Mecha Star Wars.

Chapter 1416 An Inconspicuous Yet Precious Reward
The StarCraft awards ceremony didn't feature any eye-catching trophies, and there weren't even any presenters.

As the last contestant returned to the scene from the beam of light at the finish line, the commentary suddenly turned into rousing music.

All the spotlights were focused on the suspended platform, with golden light and colorful dots falling down. The top five winners once again became the focus of everyone's attention.

The loudspeaker was enthusiastically introducing the champion Lin Fan's basic information, showering him with praise and compliments. Anyone who didn't know better would think the speaker was a longtime close friend of Lin Fan.

On the two large screens on either side, there were huge close-up shots of Lin Fan's head.

Lin Fan had never seen himself so big before—with high-definition resolution and a huge screen, he could even see the fine hairs on his face… Before he could even process what he was thinking, his hand was suddenly raised.

"Smile!" Antonio stepped onto Lin Fan's platform, grabbed her arm, and waved to the crowd. "It's time to show our confidence!"

Seeing that he was also in the picture on the big screen, he simply stood on his other foot as well, rested his head on Lin Fan's shoulder, and waved slightly with a smile in the limited space.

This was the first time Lin Fan had won first place in such a setting, and he was initially a little stunned, unsure how to react. Encouraged by Antonio's words, he also generously raised his hand and waved to the audience on both sides.

The prize was a gemstone brooch shaped like a star shuttle, which was delivered directly to Lin Fan by a small box-like robot that opened to the sides so she could take it herself.

The broadcast had already started announcing a long list of sponsors for the prizes, and Lin Fan carefully examined the brooch in his hand.

At first glance, it resembles a top view of a high-performance Star Shuttle, shrunk to two-thirds the size of a thumb. The center features a translucent sapphire-like crystal, surrounded by a reddish-gold rim. An unidentified hard metal extends to the base, and even the back clips are made of the same material.

Lin Fan looked closely at the raised characters on the base and saw that it was the name of this competition.

In such a small space, her name was engraved on it.

"Isn't this a bit stingy?" Antonio had already returned to his platform, examining the blue-green gemstone brooch in his hand, and scoffed at Lin Fan. "Our World Cup championship trophy is so big, and this is so tiny in interstellar space... tsk, if it weren't for the big screen, who would even be able to see it!"

Lin Fan glanced at the second-place finisher next to him and copied him by pinning the brooch to the strap on the left breastplate of his soft armor.

The soft armor had several rows of long, flat straps on the left breastplate, which they initially thought were some kind of special decoration, but it turned out to be for attaching brooches...

Suddenly I thought of the uniform of the 800, which also has a place to pin badges on the chest... Maybe this brooch is more than just a simple souvenir?

Sure enough, a check on the terminal...

“This is worth much more than the World Cup trophy.” Lin Fan tilted the terminal in his hand. “This sapphire is called Azure Crystal. It was formed in a deep, high-pressure environment of an ice giant. Its hardness is sufficient to be used as a core material for interstellar armor. The quantum energy contained within can be used as the core energy source for starships to drive them directly.”

"And this one outside is called Blazing Gold. It's a molten metal born from stellar flares. It's hard enough to withstand planetary impacts and ranks among the top 3 hardness materials in interstellar metals. It can cut ordinary metals at will."

She looked up at Antonio, who was still dumbfounded: "I remember the World Cup trophy was made of gold-bronze alloy, and the gold was 17K, are you sure..."

"No, no, no, no!" Antonio shook his head like a rattle-drum, holding up his badge with both hands. "I was wrong! I shouldn't have judged people by their appearance, ah, I mean, the badge, uh, the needle... whatever!"

He then kissed her twice on the lips.

This scene was naturally broadcast live on the big screen. However, most of the interstellar people knew the value of the prize and didn't find it strange.

Lin Fan gave some further explanations before speaking to Antonio, who was carefully pinning the brooch to his chest and gently stroking it.

"This is what we call a trophy. However, interstellar spacecraft places more emphasis on practicality. Compared to large, flashy display items that can only be placed at home, this kind of small and exquisite 'trophy' that can be carried around and shows off one's status, combining decoration and power, is much better... Stop touching it, it's weird..." Lin Fan couldn't stand it anymore and pushed Antonio.

Antonio chuckled: "That's true. I'm going to wear it every day from now on. It's small and exquisite, and I can show it off unintentionally..."

The awards ceremony went quite quickly; the most time-consuming part was reading out the list of sponsors.

Lin Fan took this opportunity to say a few words to Antonio, but before they could finish their conversation, the noisy broadcast announced the end of the match.

The spotlight went out, and the platform was slowly descending. The surrounding audience all turned around and left their seats without hesitation, rushing towards the exit.

The second-place player didn't wait for the platform to drop to the bottom before riding off on his Star Shuttle, which surprised Lin Fan.

The fourth and fifth place runners were just about to step onto the star shuttle when they saw the first place runner looking over. They nodded to her before leaving.

"Let's go, let's go!" Antonio was already impatient. "Looks like we can do whatever we want now that we're done. Let's not wait for this slow elevator, let's just find someone... By the way, what about Qi Mai and the other eliminated guys? Should we go pick them up?"

Holding his helmet, Antonio stood on the Star Shuttle, searching for people among the departing crowd.

Lin Fan dialed Cen Fangyuan's number on the terminal. The signal was connected to the receiver on the earring. After two rings, the call was connected, and Cen Fangyuan's congratulations followed.

Lin Fan thanked them in a good mood and asked where they were.

Antonio leaned in and put his arm around Lin Fan's shoulder: "Is it Vice President Cen? Ask him where we're going to collect the bonus. We're not going to get renege on our promise, are we?"

A hundred times half of their total assets... that's a fortune. The Nexus Ring is wealthy, but... can it afford to lose?
Upon hearing this, Cen Fangyuan smiled and replied, "Don't worry, the bonus has already been credited to my account. There's a notification in my personal terminal."

Lin Fan clicked on it and started counting in his mind, "ones, tens, hundreds, thousands..."

"I'm rich!" Antonio spun around in the air a few times. "I'm rich! I'm rich!"

Lin Fan was also happy. If he had money in his hand, he would definitely throw some around.

I've been rich, I've been poor, but I've never been this rich before...

"We have to celebrate today!" Antonio wasn't one to keep things to himself. "Hey! Everyone who's disembarking, don't leave yet, let's go to the best bar around here and celebrate! It's on me!"

Finding that no one on the Noah could hear him, he hurriedly opened his terminal and sent a message to the group.

"..." Lin Fan looked at his arrogant manner and thought to himself, "Don't you even ask about the prices here?"

But then I thought, no matter how expensive it is, it won't cost Antonio all his money, right?
...If that's the case, then the rest can be hers.

Those in the group who received the message were overjoyed.

Some people also asked, what about those who haven't disembarked?

Quite a few people disembarked this time, but less than half of them. After all, we weren't quite at a point where we could be completely at ease; there were always people left behind to guard the ship, just in case, so we could provide timely support.

Their original plan was to take turns coming down to stroll around, and the people on the ship could also watch the live broadcast of the competition, so they didn't feel that there was much difference.

When Antonio invited everyone to dinner, those who stayed behind couldn't help but make a few jokes and teasing remarks, just wanting to join in the fun.

Unexpectedly, Antonio waved his hand and said, "Everything is included! Everything from tomorrow and the day after will count, to celebrate our Noah's first victory!"

Cen Fangyuan's brow twitched when he saw the message.

Given the safe environment, allowing the Noah's crew to relax a bit wouldn't be a problem. But Antonio's words...

Ha! You devil!
The group chat erupted in cheers and excitement; Lin Fan could imagine everyone's joy just by looking at the speed at which the messages were being flooded.

Praise for Antonio, praise for Lin Fan. Looking ahead to the upcoming matches, I hope everyone continues to win prizes, keeps up the good work, and gets rich by doubling their winnings and accumulating credits.

"Let me interrupt your good mood!" Jin Sichen suddenly interjected, "After this competition, our odds have dropped to 1:5. Your idea of ​​making a quick buck with the prize money is probably not going to work out."

He knew immediately that the odds would change, but he didn't expect them to differ by so much.

But I can understand, it's a hundred times!

Although only the Noah's crew was on board, the Nexus Ring still suffered considerable losses.

In addition, given Lin Fan and his team's outstanding overall performance, the Star Pivot Ring AI immediately adjusted the odds after analysis.

The Star Pivot Ring can afford to lose, but it can't afford to fall into the same pit again with a bigger fall.

A chorus of groans erupted from the crowd, many regretting not having placed more bets.

Actually, winning with odds of 5 isn't a small amount. But compared to the previous odds of 100, who wouldn't feel regret?

Antonio was extremely pleased, even though he lost his half of the bet, he still won more than most people.

"Alright, alright," he grinned, pulling Lin Fan towards the contestants' exit. "Let's not dwell on the past. Let's go outside and gather. Have some fun!"

　There was a constant, strong wind starting last night.

　　When I woke up this morning, the temperature had indeed dropped.

　　It drizzled a little in the afternoon; it's early winter, the time when you need to hold a cup and drink hot water.

　　Last night I used a hot water bottle to warm it. When I went to the bathroom, I casually put the hot water bottle on my pillow, and it leaked…

　　I got a half-soaked pillow... Waaah, I'm not used to having a new pillow at night.

　　Has it gotten colder where you are, little ones? Remember to keep warm!

　　(End of this chapter)