"Brother, it's your turn. Don't say I didn't give you a chance. I've already tried." The young man laughed and handed the steam pistol to Li Xiang. "Of course, if you don't dare, just let your sister go with me. I won't make things difficult for you."
Xiao Ai hid behind Li Xiang and trembled. The crowd shook their heads, but no one dared to step forward.
"Don't bet with him. You'll die!" Wei Linlin finally couldn't help but shout. The relationship between the Bai family and the Wei family was superior and subordinate, but the son of a Bai family branch family member was not enough to make her bow down to him.
It was just that rashly clashing with him was not a wise move.
But she couldn't stand it anymore.
"Do you dare or not? Don't dilly-dally." The young man ignored Wei Linlin and handed the steam pistol in his hand closer. His companions behind him jeered and shouted.
Li Xiang smiled and took the steam pistol.
"No, don't, little brother." Xiao Ai's eyes were filled with tears. She didn't expect to encounter such a thing here, but when she thought that Li Xiang might die for her, she felt very uncomfortable.
"It's okay. That's it." Li Xiang picked up the steam pistol in his hand and slowly aimed it at his temple.
"Is he a f * cking lunatic?" The young man muttered in his heart when he saw that Zhang Heng really wanted to gamble with his life. He didn't want to cause such a big conflict here. Even with the protection of the Bai family, he couldn't be so lawless.
He just wanted to let Li Xiang know the difficulties and retreat, but it seemed that he really wanted to gamble with his life.
Click!
Li Xiang pulled the trigger without warning. The wheel rotated, and a white gear appeared in his pupils. The steam pistol made a hollow sound, but the expected explosion did not occur.
"How, how could this be?" The young man murmured with his eyes wide open. He had clearly set the next shot to explode with a column of gas. Why was he fine?
"It seems that my luck is not bad. Now, is it your turn?" Li Xiang smiled. This kind of little trick was child's play for someone who was proficient in machinery like him. He could solve it with a little bit of work.
As a result, the young man himself did not know when this shot would explode. The uncertainty of the revolver was filled with fear. He looked at the steam pistol that Li Xiang handed over and did not dare to take it.
How did this guy do it?
The young man thought that if his next shot was unlucky and it exploded, wouldn't he be digging his own grave? No matter what tricks this man had up his sleeves, he would not risk his life so easily.
"Uh … Uh, you win. Let's go!" The young man took the steam pistol, left some harsh words, and ran away with his group of people.
After they left, Wei Linlin and Xiao Ai both breathed a sigh of relief.
"Seems like you're not a coward after all." Wei Linlin walked over and smiled at Li Xiang. If Xiao Ai had really been taken away like this, she would have looked down on Li Xiang from the bottom of her heart.
However, right now, Li Xiang's mind was filled with the Sky Arena. This was just a matter of convenience. If the other party really didn't give up, he wouldn't mind leaving a deep impression on him. That was all.
"Oh." He ignored Wei Linlin and turned to Xiao Ai and said, "Okay, I'll send you back. Be careful in the future."
"Okay, thank you, little brother." Xiao Ai was still a little scared. She took his hand and walked out of the city center building. Before leaving, she did not forget to wave goodbye to Wei Linlin.
On the other hand, Li Xiang seemed to have ignored her. Wei Linlin snorted angrily and did not want to continue talking to him. She just watched the two of them leave.
"Miss, you can't be so impulsive next time," the attendant next to her whispered. "Let's hurry to the Sky Arena."
"I know, I know. They're all so scared when they see the Bai family. They're worse than commoners. Hmph." Wei Linlin flipped her long hair and rolled her eyes at them.
Li Xiang sent Xiao Ai home as fast as he could. After that, he headed toward the towering tower.
The Sky Arena had a total of 99 floors. From the 50th floor onward, it reached straight into the clouds. From a purely architectural point of view, it was a marvel. As he approached the tower, there were fewer people around. Those who could move around in this area were basically mechanical enthusiasts. Every one of them had a lot of mechanical devices with them. It was quite a steampunk style.
"Please show me your ID." There were military soldiers checking the entrance of the tower. Li Xiang took out his communicator and scanned it. He then entered without a hitch.
As soon as he entered the tower, his field of vision widened. This place was worthy of its reputation as a mechanical enthusiast's paradise. From the small parts inside the building to the large installations, every single one of them exuded a strong mechanical aura. The circular walls and pillars all around had many complex steam turbines installed inside, providing the tower with all kinds of energy.
The ground floor was the so-called 0th floor. It was also the registration area.
At this moment, there was a tide of people gathered in the hall. The countdown for the Voyage to the Stars ticket was projected in the form of a screen. It was very eye-catching.
236 hours, 42 minutes, 17 seconds.
At the very front of the large screen was a bulletin board with all the rules of the Sky Arena. It was clear at a glance.
"The Sky Arena has a total of 99 floors. Reaching the 50th floor means that you'll be able to obtain a Voyage to the Stars ticket. From the 1st floor to the 49th floor, there's a checkpoint every ten floors. Only by passing through that checkpoint can you reach the next floor." Li Xiang silently read the rules on the bulletin board and analyzed them. "There's a new rule for every ten floors. The Sky Arena is like a game. You'll have to keep going up, and you'll have to face all kinds of dangers at the same time."
It really was a mech enthusiast's paradise.
Anything obtained here would be given to you directly. You could keep going up to the next floor and earn a handsome reward at the same time. It was killing two birds with one stone. Of course, if you unfortunately failed, not only would you not be able to go up, you would also lose a lot of your own resources and become a pauper in an instant.
Li Xiang currently had a total of 100,000 Blue Astral Coins on him, which was the minimum requirement to enter the first floor.
Behind the bulletin board was the entrance to the first floor. There was a flow of people, and many people directly went in. The exit was on the opposite side, and there were people coming out from there occasionally. Each of them had a gloomy expression, as if they had lost all hope in life.
"The competition content of the first to tenth floors is mechanical construction and maintenance. The difficulty increases with each floor. The starting capital for the first floor is at least 100,000 Blue Astral Coins. There will be a recorder to record the results of each competition. You'll be able to reach the second floor after accumulating 100 points."
The rules were simple and easy to understand.
Li Xiang took a recorder from behind the big screen and walked toward the staircase. The recorder was a watch-like thing, and it could record the points of each competition when worn.
The first floor was about five meters from the ground. It was a very large arc-shaped area with countless booths. It was a little like some of the comic conventions he had attended in his previous life.
Each booth was controlled by a faction. The booths were provided with mechanical equipment or simple blueprints. Everyone could go up and try out the competition after paying the entrance fee.
However, if they failed, the entrance fee would not be refunded. If they succeeded, not only would they obtain points, but they would also receive a reward.
Li Xiang observed for a while. He had never heard of any of the factions here. Looking at the introduction above the booths, they seemed to be ordinary factions from all over District 1. The competition content of their booths was basically the production of some simple mechanical equipment. They probably wanted to obtain a mechanical equipment in bulk. However, it would cost too much to order from the two major heavy industries or some official organizations, so they would rather try their luck here.
The first floor almost did not involve mechanical maintenance. The competition content was also very simple. There were very few people at each booth. Most of the people who came here were just trying to earn points.
He searched for a while and quickly found a booth that required the production of a basic steam pistol.
There were many people gathered around the booth, but no one dared to go up. After all, the basic steam pistol was already part of the university's monthly exam. It was a relatively advanced technology.
Furthermore, they only provided simple blueprints. The completeness was too poor, and it was basically impossible for people without experience to complete it.
Li Xiang stepped onto the booth. The person in charge who was dozing off immediately woke up and greeted him with a smile. "Master, would you like to give it a try?"
"Yes, how much is the entrance fee?" Li Xiang nodded slightly. The person in charge was very polite to him and had a very good attitude. It seemed that even if he was a mechanical enthusiast, when it came to mechanical production, these small factions would not easily offend him.
The Mechanic class was indeed a very prestigious class.
"One thousand Blue Star Coins each time. If you succeed, you will be rewarded with a hundred thousand Blue Star Coins," the person in charge greeted him with a smile.
Li Xiang understood. So that was how it was. The people in the Sky Arena were mostly mechanical enthusiasts of the lowest level. Their production skills were very poor, and even if they could produce a basic steam pistol, most of them would have many flaws. However, these small factions did not care about quality. As long as they bought in bulk, they would hit it off easily.
They did not have to spend a lot of money to buy it. Mechanical enthusiasts could earn a little money and even get points.
It was a win-win situation.
Li Xiang paid one thousand Blue Star Coins and became the first person to compete on the booth.
In the Sky Arena, all competitions were hidden. The controls were installed with anti-peeping devices, so the people below could not see what he was doing.
Li Xiang had already studied the blueprints of the basic steam pistol. Seeing that he had already started to work without waiting for the person in charge to bring the simple blueprints over, many people stopped to watch. They wanted to see this young man make a fool of himself.
There were always people who wanted to make a name for themselves here. Unfortunately, they did not have the skills and wanted to use this method to attract attention.
People like this were the biggest entertainment for these low-level mechanical enthusiasts.
Wei Linlin, who had completed one round of mechanical work, came down from the booth with satisfaction. She happened to see Li Xiang competing alone. Seeing so many people watching, she could not help but go up to take a look.
It's actually a basic steam pistol. Isn't this a firearm that only high-level mechanical apprentices can make? Wei Linlin was born in a mechanical family, so she knew this very well. Firearm making was a skill that could only be learned in university. Could this pervert actually be a university student?
Her impression of Li Xiang was still stuck at the time when he had peeked at her breasts at the elevator. However, that bet with the young man had changed her impression of him slightly. She did not expect to meet him here again.
Wei Linlin curiously mixed in with the crowd and observed. She would only be in her third year of high school after the summer break, so her mechanical skills could only be said to be very solid. This time, her goal was to reach the tenth level and train herself. That guy did not look much older than her. Could he really be an advanced mechanical apprentice?
While she was thinking this, Li Xiang suddenly stopped what he was doing and shouted to the person in charge, "I'm done."
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
