Chapter 50: Let’s Be Friends
Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations

Mu Fan had no idea that his APM was steadily increasing until it reached around 340. The 10% increase corresponded to his comprehension of one-tenth of the first tier of Dark Respiration. Also, he didn’t know that Black had set the APM recorder to display the number 30 less than the actual data. His real APM was close to 370! It was like a miracle!

Mu Fan didn’t notice any of this, and he had just finished pressing the buttons and issuing the commands in 0.7 seconds; it would usually take him one second to complete.

Pang! Under Mu Fan’s control, the RX-16 spun on the ground and jumped up at an incredible speed, barely dodging the pulse charged bullet as it glided past his shield. This contact made his alloy shield create a huge vibrating sound.

“Good job! The Big Egg is angry! Haha!” Wang Nuonuo took another gulp of her soft drink, and her cheeks flushed from excitement. However, her figure as a short and chubby girl was unable to attract any attention.

Mu Fan obviously couldn’t hear all this, and he had entered his zone as the sets of control buttons for the basic movement technique that Black had taught him were appearing in his head. Based on the current status of the mech which would update every 0.1 seconds, all he had to do was to constantly calibrate it by combining different sets of buttons.

He predicted the movements of his opponent by using his consciousness and instinct! Then, his hands flashed across the control panel, and the mech was able to perform more advanced movements. Therefore, what others saw was that his clumsy-looking mech had spun off the ground and charged towards his opponent in a strange way.

From falling to getting up and charging forward, the mech’s movements were natural and smooth.

Mu Fan had completely entered the breathing rhythm of Dark Respiration. He was aware of every single one of his movements. He felt intoxicated toward the state of absolute clarity.

There wasn’t anyone beside Mu Fan in reality. But if there was, then that person would be surprised to notice that Mu Fan’s breathing wasn’t making any sound. They would be able to tell that he was breathing through the movement of his lips, but if they were to close their eyes, then Mu Fan would disappear from their senses.

Dark Respiration! Mu Fan’s state was synchronized both in reality and in the virtual world.

The Winged-Snake player was confused when he realized that his charged attack didn’t work. Then, he saw the clumsy mech charging in his direction while holding its shield and sword; it was even moving with anticipation, trying to dodge the attacks!

Is he looking down on me? Your black technology isn’t going to save you from the fact that your mech is still a sword and shield mech. The opponent thought as he changed his shooting mode from single shot to burst and aimed his gun at Mu Fan, but he was surprised when he noticed that Mu Fan dodged all his bullets once again. He realized that Mu Fan wasn’t moving in a straight line, nor was it accurate to describe it as a curve; he could see his bullets covering where his opponent was, but the sand that flew into the sky told him that he had missed all the shots.

Something is strange with this kid!

“Woah! He’s actually a clumsy bear who knows how to sidestep! He’s not all that stupid!” Wang Nuonuo’s frown smoothed out. She was surprised by the battle, and she started to anticipate more interesting things to happen.

Should close-range mechs in Reality-Mode be despised like this? Mu Fan would never have thought that the RX-16 which was steady and stable in his eyes would be a clumsy mech in his opponent’s eye. He was even just a big bear in the only viewer’s eyes.

Mm? There’s a pattern in the way it’s charging towards me. It seems to be in the Z-shape. The Winged-Snake player noticed something when Mu Fan was 500 meters away. Still not going to use long-range attacks within this range to probe? How confident is he? Is he simply mocking me?!

The Winged-Snake player aimed his rifle at Mu Fan again; he was confident that he had decoded the pattern of his opponent’s movement. He was prepared to shoot based on his predictions, and he believed that with the low recoil of his weapon, he could completely cover path of his dull-looking opponent.

Mu Fan was indeed performing the Regular Z-Shift. There was an exponential growth in the operation difficulty from starting up the mech to Regular Z-Shift and onto Irregular Z-Shift.

Hm? Did I control the mech to do the Z-shift? And I was completely aware of myself completing the Regular Z-Shift! Mu Fan suddenly realized that the bottleneck which he had during training had disappeared after he performed those dodging movements subconsciously.

It seems like I could try the Irregular Z-Shift next? Mu Fan remained in a calm state under the effect of Dark Respiration. His fingers danced around the control panel as his left arm and left hand moved rhythmically, and his right hand bounced around the levers, calibrating them to a precision of 0.5 degrees.

Meanwhile, the Winged-Snake player began to shoot at Mu Fan. His series of movements from lifting the electromagnetic pulse rifle to lowering it to sending the bullet flying was smooth as well. All the minor adjustments that he made to his position to decrease the little recoil that his gun had shown that he was a skilled player as well.

However, the only audience of this battle, Nuonuo’s mouth opened into an O-shape as she watched the next five seconds. The heavy-looking sword and shield mech performed a series of tactical dodges that didn’t match up to its clumsy image as soon as the Winged-Snake shot at it.

Mu Fan was simply practicing Irregular Z-Shift at this place. He needed to master this technique before he could use it to initiate the movement technique – Hollow Flash.

Black had locked Mu Fan at the 85% simulation level as soon as put on his helmet, including now in Fantasy-Mode where it was common to have lower simulation levels. On top of that, Mu Fan was riding one of the most basic Reality-Mode mechs. He really shouldn’t be in the battle zone for Fantasy-Mode mechs.

At this moment, it was as if the clumsy-looking RX-16 wasn’t in the desert and entered a complex maze. When the Winged-Snake’s bullets shot over, it felt like the RX-16 had foreseen the attack as it charged forward a strange way. The way that it moved was like being forced to stop before resuming the charge repeatedly; that made the head of the player in the Winged Snake hurt just watching it.

The upper half of the mech covered by the shield remained in the same position, not even moving its left arm. However, the legs that were crossing each other showed that the mech was constantly running. It seemed like it was shifting left and right, but the radar on the Winged Snake was giving warnings as the RX-16 moved.

450m … 412m… 394m… A seemingly clumsy mech didn’t get hit by one single bullet, and it was still charging forward at an incredible speed!

How is this possible! My mech is known for its firepower among the fifth generation mechs!!! How come I can’t hit him! He was f*cking pretending to be weak! Why can’t you just go to the challenge competition with the skills you have! Why pair with me here at the public battle zone? I’m just a silver player!

The player in the Winged-Snake was panicking as he had been firing for more than five seconds and shot out hundreds of bullets, yet he didn’t see any marks or scratches on the RX-16.

“Big Bear, you kept yourself hidden well! What kind of technique is this!” Wang Nuonuo’s cheeks bulged from drinking a big gulp of her soft drink, and her eyes widened as she stared at the clumsy-looking mech charge at its opponent.

Mu Fan was getting closer and closer, and his opponent in the Wing Snake really started to panic. He was retreating as he aimed at Mu Fan, but the distance between them was shortened to 200 meters within less than ten seconds.

The upper foot and the heel of the RX-16 sank into the sand as it charged forward. With some minor calibration undetectable by the naked eye, the utilization rate of the energy reactor also dropped down to a subtle level. The RX-16 frizzed for less than half a second before marching forward again.

Within this half of a second, countless bullet holes appeared one meter away in the small area where it was supposed to be.

It was amazing that it was within millimeters of difference!

Then, a tragic scene happened. The player in the Winged Snake mourned in despair when he heard the System reminding him that his bullets had run out. The bullets were shot too fast! The magazine needed to be changed. However, Mu Fan was already within 200 meters, and there was no time to reload.

The jet wings on the mech activated, and the thrusters started to turn red. This player was trying to extend the distance so that he could reload the bullets.

“Eh?” Mu Fan suddenly realized that the suppressing firepower was gone, and he saw the wings of his opponent moving strangely. His right hand input the commands to calibrate the angle of and the hydraulic pressure in his mech’s right arm within 0.4 seconds without a second thought. As the engine supplied the mech with a powerful force, the RX-16 raised its right arm and suddenly swung it, sending the heavy metal sword flying!

A silver-white light flashed across the desert.

Puff! The Winged-Snake’s jet wings got pierced through when it tried to escape.

The jet energy reactor became unstable! The stability of the energy was altered!

“Wooo!~~” Ms. Wang cheered as she watched the clumsy RX-16 charge straight into its opponent like a giant vicious bear while holding the shield in front of him.

Boom! It sounded like a meteorite smashed onto the ground. The golden Winged-Snake drew a perfect trajectory as it hit the sand.

“System announcement: ‘Lord Egg’ has won!”

“Yeah! Big Egg is amazing! He can use this bear-like mech in such a wild way! This is how men should fight! Direct collision!! I knew you could do it!” Wang Nuonuo threw her drink onto the ground in excitement and looked more excited than Mu Fan. Her eyes reddened like those of crazy fans at concerts.

Mu Fan was waiting for the ten-second countdown to end to exit the battleground, and he selectively ignored the sound of a beep from his wristband.

“System announcement: Viewer ‘Young Beauty Little Nuonuo’ donated 188 star coins to support Player ‘Lord Egg.’ Message: I sent you a friend request. Lord, let’s be friends!”

The countdown was at five seconds when Mu Fan finally looked down at his wristband and saw a friend request from ‘Young Beauty Little Nuonuo’.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Wang who had watched the battle was stomping her feet out of fury. “I sent you a friend request, yet you haven’t accepted it? Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!”

Countdown: 3…2…1….

[Beep. Player ‘Lord Egg’ accepted your friend request.]

“Yes!”