"Professor! I need to use the restroom!"
The junior year mecha engineering professor adjusted the goggles on his nose.
"What? Did my lecture hit your bladder point?"
"..."
"A first-year student can already design a Super B-grade mecha, and you guys still don't feel any sense of urgency!?"
Wang Tianwei's mecha was her final project. Once finished, she naturally had to submit it to Professor Eugene for grading.
This grading caused quite a stir. After a comprehensive inspection, it was indeed a Super B-grade mecha!
As a result, the entire school found out about it, and they also learned that Wang Tianwei had built the mecha with her own hands in a very short amount of time!
The main point was that she had been in the mecha engineering department for less than a semester... What was even more terrifying was the rumor that she was already practicing with A-grade components!
Newbies usually have no sense of limits when modifying mechas... Was she going to become a cross-grade mecha engineer in the future?
There were barely any cross-grade mecha engineers in the entire Federation!
Eugene had been walking on air these past few days!
As a teacher, who wouldn't like a genius student?
Especially when this student wasn't just a genius, but also incredibly hardworking!? His paternal instincts were practically being awakened!
Whenever he occasionally heard Chao Hao call his precious student Zebra Head, he couldn't stand it and had to go up and argue with him until he was satisfied!
Who gave that thorny brute the right to talk about Qilin's rising star like that? Even the former commander of the First Military District couldn't do that!
What did it feel like to cultivate a mecha master with his own hands!? He was about to find out!
As soon as he returned to the office, he heard Chao Hao complaining about the dress code. Eugene straightened his little vest.
"I think Professor Chao looks great in formal wear. If someone comes for an interview in the future, at least any photo taken will be presentable!"
You have to know that whenever a mecha engineer becomes famous, the media will definitely come to the school for interviews. When those images are broadcasted, the entire Federation will see them!
As Wang Tianwei's teachers, they would have to pay more attention to their image from now on!
Chao Hao was really too lazy to argue with this noble prince, so he awkwardly waved his hand and fled the office.
Making him wear a suit and vest every day like him was worse than killing him!
Next semester, he would apply to be a substitute teacher; at least then he could wear a training uniform!
Meanwhile, Wang Tianwei, the center of all this gossip, was completely unaffected.
She couldn't keep up... She absolutely couldn't keep up!
Her squad had to compete every weekend, and the frequency of mecha malfunctions was getting higher and higher.
Occasionally, they would run into hot-tempered opponents who, regardless of whether they could win or not, would just unleash all their firepower on them right from the start...
At times like these, Jian Jingyu and Zhang Lyra, the two frontline soldiers, had to cover her and Huang Yan while also fighting, making it really difficult for them to also protect their mechas.
However, the QL Major Threat squad was winning more matches, and the prize money was getting higher. They had enough money to repair the mechas, and they had accumulated a lot of combat experience!
It was just that during their weekly sparring sessions with Yama Chao, they still couldn't avoid getting their butts kicked...
He either complained that their moves weren't standard enough, or he felt their tactics were underhanded... He simply didn't understand how useful underhanded could be in the arena!
The mecha blueprints for Huang Yan and Zhang Lyra had also been drawn up.
Jian Jingyu's mecha was S-grade, meaning there were more high-level materials available, so she was still comparing options.
After sending the blueprints to the two of them, she thought her job was done, figuring that at most, she would just go to the site to watch and learn when they modified their mechas.
Unexpectedly, both of them said there was no rush and that they were waiting for her to modify their mechas personally!?
Lyra was one thing... but even that wealthy guy Huang Yan said the same? Did they really trust a B-grade mecha engineer that much!?
She couldn't even ask. If she did, the answer would be that she was the squad's only mecha engineer, so who else would they go to!?
This made it seem like Jian Jingyu wasn't in such a hurry for her mecha modification lately either, as if she had tacitly accepted that she was waiting in line...
In order to complete this grand enterprise as soon as possible, she now had to hand-craft at least five A-grade components every day!
You have to realize, the semester was almost over!
The first-year students had all made some modifications to their mechas to varying degrees.
Only the few of them were still using the plain white starter mechas, having swapped out a few components at most...
She was under so much pressure! She was losing her hair!
But she didn't want to disappoint her teammates either!
At least for now, cross-grade modifications weren't impossible; they were just difficult to do...
"Junior, still working your life away!?"
Was someone calling her?
Wang Tianwei stopped what she was doing and looked toward the doorway with lifeless eyes.
"It's Senior Potato."
The senior who had once sold her a pot for a hundred star coins was standing not far away.
Because the nearby floor was piled high with her materials, blueprints, and notes, it looked like there was nowhere to step.
"...I'll say it again, my name is Jin Peng! Did you ever change my contact name on your optical computer or not!?"
Wang Tianwei paused, took off her gloves and goggles, and operated her optical computer.
"Changed it, changed it... I'm changing it right now."
Doesn't that mean you hadn't changed it before!? You liar!
Seeing her messy hair, Jin Peng didn't even want to complain anymore.
"Don't tell me you slept here last night?"
"How is that possible? The academic building is under curfew at night, you know."
Jin Peng thought about it and agreed.
"So I just woke up early and worked in my dorm for a bit."
"..."
Wang Tianwei glanced at the time. It was already this late!? No wonder she felt completely burned out...
She pulled two pouches of nutrient fluid from her pocket.
"Want a pouch?"
Jin Peng shook his head in distress.
"Junior, stop pushing yourself so hard! Do you know how hyper-competitive Qilin has become because of you guys?"
"Hehe... rolling is good... if you roll it up, it tastes delicious..."
Do you know your eyes are completely out of focus when you talk?
"I'm seriously done! I originally thought Qilin just had a few more snobby rich kids this year?
Who knew that every single one of you is a psychopath!?
Huang Yan and Jian Jingyu are now ranked first in command and first in individual combat, respectively... Oh, and that Zhang Lyra... second in individual combat!
What exactly are you guys trying to do? Can't you leave a way out for your seniors?"
Wang Tianwei took two sips of the nutrient fluid and finally regained some of her senses.
"So, did you finish repairing Lyra's mecha?"
Although the mecha repair shop in Zero Realm offered a twenty percent discount, there was always a line.
There were quite a few people repairing their mechas lately, and their promotion match was this weekend!
Zhang Lyra's mecha radiator had been kicked and broken. Wang Tianwei flipped through her contacts and found Senior Potato, who was also a mecha engineer!
Jin Peng sighed and handed the spatial button to her.
"An A-grade individual combat unit, and a heavy mecha at that! If I couldn't fix it, I was afraid she'd twist my head off..."
"Senior, our Lyra is a cute little bear, she's not as violent as you say!"
Jin Peng looked at Wang Tianwei with a complicated expression.
"If you would just open your eyes and watch one of her matches... Forget it... There's no reasoning with a bear-obsessed fanatic like you."
His gaze shifted to the materials in front of Wang Tianwei.
"You're getting more and more skilled at making A-grade components. It won't be long before you can build an A-grade mecha, right? In the future, if there's a problem with her mecha, you'll be able to fix it yourself."
His tone was rather sour.
But sourness aside, he had also been coming into contact with S-grade materials recently. If a B-grade junior could do it, there was no reason they couldn't!
Wang Tianwei chuckled.
"Almost, just almost! The skeleton of an A-grade mecha is too difficult to handle. Without enough mental power, it's still lacking a bit~"
I could experiment on my own equipment as much as I wanted, but I absolutely couldn't take any chances with Lyra's mecha!
"Lyra is doing a test run with her mecha tonight. Care to come watch, Senior?"
Jinpeng stood up.
"Of course. Shoot me a message when it's time, so I can fix any issues right away."
