"There are five ranks available for a titled ace mecha clan, and each rank is further split into five sub-ranks, differentiated by the number of stars it has. So, the most powerful titled ace mecha clans are first-rank five-star ace mecha clans. Everyone in those mecha clans is powerful and frightening. Yan Three, if you meet a first-rank titled ace mecha clan, don't ever offend them. You can't afford to provoke anyone in those mecha clans. Even a normal member of those ace mecha clan is much stronger than us."
Yan Three nodded seriously. If a normal member of those ace mecha clan was stronger than Cheng Shu, then the people in those mecha clans were definitely not people he could provoke.
Cheng Shu suddenly smiled. "If you stay at Base 013 forever, you might not be able to meet them at all. Even I have only heard of them but never saw any of them personally."
Yan Three scoffed. 'Why could I be stuck here forever? I would eventually leave this base one day.' He got angry so he asked in a mocking tone, "What rank is Changfeng then?"
Cheng Shu's smile was turned upside down and his face turned green with anger. After some time, he gritted his teeth and said, "Changfeng? We are just a fifth-tank one-star ace mecha clan, the worst among the worst of all titled ace mecha clans. If we drop another rank lower, our title will be taken away and we will become a normal ace mecha clan""Your ace mecha clan is that bad?" Yan Three looked at him with disdain. "If it is that bad, why can't you all just work harder to climb higher? Why can't you gain another star?"
Cheng Shu sighed. He replied, "This is a problem of succession. Every titled ace mecha clan, even a first-rank five-star ace mecha clan, will have this problem. If the succession is successful, the ace mecha clan will be able to maintain its rank and might even be able to climb higher in rank. That ace mecha clan might even become an important ace mecha clan to the division or it might even become the core of the military, attaching long-lasting glory to its name."
"However, the possibility of this happening is very low. Many titled ace mecha clans were not able to pass the torch successfully. Each generation got worse than the one before them, resulting in their ranks getting lower and some even got their title removed, becoming a normal mecha clan in the end. In addition to that, some titled ace mecha clans would get sent on the battlefield and their men would get killed in the process of an ongoing war, making their mecha clan severely weaker by the time they leave the battlefield. Changfeng ace mecha clan is just getting worse by the generation, and there's no way to stop that." Cheng Shu wanted to make Changfeng Ace Mecha Clan better but he couldn't defy the rules of the military.
"If you don't have enough mecha operators, why can't you just train more?" Yan Three didn't understand Cheng Shu's thinking process.
"You have never entered an ace mecha clan so you don't know the unspoken rule in the military: removing blood and grooming blood." Cheng Shu gave a forced smile.
"Removing blood and grooming blood?" Yan Three came from the grass-roots units. When he heard what Cheng Shu said, he felt that he had wasted half of his life in the military as he had never heard of such a thing.
"The ranks between all the titled ace mecha clans are not present to differentiate the capabilities of all ace mecha clans. They are present because of this unspoken rule. This unspoken rule allows titled ace mecha clans that have a higher rank than us within our division to pick outstanding mecha operators from our ace mecha clan and transfer them to their own ace mecha clan. In a sense, our mission as a low-rank ace mecha clan is to groom mecha operators. With this unspoken rule, a pyramid is formed within the ace mecha clans. The tip of the pyramid consists of the most powerful ace mecha clans which had the best mecha operators, making them the core of the military.""There is nothing wrong with that." Yan Three felt that this rule suited the military. The core ace mecha clans should have the right to have the best mecha operators.
"However, this rule causes the lower rank ace mecha clans to be stuck at the bottom of the pyramid forever. Some ace mecha clans fell down the ranks because too much blood was removed from them. Changfeng ace mecha clan is an instance of this." When Cheng Shu took over the Changfeng Ace Mecha Clan, he was motivated and driven to bring his mecha clan to the top. However, when the ace mecha clans above them kept taking away their mecha operators whom they took much time and effort to groom, his heart started to turn cold. He didn't want to waste his efforts anymore on someone who would eventually be taken away. After years and years of removing blood, Changfeng Ace Mecha Clan started to drop in rank. That was why they were sent to Planet Haijiao. They were forsaken by the military.
"Removing too much blood?" Yan Three sensed something amiss.
"Yes. At first, only three mecha operators can be taken out every five years. Now, it changed to two mecha operators every year. We are unable to keep our good mecha operators in our clan so we can't increase the ability of our ace mecha clan." Cheng Shu sighed loudly. "Not only that, the ace mecha clans above us might give us some mecha operators with special backgrounds too. These people are not ace mecha masters but they still forced them into our ace mecha clans so that they can get a good resume."
These people would usually leave half a year later, and they would be placed in higher positions but in actual fact, they didn't have any capabilities to obtain that position in the first place. What a joke. Ever since he came to Planet Haijiao, the higher authorities never sent anyone like that in his clan anymore so he managed to get some peace here. Cheng Shu felt that this was something good he got from the adversity.
"I see." Yan Three finally understood what Cheng Shu meant. The mecha world was so complicated.
"Yan Three, we are leaving soon. I don't know which ace mecha clan will be sent here. However, the commanding officer of your base had offended someone within the military headquarters. I think that they won't send you a powerful ace mecha clan…" Cheng Shu thought for a moment and decided to give him a suggestion. "Yan Three, if you can, join an ace mecha clan. You have the ability to. You shouldn't be wasting your time here."
Yan Three shrugged. "How about I join your ace mecha clan?"
Cheng Shu smiled bitterly. "I don't want to harm your future. Changfeng Ace Mecha Clan has been forsaken. The military had not sent anyone to examine our ace mecha clan for the past few years. If you join us, you will never have the chance to climb higher. If another ace mecha clan comes to this base after we leave, find a chance to join them. I hate the removing blood system but it can help you."
This was Cheng Shu's last piece of advice to Yan Three.
Back in the meeting room, Yan Three smiled coldly "Help me?" He had ambitions to climb higher up the ranks, but if he was to join an ace mecha clan, that clan's regiment commander must have the ability to make him bow down to him first. If not, he would rather stay at Base 013 his entire life as he would not tolerate being under a weak regiment commander.
"Ah!" A team member shouted, "250 Ace Mecha Clan is here. One of our members saw a huge group of people coming in."
"Leader, shall we take a look?" Everyone looked at Yan Three excitedly. They remembered how their leader brought them over when Changfeng Ace Mecha Clan came and gave them an opening gambit.
Yan Three knocked his fingers on the table and thought for a moment. Then, he smiled. "Let's go."
"Do your best, everyone!" Han Xuya placed her hands on her hips as she shouted at the logisticians who were moving their equipment.
On the other side, Luo Chao was busy recording all the pieces of equipment that were placed inside their warehouse. These were weapons that were brought over from the 23rd division. It was precious to them. Although Planet Haijiao would provide them with some weapons, their Boss didn't want to rely on other people. Hence, their Boss prepared all these as their backup. If they met any urgent situations, they would not have to wait for other people to help them.
"Hey, there are two beautiful younger sisters in the ace mecha clan that came this time. What good fortune!" A frivolous voice sounded above them.
