Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!
Chapter 899 - 899: 634 teammates

The little guy actually did it...

With a broken, modified mecha, he rose from the water like a Titan Demon, wielding two stirring rods, and completely turned the pirate base on the mining star upside down!

He even commandeered a small spaceship and took all the oppressed black miners from underwater directly through high-dimensional space, landing on a border planet of a nearby nation.

"This guy's got some real skills..."

"Yeah, he's almost on par with my boss."

The Artist and Wild Wolf stood on either side, admiring the little guy's silhouette in sync.

"Your boss is that strong too?"

"Of course!" Wild Wolf puffed up with pride. "My boss is the kind of man who can easily pierce through a Psychic Energy Canopy with his mecha! You know about the Psychic Energy Canopy, right? It's the ultimate war weapon between major nations, but even that couldn't withstand my boss alone!"

"I know, I know!" The Artist, unwilling to expose his lack of cosmic knowledge, nodded enthusiastically, sincere admiration on his face. "Your boss is amazing."

"Naturally!" Wild Wolf straightened his back. "The kind of person worthy of being my boss wouldn't be ordinary! I don't follow just anybody!"

"Fair enough," The Artist agreed wholeheartedly. "But he's still a bit behind our Great General of the Imperial Army. You're aware of the Bug Race's ruling behemoths, aren't you? Any one of them can destroy a city with ease. Our Great General cuts through them one by one, one beast per strike, all the way from the North Pole to the South Pole without blinking an eye!"

What ruling behemoths of the Bug Race?

Never even heard of them.

Still, Wild Wolf nodded eagerly, exchanging exaggerated praise with his newfound companion. "Amazing, amazing! Seems like both my boss and your Great General are incredible."

"Totally, totally!"

Listening to the deliberately exaggerated voices behind him, the little guy at the spaceship window was thoroughly annoyed.

These two—what nonsense were they spouting?

Psychic Energy Canopy? Something humans can pierce through?

And as for the Bug Race's ruling behemoths?

Which backwater corner produced these oddities?

As the sound of footsteps behind him grew closer, the little guy remained focused on the planetary port ahead, his impatience mounting—

'Hurry up, hurry up, hurry up...'

"So, little bro... I noticed you're wandering the cosmos alone—a bit inconvenient, don't you think? Hey, what about letting me handle some chores for you—wait, wait, wait! Don't run! Bro! Dude! Boss!"

As soon as the ship docked, the little guy's figure shot out like lightning. Wild Wolf couldn't catch up. "Big bro! Damn it, big bro, don't run like that!"

"Big bro doesn't want you~" The Artist sighed dramatically from the side.

Wild Wolf stiffly turned his head to look at him. "Brother..."

The Artist quickly waved his hands. "I don't have what it takes to be your big bro..."

"No, I mean… about that Imperial Army you mentioned… any openings?"

His previous boss didn't want him anymore.

The new boss outright rejected him.

But this fellow's Imperial Army sounded at least somewhat promising—why not switch allegiance?

The Artist blinked a few times. "Imperial Army… might have gotten lost."

...

Under Catherine's guidance, Bai E met the team members he would be partnering with for the upcoming Stellar District competition.

Seven people in total—four men and two women—all rumored to be elite soldiers from the Bauhinia Military Department's Mobile Warrior Special Unit.

When they saw Bai E's unfamiliar face, aside from basic curiosity, they felt an overwhelming sense of pride as the military's representatives.

"Let me introduce this individual to everyone—this is Bai E, the Bai Mech Pilot; and these are the ace pilots of our military division, specifically handpicked through rigorous selection to form an elite team for this competition."

Catherine intentionally emphasized Bai E in the introduction.

Given Bai E's abilities, she naturally hoped he could guide Bauhinia Republic's mobile warriors during downtime.

As for Bai's own strength, due to the secrecy of his previous operations and the sensitivity of the involved personnel, it wasn't something she could openly discuss.

"In short, for this competition, Bai and I will serve as substitutes for the preliminary stages. Unless it's the final deciding round, we won't intervene. So, I have only one request for you all: win! Keep winning! Our goal is the Stellar District championship this time—only by achieving that can we secure a spot in the Star Alliance tournament! Is that clear?"

"Clear!" the team shouted in unison.

As one of Bauhinia's two Legendary Mechanics, Catherine held an unrivaled position of respect and admiration in the hearts of Bauhinia Republic's mobile warriors.

However, after their enthusiastic response, one of the soldiers couldn't help but voice a question. "But I heard the highest team composition for this competition is ten members. Apart from the eight of us..."

The official lineup called for eight primary members and two substitutes, totaling ten participants.

The presence of all eight formal members was a minimum requirement for competing.

If Bai and Catherine were participating as substitutes, that still left one primary spot vacant.

Who would this new teammate be?

No one wanted a deadweight teammate dragging them down in such an important competition for national glory.

Especially with group matches on top of individual rounds.

If team cohesion was lacking, their synergy would inevitably suffer.

Frankly, many already felt it was a bit disrespectful to recruit only seven ace pilots from the military division for such a critical competition.

After all, their unit didn't lack skilled personnel.

Everyone was a comrade-in-arms, and nobody knew each other's capabilities better.

Being chosen for the same team meant their skills were on par, refined through long collaboration, with mutual understanding and trust firmly in place.

Looking across the nation, apart from Catherine, there really wasn't anyone else of suitable age and caliber who could rival them in competence for this tournament.

In their minds, the roster—other than Catherine—should all come from this special unit alone!

Now with Bai as a likely "filler" substitute, if yet another "filler" joined as a formal member, the team's pressure would only mount.

Catherine chuckled softly and shook her head. "That person you should all be familiar with... Victor the Battle Maniac—you've heard of him, right?"

"Him?"

"Him, huh? That explains it."

"But is that guy reliable?"

His style differed entirely from the military's mobile warriors, leaning toward the wild combat school.

While famous domestically, whether he could integrate into their battle rhythm was an open question...