Top Warzone Analyst Chapter 52

A few professional instructors were engaged in a low-volume discussion around the conference table.

“The modifications to the airframe structure are indeed extensive. Overcoming ingrained habits is already a difficult task, and for Cheng Feng and these mech pilots who possess a certain level of combat awareness, it’s not just about habits anymore.”

“But significantly reducing the redundant connective structures from before to lower the load weight, while simultaneously increasing the weapons bay capacity by 10% – in terms of technological innovation, this technical revision is undoubtedly a massive leap forward.”

At its core, a mech is essentially a large, mobile weapons platform. Loading more and more comprehensive ammunition and enhancing stronger, more stable defenses are the true essence of mech development.

Sensor mechs are constantly being updated; manual-operation mechs are inherently at a disadvantage. If their physical performance fails to keep pace, they will truly be eliminated by society.

Moreover, what was modified this time wasn’t the source code per se. It’s just that due to the reduction and addition of numerous functions, the original related operations can no longer be executed using the old code.

Take, for example, the execution code for the “airframe backward press” that netizens are passionately cursing.

Originally, this command was completed by an action sequence consisting of “mech transformation” plus “weapons bay switching.”

After the technological update, with the addition of electromagnetic slide rails between relevant mech components and the installation of a propulsion function, the execution sequence has become a hybrid code of “weapons bay switching” plus “multi-directional propulsion.”

For ordinary netizens, the final effect presented is still an airframe backward press.

Regardless of whether the switching speed has increased, whether the weapons bay configuration is more reasonable, or whether the execution principle has undergone a fundamental change, the fundamental execution code for your manual-operation mech has indeed been extensively replaced. This represents a huge shock to them.

But for professional mech pilots, the source code library has always been normal. It’s just that the guides and tutorials they’ve learned are now outdated. If they can ride this surging wave of change, the combat effectiveness of their mechs can undoubtedly take a giant leap forward.

The middle-aged man said in a grave tone, “Reform must face the future, not the present.”

A large-scale, sweeping technical revision, in essence, means giving up on the cultivation of a certain group of people.

Being a mech pilot is, in itself, an extremely demanding and unreasonable position.

It requires geniuses. And it requires only geniuses.

If this era lacks them, they won’t give up; instead, they will focus on developing the younger generation.

The short-haired woman beside him was a bit more optimistic. She blinked her sore, tired eyes, glanced toward the window on her left, then looked back and said, “Although this technical revision has a significant impact, the improvement in mech performance can largely offset the pilots’ unskilled operations. I think maintaining their previous results shouldn’t be difficult. Three months… no, within a two-month adaptation period, the top students can manage it.”

The middle-aged man took off his glasses, pressing two fingers against his temples, and said with a headache, “You really have faith in your students.”

Mr. Kong was flipping through the students’ trial driving results. The sea of red marks indicating failures made his hands itch with restless energy.

He didn’t know where to put them or what to do to distract himself. One moment he was propping his chin in his hand, the next he was crossing his arms, and then he was scratching at his stubbly chin.

He was starting to understand why so many people took up smoking. He really felt like having one right now.

The others were all waiting for Cheng Feng’s trial results.

Yet half an hour passed, then another hour went by. The voices arguing online changed in waves, but Cheng Feng was still studying her code library.

Given Cheng Feng’s memory, she had probably already memorized the new code library by now. At this moment, she was surely dissecting the code in light of the technical revision, analyzing the mech’s performance.

The middle-aged man said doubtfully, “Isn’t she being a bit too cautious?”

Mr. Kong muttered in her defense, “Being cautious is good. After all, she’s a robot. Robots always like to have a well-thought-out plan.”

The short-haired woman was silent for a moment, then ventured cautiously, “…Isn’t this meme over yet?”

“Respect the kid!” Mr. Kong said sternly. “To her, this might be a point of principle, not a meme!”

The short-haired woman opened her mouth as if to speak, then thought better of it and fell silent.

She hadn’t expected this hot-tempered, 1.9-meter-tall tough guy to have such a delicate and considerate side.

Two hours after the technical revision update, Cheng Feng finally made a move.

In the conference room and on San Yao’s virtual plaza, everyone’s attention was focused on her.

She raised her arm, rolling her shoulder blades. Then, under the gaze of the crowd, she clicked “exit.”

In those few seconds, Cheng Feng’s mentality seemed fairly normal, but Mr. Kong’s was on the verge of collapse. The person beside him pressed a hand on his shoulder, helping him calm down again.

He tried calling Cheng Feng once more, but his dear student still hadn’t removed him from her blacklist. A cold, automated system voice sounded from the speaker.

Having been an instructor for decades, she was the first little darling to ever block him. Mr. Kong closed his eyes in anguish.

“Respect the kid!” the short-haired woman offered some insincere comfort. “After all, she’s a robot. Data blocking isn’t malicious!”

Seeing that Cheng Feng was about to tap her card and leave, the computer lab administrator quickly stood up, called her name, and asked, “Hey, where are you going?”

“To get dinner.” Cheng Feng raised her optical computer, her expression perfectly ordinary. “It’s mealtime.”

The administrator was speechless. It had been years since he’d seen someone so committed to mealtimes. After a moment, he waved his hand helplessly. “Go on then. Get some proper rest.”

Cheng Feng didn’t go to the cafeteria. Instead, she bought two boxes of nutritional biscuits and a bottle of milk from a vending machine along the way and headed straight back to her dorm.

No one was in the living room. She walked into her own room, sat on the bed, and opened her optical computer to browse the forums for a while.

She had initially wanted to see if there were any useful summaries on the San Yao forums, or insights and innovations regarding the operation codes from professionals. After scrolling through a few pages, she found that most of it was unsubstantive stuff.

One group of people was cursing the difficulty of manual operation after the revision.

Another group was predicting the demise of manual mechs.

And yet another group was throwing out random suggestions.

【@San Yao, The outcry is huge, there’s absolutely no gameplay experience left. How about releasing a transitional version? For basic operations like the backward press, can the original code be kept? Never mind the principles, the main point is everyone…】

“Transition? Everyone stay wrong together? What about the next revision? What kind of lousy suggestion is that?”

“I didn’t know so many people were playing manual operation. Whoa, one update and it’s like blasting a fish pond open.”

“Times have changed, folks. Why can’t you accept that your era is over?”

【Is there any expert who can answer: What kind of code connection is relatively safe and stable when switching from a climbing-type mech to a quadruped-type mech?】

“Several components have had slide rails added this time, speeding up airframe transformation. Old codes can easily cause lag in the right weapons bay switch. Suggest playing it safe and steady, don’t try to show off with fancy moves.”

“Playing it safe and steady, then what’s the use of faster mech transformation? It’s just ridiculous.”

“Stop asking. Analyzing the mech parameters is too difficult. The worst part is that ordinary data analysts aren’t familiar with manual mechs at all. No expert is going to come out and benefit us poor kids.”

Cheng Feng frowned as she read the groaning and wailing under the second post. Finishing the milk at hand, she replied below it.

Ye Guicheng: Did a preliminary study of the parameters. Haven’t actually test-driven it yet, but you could try a four-segment code… If your hand speed is fast enough, you can jam the R key for the right weapons bay switch right before the third slide rail. If your hand speed isn’t enough, put that code in the last segment. If you need to dodge on-site, you can add another segment for directional propulsion. The new propulsion function is pretty powerful. Used well, it can disrupt most people’s rhythm.

Netizens initially wanted to ask who was trying to act impressive, but upon closer inspection of the poster’s name, they quickly swallowed their words.

“I’ll go try it right away! Thanks, big shot!”

“The freshman girl is already this impressive?”

“When is Cheng Feng going for a test? I’m counting on your guide now.”

“A manual mech pilot majoring in data analysis – the only hope!”

Cheng Feng didn’t understand why everyone wasn’t taking the initiative to analyze things themselves. Everyone has their own way of adapting; it doesn’t have to be limited to professional data analysis. Even the most foolish method of trial and error through actual combat could work.

The reality was that, let alone guides, most people were completely in the dark. Without a systematic learning method, failing multiple times without finding a direction for progress, every word they typed exuded negativity.

So Cheng Feng replied to all the questions she could answer, jotted down the unsolvable cases in her memo pad, and bookmarked the various posts while waiting for everyone’s feedback.

The little owl perched on her bedside table switched from standby mode. After squatting nearby for a long while, it hopped step by step onto her bed, then bounced onto her arm, and finally shamelessly made itself at home on top of her head.

Cheng Feng didn’t really have the leisure to pay it any mind, but that lump of weight was seriously affecting the blood circulation to her brain, making her feel like her forehead was being persistently kicked. If this kept up, the hair she’d just grown would fall out.

Cheng Feng slightly lowered her noble head and asked, “What are you doing?”

The owl replied, “Petting your head.”

Cheng Feng’s father, that iron-willed straight guy who had no clue how to care for a child, was often away from home due to military service.

This incredible man would occasionally have some whimsical ideas. One day, he came across some parenting advice in some obscure corner, saying that children needed care and affection from their elders. Children who were often patted on the head would grow up to be smarter.

He wasn’t home and couldn’t fulfill his duty of patting her head, so he input a relevant program into the combat robot.

The little owl no longer had that function now either. Unexpectedly, the clever little thing had taught itself and figured out how to use its feet.

Cheng Feng grabbed it and put it back on the bedside table, signaling it not to move again.

The little owl asked, “You don’t like it?”

“Absolutely not!” Cheng Feng’s tone softened slightly as she declared, “I’m already grown up.”

“Okay.”

The little owl’s eyes dimmed, and it went back into standby mode.