Mecha Chapter 30: Consciousness

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

Continue? Why should he continue? Luo XiaoLou wasn’t sure, but in this highly stressful situation where he couldn’t make up his mind, he subconsciously followed that instruction.

You can’t stop, you have to go faster, faster! The progress bar at the top left of the screen had finally improved significantly. Eighty-nine, ninety, ninety-one…

Luo XiaoLou was startled when the progress bar suddenly turned red. His eyes stared straight at the progress bar, but his fingers didn’t stop. He had memorized these basic keys in his repeated practice over and over again.

The bright red seemed to shift the pain in his brain, and gradually the pain swelled and started boiling, as if something was stirring in his head.

The sweat on Luo XiaoLou’s forehead slid across his eyelashes and some dripped down his cheeks, but he didn’t feel it at all, staring unblinkingly at the progress bar as if it was an invisible goal instead. If he reached the apex, he could rest from the pain in his fingers and head.

For that goal, Luo XiaoLou’s fingers unconsciously sped up again, and the naked eye could only see the virtual shadow of his fingers, flashing across the keys.

Ninety-nine, one hundred!

Luo XiaoLou only felt a bang in his head, as if something had exploded, and then the pain suddenly disappeared. It was replaced by a warm and pleasant feeling of comfort.

Luo XiaoLou gasped. God, this training was so sick, he would never laugh at those mecha warriors in secret again. It was really not easy. 

Luo XiaoLou pressed the exit button and the cabin went dark. Then he pushed open the virtual hatch and weakly got out.

Luo XiaoLou sat down against the virtual hatch since Yuan Xi still seemed to be training. His clothes were soaked through, and he didn’t even want to move a finger.

Luo XiaoLou closed his eyes slightly, and just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard a voice call out, “Oh my god, you actually made a breakthrough. Your Source of Consciousness power reached the initial stage. Oh it’s so touching, I can’t believe I’ve seen such a breakthrough again in my lifetime.”

Luo XiaoLou was shocked by that touching tone. He tried to blink, but he still couldn’t support his eyelids.

“125, is that you? Please use your normal voice, you’re an A.I., not a human. Also, what do you mean by that? I’m not sure I understand, but you were the one who told me to go on.” Luo XiaoLou asked wearily.

The A.I. flashed in an aggrieved manner, but of course this wasn’t seen by Luo XiaoLou, and so it had to continue, “Of course, I mean, you advanced. A few days ago, you were just at the primary awakening stage of your consciousness, and now, you’ve truly awakened it, even though you’re still a beginner.”

Luo XiaoLou was stunned. When he had first met 125, it did report a bunch of data, and at that time Luo XiaoLou didn’t care.

Luo XiaoLou blinked, then was pleasantly surprised, “Beginner… Beginner? You mean some kind of power? Jesus, you mean I’ve been reborn as a genius with supernatural powers? Oh no, not possessing, but controlling abnormal energy through one’s own hard and diligent efforts, and later on, the power will increase to dominate the universe or something —”

“Please stop being so narcissistic okay? I feel like I’m about to be overwhelmed with your imagination and I’m going to die.”

“…” Luo XiaoLou grinded his teeth, “Besides dying, I think we can try a forced shutdown if necessary.”

The emerald stone flickered and slid imperceptibly inside Luo XiaoLou’s shirt.

“Say, what did you mean by those words?” Luo XiaoLou asked.

Seeing that Luo XiaoLou didn’t really mean to shut it down, 125 resumed that monotonous voice again, “Source of Consciousness is a power that every creature possesses, but how much varies from person to person. And this Source of Consciousness has another name in the Federation: spiritual power. I think you should be familiar with this one, right? The best example is that all mecha parts are made by hand, rather than opting for more efficient machining for a reason.” 

Luo XiaoLou was stunned. Regarding the manual assembly of mecha parts, he had actually looked into it, and there had been a record on the virtual network that ever since the cosmic calendar year 3806, there had been no need for mechanical or robotic processing.

Before year 3806 of the cosmic calendar, except for high-grade mecha parts that could only be made by hand, some low-grade mecha parts were mostly quantified mechanically. As a result, the price of ordinary mecha during that period was constantly at an all-time low. However, during a war against the alien beasts of the outer planes, 5,000 low-grade mecha malfunctioned at the same time and were unable to move.

After the tragic war, which caused a stir in the Federation, the Federation’s Mecha Research Department called in a renowned mecha builder to find out why. It was discovered that the few mecha that had managed to escape were all hand-built, while the ones that had failed were all mechanically mounted mecha.

Since then, the mecha parts had been assembled by hand.

Luo XiaoLou once asked Shen Yuan this question, but Shen Yuan didn’t know. Master Yan was there at the time and he had said, ‘You’re interested in this? When you find the answer to this question, come find me.’

Now that Luo XiaoLou suddenly understood, he asked in amazement, “Is it because of spiritual power?”

“It’s true that a large part of the reason for this is because of spiritual power, and the performance of mecha made by artificial combinations is much better than those assembled mechanically. And the mental strength of some master makers is even a level higher than others, which is why the mecha they make are irreplaceable.”

It really seemed that he was more suitable to be a mecha maker, and coming to experience the training of mecha warriors could improve the spiritual power needed for mecha makers…

Luo XiaoLou didn’t know whether to be surprised or not, so he could only say, “So what you’re saying is that I’ve just entered the beginning stages of my spiritual power, so it’s no big deal?”

“Of course not. There’s another thing I need to tell you. What you’re raising is the Source of Consciousness power, which is slightly different from spiritual power. This depends on the noble bloodline in your blood, the Blue Origin Star Exotic Beast bloodline. I’m so sorry that I didn’t even detect it when I first met you.” 125 said with sincere trepidation.

After hearing this, Luo XiaoLou didn’t speak for a long while, and finally he cried out in despair and anger, “What’s with this damned exotic beast bloodline?! What else do you have to hit me with, can you finish everything at once?”

“Well, technically, in my eyes, you are a Blue Origin Star Exotic Beast.”

“Oh shit, you’re the Exotic Beast, your whole family is Exotic Beast!” Luo XiaoLou completely stormed off.

“Although according to the database data, your words are thirty percent correct, I wouldn’t dare to call myself that. The one who made me is indeed a Blue Origin Star Exotic Beast, and due to my master’s gift, I carry the blood of a noble Exotic Beast in my body. But compared to the blood in your body, I’m much less pure.” 125’s tone was full of gratitude and reverence. When he said the last sentence, he inevitably let out a small hint of jealousy.

“…Motherfucker, which eye of yours is looking at me like I’m a monster?!” Luo XiaoLou looked at the stone in his hand like a psychopath. Did he look that easy to be brainwashed by an A.I. with a neurological problem? How dare this guy use honorifics when talking about his beastly bloodline?!

“Well, of course you don’t look at all as elegant and noble as the Blue Origin Star Exotics — ahem, after all, you still have half the dirty Federation genes — ah, of course I don’t mean you! Even as a human half, you are still much more powerful than the others.” 125 said carefully against his will.

“…What do you mean? Are you kidding me? Me — do I really have the Exotic Beast gene? How is that possible?” Luo XiaoLou shuddered and held up his hands. His skin, palm lines, veins… didn’t they look normal? How could he, how could he have half the genes belonging to a beast? Even if he was more receptive, this was just too much of a travesty.

Besides, wasn’t he the illegitimate son of Major General Luo? So why was he a beast? His mother really didn’t seem like someone who was that open-minded…

“When I became aware of your bloodline, I secretly collected a small section of your hair for testing, and have already discovered that your blood contains a mutated gene of the Blue Origin Star Exotic Beasts. That gene is unique to the Mythical Beast Clan, and was one of the three most powerful bloodlines of the Blue Origin Star at that time. It is said that Blue Origin Star Exotic Beasts would never look at humans, but one exotic beast from the Mythical Beast Clan was lost in the war.”

125 said with nostalgia, “My master came to rescue that beast, then found out that the despicable Federation humans had captured that Mythical Beast Clan beast and experimented on him, fusing him with a human. In the end, he shut down his Source of Consciousness, leaving only that human he had fused into behind. My master was also in danger at that time, and left me by that human’s side in a time of crisis to guard the beast’s genes that might awaken. The Federation humans didn’t know that the beast gene in this person’s body had fallen asleep, and they still experimented on that poor human. In the end, that human couldn’t help but sneak out. He took me with him when he escaped — in fact, he couldn’t have gotten out without my help.”

“And you are the offspring of that human. There was a certain chance that that poor man’s offspring would be of the Blue Origin Star Exotic Beast blood. The last time I was powered on was when your mother was on her deathbed. She was also the last human to carry the Exotic Beast gene, and I must say that she was a rare, beautiful and gentle woman among the vile humans…”

“Wait.” Luo XiaoLou interrupted 125’s nostalgia with a frown and asked with a hint of hope, “Dying? Isn’t my mother Ms. Jin? She’s living well in the Luo family. Have you actually mistaken her for someone else?”

The green stone flashed, seemingly giving Luo XiaoLou a blank glance, “How could that be? Ms. Jin was the maid your mother hired to take care of her son at the time.”

Luo XiaoLou’s eyes went blank, what — what kind of pithy bridge is this?! What’s the deal with that family? And he doesn’t want to be a beast!

“So, you see, technically, I’m part of your family.” 125 said movingly, and if it hadn’t been hampered by the form restriction, it probably would have sprinkled a few tears. “That’s why you can’t reveal me to the public, but of course, now you have secrets you can’t reveal as well.”

Luo XiaoLou muttered to himself, “If I shut you down and get some sleep, will I simply discover that this is a mere nightmare?”

“Never, absolutely never! You must never be impulsive…”

Luo XiaoLou sighed and said dejectedly, “That means I’m half-beast. That’s very dangerous, and I could transform at any time. My fate in the future is that sooner or later a Federation superhero will come and kill the monster boss, and all will be happy?”

“…That isn’t quite right.” 125 whispered, “You’re actually not in any danger at all right now. You didn’t get the family inheritance to cultivate the Source of Consciousness power. Of course, you just turned it on yourself during your training, which is a good thing. But I have to say that your current power is not offensive in any way. Even the most ordinary human mecha warrior can kill you —”

“Hell, I wasn’t about to kill mecha warriors either!” Luo XiaoLou angrily interrupted 125’s words.

“Uh, well, if you insist. After all, I can’t force an unarmed exotic beast to kill, that would be too beastly.”

“……”

“Don’t be sad. The Source of Consciousness that you opened is still very useful, and if you keep practicing and improving, your ability to create mecha will become stronger and stronger.” The kind-hearted 125 advised Luo XiaoLou.

“Hmm.” Luo XiaoLou replied dejectedly, deciding to ignore his beast bloodline. He had been a human in his last life anyway, and with a personality like his, how could he be even slightly animalistic? He just was unlucky enough to be born into a person with the beast bloodline.

“Don’t worry, since you have — that bloodline, you’re my half-master and I’ll always be with you.” 125 said thoughtfully.

Half-master?! Who wants to be your half-master? Hey! But in that case, double the amount of slavery to this damned guy who only brings him bad luck.

“Hey, I remember, now that I’m also your master, when I go near Yuan Xi again at night in the future, do something to stop me.” Luo XiaoLou’s first thought was this that made him extremely embarrassed.

“Geez! Are you kidding me? Your master is an SSS genetic human!! How can I escape his eyes in my current state of only being able to boot up?!” 125, in his haste, forgot to deny the relationship between Yuan Xi and Luo XiaoLou.

Luo XiaoLou, however, didn’t pursue the matter as he was still in shock, “Damn, isn’t it S-Rank, how come he became an SSS-Rank?”

“That’s an instrument limitation, and the S-Rank is measured at your school, right? The Federal Military Department can only measure double S’s at best, and only the very special departments can measure Yuan Xi’s true rank.” 125 said quickly, working out the best excuse for his evasive question.

At that moment, Yuan Xi’s hatch opened and the stone in Luo XiaoLou’s hand quickly became dead. “……”

Yuan Xi neatly jumped out, still in high spirits, not even a hair out of place, as he walked over to Luo XiaoLou and asked, “How did you get out?” 

Yuan Xi frowned after seeing the sweaty Luo XiaoLou, and reached out to help the dumbfounded Luo XiaoLou up. Luo XiaoLou looked at Yuan Xi unblinkingly, his heart was really all sorts of beasts running wild with envy and jealousy. Even if there is a gap, don’t be so devastating okay!

One had beast genes, and the other was a SSS-Rank — God knows Luo XiaoLou had never even heard of such a high rank. But, but even so, he wasn’t going to remain as someone’s slave at all. Luo XiaoLou was in tears, could he really KO Yuan Xi and get out of the slave contract?

Yuan Xi noticed Luo XiaoLou’s attentive gaze and the corners of his mouth curled upwards. He moved his hand down again, touched Luo XiaoLou’s sweaty forehead and let him lean against him — a slave showing a little weakness or something to get close to him, he, the master, still had to cooperate.

Yuan Xi checked Luo XiaoLou’s virtual cabin records in passing; in two hours, Luo XiaoLou had only done the simplest Level 1 training. Yuan Xi was puzzled. Was Luo XiaoLou’s body so weak that he couldn’t even pass the Level 1 training?

Yuan Xi clicked on the results, Level 1 Speed Training, Excellent, Grade: 100.

Yuan Xi stared at Luo XiaoLou, who was dizzy at his side. In the speed training room, after sixty points, one could enter the next level of training, and almost most of them passed at once.

Although it was the simplest training, there were not many people who could really reach the ‘excellent’ grade. The Mecha Department had so many people, but only the top few students of each class could reach more than ninety points, and those who reached one hundred percent had never existed.

But now, there was a new highest score on the performance record list, and the one hundred percent was glaringly bright.

Yuan Xi was shocked to discover that the weak Luo XiaoLou had actually performed a miracle. Yuan Xi then checked the name of Luo XiaoLou’s login account. It was a simple word: Chushi; good thing this guy knew not to use his real name.

“Let’s go, that’s enough practice for today.” Yuan Xi helped Luo XiaoLou walk outside, one arm around Luo XiaoLou’s waist and the other around his shoulders. 

At first glance, it looked like Luo XiaoLou was in his arms. Luo XiaoLou moved restlessly since there were many Mecha Department students who had finished their training outside.

Yuan Xi put his hand on Luo XiaoLou’s waist and said fiercely, “Hey, there’s a limit to how much you can be pampered. Don’t wiggle around. Do you want me to carry you away?”

Luo XiaoLou didn’t dare to move anymore. Because he was looking ahead, he didn’t see Yuan Xi’s slightly flushed face and the faint regret in his eyes. If Luo XiaoLou held on a little longer, he might have satisfied his desire…

There were obviously a lot of people leaving at this hour, but Yuan Xi didn’t let any of them touch the exhausted and disengaged Luo XiaoLou he was shielding in front of him.

When they reached the car, Luo XiaoLou turned a glance at Yuan Xi and suggested, “Let’s go to Miki, it’s been a few days since we bought cake.” Yuan Xi had helped a lot today, so he should show his appreciation.

Yuan Xi’s eyes lit up, then he said arrogantly, “If you have to go, then I’ll go too.”

 

Luo XiaoLou smiled slightly, this monster-like level of man was actually not hard to please at all.