inferior, not as good as the ones on the Blue Falcon Type 3?”

Lu Yuan pointed to the two single-handed long swords mounted on the mecha’s back and asked Victor.

The two mecha long swords were noticeably mismatched in material and design style with the mecha itself. They even lacked a sharpened blade, appearing more like oversized blackened sticks than weapons.

“This was the master’s decision…” Victor said helplessly. “Since the Young Master secretly dueled with someone last time, to prevent similar incidents from happening again, special training weapons were ordered from the manufacturer. They haven’t been enhanced for attack, and each long sword weighs 2.5 times more than the standard sword for the Blue Falcon Type 4 Mecha.”

“…”

Lu Yuan was a bit speechless.

He had just mentally praised Lu Lingfeng, and now this happened.

It’s as if to prevent him from causing more trouble, they had removed his teeth and claws.

Well, alright.

Lu Yuan didn’t mind.

Considering Lu Qiyuan’s track record, it was already quite nice of Lu Lingfeng to do this much after he had only said a few words. What more could he ask for?

Casually restoring the mecha back into the spatial device, Lu Yuan nodded to Victor, “Thank my father for me.”

He then eagerly headed upstairs to study his newly acquired toy.

Victor smiled, watching Lu Yuan go upstairs, and exchanged a silent glance with Lu Feng, who was nearby.

Lu Feng turned around expressionless and left, walking through several halls until he reached a certain room.

He knocked gently, slipped inside quietly.

In the silent study, Lu Lingfeng stood with his back to him in front of a bookshelf almost reaching the ceiling, slowly polishing an antique long sword encrusted with gems.

“Qiyuan has seen the mecha, right?”

“Yes.”

“How did he react?”

“He was pleased and thanked you.”

“Oh?”

A hint of surprise appeared on Lu Lingfeng’s face, followed by a chuckle, “He actually thanked me… huh…”

Lu Feng didn’t respond but instead reported the day’s events while they were out to Lu Lingfeng.

“Xu Mingguang…”

Lu Lingfeng frowned slightly after listening, “Is he looking to trouble the kid again?”

“Unlikely.”

Lu Feng shook his head. “It seems more like he genuinely has business with the other party.”

“Keep an eye on him for me,” Lu Lingfeng instructed as he carefully placed the polished antique long sword back on the rack in front of him, his expression serene. “I’ve just settled things with the Xu family, and I don’t want him causing any new trouble. Let him do as he pleases once the dust has settled.”

“By the way,” he continued, “make sure Qiyuan goes out less during this time. It’s been years since District 15 experienced a terrorist attack, and now there’s one on the Empire’s hospital…”

Lu Lingfeng’s eyes grew colder. “These vermin lurking in the shadows, who worship this so-called evil deity-what are they plotting now?”

Lu Feng stood silently in place, his expression unmoved, as the large room gradually fell quiet.

…

“It’s probably what they’re discussing online… RAM alloy material, the most commonly used material for constructing Level 1 Mechas…”

In the spacious mecha control room, Lu Yuan gently tapped on the ankle of the Blue Falcon Type 4 Mecha, hearing a rather solid, muffled sound.

On the distant Home Planet, Lu Yuan had once pierced the body of the Distant Star Federation’s level 8 divine level mecha “Ice God” with his bare hands.

By comparing from memory, he found that although the hull of the “Ice God” was indeed sturdier than the Blue Falcon before him, the difference wasn’t as great as one might expect.

The body hardness of his Blue Falcon Type 4 Mecha was likely higher than that of a level 7 sky level mecha back on the Home Planet.

While body hardness doesn’t completely equate to defense power, the forging technology gap between a Level 1 and a Level 7 is practically a galaxy apart…

“Only a mecha can contend with a mecha… On Duoling, the difficulty of tearing apart a mecha with bare hands would be quite high, I imagine…”

Lu Yuan mused to himself before opening the cockpit and jumping inside.

“Brainwave detection in progress…”

“Genetic detection in progress…”

“Binding successful.”

After another round of tedious and complex binding procedures, Lu Yuan, who had been lying in the cockpit for a good five or six minutes, finally got the chance to take control.

Although Lu Yuan had piloted mechas for several days on the virtual combat platform, he quickly realized that the feel of controlling a mecha in reality was significantly different from the game.

When Lu Yuan’s mental power successfully connected with the core operating system of the Blue Falcon Type 4, semi-transparent liquid began to flow around the cockpit, enveloping him entirely as if he were inside a weightless water bubble.

This special Modulation Liquid, designated for mecha use, provided better protection for the relatively fragile body of the pilot.

“Forward… Backward… Dash… Dodge… Attack…”

Thanks to his gaming experience, Lu Yuan’s control wasn’t unfamiliar. He carried out a series of basic movements with the mecha and discovered a serious problem.

His mental power was insufficient!

“It’s only been less than ten minutes and my mental power is almost depleted. In the game… in the game… uh…”

Lu Yuan suddenly recalled that in the game, he could complete a dungeon run in as little as five minutes, and sometimes three minutes, reset his status upon exiting, and have his “mana bar” fully replenished, allowing him to quickly join the next battle.

This oversight led him to never realize this point:

Level 1 mental power controlling a Level 1 Mecha can’t maintain its state for long.

“And this isn’t even during intense combat. If I were to use a Resonance Technique or something similar, the control time would decrease significantly!”

“Ugh-“

Lu Yuan took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He could feel a subtle power speeding up his mental power recovery. This was the Modulation Liquid’s additional effect, which extended the pilot’s control time, assisted in status recovery, and could even provide healing if necessary.

“Supersonic Instant Killing Step!”

Once he had mostly recovered, Lu Yuan commanded the Blue Falcon Mecha to perform a rapid, flashing dash, covering several tens of meters in an instant before stabilizing on the ground.

“Huff- Huff-“

Lu Yuan adjusted his breathing and checked the feedback data.

“3.7 times the speed of sound… Not bad, pretty close to the game’s performance…”

The move, which Lu Yuan privately dubbed the “supersonic instant killing step,” naturally originated from the Mecha Resonance Technique known as the supersonic variable frequency step, part of the mental power cultivation method, Rhythm of the Wind.

While executing the Resonance Technique in reality was relatively smooth, the mental power drain still made Lu Yuan frown.

“That move just consumed nearly half of my mental power… In a real battle, if this doesn’t finish my opponent instantly, won’t I be at their mercy afterward?”

Lu Yuan initially planned to use the Mecha to fill the gap during his strength recovery, but now he realized that controlling the Mecha in combat was not as easy as he had anticipated.

“Given my current mental power strength, an all-out effort would deplete my mental power in about two minutes. Although, due to my dual cultivation of Zero-Style, I can switch to another core once one core’s energy is exhausted…

However, the total combat duration likely won’t exceed five minutes…

After five minutes, this Mecha would transform from a combat weapon aiding me to a cumbersome liability…”

Lu Yuan furrowed his brow. Five minutes of combat time was indeed too short.

He couldn’t guarantee that all battles could be concluded within five minutes. Moreover, after those five minutes, mental power recovery would require a significant amount of time as well.

“I can only train hard and quickly enhance my mental power strength…”

As the cockpit door opened, Lu Yuan rubbed his temples and stood up from the pilot seat, the Modulation Liquid gliding down his body like mercury.

Level 1 mental power was indeed too weak…

He recalled that the last time he had Level 1 mental power felt like a distant memory.

He remembered back then; he was striving to break through to Martial Arts Grandmaster and transform his will.

As he contemplated this, Lu Yuan was about to jump down from the Mecha and head to the quiet room next door for some meditation to recover.

But just as he was about to step out, suddenly…

A flash of inspiration crossed his mind.

“Wait…”

Looking at the new, towering Blue Falcon Type 4 Mecha beneath him, an unprecedented idea emerged in Lu Yuan’s mind.

“If I remove the process of mental power controlling the Mecha through the Mecha Core, eliminating the secondary transmission losses, then my mental power situation should improve, right?”

Lu Yuan stood still for a few seconds, then quickly leaned over, placing his hand gently on the body of the Blue Falcon Type 4 Mecha.

After a moment, he withdrew his hand and gave his forehead a hard slap.

“It actually seems possible… How could I have been so foolish not to think of this earlier!”

It is widely known that pilots need to rely on the Mecha Core to control a Mecha.

The pilot first transmits a command through mental power to the Mecha Core, which then relays the command to the Mecha’s body to facilitate control operations.

This process leads to reaction delays and gives rise to the concept of “Resonance Degree” between the pilot and the Mecha.

Lu Yuan’s idea was to bypass this intermediary processing by the Mecha Core entirely.

For others, this would naturally be impossible.

The Mecha Core acts as the bridge between the pilot and the Mecha; without it, control would be unimaginable.

Only upon reaching the Star Lord Realm, where the Mecha is refined into a Fate Mech, could one eliminate the need for such a bridge. Below the Star Lord Realm, even the most talented super pilots cannot achieve 100% resonance with their Mechas.

However…

Lu Yuan was different.

“As long as I can make the Mecha part of my body, there would be no need for intermediary mediators or secondary transmissions.”

This is where the [Devour] skill on the [Spirit Devourer: God and Demon Species (Transcendent Mythical)] professional panel might come into play.

“The innate abilities of the Spirit Devourer Clan allow one to devour not only flesh and energy but also various metal materials…

The former to strengthen their own life essence and advance to a higher life tier.

The latter to forge the Spirit Devourer Clan’s most formidable personal weapon… the Demon God Weapon!”

A fierce light sparked in Lu Yuan’s eyes as a distinct aura enveloped him.

Demon God Weapon.

The Demon God Weapon of the Spirit Devourer Clan.

“Great Fall Dark Sky Prison Demon God Mech…”

He slowly enunciated each word of the name.

He hadn’t forgotten the terrifying might of the Spirit Devourer Clan’s legendary Demon God Mech, summoned by Anders during the ultimate battle in the ancestral land secret realm.

Even with a hasty and incomplete crafting-no, not even close to being a prototype-the materials Anders amassed through his path of devouring only sufficed to forge a single hand of the Great Fall Dark Sky Prison Demon God Mech.

Yet that single hand alone brought Lu Yuan and Yuwen Tong an overwhelming presence, as if a Demon God himself had descended, casting a shadow upon the sky and bringing about an apocalyptic catastrophe.

The day it rent the void asunder, the massive hand that blotted out the sun…

Even now, the mere thought of it sent a shiver through his mind, leaving lingering fear.

“By devouring and fusing the entire Blue Falcon Mecha, treating it as my own body for control, I won’t just solve the issue of insufficient mental power. I’ll also be able to directly employ all the martial arts skills I once had as a Grandmaster…

My combat effectiveness will see a significant short-term boost.

No more following the same grinding path as others.”

Buoyed by massive anticipation, Lu Yuan wasted no time preparing to commence the devour and fusion of the Blue Falcon Mecha.

However, he paused before setting to work.

“I should unlock my profession first before proceeding with the devour. Otherwise, once the devour begins, the Blue Falcon Mecha will be unusable until the process completes, potentially delaying the unlocking of the pilot-related profession…”

With that in mind, Lu Yuan disregarded his yet-unrecovered mental power, jumped into the cockpit, and resumed controlling the Mecha.

He maneuvered the Blue Falcon Mecha through the Lu family’s inherited Wind Spirit Sword Shadow Style.

In his human form, the Wind Spirit Sword Shadow Style swordsmanship felt awkward, but employing it through the Mecha suddenly brought a smoothness to his movements.

However, the two specially-crafted one-handed swords designated by Lu Lingfeng for training were unwieldy, clashing with the Wind Spirit Sword Shadow Style’s swift and agile nature.

Still, as Lu Yuan practiced, he unexpectedly found them fitting.

As he continued, an spontaneous thought popped into his head.

“It would be better if these were a pair of axes.”

As the thought of wielding dual axes emerged, the originally agile Wind Spirit Sword Shadow Style began to show a gradual tendency to evolve in another direction.

Lu Yuan attempted to correct this several times.

However, he found that forcing a correction only resulted in rigid and obstructed movements, losing the previous fluidity. So he let his instincts take over, practicing in the manner reminiscent of wielding dual axes in his former Eight-Armed Asura form.

With ongoing practice and modification, the Wind Spirit Sword Shadow Style soon became unrecognizable.

He didn’t know how much time had passed when finally…

“Congratulations, you have unlocked a new profession-Pilot!”

Unlocked?!

Lu Yuan immediately stopped what he was doing and brought up the professional panel for a look.

As expected, there was a new addition to the previously two-item professional panel-“Pilot (Extraordinary) lv1 (13/100).”

The panel showed just one skill illuminated: “Basic Melee lv1 (65/100).”

The experience points were quite substantial, almost enough to reach lv2.

“Great, it seems I now have a stable way to earn skill points and attribute points…”

Satisfied with the panel, Lu Yuan wasted no time. He lay back in the Mecha cockpit and began the process of devouring the Mecha.

Activating the lv1 [Devour] skill, Lu Yuan’s body gradually melted like water, transforming into a viscous black liquid that seeped into the entire Mecha.

With the consumption of the first component, red warning lights began to illuminate the cockpit, incrementally increasing in number.

Prior to this, Lu Yuan had made sure to disable the Mecha’s backend automatic assistance call function. Otherwise, any malfunction would have resulted in the Blue Falcon Mecha manufacturer’s repair technicians showing up at his doorstep.

If Lu Lingfeng found out that he had damaged the newly purchased Mecha on the first day, he wouldn’t hesitate to revoke Lu Yuan’s usage rights.

During the process of devouring the Mecha components, Lu Yuan noticed that the experience points for his [Devour] skill were steadily increasing.

Moreover, on the main panel of the [Spirit Devouring: God and Demon Species (Transcendent Mythical)], there appeared two progress bars extending upward from the [Devour] skill.

The one on the right was slowly rising, soon surpassing the left bar and leaving it far behind.

“Does this represent two directions for advanced devour, or perhaps two different paths in the skill tree?”

Lu Yuan speculated to himself.

Either way, seeing movement on the Transcendent Mythical professional panel was good news for him.

The parts of the Blue Falcon Mecha that were devoured transformed into a liquid state, similar to Lu Yuan’s own body, integrating within him.

Generally, there are two ways to handle this material.

The first is to absorb the useful components into one’s cells, enhancing the strength of the flesh and body. In the later stages, the physical bodies of the Spirit Devourer Clan often become exceedingly strong, rivaling many powerful species in the universe known for their physical prowess.

The second way is to preserve the material for crafting Demon God Mechs.

Lu Yuan opted for the second method, storing the materials devoured from the Blue Falcon Mecha, merging them into his flesh, and then reintegrating them.

In simple terms, it’s a process of first “eating,” then “spitting” it out.

This process makes the rigid Mecha components part of Lu Yuan’s body.

“I just need to remember the structure of the Blue Falcon… no, just the appearance will do. After all, others can’t see what the inside of the Mecha looks like…

When it comes to battle, I can transform my body to resemble the Blue Falcon Type 4. That way, others will still think I’m ‘controlling’ the Mecha from inside.”

“Is this considered a form of transformation?”

“The so-called pilot painstakingly trains control, striving to enhance resonance for a deeper level of Human-Mecha Integration…

The true pilot starts with complete integration; the Mecha is me, and I am the Mecha!

With every move, every gesture… all are Resonance Techniques!”