Mecha Chapter 16: Technology

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

When they saw the six people coming out, some of them already started to stand up and scream, including Tian Le who was on Luo XiaoLou’s side.

“Do you see that?! Those three legendary first years are all genetically S-Rank, Mecha Department’s geniuses!” Tian Le yelled into Luo XiaoLou’s ear.

Luo XiaoLou stared blankly at Yuan Xi who was on the stage. It turned out that this bossy and awkward guy was so powerful…

Yuan Xi stood coldly at the side of the silver-haired Luo ShaoTian, and the other black-haired and black-eyed boy, all three of them equally arrogant and proud.

The seniors opposite the three boys were a bit inadequate, and their momentum seemed to have all been suppressed…

“Oh my God, Luo ShaoTian, Yuan Xi, Ling Xu, they all actually came out! The Principal must have arranged this on purpose! Hey, the main force of the third-years went to field training. I think the senior class is going to be embarrassed this time. They probably didn’t expect all the first-years this year to be so strong.” Tian Le looked at the stage with wide eyes, analyzing while looking at Yang Ke with envy, “I wish I had studied hard, otherwise, I could have been standing behind my idol now…”

“Why would you be standing behind them?” Luo XiaoLou was puzzled.

“Later on, the Mecha Department and the Mecha Manufacturing Department’s student body will collaborate to go out for training. At the end of the semester, when we move up to second-year, we — well, some of us — will stand by the Mecha Department’s students to be their mecha maker.” Tian Le rambled on.

“You mean, we at Mecha Manufacturing Department are for the Mecha Department?” Luo XiaoLou was torn.

“…Or what did you expect?” Tian Le gave Luo XiaoLou a blank look and finally sighed, “It’s a pity that we in Class 10 are rarely picked. Brother, we might have to pave our own path in the future.”

“You — why did you come to the Mecha Manufacturing Department?” Luo XiaoLou felt that he had come to the Mecha Manufacturing Department because of his hobby. He was absolutely not willing to use what he loved to humble himself to please others.

Tian Le finally turned his head, the usual prudishness on his face was gone, and looked at Luo XiaoLou seriously, “Me? I certainly want to get into the Ministry. While my first choice would be to become a qualified mecha maker, as a mecha warrior, I’d rather be a soldier! While those warriors are out in front, fighting for the Alliance, I can offer assistance with my abilities. War is supposed to be won by the assistance of our various departments.”

Seeing the admiration in Luo XiaoLou’s eyes, Tian Le couldn’t help but feel smug. He smiled and hugged Luo XiaoLou’s shoulder, “That’s why I was dead set on having my dad pay to send me to Saint Miro Academy, a school title that makes my chances of advancing into the department much higher. How about it, XiaoLou, isn’t brother great? However, you don’t have to worry about a way out from now on. You can come to your brother Tian Le’s house, half of the business under my dad’s name is a mecha parts processing plant.”

Luo XiaoLou grinned, “That’s good. I’ll make the reservation first, you save me a good seat.”

As this was happening, the following competition began, and Tian Le immediately sat up straight and looked down at the stage.

The Mecha Department’s game was — basketball.

Of course it wasn’t regular basketball, but driving the mecha to play basketball.

Fortunately, the welcome party was held in the biggest hall of the school. After a few lifts of the spectators’ seats, a large area was immediately vacant in the center, and two twenty-meter tall basketball frames stood on either side.

The six students raised their hands, pressed the space button on their chests, and suddenly, six mechas silently appeared behind them. Luo XiaoLou stared blankly at the stage, Yuan Xi’s mecha was white, ten meters tall, not the tallest, but — in Luo XiaoLou’s opinion — the most beautiful!

Gorgeous. Luo XiaoLou had been obsessed with Grade 1 mecha parts lately, and he’d learned a lot from them. What he saw as beautiful was more akin to the perfection of a part, a part that was the most efficient, a part with the most optimal combinations and the most perfect curvature, which was what Luo XiaoLou was obsessed with.

Looking at Yuan Xi’s mecha, Luo XiaoLou marveled at the fact that it was almost the most perfect combination he could imagine.

Of course, Luo ShaoTian’s black mecha and Ling Xu’s red mecha were equally great. The other three seniors’ mecha, which Luo XiaoLou couldn’t really see right now because of where he sat, were not quite as good as those three’s mecha.

The six of them sharply jumped into the cockpit, and with a whistle, the three-on-three match began!

Luo XiaoLou looked stunned that they could drive the mecha with such agility when he could barely get it to move.

Bending, turning, passing, and with the fluid movements of the huge white, black, and red mecha, the students in the arena got excited!

The basic movements were not difficult, but to move comfortably and in a flexible manner like a human being, was too difficult. And for these three first-year students to not only already be able to drive a mecha, but to do so to this extent, was very amazing. After all, most freshmen entering the Mecha Department had never even touched a real mecha before.

Because of the carelessness of the seniors, and because of the superior driving skills of the three, the three came up with two goals! One was a three-pointer by the black mecha, Luo ShaoTian, and the other a dunk by the white mecha, Yuan Xi. The red mecha, Ling Xu, though only responsible for passing, made almost every pass with flawless subtlety.

Within two minutes, the three first-years were working together cleanly and beautifully to take a five-point lead over the seniors.

There was a moment of silence, then a mountain of applause erupted all around them, and the welcome party had completely started.

The senior’s blue mecha paused for two seconds, then the three senior mechas changed their movements and started to adopt a one-on-one urgent policy, trying to break the coordination between the three freshman mechas.

Furthermore, the three senior mechas were very dominant in size, almost a full head taller than Yuan Xi’s mecha. Whenever a first-year was ready to shoot the ball, the senior mecha closest to the basket immediately spun back to the basket and flew up to stop the ball.

Taller than you, bigger than you, the senior group would never be at a disadvantage even if they really bumped into each other, especially in a game like this. Those little fouls were ignored by the referees. Originally, what everyone was looking at was their mecha skills.

That way, the three first-years scored fewer goals, but the seniors, aside from having scored two goals after the initial change in strategy, only had a much harder time scoring again.

Luo ShaoTian and Yuan Xi were in charge of the offense and Ling Xu was in charge of the defense, but they also had a hard time finding chances.

5:4 to the first-years. Time was running out and the seniors were getting anxious. Even a draw would be a shame for them, not to mention a loss.

They were seniors, they knew how to work together, how to interact with their comrades; they had an overall better understanding than the juniors. Even their driving skills should have been better than these newbies who had just come in. 

The seniors were there to give these first-year rookies a leg up, a pressure to become cadets or a direction and example to work towards — not the opposite of being overwhelmed by a few newcomers!

The blue mecha sent out another quick set of instructions and the three senior mechas moved towards the black, white and red mechas at the same time. The blue mecha took a step back, pinned the red mecha with his right foot and struggled to grab the ball in the air.

The blue mecha passed the ball and another senior grabbed it. The senior immediately moved through, and after meeting an oncoming Yuan Xi, made a super fake and threw the ball as Yuan Xi’s mecha almost reached him.

And the ball went in!

The game became 5:6, with the seniors leading by one point.

Now one minute away from the twenty-minute game coming to an end, Ling Xu turned on voice mode. Luo ShaoTian, and Yuan Xi simultaneously heard the words, “Hey, they’re going to test their skills with us.”

“Then let them see what skills really are.”

“Mn, there’s enough time.”

The other two replied at almost the same time.

In this moment, the three suddenly felt a sense of sympathy for their equally proud companions, which was more like the pleasure they felt after acknowledging their teammates.

The red mecha, who had been nonchalant, suddenly flew straight at the blue mecha who had the ball. Then, to the shock of the senior and the crowd, he temporarily redirected with the rush of an arm and snatched the ball into his hands without colliding into the blue mecha. Right after, and in a fake move, he shook off his pursuer and passed the ball to Luo ShaoTian.

The blue mecha almost immediately gave the order, and the other senior’s grey mecha risked a penalty by crashing into Luo ShaoTian, who was in possession of the ball, ready to make a desperate attempt to get the ball into his hands.

Luo ShaoTian’s black mecha was in the air at the time, and there was no way of avoiding it, but it turned 720 degrees in the air the moment the grey mecha came rushing in.

The grey mecha couldn’t brake and crashed directly into the ground.

The audience shouted in awe, “Seven hundred and twenty degree rotation in the air!”

“Geez, even for a genius, it’s too much for a first-year to do that.”

Luo ShaoTian looked at the other two senior mechas that immediately came at him, as well as the grey mecha that was struggling to aim at him with his mouth agape, and casually passed the ball to Yuan Xi. By now, the big screen was already counting down the seconds left for the match to end.

“Ten, nine, eight…” the hearts of the crowd were lifted high with the time and the game on the field.

The other two senior mechas had to change direction midway through the game and struggled to surround Yuan Xi together, one after the other.

Finally the last ball would be stopped! The senior was in awe, and at the same time worried about the injuries of his companion lying on the ground. 

Being targeted by two mechas at the same time, almost all the spectators thought that the game was already decided.

Just then, the blue mecha in front of Yuan Xi only felt him shake twice, and then he felt a huge force, which was gone when he tried to fight to suppress it. In the next moment, he saw only his teammates in front of him, and the white mecha that was sandwiched between them was gone!

They looked at each other and then heard the amazing cheers from the crowd.

At the same time, the whistle blew and the game was over. They looked up at the big screen, 7:6. Yuan Xi had scored.

“Avat arc step!”

“No! It’s multi-angle shifting!”

“Ah… I didn’t see that coming! But it’s awesome!”

Luo XiaoLou was thoroughly shocked — listening to the screams of the girls in the arena, Luo XiaoLou admitted, not so willingly, that Yuan Xi was really quite handsome today.

Amidst the thunderous applause, the three first-year students dragged themselves onto the stage, while the seniors looked listless as they gave their little brothers a meet-and-greet in complete defeat.

The six Mecha Manufacturing Department students also stepped forward. The three senior Mecha Manufacturing Department students overhauled the grey mecha that had fallen and the blue mecha that had been bumped, while the three junior students congratulated the winning three.

Aside from Ling Xu thanking Yang Ke with grace and courtesy, Yuan Xi and Luo ShaoTian only nodded without saying a word to the Mecha Manufacturing Department students who came up to congratulate them enthusiastically.

Even so, Tian Le was still insanely jealous of the three people who got to come up close to his idols. After the welcome party for the new students, the three first-year students who were super talented became completely famous.

Luo XiaoLou stared at Yuan Xi on the stage, and the seductive voice in his heart kept popping up: if Yuan Xi could take me to train…

So when they went back together in the afternoon, Yuan Xi noticed that strangely, Luo XiaoLou seemed to be more attentive and looked at him much more eagerly. Although he didn’t know why, Yuan Xi enjoyed it very much. He was like a proper slave, since Luo XiaoLou had been so ungrateful in the past.

After returning home, Luo XiaoLou’s communicator flashed and he received a message: You have a package, please check it.

Luo XiaoLou grabbed the package when he entered the apartment, and opened the outer packaging.

It was still dark in the room, so Luo XiaoLou opened one of the energy box packages before heading to the wall of the living room. He didn’t notice that the jade necklace around his neck flickered imperceptibly, and then quietly settled down.

Luo XiaoLou installed the energy box, then waited for the light.

Ten seconds, twenty seconds… The apartment was still dark.

Luo XiaoLou blinked and pulled out the energy box from inside, before using the communicator to read the energy on it: 0 Luo.

“No way, how come the new one has already run out?”

Luo XiaoLou immediately pulled another energy box and checked it before unpacking it. It showed the energy stored inside: 50 Luo.

Luo XiaoLou carefully took the energy box out and kept an eye on it before walking to the wall. He found that there was no energy leakage or the like. Luo XiaoLou then looked up to turn on the switch on the wall and put the energy box in again. After waiting a while, there was still no power.

Yuan Xi, who was on the couch, got impatient, “What the hell are you doing?”

Luo XiaoLou stared in shock at the energy box in his hand that had turned into ‘0 Luo’ again, mumbling, “I’m not sure, I don’t know what went wrong. There’s no energy in the energy box. Obviously there was energy in the beginning, but why does it disappear as soon as it is installed?”

“Here, help me out here.” Luo XiaoLou quickly walked towards Yuan Xi. A new energy box that was clearly full of energy immediately turned to zero, isn’t that a hell of a thing?

It was too dark in the room. Luo Xiaolou didn’t pay attention to Yuan Xi’s schoolbag, so he tripped over it and fell to the sofa with the energy box in his hand. Yuan Xi was very unfortunate, and ended up beneath Luo Xiaolou.

Luo Xiaolou stood up in a hurry. A few days ago, Yuan Xi had been injured and his wounds would fully heal only after a few days. He asked carefully, “Did I hurt you?”

Yuan Xi waited quietly and angrily for Luo XiaoLou to get up, then sarcastically said, “I wouldn’t be interested in you even if you threw yourself at me!” 

The boy from the Mecha Manufacturing Department had attempted to approach him during the day after the basketball game, and had even tried to hold his hand. Yuan Xi had seen such kind of people so many times that he certainly didn’t care. But now he felt his face heat up a bit. 

It was good that neither of them could see anything in the dark.

What if — what if Luo XiaoLou likes me? Yuan Xi’s face seemed to heat up even more. He had never thought about it, and had also never had a lover before, so he wasn’t ready for that —

At this moment, Luo XiaoLou whispered urgently, “Can you see how the energy box is doing first? If there’s nothing wrong with your body…” There must be nothing wrong with it! Yuan Xi had just yelled at him in a neutral tone that he wouldn’t be interested in him! Holy shit, what is with this!

Yuan Xi immediately stood up and moved stiffly to the wall with the last energy box. He needed to distract himself from just thinking about that stupid, deadly slave.

By the time Yuan Xi procrastinated putting in the new energy box and the room was finally lit up, Yuan Xi’s face was back to normal. Then he looked proudly at Luo XiaoLou and turned to sit back on the couch.

Maybe he should talk to his slave about his feelings; after all, he was Luo XiaoLou’s master and should be concerned about all aspects of his problems. But — but even if he did, he hadn’t figured out whether to accept it, and if so, how would he accept it? There was no need to make Luo XiaoLou come to dislike him, that seemed too cruel…

Yuan Xi sat upright on the sofa, coughed, ready for a long talk, then said, “— I’ll change the energy box from now on. You’re stupid.”

 

Luo XiaoLou gave him a blank look, and turned to the kitchen to cook.