Mecha Chapter 117: Suspicious

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Lhachril

 

When Luo XiaoLou woke up the next day, he saw Ivan sitting by the bedside with worry in his green eyes. When he saw Luo XiaoLou woke up, his long eyelashes flickered, showing a relieved expression, then he said fiercely, “Didn’t I tell you, you’ve just arrived, and your strength is so poor, that there was no need to force it?” Before waiting for a response, he left the room.

Luo XiaoLou craned his neck to look at the big cat nestled by his pillow and made a gesture of surrender, “I’m fine, thank you. Who brought me back yesterday?”

Luo XiaoLou asked 125 about yesterday’s bizarre fainting spell last night, and knowing that it wasn’t due to a physical or exotic beast mutation, he hadn’t bothered more. But 125 had been checking him without finding out the cause. Besides, the fact that he would be able to leave in three days was enough to put him in a happy mood now, and even Arthur was a little more agreeable.

“It was Arthur. I saw you didn’t come back by dinner and dragged him to you, I was going to let you cook dinner or something. But – I don’t like Li either, he’s too careful.” Ivan said with a depressed look on his face, and here, as if suddenly remembering something, his eyes lit up, “Now that Arthur’s out there, do you need me to go and say that I’ll let you take a few days off, so you’ll have time to help me cook dinner?”

Luo XiaoLou tilted his head to look outside, since Ivan’s house was on the first floor, he could easily see Arthur and the mecha next to him outside.

Luo XiaoLou sat up straight and looked at the mecha next to Arthur and whispered, “He really is a mecha warrior…”

“Of course, Arthur is the best fighter we have here, he’s a big hero.” Ivan tilted his head up proudly, as if Luo XiaoLou was praising him personally.

“His mecha seems special?” Luo XiaoLou looked outside without looking away, he was learning how to make level 3 mecha, and he was almost done with level 4 mecha, now he had some itch when he saw it.

“Yeah, that’s the best mecha that Master Maku made and he gave it to Arthur,” Ivan also turned to look inside the courtyard, his bright eyes filled with envy and yearning.

Luo XiaoLou saw that Arthur was concentrating on a simple cleaning of the mecha, and it was clear that he cared for his own mecha. Luo XiaoLou had a few good feelings for all the mecha warriors who loved their mecha, and Arthur’s negative image was finally raised a few points.

Then Ivan said, “Arthur’s mecha is the only Level 3 mecha we have here, and he said that if I’m ever as good as he is, he’ll agree to talk to Master Maku and request a mecha for me.”

Luo XiaoLou coughed, a level 3 mecha? How is that possible? Taken aback, Luo XiaoLou accidentally said what he was really thinking, “Why do you rank it so low?”

Ivan stared at Luo XiaoLou in amazement, his face grew red, and finally tottered to his feet, shouting at Luo XiaoLou, “No way is that low! You don’t even understand-“

“Come on, Ivan, he’s from Advanced Planet, and has seen mecha that are naturally much more advanced than yours. It’s normal to think that a level three mecha is low.” Arthur’s cynical voice sounded from the doorway.

Not sure if it was due to a guilty conscience or what, Luo XiaoLou felt a chill coming from Arthur’s dark eyes. But – Level 3 mecha was really low, he could produce it all now.

Ivan turned red and took a few steps towards the door before finally turning around and asking viciously, “Do you want some breakfast?”

Luo XiaoLou immediately retrieved the words that came to his mouth and nodded vigorously. He hadn’t eaten since last night, and he was now so hungry that he was a little dizzy.

Arthur touched Ivan’s little head, glanced at Luo XiaoLou in the house and said with a smile, “He’s sick, he can’t eat much. You go warm up some white porridge.”

Ivan looked at Luo XiaoLou suspiciously a couple of times, then nodded, turned around and walked to the kitchen.

Luo XiaoLou gritted his teeth at Arthur. This was definitely retaliation, but after feeling his stomach, which was already screaming, Luo XiaoLou wisely decided not to offend the person providing the food.

After eating, Luo XiaoLou helped Ivan clear the table. He couldn’t help but go outside to look at Arthur’s mecha. He felt something was wrong. If Ivan hadn’t said it was a level 3 mecha, he would have suspected it was a level 6 or 7 mecha. Why did he have such an illusion?

When Luo XiaoLou was almost in front of the mecha, when the mecha suddenly disappeared. Luo XiaoLou’s eyes narrowed and he immediately realized that Arthur had put it away.

Arthur was holding his arm beside him and laughing, “What’s there to see in such a lowly mecha?”

Luo XiaoLou looked at the smiling but gunpowder-faced Arthur and felt the need to explain, “I never meant to look down on low-level mecha. On the contrary, I like every mecha, probably because I can’t pilot them, I’m not genetically ranked enough. But I really like mecha, and I envy mecha warriors who can fight to protect their important people or country. Besides, a good mecha warrior can probably get the most out of even the lowliest mecha.”

The smile on Arthur’s face gradually slipped away, and his eyes stared at Luo XiaoLou so complexly that Luo XiaoLou couldn’t even tell he was seeing sympathy or hatred.

At this time, Ivan finished cleaning up the house and came out, yelling for Arthur to train with him. Arthur turned to look at Ivan, and he returned to his usual hangdog smile with a bit of evil spirit. When Ivan saw Luo XiaoLou, he hesitated for two seconds and muttered, “Since you’re sick, you should rest at home.”

“No, I’m fine, I’ll go help with the materials.” Luo XiaoLou said smilingly, aside from his serious collecting fetish, Luo XiaoLou actually liked materials as much as 125 did, and even if he could help with them, he would love to get more hands-on with them.

Not only did it exercise his Source of Consciousness, but it also improved his proficiency in handling materials, which in Luo XiaoLou’s eyes had a lot to do with the quality of the finished mecha part. Only a few people realized this, and this was something that Luo XiaoLou discovered when he used the Source of Consciousness to comb through materials while he made the Energy Box.

Ivan stared at Luo XiaoLou in amazement, seemingly not expecting Luo XiaoLou to be honest like this, “Why are you being so active? It’s not like Bai Heng is going to pay you a salary.”

Luo XiaoLou was also taken aback, then shouted out, “How could he do that?! It’s not right to garnish a worker’s wages, I’ve seen that in the legal regulations.” Even if one only worked three days, they couldn’t work for free. He hadn’t had to deal with that, except with Yuan Xi.

125 was beside itself with righteous indignation and cheered him on, as if it were being exploited too, “Yes! Honey, you should be more aggressive! We can sue them!”

Ivan looked at Luo XiaoLou in silence for two seconds and suggested loudly as he dragged a beaming Arthur away, “Then go file a complaint. We here at the Supreme Court will definitely send someone to talk to Arthur first to give you some sort of verdict.” From a distance Ivan and Arthur could be heard summing up Luo XiaoLou’s really ugly and pathetic comment, causing Arthur to let out a loud laugh.

Luo XiaoLou deflated all of a sudden. Yeah, he was with a bunch of star pirates talking about fairness. But despite everything, he really enjoyed handling the material. After a moment of dilemma, Luo XiaoLou headed to yesterday’s warehouse.

Bai Heng probably didn’t expect Luo XiaoLou to appear in front of him so quickly, frowned, let Luo XiaoLou into the workroom, brought him to a small warehouse inside, and said, “I’ve seen the materials you handled yesterday, and your technique is quite good. The mecha parts exchange might be used.”

“What is that? Buying and selling mecha parts?” Luo XiaoLou asked casually, and he couldn’t help but think of Manager Gao from Heavenly Winter. He hoped that he had sent enough Energy Boxes over when he left, and that he wouldn’t run out of stock by the time he returned.

“Of course not.” Bai Heng leaned against the door and watched as Luo XiaoLou began to get his hands on the materials, which he had previously handled himself.

It wasn’t that there weren’t any mecha makers here. It was just that there were so few of them, and they were mostly apprentice mecha makers. There was almost no one like him who could make mecha parts on their own. They could, at most, help with simple overhauling of mecha, or complete the assembly of fixed mecha parts.

That’s right, what they were most short of here was mecha makers.

Because of Li’s words, Bai Heng’s first impression of Luo XiaoLou was pretty bad. But after seeing Luo XiaoLou faint from exhaustion and then come back to work on his own without saying anything, his attitude towards Luo XiaoLou changed slightly.

Moreover, as Bai Heng stared at Luo XiaoLou at the workbench, he felt comfortable with Luo XiaoLou’s movements and serious expression as he handled the materials. His movements were so skilled, as if with a passion that originated from his bones, the people watching around him couldn’t help but be infected. This seemed to sparkle enough to make up for his ugly looks. Perhaps, he could talk to Li, who was a good person, to stay as an assistant.

Just because of this strange feeling, Bai Heng patiently explained, “The Mecha Parts Exchange Conference is actually held by the entire Grey Galaxy, where various mecha makers take out their own works, exchange experiences and tips, and of course, they also judge the rankings, and the top three can get instructions from Master Maku.”

“Oh, that’s pretty lucky.” Luo XiaoLou said not very sincerely, a mecha maker who could make the highest ranked third level? But he didn’t joke about it, because even if he didn’t use reinforcements, he could barely scrape together a fourth level mecha.

Bai Heng wanted to stop talking and turned around to leave. He still had a lot of things to prepare, and Arthur and the others were placing a lot of importance on this exchange. If he could get a ranking, then they might have another fight in their mecha.

In order not to attract attention, Luo XiaoLou controlled the speed of his processing but was more careful with the steps of the materials. He felt he could not have had this kind of patience and effect before. Luo XiaoLou’s own hands were itching to look at the processed materials, while 125 could not wait to move them into its space, pestering Luo XiaoLou for a long time until Luo XiaoLou agreed to buy them for him if he earned the money to do so.

“Shouldn’t you buy food first at such a critical time?” Luo XiaoLou nagged unsatisfied.

“We can leave a few days later. There are several materials that are precious, and you actually want them, right? Besides, you said you’d let me spend your money as soon as I woke up. Let me use your account to mail order collectibles online, download movies and never scold me or anything.”

“When did I say that!?” Luo XiaoLou was furious.

Cringing at Luo XiaoLou’s anger, 125  then said righteously, “What do you mean, I have a recording, you can’t be unreasonable. When I was unconscious, you clearly said, ‘If you can wake up, I’ve decided to treat you better in the future.'” The last line schooled his fosterer’s tone of voice ten to ten.

“……” That’s a million miles away from what you said, okay.

But how do you make money to buy enough food and materials, that’s the question.

Luo XiaoLou was struggling with this when Ivan came to him. The little teenager tensed his face and put on his master’s frame, “I want to go up to the mountain tomorrow afternoon. You come with me there. You can at least help me carry some things. Well, it’s safer for two people to go, and no one will be free tomorrow.” 

Probably this last one was the main reason. Luo XiaoLou smiled in his heart, no matter what, Ivan was still a kid. But with 125 here, he should be able to protect Ivan if something really went wrong.

The next day, Luo XiaoLou finished his work on Bai Heng’s side early, and although Bai Heng was a bit reluctant for him to leave, he still agreed. He really didn’t have anything to be picky about the new assistant. Diligent, sharp working, never complained about the tasks assigned, and was always smiling.

Finding himself thinking farther and farther away, Bai Heng suddenly froze and began to reflect on whether he had liked Li for so long that he was now lonely all by himself.

Ivan climbed into the improvised truck, sat Luo XiaoLou in the passenger seat, and drove out of the city in high spirits.

Luo XiaoLou took a closer look at the city. It was slightly ancient, but the defenses were extremely well done, although at a glance it was no match for Arun. The city wall outside was tall and sturdy, and lined with long-range particle cannons. There was a bunker on top of the walls every ten meters or so, doing the most comprehensive reconnaissance and protection work.

Easily defensible, worthy of a pirate’s headquarters.

Ivan held up the chest stripe code and swiped at it, and the gates of the city walls opened silently.

“What are you doing outside the city?” Luo XiaoLou asked curiously. Ivan obviously lived with Arthur. What does a child need to do on his own?

Ivan smiled mysteriously and said, “Food, I want to give Arthur a surprise.”

As soon as Ivan said that, Luo XiaoLou didn’t open his mouth and also reflexively swallowed his saliva. The biggest difference between the lower level Planet and the upper level Planet, in Luo XiaoLou’s eyes wasn’t the difference in high technology, nor was it the development and construction of the city, but the difference in food between the two.

In the upper level Planet, natural food was very expensive. The lower level Planet, on the other hand, even the artificial food was expensive, let alone the natural food.

Outside the city was a long mountain range with lush trees. The tall trees bearing huge and brightly colored fruits, but Ivan didn’t even glance at them, he just drove deeper into the mountain range.

After another half an hour, Ivan stopped the car. He first pulled out the Poly Energy Dagger Arthur gave him from his chest, carefully installed a civilian ordinary Energy Box, the lowest kind, fifty Luo energy. Luo XiaoLou was dumbfounded, he was sure that this dagger could only be used for five days at most.

He was just about to poke his head out of the car when Ivan looked back at Luo XiaoLou, then flipped out a gun and handed it to Luo XiaoLou, saying, “If there’s any noise later, just protect yourself and don’t slow me down. I’ll go down to look for food, and you – forget it, you wait up there.”

Luo XiaoLou came down from the other side of the door as soon as Ivan’s small figure disappeared behind the tree, too.

Materials ah, all materials ah, those huge fruits that were neither edible nor usable in the eyes of the locals, but resembled one of the seven levels of materials that Luo XiaoLou knew, the Jinsu fruit, which was also a rare catalytic reactant. Luo XiaoLou was overjoyed, such high-grade materials that could be obtained without spending money were really Itoo splendid.

After Luo XiaoLou had climbed dozens of trees, even with the help of Source of Consciousness Force, he began to gasp for breath.

 

At this moment, Ivan’s scream was suddenly heard in the distance, followed by a deafening beast’s roar.