Mecha Chapter 15: Disparity

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

Luo XiaoLou was speechless. Using the light from the communicator, he found the energy box behind the wall of the living room. 

The energy box was a device that provided energy for the whole apartment, including electricity, gas, etc. The water bill was automatically deducted from the apartment management fee.

Without the power from the energy box, the two of them made do with a cold shower and went to bed early. Luckily, the micro-computer had the ability to store energy, and they were able to access the virtual network. Luo XiaoLou planned to order a new energy box online.

When he arrived at the transaction center, Luo XiaoLou typed in the words ‘energy box’ and a page full of messages appeared on the screen in front of him.

Luo XiaoLou clicked on the first one, a home energy box, which was most detailed.

‘Ordinary Energy Box, with an energy of 50 Luo. Can support the ordinary configuration of ordinary households for one month. Amount: seven hundred federal coins.’

‘Medium Energy Box, with an energy of 300 Luo. Can support the ordinary configuration of ordinary households for six months. Amount: five thousand federal coins.’

‘High-grade Energy Box, with an energy of 500 Luo. Can support the ordinary configuration of ordinary households for ten months. Amount: nine thousand federal coins.’

Luo XiaoLou was stunned. Their home should be considered an ordinary household, and the configuration was definitely not said to be high, so he would only need the ordinary energy box. But why was the medium 300 Luo energy box, five thousand federal coins instead of four thousand two-hundred federal coins? The price of the high-grade energy box was even more exaggerated. The energy was ten times that of the ordinary energy box, but the price was two thousand federal coins, even more than ten ordinary energy boxes.

Wouldn’t it be easier to buy more and get more discounts in the future? So thinking of this, Luo XiaoLou ordered three ordinary energy boxes. He decided to keep using the ordinary ones, and in the long run, he would also save a lot of money… Already starting to get used to the hard times, Luo XiaoLou was satisfied with his calculations.

However, now there was another expense to be made, and the balance in his account was only fifteen thousand federal coins.

Luo XiaoLou quietly checked Yuan Xi’s card and his heart started pounding. Three million federal coins! In other words, Yuan Xi made three million for fighting on the virtual online platform! Setting his jealousy aside, Luo XiaoLou decided to use Yuan Xi’s money to save for the day when he didn’t have any.

Even if that money wasn’t his own, Luo XiaoLou suddenly felt a lot more confident, so he returned to the trading hall page and browsed casually.

“Household energy box, car energy box, mecha special energy box…” Luo XiaoLou was stunned. There were so many kinds of energy boxes, wait, mecha special energy box?

In other words, the energy on the mecha was also supplied by an energy box. Luo XiaoLou clicked on the mecha special area in a heartbeat.

‘Grade 1 Energy Box, with an energy of 1000 Luo, can support the daily operation mode of a normal mecha for one month. Amount: 20,000 federal coins.’

‘Grade 2 Energy Box, with an energy of 3,000 Luo, can support the daily operation mode of a normal mecha for three months. Amount: 70,000 federal coins.

‘Grade 3 Energy Box, with an energy of 5,000 Luo, can support the daily operation mode of a normal mecha for five months. Amount: 140,000 federal coins.’

“Ordinary mecha, daily operation mode?” Luo XiaoLou murmured in a low voice, “So are the other models more energy intensive?”

“No, if you turn on battle mode, maybe the Grade 1 Energy Box will only last a few days. But it’s still a normal mecha. However, if you use it on a high-level mecha, it might not last more than a day.” A person, who had also come to buy a mecha energy cartridge, next to him answered.

“Why isn’t the Grade 2 Energy Box 60,000 federal coins and the Grade 3 Energy Box not 100,000 federal coins? With this being the case, it’s still the Grade 1 Energy Box that’s most suitable, just buy a few more.” Luo XiaoLou used a small abacus, while calculating ways to save money, and casually asked.

“That can’t be done. Wouldn’t most people prefer to spend more money on a Grade 3 Energy Box? What if you suddenly run out of energy in battle? Do you expect your opponent or enemy to harmoniously and lovingly give you time to change your energy box? Boy, that could cost you your life!”

So that’s how it is, Luo XiaoLou nodded knowingly. Then he saw the person had casually bought five Grade 3 energy boxes for 700,000 federal coins! Damn, he’s rich!

“Are you a mecha warrior?” Luo XiaoLou asked since he was first accosted on the side. He also wanted to inquire about the mecha energy box.

The man shook his head, waited until he had transferred the bill and pressed confirm, before turning back. He looked very young, but his online appearance might not be real. The young man looked at Luo XiaoLou with a toothy smile, “Not quite, I’m just a student in the Mecha Department. What, man, you’re a student too, right?”

Luo XiaoLou nodded. The man was immediately delighted, patting Luo XiaoLou’s shoulder hard, “Great, let’s go. Let’s show a few tricks.”

Luo XiaoLou originally wanted to refuse. He wasn’t from the Mecha Department either, but when the man excitedly dragged him out, Luo XiaoLou followed him out like a ghost because he also felt excited.

In reality, most people couldn’t drive a mecha due to genetic and physical limitations, but on the internet, everyone could. Luo XiaoLou thought of this with a thud, but no matter what, being unable to touch a mecha always made him feel itchy.

The man took Luo XiaoLou straight to the arena area and got a room. The man pressed his chest and a silver grey mecha appeared in front of the two.

At the same moment, Luo XiaoLou had entered the mecha competition area for the first time. The system had assigned him the most ordinary mecha, Dopp 01, which was conservative in appearance, and did not stand out in terms of speed or weapons.

Luo XiaoLou got the mecha down on one knee, and then climbed into the cockpit.

As soon as he was seated, the hatch closed and a blue screen rose in front of him: Chushi, please make a system adjustment.

Luo XiaoLou pulled up the manual and quickly went through the functions and positions of the buttons in front of him.

At this time, a challenge letter appeared on the screen: A challenge from GD.

Luo XiaoLou wiped his sweat, chose to ignore it, and then began to manually set the power system, defense system, and balance system… After a minute, Luo XiaoLou’s fingers were already showing signs of cramping.

There was no way around it because across the street, GD was furious, and within a minute, Luo XiaoLou received fifty challenges from GD! And that’s when Luo XiaoLou finally finished giving some of the most basic adjustment commands.

The next second after clicking on ‘Agree’, Luo XiaoLou’s mecha moved one step to the side, just one step, and then he was gloriously stuck.

Luo XiaoLou only felt a blackness. The mecha was shot in the head, and then the system decided that Chushi had failed. 

Luo XiaoLou tapped ‘OK’ again, then moved his fingers over the keyboard, and Dopp 01 immediately dodged clumsily to the right.

This time GD didn’t use a long-range attack. Instead, pulling out an alloy blade from his back and then stretching out his right foot, there was a blur of an afterimage, and Luo XiaoLou lost sight of the silvery-grey mecha that had been in front of him.

Luo XiaoLou’s heart was struck, and biting his teeth, he tried to recall the keyboard function he had just seen. To be honest, Luo XiaoLou knew his own ability, and he had only just memorized the dozen or so keys for moving. Then, Dopp 01 slashed through the right side in a very odd position.

In the hologram on the screen, Luo XiaoLou had seen GD right behind him, as Dopp 01 successfully dodged and slashed through the air. But GD’s blade didn’t drop, and with a flip, he chased Luo XiaoLou to the right.

Keep running — Luo XiaoLou thought to himself. His fingers moved and Dopp 01 followed. He couldn’t go in a straight line and had to turn — at that moment, an alert appeared on the screen. The mecha’s right leg was cut. Dopp 01 lay on the ground, and the silver-grey mecha arrogantly stood to one side, pointing it’s blade at it.

Then the silver-grey mecha moved to the side, and the young man flipped out of it.

Luo XiaoLou touched the keyboard in front of him, a bit reluctant to get out. He had lost but he really liked the feeling of fighting.

When he finally got out, the young man looked at him with pitying eyes and said, “It must have been hard for you in class at this level, huh?”

Luo XiaoLou considered it for two seconds, then nodded.

“Ahem, come on, work more on your basic skills. Your movements are just miserable.” GD said bluntly.

Luo XiaoLou nodded with a firm gaze, “Alright then, I’ll ask you for a challenge when I’ve improved.”

GD’s eyes twitched, but still took the initiative to add Luo XiaoLou as a friend, “That’s okay, I’ll wait for you to contact me.”

Dopp 01 disappeared, and Luo XiaoLou’s virtual online character had a chain hanging on his chest with an extra black box.

Looking at the familiar colors and lines, this is — this is Dopp 01?

Hands on the box, it showed the space button to activate the mecha. Luo XiaoLou instantly thought of Yuan Xi’s white necklace. It was a mecha! While he was still excited about a cyber mecha, Yuan Xi already had a real one.

Luo XiaoLou sighed, he thought such were the gaps. 

Then, three days later and at the orientation, Luo XiaoLou experienced the real gap between him and Yuan Xi.

The Mecha Department was next to the Mecha Manufacturing Department in the orientation, but both departments were so numerous that Luo XiaoLou couldn’t see where Yuan Xi was.

First was the usual speech by the principal of Saint Miro Academy, and after enjoying the applause, the funny old man winked and ended with this sentence, “At our Saint Miro Military Academy, the new students are always the loveliest and the most popular.  Now, let’s hold a party for the new students!”

Immediately applause and cheers erupted all around, and Fatty Tian Le, who was flanked by Luo XiaoLou, got excited, “It’s on!”

Luo XiaoLou couldn’t help but ask, “What?”

Tian Le laughed, “Hehe, of course it’s the performance competition of all the departments. It’s very exciting every year.”

This statement also made Luo XiaoLou’s interest rise, and he couldn’t help but sit upright and concentrate.

The performance competition was invariably the seniors of each department versus the freshmen of the undergraduate department. 

The seniors of the Ancient Martial Arts Department completely suppressed their younger brothers and sisters as soon as they took the stage. 

Luo XiaoLou never thought that such a subject would still exist after so many years. Earth’s Ancient Martial Arts? Luo XiaoLou’s heart was filled with thoughts of that blue planet as he saw them battle against each other. As they battled, they used the kind of raising of hands with absolute power, skill and speed that dazzled and delighted people.

Finally, the first-year students on stage bowed to the seniors and stepped down.

The competition of the Command Department was the warship battle. The freshmen inventively stalled the enemy’s main force to death, but when they found that defeat was unavoidable, they detonated their own warship and died with the enemy, causing the Command Department’s seniors to gnash their teeth.

Next, the moderator called the Mecha Manufacturing Department, and Tian Le almost ripped Luo XiaoLou’s sleeve, “See, the top three freshmen of our department are going to be on the field!”

Sure enough, Luo XiaoLou next saw Yang Ke, a tall boy and another girl with glasses walking up to the stage. They were competing in assembling parts with the senior group.

Luo XiaoLou immediately perked up. He had now learnt one hundred and twenty Grade 1 parts. He didn’t know if it was because he had some foundation, but he was now learning Grade 1 parts faster and faster.

But it had always been him learning on his own, so Luo XiaoLou was worried about his learning route deviating. He really wanted to find a chance to learn from others, and even if he couldn’t, it would be good to have a chance to observe.

However, Luo XiaoLou was soon disappointed. They were assembling the simplest Grade 2 parts, which added up to sixteen steps.

After twenty-five minutes, the show was over. The fastest senior took seventeen minutes, and Yang Ke, who was praised by the Class 10 teacher, also took twenty minutes. In comparison, Luo XiaoLou could assemble the Grade 2 parts with twenty-three steps and in ten minutes.

However, when one of the seniors saw the parts, he first sorted out all the small parts, which gave Luo XiaoLou some insight.

After the Mecha Manufacturing Department’s show, the audience suddenly burst into applause. The six Mecha Manufacturing Department students did not leave the stage, but turned around and stood at the edge.

The Mecha Department’s showcase participants had arrived.

 

The author has something to say: 

 

Yuan Xi, you must be strong to be an arrogant and awkward seme!