Chapter 56

Zhou Lu Hai: …

He looked at the huge pit and immediately saw Ji Fu’s Flame Flame digging frantically.

Okay, okay, okay, so it seems he’s serving the same purpose as a dog.

Zhou Lu Hai looked up, before he could say anything, he saw Ji Fu controlling a silver-white mech, and with a bang, she jumped down.

Boom—

Who knew how long Flame had been digging here. With Ji Fu’s jump, it took quite a while before he heard the sound of her landing.

Zhou Lu Hai was momentarily speechless, then heard someone below saying, “Hurry up.”

Without thinking, he turned his head and jumped down with a thud.

Although this pit was very large, it couldn’t accommodate Deep Sea’s huge size. Before Zhou Lu Hai jumped down, he deliberately minimized Deep Sea into its minimalist mode.

Generally, top-tier mechs can reduce their size, mainly to deal with various terrains.

However, no matter how much it was reduced, Deep Sea’s basics were still there. To ensure operational efficiency, the mech remained over five meters tall, with its volume reduced as much as possible, but its weight remained unchanged.

Logically, with Deep Sea being so heavy, the ground should have sunk when it suddenly entered such a deep pit.

But the ground the mech stepped on was very solid.

Zhou Lu Hai looked around. With Deep Sea’s height and volume, it could move freely in this pit, indicating how deep Flame had dug…

The space in the pit was not small. He controlled the mech to stride quickly and walked to the depths, suddenly seeing light ahead.

It wasn’t exactly light; Ji Fu had just lit up her own mech.

Not far from her, Flame was still digging, both hands transformed into electric drills, leaving behind blurred traces.

As soon as Ji Fu saw Zhou Lu Hai, she immediately smiled and said, “Come help.”

Zhou Lu Hai: …

She really treats him like a dog.

With a dark expression, he walked over, and under Ji Fu’s gaze, he kept digging in the same spot Flame was, then with a bang, he punched out a fist.

Boom!

With a heavy mech hit, he directly pierced through the thick earth wall in front of him.

[…Didn’t expect to see the “Asking Fist” for the first time in this joint exam, and it’s used for digging soil.]

Who would have thought?

The young master of the Zhou family didn’t compete with his own super star+ cousin, but instead came here to dig soil.

But when the earth wall in front of him cracked and collapsed, revealing what was hidden inside, the entire scene fell silent.

Over at the invigilator’s office, the several responsible individuals who had been composed a moment ago all had changed expressions.

Even Huang Peilan, a seasoned mech engineer, was slightly suffocated at this moment. After a while, she finally spoke, “This… is the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core?!”

In the screen, on Ji Fu’s control panel, the information about the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core popped up directly.

【Broken Dwarf Liquid Core, Hyper-Star + Exotic Plant Core, the core nurtured by the Dwarf Shue of Misery, top-grade precious material】

Hyper-Star +, top-grade.

Each word that appeared could stir up a huge storm throughout the entire galaxy!

And that’s not all.

Ji Fu looked at the huge exotic plant core in front of her, her eyes shining brightly. “Normally, exotic plants like the Dwarf Shue of Misery don’t have exotic plant cores.”

“A Dwarf Shue of Misery that has mutated for over a hundred years, the probability of a core appearing is no more than 5%.”

Silence filled the room.

Not more than 5%, which means most of the Dwarf Shues of Misery don’t have any cores.

And indeed, although the Alliance discovered this Dwarf Shue of Misery, they didn’t delve deep into it because they intended to use it for examination purposes.

Moreover, since the Dwarf Shue of Misery entered a quiescent state with a core enveloped during its dormancy period, the Hyper-Star + mechs used by the Alliance only detected its dormancy.

Even if Hyper-Star + level mechs entered for internal inspection, they would still discover this exotic plant core. Unfortunately, many officials under the Alliance were rather perfunctory in their duties.

For them, it was enough to confirm the state and grade of the exotic plant and report it to their superiors, so they didn’t delve deeper.

So, under multiple coincidences, Ji Fu happened to pick up this great bargain.

Before the Dwarf Shue of Misery activated, she couldn’t completely confirm whether the other party had truly formed a liquid core.

It wasn’t until she saw the appearance of this Dwarf Shue of Misery, which had a mechanical state all over its body, a form of the Dwarf Shue of Misery that Ji Fu had only seen in books.

But as long as there was a possibility of forming a liquid core, it was worth a try.

So she didn’t let Yan Yan sneak attack the Imperial Military Academy’s people. Instead, after detecting it, she chose a suitable area to dig deeper.

… Unexpectedly, she really struck gold.

Her eyes gleamed. “To produce such a large and top-grade core, it means this Dwarf Shue of Misery has been alive for at least three to four hundred years, and from the beginning of its mutation, it has been Hyper-Star level.”

The universe is vast, and there are still many planets that have not been developed. The star system where this Dwarf Shue of Misery is located is also very remote. If the Alliance hadn’t recently discovered this Dwarf Shue of Misery when screening remote star systems, this thing would probably have survived here for many more years.

The Broken Dwarf Liquid Core, nurtured for hundreds of years, has grown into a Hyper-Star +, surpassing the grade of the Dwarf Shue of Misery itself by a lot.

Of course, it also means that the danger level of the liquid core is extremely high…

At the examination hall, someone couldn’t hold back and suddenly stood up, loudly saying, “Students can’t handle this level of exotic plant core. To avoid accidents, let’s pause the exam and remove this thing first, shall we?”

The Alliance officials frowned and objected. “No.”

“The Alliance exam has never been interrupted midway.”

Cheng Hao’s eyes darkened. While they were arguing, he directly dialed Fang Yanli’s communication.

The communication was connected, and the first thing Fang Yanli heard was, “What about the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core? Are we just going to leave it like that?”

“Those two students obviously have intentions regarding this thing. Aren’t you afraid that the liquid core will explode, killing both of them inside? Commander Zhou?”

Coincidentally, there was a change in the Zhou family’s management. The new head in charge happened to be Zhou Lu Hai’s second uncle, Zhou Xing.

Zhou Xing sneered at the words. “Listening to everyone, are you afraid that this liquid core will explode and harm Ji Fu and Zhou Lu Hai?”

He glanced coldly at everyone present. “Zhou is still thinking that you all want this top-grade material.”

With one sentence, he directly exposed the thoughts of these people, and many of them looked embarrassed and uncomfortable.

Indeed, they said they were thinking for the sake of Ji Fu and Zhou Lu Hai, but their actual thoughts were probably only clear to themselves.

A thing like the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core couldn’t be measured in terms of money anymore because it was too rare. It was a priceless treasure that couldn’t be bought on the market.

Placed in an auction, it would be a top-grade item used to attract attention. In the absence of a market price, it could only be exchanged for equally valuable precious materials.

Things that could be exchanged for the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core were undoubtedly also priceless materials.

In this case, if two students managed to grab it, how could they sit still?

The people from the Huang family who came with Huang Peilan today didn’t understand these materials. Seeing the dispute, they asked her quietly, “Madam, is this thing really so valuable?”

Huang Peilan’s eyes narrowed slightly, and she spoke in a voice that only the two of them could hear. “Do you know about the incident where the Si family and the Han family were robbed of a large amount of energy stones?”

The other party nodded lightly.

Huang Peilan narrowed her eyes and said in a deep voice, “The value of the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core is roughly equivalent to all the energy stones produced in their entire energy stone star system.”

“And not only that…” She paused slightly.

Energy stones, although rare, weren’t as hard to come by as the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core. This thing was extremely rare.

And the top-grade materials of Hyper-Star + level, to some extent, weren’t just materials but also represented the strength of major families.

Although one Broken Dwarf Liquid Core couldn’t make a complete Hyper-Star + mech, it was enough to be incorporated into mechanical production as a complete engine.

From the live broadcast, the volume of this Broken Dwarf Liquid Core was also large enough.

It’s possible it could even be made into a whole mech core operation cabin.

That’s the cream of the crop, even among top-grade materials.

In recent years, black holes have appeared frequently, but even on the Legion’s front lines, it’s extremely rare to encounter such top-grade Hyper-Star + materials.

…Even if they exist, such top-grade materials wouldn’t make it to the market.

In the interstellar realm, many aristocratic families don’t even have Hyper-Star level mechs, let alone Hyper-Star +.

In simple terms, except for the top three, no, two major families, no one would remain indifferent to such a thing.

However, Huang Peilan looked over there with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile.

Zhou Xing’s attitude was also very clear.

Sure enough, after being exposed by Zhou Xing, there was a moment of silence in the examination hall.

However, despite the presence of top-grade materials right in front of them, some couldn’t restrain themselves and spoke up in a low voice, “Even if it’s for this material, so what?”

“Such top-grade materials, unless there are mistakes, should belong to the Alliance itself.”

This is a typical case of being both foolish and malicious.

They couldn’t get it themselves, and they didn’t want other families to get it either.

“And with top-grade Hyper-Star + materials, are you not afraid that those two students who have just entered the academy will overextend themselves?” The implication behind the words was clear.

Unexpectedly, after Zhou Xing heard these words, he responded with a cold, stern face, “Is that so? If I remember correctly, you seem to be from the Si family, right?”

“Those two students may not be able to handle it, but can your Si family handle it?”

The faces of the speakers contorted for a moment.

The people nearby couldn’t help but sneer. Everyone knew that among the top three families, only the Si family didn’t have Hyper-Star level mechs.

They couldn’t use it, and they probably couldn’t even afford it.

Moreover, who knows what kind of talent level Zhou Lu Hai, the one inside, possesses?

The atmosphere was tense, and Zhou Xing spoke again.

Even if the people here were unwilling, they didn’t dare to openly challenge the Zhou family and could only hope for the person in charge of the Fang family on the other side.

Unexpectedly, before that person could speak, they were interrupted by Fang Yanli.

Cheng Hao opened the video connection that had long been established, and Fang Yanli was currently sitting quietly in the Fang family hall. He spoke coldly, “The consortium exam is different from training. According to the regulations, all resources obtained by students during the consortium exam belong to them.”

“Do you all need me to pull up the regulations and check them personally?”

The room fell silent.

If it were another person from the Fang family who said this, there might have been some room for rebuttal, but since it was Fang Yanli who spoke, once he intervened, this matter had to be handled according to the regulations.

There was no room for negotiation.

Zhou Xing hesitated for a moment. Fang Yanli’s straightforward and upright character was indeed very useful at certain times.

However, in the face of great interests, sometimes words were useless.

…Of course, that’s assuming they had a chance to react.

The people in the examination hall were deadlocked, so no one noticed that during their endless debate, the people inside had already taken action.

From the beginning, Ji Fu had no intention of handing over the items to the Alliance, nor did she intend to seek help from outside.

After discovering the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core, she looked up directly and glanced at Zhou Lu Hai beside her.

Ji Fu spoke cheerfully, “I’ve checked the data. This exotic plant core has a certain level of attack power, and it’s connected to the Dwarf Shue of Misery. As long as we take action, the Dwarf Shue of Misery will return very quickly.”

She used the stink bomb to activate the Dwarf Shue of Misery not only to deal with the Imperial Military Academy’s people but also to let the Imperial’s Hyper-Star level ones hold off the Dwarf Shue of Misery for her.

“Your cousin is Hyper-Star +. It’s been over five minutes since we left, and in a few more minutes, the Dwarf Shue of Misery attacking the Imperial Military Academy will be completely wiped out by him.”

As she spoke, the people watching the livestream cut to another screen and found that everything was indeed as she said.

Fang Yu’an and Bai Yeming, both Hyper-Star level, had found a way to deal with the Dwarf Shue of Misery and violently cut off several of its mechanical tentacles.

As for Zhou Xingyu, he was even more heavyweight, his Hyper-Star + mech moved, and the scene was like the end of the world, with terrifying explosive power.

“So, we need to withstand the poison mist released by the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core, break through the barrier within three minutes, and remove the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core.”

While Ji Fu was speaking, she simultaneously transmitted all the information she knew about the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core to Zhou Lu Hai’s mech.

Cores like these are actually very fragile once separated from their host.

However, the core in front of them had already reached Hyper-Star + level, which was extremely powerful even without the protection of its host.

Just looking at it on paper, they had three S+ mechs here. To withstand the fluctuations caused by the Hyper-Star + core and remove the core while enduring violent fluctuations would be like a pipe dream.

But Ji Fu’s tone and expression remained calm throughout, she was just stating the facts, not venting any emotions.

In the darkness, Zhou Lu Hai turned his head and looked at the mech beside him emitting a bright light.

Without hesitation, he spoke in a deep voice, “Alright.”

The next moment, they heard Ji Fu’s decisive voice, “Prepare—”

Almost simultaneously, the three mechs in the pit started their rampage mode simultaneously.

Yanyan’s eyes, glowing crimson, seemed as if they could drip blood after entering the rampage mode.

The Deep Sea emitted a tremendous roar, and the entire mech shook violently.

Ji Fu was enveloped in white light, activating countless programs in an instant. She maxed out her antivirus and defense systems, then drew out the mechanical broadsword she used to eliminate Han Qianqian.

With the mech broadsword in hand, at the moment when the mechanical power was at its peak, the three mechs simultaneously launched their attack.

Boom!

The Deep Sea activated all the turrets it could use and bombarded the top of the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core.

Yanyan held two curved knives and leaped explosively towards the top of the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core.

But as soon as they touched the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core, they were blasted away by the barrier of this exotic plant core.

Bang!

The core’s liquid burst open, and countless streams of mechanical silver fluid gushed out. Wherever the silver fluid touched, whether it was metal or soil, it was all corroded into a liquid mess.

At the same time, the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core released a large amount of white toxic mist, completely obscuring the vision of all mechs in the mist.

Yanyan’s right arm was corroded by a large amount of mechanical silver fluid, and a danger warning popped up on Jifu’s operation interface.

She stood in the dense white fog, like diving into darkness. She couldn’t see anything clearly, but there were countless streams of mechanical silver fluid spraying towards her body like madness.

[Ding ding ding]

[Highly corrosive liquid detected, flashing defense activated]

[Defense system failed]

In the thick white fog, Jifu’s figure flickered intermittently, displaying a special flashing defense.

The principle behind the flashing defense was somewhat similar to the insignias they wore.

However, it didn’t actually teleport people out, but when a large amount of mechanical silver fluid was sprayed, her whole body seemed to enter the gap of the teleportation.

Using this feature, she protected herself from the overwhelming mechanical silver fluid.

However, because the corrosiveness of the Hyper-Star + Broken Dwarf Liquid Core was too strong, Jifu’s mech still suffered considerable damage.

At this moment, Jifu perfectly demonstrated the excellence of wearing mech armor to the world.

The more than one hundred mech parts she had made before were not in vain.

The flashing defense protected the mech’s engine, and all damaged mech parts were replaced in an instant.

Mechanical arms, mechanical legs, and helmets, any parts corroded were automatically replaced and reconfigured.

The live broadcast room was buzzing, watching Jifu withstand wave after wave of mechanical silver fluid, wildly changing in the thick white fog.

From the silver-white body to the pitch-black body, Jifu activated the Abyss mode after fully assembling the pitch-black body.

…Another mode that no one had ever heard of.

People marveled at the endless changes of the mech in front of them, but they saw Jifu merging with the night, her hands clenched into fists.

With the pitch-black mechanical arm, she exerted tremendous force that seemed to tear space apart and fiercely smashed it!

Bang—

The almost full-force strike shook the entire pit.

But the shield of the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core in front showed no response at all.

[…Hiss, this is already the maximum power that an S+ mech can release, and it doesn’t even have a slight reaction]

[After all, it’s Hyper-Star +, even if there’s no host around, it’s something ordinary people can’t deal with]

[I checked, the host shouldn’t be able to come over. Zhou Xingyu is too powerful. He has almost completely cleaned up the Broken Dwarf Tree of Misery on the Imperial side]

[That’s it then. Once Zhou Xingyu arrives, this Broken Dwarf Liquid Core will be his]

In this situation, no one thought Jifu could take away this Broken Dwarf Liquid Core.

However, in the face of pessimism, Jifu gathered her strength again.

Bang!!!

This time, the mechanical power was even heavier than the previous blow.

She once again struck the protective shield of the liquid core, and in the darkness, the shield seemed to tremble slightly, but it was extremely subtle, almost imperceptible without careful observation.

However, the mech controlled by Jifu sounded an alarm.

[Alarm! Poison mist invasion, body functions declining]

[Alarm! Mechanical power has reached its limit]

[Alarm! Mech arm is broken]

After two consecutive heavy blows, Jifu herself also suffered serious injuries. The recoil from the heavy blows caused her right arm to break directly.

But as if completely unaware, she ignored the three consecutive warnings from the moon and replaced her right mech arm.

Under the full-scale invasion of the poison mist, although Jifu activated the antidote system, she was still affected. Her movements were greatly affected, and she moved sluggishly with slow reactions.

Her right arm, which struck the shield, was already numb, and the entire arm was tinged with red, throbbing with pain.

But in this situation, she still began to gather strength for the third strike.

The difference was that before Jifu made the third strike, she took out a vial of potion from her light brain.

This potion was the stink bomb she used to activate the Broken Dwarf Tree of Misery before.

Jifu forcefully threw the bomb at the shield.

Boom!

The potion exploded above the shield.

As countless potions gushed out, she rushed forward into the exploding potion and struck again.

Bang!

Under the tremendous force of the blow, a crack appeared in the seemingly unbreakable shield of the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core.

Click, swish.

When a crisp sound rang out, the entire examination hall and barrage fell silent.

With S+ talent and an S+ wearable mech, Jifu forcibly broke through the protective shield of the Hyper-Star + Broken Dwarf Liquid Core.

On the other side, Zhou Luohai, whose mech was also corroded by mechanical silver fluid, dragged his heavily damaged mech forward.

He panted as he approached and stood beside Jifu.

Jifu calmly asked, “Can you still move?”

Zhou Luohai glanced at her. “Yes.”

In fact, just now, he also felt his limit and was already planning to release the other mech stored in his light brain.

But before his mech was released, Ji Fu had already broken through the shield.

Zhou Lu hai’s eyes were deep. Using the same method as Ji Fu just now, he also threw out an explosive potion and then struck with a fist.

Boom!

The shield shattered once again, and Yanyan, whose right arm was scrapped, also lifted her left arm and struck with tremendous force.

The Hyper-Star + shield, generated by the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core itself, showed dense cracks like spider webs under their continuous bombardment.

It looked like it was about to completely shatter.

Zhou Lu hai and Yanyan simultaneously struck with the final blow.

As they gathered strength for their strikes, Ji Fu suddenly rose up from the side.

Snap!

At the moment the shield shattered, the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core seemed to be greatly stimulated. Countless mechanical spikes appeared on the surface of the core.

The upright spikes seemed to be about to stab in all directions in an instant.

But before the barrage of spikes could strike, Ji Fu once again took out the mechanical long knife from her hand, fully exerting the mechanical power, and slashed horizontally.

With one slash, she directly cut off the root of the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core.

As the root broke, all the spikes of the Broken Dwarf Liquid Core failed to lash out and fell to the ground with a heavy thud.

Bang!

This indomitable Hyper-Star + Broken Dwarf Liquid Core fell to the ground and unexpectedly split into two halves.

The core opened up, and from its extreme gray-silver interior, flowed an unknown reddish-gold liquid.

Before Zhou Lu hai could react, he saw Ji Fu landing and using a large container to catch the reddish-gold liquid.

He didn’t see the message that popped up on Ji Fu’s screen, filled with red.

[Broken Dwarf Aurum, Hyper-Star + top-grade material]

Different from the previous Broken Dwarf Liquid Core, this time the material had only a simple scientific name.

But after it appeared, the three major families in the examination hall simultaneously changed their expressions.

Broken Dwarf Aurum, premium mech repair material.

Manufacturing Hyper-Star + mechs was not only difficult but repairing them was particularly challenging. Almost all repairs required Aurum-level materials.

Aurum was not unique to the Dwarf Shue of Misery; it was a form of material that appeared after reaching the Hyper-Star level.

However, ordinary Hyper-Star levels didn’t have it; it was basically only produced in Hyper-Star +, and there was another important issue.

The production yield of Aurum was very low.

Usually, killing ten Hyper-Star + exotic plants would yield a vial-sized Aurum material.

One could imagine how small the production yield of this thing was.

And now, Ji Fu, she was using a large bucket to catch it!

Who could have imagined that the Dwarf Shue of Misery not only produced liquid cores but also had a belly full of Aurum!

Watching the reddish-gold liquid continuously flowing out, it almost made people’s eyes pop out.

Was that flowing liquid?

No, that was money, just like the name Aurum, it was gold!!!

Wasn’t Ji Fu basically just filling up her bucket with gold lying all over the ground?