Some of the mechs couldn't even transform at all.
Their designs were bizarre and wildly specialized. One looked humanoid from the waist up, while its lower half resembled a heavily armored tank chassis. Massive energy cannons and rotary guns were mounted across its shoulders. Others had spider-like lower bodies similar to some twisted scorpion mutant, with a human torso fused above. A few looked like grotesque combinations of multiple species stitched together into a single war machine. There were even shark-shaped underwater combat mechs built specifically for deep-sea warfare.
Most of these units had been designed for highly specific environments and combat scenarios. In the right conditions, their combat capabilities were terrifying.
The second category consisted of support combat mechs.
The closest comparison Earth players could make was Gundams.
Unlike the pure combat mechs, these models were generally smaller and built for direct piloting. Players could climb inside and control them personally during battle. Although the onboard AI could operate them autonomously, manual control combined with neural synchronization was still the only way to unleash their true potential.
There were simply too many mech types to count.
The players were losing their minds.
"Damn, these mechs all look incredible. That settles it. I'm going full mech build."
"Yeah, but turning into the Hulk would also be insane. And those mutant powers look awesome too."
"You idiot. A man's true romance is steel, machinery, and giant robots."
The chat exploded into nonstop arguments.
Then came the warship exchange section.
Compared to the mechs, the number of available starships was much smaller. After all, even the strongest mech was still an individual weapon.
A fleet was something else entirely.
Ten or twenty interstellar battleships could casually wipe out a low-development civilization. Earth included.
Human nuclear weapons might have terrifying destructive power, but they still needed to hit their targets. Advanced interstellar warships possessed stealth systems and defensive technology far beyond modern Earth science. Detecting them alone would already be nearly impossible, let alone destroying them with missiles.
If a fleet of ten five-hundred-thousand-ton warships had sufficient energy reserves, they could scour Earth's major regions clean without much difficulty.
The available ship classifications included:
One-hundred-thousand and two-hundred-thousand-ton patrol cruisers.
Two-hundred-thousand and five-hundred-thousand-ton interstellar battleships.
Each vessel specialized in different combat roles.
The Ares-class battleship boasted devastating main cannons and absurd defensive strength, but its speed was lacking.
The Thunderbolt-class ship, on the other hand, sacrificed armor and firepower for terrifying mobility.
Pricing was determined by ship tonnage.
A one-hundred-thousand-ton patrol cruiser came with one hundred thousand units of energy and cost three hundred thousand Krypton Coins.
A two-hundred-thousand-ton patrol or assault cruiser came with one hundred fifty thousand energy units and cost four hundred thousand Krypton Coins.
Standard two-hundred-thousand-ton battleships included two hundred thousand energy units and cost six hundred thousand Krypton Coins.
The highest-tier vessel currently purchasable by players, the five-hundred-thousand-ton interstellar battleship, required eight hundred thousand Krypton Coins and included three hundred thousand energy units.
As for the larger eight-hundred-thousand and one-million-ton warships…
Players could look.
They just couldn't buy them.
"So basically… we can become fleet commanders later?"
"My first battleship is absolutely getting named Yamato."
"Nah, the real move is building an entire fleet."
At the same time, Drex Valen noticed a newly updated post climbing rapidly to the top of the Krypton Empire forums.
The title read:
[First Test Player Massive Reveal: The Most Complete Krypton Empire Guide Yet!]
The thread had only been posted for half an hour, yet it already had several million replies. The view count was skyrocketing at a ridiculous pace. It had instantly become the hottest topic on the entire forum.
"First test player?" Drex muttered. "Wasn't the game launched directly into open beta?"
After thinking about it for a moment, he guessed the so-called "first test players" were probably the earliest people to purchase the life pods.
Still, the fact that strategy guides were only appearing now showed just how massive Krypton Empire actually was. There was simply too much content.
The post began:
"Hey everyone, first test player DreamlessWhite here. Yeah, I'm the guy from Spiderweb who uploads no-damage strategy videos."
DreamlessWhite was a well-known content creator from Spiderweb's strategy division. His fans affectionately called him Young Master, mostly because he screamed like he was dying whenever he played horror games.
"Krypton Empire is the second game in the world to abandon traditional gaming hardware entirely in favor of full immersion pods and virtual reality technology.
And let me tell you right now: the 100% realism and 100% freedom advertised by the game are not marketing gimmicks. They're completely real.
I have no idea what kind of engine Drex Valen used to build this thing, but honestly, calling it a 'game engine' feels wrong. This world feels real enough to be mistaken for a second reality.
You can move every joint in your body naturally. You can touch objects, breathe air, interact with the environment however you want…
You can even feel pain.
Seriously.
Thankfully, pain sensitivity can be adjusted freely, from completely disabled all the way to full realism. Casual players should probably turn it off. Hardcore lunatics are welcome to try one hundred percent."
"Anyway, enough rambling. Here's the most comprehensive guide currently available."
"The game takes place in a vast interstellar setting centered around one of the four great cosmic empires: the Krypton Empire."
"According to the lore, Kryptonians are an alien race that looks almost identical to humans, which is why every player begins with a normal human appearance."
"At the start of the game, players are born on an ordinary planet within the empire."
"And this next part is going to disappoint some people with very specific hobbies."
"There's no character customization."
Drex Valen had done something completely different from every other game on Earth.
Inside Krypton Empire, every player looked exactly like they did in real life.
It genuinely felt like being born into another world.
"The NPC population is massive right now. We still don't know whether they're purely functional NPCs, story NPCs, or both."
"But their AI is terrifyingly advanced. No repeated dialogue. No robotic responses."
"You can interact with them however you want, but fair warning: don't go around insulting NPCs or trying to harass them."
"They will beat the hell out of you."
"Also, food matters in this game."
"Yes, seriously."
"If you don't eat for long enough, you'll experience actual hunger. Not the fake MMO kind either. Your body starts feeling weak. Your stomach hurts. It feels disturbingly real."
"To buy food, you need Krypton Coins."
"And to earn Krypton Coins, you complete missions."
"Quest notifications appear directly in front of your eyes. Just accept them normally."