For those of you unfamiliar with how rankings work, let me give you a brief explanation.
Most rankings in the Chinese Federation are all historically accurate.
That means, there are no time limits. In other words, once you're ranked, then your name will forever be listed in that ranking system.
If my rank is first in any ranking category, for example the National Rank, then I am first for ALL time, including all who have died.
It is very much like the ranking system of most sports. It doesn't matter if you're alive or dead. As long as you've scored a point in let's say, the National Basketball Organization, then you will forever be ranked against everybody else who has ever scored points.
That was why Veronica Wu's rank of 11,290 and Grand Elder Shella's rank of 10,137 were so impressive.
Their rank among active mecha pilots, including those actively serving in the military, was actually around 1000!
There were only around a thousand mecha pilots who had higher contributions than them in the country! That was extremely insane to think about.
The Chinese Federation had at least a million active mecha pilots serving in the military at that time, and probably a grand total of one hundred million mecha pilots still alive and well serving in various capacities in the country, or just retired but still able to operate a mecha.
That means that they were within the top 0.0001% of the country.
They were the elite of the elites.
The best of the best!
There are also various rankings created to motivate everyone to work hard to improve their skills and contributions.
There are five main rankings.
The main overall ranking system, the most prestigious and the one most commonly known is of course the National Mecha Pilot Ranking.
Almost half a billion names were in it.
Any rank above a million was considered elite.
Please note that Bruce Pang said I would rank in the top one hundred thousand in this ranking system within six months.
It was an arrogant boast, to say the least, and it was like him carrying me and forcing me to step on the feet of a hundred million active mecha pilots, claiming that I would be better than all of them within six months.
Thanks, big bro.
Anyway, that was the first and main ranking system.
The second most prestigious ranking system would be the Military Mecha Pilot Ranking. As its name suggests, it ranks the top pilots within the Military. It was usually used to measure the Military's strength compared to the rest of the Federation.
It had slightly over five million names ranked, and any military pilot ranked below five million in the National Mecha Pilot Ranking would become the laughing stock of the entire military.
It simply meant that there were civilians who were better pilots than them or even had more contributions than them!
The third, fourth and fifth ranking systems were all related to schools, and all three are active-only rankings.
They were the Youth Mecha Pilot Ranking system which ranked all youth pilots below twenty one years of age, which served like the National Mecha Pilot Ranking for kids, the Advanced Trainees Mecha Pilot Ranking which ranked all advanced students nationwide, and the respective ranking systems within each Academy nationwide.
Each ranking system was based on a very simple formula.
Their RPL score + Points.
The points can take the form of Contribution Points, Examination Points, Tournament Points, anything. Most of the rewards for mecha pilots are linked to the ranking system, and that made the ranking system all the more accurate and reflective of reality.
That way, an effective pilot with a lower RPL could be ranked higher than one with a higher RPL if he worked hard enough and smart enough.
That said, a person's natural gifts would not only give them an edge in terms of points, but also in their ability to get Contribution Points.
All in all, it was a realistic and fair system.
The fact that I was gifted a Barbarian Class Mecha would make me ridiculously difficult to dethrone from my lofty first place within the first graders.
Not only do I have an incredible head start with my high RPL and the Victory Points I got from winning the Grand Melee, I would also be practically impossible to beat in the battles ahead!
I remember staring at the beautiful Barbarian Class Mecha, and feeling a deep hunger to devour it.
My red energy had grown by leaps and bounds, and I was nearly ready to start devouring something big and delicious.
Deathscythe awaited me, of course. But the Barbarian Class Mecha would make for a perfect appetizer.
I sighed and merely smiled at Bruce as I stretched out my hand and touched the mecha.
Hummmm.
I could feel every single aspect of the mecha extremely clearly, much more clearly than before.
In fact, I had the distinct feeling that I could turn on the mecha if I wanted to.
Bruce Pang smiled back at me and inconspicuously pushed my hand away.
He probably thought I was about to devour it or something, because he hastily sent the mecha away.
"Wonderful! The mecha will be kept for safe keeping until you start your classes. And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen! The end of our annual Grand Melee for first years!! Thank you for joining us! Good bye and don't fall down the stairs on your way out!! Hahahaha!" Bruce Pang said as he dismissed the crowd just like that.
The crowd laughed good naturedly at his joke and started to slowly disperse.
"And now! All you first years. Well done on a wonderful fight!! I am sure you had a lot of fun ganging up on your schoolmate just now, right?" Bruce Pang beamed at the first graders.
Most of them laughed, nodded and agreed with him in one way or another.
It would be the last time they laughed that day.
"GANGED UP AND LOST!!" Bruce Pang sudden roared out in anger!
He raised his hand up, and near instantaneously, Chronos appeared in the sky and landed behind him with a stupendous BOOM!!
Bruce Pang leapt up a hundred meters into his cockpit as though it was nothing, and turned to face us once more.
"IF YOU WANT TO GANG UP ON ANYONE, MAKE BLOODY SURE YOU WIN THE BLOODY FIGHT!!
WHY?
BECAUSE YOU ARE WASTING VALUABLE MECHAS WHILE YOUR ENEMY IS ONLY WASTING ONE!
FIRST LESSON OF THE YEAR! EVERY DAMN THING HAS ITS COST!!
GET INTO YOUR DAMN MECHAS!
I WILL BE YOUR TEACHER TODAY!!"
All hail Bruce Pang.
Hahaha.
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