Mecha Chapter 124: Miss

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

Bai Heng heard Li’s words and looked at Arthur through the communicator. Arthur was frowning and had a dark face. It looked more like he was sulking, and he probably made Li feel even more uncomfortable like this.

Li still wanted to say more, when Arthur suddenly got up and coldly said, “Forget it.” Then, he stalked out, as if this topic was no longer necessary to discuss.

Bai Heng’s excitement also started to simmer down. Arthur made decisions that he never opposed. Although he was reluctant to part with a talent like Luo XiaoLou, if Arthur didn’t plan to keep someone, he could only secretly regret it. Mecha makers were rare, but they weren’t impossible to find.

Li watched Arthur leave before pulling back, he didn’t cut off the video, but instead said in a deep voice, “Brother Heng, if Luo XiaoLou is as powerful as you say, we can think of a way to help Arthur keep him.”

Bai Heng was stunned. He felt that he was now starting to not even understand Li. Li obviously couldn’t see why Arthur valued Luo XiaoLou, but now he was willing to help to keep him.

Li saw Bai Heng’s meaning, smiled and said, “If Luo XiaoLou leaves like this, Arthur might never forget about him and I’ll feel even worse. Let Arthur break his mind and leave us a technical talent at the same time.”

“Oh? What’s the solution?” Bai Heng came to be in the mood, thinking of the unlimited Tier 3 and Tier 4 mecha he would have access to. It was a great temptation for a mecha maker of a pirate group.

Li then, however, hesitated for a moment and looked at Bai Heng before swallowing and saying, “We can cut first and cut later, there are plenty of ways to get Luo XiaoLou to stay, after all, we’re pirates. Bai Heng, do you… do you like Luo XiaoLou’s skills very much? I know you, you’d like him to stay with you.”

After waiting for a while and seeing that Bai Heng didn’t say anything, Li secretly observed Bai Heng and found his expression didn’t change. Then he continued, “Actually, that guy, he’s just a bit ugly looking, but maybe with a disguise, he’s not that ugly in person. You might as well keep him by your side, at any rate, he’s a technician you like, and it’ll be easy to cultivate your feelings later —”

Bai Heng suddenly spoke out, “Okay, Li, this is the last straw. I know you’re annoyed with me, and I won’t have any other thoughts.” After saying that, he turned off the communicator.

Li looked at the dark screen in stunned silence and suddenly felt some regret. This was the first time Bai Heng had done this to him.

They had grown up together, and in Li’s eyes, even if Bai Heng was with Luo XiaoLou in the future, he wouldn’t easily forget about him and should still be obedient to him. But what was going on now?

Hating to look at the communicator for a while, Li was a little reluctant to let his best friend be sacrificed. After thinking for a while, he loosened his tightly furrowed brow. Even if it was a marriage candidate, there was no need for it to have to be Bai Heng. Without Bai Heng, he could still find someone else. Why did he have to find such a good man for Luo XiaoLou?

 

Luo XiaoLou was surprised, but when he saw Yuan Xi’s unblinking eyes, Luo XiaoLou immediately understood that because he had run away the last time, Yuan Xi had become impatient now and so he had come back inside. He was now watching Luo XiaoLou like a cat protecting its food.

Luo XiaoLou went downstairs to take a look, got up and poured a cup of hot tea for Master Maku, who was finishing up a collaborative project, and halfway through, poured a cup for Yuan Xi and sent it over.

Seeing Yuan Xi’s slightly impatient frown, he smiled pleasantly and even quietly squeezed his hand, making Yuan Xi look a little better. Ever since Yuan Xi came in, Master Maku never mentioned the word bio-genetics, and Luo XiaoLou cooperated without saying anything.

Rather, he was a little puzzled and asked, “Master Maku, I think your technology is at such a level that very few people on an advanced planet can reach this level, so why don’t you know how to make a Tier 4 mecha? Is it because of the methods? Or just the finished product?”

The first thing he needed to do was to purchase a piece of mecha and wait for Luo XiaoLou to be able to do so.

Hearing Luo XiaoLou’s question, Yuan Xi’s eyes narrowed and he lowered his head to continue drinking his tea. Master Maku looked at Luo XiaoLou for a moment, and finally sighed, “Do you think it’s hard for me to get a method to make a Tier 4 mecha? Even if it’s well researched, it’s nothing to me. But for the rest of us, even if we know it, it’s useless.”

Master Maku laughed bitterly, “That’s the biggest difference between an advanced planet and a low levelled planet, people here have very low Spiritual Power. And as you know, a Tier 3 mecha already requires Spiritual Power, while a Tier 4 or even more advanced mechas require more Spiritual Power. So it’s not that we can’t learn it, it’s that we can’t do it.”

Luo XiaoLou looked at Master Maku dumbfoundedly, and stopped talking. He waited for Master Maku to draw up the contract, and Luo XiaoLou first showed it to Yuan Xi, and waited for him to nod before signing his name.

This action allowed Master Maku to finally divide his attention a bit to the young man who was waiting indifferently beside Luo XiaoLou. It was easy to see that this man and Luo XiaoLou had an unusual and very deep relationship. Master Maku smiled and sent the man away after he and Luo XiaoLou arranged a time and place to meet the next day.

Master Maku knew that the technology he possessed was also considered unique on an advanced planet, but he never meant to go there in exchange for mecha purchase rights. He knew exactly what he could expect if he went there.

He would be respectfully invited into the research lab, and then given all kinds of generous treatment, but there would never be any service for the low-grade planets. That was why he had chosen Luo XiaoLou. Perhaps now, Luo XiaoLou was nothing, but Luo XiaoLou’s potential was such that even he couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer genius of it. So, as long as Luo XiaoLou didn’t default on his contract, they would never lose out on this deal.

Luo XiaoLou was, of course, even more satisfied than Master Maku. He wanted to learn how to make a Tier 4 or higher mecha, it was already in his plans, and making more mecha was nothing more than consuming his Source of Consciousness, honing it to proficiency. He didn’t have anything else, but Source of Consciousness was the last thing he lacked.

So after the two of them went out, Luo XiaoLou couldn’t help but proudly brag about the deal with Yuan Xi, who just glanced at him and hugged him back.

Luo XiaoLou still had to teach Ivan to make an energy box, so they stayed at Arthur’s. That night, Ivan was finally able to make his first energy box, and although it only had 500 Luo, he was so excited that he didn’t stop talking.

Given his Spiritual Power, Ivan’s energy box might never reach the 5,000 Luo mark, but it was hard to say how much he would grow up to be when he started working at such a young age.

That evening, Arthur’s gloomy face finally calmed down a bit.

Arthur and Ivan, who had the most contact with him, knew Luo XiaoLou’s temperament and personality well. But when they saw Luo XiaoLou’s various subconscious services to Yuan Xi, they were too shocked to speak.

Finally Arthur couldn’t resist the sarcasm and said, “So it turns out that our prince is not marrying a princely consort, but more of a cook or nanny.”

Yuan Xi looked at Arthur, who was provoking his relationship with Luo XiaoLou, and said matter-of-factly, “Even if you’re a couple, someone has to be in charge of the outside and the inside, right?” 

However, they had to get a home robot that could at least help clean the house and wash the dishes. During the few days Luo XiaoLou was away, Yuan Xi thoroughly felt the importance of a home robot. Thinking of this, Yuan Xi looked sideways at the green jade stone hanging around Luo XiaoLou’s neck. Over the past year, he confirmed that 125 was a guy who couldn’t be counted on.

He’d never seen it do even one useful thing other than poking around with its tail up, collecting everything it was interested in, and watching with bright shiny eyes when they made out. But for the sake of all the information it had downloaded for him, Yuan Xi had forgiven it generously and decided to keep a useless pet-type robot.

Arthur looked dumbly at Yuan Xi, who was guarding the door of the kitchen, and turned to go back to his room with a wince.

That night, the fat cat that had been dominating Luo XiaoLou’s bed with 125 tearfully went to join Ivan, and Yuan Xi held Luo XiaoLou tightly in his arms, going up and down on the poor little slave in such a small room.

On the way in, Yuan Xi lowered his head and kissed Luo XiaoLou’s eyebrows. Lying on the small bed, wearing such rough clothes, and looking at Luo XiaoLou, he wanted to hug him all the time.

Luo XiaoLou was able to cope with the cat’s declaration of sovereignty until the middle of the night, when he finally managed to fall asleep.

For the next few days, Luo XiaoLou went to Master Maku’s place whenever he had time. Yuan Xi sometimes fought against Arthur, sometimes hung around, and the day after he arrived, he brought a communicator and put it on Luo XiaoLou’s wrist.

Luo XiaoLou couldn’t help but assume that Yuan Xi probably didn’t come alone, which was better, at least there was no need to worry about safety.

Luo XiaoLou began to devote all his energy to learning about the biological mecha, and Master Maku taught Luo XiaoLou very carefully, spending the rest of his time with Luo XiaoLou, except for instructing the first three winners.

Luo XiaoLou discovered with admiration that Master Maku’s biogenetic fusion technique was entirely his own research, which was really remarkable in a place with only three tiers of mecha.

If a Tier 3 mecha fused with a biological gene could reach the level of a Tier 6 or 7, then — what height would a Tier 9 mecha reach? Luo XiaoLou could hardly wait. But if Yuan Xi knew that he had put his mind on touching Cloudy Sky again, he wondered if he would blow up.

After a few days of learning, Luo XiaoLou realized that not all creatures’ genes could be fused with mecha, and of course, some of them were useless. Master Maku chose one of the fiercest beasts of the Grey Galaxy, and it was Arthur who helped subdue it, so it was no wonder Master Maku looked at Arthur so differently.

Master Maku had built three biological mechas, one of which Arthur had, one of which he sold to another planet in the Grey Galaxy, and one of which Maku himself had.

Luo XiaoLou had the opportunity to observe and study them, and after a week, he finally got the general theory of the bio-mecha right.

At this time, 125 showed him the lowest level of bio-mecha technology that he had stored. What was originally like looking at a heavenly book now actually felt like an enlightening experience. Moreover, the information 125 had was quite a bit more advanced than Master Maku’s. If Master Maku’s research was just the prototype of bio-mecha, then what 125 gave was the real bio-mecha.

After discussing with 125, Luo XiaoLou picked the simplest drawing to discuss with Master Maku, who was shocked when he saw it. After excitedly snatching the drawing over, he realized that there was something wrong with what he had done. With a pale face, he asked Luo XiaoLou to observe the drawing for one night, and promised not to let anyone else see it.

Luo XiaoLou was dumbfounded and said, “Actually you don’t have to be in such a hurry, you can take your time to view it, I’ll stay for three more days, and it will be the same tomorrow. Besides, isn’t there a celebration tonight?”

Master Maku took a painful look at Luo XiaoLou, who was still in the mood for a celebration, and took the drawings and left quickly. Luo XiaoLou shrugged his shoulders and went to the celebration with Yuan Xi. A rare chance to eat and drink for free, and a free show, why not go?

When they entered the celebration hall, there were already many people inside, and the table area was lined with tempting food and fragrant spirits.

Luo XiaoLou was dismayed to find that even though Yuan Xi’s make-up hid most of his good looks, he was still the brightest person at the celebration. Elegant and generous in his manners, coupled with his good looks and the kind of arrogance that came from his bones, he firmly attracted the attention of the young girls. So much so that before Luo XiaoLou even reached the food area, someone had already come up and invited Yuan Xi to dance.

Li watched the two from a distance, patted the slightly overweight girl next to him and said, “That’s the guy, as long as you bring him inside, I definitely have a way to help you keep him.”

 

“Brother, don’t worry.”