Chapter 1 The Brainpower Calculation Center

The Suiyang Brainpower Calculation Center didn't have a dedicated building for its headquarters; it was simply an affiliated department of the First People's Hospital.

When Li Cheng颐 arrived, he doubted his eyes.

He looked at the two-story building next to the First People's Hospital, with a sign that read "Children's Mental Disability Recovery and Health Center."

He wondered if Ding Ning had given him the wrong address.

"Ding-ge, are you sure this is the place?" he asked Ding Ning, who was beside him.

He had been to this place when he was a child. This small building belonged to the First People's Hospital and was next to the Vision Testing Center. Almost all the elementary school students in Suiyang City had come here for vision tests.

"This is the place. There are so few new recruits in Suiyang City that brainpower calculation doesn't require many people or institutions. It's impossible to spend a lot of money to maintain it," Ding Ning said with a smile. He was wearing a cool red t-shirt and white knee-length jeans, with an orange-peel patterned baseball cap on his head. His sunglasses reflected a faint colorful light under the sun.

He didn't look like a mech pilot at all, but rather an ordinary rebellious youth.

"This thing is just a formality for registration and getting a certificate. Whether you pass or not, you have to buy a Fei Yi (flying instrument), but it can determine which type you are suitable for."

He took the lead and walked towards the entrance of the small building.

Li Cheng颐 followed closely behind, still hesitant.

The two entered the gate, and there were several couples inside, waiting in line for pre-examination with their children.

The plump nurse at the counter was patiently explaining to the people what to do first and what to do next.

"Go this way," Ding Ning said familiarly, bypassing the queue and walking towards the corridor inside.

Li Cheng颐 continued to follow.

Soon, they reached the end of the corridor and pushed open a small door near the toilet.

"Lao Zhao, business is here."

Inside the door was a small room filled with a large number of storage hard drives.

In the center of the room was a set of tables and chairs.

A stern-faced man with graying hair, wearing tiger-skin glasses, was carefully wiping an old hard drive.

Hearing the sound, the man looked up and glanced at Ding Ning.

"I thought the first order this month would be brought by Xiao Xu. I didn't expect it to be you."

"Xiao Xu has a background. His own group has all the equipment, so he doesn't need to come here for calculations, right?" Ding Ning laughed and pulled Li Cheng颐 forward.

"This is my brother. Give him the results quickly."

"Okay." The bespectacled man looked at Li Cheng颐. "Name."

"Li Cheng颐."

"Age?"

"24."

"Education?"

"University undergraduate."

"So-called brainpower calculation, don't be nervous. It's just doing a three-dimensional test of your willpower."

The bespectacled man's tone softened.

"It sounds complicated, but in reality, to become a mech pilot, you need to be tested in three dimensions."

"First: computing power, which is a complex operation test."

"Second: core count, which is how many targets you can operate simultaneously."

"Third: distance, which is the maximum distance you can operate a target."

"Okay, let's go straight to this." The bespectacled man took out a black iron metal hat from the drawer and handed it to Li Cheng颐.

Li Cheng颐 honestly put it on and looked at him.

"What's next?"

"Pay attention to here, in my hand."

The bespectacled man took out a small silver ball from his pocket.

It was a small ball, only the size of a fingernail. It was smooth and round, and seemed no different from an ordinary metal marble.

"Stare at it and imagine it floating up gently. Concentrate and don't be distracted!" the bespectacled man instructed.

Li Cheng颐 immediately understood and stared at the small bead, unmoving.

One second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

The bead slowly floated up, very slowly, but steadily and firmly.

"Good, not bad! Very good! Success in one try!" The bespectacled man showed a trace of a smile. "Then, control it to draw a circle."

Li Cheng颐 didn't speak, staring at the bead and imagining it drawing a circle in the air.

The bead was very obedient and drew a precise circle.

"Then, follow this piece of paper and write. Write everything." The bespectacled man took out a newspaper and pointed to a line of text on it.

This was obviously much more difficult. Li Cheng颐 tried hard to persist, writing word by word. In less than two minutes, he wrote ten words.

"Very good! Computing power is thirty out of thirty, up to twenty-one," the bespectacled man said with a smile.

"Then, stabilize this bead, and then another one." He took out another silver bead from the drawer.

Pa.

With a slight distraction, Li Cheng颐 lost control of the first bead.

"Unable to operate in parallel, core count is zero." The bespectacled man was not surprised, but very natural. Obviously, everyone's core count calculation was similar.

"Then is the distance. Try to imagine the bead flying far away. How far can it go?"

He gestured to a position, "To the wall behind me, can you do it?"

Li Cheng颐 regained control of the small ball and trembled as it floated up. Hearing this, he quickly controlled it to fly towards the wall.

But as soon as it flew a little further, at most a few centimeters, the bead immediately lost control and fell.

"Distance: five points." The bespectacled man quickly recorded it with a pen.

"It's a bit strange. Your willpower and computing power are very good. Among the newcomers, you are considered to have top-notch results. But your core count and distance are very ordinary, or basically at the level of ordinary unqualified people. It's like an extra section of computing power out of thin air."

"What determines computing power?" Li Cheng颐 asked curiously.

"The stronger your spirit, the better your energy, the clearer your mind, the higher your computing power. Those with strong computing power generally have strong endurance. Simply put, it's that the total amount of willpower is high," the bespectacled man explained.

He tapped the table.

Suddenly, a translucent light curtain appeared in front of him out of thin air.

On the light curtain, a large number of patterns and texts appeared.

"Strong computing power, the other two are weak, you are suitable for controlling two types of Fei Yi."

"The first type is a single, large Fei Yi with a heavy weight, strong destructive power, and short distance."

"The second type is a single, medium-sized Fei Yi with a medium weight, medium destructive power, and short distance."

"I have prepared them here." Ding Ning interjected, "Lao Zhao, take out the Fei Yi I stored here."

"Okay. It's for this kid?" Lao Zhao immediately understood, turned around, and took out five boxes from a cardboard box on the corner of the ground.

Each of the five boxes was only the size of a fist, with a silver-black metallic texture on the surface, and a mark on the side: Andu Manufacturing.

"The adaptation direction is Andu's land transformation system. Choose one yourself." The bespectacled man looked at Li Cheng颐.

"This is a Fei Yi worth twenty million a piece??!" Li Cheng颐 looked at the two people's casual attitude, and the treatment of being randomly thrown into a cardboard box worth a few yuan.

He felt a strong sense of unreality.

"Yes, this is it. Don't worry, you can smash it to death, and you won't break this thing. Fei Yi are not as easy to break as you think. Only after starting it, a super-high-speed collision with alloy materials may cause damage," the bespectacled man explained.

"What are the shapes of these five? Can you tell me?" Li Cheng颐 looked blank. If he was just asked to choose like this, he couldn't see anything or understand anything.

"Your core count is only one, which means you can only control one Fei Yi, so first remove these two." Ding Ning pushed the two boxes on both sides away.

"Then, your distance is very short, not suitable for flying too fast. Otherwise, you may not be able to see your own Fei Yi if you're not careful. So, remove this one."

Ding Ning pushed another box away.

Then there were only two left.

He picked up the box on the left.

He gently tossed it.

Ka-cha.

With a crisp sound.

The box immediately cracked open from the middle, transforming and reorganizing like building blocks.

In just a few seconds, it transformed into a simple, cyan-blue double-edged long sword.

"Close-range weapon-type Fei Yi - Qing Wu Jian (Azure Mist Sword), medium weight, high sharpness, can be hand-held, automatic boost, explosive force, cutting, built-in three sets of Qing Wu Jian sword techniques, which can be used for attack, defense, and escape."

After Ding Ning finished speaking, he picked up another box and threw it in the same way.

The box cracked open, transformed, and reorganized, quickly turning into a pure black double-edged crescent axe.

The axe had chains wrapped around the end, and its size was half a person wide. It floated in the air, and the edges on both sides almost extended to the end of the handle.

"This is An Xin Fu (Peace of Mind Axe), high hardness, heavy weight, can be used as a defensive shield, long flying time, can carry many weapon modules, but it consumes a lot of willpower, short distance, and is difficult to control. The advantage is that it can carry many modules, and the force field will be thicker and more resistant to hits in the later stage," Ding Ning introduced.

"The An Xin Fu is still very useful, sturdy and heavy, and the modules are not easy to break. It's also cheap to repair if it's damaged. Later, you can replace it with the Duan Hun Fu (Soul Severing Axe), Ju Men Fu (Giant Gate Axe), etc., to go to the extreme in defense and attack," the bespectacled man introduced.

As soon as Li Cheng頤 heard that it was sturdy and cheap to repair, he immediately understood that this was the Fei Yi he wanted!

"That's it!" He stretched out his hand and pointed straight at the An Xin Fu.

"By the way, is its name An Xin Fu?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"Of course not, we just habitually call this kind of large-area door panel axe the An Xin Fu. Every Fei Yi has its own unique name." Ding Ning stroked his chin. "And this one, you can choose the initial name yourself. After all, you'll be doing your own thing when you select modules and stuff."

"Choose my own…" Li Cheng颐 thought for a while, "Such a big guy…" He paused, "Let's call it Niu Tou (Bull Head)."

"It's best to be unique, otherwise it's easy to confuse it with other Fei Yi. Although there is also voiceprint recognition, the response speed will be slower," Ding Ning reminded.

"Then call it Hei Xuan Feng Niu Tou (Black Whirlwind Bull Head)," Li Cheng颐 confirmed.

".Why are you so obsessed with Niu Tou?" Ding Ning said speechlessly.

"I feel like it looks like it," Li Cheng颐 said.

"Whatever you want. The situation is not right recently, you should install the modules as soon as possible. Because your Hei Xuan Feng Niu Tou is large, there are five modules that can be installed. Except for energy and instrumentation control, you can choose three empty slots. Also, the axe technique input is built-in, but there are only basic routines inside. You need to solve it yourself in a personalized way."

Ding Ning took out his phone and looked at the message.

"You can slowly choose the installation. I have something to do, so I'll take a step first. The money prepaid by your boss has already been received. Remember to record your voiceprint, pupil, and fingerprint at the end."

"Okay!" Li Cheng颐 nodded.

Then he watched him pick up his phone and dial a number, start calling, and walk out of the room.

"Someone at Ding Ning's level came to Suiyang specifically for this matter. You kid are very valued," the bespectacled man said on the side.

"Ding-ge's level? I know it's very high, but how does it compare to our Suiyang mech pilots?" Li Cheng颐 recalled the few mech pilots he had encountered. They didn't seem to be very good at fighting. They were killed in a few close combat moves.

Only the guy from the Security Agency was very difficult to deal with. He ran so far, but he was still hit.

"The highest level in Suiyang is Ding Zaocheng, so he became the deputy director of the Security Agency. Ding Zaocheng is an amateur mech pilot of the ninth level, and has participated in many competitions. He is considered a very strong character among amateurs," the bespectacled man replied.

(End of this chapter)