Counterfeit Hero

A big headline on the Daily: ”Tai Sect Kicked Nine Halls in a Row!”

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Zhang Kai is a reporter for Mars Daily.

A reporter who has just joined the newspaper less than three months ago and still doesn’t understand much about many things.

In this highly developed world of information, people have not changed their habit of reading paper newspapers while drinking coffee. What has changed is the newspaper. Due to the inherent timeliness of newspaper news always lagging behind other media, the demand for news is higher.

On Zhang Kai’s first day at the newspaper, the editor-in-chief gave him two news requirements. The first is importance. Reports on major events must be captured. Such news is not affected by timeliness. The second is uniqueness. Ideally, events that other media have not reported but have significant news value.

As a newcomer, Zhang Kai struggled hard for three months, but his publication volume remained at the bottom of his entire group.

Without enough connections, unable to find insider information, lacking enough experience and sharp instincts. Watching his colleagues with great looks, and the editor-in-chief’s stern face, Zhang Kai thought he really was not suitable to be a reporter. He knew that if this situation continued, it wouldn’t be long before he had to pack up and leave.

In Free Port, under the cloud of war, Zhang Kai doubted whether he could find a similarly normal job after losing this one.

To keep his job, Zhang Kai frantically drove his dilapidated micro moose flying car, wandering around Free Port where news was most likely to appear.

The exchange, the airport, the casino district, the industrial area... Then he saw Monroe being carried out and thrown outside by a few trainees.

As a mecha enthusiast, Zhang Kai naturally recognized Monroe. He even dreamed of becoming another Monroe.

At the age of twenty-six, he already had the strength of a Level 1 Mecha Commander. In a few years, Monroe could hope to become the youngest Mecha God in Free Port.

Now Monroe had everything. His mecha talent brought him a lofty status, authority that could command hundreds of responses, and endless wealth.

Zhang Kai never dreamed that such a person would be thrown out like a dead dog.

Until he jumped out of the car, took close-up shots of Monroe’s tragic state, and pressed the data transmission button set to the newspaper on his camera, Zhang Kai still couldn’t believe what was happening before his eyes was real. Similarly, he didn’t expect himself to be so lucky!

When the editor-in-chief and the president personally called to praise him and urgently dispatched other reporters as assistants to conduct follow-up reports, Zhang Kai finally believed he had made it.

Then Zhang Kai saw that Fatty.

When Fatty walked to Thousand Army Dao Mecha Hall and casually requested to kick the hall. Zhang Kai had already mixed into the team of Tai Sect members.

For thousands of years, kicking the hall was considered the most ruthless provocation between sects. At the same time, this type of provocation was recognized as the easiest way to fail and the easiest to drive someone mad.

Unlike challenges, kicking the hall does not involve bets. The only punishment for the loser is closing the hall for a month. During this month, the defeated mecha hall cannot recruit trainees, and all training activities inside must be stopped.

This is a tradition in the civilian mecha fighting world, and this tradition ensures that few people dare to open a hall lightly. Without enough strength, encountering a hall kicking means closing for a month. Facing challengers intending to kick you out of the area, they will come again after the month, making you close month after month.

Among sects registered and filed with the Sect Federation with long historical traditions, hall kicking has almost disappeared. No sect would easily adopt this most mutually destructive way of fighting. After all, if you kick out one branch of someone else, they can take the same action and kick out one of your branches elsewhere.

Especially those sects that own Mechanical Gods, they are not easy to provoke.

Additionally, unlike challenges, the biggest drawback of hall kicking is the mechas used in the competition. Because the nature of hall kicking is to belittle the opponent’s skills. Therefore, to purely distinguish victory and defeat in skills, both sides must use the same type of mecha, not their sect’s specialized mecha.

And the mecha is provided by the sect being kicked.

As a tradition, each sect prepares mechas specifically for welcoming hall kickers. According to regulations, these mechas are ordinary models. They seem to have no difference, but in reality, ordinary mechas also have their characteristics.

Some sects are good at insect-shaped mechas, while others are good at beast-shaped or human-shaped mechas. The speed, power, engine, drive, and even control programs of mechas are different. More importantly, the mechas provided to hall kickers obviously would not be well-maintained.

Without enough strength, recklessly kicking the hall, encountering evenly matched opponents, using mechas that match the opponent’s style but have minor and inconspicuous faults, failure is almost certain.

This is why hall kicking in today’s sect disputes has almost disappeared. With any major conflicts, sects prefer to resolve them through various levels of challenges. Without absolute certainty and overwhelming overall strength, hall kicking is almost tantamount to seeking death.

But now, the Tai Sect has chosen to kick the hall. And they kicked nine halls in a row!

Finally, in the battle with other media, paper media occupied the position of the first reporting for the first time.

No photos, no filming. Everything was recorded by Zhang Kai in words.

And these simple words are destined to be recorded in the history of civilian mecha fighting world.

At 12:10, the new director of Tai Sect Puluo Branch drove a human-shaped training mecha from Thousand Army Dao Mecha Hall, defeating the Level 3 mechanical commander of Thousand Army Dao Puluo Branch in one minute and thirty seconds. Thousand Army Dao closed the hall.

At 12:30, the new director of Tai Sect Puluo Branch drove an insect-shaped mecha from Huaxing Sect Mecha Hall, defeating the Level 3 mechanical commander of Huaxing Sect in twenty-six seconds. Huaxing Sect closed the hall.

At 12:45, defeated the Level 2 mechanical commander of Black Dragon Sect in five minutes and sixteen seconds. Black Dragon Sect closed the hall.

At 13:20, defeated the Level 2 mechanical commander of Storm Dao in three minutes and fifty-three seconds. Storm Dao closed the hall.

At 13:55, defeated the Level 2 mechanical commander of Mingxin Sect in seven minutes and fifty-five seconds. Mingxin Sect closed the hall.

At 14:30, defeated the Level 1 mechanical commander of Absolute Kill Stream in sixteen minutes and fifty-two seconds. Absolute Kill Stream closed the hall!

At 15:30, defeated the Level 3 mechanical commander of Killing Armor Sect in four minutes and seven seconds. Killing Armor Sect closed the hall.

At 16:05, defeated the Level 1 mechanical commander of Mountain Breaker Sect in twenty-one minutes. Mountain Breaker Sect closed the hall.

At 16:50, Keru had no opponents, closed the hall.

The news Zhang Kai transmitted was urgently printed as an extra edition of the daily. The entire Mars Free Port Center City was thrown into a frenzy because of this news.

The most frantic was Zhang Kai’s editor-in-chief. This old man who usually looked at Zhang Kai with disdain practically used all his might to grab Zhang Kai, who walked out of Keru Mecha Hall with the dazed Tai Sect members, and raced back to the newspaper. Then he stayed by Zhang Kai’s side, waiting for him to write a detailed report.

An hour later, Zhang Kai’s report was completed.

After his editor-in-chief repeatedly read it three times with gleaming eyes, he personally titled the report.

”He Said: If You Don’t Kick Back, You Are Pigs.”

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.(To be continued, to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!)