In the afternoon, the mecha was finally assembled.
Although its appearance was ugly and broken, covered in rust, with disproportionate proportions, missing a right arm, and incomplete armor coverage, exposing some bones and wires, completely lacking any sense of technology.
But in Gu Ya's heart, it was already perfect.
Gu Ya invited Wu Xuan, "Do you want to come into the arena with me?"
Wu Xuan nodded.
The two entered the cockpit together for debugging.
Following the mecha startup procedure, they coordinated to activate it.
The thruster engine suddenly roared, and thick black smoke billowed from the exhaust port.
Soon, the smoke dissipated, and pure, light blue flames emerged from the exhaust port.
Everyone around who was paying attention immediately cheered.
"It's really successful!"
"We built a mecha!"
"That's great!"
Wu Xuan, however, couldn't be happy. He said, "The mecha's deep system startup key cannot be obtained, so it can only perform simple movements and cannot execute complex actions."
Gu Ya smiled mysteriously and said, "Leave it to me."
Gu Ya closed his eyes, touched the console, and used [Code Tampering].
In front of Gu Ya, it was like a typewriter, rapidly inputting code.
Lines of small white fluorescent code appeared quickly, scrolling upwards.
This was a worn-out mecha with hundreds of thousands of lines of code.
But fortunately, it was technology from decades ago, so it wasn't hard to find.
Moreover, the technology of the past didn't have too many defense and blocking programs.
It wasn't difficult to modify.
In about 5 minutes, Gu Ya found its deepest core code.
Obtain the deepest instruction code, modify its startup method, and change the exclusive key to Gu Ya's information key.
Of course, Gu Ya also left a backdoor for Wu Xuan.
Because he had come up with a plan of "golden cicada shedding its shell."
The key modification was complete. Gu Ya opened his eyes and said, "Let's try again."
The two pushed the power lever and control stick together.
The mecha's body began to shake, and the display screen immediately showed various data about the mecha.
But the mecha didn't move at all.
"Still can't move," Wu Xuan said.
"Try again!"
The two operated again, but the mecha still couldn't move.
"Forget it," Wu Xuan said, releasing the control stick, his voice filled with disappointment.
But Gu Ya could not and would not give up. They had come this far; no matter how difficult, they had to overcome it!
Gu Ya snatched Wu Xuan's control stick and operated with both hands simultaneously.
"Jude, it's no use," Wu Xuan shook his head.
"Jude, there's no hope."
"There is!" Gu Ya replied firmly.
Suddenly, the mecha's body began to shake violently without any warning, the vibration frequency increasing.
On the mecha's display panel, a warning flashed: "Major Malfunction! Body Resonance Rate 4%!"
If the resonance rate exceeded 8%, the mecha's bone joints would fall apart, and all their efforts would be in vain.
Calm down! Steady!
Steady for me!
Gu Ya's hands became more stable, his eyes more resolute.
Suddenly, the mecha's engine sound disappeared, and the thruster shut down.
"It's hopeless," Wu Xuan said, completely disappointed.
Just as he uttered these words, the mecha trembled violently, and the thrusters reignited with flames.
A gentle female voice emerged, so pleasant to the ear.
"Mecha startup successful, all data normal. Right arm deficiency detected, operational efficiency reduced by 23%, energy at 85%. Pilot can execute mecha movements."
Wu Xuan was stunned.
Gu Ya's body went limp, and he let out a long sigh, saying, "It's finally successful!"
...
Wang Panpan arrived at a luxurious mansion and gently knocked on the door.
After a moment, the door opened a crack, and the person inside asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"I am Wang Meng'e of the Crocodile Dao Alliance, looking for your boss," Wang Panpan said ingratiatingly.
"What is it?" the person inside asked coldly.
"It's urgent; it needs to be discussed in person."
The person inside hesitated for a few seconds before letting Wang Panpan in.
They walked through a magnificent corridor to an extremely luxurious reception room. A middle-aged man sat on a luxurious sofa, reading a newspaper.
Wang Panpan nimbly knelt before the middle-aged man, his face filled with grief, and cried out loud, "Old Master! Save me!"
...
At the scrap dump, Gu Ya had made the final preparations and signaled Old Pole to depart.
Old Pole nodded and signaled everyone, "Now, Xiao Zhao and Wu Xuan will take the mecha to the arena for Jude to use!"
Everyone present nodded and automatically cleared a path.
"Tell Jude! This is the mecha all of us built for him!"
"Let him fight with peace of mind, we will always support him!"
"It doesn't matter if he loses, we know he did his best!"
Tears welled up in Gu Ya's eyes.
Wu Xuan placed his hand on Gu Ya's shoulder and said, "Let's go, don't let them down."
The two piloted the mecha and headed towards the arena.
...
The first round of battles concluded. Out of 84 participants, four died during combat, plus one automatic qualifier.
The second round of battles had a total of 41 contestants.
This meant that in the second round, one person would receive an automatic qualification.
Gu Ya and Wu Xuan piloted the mecha into the player rest hangar.
The person closest to the entrance looked at the dilapidated mecha as if it were a monster.
As Gu Ya's mecha moved into the central aisle, everyone noticed it.
In the vast hangar, the previously noisy sounds gradually quieted down.
Suddenly, bursts of "warm and joyous" laughter erupted from the hangar.
"My god, where did this piece of junk come from?"
"Whose mecha is this?"
"No way, surely no one would actually fight with this kind of mecha!"
Amidst the "welcoming" laughter, Gu Ya calmly moved to his designated spot.
Everyone immediately began to mock him again.
"Jude the Unarmored, hahahaha!"
"This is a piece of junk cobbled together from how many mecha parts, hahaha!"
"He wants to fight Axis Tiger with this, hahaha! Axis Tiger could crush its head with one palm."
Wu Xuan glanced at Gu Ya, but Gu Ya remained unusually calm.
He was accustomed to cold remarks and ridicule.
But this did not mean he would compromise; it only meant he would endure more.
Only by defeating opponents with strength could he silence their mouths.
Everything would be revealed on the battlefield.
Just as everyone was fervently discussing Gu Ya's heap of scrap metal, the announcer's voice came through.
"Alright, all surviving mecha pilots."
"The second round of battles is about to begin!"
"Now, let's see which little cuties will be your opponents!"
As soon as the announcer finished speaking, the holographic projection screen rapidly flashed the information of the 41 participants.
Finally, it froze.
Jude's name was prominently displayed in the first match,
and his opponent was the mecha "Sea-Rager" from the Blue Ocean Merchant Association, piloted by Zhan Ying.
Gu Ya sighed with some disappointment.
Wu Xuan asked, "What's wrong?"
"I thought I'd get to fight Axis Tiger," Gu Ya said.
"Axis Tiger?" Wu Xuan exclaimed in shock.
"You know him?" Gu Ya asked.
Wu Xuan lowered his head, his expression turning somber, a murderous glint in his eyes, "My home is in Vegetable Zone 16. The Hulin Group occupied that area, and they often swindled and oppressed us."
"My mother was injured by Axis Tiger. I borrowed my mother's life-saving money, only to have it snatched away by Axis Tiger's men."
"When I went to demand the money, they beat out my left eye, and now I can't even go to school."
"Finally, my mother died from a wound infection."
Gu Ya hadn't expected that this outwardly cold young man had such a tragic past.
Gu Ya sighed and said, "My sister was captured by the Crocodile Dao Alliance. They threatened my sister's life to make me earn a bounty of one million."
Wu Xuan pounded the console with his fists, raging, "Why! Why do poor people become poorer and poorer!"
"While those rich people, those with power and influence, can bully us at will!"
Gu Ya had no answer for Wu Xuan.
In this world, despite advanced technology, it had brought no convenience to the poor.
"Jude, if you fight Axis Tiger, please be sure to defeat him!"
Gu Ya smiled and said, "Definitely."
The announcer's voice sounded again:
"Alright, all you fierce and charming mecha pilots!"
"Next! Let's begin the first battle of the second elimination round!"
"Jude the Unarmored!"
"Versus!"
"Sea-Rager, Zhan Ying!"
"Please look forward to it, hahaha!"