Chapter 8

"..."

"Detected the challenger's body has recovered. Reconnecting."

"Connection complete. Retrieving mission progress."

"Side mission: Explore the area. Completed. Reward issued."

"Reward issuance complete. Retrieving again."

"Main mission one completed. Evaluation: A. Reward issued. Additional reward issued."

"Reward issuance complete."

He Moming was woken by a series of reminders from the AI Veros. As his vision cleared, he found himself lying in what seemed to be a hospital room. Just as he was about to raise his right hand, he felt it being pressed down. He looked over and saw Lin Mingmei sleeping on the bed. Perhaps due to Moming's movements, Lin Mingmei soon woke up.

"Moming, you're awake?!" Lin Mingmei exclaimed, her eyes wide open, seeing Moming sitting up in bed.

"Uh-huh. How long have I been out?" Moming nodded and asked.

"A day. Grace said you lost consciousness during the battle. It really scared me." Lin Mingmei patted her chest, still feeling the lingering fear.

"It's not that serious. I lost consciousness after the battle, when my teammates arrived. There was no real danger. See, I just slept for a day." Moming flexed his muscles to show he was fine, and his exaggerated gesture made Lin Mingmei laugh.

"Tsk tsk. Look at you. I told you this kid was fine. Now he's even flirting with a big star." A sinister voice came from outside the door, and then the door opened. A group of people filed in. Moming recognized Roy, Mark, and Suxiong. Oh, and the protagonist of the original story, Itou Hikaru, was there too. Moming suddenly felt a bit guilty and glanced at Lin Mingmei.

"Did we catch you in the middle of something?" Suxiong, as always, was overly familiar, grabbing Moming's shoulder and teasing him.

"Why are you all here?" Moming asked, trying to deal with Suxiong.

"We just happened to have no missions today, so we came to see you." Roy spoke up, seeing Mark and the others looking at him.

"Oh. Suxiong, you be quiet!" Moming hadn't even finished speaking when he turned to suppress the mischievous Suxiong.

"Is your body okay?" Roy asked, looking Moming over.

"The doctor said Moming was just exhausted. He just needs some rest," Lin Mingmei interjected, seeing Moming busy with Suxiong.

"Ah, got it. Then Moming, you have the day off today. Enjoy your break. Report back tomorrow." Roy glanced between Moming and Lin Mingmei, then gave a reasonable order. He then grabbed Suxiong and led Mark and Itou Hikaru out of the room.

"Phew... Captain said I have the day off?" Moming sighed in relief.

"Seems so. Do you have any plans for today?" Lin Mingmei thought for a moment and asked.

"No."

"Then, can you spend the day with me?" Lin Mingmei stood up, clasping her hands in front of her chest, her bright eyes looking at Moming.

"Sure, I don't have anything else to do."

After getting Moming's answer, Lin Mingmei quickly completed the discharge procedures and dragged Moming onto a bus heading to the city center. After a half-hour ride, they finally arrived in the city center. Before Moming could figure out what was happening, Lin Mingmei pulled him straight to a destination.

Moming looked at the holographic projections of Lin Mingmei all over the streets, listened to her songs echoing through the city center, and felt the crowd's enthusiasm for her. Only then did he truly understand what it meant to be Lin Mingmei.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Lin Mingmei stopped and looked at Moming curiously.

"Nothing. Nothing. Do you have any place you want to go? Let's go." Moming shook his head and said.

Lin Mingmei gave Moming a puzzled look, then turned and continued to drag him along. Shopping with a lady, especially aimless shopping, was a disaster. Moming realized this deeply. Lin Mingmei was in front, and he was behind, sweeping through the streets from one end to the other. Was it shopping? Not really. Lin Mingmei just looked at clothes, and sometimes discussed prices with the salespeople before dragging Moming, who was standing guard, out of the store. The popular girl's main interest was in eating. She held various snacks in both hands, and Moming was carrying a few bags of snacks. Moming felt a mix of amusement and exasperation at the sight. Fortunately, Lin Mingmei seemed to be tired. She pulled Moming to a bench and sat down to rest.

"I'm so happy today! It's been a long time since I've wandered around and eaten so much." Lin Mingmei finished her snack and said happily. Moming noticed a crumb on her lip and handed her a tissue.

"Thanks. Can I lean on your shoulder? I haven't played this hard in a long time. I need a little rest." Lin Mingmei took the tissue and leaned on Moming's shoulder. Before Moming could react, she closed her eyes, either pretending to sleep or really falling asleep. Moming looked at the small head resting on his shoulder and shook his head. This might be a good opportunity to sort through the information from AI Veros.

With a thought, the yellow-framed interface appeared before him. Moming scanned the text in the frame. When his eyes fell on the D-level driving skill, a small confirmation box popped up. Without hesitation, Moming confirmed it. A white light rose and merged into Moming's body. Moming felt something new in his mind, but he couldn't form a clear impression. He pulled at the corners of his mouth and continued to scan the yellow frame, soon landing on a newly appeared silver box. This box hadn't been there before. It must have been a reward for completing the main mission. Moming thought and opened the silver box. After a flash of white light, a cube glowing with white light appeared before him.

Hyper-Space Emergency Escape Device: In battle, no one can guarantee their own safety. Even the most renowned aces can't ensure they will survive the chaos of a battlefield filled with missiles and gunfire. To increase the survival rate of ace pilots, top scientists developed this super device. Using hyper-space teleportation technology, once the pilot's ID is bound and a safe space coordinate is locked, the device can teleport the pilot to a safe location in a life-or-death moment. Equipment Level: B. Usage: 1 time.

After reading the long description, Moming almost jumped up. According to the current plot, Moming would soon face a battlefield filled with missiles, machine guns, and ship cannons. Getting this item from the box was like a timely rain. Moming examined it from all angles, confirmed there was nothing missing, and chose to close the system interface. However, the interface didn't close as Moming expected; instead, a red-framed box popped up.

Moming looked closely and realized it was an attribute interface. But it looked so familiar. It felt like the attribute interface from the Z2 Boundary chapter he had just completed. Despite the slight differences in attribute names, the strong sense of déjà vu was unmistakable. Moming shook his head and dismissed the chaotic thoughts.

Challenger: He Moming (ID: 663)

Character Level: 5

Driving Level: D

Constitution: 90

Shooting: 110

Spirit: 85

Evasion: 100

Accuracy: 100

Defense: 60

Remaining Points to Allocate: 5

Looking at the attribute panel, Moming didn't know how other challengers' attributes compared, but he knew his were terrible. Especially the defense, which was so low he was practically a paper-thin character. No wonder the mechs he used in the last two battles were riddled with holes, with parts missing or exploded. He could imagine the grim faces of the maintenance crew. Now he understood the reason. Moming pulled at the corners of his mouth and allocated all the remaining points to defense. He hoped it would make a difference.

Challenger: He Moming (ID: 663)

Character Level: 5

Driving Level: D

Constitution: 90

Shooting: 110

Spirit: 85

Evasion: 100

Accuracy: 100

Defense: 65

After confirming the attribute panel again, Moming closed the system interface. He checked the time and realized over half an hour had passed. He felt a stir on his shoulder. Lin Mingmei had woken up after a short nap.

"How long did I sleep?" Lin Mingmei asked, rubbing her eyes.

"About half an hour. And put on your big sunglasses quickly. Otherwise..." Moming pointed to the onlookers who had started to gather around, recognizing Lin Mingmei. Lin Mingmei let out a gasp and quickly put on her sunglasses, then dragged Moming away.

After a series of stops and starts, Moming and Lin Mingmei found themselves in front of Kayes' office building. Moming looked at the entrance and gestured. Lin Mingmei thought for a moment, then looked up and walked into the building first.

"Welcome. I've been waiting for you for a long time." Grace greeted them as soon as Lin Mingmei entered.

"Uh, Grace? Don't you have work to do? Did you wait for us for days?" Moming asked, surprised.

"Of course not. I have my informants. This is no problem for me." Grace smoothed her hair and smiled.

"Miss Grace, I'm here to sign the contract." Lin Mingmei, not wanting to engage in small talk, got straight to the point.

"Lin Mingmei, think carefully. I'm not your cousin's agent. My requirements are very strict. You might not have much personal time, and you two might not see each other for a long time," Grace said seriously.

"No problem. I... I just want to sing. If you can provide a stage, I can accept these conditions," Lin Mingmei said firmly.

"Is that so? The press conference will be in three days. I'll print a new contract for you to review. If you have any issues, we can discuss and modify them. Rest assured, signing Lin Mingmei is a significant milestone for us. We won't treat you unfairly," Grace said, turning to Moming and making a firm promise.

Moming looked at Lin Mingmei, who suddenly lowered her head when she saw Moming looking at her. The plot was stubbornly trying to return to the original storyline. Given the current situation, they could only take it one step at a time. Regardless, the future path would likely be smoother than the original. After all, the new agent seemed to have a somewhat ambiguous relationship with the captain. This could be useful. Moming's mind gradually formed a plan.

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