Volume One

Chapter 001 The Beginning of "Hero"

"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~"

Suddenly, a series of urgent alert sounds rang out inside the virtual mecha pod, accompanied by flashes of red light—an emergency call!

A young man sat inside the pod, completely unresponsive, his head slumped to one side, arms hanging limply, fast asleep.

"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~" The alert persisted relentlessly. After two minutes, the boy's limp hand suddenly twitched, his head slowly lifted, and his eyes opened, filled with confusion.

"Wasn't I supposed to be dead?" He looked around in bewilderment, discovering that he was surrounded by a wraparound ultra-high-definition 3D screen. Looking down, he saw a sensory pedal, motion capture gloves, and movement tracking sensors—all the standard equipment of a mecha cockpit.

"Why am I still in a mecha? Didn't I perish together with Black Rakshasa?"

His name was Brian Bolton, a newly promoted major general of the Earth Defense Army and pilot of the berserker-class mecha "Azure Swordsman."

Just a moment ago, he had been in the Kaloran Starfield, 800 light-years from his home planet Earth, leading the Empire's Ninth Legion in a desperate battle against a demon race mecha division.

The fighting was unimaginably fierce. The Ninth Legion was clearly no match for the demon mecha division. As the entire army was about to be wiped out, Brian Bolton used the "Burning Body Secret Technique" to ignite all his potential, breaking through layer after layer of obstacles. He suffered 23 severe wounds, the Azure Swordsman was nearly shattered, and even his body was exposed directly to the vacuum of space. At last, he managed to entangle the enemy commander, Black Rakshasa, and then, without hesitation, detonated the small antimatter explosive he carried, perishing together with Black Rakshasa.

Brian Bolton remembered with perfect clarity the searing heat he felt at the moment the explosive went off. He was at the very center of the blast—his body should have been reduced to ashes, with absolutely no chance of survival.

So what was happening now?

Brian Bolton looked down at his hands. The skin on his palms was delicate and slender, with only a thin callus in the center—completely different from his own rough, powerful hands, yet somehow very familiar.

"Beep~ Beep~ Beep~ Beep~"

The urgent alert finally pulled Brian Bolton back to reality. He looked up at the wraparound screen and spotted a red icon on the right, shaking continuously. On the icon were the words "Father."

"Father?! Didn't Father die in battle at the Hangu Star Gate?" Brian Bolton's eyes widened in shock.

He remembered clearly: seven years ago, the demon race launched a simultaneous assault with five main abyss fleets on the Hangu Star Gate, a thousand light-years away. His father was the gate's commander then, the last pillar of the Zhang family. To preserve what little honor the family had left, his father chose to fight to the death, even knowing the defending forces were vastly outmatched. In the end, he managed to stall the demon army long enough for reinforcements to arrive, saving the Hangu Star Gate.

That battle was unimaginably brutal. Of the 30,000 garrison troops, only 37 survived, and every one of them was left permanently disabled. His father died on the spot.

His father's sacrifice bought the declining Zhang family a brief respite. A year later, Brian Bolton won the championship at the virtual mecha combat league held on Earth, becoming the family's new hope for the future.

But now, his father was alive and even sending him a message. Brian Bolton suspected someone was playing a prank by changing his contacts. He tapped the icon and answered the call.

"Yuan'er, why did it take you so long to answer?" A deep voice tinged with reproach came through the line.

The moment he heard that voice, Brian Bolton froze: "That's definitely Father's voice. What's going on? How could Father still be alive?"

"What's wrong? Say something. Did something happen at school?" The voice on the other end now carried a hint of concern.

Yes, this was his father, Nathan Bolton, the father who doted on him endlessly. Though he had no idea why this was happening, Brian Bolton's eyes suddenly stung with tears. He wanted to speak, but his throat tightened and he couldn't get a word out.

An anxious voice sounded from the communicator: "Yuan'er, what's wrong? Are you crying? Did someone at school bully you? Tell Dad, and I'll talk to your teachers!"

Brian Bolton forced down his emotions and hurriedly said, "Dad, it's nothing. I've just had a bit of a cold and a runny nose these past few days."

When Brian Bolton was two, his mother died in a demon invasion. His father raised him alone, acting as both mother and father. He was frail and sickly as a child, and every time he fell ill, his father would stay up all night by his side. Worried that the food wouldn't suit his taste, his father honed his cooking skills, personally preparing every meal for him until he grew stronger in high school at age fifteen. The family wasn't well-off, but every year on his birthday, his father always gave him the best, most beloved gifts.

Perhaps to outsiders, his father was the least accomplished of the Zhang family descendants, but in Brian Bolton's heart, his father was the steadfast mountain that shielded him from all storms.