The moment Instructor Logan's cold voice faded, the engines of seven or eight mechs roared at me simultaneously.
"Welcome to your first lesson at the Royal Military Academy. This lesson is simple: it is called 'Survival'." His stiff face was devoid of expression. "Rules? There are no rules. Your goal is to survive to the end. In three hours, any mech still standing earns credits for its pilot. Those who fall get zero."
The cold pronouncement echoed beneath the massive dome of the simulation field. Codenamed "Darwin Jungle," it was a primordial hellscape—a mix of metallic ruins and muddy swamps. The pungent stench of rust, rotting vegetation, and ozone in the air was so familiar it made my stomach churn.
Isn't this just a fucking deluxe version of Planet 7?
I stood beside my "Marauder." Standing among the drab, standard-issue training mechs, this black beast—cobbled together with a Crown Prince's ransom—looked like a butcher crashing a flock of sheep. Its core was the battered but still powerful heart of the "Archangel." Its armor was the thickest military-grade composite plating I could buy on the black market. The weld lines were crooked and jagged, oozing a discordant, violent aesthetic.
"Board! The melee begins in one minute!"
Logan's voice was like a starting pistol. I climbed into the cockpit, the cold metal seat instantly snapping me into combat mode. I could feel dozens of gazes filled with envy, fear, and morbid fanaticism piercing through the cockpit glass, pinning me down.
Eldest Prince Kaelan's "special guidance" was like a license to attack issued to this pack of mad dogs.
They saw me as prey, a hunt staged to curry favor with a new master.
"Survive to the end?" The corners of my mouth curled up uncontrollably as a surge of bloodthirsty excitement shot up my spine to my brain.
A bunch of babies still on the tit think they're qualified to talk to me about survival?
*Vrrr—*
The engine started, and that familiar, surging, almost manic power radiated from the mech's core, resonating in my chest. I could feel every armor plate hungering to tear something apart. Though it wasn't fully broken in yet, this power gave me an unprecedented sense of security.
"Ten, nine, eight..."
The cold countdown over the public channel sounded like a death knell for them. I saw the gray mechs around me subtly adjusting their stances, their muzzles and blades all casually zeroing in on my position.
"Three, two, one!"
"Begin combat!"Before the words had even faded, the seven or eight mechas closest to me gunned their engines to the max, pouncing from all directions like a pack of hyenas that had caught the scent of blood! Beams of light and ballistic rounds rained down on me like a cheap fireworks display, threatening to tear me and my mecha into shreds!
"Idiots."
I scoffed, slamming the engine power to its absolute limit!
The *Marauder* let out a bestial roar. The terrifying thrust slammed me back into my seat, making me feel as if my internal organs were being squeezed up into my throat. But I didn't retreat, and I certainly didn't draw my sword. Instead, I shot forward like a black cannonball, charging straight through the incoming fire!
"What?!"
"Is he insane?!"
Screams of terror and shock erupted over the public channel. They thought I was going for a head-on clash and scattered to flank me, their faces twisted with the cruel pleasure of a predator about to catch its prey.
But I didn't even glance at them.
My target was the deepest part of the training grounds—the ruins flickering with a dangerous red light that everyone else was carefully avoiding!
That was where the rogue mechanical sentries were thickest.
*Boom! Boom!*
Two shells whistled past my mecha. The scorching shockwave caused the temperature in the cockpit to spike instantly. I piloted the *Marauder* through the ruins at high speed, its massive frame displaying an uncanny agility that defied its size. Behind me, those dozens of grey mechas clung to my tail like a swarm of persistent flies.
"What is he doing? Running into the restricted zone?"
"Don't let him get away! His Highness the First Prince is watching us!"
Someone screamed over the channel, their voice distorted by a mix of fear and excitement.
The First Prince? Kaelan?
My heart sank, followed by a surge of even more intense adrenaline. As I suspected, this hunt was sanctioned—perhaps even orchestrated—by him as "special guidance." He wanted to watch his lapdogs tear me to shreds.
At that exact moment, my "Engineer's Eye" was stung once again by a familiar energy fluctuation!
That energy, so strikingly similar to the "Ghost Echo," emanated from deep within the academy once more. It was clearer than before, like a faint sigh—or a summons.
There was definitely something fishy going on here.
The thought made my blood boil with anticipation.
Good. Let's make this game a little more interestingI yanked the stick, and the *Marauder* made a sharp turn, scraping along the wall of a half-collapsed metal building. Its massive mechanical feet tore deep gouges into the surface, kicking up a blinding streak of sparks dozens of meters long. My pursuers tried to follow, but their skills and hardware were clearly no match. One mecha turned too sharply and slammed headlong into the wall; the cockpit crumpled, and the pilot's scream was instantly drowned out by the screech of twisting metal.
"Idiots," I muttered, charging into the ruins flickering with red light.
"Warning! Massive hostile signature detected!"
A piercing alarm blared inside the cockpit.
Dozens of rusty mechanical sentries of various shapes crawled out from the shadows of the ruins. Some looked like spiders, others like scorpions, and some even dragged massive industrial chainsaws. Their electronic eyes flickered with a frenzied red light, and the moment they detected a mecha, they opened fire on anything that moved!
*Fzzzt!*
A thick plasma beam shot out, warping the air with its heat.
I jerked to the side. The beam grazed my shoulder and instantly melted one of the gray mechas hot on my heels into two pieces! The cockpit plummeted with the upper half, the pilot screaming, while the lower half took a few more steps on sheer inertia before crashing down. It was a scene both absurd and bloody.
"Aaaagh!" The pilot's scream vanished from the channel, replaced by the hiss of static.
"She led us into a trap!"
"Scatter! Scatter! Deal with these sentries first!"
The group chasing me was instantly thrown into chaos, their formation shattered under the onslaught of the mechanical sentries.
And this was exactly what I wanted.
I didn't keep charging forward. Instead, like a slippery eel, I weaved through the gaps between the ruins and the mechanical sentries' attacks. I deliberately slowed down, stringing them along like an experienced shepherd driving a flock toward the slaughterhouse.
A spider-type sentry swung a sharp metal leg at me. I immediately side-stepped, ducking behind a gray mecha. Before its pilot could even react, the cockpit was skewered by the long leg, pinning the machine to the wall like a bug.
"Shit! It's her! She set us up!"
"Forget about her! There are too many of these damn things!"In the chaos, the pursuers were forced into a fight with the frenzied mechanical guards. Meanwhile, I piloted the Marauder, nimbly leaping onto the roof of a derelict building. I powered down most of my systems and, like a ghost lurking in the shadows, silently looked down upon the dog-eat-dog farce unfolding below.
Watching them tear each other apart inside my trap, a surge of primal, cruel satisfaction welled up within me.
This was the law of survival in the Junkyard.
Never let yourself become everyone's target. When everyone wants to take you down, give them a new, more threatening enemy.
Then, all you have to do is wait to collect the bodies.
The battle below was incredibly brutal. Though those aristocrats had decent piloting skills, they had never seen such a chaotic, disorganized onslaught. The mechanical guards were utterly fearless, while the students shared no trust whatsoever; some even took the opportunity to stab their "classmates" in the back.
Soon, one gray mecha after another collapsed in plumes of black smoke. In the chaos, their cockpit ejection systems failed, leaving the pilots to suffocate inside.
About half an hour later, the sounds of gunfire and explosions in the ruins began to thin out.
Only three battered gray mechas remained, along with seven or eight mechanical guards still sparking with electricity.
"Alright, warm-up's over."
I restarted the engines and leaped down from the tall building!
*Boom!*
The Marauder's heavy frame slammed into the ground, making the earth tremble. Scared out of their wits, the three remaining pilots scrambled to aim their cannons at me.
"It's... it's her!"
"She's still here!"
Their voices were thick with exhaustion and the terror of impending death.
I didn't bother wasting words on them.
I lunged forward. The massive alloy wrench that I'd used to smash countless mechanical creations was already in my hand.
*Clang!*
The first mecha tried to block with its shield. Against my wrench, that thin plate was like a cracker, shattering instantly! The immense momentum didn't stop there; the wrench smashed the mecha's arm off, and the twisted metal pierced the cockpit like a jagged bone!
*Clang!*
I kicked the second mecha to the ground and pinned its chest under my foot. Raising the wrench high, I brought it down hard, smashing straight through its power core. With a dull thud, the mecha spasmed twice before going completely still.
The pilot of the third mecha gave up all resistance, raising the mecha's hands high. His tearful scream echoed through the comms channel.
"I... I surrender! I quit!"I ignored him and turned to face the remaining mechanical guards.
Ten minutes later.
The entire "Darwin Jungle" was as silent as a grave.
I stood in the middle of the mecha wreckage and mechanical guard debris. My "Marauder" was virtually unscathed, save for a few superficial scratches on its hull.
"Lesson one is over."
Instructor Logan's cold voice crackled over the comms, carrying a hint of unmistakable... shock.
"Survivor: Vex. Credits: Perfect score."
I cut the comms and looked at the personal data terminal on the cockpit display, pulling up that anonymous, encrypted message.
"...Go to the Library's Restricted Zone and find the files on the 'Ghost Engine.'"
The truth about my parents, the "Ghost Engine," Kaelan's surveillance, the secrets buried deep within the academy... every clue pointed to that one location.
Storming the place was out of the question; it was bound to be the most heavily guarded place in the entire academy. I needed a legitimate status—one that would grant me free access to most of the campus and the opportunity to reach the Restricted Zone.
I needed clearance.
I needed to... exploit the rules.
I opened the academy's handbook and scanned through the regulations line by line. My eyes finally settled on the section for "Credit and Clearance Exchange." A wild plan, fueled by the thrill of impending revenge, began to take shape in my mind.
Fine. You want to play the rules game? Then I'll play your game to the absolute limit.
Credits? Clearance? I'll seize everything you hold dear until I can stand before your secrets legitimately.
And then, just as I tore apart those tin cans, I'll rip your lies to shreds.
My gaze fell upon the map on my terminal. A bright red marker appeared at the entrance to the Library's Restricted Zone.
A new target.
I smirked. The game is just getting started.