Chapter 57

"Traveler, are you still a student?"

At this moment, someone interjected.

"In theory, I still am." Du Nan gave an ambiguous answer, leaving the intelligence officers even more confused. A sixteen-year-old should definitely still be a student, so what did he mean by "still am"? Moreover, that wasn't the main point, right? A sixteen-year-old magic energy warrior who could sweep through the Red Steel Zone, unmatched by anyone—was that even possible?

After all, some Red Steel Level 3 armor masters had been fighting for decades, even a century. How could a mere sixteen-year-old rookie be invincible? Even if he started training at the age of one, he would have had only sixteen years of training. Could he compare to a seasoned war veteran? In this highly confidential magic network, he didn't need to lie. Could there really be such a prodigy who could be invincible on the battlefield before adulthood?

Is this a scientific society?

Can we see something more reasonable?

"Traveler, when did you advance to Level 3?" The representative of Taijia News, regaining his composure, quickly asked. At this moment, he was the lucky one named by the Traveler, so how could he let others scoop the big news?

"About a month ago." Du Nan didn't pay much attention.

Anyway, he advanced on a border planet of the insectoid race. Then he returned to Blue Sea Planet and was sent to Scrap Metal Planet, which took about a month in total.

The crowd was speechless again.

This guy was still a new and inexperienced rookie!

"Traveler, you are invincible in the Red Steel Zone. Can you explain your magic energy techniques?"

"No."

"Oh, sorry. Traveler, are you confident in your power? Do you think there's no one in the Red Steel Zone who can match you? What about those Level 3 armor masters who have been on the battlefield? Do you have the confidence to face them?" The representative of the Taijia Federation's New Alliance dug a not-so-small pit. According to his intelligence, some returning pilots were preparing to "put a stop" to the Traveler. This "invincible" title didn't suit an unknown newcomer.

As seasoned veterans, they needed to help him take it off.

"Hmm, this..."

Du Nan thought for a moment. Everyone expected him to be modest, but instead, he said, "Actually, I'm not interested in Red Steel armor masters. I want to face Silver armor masters. The reason I challenged these Red Steel armor masters on the list is just to find someone who won't be instantly defeated by me. I just want to see if such a person exists."

Wow! Wow wow wow...

After Du Nan finished speaking, the crowd was in an uproar. The millions of mech enthusiasts watching on TV also loudly expressed their shock.

Just looking for someone who won't be instantly defeated!

What a bold statement!

Does this Traveler think Red Steel armor masters are made of clay, or is he delusional? After winning a hundred matches and considering himself invincible, doesn't he know he's also a Level 3 Red Steel warrior? Some people who hadn't seen Du Nan's matches started to curse, shouting for various heroes to come and take down this brain-dead Traveler, to show him how vast the Blue Sea is.

The representative of the Taijia Federation's New Alliance was speechless, unable to say anything.

At this moment, a female warrior stepped forward: "Traveler, does this mean you will accept challenges from all Level 3 armor masters, no matter who they are, without backing down?"

Du Nan nodded.

His demeanor was like saying, "I'll accept challenges from all kids," having professionally beaten kids for thirty years, with no one left uncried.

Wow!

At this moment, another wave of excitement swept through the crowd.

Everyone knew that training in the magic network was just like real training, with injuries, pain, blood, and death all normal. However, the magic network offered "infinite resurrection," reducing the fear of the warriors. Relatively speaking, people favored real-life heroes more. Real-life warriors were mostly not as "fearless" as the veterans in the network, but their caution was mocked, and their tactics and reactions were admired.

A very small number of real-life heroes were so powerful that they dared to challenge even higher-level warriors.

Du Nan's declaration that he wouldn't back down from anyone would definitely attract some heroes. It sounded like his future days would be tough.

Three days later.

Du Nan came out of the challenge arena, and the crowd instinctively took a step back. Over the three days, he had accepted countless challenges, winning every match and instantly defeating every opponent. At this point, even the mech enthusiasts were going crazy, shouting "monster" and "god" as if Du Nan could be anything but human.

The crowd, intimidated, quickly surged forward again.

Holding various signs, they asked Du Nan to negotiate and accept interviews. They were extremely enthusiastic but didn't dare to offend him. Over these three days, they had truly witnessed what it meant to be invincible and to instantly defeat opponents: one person, a set of unchanging super energy cannons, a wave of the hand, and an eternal explosion. Each match was like a replay, with only the arena, the opponent, and the colorfully cool mech changing.

Again and again.

Match after match, the mech enthusiasts, like a group of incomprehensible madmen, eagerly awaited this "wave of the hand" in each brief match. For this, they felt it was worth waiting a whole day.

However, these days, the Traveler had become silent.

He no longer accepted any interviews and even reduced the public release of recordings. People speculated that the opponents were too weak, making him uninterested; they also speculated that his strength had hit a bottleneck, with no one to guide his improvement; they even speculated that he was too invincible, feeling lonely in his heart. In short, the Traveler's invincible matches began to decrease, and the public release of recordings became less frequent.

At this point, the shareholders of the TV stations, who had been dominated by the terrifying income, were determined: the Traveler's recordings couldn't be reduced, let alone stopped.

Money! Money, money, money, money!

With fewer recordings, our money would decrease like water: this couldn't happen.

Some military departments also had similar voices: we need his recordings to study his techniques. If we can imitate them, any cost is worth paying.

Thus.

At all costs, get the Traveler's battle recordings... This command was repeated hundreds, thousands, even tens of thousands of times in countless mouths.

Another five days passed.

The Traveler's recordings finally stopped. He no longer released new recordings, challenging historical battle maps alone, with no one knowing the results. Time and again, his lonely figure passed by the crowd, ignoring the various benefits promised by the signs. Reputation, status, power, military positions, genetic cores, super mechs, even long-term usage rights to a single agricultural or mining planet... the Traveler ignored them all.

He was like a child who had lost his favorite toy, showing no interest in anything.

In reality, the mech enthusiasts outside the TV station were increasingly dissatisfied. They didn't need repeated replays or expert commentary; they needed new recordings, new instant defeat matches. They were like people thirsting for water, strongly demanding new recordings to quench their thirst.

"Get lost, all of you, all of you are damn useless."

Around the headquarters of the Tianyang Grand Federation's TV station, countless mech enthusiasts were holding signs in protest. On the rooftop, the station manager was in a rage.

As one of the ten major federations of the Blue Sea Alliance, the Tianyang people were wealthy and powerful.

They rarely had unfulfilled wishes.

These days, they were thoroughly annoyed. The TV stations that had promised to get the Traveler's match recordings had repeatedly broken their promises. Replays upon replays, but no new recordings. The expected "wave of the hand" instant defeat was no longer seen. The Tianyang people, who never lacked money, were thoroughly angry, feeling cheated and now demanding justice.

Of course, these crazy viewers also had a driving force behind them: the military.

They also needed new recordings to study the Traveler's combat techniques, the more detailed and numerous the better.

They didn't lack money; they just wanted to study and utilize this power.

"Station Manager, what about the things you promised a few days ago?" A middle-aged man with white hair approached the still angry station manager and asked.

"Get lost!" The station manager replied with just one word.

The middle-aged man's face changed, and the papers around him fluttered without wind. The station manager turned around and, seeing that the heavier chairs hadn't risen, a mocking smile appeared on his lips. Yes, this employee was a magic energy warrior... a former magic energy warrior. He had retired many years ago and, due to never reaching Level 2, his magic energy was now declining.

A few days ago, he had indeed played with the man's wife and promised him the position of host.

But... it was just talk; why did he take it seriously?

Playing with a magic energy warrior's wife, if mentioned at a high society party, would make him ten times more prestigious, right? The vacant host position had already been promised to the new, fiery young beauty. Thinking about the past, he had to respect this legless employee, but thinking about the times he had played with his wife...

Satisfying! The station manager showed a cruel smile.

He looked at the old warrior with clenched fists... now a toothless tiger, with no one to stand up for him.

In the federal political and military circles, no one cared about such a faded warrior.

"Go and work on the signs; you can still get in. In a while, you might not even be able to enter the magic network. For the sake of your fiery wife, I'll keep you a job." The station manager was very satisfied, adding with a cruel smile, "By the way, you might receive a divorce notice in a few days. A young woman isn't suitable for you. Don't worry, I'll keep her as a pet. When I have time, I'll invite friends to enjoy her. After all, she was once a magic energy warrior's wife."

Whoosh!

The middle-aged man's fists were clenched, but he didn't move.

His strength was waning, and his courage was weakening.

With his magic energy declining, he still needed to live and take care of his children. Returning to his workspace in a daze, he opened his computer. Inside, there were one after another similar scenes, a not particularly colorful mech, and a wave of the hand to instantly defeat the enemy.

He was a magic energy warrior, and I am a magic energy warrior, why?

Why is there such a huge gap?

"Brother Ma." The middle-aged man, lost in thought, was approached by a plain-looking woman, whose smile was the only thing that made him feel comfortable: "Brother Ma, don't get angry with that old dog. Keep working hard. Here's some money; take it to tide you over. Pay for Jie and Qian's tuition first. Brother Ma, don't refuse; you can pay me back when you're convenient."

The man called Brother Ma's eyes turned red, wanting to refuse, but thinking of his children's expressions, he couldn't.

"Thank you, Ying. If I have money, I'll pay you back double."

As a magic energy warrior, he could have said this with ten times the confidence. At this moment, Brother Ma was very quiet, afraid of being heard by other colleagues.

The plain-looking woman, Ying, smiled understandingly.

She left, feeling satisfied and at ease.

Am I still a man? Brother Ma entered the magic network, sat in a corner, and reminisced about the things he had missed in life. Is there a second chance in life? If there were, he would definitely not chase after young women; someone like Ying would be enough. He would take good care of his children, not just give them money and never ask about them.

I gave them money and changed their mothers twenty times; were they happy?

I don't even remember their names or their ages. Would they feel happy with a father like me?

If there were another chance...

But, can life have a second chance?

"Excuse me, are you called 'Eight-legged Pegasus'?" A young voice asked, but Brother Ma didn't pay attention.

"Yeah, old name."

"Great, I'm looking for someone like you. Before this, I need to confirm: it's said that Eight-legged Pegasus has many connections and can go anywhere. Whether it's the border, forbidden planets, or even battlefields, you can deliver special goods. Is this Eight-legged Pegasus you?"

"Money gives connections." Brother Ma didn't deny it.

Those friends who could "risk life and limb" for him were hired with money. Indeed, he had more connections than others.

Now without money, the friends were gone.

"I agree with that. But I don't have money now, so I want to cooperate with you to make some money. You can consider it as I owe a group of people a significant favor and now need to repay them. I want to use the money to buy large amounts of food, medicine, and clothing, and deliver them to a planet called Scrap Metal Planet."

Scrap Metal Planet, Brother Ma sneered. This would have been easy for his former self. Now, he couldn't even throw a piece of bread there.

"If you have no objections, we can start our cooperation. If I'm satisfied, you will be the only partner. Before we make money, let me introduce myself. I am called the Traveler..."

Boom!

Brother Ma's ears rang, and he couldn't hear the rest.

Tears streamed down, through the mech, uncontrollably.

"...Let's confirm one last time. Delivering supplies to Scrap Metal Planet, is there really no problem?"

"Absolutely not." Brother Ma's spirit soared, responding with a habitual confidence: "Traveler, you have given me a second life. I will use everything I have to ensure that all your requests are fulfilled. Even if you ask me to deliver evolution fluid to a queen of the insectoid race, Eight-legged Pegasus will complete your request."

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