Mecha and Fighter Jets Are a Man’s Romance

Kyle left the underground warehouse and had barely stepped outside when he was surprised to find a small combat starship parked in the open space before the entrance.

Resembling a fighter jet built specifically for battle, the craft looked like a steel hawk with its wings spread wide, lying imposingly on the ground. Sunlight glinted off its hull with a dim metallic sheen. With its advanced forward laser cannons and rear engine exhaust ports, no one would doubt its firepower or flight speed.

As Kyle stood there in surprise, the cabin door swiftly lifted upward. Bai Bo, covered in white fur, hopped straight out of the cabin and cried, "Mr. Kyle, you finally came out."

"Is something urgent?" Kyle asked. Before this, he had not brought Bai Bo along because he had been drawing cards.

"Attendant Anli said she has arranged that matter for you, but it can only be done this afternoon, so she specifically sent me to pick you up," Bai Bo said, spreading his paws.

"That matter… right." Kyle’s expression cleared as Bai Bo’s words reminded him.

Other than their business partnership in purchasing goods, the only matter between him and Anli was meeting the challenger.

"Let’s go." Kyle walked toward the fighter craft. Bai Bo followed half a beat behind him, then noticed the communication watch now on his wrist and said in surprise, "You have a communication watch?"

"More or less." Kyle smiled faintly.

"You should have asked me to pick one out and buy it for you. The things Anli takes in may be cheap, but their looks and performance are never that good." Bai Bo’s suggestion indirectly implied that Kyle’s communication watch was ordinary—a civilian model that even scavengers on Planet Sakaar often used, unworthy of his status.

Kyle laughed silently and did not respond. Bai Bo failed to notice that while it was grumbling inwardly, a string of numerical symbols kept flashing across the screen of Kyle’s communication watch.

Upon entering the fighter starship, the lights inside the cabin lit up in sequence. There were pilot and copilot seats, along with four seats in the back. The cabin was spacious enough to hold ten people without feeling cramped.

Immersed in this product of advanced technology, Kyle felt the atmosphere of futuristic science wash over him. For a moment, he almost thought he had returned to Earth after the twenty-first century.

"Attendant Anli bought this for you—a combat starship worth eight million Sakaar Coins! This fighter is one of the top-tier craft the Grandmaster once collected. It was later set aside for internal sale because its appearance was not flashy or gorgeous enough. Only an insider like Anli could get her hands on it." As Bai Bo spoke, it kept lightly rubbing its paws over the advanced instruments inside the fighter. Its eyes were filled with longing and infatuation, and it was nearly drooling.

"Both its equipment and performance have reached the pinnacle of the universe’s advanced civilizations. If there is any fighter on this planet that can pass through Devil’s Maw without damage, this is definitely one of them!"

Bai Bo looked thrilled as it ran and jumped into the copilot seat. It slapped the pilot’s seat with a paw and urged, "Mr. Kyle, trust me. Once you try it, you’ll love this feeling."

Kyle shrugged and moved forward to sit in the pilot’s seat. The soft seat automatically adjusted to fit his posture, while a projected display of the map and fighter information appeared before his eyes.

After feeling around for a moment, he found and pressed the engine switch. The fighter rose into the air with a slight tremor.

Bai Bo fastened its seatbelt and put on its headset, its expression turning a little strange. "By the way, I forgot to ask. Mr. Kyle, have you flown a starship before?"

"No." Kyle answered bluntly. Let alone a starship, he had never even taken a driving test for a car.

"Ah, then I’ll teach you slowly." Bai Bo inexplicably revealed a trace of delight. This is a perfect chance to show what I can do in front of Kyle! To prove I’m not just a pet beast who eats and lives for free!

"No need." Kyle glanced at Bai Bo beside him and focused his thoughts.

Three seconds later, the rare Green Ability Card—Starship Piloting Mastery—was successfully drawn!

Under Bai Bo’s wide-eyed stare, Kyle had looked utterly lost while operating the various controls just moments ago. The next instant, his fingers were rapidly tapping the screen with incredible proficiency as he gripped the control stick and pulled it up.

The fighter’s engines roared. Blue flames and compressed jets suddenly erupted from its rear, and like a hawk, it vanished from the spot with a whoosh, leaving turbulent air and fierce wind behind.

"Wooo!" Under the sudden G-force, Bai Bo’s small body was crushed hard against its seat, nearly unable to breathe. The buildings outside the cockpit window blurred and streaked backward.

Kyle’s face remained calm, but the sensation of controlling the fighter inexplicably thrilled him. There was a saying: mecha and fighter jets were a man’s romance. Now, he vaguely understood it.

Unfortunately, piloting a fighter was still too troublesome. It was better to have it fly itself.

"Ves, are you there?" Kyle asked softly. As soon as his voice fell, the watch on his left wrist flickered with a faint glow.

"My master, I await your command at any time, twenty-four hours a day."

Ves transmitted radio waves, which the headset converted into audio and relayed to Kyle. Its tone was as warm and easygoing as a butler’s, yet its attitude remained strict and serious.

That makes me sound like some villainous boss.

Kyle grumbled inwardly before continuing, "Try to invade and take over this fighter’s computer system. Control it remotely."

"Yes." The watch screen flashed. After a stream of numerical symbols swept past, it returned a message: "Silent radio-wave intrusion failed. This alien computer system has no record in the database and cannot be remotely infiltrated or controlled."

"Then switch to on-site infiltration and takeover." Kyle pondered this. With quite a few science-related Ability Cards in his possession, he could be considered half a scientist.

"Yes." The watch transformed slightly. Then a long mechanical limb extended from its side, its tip reshaping into a metal plug that quickly inserted itself into a port on the control panel.

Bai Bo clutched its seat tightly and failed to notice the fighter’s projected display flicker into static for a moment before swiftly returning to normal.

Through the headset’s speaker, Ves reported in Kyle’s ear, "On-site login successful! Ves’s specialized Trojan virus has been implanted. This fighter’s computer system can now be remotely controlled in the future."

"Then full speed ahead." Kyle removed both hands from the controls. Ves followed his command and took over the computer system. The fighter trembled gently, then its speed surged by another level!

Before long.

In the plaza of the Interstellar Arena, Anli, who had been waiting for some time, looked up. The fighter flew in like a streak of light from the distant sky beyond the outer city and came to a steady stop at the center of the plaza.

The cabin door opened, and Bai Bo stumbled out of the cabin, swaying as it fell. It muttered, "Mr. Kyle, please fly slower next time."

Kyle could not be bothered with it. After getting out, he headed straight for Anli. Anli inclined her head in greeting and led him toward the Interstellar Arena, reminding him, "The guards only agreed to let you meet and talk through the Underground Prison. You have only five minutes."

"Five minutes is enough."

Kyle nodded. As long as he could get close to Venom, let alone five minutes, even five seconds would be enough!