Counterfeit Hero

Jeremiah Banning had always been proud of sharing the same surname as the Naga Federation’s top general, Banning. That was his idol, and he dreamed of becoming such a big figure himself.

However, Jeremiah knew that aside from the same last name, he had nothing in common with that legendary general. At twenty-two, he was merely a squad leader in the Extreme Mercenary Corps. With a meager salary, he performed tasks like bodyguard services for the wealthy or transport escort duties. After the outbreak of the Sect War, the income of the mercenary corps dried up. With nowhere to go, his companions could only band together, relying on their guns and the group’s stored supplies to occupy a few blocks, struggling to survive day by day.

Walking along the street, inspecting the outposts, Jeremiah returned to the trenches at the intersection. The tattered sandbags, makeshift armor-piercing walls, crooked barbed wire barriers, and old rusty mechs made Jeremiah doubt whether such a position could withstand a mech’s charge.

It had rained heavily the day before yesterday, and the low areas in the trenches were still waterlogged. The whole passage felt cold and damp. Treading through the muddy ground, Geoffrey returned to his squad’s dugout. The dark entrance was supported by a few crooked unpeeled logs, and the bulletproof wall driven into the thick layer of mud had a corner exposed due to rain erosion on the trench walls, mixed with the surrounding muddy soil and some unknown plant roots, creating an unsightly scene.

Hearing snores, teeth grinding, and coughing from inside the dugout, Jeremiah paused. The thought of the tomb-like environment inside made him curse softly and think he should take a few more laps around the street instead of returning here for no reason.

Leaning against the trench wall, he lit a cigarette and looked up at the surrounding Space City at the intersection. In the night, these towering structures stood silently. Without power, the residents of the Space City had long moved away, leaving behind empty cities.

Without energy, there was no ecological balance and circulation system, nor were there any floating elevators. Even the auxiliary power grid had been cut off. Relying only on wind power generated by the building itself could not sustain the operation of the Space City.

Jeremiah never went into the buildings. Now, a stench permeated them, and without the ecological system, they were like hell. Moreover, it was said that some people died inside, and no one knew which room held their rotting corpses. The thought was nauseating.

Jeremiah took a hard drag from his cigarette, feeling a bit of sorrow. Even in such harsh conditions, some places in the lower levels of the Space City still had a few people living like rats. They truly had nowhere else to go. If these days continued, the stench would soon spread to the streets.

Turning to look westward, Jeremiah sighed. That was the direction of Puluo Town, and everyone knew it was like paradise compared to the current Central City. Jeremiah couldn’t understand why the commander was still hesitating. All the food and energy that could be found in these blocks had been cleared out, and the group’s supplies were running low. Staying here meant nothing but waiting for death; was there any other meaning?

If only they had listened to the group’s suggestion to follow Huaxing Sect to Puluo Town when they passed through here... Even as a low-level force, they could at least manage to scrape by. Far better than being half-dead here wasting away.

The bluish-gray smoke curled in his lungs and exhaled into the air, turning gray-white. Once Jeremiah’s thoughts drifted to Puluo Town, they couldn’t easily leave... In the Free World for so many years, he had seen all kinds of people. Coming ambitious only to leave dejected, this world seemed free, yet its hidden rules could drive anyone trying to make a mark in it insane.

But the one to the west truly was a miracle.

Empty-handed, he walked into the Phantom Stream Mecha Hall and single-handedly knocked down more than ten fighters from the Tai Sect and dozens of mechanical warriors, blackmailing Kubo with nude photos and eventually becoming an elder of the Tai Sect and director of the Puluo Branch... All these were no longer secrets, but when Jeremiah first saw these stories spread online, his jaw dropped in disbelief. That seemingly honest Fatty turned out to be a scoundrel.

What happened afterward was known to all. In just a few days, this guy ignited the long-accumulated conflicts between the factions, like a powder keg.

Then, with one hundred and twenty Black Mechas, they roamed freely in Puluo Town, establishing the Sect Mutual Aid Alliance, launching a surprise attack on Silicon Valley, with four factions coming to join. Puluo Town seemed to have undergone a dramatic transformation overnight. From a lone Fatty to commanding numerous heroes, the ability to turn the tide at will left people in awe.

The infighting among the Three Major Schools left no one better off, and instead allowed the insidious Northern Commerce Alliance to gain an advantage. Now, the only ones capable of countering the Northern Commerce Alliance are the Longxing Association, hiding and not daring to show itself, and the expanding Puluo Town bandit army to the west.