Inside the five-story building, Wang Panpan and the members watched Gu Ya leave.
"Boss, your acting is incredible!" one member exclaimed, giving a thumbs up.
"Boss, if you were to play a villain, you'd definitely win an Oscar!"
"But Boss, without a mecha, he wouldn't even survive the first round! The mecha pilots in the bounty races are ridiculously strong!"
"Of course I know he can't win! I wanted to use someone else's hands to teach him a lesson!" Wang Panpan said resentfully.
"I only meant to scare him, but it got serious with him! Who knew I'd run into a tough guy, injure my alliance members, and lose my mecha!"
"I used the shotgun precisely to dampen his spirit!"
"Speaking of which, he's quite capable..." Wang Panpan mused thoughtfully.
"Boss, what you said earlier about harming his sister, was that all fake?"
"Yes! We're not psychos! We just wanted to teach him a lesson," Wang Panpan replied.
Another member quickly asked, "Boss, what about his sister?"
Wang Panpan sighed and said, "Treat her well, with good food and drink. We'll send her back when the time comes."
...
Emerging from the wastewater treatment area 13, Gu Ya didn't dare to delay and hurried home.
He changed into clean clothes, recorded a confession from the Crocodile Dao Alliance, placed the recording under the sofa, and then rushed to school.
Along the way, he considered calling the police.
But then he thought, this was Wuhe City, not his original world.
In his original world, his country had excellent public security, and people lived in peace and contentment.
But here, the Public Security Bureau only protected the wealthy.
They were the poor, and could only protect themselves.
Gu Ya arrived at school and went directly to the homeroom teacher's office to ask for leave.
He needed to explain his absence for several days to avoid suspicion.
Students who privately participated in off-campus mecha battles could be expelled for serious offenses.
Gu Ya was going to participate in a mecha bounty competition where many mecha pilots gathered, so he had to be extra cautious.
As he exited the school gate, he bumped into Liu Feng.
Liu Feng greeted him enthusiastically and pulled Gu Ya, saying, "Gu Ya, you know what? That secret to getting stronger you told me is really useful! I've been sticking to it, and I've improved a lot now!"
Gu Ya asked curiously, "What secret to getting stronger?"
Liu Feng grinned mischievously and patted Gu Ya's shoulder, saying, "I get it, I get it, must not be spread, right? Hehe."
Gu Ya remembered that Liu Feng had actually believed the made-up secret to getting stronger he had casually told him a few days ago.
Liu Feng seemed a bit dim-witted, but he was surprisingly reliable.
Perhaps he could entrust something to him.
In fact, Gu Ya was driven to this by necessity. His neighbors and classmates either gave him cold shoulders or mocked and ridiculed him.
Only Liu Feng was willing to talk to him normally.
Gu Ya handed his house key to Liu Feng and said, "If I don't come back to school in two weeks, please go to my house and give the storage chip in the box under the sofa to the Public Security Bureau. Remember not to go before the time."
Liu Feng, not understanding what Gu Ya was up to, asked, "What are you doing?"
"Don't ask, just promise me! I'll tell you an even stronger secret when I get back."
Upon hearing about getting stronger, Liu Feng quickly nodded, "Okay, okay, I promise."
As Gu Ya was about to leave, he remembered something else and said to Liu Feng, "If I never come back... then, you can take whatever you want from my house."
Liu Feng, sensing a bad omen in Gu Ya's tone, quickly grabbed him and asked, "What exactly happened? Did you get into trouble? Do you need my help?"
Gu Ya looked at Liu Feng's sincere face and smiled faintly, saying, "Don't worry, it's personal."
With that, Gu Ya walked straight out of the campus.
...
Following the information provided by Wang Panpan, Gu Ya took public hovercar number 87 to the 36th Light Chemical Zone in the northern part of the lower city.
Like wastewater treatment area 13, this was a run-down neighborhood.
Inside the vast light chemical material processing plant, it was deserted.
Countless pipes of varying thickness crisscrossed the district overhead. The pipes were rusty, becoming nesting grounds for many birds.
Vegetation sprouted from cracks in the ground and walls where soil was present, striving to claim living space.
The place looked like no one had lived there for decades, and Gu Ya began to doubt if the address was correct.
But since he was here, he decided to keep searching.
Gu Ya slowly explored his way along the factory street. The vegetation became sparser, and the road surface became smoother.
Gu Ya's heart relaxed a little; it seemed he was in the right place.
Moving further in, he saw the first person, a woman wearing a loose black one-piece riding suit and black boots, astride a motorcycle resembling Batman's.
She was examining a holographic map projected by a ring on her wrist.
Gu Ya continued on his way.
The woman suddenly called out, "Little brother! Could you help me with something?"
Gu Ya felt it impolite to refuse and said, "What is it? I'm in a hurry."
The woman said, "I'm looking for the glue factory, do you know how to get there?"
The glue factory was also Gu Ya's destination. It seemed this woman, like him, was going to register for the mecha bounty race.
The route was noted down on the paper Gu Ya held, and he had already mentally recited it countless times; he was very familiar with it.
Gu Ya walked up, glanced at her holographic map, and then pointed to a small blue dot on the map, saying, "It's right here."
The woman nodded, smiled, and asked again, "Are you going to register for the competition?"
Gu Ya nodded.
"What's your name?" the woman asked with a smile.
Gu Ya had already thought of a pseudonym and said, "Jude."
"Do you have a team?" the woman continued to ask.
Gu Ya shook his head.
The woman seemed surprised, then looked Gu Ya up and down, and tentatively asked, "You... don't have a mecha?"
Gu ya nodded.
The woman looked at Gu Ya, smiled in surprise, and said with a slightly condescending tone, "How can you fight opponents without a mecha?"
"I heard that if you win a match, you can exchange the bounty for mecha parts," Gu Ya said calmly.
The woman was shocked. Did this young man have some serious mental issues? At his age, he should be in school. What made him come to this desolate place to compete for bounties with a group of ferocious individuals, and without a mecha at that! Even more exaggerated, he actually intended to win?
Gu Ya knew the woman didn't believe him. He glanced at his watch and realized it was almost time; if he didn't hurry, he'd miss the registration.
"Sorry, I have to go."
"Jude!" the woman called out to Gu Ya again, saying, "Since you're determined to go, I'll give you a ride."
...
The two arrived at the glue factory and parted ways at the entrance.
Gu Ya rushed into the factory. Outside the main workshop, a humanoid robot was holding an identity registration device, registering participants.
"Name," the humanoid robot asked mechanically.
"Jude," Gu Ya replied.
On the holographic information board of the registration device, the name "Jude" was automatically entered.
"Mecha information."
"None."
The humanoid robot glanced at Gu Ya and said lightly, "Jude without a mech."
Identity registration was successful. Here, everything besides the name was confidential.
"You may enter," the humanoid robot said, pulling open the iron gate.
Gu Ya stepped through the dark entrance and walked for about two minutes along the dim guide lights. After passing through an iron gate,
his eyes were suddenly opened to a vast expanse.
Unexpectedly, behind the factory building was an enormous oval open-air battle arena!