I don't know if it was because the first five days were too fulfilling, but when the weekend arrived, for the first time since her transmigration, Wang Tianwei felt like she just couldn't study anymore...
She simply changed her clothes and planned to stroll around the most bustling commercial street on Shuomo Planet to clear her mind.
Before leaving, she sent a message to Zhang Lyra, wanting to invite her along.
She hadn't shown up for the evening practices on Thursday and Friday, which was a bit worrying...
However, after waiting for a long time without a reply, the message she sent still glaringly showed "unread."
Wang Tianwei had no choice but to head out on her own.
Shuomo Planet had already entered midsummer, and there was a fountain in the center of the largest commercial street.
Despite half of this planet being covered by deserts, its underground water resources were actually quite abundant! There was absolutely no need to worry about water for daily life.
But wherever there is water, there are mosquitoes. Wang Tianwei waved her hand to drive away the surrounding "tiny assassins."
She took out mosquito repellent and an odor-shielding spray from her spatial button and sprayed them all over herself before leisurely beginning her stroll.
On the first floor, there was a physical store for mecha materials that she was interested in.
After taking a walk inside, no matter how she looked at it, the S-grade and above materials were clearly better... It was just a pity she couldn't handle them right now.
Next, she went to browse the Taihe mecha exclusive store!
Huang Yan's dad's company really had some impressive stuff!
She remembered when she first saw mechas, she only thought they looked so cool!
Now that she understood the materials and could read the data, she realized that balancing all the stats on a mecha was the hardest part!
And Taihe's mechas, whether low-end or high-end models, did this exceptionally well!
By comparison, the B-grade mecha she had designed wasn't actually all that outstanding.
She spent two hours here before reluctantly stepping out the door.
...She also had her pride. The store clerk had been following her for ages, and it would be unreasonable not to buy anything at that point.
Wang Tianwei went to the ice cream shop across the street to buy a cone. Turning her head, she noticed that the basement next door was a combat arena.
The large screen at the entrance was scrolling through recent match updates. It seemed bounty mecha tournaments were frequently held here.
She stood there and watched for a while. The content in the video looked a bit like the martial arts ring matches from before the apocalypse, except what she used to see was hand-to-hand combat, and now it was fought using mechas.
The arena had just finished a match, and people inside were streaming out.
Some people wore exaggerated makeup, while others wore masks.
Wang Tianwei glanced over and was about to go get something to eat, but she suddenly caught sight of a masked person with red hair and a pair of bear ears? They were following three men toward a quiet area.
...Why did this person's figure look so much like Zhang Lyra?
Wang Tianwei hesitated for a moment but decided to follow and take a look. If it really was Zhang Lyra, she should at least say hello...
The "red-haired little bear" wasn't the only demi-human among the four. There was also one of an unknown wolf or dog species, wagging its tail and looking very exhausted.
The four walked into an empty corridor.
Seeing that they seemed to have something to discuss, Wang Tianwei stopped at a corner, intending to wait for them to finish before going up to greet them.
One of the men took off his mask, revealing a scruffy, bearded face. Judging by his voice, he was a middle-aged man.
"Hiss! That hurts like a bitch! I'll transfer the prize money to you guys first."
The other three all extended their optical computers. After tapping them respectively, the middle-aged man turned his head and was about to leave.
"Wait a minute."
The red-haired little bear spoke up, and sure enough, it was Zhang Lyra's voice!
"The prize money for this match is five thousand, so it should be one thousand two hundred and fifty per person. Why did I only receive five hundred?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man stopped in his tracks,
"A rookie is a rookie... Little girl, the three of us carried you, shouldn't we get a teaming and hardship fee?"
Zhang Lyra's eyes widened,
"Aren't we a free-formed team? You didn't say at the beginning that..."
The other two men stood next to the middle-aged man, and the demi-human looked at Zhang Lyra with an unkind expression,
"You dare come to earn bounties without even knowing the rules? Where were you just now when I was getting hammered?"
Zhang Lyra frowned,
"This is only the preliminary round; you got hammered because your skills are inferior. Besides, I went to save you the moment I finished off my opponent..."
The demi-human flew into a rage out of humiliation,
"What the hell do you know! If it wasn't to cover you, would I have been caught off guard by him!? Doesn't mecha maintenance cost money? Don't we need to go to the hospital for our injuries!?"
Zhang Lyra finally realized she had run into a bunch of thugs... but she was still conflicted inside. It wasn't easy to find a team willing to accept her, and they had won their first battle...
"You didn't mention teaming and hardship fees at the start, and your mecha isn't even broken... I think we should re-discuss the distribution of the prize money."
Wang Tianwei took a lick of her ice cream and shook her head. This silly child, still trying to reason with them? Those guys were obviously in cahoots...
The middle-aged bearded man took two steps forward, gesturing for Zhang Lyra to take off her mask.
"Little girl, you don't seem to understand. You were only able to participate in this match because of us.
If we hadn't teamed up with you, you wouldn't have even been able to get through the arena's front doors!"
"That's exactly why we should discuss this properly... How about this, I'll chalk the first time up to my unfamiliarity, and I have no objections to today's distribution.
But for the subsequent matches, I think we should make a more detailed plan."
Zhang Lyra softened her attitude, and the three men exchanged glances and laughed,
"Heh, subsequent matches? Quit while you're ahead, little girl! The later matches aren't something a student like you can participate in!"
Zhang Lyra still wanted to continue competing? Wang Tianwei was confused listening to this.
"...What do you mean? Isn't the Zero Realm bounty mecha tournament open to anyone over eighteen?"
The middle-aged bearded man rolled his eyes,
"Yes, anyone over eighteen can participate! But why do we have to team up with an eighteen-year-old like you?
Other teams are made up of retired soldiers, or people with higher-level mechas and actual combat experience!
You're just a poor student; even your mecha is the initial model issued by Qilin, without a single modification!
The cold weapons for the preliminaries were even lent to you by us brothers! Tell me, why should we have to carry you?"
Zhang Lyra's face turned alternately red and pale from the scolding.
"But... we won this match, and I didn't hold anyone back..."
"You could only win this one match, understand!?
What are you going to use to win the later matches? When they blast you with live ammunition, are you going to tank it with a barebones mecha?"
"With the prize money, I can also make modifications..."
"Do you even know how!? Do you understand it? What if the mecha breaks down before then? If you get injured again, do we brothers have to answer to Qilin!?"
"...This is my own choice."
"Enough, stop talking! We just don't want to team up with you anymore. Go find whoever you want for the rest of it!"
Wang Tianwei had pretty much figured out the whole story. Biting off the rest of her ice cream cone, she took two steps out,
"If I'm not mistaken, this is exactly what they do for a living.
They pull in a capable newcomer to fight a match and earn a qualification, then sell that competition qualification to someone else.
Who can guarantee they'll win every match after that? Fighting matches is so tiring, how could it be as easy as scalping? Am I right, gentlemen?"
