The Undying Mecha Emperor

"What about soft contribution points?" I asked to break the awkward silence that was threatening to form.

"Soft contribution points (SCPs) on the other hand are for more routine contributions such as generating tax income exceeding a certain amount, or having a certain number of people serving in critical government positions. SCPs are even given out for children with excellent achievements!" Julie looked at me seriously.

"The top scorer of the annual National Mecha Pilot Academy entrance test will win 1000 SCPs for the clan/family he/she represents and 10 SCPs personally."

"Hmmm. I see. No wonder the old man wanted me to beat the Lin Family so badly. Losing to them would mean that they get an SCP advantage on the Whitefrost Clan for that particular event. What's the difference between hard and soft though?" I asked.

"HCPs are permanent. We can claim the rewards and favors against those points but they will remain in our clan record. SCPs, however, disappear once we use them.

So for example we have 500,000 CLAIMED HCPs, 500,000 UNCLAIMED HCPs and 500,000 SCPs. We would have a buying power of 1,000,000 contribution points. (500,000 unclaimed HCP and 500,000 SCP) If we use up the 1,000,000 contribution points to, let's say, buy the right to set up and govern a new city, what would happen is that the 500,000 unclaimed HCPs would become 500,000 CLAIMED HCPs, and the 500,000 SCPs would be used up.

After that transaction we would be left with only 1,000,000 claimed HCPs." Julie explained.

"Finally, SCPs can be converted to HCPs at a ratio of 10:1. That means 500,000 SCPs can be converted to 50,000 HCP at any time." Julie said.

"The implication is simple. If you want to raise your clan/family level, you need to contribute significantly to the country. However, having a large amount of SCPs is also beneficial. Who knows when a treasure or a priceless City Build Order becomes available for sale?"

I nodded. The world of the upper class was definitely much bigger and infinitely more complex than mine. Even with the addition of the red mecha core, my life was still relatively simple.

It went from having to focus on finding enough scraps to trade for food, to having to look for mechas to absorb and power up.

Of course having a family and school to attend adds to the complexity of my life a little bit. But they were nice complexities to have.

"Don't let the issue with the contribution points bother you though." Julie said. "Win or lose, it doesn't matter. Just make sure you do your best and pass the test."

I nodded and smiled at her appreciatively.

Julie was actually a pretty kind girl. But they did say that the nicest people make for the vilest demons when they fall.

I guess that saying is true.

Very soon, I found myself standing in front of a massive… I didn't know what to call it. Calling it a building or a skyscraper seemed rather inappropriate. It was far too large and far too grand to be labelled as a mere building.

Citadel. That's right, it was definitely as big and as grand as a citadel.

It was a hundred storeys tall and covered an area of several square kilometers.

It was massive.

But the citadel was just the main building.

The National Mecha Pilot Academy actually took up an entire mountain range, complete with eight natural mountains, vast valleys and an incredibly large lake that looked more like a small inland sea than a lake.

The test took place somewhere within one of the valleys near the main building.

Emma and James could only watch me through a video feed in an auditorium where all the relatives of the participants were gathered.

I glanced at the large mass of kids that were all clustered in groups, talking, laughing, playing and some even fighting with each other. We made for a pretty interesting sight.

Close to a hundred thousand ten year olds in black tracksuits gathered in a valley with absolutely no adult supervision. What on earth was happening?

Near me was a mid-sized group of five kids. There were two boys and three girls, and all looked totally different from each other. Tall, short, fat, thin, pretty, handsome, ugly, dark, fair, curly hair, short hair, no hair… They were all represented in that group of ten.

The biggest boy who represented tall, fat, dark, ugly and no hair saw me look at them curiously and gave me a friendly smile.

"Hello. My name is Andrew from the Big Star Merchant Group. These are all my teammates." He said while gesturing at the rest of his team. "What's your name? Are you alone?"

"Hey there." I said with a smile of my own. "My name is Justin, and yes, I am alone."

"Want to join us? Whatever the tests will be, it will be safer if we travel in a group." Andrew offered generously.

"Sure. Thanks for that, brother." I agreed, immediately marking him as a potential nice guy.

"Welcome brother." The other boy nodded and said in a friendly voice. He represented tall, thin, handsome and curly hair. "My name is Kenny."

"Hi Justin! I'm Fey." A pretty girl with brown hair and bright eyes greeted me.

"Hello Justin! I'm Sera." A plump girl smiled at me.

"Tes." The final girl merely told me her name lazily. She was playing with a couple of small rocks, throwing and catching them at the same time in a pretty impressive display of dexterity.

"Thanks for having me." I told them politely.

"Which organization are you from?" Andrew asked.

"White Tiger Hunters." I replied. Emma had told me to avoid using Whitefrost Clan when interacting with the kids in the entrance test.

"The Whitefrost Clan is a pretty strong clan in the country. We have many enemies. If our enemies find out that you're from the clan, they might hinder you and make you fail. We have our own contingent of participants from many of our affiliate organizations, but you're our secret weapon, so you won't be going with them. The White Tiger Hunters is a small hunting group secretly managed by the Whitefrost Clan. Just use their name." Emma had said.