Mecha Chapter 82: Assessment

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Sulo

 

The poor regular employees of the Kane Group all walked in at a much faster pace than usual, greeting Ling Xu respectfully as they passed by the door.

Luo XiaoLou’s mouth twitched. The people who came to work overtime on the weekend, and early in the morning, were suffering enough, couldn’t this young master sleep at home and enjoy the weekend life and so on? Luo XiaoLou hesitated in the same place for a while. There was still half an hour left for him to go to work, and he didn’t have much time to delay outside.

Luo XiaoLou scanned left and right and walked in next to a middle-aged man from the research department, who he had met under Di Jia’s hand. Although there was no conversation, there was the impression that the two of them had bumped into each other halfway and came over together.

When the middle-aged man looked over, Luo XiaoLou smiled at him, and the man was stunned for a second before he also smiled and nodded. Although his heart was surprised, he did not ask more questions.

When he reached Ling Xu’s side, the middle-aged man greeted him, “Good morning, Young Master Ling.”

Luo XiaoLou, on the other hand, shrank to the side and lowered his head, staring directly at his feet.

Ling Xu gave the two of them a cold glance and nodded slightly.

Luo XiaoLou was only completely relieved after he entered the gate. As long as the young master with the long eyes and head wasn’t here to trouble him, he was always generous. In the blink of an eye, he threw the matter to the back of his mind and headed to Master Yan’s laboratory. It had been so long since he’d seen the old man, he actually missed him a little.

Luo XiaoLou had just changed into his grey assistant’s uniform when he saw Master Yan’s assistant push open the door and say with a smile, “XiaoLou, Master asked you to go to the ninth floor… um, Room 913, on his behalf to do him a favor and make a part.”

Luo XiaoLou’s eyebrows furrowed. Making a part? Why should he go? He didn’t want to have another encounter with Ling Xu. Luo XiaoLou looked at the others, then awkwardly noticed that the people who had just been smiling and greeting each other as they changed, were already standing in front of their own test benches, making it look like they were too busy to do anything.

Work slow, or he would have put on an act!

Luo XiaoLou gritted his teeth. In the end, he didn’t dare to disobey Old Man Yan. He hadn’t seen him for more than two months, and he really didn’t want to listen to the old man’s middle-aged cursing voice early this Saturday morning.

Luo XiaoLou went to the ninth floor, and as soon as he got out of the elevator, he saw Shen Yuan. He leaned over to greet him, “Brother Shen, what are you doing here?”

Shen Yuan smiled at him and said, “Mn, I knew you would come too.” He said looking at the time, “I’ll explain to you when I come out. There’s no time now. Just find your own room and go in.”

Luo XiaoLou was stunned, could something big be happening? At that moment, Luo XiaoLou just happened to spot Room 913, and walked in.

When he entered the room, he knew why it was called his room; it was a mecha maker’s special studio. It was a workshop exclusively for mecha makers. It didn’t take up much space, but it had all kinds of equipment, and there was a large table filled with materials.

As Luo XiaoLou looked around, the touch screen on the wall suddenly flashed, and a woman in the Kane Group uniform appeared on the screen, saying, “All personnel have now arrived and are ready. The assessment is officially underway, and you will now be asked to design a suitable weapon for this mecha, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. this Saturday.”

The beauty on the screen was replaced by the image of a mecha.

Luo XiaoLou was dumbfounded again — 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. He couldn’t do anything else today. He had had a hard time coming to Kane, this was too much of a travesty.

Luo XiaoLou didn’t complain for long, however, and soon caught sight of the mecha on the screen.

It was a very elegant mecha that was red and white. Not as petite as the women’s mecha, but not bulky either, which made Luo XiaoLou, who had been seeing bodybuilding muscle mecha for a week, get a bright idea.

It dawned on Luo XiaoLou that this might be Kane’s new mecha, and they wanted them to brainstorm weapons for the mecha.

The first few shots were stereoscopic images of the mecha from various angles, and some of the mecha’s parameters were even marked on one side. The latter was a series of motion shots of the mecha being driven at speed through different scenarios, occasionally performing some difficult manoeuvres.

The more Luo XiaoLou looked at it, the more amazed he became. Having recently taken part in mecha training, it was easy to see that the person driving the mecha was very good! More than one level above him, even in the light, he would definitely be in Group 1.

As the thought passed, Luo XiaoLou watched in fascination for a moment before withdrawing his mind and beginning to focus on the mecha itself. Weapons were a crucial configuration of the mecha, affecting its combat, attack, overall ability, and even sometimes its defense.

Luo XiaoLou kept gazing at the screen. Presumably to make the mecha makers better at crafting the right weapons, and the video was very long.

Some of them watched for a few minutes in order to make better weapons, and then fixed the screen on the top static mecha shape and started choosing the right materials. Making it early naturally had the advantage of getting things done faster. There were all the materials on the table, and in one day, one could have made several weapons.

Although the assessment said to make mecha weapons, it didn’t say that only one kind could be made. Many people couldn’t help but have a small thought to craft several more, just so in case one was matched, it would be a joyous occasion.

Even those who didn’t expect to design the most excellent weapons were excited. Kane was rich and generous, so such a large number of materials for everyone to choose was a rare opportunity to exercise.

For a time, the entire floor of the various workrooms used for assessment was in full swing.

Di Jia looked at the nearly three hundred screens in front of him; some people were busy with the design drawings, others were handling different materials. He looked over at Shen Yuan, who was standing in front of the screen, staring at the mecha, pressing pause every now and then to think about it.

Di Jia nodded in satisfaction and looked down again, giving a little snort when he saw Luo XiaoLou.

Even if the mecha moved fast, Luo XiaoLou was just staring at it like he understood every move it was making.

Di Jia laughed. He had always been convinced of Master Yan’s vision. This new disciple would not let people down.

Julie, the team leader of Mecha Research Department, had already asked him to net Luo XiaoLou over several times, but of course, if it was not for the hurdle that was Master Yan, he would have already moved on.

There was no telling what surprise he would bring this time.

The entire video was two hours long, and Luo XiaoLou had been sitting at one side watching it carefully, and only after he finished did Luo XiaoLou return to his senses when the screen asked if he wanted to replay it.

Luo XiaoLou casually clicked [No] and found himself standing by the wall for a long time.

He was still replaying in his head the image of the mecha warrior operating the mecha, from the slow start — so that one could see the various functions of the mecha — to the random play of the mecha at the end, which was almost too fast to keep up with it.

With the help of the Source of Consciousness, Luo XiaoLou could naturally see clearly, and because of that, he felt even more ideas surging inside. Without a weapon, that mecha could still feel powerful.

If, with a weapon that suited it and filled that sense of absence if any, how powerful would it be?

It was as if there were a million jumbled lines constantly changing in his mind, scratching his heart and making it itch. If he were that mecha warrior, what kind of weapon would he use? What shape and material of weapon would be more appropriate for that mecha…

Slowly, the rapid movements at the end of the video became clearer and clearer, and the lines in Luo XiaoLou’s head gradually found their place and a shape appeared.

Luo XiaoLou opened his eyes and began to observe the weapons on the table.

125 quietly asked, “Have you chosen?”

Luo XiaoLou hummed and ran his fingers over the material, selecting the soft but exceptionally tough Grey Silver Ore, then taking out some extremely hard Black Jade, and the tough Golden Vine.

As he handled the materials, Luo XiaoLou asked, “If I use the Source of Consciousness Fusion, will it be detected?”

125 immediately said, “It won’t be detected. Besides, people proficient in using Spiritual Power will be in a similar situation as you, but the effect will be completely different.”

Luo XiaoLou was reassured. What he ended up producing was a long whip, which was extremely pliable and hard due to the fusion of Grey Silver Ore, Black Jade and Golden Vine.

Luo XiaoLou smiled as he looked at the huge silver-white whip with gold in it, resting on the table.

“Very nice.” 125 praised beside him.

Luo XiaoLou stretched his back and asked, “What time is it?”

“One o’clock in the afternoon.”

“What? It’s so late! Oh no, my lunch!” Luo XiaoLou was about to run outside when he noticed a thermostatic food container on the table by the door, supposedly prepared by Kane for the mecha makers.

“Ah, the quality of service is good.” Luo XiaoLou muttered a praise and sat down on the table by the door to eat.

Di Jia in the main control room almost fainted. The fastest mecha maker had several weapons prepared by now, and the others were still continuing to work on more. Shen Yuan and Luo XiaoLou were naturally Di Jia’s main observations, and after Luo XiaoLou’s whip was formed, Di Jia’s heart immediately moved.

He then noticed that Luo XiaoLou had put all the materials back and the instruments were packed away, meaning that he wasn’t going to make any other weapons.

“Okay, this kid is very confident, I like it.” Julie said with a smile.

Di Jia naturally thought so too, he was more than eager to see the whip. Then, most infuriatingly, Luo XiaoLou actually sat in the doorway in slow motion and started eating! Wouldn’t a moment like this be a good time to hand in your weapon and head back upstairs for dinner? 

This eater!

Luo XiaoLou finished the still tasty meal and thought about taking the empty food container with him outside. Before he left, he pressed the finish button.

When Luo XiaoLou opened the door, he found that a door not far away also opened, and it was Shen Yuan who came out. Luo XiaoLou was delighted and shouted, “Brother Shen!”

Shen Yuan, who was holding a box full of food in his hand, turned around and stopped to wait for Luo XiaoLou. On seeing this, Luo XiaoLou quietly put his empty box behind him before smiling and saying, “So Brother Shen also took part in this inexplicable test.”

Shen Yuan was surprised. “Didn’t Master tell you? Well, but this also seems like his style. It’s like this, the assessment is actually just a competition. There are about sixty elite mecha makers sent out from various departments in the Kane Group, and in order to absorb fresh blood and ideas, there are also quite a few mecha makers who aren’t from the group who have been invited to participate in this design competition together.”

Luo XiaoLou muttered in his heart. It was actually a competition! Old Man Yan’s lab was full of talent, so why send him to participate? Although he was still very interested in this kind of challenge…

Probably guessing what Luo XiaoLou was thinking, Shen Yuan added, “Usually, for this kind of competition, Master Yan’s side won’t send anyone to participate. He probably wants to train you, so he sent you here.”

Luo XiaoLou suddenly felt slightly stressed after finding out it was a competition. What if his results were too poor and he embarrassed the old man? He was sure he’d turn him into a hard-working slave all within the next year…

Shen Yuan saw Luo XiaoLou’s pale face and said, “Are you too tired? You go up first and rest for a while, I’ll let you know when it’s time to come down.”

Luo XiaoLou thanked Shen Yuan, took the food box to the dining room, and then went up to the nineteenth floor with some trepidation.

The lab was still at its busiest when Master Yan saw Luo XiaoLou coming up. The old man waved him into the office to wait inside.

Since Luo XiaoLou came out early, Master Yan didn’t arrange Luo XiaoLou’s division of labor. Luo XiaoLou, who had woken up early and had been doing mecha training for the past few days, waited drowsily inside.

It wasn’t until five o’clock when his wrist vibrated and Luo XiaoLou realized he had actually been asleep on the couch. He clicked on the communicator, told Shen Yuan he’d be down right away, and then realized that Master Yan was actually in the office!

Master Yan didn’t look up and coldly spoke as he wrote something on his lab report, “Finally awake? Wake up and get the hell out of here. You’re making so much noise, you simply can’t do anything in peace!”

Luo XiaoLou was shocked and his face flushed red. This, this was too humiliating — and he was still in Old Man Yan’s office!

“Yes, I’m sorry, I’ll go right down, and I’ll come over to talk to you before I leave.” Luo XiaoLou stammered.

He fully expected Master Yan to say ‘you can just get out of here’, but Master Yan only grunted and actually acquiesced to Luo XiaoLou’s words.

Luo XiaoLou returned to the ninth floor dripping with sweat and found Shen Yuan waiting for him at the elevator door, busy asking, “Brother Shen, why are you still going down, what’s the matter?”

Shen Yuan patted him on the head and said, “It’s the ranking, we’ll have the results in about ten minutes.”

Luo XiaoLou’s face turned even uglier. Was Master Yan waiting for him to report the rankings? God, this old man was so proud of himself…

Luo XiaoLou followed Shen Yuan into the hall where the rankings were to be announced. There were already more than three hundred people inside, and all of them mecha makers who had come to participate in this competition. What surprised Luo XiaoLou even more was that Yang Ke and three other Mecha Manufacturing Department Class 1 students were also there.

A bad feeling rose in Luo XiaoLou’s heart when Shen Yuan said in his ear, “I forgot to tell you that Young Master Ling Xu will personally attend this award ceremony, after all, that mecha is the one he’s driving.”

“……”