Mecha Chapter 11: Major Test

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

“Can’t you just be still for a minute?” Yuan Xi, who was in front of the queue, finally got fed up, turned back and yelled at Luo XiaoLou, who was behind him.

“Hey, I’m nervous. Look, I’m not the only one who’s nervous.” Luo XiaoLou pointed back, and yes, they were lining up for the major division test.

For many teenagers, it was very important for them to get into the Mecha Department. This was the starting point of their dreams, the first step to success. And it was not just their own dreams; their parents were eagerly awaiting the good news too. Those who were just chattering like Luo XiaoLou were fine, but there were some who were shivering and sweating, others who were working out, and still others who were reading about mecha tactics.

Yuan Xi looked at Luo XiaoLou viciously, considering whether to knock him out first and wake him up when it was his turn.

“Okay, I’ll stop talking. Is it me talking that affects you? You’re actually nervous too, aren’t you?” Luo XiaoLou wanted to sew his mouth shut after saying that. For God’s sake, he was just too nervous which is why he talked like that!

Undoubtedly, the mistake was huge, and even if Yuan Xi was really nervous, that was something Luo XiaoLou absolutely shouldn’t have pointed out. Besides, Yuan Xi was actually not nervous at all. Yuan Xi gritted his teeth as he looked at Luo XiaoLou and lifted the teen up by his collar.

“Hey, hey — I’m — wrong…” Luo XiaoLou was almost out of breath.

At that moment, the teaching staff in charge of the test saved Luo XiaoLou’s life, “Next, Yuan Xi.”

Yuan Xi dropped Luo XiaoLou, grunted, walked inside, before taking a few steps back and returning. He lifted Luo XiaoLou again and ordered, “You take the test properly, and don’t embarrass me — besides, there’s nothing hard about it at all.”

Luo XiaoLou smacked his lips to show that he understood, then watched as Yuan Xi entered the door.

Exhaling deeply, Luo XiaoLou began to move his arms and legs. At this time, the person behind Luo XiaoLou in the line finally managed to say, “Hey, I — I know you. I’m so impressed with your courage to come to the Mecha Department.”

Luo XiaoLou turned back with a doubtful look. It was a tall, sunny teenager with very deep features and very bright blue eyes. The teenager looked at Luo XiaoLou’s expression and hurriedly introduced himself, “Ah, hello, I’m Yates. Your name is Luo XiaoLou, right?”

Luo XiaoLou not-so-reluctantly shook the hand of this self-made man and uncertainly said, “I am. I didn’t know I was already so famous.”

Yates smiled, “Of course. It’s because you’re the first one to tell the faculty that you can’t afford to pay the tuition fees.”

Luo XiaoLou rolled his eyes; it was true.

“I, in fact, think you’re very brave.” Yates was afraid that Luo XiaoLou might misunderstand and quickly explained, “Actually, my family is not well off too, and I’ve used up all the money my family has to come to this school. I didn’t want to come, but my mother really wants me to enter the Mecha Department of this school.”

Luo XiaoLou nodded, feeling a little bit better about this Yates as well, and said, “You’re here, aren’t you? And you can pass the test. I trust that you’ll be able to.”

Yates smiled bitterly and lowered his head, “Well, I know I can do it. But the Mecha Department is the most expensive. The most common and lowest mecha costs a million federal coins. I’m just worried. I don’t want to burden my family any more.”

Luo XiaoLou opened his mouth wide, he didn’t even know that!

“So, I admire you for daring to pick the Mecha Department even with such conditions.” After depressingly finishing his words, Yates looked at Luo XiaoLou with some admiration.

“Ah, is that so? I just don’t think I should give up on my dreams easily.” Luo XiaoLou mumbled.

“What about the money?”

“Money? I’ll go work to earn money.” Luo XiaoLou casually replied. He didn’t know if he would even be able to raise a million federal coins. Did God have to make his life so pitiful?

“Yeah, I should have been like you! I could also go to work and earn money, and not use my family’s money! Well, it’s decided, I’ll do my best later. I’ll be a great mecha warrior for sure!” Yates swore behind him, emotions finally mobilizing.

Luo XiaoLou’s mouth twitched. Now he finally understood why there were so many weird stares when he walked into the Mecha Department testing hall.

“Hey Luo XiaoLou, did you know, I’m lucky my genetic rank is A! I’ll definitely be able to pass the exam.” Probably because there was no mental burden anymore, Yates behind him opened up and pulled Luo XiaoLou to start talking, “What about you?”

Luo XiaoLou frowned. Was there a relationship between the test mecha line and genetic rank? “I’m D.”

Yates didn’t know what to say anymore. He really didn’t have the words to comfort Luo XiaoLou, who was in front of him, so he could only pat Luo XiaoLou’s shoulder with a heavy heart, “Don’t be too nervous. Just like your companion said, there’s nothing hard about it. By the way, your companion is really nice to you.” Even though he knew there was no hope at all, he still comforted Luo XiaoLou like this.

Luo XiaoLou choked. Classmate are you actually joking, which eye did you see that Yuan Xi was nice to me?

The two people were whispering when another door opened. A silver-haired teenager with a tall build and delicate brows came out. Because of the teenager’s appearance, there was a small commotion among the group facing that door. Many people looked at the teenager with fervent reverence. The silver-haired teenager swept a cold glance around and sharply turned to leave.

In Luo XiaoLou’s eyes, although this teenager was good looking, he really looked like a problematic youth. After taking a couple of glances at him, he didn’t look any further. Yates, however, got excited and grabbed Luo XiaoLou’s shoulders hard, while exclaiming, “It’s Luo ShaoTian! That genius! Some say he’s probably genetically S-Ranked! S-Rank, you know?”

Luo XiaoLou was also stunned. The last time he saw his cheap father’s eldest son in the Luo family, if he remembered correctly, his name was Luo ShaoJun. Thinking of this, Luo XiaoLou suddenly had a bad premonition, and he even asked, “Then Luo ShaoTian’s family —”

“I can’t believe you don’t know. He is the youngest son of Major General Luo Chengyun. He is a young genius and his family is so prominent, he will be a shining star in the future. I heard that the military department is now staring at him very closely, trying to net him in. His big brother is also great. He’s a fourth year student, the student council president of Saint Miro Academy, and will be entering the Ministry for an internship next year.” Yates immediately gossiped.

Luo XiaoLou sighed. He really was from the Luo family. Looks like I’ll have to avoid this Luo ShaoTian in the future. And that Luo ShaoJun, the last time I saw him, he felt very city-like. Although always smiling, the more he’s like this, the more dangerous he is.

Although he had made it clear that he wouldn’t take another step into the Luo family, what others thought, no one knew.

Yates was still constantly praising Luo ShaoTian and expressing his admiration. Luo XiaoLou intended to stop him and said with a smile, “Don’t praise others, you’re great too. Look, with less than ten percent of genetically A-ranked people, you’re a genius too.”

Yates was a little embarrassed and hastily waved his hand, “What am I, to be called a genius? There are two new students today, one is Luo ShaoTian from just now, and the other one is Ling Shu —”

As he spoke, the door opened and Yuan Xi stepped out. The teacher followed right behind him with a smile on his face, looking very impressed with Yuan Xi.

“Next, Luo XiaoLou.”

Hearing the teacher call him, Luo XiaoLou readied himself to go inside, too nervous to ask how Yuan Xi’s test went. But by the looks of it, he must have passed. Entering through the door, there was first a long passage before the teacher finally stopped at a door. When it opened, there was a huge virtual pod.

That teacher opened the pod and allowed Luo XiaoLou to lie in it. Luo XiaoLou nervously lay down inside and closed his eyes. After hearing a banging sound, everything went completely black before his eyes.

Then, he felt his wrists and ankles bound by something, and he could not move his body at all. It felt like an electric current was passing through his whole body, and soon, his head began to feel dizzy and he even began to feel nauseous.

The feeling was so unbearable that Luo XiaoLou had to clench his teeth to endure it. He didn’t know how much time had passed, but he felt that his clothes were soaked with sweat.

Just as Luo XiaoLou was about to lose his consciousness, all the sensations suddenly disappeared, and then the hatch was reopened.

Luo XiaoLou stood up shakily. He was held by the teacher, “Sit down for a while. Why did the system automatically interrupt after only thirty seconds?” The teacher checked the equipment and saw that there were no errors. He then set his eyes on Luo XiaoLou and said, “Show me your information.”

Luo XiaoLou handed over the data he had brought to the teacher. Was something wrong?

After reading it, the teacher frowned and advised, “Student, it’s true that the Mecha Department is hot right now, but according to your condition and health, you won’t be able to apply for the Mecha Department at all. You see, you can’t even pass the first level, let alone the next few levels.”

Huh? But no one told me that, did they?

“Teacher, what does it take to apply to the Mecha Department?” Luo XiaoLou asked.

“Genetic rank B or above, and physical ability to reach rank 5. Student, I’m afraid that your physical ability is barely even rank 2. I see you, ah, quickly think about enrolling in another department, go back and rest today. You still have a day tomorrow.” After the teacher explained, he opened the door and walked out.

At this time, the door on the other side also opened. It was meant for Lup XiaoLou to enter the next testing session, but they didn’t expect Luo XiaoLou hadn’t even passed the first level.

The two teachers walked out together, talking as they did so, “The students this year are really mixed.”

The other one said, “Yes, that one just now, my goodness, it was so high. I just heard the director say that there are two geniuses today, so it looks like there’s another one.”

“Yeah, it’s a surprise for the school. The director must be overjoyed.”

Luo XiaoLou followed behind with his head hanging down as they talked and walked outside. He didn’t think that he was so bad. It seemed it wasn’t that he didn’t try hard, it was that the Mecha Department really had no business with him.

After all, the one before Luo XiaoLou was Yuan Xi, who had done very well in the exam.

Never mind, he had tried as hard as he could. What could he do about things like genetic rank and physical strength? Now, even though he couldn’t drive a mecha anymore, he could at least watch the person who lived with him drive a mecha.

Despite that thought, Luo XiaoLou felt his eyes get a little hot. Of course he wasn’t crying, there was nothing to cry about.

The door opened and the teacher called out for Yates to enter. Yates gave a nervous look at Luo XiaoLou as he walked inside. Luo XiaoLou looked at him silently and whispered, “Go for it, get into the Mecha Department if you can. That’s your dream, after all.”

Yates nodded, gave Luo XiaoLou a hard pat on the shoulder, and walked in.

Luo XiaoLou then saw Yuan Xi, who was standing impatiently amidst everyone’s eager eyes.

Seeing Luo XiaoLou come out so quickly, Yuan Xi was also surprised.Then, he stared at Yates, who had walked in, with a bad expression and asked first, “How was it?”

Luo XiaoLou whispered, “No.”

Yuan Xi looked at Luo XiaoLou for a moment and turned to walk out.

As the two of them left the Mecha Department test hall, Yuan Xi suddenly spoke out, “Then you’ll take the mecha manufacturing test tomorrow.”

Luo XiaoLou looked up, confused as to how Yuan Xi knew about his second choice.

“What are you looking at?! Even if you can’t go out fighting with me, you can always apply for a profession that’s useful to your master!” Yuan Xi said unhappily, as if Luo XiaoLou was the one who had the hardest time not getting into the Mecha Department.

Luo XiaoLou suddenly laughed as he looked up at the high and blue sky, and said, “Well, then I’ll come and apply for the Mecha Manufacturing Department tomorrow.”

Luo XiaoLou’s submissiveness finally satisfied Yuan Xi, and he led Luo XiaoLou towards where he parked the car.

“Hey, Yuan Xi, I want to go to the grocery store. You have a car, can you come with me?” Luo XiaoLou suddenly spoke up. Seeing that Yuan Xi ignored him, he added, “You don’t like to eat vegetables every day either, so I want to go buy a fish. I make good fish, really.”

Even if he failed today, he still had to treat himself.

Yuan Xi glanced at him as the two got into the car and said, “If you get Miki’s cake, I can drive you over there too.”

Luo XiaoLou blinked, Miki? Oh, it seems the last cake box I bought had three trees on it. ¹

A fish was five hundred federal coins… Luo XiaoLou also endured the pain of buying a bag of rice for one thousand federal coins.

Finally, Yuan Xi drove around to the famous cake shop and bought two of the smallest cakes. He had spent two thousand federal coins in one day, and the money he had saved was not enough to cover his living expenses for nine days.

Luo XiaoLou took a deep breath in the car, wondering if it was his illusion that Yuan Xi was in a particularly good mood. Following Yuan Xi’s gaze — Luo XiaoLou saw he was looking at the cake…

Today’s dinner was very hearty. Vinegared shredded potatoes, braised fish, tomato and egg soup, and two boxes of after-dinner desserts. Yuan Xi was very satisfied, at least as evidenced by the fact that he hadn’t even uttered a single sarcastic remark about Luo XiaoLou after he’d settled for three-quarters of the fish, and the same proportion of shredded potatoes and egg soup.

Luo XiaoLou ate the fragrant rice in silence. He had been wanting to make rice for a long time, and compared to those ten federal coin boxes of fake rice, it was a difference between heaven and earth.

By the time Luo XiaoLou cleared up the dishes and returned from the kitchen, there were two empty cake boxes on the table… Luo XiaoLou shouted in his heart, Yuan Xi you bastard, who was it that despised him for a man’s love of cake!

Responding to the activity in Luo XiaoLou’s mind, there was a command, “Are you done cleaning up? My bathroom needs to be cleaned.”

Little did Luo XiaoLou know that while he was busy treating himself on his side, two groups of people were busy looking for him.

In front of Saint Miro Academy, several students looked at the red-haired young man standing at the head of the group, “Wah, I can’t find him. Is he still inside the school?”

The red-haired youth hatefully cursed, “Who knows? Such a loser. With those kinds of genes, he still dared to go to the Mecha Department. It’s simply a deliberate attempt to cause trouble for Brother Tian, let’s wait.”

Another student suggested, “How about we go in and find him?”

The red-haired youth thought for a moment and shook his head, “No, the school is so big, how will we find him? Besides, no one dares to cause trouble inside Saint Miro Academy.”

Several students speechlessly looked at the red-haired youth, and they were beginning to regret agreeing to help. The students at Saint Miro Academy really shouldn’t be messed with, and who knew what would happen if they did?

Moreover, besides the red-haired youth, they weren’t students of Saint Miro Academy, so they couldn’t afford to do such a thing. A student advised, “Brother Hua, although you want to get to know that Luo ShaoTian, from what you said, he and his big brother haven’t said anything, and it looks like they don’t mean to take care of that kid…”

The red-haired young man was a little angry. He needed to make Luo XiaoLou not go to this school, so why was he willing to give up so easily? Compared to the others, Chen Hua, whose father had spent a lot of money to get him in, had no background and was not a rich man in front of these many gilded people.

Even if he wasn’t smart, he couldn’t stand people looking at him like that, so Chen Hua called a group of his buddies from outside the school and prepared to clean up Luo XiaoLou. It would be better if he could get him to automatically withdraw from school.

“Wait a little longer…”

Meanwhile, in the Mecha Manufacturing Department, several senior personnel were sitting around with serious faces. A middle-aged man carefully took out a mecha part and said to the people around him, “You guys test it first to see what’s different about this part.”

It was a simple Grade 1 part, but when the middle-aged man placed the part on the tester and looked at the row of data displayed, the faces of the people changed.