One time, death.

Twice, death.

After $N+1$ deaths, Ziye finally spotted a subtle issue with the engine. As she pondered this, her opponent, seeing her slump on the ground and remain still, assumed she had finally given up and promptly exited the arena.

Ziye wanted to call him back, but alas, combat ended with immediate teleportation out of the battlefield. She returned to her room and let out a heavy sigh. Little Sprout giggled inside her mind, "How did it feel to be schooled?"

Ziye slumped, "I thought that pilot was all flash and no substance, but he turned out to be incredibly formidable."

Little Sprout chuckled coolly, "Well, you ought to consider that mech was the grand prize for last year's Mech Design Competition, the only one in the entire galaxy, won by a prodigious young talent in the Huaxia Legion. What was that young man's name again? Ah, found it—Li Chunyu."

Ziye’s eyes widened. "The person piloting just now was Li Chunyu?"

Little Sprout swayed its round body gently, "There is only a 6.5% chance of that. The core technology of the Platinum Tycoon model hasn't been made public; the virtual mechs in the base only share a similar exterior. They are essentially just shells, equipped with only a single long spear. Li Chunyu wouldn't bother testing here."

Ziye felt a cold sweat break out.

That mech was a shell, yet it still left her battered and bruised!

Little Sprout continued to press the attack, "Look at you, driving the 'Meat Grinder of the Battlefield'! And you still performed worse than a bare-bones machine. If I were you..."

Ziye jumped out of the mech and walked away with a flick of her wrist.

By the time Ziye reached the balcony from the gym, Little Sprout whooshed and hopped onto the table in front of her, teasing, "There are thirty-six ways to evade a spear thrust. Want me to teach you one?"

Ziye held up two fingers, pinched its cheeks, and ground her teeth. "You did that on purpose, didn't you? Watching me get decimated—you're insufferable!"

Little Sprout stood up the two leaves on its head, letting them sway in the breeze with an air of calm. "The more painful your failure, the clearer you see the gap, and the harder you will strive to surpass it. This is for your own good."

Ziye looked at it with disdain. "Nonsense."

Little Sprout acted proud. "See for yourself!" It pulled up a holographic video and projected it in front of Ziye. Ziye’s eyes lit up—it was the recording of her duel with the Platinum Tycoon.

The video was short, only a minute long. Ziye watched every movement of the Platinum Tycoon with wide eyes; those seemingly casual actions were executed with such supreme skill.

Combat technique could truly be taken to such a supernatural level!

Ziye gasped. "Who exactly is he?"

Little Sprout yawned. "I don't know. I was going to pull up all his combat videos, but when I hacked the backend, I found he had no recorded matches at all, so I only managed to record a little on site."

Ziye wondered curiously, "No records in the backend either?"

Little Sprout nodded. "If anyone else tried to search your backend records, they wouldn't find anything either."

Ziye seemed to grasp something. "He didn't register his identity?"

Little Sprout laughed. "There's a category of people in the pilot training base called 'Gray Collars.'"

Ziye looked utterly bewildered.

Little Sprout explained, "There are Blue Collars, Pink Collars, White Collars, Red Collars, Gold Collars, Black Collars, and Gray Collars. Blue Collars are newcomers. Pink Collars represent females. White Collars are ordinary people who have been training for over a year. Red Collars are base administration. Gold Collars are the gods of the base. Black Collars are those who refuse entry. And Gray Collars..." It deliberately left Ziye hanging, not continuing.

Ziye was so annoyed she vigorously plucked its fuzz. "If you don't tell me right now, I'll pull off all your fuzz and throw you in the washing machine!"

Little Sprout just scoffed and ignored her.

She had no choice but to soften her attitude and flatter it. "Be a good boy, sweetie, please tell me, please tell me."

Little Sprout was completely taken in. It cleared its throat twice. "Gray Collars are people like you. You must register your identity to enter the base, but some people manage to bypass this step through certain means, gaining entry without any questioning or obstruction."

Ziye felt a little disappointed after hearing this.

She was just an ordinary person, and for those she admired or looked up to, she longed to learn more about them and gain more knowledge.

Did this mean she only met the magnate by chance, and future encounters would also rely on chance?

Gray Collars—she hated the concept.

Little Sprout comforted her. "You don't need to worry; you’ll have chances to meet him again if you want. When the magnate's mech first came out last year, many people wanted the thrill of piloting it for fun. But once they realized it was a bare machine, very few dared to try. If you keep an eye on the magnate, you might run into him again."

Easier said than done; whether they would meet again truly depended on fate. Ziye shook her head, tossing those thoughts out of her mind. Seeing she was no longer dwelling on that matter, Little Sprout pulled up another video. "Watch closely; this is the true power of the Meat Grinder!"

It was a demonstration of a Gold Collar using a Saber-type combat frame. The performance was dazzlingly fierce, especially the two serrated retractable blades, which were unstoppable; any mech they touched either lost limbs or exploded instantly.

Ziye watched, utterly thrilled and terrified.

She finally understood that she hadn't even stepped across the threshold of actual combat.

Indeed, she had to start learning from the very beginning.

This would be a long process, and Ziye knew she couldn't rush it, so she calmed down. She saved both videos, intending to watch them occasionally for motivation.

Unfortunately, she hadn't managed to pinpoint the true issue with the Saber type. Or rather, she thought she had a near-complete understanding of the main engine problem, but she couldn't be certain if it was caused by the Micro-Jump Engine Thruster.

While compiling her summary notes, Ziye suddenly realized with a shock that she had been thoroughly beaten! During her PK with the Platinum Tycoon, she had completely forgotten to engage the Micro-Jump Engine Thruster, making it impossible to know the issue with that component.

She retrieved the data for the Micro-Jump Engine Thruster again. Using this device allowed for an instantaneous jump of 100km, incredibly potent. She studied it carefully once more, recalling that her fight with the Platinum Tycoon was close combat, meaning the direction of deployment was entirely wrong. She decided to return to the pilot training base.

This time, as she prepared to enter the arena, she discovered that she hadn't understood the battlefield parameters. Battlefields were divided into three types: melee, long-range, and free combat. The system had automatically selected melee combat; if she wanted long-range, she needed to change the selection herself.

To use the Micro-Jump Engine Thruster effectively, long-range combat was certainly required.

This time, the battlefield was space.

Upon entering, Ziye was slightly disappointed to see her opponent was not the Platinum Tycoon. However, her main goal today wasn't to see him, but to check the performance of the Micro-Jump Engine Thruster.

Her opponent's mech was only 1000 meters away—it was a Warrior-type!

Ziye was quite satisfied with this.

She was extremely familiar with the Warrior-type and its equipment across the board. Therefore, the first thing she did was engage the Micro-Jump Engine Thruster, instantly leaping 100km away.

The sensation was quite subtle.

After lightly tapping the activation key, Ziye sat still, waiting for the mech to jump. For a good while, there was no reaction. She thought the thruster had malfunctioned, but when she glanced over, she saw the enemy mech was now 1100KM away.

Ziye’s eyes widened in surprise. That speed was too fast; she hadn't registered the movement at all! Space had no scenery; whether near or far, it was a vast expanse of deep darkness, which had given her the illusion that she hadn't moved.

Gazing out at the space through the viewport, Ziye couldn't help but recall the time she encountered pirates after leaving Silver Charm. If she had known about the Micro-Jump Engine Thruster then, she wouldn't have had to walk through the gates of hell. This thing was an absolute escape artifact!

When under attack, instantly jumping 100km would remove her from the enemy's firing range, giving her ample time to decide whether to continue fighting or disengage immediately.

That past battle taught her about her shortcomings, and this thruster showed her how far she still had to go.

Ziye collected her emotions, her hands flying across the optical computer screen to lock onto the Warrior-type mech, check its ammunition reserves, load rounds, and activate shields, preparing for battle.

However, what frustrated her was the mech's emotionless synthetic voice announcing, "Insufficient mech energy. Please check mech energy levels!"

What? Wasn't the energy full just a moment ago? Ziye looked at the energy indicator screen—only 6 remained. She hastily activated the energy regenerator to replenish power.

But what was going on? Why was the energy suddenly depleted?

Little Sprout tumbled on her head, "Master, did you finally discover the issue with the Micro-Jump Thruster? While this thing's function is heaven-defying, its flaw is equally hard to ignore. The instantaneous propulsion from the jump causes a significant energy drain, and after jumping, it requires a full five minutes to recharge the energy."

Ziye thought for a moment, guessing, "When the energy drops below 10, the main engine forces operation. If the main engine cannot start fully, and it's held too long, will it distort?"

"Correct!" Little Sprout bounced on her head. "Master isn't entirely hopeless."

Ziye rolled her eyes at it, staying silent. Knowing the problem solved everything. She watched the approaching Warrior-type and instructed it, "Record the data for me."

With that, she locked onto the Warrior-type, moving forward while firing.

A moving target is always harder to hit than a stationary one. Once Ziye confirmed they were in range, she began orbiting while firing. The most critical aspect of the Saber type was electronic warfare. She was anxious to return and organize the problems and knowledge she had just gained, having little patience to linger here. Since she knew the Warrior-type's weaknesses intimately, she simply activated all electronic warfare equipment at once, bombarding the opponent's weak points at maximum speed—a decisive victory!

Exiting the Pilot Training Center, Ziye didn't even stop for a breath before demanding of Little Sprout, "Give me the data."

She took the degree of energy depletion after using the Micro-Jump Engine Thruster, the damage inflicted on the main engine when it attempted to operate at less than ten percent energy, combined with six months of accumulated wear and tear, formulated it into an equation, calculated, and drew a conclusion to compare with the degree of engine distortion.

Excluding the impact of other factors on the main engine and removing the margin of error, the two matched perfectly! RS