Marvelous Mecha

"I..." The girl was suddenly stumped by his response, apparently not expecting him to be this cheeky. "Right now, I'm the one asking the questions," she said.

However, Feng Yi retorted, "So, does that mean I'm under no obligation to respond?"

"Wait! Hey!" She shouted after him as he walked away without a backward glance, "My dad owns this gym."

Now this was intriguing. The girl was playing the 'my dad' Card. Feng Yi, who didn't have a 'dad card' to play, admitted in defeat. "Alright, alright, my name is Yifeng. Why are you looking for me?"

"Looking for you..." The girl looked baffled, unable to find the right words quickly enough. The abrupt change in situation caught her off guard; she struggled for several seconds to recall anything related to Yifeng, but she came up with nothing. "To get in here, you must be something. Are you an elite soldier?" she ventured.

"No, I'm not." Feng Yi replied.

"Are you a martial artist then?"

"Nope."

"So, you must be a student at Wind Thunder Military Academy, right?"

"No."

"You must be lying! Ordinary people can't get here. I want to know your true identity."

"My identity? Just a man upholding justice. That's it."

The girl realized he was misleading her. Other than elite soldiers or some martial artists, no one else could reach the fourth level of the Gravity Room. It was hard even for special students of Wind Thunder Military Academy, one of the top seven military schools in the federation, to accomplish this feat, especially someone as young as him. She concluded that he was lying.

She assumed the boy must be a member of the Wind Thunder Military Academy due to two reasons: Firstly, ordinary soldiers tend to walk very rigidly due to their training–a habit that took years to develop. However, his movements indicated that he wasn't a soldier. Secondly, he certainly wasn't a martial artist, as they tend to have calm dispositions and muscular bodies, with fingers often covered in calluses.

School admission to the Military Academy had surged several times in recent years due to escalating warfare. The Wind Thunder Military Academy held prestige and attracted hordes of prodigies and scions of influential families. The woman deduced that the man was probably one such specially recruited student, given his age and supposed ability to adapt to high gravity. If he was trying to hide his identity, it would be in vain as the Military Discipline Committee, which was currently recruiting talent, would soon uncover it. She would report any irregularities about this man to the committee chairwoman.

The girl abandoned her reserved demeanor and asked with a smile, "Can I have a way to contact you? Even an email address would do."

However, Feng Yi politely rejected her request. It's not that he didn't want to, but he simply didn't have contact information to give. As an impoverished bachelor, Sir Feng was left with nothing more than a handsome face radiating masculine charm.

Only after leaving did Feng Yi chuckle and shake his head. He mused how a real master would never intentionally expose his aura for others to perceive. His face filled with frustration, he quickly made his way to the 5th level which was deserted, as was the 6th. Feng Yi decided to start adapting to the six-fold gravity. Under the effects of high gravity, anyone's body would require a gradual process of adjustment. From that point forward, everytime he reached a new level, he allowed himself a brief moment of rest.

When he reached the 9-fold gravity area, Yi Feng started to feel an overpowering sense of heaviness. Each nerve in his body was under unprecedented stress. He stayed in the 9-fold gravity area for half an hour before bracing himself to break through to the 10th, then the 11th, and eventually the 12th floor...

Usually, pilots and mobile soldiers couldn't withstand such prolonged exposure to high levels of gravity. Quick bursts of intense gravity were a constant during combat, with gravities up to 8G. In other words, Yi Feng could briefly endure up to 20 times the gravity on Earth. There had been studies indicating that a jump from just half a meter on a 10G gravity field is almost certainly a death sentence.

By the time he reached his current level, the lights had turned to a prominent dark red. Even Yi Feng, who was in peak physical condition, began to feel the strain. Sweating profusely, each drop making a crisp sound as it hit the ground. His breathing became heavier, his vision blurred, and a wave of dizziness swept over him. Evidently, this was his limit.

The surveillance room staff were flabbergasted! What on earth was happening?! Since the opening of the gym, nobody had ever ventured into the 12-fold gravity zone, and very few had even reached the 6-fold gravity zone. He remained there for two hours under such extreme conditions! This was big news indeed.

Interestingly, the surveillance cameras hadn't captured his face yet. He always seemed to adjust his posture at the right moment when the surveillance camera panned onto him, only revealing a piece of his side face. Was it intentional or just a coincidence... she thought. Whatever the case, she was determined to spread word about the mysterious expert who had visited their gym.

Despite picturing himself as quite the expert with many tricks to learn, Yi Feng couldn't deny that he had been noticeably observed. As an expert, his instinctive awareness of his surroundings suggested that he was drawing too much attention. To avoid further scrutiny, he decided to switch to a different gym. Just as he was about to leave, he teasingly flipped off the surveillance camera before exiting. The moment he was out, he jumped off the balcony, gripping the safety railing in mid-air before landing on the ground with a muffled thud. His smooth and lightning-fast moves were a sight to behold.

"Whoa! Someone just jumped off the building!" Before the crowd on the street even knew what was happening, a shriek came from the gym. People started rushing out only to find nothing.

Upon his arrival at the Martial Arts Hall, Feng Yi made a beeline for the dining hall. Seeing him approaching, the stern-faced cafeteria lady blocked his path, grumbled, "Mealtime is already over. Give me an explanation."

"Uh, well..." Feng Yi scratched his head, "I found a lost puppy while I was out on a walk."

"Just making excuses, I've never seen a puppy in all my years."

"So, umm..." Feng Yi, finding no way to continue the tale, started looking for an escape.

The kindly cafeteria lady held him back and said, "Alright, alright, just go in. Remember, this won't happen again."

Through the gauze window, the old instructor watched all of this in silence. The boy was always late. When would he finally learn to reform his ways?

Just after noon, Sheng Qiangwei, who was studying at the military academy, had taken special leave to visit the Ancient Martial Arts Hall. Just then, Emily and Feng Yi had a match there and Qiangwei had wanted to observe the combat style of Feng Yi. The duo hid themselves in an inconspicuous corner and watched quietly...

"Weiwei, why do we have to wait for him here?"

"Of course, we must wait. Who else will we look for if he ran off? Now, it is not possible to enter the dining hall too."

"I think he's not really the guy you imagine."

"Hmph, you think you know a person's true nature by just looking at their face?"

"Alright." Emily sighed. "You win." She made a gesture of resignation, appearing to surrender.

Sheng Qiangwei made a shush gesture, "Hush... here he comes."

At the same time, Feng Yi, who was coming out of the dining hall, sneezed. He wondered if someone had been talking about him. He paused for a moment, and his words clearly fell into the ears of the two: "Stop hiding. You've been waiting for me, right?"

"It... It's you, Feng." Emily's head popped out from behind the bushes.