Shadows of the Deep Space

Because he had trained these students personally, most of them were destined for the battlefield unless something unexpected occurred. By improving their scores now, perhaps they could get into a better school and therefore have a better future.

Thinking of this, Tang Yan's face twitched as he shouted.

"Steady on, don't rush to get up, get used to the feel first."

At this moment, Mink, who had stabilized the mecha's body, also yelled at a classmate beside him.

"Don't be nervous, don't make large movements as soon as you start; you'll quickly get the hang of it once you're familiar with the controls."

"I don't need you to tell me."

Chen Tong gritted his teeth as he manipulated the mecha to stand up, laboriously stabilizing its body as he replied.

By then, the other three students were also gradually getting a feel for it, managing to control their mechas to a stand.

Slowly, Mink and his group began to get into the groove; at least their mechas were standing steady. Tang Yan then gave the next instruction.

"Control the mecha to walk in a straight line, don't sprint, wait until you're completely familiar before attempting to sprint..."

Mink and the others followed Tang Yan's guidance, awkwardly moving the mechas forward.

Su Ming watched with full concentration as Mink and the others practiced with the actual machines, trying to remember all the key points mentioned by the teacher.

Time flew, and an hour and a half later, the five training mechas had been rotated three times. The training results were disastrous; without any surprises, everyone who went up ended falling.

At this point, Tang Yan called out names once more.

"Su Ming, Cheng Ran, Wang Chi, Qin Lei, Zhao Ran."

Excitement surged through Su Ming when he heard his name called; his heart rate sped up considerably, so he took a deep breath and walked toward the training mecha.

From the observation deck, Lin Chuyu's gaze landed on Su Ming, watching him quietly.

Li Fubai stood beside her, noticing that Chuyu's eyes were on Su Ming; a hint of shadow flashed in his eyes, but he said nothing.

As for Zhang Tai, he was focused on Su Ming; he was curious to see what this kid was made of.

Soon, Su Ming stood on the marked metal tile, raising his head and looking up at the "Iron Head" training mecha from a close distance.

Though it was a training unit and not equipped with weapon modules, the massive machine with its thick metal body still exuded an intense oppressive force.

A behemoth like this, once in motion, would become a fierce steel beast.

Regular soldiers would be like ants in front of it, easily crushed.

Creak!

The metal tile slowly rose, elevating Su Ming to the cockpit level.

He reached out to open the cockpit and, with some effort, climbed in.

The cockpit was quite spacious; even someone with Su Ming's bulky physique didn't feel cramped.

Suppressing the excitement and agitation in his heart, Su Ming looked around the inside of the cockpit.

The cockpit was made of two main parts: the pilot's seat and an all-metal control panel.

Su Ming sat down in the pilot's seat and, following his memory, pressed the safety buckle button on the left armrest.

Click!

The fixed safety buckle extended, securely strapping Su Ming into the seat.

Then he began to manually adjust the seat, ensuring that he was well-positioned in relation to the all-metal control panel.

After these adjustments, Su Ming turned to the all-metal control panel; he saw thirty-two buttons of various functions and three major control joysticks.

"Whew~"

Su Ming took a deep breath, then with a determined gaze, lifted his hand toward the start button.

Just as his hand was about to touch the start button—

Boom~

With each crash and thud, his anxiety grew even stronger.

Still, he pressed the start button.

In an instant, the mecha's power unit activated, the whole machine shook violently, and a loud roar filled the air, while the screens on the control panel lit up soon after.

"Notice: Power unit activated, energy output stable."

"Notice: Running self-diagnostics."

...

Su Ming watched the alerts popping up on the screen, his eyes growing sharper.

This time at the training ground, Tang Yan, watching the blond and others falling over one after another, had become somewhat numb to the spectacle, his heart not just bleeding but drained dry.

Zhou Wei could barely keep his mouth closed from laughter—the way they were falling was genuinely comical.

"Ouch! I'm really dying of laughter. But do you guys think Mr. Tang isn't heartbroken over the training mecha constantly crashing? Back when we touched the real mechs for the first time, though we were a little uncomfortable, did any of us fall like this?"

"Uh, if they keep crashing like this, won't they damage the mecha? Then we'll have nothing to practice with."

Sun Yue said, somewhat worried.

Hearing this, Zhou Wei's smile abruptly froze on his face—mockery aside, if the mecha was really damaged, they would be affected too.

By this time, Su Ming's training mecha had finished booting up without any mishaps, yet as soon as it moved slightly, it began to lose balance, the entire mecha flailing its limbs.

"Sigh~"

Tang Yan sighed, shaking his head helplessly.

However, at that moment, a cry of astonishment rang out.

"He's stabilized it."

Tang Yan blinked in surprise, and upon a closer look, to his shock, he saw that Su Ming had actually steadied himself and even took a big step without falling over.

Witnessing this, a look of disbelief crossed Tang Yan's face. When had Su Ming's piloting skills become so good?

So far in the class, only the class leader, Mink, had managed to stabilize the mecha's body—everyone else who touched the real machine had fallen without exception.

Don't underestimate this slight difference; the first time someone uses a real mech often best reflects their talent and skill.

Tang Yan remembered clearly that Su Ming's mecha piloting was quite average; although his grades weren't the worst in class, his simulation tests were barely passable at best.

Seeing Su Ming stabilize the mecha, Li Fubai's gaze reflected scorn. With such limited ability, he dared to chase after Lin Chuyu—it really showed a lack of self-awareness.

If Su Ming had operated the real mech for the first time with great fluency, Li Fubai might have felt a hint of threat and taken him seriously; now, he only saw Su Ming as a clown.

At this moment, Su Ming was controlling the mecha, taking one step after another forward, the cumbersome steps of the mecha becoming more and more solid.

"When did Su Ming get so good?"

"Damn! Is that really him piloting? I haven't even stabilized the mecha yet."

...

The blond and others chatted incredulously.

Seeing this scene, Chen Tong was also a bit annoyed—he couldn't believe that deadbeat nerd could operate the real mech so well; there must be a trick. So, he snorted coldly and said.

"Hmph, maybe he's rich and has had previous exposure to the real thing."

"That makes sense, not an impossible scenario—outside clubs can also provide access to real mechs."

"Right, it has to be that! There's no way his skill could just suddenly improve so much."

...

Many classmates chimed in agreement.

At this time, the class leader Mink also rebuked Chen Tong.

"Chen Tong, that's typical prejudice and jealousy of a classmate's progress! Su Ming might not have had great grades, but he has always worked hard. Now that he's improved, we as his classmates should be sincerely happy and offer encouragement, not whisper behind his back!"

Hearing Mink's words, the previously whispering classmates fell silent.