Mecha Chapter 12: Accomplishment

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

Seeing the shock in everyone’s eyes, the middle-aged man’s expression became serious, “I knew that when you saw this set of data, you’d know why I called you over.”

“This part… This part…” A man wearing glasses stared for a moment and suddenly said aloud, “This can’t be true, there must be something wrong somewhere! The theory simply doesn’t make sense.”

A female researcher was confused, “Yeah, how can there be a 98% rate when the effective usage rate of Grade 1 parts is currently just 90%. Hasn’t it been proven by the masters in the previous hundred years that it is unable to increase?” 

The middle-aged man looked at a young man of twenty-five or twenty-six beside him and said, “Shen Yuan, what do you say?”

At this moment the part was in Shen Yuan’s hand, and he was also a bit uncertain. Seeing that the middle-aged man had turned to him, he got up and humbly said, “Teacher Di Jia, I think this part is a natural combination, there should be no problem.”

Di Jia proudly looked at his disciple and gave a slight smile, his conclusion was the same as Shen Yuan, “There’s no need to argue, I’ve already shown this part to Master Yan, and he personally concluded that no tampering was done on the part. Moreover, he requested that we find this person and make sure to inform him at once.”

As soon as Di Jia finished saying that, the others in the room took in a sharp breath. They were all mecha researchers, or mecha makers, so they knew better how rare the last sentence of the middle-aged man was.

The mecha maker was a profession whose status quo was rather mind-boggling. Unlike mecha warriors, all were respected regardless of their rank, and all could find a battlefield that suited their rank.

Because mecha makers didn’t require genetic ranks or stamina ranks, the goals were very low. A low rank mecha maker just starting out may even be treated like a tinkerer, and will not be able to make ends meet.

High-ranking mecha makers, on the other hand, were recruited by large corporations and families, and the conditions were so good that they were sought after. Such people were the lucky few among the huge number of mecha makers. The first reason was that the requirements of large enterprises and even the military were too high, and the second was that the number of senior mecha makers was already small, so if they couldn’t afford the huge amount of research costs and didn’t have the conditions to repeatedly test and assemble, it would be difficult for them to enter the intermediate rank, let alone the senior rank.

The vast majority of mecha makers were dependent on mecha warriors to exist, and almost every mecha warrior would have their own exclusive mecha maker.

Mecha makers who were not selected by a mecha warrior would usually try to enter the Manufacturing Research Department of a conglomerate, or worse, work in a mecha repair or production facility. Because of the mecha’s unparalleled status in today’s society, jobs were always found, regardless of salary.

The master mecha makers who were above advanced makers and had truly reached great success were no longer called vassals of the mecha warriors. They had a status recognized by society and were even more respected by the mecha warriors for making advanced mecha.

Master Yan was the only one in the Kane group who could be called a master mecha, and this master was of infinite use to them even if he gave a casual instruction or two.

But masters all had their own temperaments. Master Yan was withdrawn, usually staying in his own dedicated research room, strictly forbidding others from disturbing him, and only their leader, Di Jia, could go in at regular times to ask for advice.

And now, just because of a single part, Master Yan personally wanted someone.

After a long silence, one of the old men in the room said, “Since Master Yan says this is true, then this person is indeed a talent!”

Shen Yuan followed and spoke, “Yes, the fact that this person was able to increase the effective application rate of a Grade 1 part to such a terrifying figure when all the masters and top-tier technologies were unable to do anything about it is — amazing!”

Di Jia laughed, “More than remarkable, maybe he’s mastered a manufacturing technique we’re not familiar with. If word got out, the world would go crazy, and so would those famous mecha fighting geniuses!”

The man with the glasses was still a little unconvinced, “But if this is just a coincidence… Besides, it’s only a Grade 1 part…”

The female researcher also said hesitantly at this time, “What Wang Yong said is not without reason. No matter how amazing the improvement of the Grade 1 part is, it can’t induce much. After all, it’s only installed on the most ordinary mecha.”

Di Jia glanced at them, he understood what Wang Yong was thinking, and even felt some empathy. They were senior researchers who had been working in the laboratories of the Kane Group, a world-renowned large corporation, and their treatment and pay was incomparable to other small places. However, it was somewhat unacceptable that they were actually being surpassed by a worker from a small, unknown processing plant.

Di Jia sighed, looked around the office and said, “What if I said that more than one of these parts was found in the same shipment?”

Ah! Almost everyone in the room stood up.

“And in addition to the nearly two thousand Grade 1 parts with 98% effective application rate, there are over two hundred Grade 2 parts with 93% effective application rate, and there’s even one at 95% in the Grade 2 parts,” Di Jia said slowly.

In the midst of everyone’s stunned silence, Shen Yuan said urgently, “Teacher! We have to find this guy.”

Di Jia nodded, “The higher-ups have been instructed that this person must be found, no matter what the cost. We’ve tried to contact that manufacturer as quietly as possible, and we’ll be signing a long-term contract with them soon.”

Now Luo XiaoLou, however, had no idea that he had gotten a group of people into a chicken-and-egg situation. 

At this moment, he was apprehensively sitting in Yuan Xi’s car, his hands shaking nervously. But he didn’t dare to express it in words, because ever since just now, the corner of Yuan Xi’s forehead had been twitching, so it was obvious that he was already holding back from doing anything.

After five minutes of dizziness, Luo XiaoLou softly opened the car door. Yuan Xi also got out of the car as if nothing had happened, and swiped the card to park the car. Luo XiaoLou didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but Yuan Xi carefully brought him to the parking lot as well.

Luo XiaoLou paled and finally managed to say, “Hey, just now in front of the school, I think I saw a few shadows and you knocked them down…”

Yuan Xi snorted, not very sincerely, “Yeah, sorry for scaring you.”

“It’s not that, is it okay to bump into someone?” Luo XiaoLou said.

“You should have more confidence in your owner’s driving skills, absolutely no one died. Besides, why was someone that big trying to block the school entrance as if they were a roadblock?” Yuan Xi gave Luo XiaoLou a blank look and dragged him to the Mecha Manufacturing Department. He had already finished his exams anyway, so there shouldn’t be anything to do today except split classes.

Little did they know that in their daily sarcastic conversation, they had solved a minor crisis for Luo XiaoLou, and at least the pillar at the entrance of Saint Miro Academy was never seen again.

Unlike other departments, there were even more people in front of the Mecha Manufacturing Department today than yesterday. Luo XiaoLou was shocked, but then he thought, maybe all those who didn’t pass yesterday were here today.

Yuan Xi was tired of being surrounded by people and went to the nearby Ancient Martial Arts Practice Hall to wait for Luo XiaoLou.

Luo XiaoLou took a deep breath. Even though he knew that today’s exam should be much easier than the Mecha Department’s, he was still apprehensive, which he really couldn’t be blamed for because, after today, he wouldn’t have a chance.

Two hours later, Luo XiaoLou was called in along with ten other students for the professional exam.

The first one was a theory exam, a written test with fifty questions, most of which were general knowledge about mecha that could be found only on a casual stroll through the virtual internet.

Luo XiaoLou was only halfway through his current middle school textbook, and taking the written test was his biggest worry! But the good news was that he had studied a lot about mecha parts for the sake of his job and hobby, and this helped him a lot.

Out of the fifty questions, he was confident about thirty or so, while the other twenty were left blank.

Then the ten students lined up to enter the second level. If the previous level was theory, this level was practice.

Each student had a box in front of them. The teacher walked up and said, “The box in front of you all has the simplest mecha parts in it. In a minute, we’ll start with a 3D video that will show you how to assemble the three parts. You will only have to assemble one, however — the parts in your box are random, so I urge you to watch the next video carefully. The time limit for this practical exam is half an hour.”

Luo XiaoLou now knew what it meant to be simple, seven steps per part, which was so simple it couldn’t have been simpler.

He had easily memorized all the steps for the parts, which was child’s play for someone who had machined thousands of parts.

Ten minutes later, Luo XiaoLou walked out of the examination room, still very confident in his practice test. In that case, let’s not make Yuan Xi wait impatiently for me.

After Luo XiaoLou left the exam room, the teacher handed Luo XiaoLou his score.

Theory: 39 out of 100 points.

Practicum: 98 out of 100 points.

Overall score: Pass.

Luo XiaoLou looked at his theoretical score with a black face. He plainly remembered a large portion of the questions. Luo XiaoLou walked out of the room easily, and as he opened the door, another door opened at the same time and a person who had finished early also walked out.

When Luo XiaoLou looked up, he felt a bright light and saw a very — very beautiful looking boy.

Luo XiaoLou whistled in his heart, he was really a beauty! The boy’s face was cold, and he seemed to be the arrogant bookish type.

Luo XiaoLou finished commenting in his heart and turned around to go out the door, he still had to rush to tell Yuan Xi the good news that he had passed the exam — which could probably be considered good news.

Luo XiaoLou entered the entrance of the Ancient Martial Arts Department with a relaxed face before being stopped by a mountain of people, “Classmate, we don’t let just anyone in here.”

Luo XiaoLou blinked. Why didn’t he see anyone stopping other people when Yuan Xi had just gone in? What, were they going to treat him differently? Even if he wasn’t as handsome and rich as Yuan Xi, he shouldn’t be treated like this..

“Why?” Luo XiaoLou was angry.

This boy was called Da Shan (Big Mountain), not because he was fat, but because he was tall.

Luo XiaoLou himself was 1.75 meters tall, and he thought that Yuan Xi was tall enough at 1.82 meters, but this one was definitely above 1.96 meters! 

Da Shan pointed to the name of the room above him, “Classmate, you’re a new student, and you’re not from the Ancient Martial Arts Department. This is the Ancient Martial Arts Practice Hall, and no visitors are allowed. Having an overly exuberant curiosity is sometimes not a good thing, trust me, you definitely don’t want to go in there. How unprofitable it would be if you were to get hurt.” At this point, Da Shan glanced at Luo XiaoLou’s small body, “Of course, if you’re looking to train your physical fitness, the school has a special practice area, you can totally go there.”

Looking at Da Shan’s expression of pity for his weak appearance, Luo XiaoLou could only say, “Thanks, I’ll consider your suggestion. I – I’m just here to find someone.”

“Well, there are too many people inside. Also, most people who train inside don’t have their communicators on, so I suggest you wait outside.” Da Shan said, while looking at his communicator a bit anxiously, “What else do you need, classmate? I’m anxious to get back to watch our chairman fight a master. It’s rare for him to fight other people, so I hope I get back in time —”

As he was speaking, Yuan Xi came out from inside with his shirt in one hand. He seemed to be in a good mood, and tossed the shirt to Luo XiaoLou when he saw him. Then he took Luo XiaoLou’s exam results from him, and asked, “How was it?”

Da Shan stared blankly at Yuan Xi and suddenly howled, “Finished the contest so soon?! Ah —”

Luo XiaoLou took one look at the screaming guy, signaled at him that the person he was looking for had arrived, and followed Yuan Xi outside. As he walked, he said, “Well, I passed.”

Yuan Xi snorted, “Does that kind of department still need a test?” Then he looked up from Luo XiaoLou’s report and stared at him with a less than friendly expression, “Listen, at the end of the term, if you still dare to be at this grade and make me lose face, we can start making some punishment rules. My — servants have never had a grade like this before!”

Luo XiaoLou gave Yuan Xi a suspicious glance and said, “I’ll get my grades up.” He didn’t need Yuan Xi to make him try, after all, there was that balding director who was watching him.

Yuan Xi sarcastically continued, “Poor genes, poor physical strength, and now that even your grades suck, could you be any more useless? Well, I seem to be putting up with you too much lately.”

Luo XiaoLou stared… Who’s putting up with whom? I’m begging you, you don’t have to be patient at all!

Yuan Xi didn’t respond to Luo XiaoLou’s ‘come on, quickly kick me out of the way and we’ll part ways immediately’ look. Instead, he just grunted and led the way to the parking lot.

Luo XiaoLou’s heart was in tears. It seemed that Yuan Xi was going to continue to ‘put up with’ him.

They had almost reached the parking lot when Luo XiaoLou saw the good-looking boy again. This time, he was accompanied by a boy in civilian clothes. Since school hadn’t officially started yet, there weren’t too many people wearing school uniforms in the school.

After the boy in civilian clothes saw Luo XiaoLou, there was a slight look of sarcasm on his face, and he actually said, “Even if your family has no money, you don’t need to look for someone to keep you so obviously, right?”

Luo XiaoLou was stunned, what is this?

Yuan Xi, who had always ignored people, immediately stood with a straight face when he heard this, grabbed Luo XiaoLou’s collar in one hand and proudly said, “Isn’t it right for me to keep him?” 

Apparently the word “keep” made Yuan Xi feel satisfied, so the ill-tempered young master didn’t feel angry at all.

Because of Yuan Xi’s righteous words, both of them were a little startled. The face of the boy in civilian clothes was red. He didn’t understand why Yuan Xi was behaving like this even after hearing those words. Shouldn’t he be like them, despising Luo XiaoLou in all sorts of ways?

Luo XiaoLou glared hard at the boy from across the room. Would he be allowed to say to Yuan Xi’s face that — I don’t want to be kept at all. In reality, it’s more like I’ve been keeping Yuan Xi for a month now? In the end Luo XiaoLou could only grit his teeth and say, “This doesn’t seem to be any of your business.”

When Yuan Xi and Luo XiaoLou disappeared, the boy in civilian clothes, who was still a bit indignant and good-looking, said with indifference, “Never mind them, things come in groups.”

That night, only two vegetarian dishes were left on the table.Yuan Xi seemed quite dissatisfied and looked very upset, but didn’t say anything.

Since he didn’t have a job, Luo XiaoLou was now in high spirits, and he was going to make a tutorial plan later.

After quickly washing up, Luo XiaoLou headed to Yuan Xi’s room. 

As long as he helped Yuan Xi clean the bathroom again, he should be fine. 

The door to the bathroom was open, so Luo XiaoLou walked straight in. Then, he noticed that Yuan Xi hadn’t even finished washing today.

“Ah, sorry.” Luo XiaoLou even apologized, “I didn’t know you hadn’t — are you okay?” If he had heard correctly, he had just heard Yuan Xi muffle a grunt, and it was mixed with pain.

Yuan Xi glared angrily at Luo XiaoLou and bellowed, “Get out, who let you in!”

Luo XiaoLou rolled his eyes, turned around and wanted to leave. But when he saw Yuan Xi’s flushed and sweaty face, he hesitated for a few seconds and walked over to the side of the bath.

Yuan Xi seemed to be at a loss, and in his haste, he put his hand on Luo XiaoLou’s neck. Such a vulnerable place, but with just a little pressure…

“Did you hurt your leg? Why didn’t you say so earlier, I’ll help you to the bed first.” Luo XiaoLou really didn’t understand what this person was up to. When it was clear that nothing was wrong, he would still make a mess of him, but at such a time as this, he was silent. How awkward was this person?

 

The author has something to say: Thanks to all those who have commented.

 

Of course Yuan Xi can’t be too scummy, I’ll make XiaoLou try to turn him around……