Mu Fan finally found a buckle shaped ON/OFF button under Black’s instruction. Then, he opened the double-layer pressure rotating door and entered the cockpit.

It looked the same as the last time that he was here. But last time, Black put him into body motion synchronization mode before he could even take a good look.

Black followed Mu Fan into the cockpit and flew around him as it lectured Mu Fan. “The mech that you will be training in today is still this model, EH01.”

Mu Fan murmured quietly to himself, but Black still caught what he was saying.

“Why? Because it’s old and low-level enough. Do you think you are capable of handling the higher-level ones?” Black said as it moved in the shape of an infinity sign in the air.

“The moves that you used last time would’ve been impossible to do in Model EH01 in reality, or nearly impossible. Without the mechanical muscles made from fluid metal, it would be ten times harder for you to simulate real-life movements than what you would’ve imagined! So, don’t even think about it before getting into generation six mechs.” Black felt good about itself, and its eyes curved momentarily behind Mu Fan’s back out of satisfaction when it saw how focused Mu Fan was as he listened.

“What I’ll be teaching you today? I’ll teach you the real and proper way to operate a mech.”

Mu Fan sat down onto the driver’s seat. To his sides, there were thirteen blue or red mechanical levers, and the semi-lunar shaped control panel laid in front of him with 178 control buttons.

“The initial concept of mech design was to create robots that are magnified versions of humans with further advancements added on later. This mech was a product during the Earth Era of mankind, and it’s already extremely basic with only 178 buttons to simulate humans’ movements.”

Mu Fan frowned. The generation-zero mech was already extremely basic, yet it has so many controls. Then mechs such as first-generation and second-generation…

“Once you’re used to the basics in this mech, then you can move on to the 196 control buttons in the next generation. I’ll provide you with system standard training. Don’t worry, you won’t get a chance to use this mech after this time. This one’s special; I pulled it out just for you,” Black was explaining what it planned to do and didn’t pay attention to what Mu Fan was thinking.

“Don’t ever think that the control buttons are out-dated, because that would simply be your lack of knowledge! There are thousands of parts on these older generation models, not to mention the newer ones. The initiative was for the mechs, which are hundreds of times heavier, to perform human actions, but don’t forget that in real combat, you’ll need to perform superhuman movements!!! Can you simulate that? Can your joints twist? The real skilled mech masters are those who can control the mech to perform actions beyond imagination!” Black was angry when it saw Mu Fan pouting at the control buttons, and the red ball turned red.

Strength should be accompanied by the right technique. While piloting a mech, the requirement for individual strength was zero. Instead, an individual’s stamina, endurance, and attentiveness would be more important. Having heard Black introduce these concepts, Mu Fan thought that it was quite enlightening.

He didn’t know that on this impoverished planet on the border of the Federation, an A.I. was teaching him the vaster and more advanced mech concepts from an alternative universe.

Mu Fan was able to turn on the mech with the help of Black’s guidance, and his hands were sweating a bit when the screen turned on. This was his first ever experience to operate such a life-like mech.

His left hand pushed on the hydraulic transmission shaft.

Buzz! with a loud vibration, Mu Fan could feel himself moving as the cockpit moved.

Right hand. What about the right hand, he thought as he quickly calibrated the balance.

Then, his left hand quickly moved onto the control panel, pressing A3, A7, B4, E5…

This was the sequence for minor adjustments of the mech’s leg. The toes were facing downwards, and the mech would definitely fall down in this position.

E5…What was after E5 again?

Mu Fan was in a flurry, and his smooth series of actions paused as he stumbled on what to do next.

The white skeleton-like mech in the base suddenly raised its left foot to step forward. However, the ankle suddenly twisted to the right in mid-air. Then, it stepped down as if it was a patient with fractured bones.

Pang!

The white skeleton-like EH01 fell onto the ground face-up, and the lights shining upon it from the area made it look like an exhibition piece.

Mu Fan’s face flushed as he believed that he could successfully complete the first step after Black had explained everything to him for so long.

“Mu Fan, the pose earlier was so embarrassing. I took a photo! Check it out!” Black flew towards Mu Fan as its eyes projected out a photo.

The EH01 was lying in a weird position that was as ugly as it could be while facing upward.

So embarrassing! Mu Fan thought as he had boasted too much.

What he didn’t know was that most of the mechs in the PO Battle Network only had half of the control buttons, and the mech that Black gave him was a 100%-accurate remake of the original mech based on real data. The outer shell may look the same, yet the differences laid within.

“I… I’ll try again.” This was the first time that Mu Fan didn’t feel confident when he talked to Black.

“Hahahahaha. Alright, Lord Black is very generous. I’ll explain it to you again. Here, I’ll teach you how to get up first. Push the red control lever no. 2 (2R) to the 0.7 mark with your right hand. Then, press A8, C6, and H1 on the control panel consecutively. Your left hand should push the blue no. 1 (1B) and red no. 3 control lever (3R) at the same time. Pause for two seconds, and then use your right hand to switch the control lever. Steady now… Yes, that’s right…”

Mu Fan didn’t take his first step, but he successfully controlled the mech to make it stand up by following Black’s instructions.

Mu Fan could feel tears gathering in his eyes as he finally succeeded.

The white skeleton-like EH01 stood up slowly in this abandoned base, making its first step!

Meanwhile, Mu Fan was completely focused in the cockpit with both of his hands moving across the control panel and levers.

“Don’t look down! Remember every button you’ve pressed!”

Black scolded Mu Fan when it noticed him looking down to confirm the control buttons, and Mu Fan’s hands shook a little when his focus got interrupted.

Pang! EH01 fell onto the ground again.

“Mu Fan, you idiot!”

“Falling again…”

“Gosh! Lord Egg! Please don’t disappoint Lord Black!”

Black was excited when scolding Mu Fan as it finally had the chance to do so. The two eyes on the metal ball were squinting into two lines, which meant that Black couldn’t have been happier! It felt dominating!

Two hours later, when Mu Fan was about to doubt his abilities, he finally reached Black’s standard, piloting the mech to walk ten steps without falling.

Mu Fan slouched back onto his driver’s seat as he felt like this was more tiring than trying to survive by fighting off the beasts in the wilderness. His head was bursting with the countless control buttons that he had to remember to simply keep the mech’s balance while walking, and he couldn’t even imagine how it would be if he was to fight with this mech.

“Aren’t there any simpler ways to operate a mech?!” Mu Fan complained as this was different from what he learned before.

“No!” Black lied while keeping a straight face. There was no way that it would tell Mu Fan that there would be brain synchronization in the future. However, such things couldn’t be used in harsh conditions. That’s right; just train according to this plan I have right now.

The poor Mu Fan was still upset by his “horrible” performance, and he looked at Black apologetically as he said, “Black, am I disappointing you too much?”

Black flew around Mu Fan and said affirmatively, “Yes! Which means that you should work harder to get better! Keep on fighting, young man!”

Mu Fan nodded his head with determination in his eyes.