Wow! The item-dropping rate is really high!-Chapter 1031 - 709: Rules Are Rules (2)

Although troublesome, it is not a dead end.

The technical officer saw that Bai E and others accepted the reality and began to solve the issue, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He feared encountering a stubborn team, and as a messenger, he knew such matters were incredibly troublesome.

"Since your side already has the intention to resolve this, I will report the situation. Please submit your follow-up plan as soon as possible. Wishing you success."

After the technical officer left, the atmosphere inside the hall of the International Pavilion's Seventh District remained heavy.

Though Bai E's calm reaction temporarily steadied everyone's minds, the sense of being wronged still lingered in everyone's hearts.

Catherine was the first to curse: "Someone must be sabotaging us behind the scenes! Why bring up the technical standards now, right when we arrive!"

Elorin sighed nearby: "I will try my best to negotiate. However, Lord Bai E, you must be prepared; this is likely just the beginning. At the Galaxy Center, particularly in a competition gathering various forces, the 'rules games' outside the arena can test people more than the battles inside."

"There's no use discussing this now," Bai E shook his head, "The urgent task is to solve the problem. Money isn't the issue; technology is key. If necessary, we can try contacting the local branch of the 'Fire Hammer' group, or perhaps... that 'Money Eye' may have connections."

"Yes, my lord! I will contact the 'Fire Hammer' group's branch and that 'Money Eye' right away." Catherine suppressed her anger and prepared to act.

No matter what, solving the problem is the top priority.

"Wait." The scholar Elorin suddenly spoke up, stopping her.

His expression was more serious than before, with a trace of anger from being deceived.

He quickly operated his portable terminal, checking some internal Star Alliance announcements and amendment records that might require higher permissions.

Moments later, he raised his head pale-faced—he had just discovered some information.

"Lord Bai E, it seems Lady Catherine's intuition was correct... This indeed might be a deliberate 'rules game' targeting us."

Elorin's voice carried repressed anger, "I just urgently queried the amendment history of the Star Alliance's 'General Technical Specifications for Mobile Suit Safety and Fairness.' The so-called '17th amendment version'... its final review and forced implementation date was 15 standard days ago!"

In other words, when our ship had just entered the stable zone of the Galaxy Center, but before arriving at 'Star City,' our specific competition list and some non-core information might have already been initially received and circulated by the competition committee to relevant departments!"

He took a deep breath and continued: "More critically, the content of this amendment is not a large-scale, comprehensive technical standard upgrade. The core changes are precisely concentrated on the end-point criteria for the energy core output stability curve, the database match range for Spiritual Power Circuit compatibility certification, and temporary restrictions on unregistered new alloy materials! These changes... are too targeted. It's as if they were modified to address 'problems' that emerging teams from the Edge Star Domain, like ours, with unique technical routes that have not yet been included in the mainstream system of the Galaxy Center might have."

Elorin projected several summaries of the amendment clauses: "Look here, regarding energy core stability, the old standard allowed for a 3% short-term fluctuation under extreme output, as long as the average stability met the criteria. The new standard tightens the short-term fluctuation tolerance to 1.5% and emphasizes the smoothness of the end curve. Our mecha, in order to pursue instant bursts and respond to high-intensity combat, allows certain fluctuations in the energy core design in extreme states to exchange for higher peak output and overload potential. This completely complies under the old standard, but under the new standard..."

"Now look at Spiritual Power Circuit compatibility." He pointed to another rule, "The old standard required the circuit to have basic safety isolation and overload prevention design and could pass compatibility tests with several mainstream templates. The new standard requires a comparison with 'all registered, safety-certified Spiritual Power Circuit construction modes' within the Star Alliance central database, and once an 'unrecognizable unique mode' is found, it triggers an alarm requiring additional, lengthy 'safety assessment.'"

"Our Spiritual Power Circuit heavily utilizes Lord Bai E's Spiritual Energy characteristic guidance, and inspiration from Bug Race and reverse-engineered archaeological technology, so its construction mode naturally differs from any template in the database."

"And the materials..." Elorin smiled bitterly, "Some of the alloys we use do indeed contain components extracted or synthesized from special Bug Race shells, alien minerals, and even high-dimensional remnants, and these components have unique performance parameters that are naturally not on the Star Alliance's massive registry, which mainly includes 'regular' resources within the Milky Way."

The hall fell silent.

If before it was mere suspicion, then the evidence Elorin found nearly put the 'intentional targeting' on public display.

The rules were just modified before they arrived, and the amendments precisely targeted fields they might be 'non-compliant' in; the timing was so coincidental... this was no accident.

"Who is it?" Rose's voice was icy, a glint of cold light in her eyes.

Having ventured into the cosmos alone, she had experienced various power struggles for quite a long time and was not unfamiliar with such means.

Morphie clenched his fists even tighter, his knuckles turning pale: "It must be someone from among the 'Sons of the Empire!' They can't stand us, resorting to such despicable methods!"

Gong Yan analyzed more calmly: "It might not be the doing of one side alone. It could be a force hostile towards us that propelled the rule amendment, or perhaps several forces reached an agreement in secret, or even... it might be some conservatives or vested interests within the Star Alliance leveraging an inherent distrust and rejection towards the name 'New Bauhinia' and our lord's sudden rise as a powerful entity to set up obstacles."

As Bai E listened to everyone's analysis and anger, his expression did not change much, and he even pursed his lips somewhat helplessly.

He walked to the tactical discussion room's holographic starmap, looking at the various major forces marked across the Galaxy Center.

"Scholar Elorin, can you find the main driving forces behind the amendment proposal or the forces that opposed less and even supported actively during the review process? There doesn't need to be concrete evidence, just some trends." Bai E asked.

Elorin pondered for a moment and shook his head: "The amendments to these technical standards are usually proposed by the Star Alliance Technical Standards Committee, driven by the technical representatives dispatched by major forces behind the scenes. It's challenging to find specific driving forces openly; this is an internal process."

"But... based on some public opinion and past experiences, those most wary of non-conventional technical routes and most emphasizing standardization and order are often the Iron Alliance and Deep Space Alliance. As for those most rejecting emerging forces possibly challenging the current order... the Holy Silver Church Country is extremely cautious toward anything involving abnormal Spiritual Energy and untested technology. The Golden Federation and Flame Republic might not take direct action, but their silence or acquiescence is an attitude as well. The Shadow Kingdom... they are more adept at secret operations, but this kind of rule-exploiting method is not typical of their style."

He paused and added: "Moreover, don't forget your old friends in the Peak Alliance. Although their influence here is limited, it is entirely possible to relay some 'information' and 'concerns' through certain channels to their backers or affiliated parties at the Galaxy Center. From what I know, your relationship with them has always been unfriendly."

"In other words, there may not be just one 'behind-the-scenes manipulator,' but rather an invisible resistance composed of prejudice, apprehension, and intertwined conflicts of interest."

Bai E summarized, his tone calm, "They might not intend to directly eliminate us through this; that would be too obvious and likely cause controversy. More likely, they aim to consume our time, resources, and energy, disrupt our preparation rhythm, hoping we fail to secure eligible mecha in haste, or even if obtained, it's a 'castrated version' with severely diminished performance and inadequate pilot integration, naturally leading to defeat in the competition."

"Since we know their purpose, let's shatter their purpose!"