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Character ListQiao Zhiya: Half-elf, half-dwarf MC.
Chu Rong: Marshal ML.
Ren Mo: aka Master Ren. A mecha master making full manually-piloted mecha.
Fan Xiangnan: ML’s second-in-command.
Zhuang Yu: A doctor in ML’s army.
Chu Yan: ML’s younger brother. Is the same age as MC.
Chu Huai: ML’s older brother, he’s in politics.
Gu Yan’an: Chu Huai’s wife. She’s a doctor.
Yuan Xiu: Chu Yan’s bestfriend. Advertisement
Xiang Kun: Chu Yan’s mortal enemy. Xiang Hui’s younger brother. Mecha manufacturing student.
Xiang Hui: A colonel. The Xiang family’s current heir. Xiang Kun’s older brother.
Xiang Lingyun: Xiang family’s head. Xiang Kun and Xiang Hui’s father.
Sang Bu: MC’s roommate. Transferred from Information System to Mecha Manufacturing.
Yun Xiachu: MC’s ex-classmate, about first-grader age, but skipped a couple of grades to match MC’s pace.
Qiu Guangji: Ning Kongran’s best friend.
Bearded Teacher aka Master Shang: Qiao Zhiya’s Mecha teacher in VR. Chu Rong’s mother’s teacher. Is currently a mecha manufacturing teacher.
Luo Li: Qiao Zhiya’s senior older brother. He won the online Mecha Manufacturing Contest. Now Qiao Zhiya’s (and Sang Bu’s) homeroom teacher.
An Leen: Imperial Princess.
Neitaxi: General from the Empire, the strongest mecha soldier in the Empire.
Feng: The Imperial High Advisor.
Jian: Feng, the Imperial High Advisor’s son. Studies History. Now has a forced amnesia.
An Lunn: Feng’s dead boyfriend. Jian’s biological father, the current Emperor’s second younger brother.
After Qiao Zhiya woke up the next day, his mind was still a little unclear. He always felt that he had forgotten something, which was very distressing. After Chu Rong learned about it, he just told him not to think too much and gave him a high-level material to divert his attention.
In the afternoon, Chu Huai and Chu Rong went out together. It was not convenient for Qiao Zhiya to follow them, so he found a sunny spot in the yard to sit down and immersed himself in preparing for next week’s game.
The Star Network Mecha Manufacturing Competition would last approximately three months. Except for the first three games, the interval between each subsequent game would be five days.
The first round of competition has ended, and the second round of competition is scheduled two days from now. The content of the competition should still be parts-making.
The difficulty of the competition gradually increases. According to Luo Li, during the competition, the production of primary parts would last about a month, and the production of intermediate and advanced parts would last about one and a half months, which would also involve parts modification. The second half of the second month is for the most important engine production. Once the engine is completed, only the final step is left – the assembly of the mecha.
In other words, if he wants to persist through the entire round of the competition, he must simultaneously learn the intermediate and advanced parts during the early stage, then he should start to learn about the engine production. Bit by bit, slowly persisting throughout the entire event. If he fails even once, then his game will be over immediately.
In such a short time, it is obviously impossible to learn a complete set of intermediate and advanced parts. So, he must design a blueprint as fast as possible to limit which part he should learn to make.
When he was serious, he tended to ignore the things around him. So it wasn’t until a slender and beautiful hand pushed a glass of juice to his hand that he came back to his senses. He was trying to “translate” magic puppet-making into mecha-making. He looked up, and finally met with the hand’s owner.
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“I can see that you are very relaxed here.”
The Imperial High Advisor retracted his hand as he saw Qiao Zhiya finally looking at him. He smiled lightly at him, and asked, “Did you sleep well last night?”
It was as if the spell had been broken, and a certain blurred memory in his mind suddenly woke up. A lot of unfamiliar pictures flashed past. His hand shook, and a long drag mark was pulled out by the electronic pen on the half-drawn design draft.
He immediately retracted his hand and touched his stomach. He looked around and found that the butler who had been walking rabbits around just now was gone. There was no one in the yard, and it was eerily quiet.
Something is wrong.
He became vigilant, looked at the Imperial High Advisor across from him with a straight face. He remembered the strange flake-thing that flew into his mouth for no apparent reason yesterday. He pursed his lips, and his magic power was ready to activate. He touched the communicator with one hand and prepared to take out the hammer with the other.
“Relax, I don’t mean any harm. Mr. Butler is going to prepare some snacks for you.”
The Imperial High Advisor saw his precautions clearly and placed his hands naturally on the table. He relaxed his body and exposed all his vital parts openly to his eyes, expressing his harmlessness and non-aggression. At the same time, he said in a gentle tone, “You saved Jian, so you are our benefactor. I will only repay you, and will not hurt you.”
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Qiao Zhiya still couldn’t relax, what happened yesterday to today felt so odd and eerie. It’s as if
 the reality itself was preventing him from confessing to Chu Rong about the flake. He would never believe it without the manipulation of the Imperial High Advisor.
“Sure enough, it is the reaction that a cub would have.” Seeing him Qiao Zhiya was still on high alert, the Imperial High Advisor sighed strangely. He then lowered his head and brushed the back of his hand, stretched his arm under his eyes, and said gently, ” You see, we are the same kind, so don’t be afraid.”
Qiao Zhiya frowned, looked away, and then his eyes widened in shock.
He saw a small piece of
 scale-like thing suddenly emerge from the man’s originally smooth skin. Judging from the size and color, it was exactly the same thing that floated into his mouth!
He couldn’t help but hold his throat, suddenly feeling like vomiting.
“What a sad reaction. Don’t worry, what you ate yesterday was my power, not real scales.” The Imperial High Advisor brushed his arm again and the scales disappeared.
He suddenly turned his head and glanced in the other direction of the yard, sighing regretfully. He stood up and said, “Good times are always short. Qiao Zhiya, remember, don’t tell others your true origin and the fact that you are not human. That would be a disaster.”
‘My real origin
? The fact that I’m not human?’
Qiao Zhiya was stunned, and then his heart tightened. Seeing that he was about to leave, he hurriedly stood up and asked, “What do you know? You–”
“Shh,” The Imperial High Advisor walked past him, raised his hand and pressed him gently on his shoulder. He whispered, “If one day those humans you trust no longer want you, remember to come to me and I will help you.”
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The warm power on his shoulder disappeared in a flash, and he was stunned for a moment before regaining consciousness. At that time, the Imperial High Advisor had disappeared, and the old butler was walking over with a smile carrying a basket of snacks. The sun was shining, and everything in the courtyard was still as warm as before, as if nothing had happened.
–However, Qiao Zhiya felt that his limbs were numb.
‘Not human
’ He sat back on the chair and mechanically thanked the old butler who brought the snacks. He lowered his head and picked up his pen. He looked at the shadow of himself on the table. His eyes fell on the pointed ears as his grip slowly tightened.
Nowadays, his increasingly stable life has really made him forget that he was fundamentally different from Chu Rong. Even if he looked like a human in appearance, he was not human.
If Chu Rong knew
would he really abandon him?
His eyes fell on the half-drawn blueprint on his e-book. As his mind drifted onto the days he lived with Chu Rong, a smidge of panic started to grow and take root in his heart.
‘If Chu Rong, who hates the Zerg so much, knew that I’m not human and had the same origin as the Zerg, would he give me a scolding and then accept me
 or would he equate me with the Zerg and avoid him from now on?’
‘Or
 he would simply kill me off?’
If Chu Rong knew that he had concealed or even deliberately misled and obscured his origins, what would Chu Rong’s reaction be based on his character?
Anger? Ignore it? Or
 hatred?
His heart trembled, and he quickly shook his head.
‘No, no, Chu Rong is not such an unreasonable and cruel person, he is so good
’
‘–but what if? My own identity will still affect our relationship to some extent.’
His pen stopped moving, his thoughts spiraled out.
Chu Rong came back before dinner and found that Qiao Zhiya was not in good spirits. He was worried that he had been injured by the semi-spiritual fusion last night, so he hurriedly found an excuse to take him for a detailed examination.
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Qiao Zhiya, who had been thinking wildly all afternoon, became more and more panicked by Chu Rong’s decision. He didn’t understand why Chu Rong suddenly asked him to do a full-body check. He was so confused that he completely forgot to tell him about the scales, and became even more depressed.
The examination results showed that everything was normal in Qiao Zhiya. The only problem was that he had lost weight because he hadn’t eaten well recently. Chu Rong’s face turned dark and he scolded him. In the middle of the scolding, he saw that the youth was wilting. He stopped talking again and raised his hand to brush his bangs, then carried him back to the main house.
After dinner, it was time for Qiao Zhiya to go back to school. Because Chu Rong wanted to temporarily hide the news of the Emperor’s rescue, he couldn’t be seen outside for now, so it was inconvenient to send him to school.
“You must eat well at school and don’t use nutritional supplements as a complete substitute.”
Chu Rong frowned and told him. He rubbed his hair and pinched his ears when he found that the youth was oddly stiff.
He deduced that something was wrong, and wanted to keep the youth with him for detailed observation for a few more days. But he couldn’t find a reason and was worried that it would affect his studies. He paused for a moment, before lowering his head and kissed his lips.
Qiao Zhiya looked up at him, his eyes finally regaining some clarity.
“We will get engaged after the Emperor’s affairs are dealt with.” Chu Rong stepped back and touched his forehead, with a hint of tenderness deep in his eyes. Then we will be together forever, so don’t be afraid anymore, I will always be with you.”
‘Forever?’
Qiao Zhiya’s heart trembled. His tangled thoughts were blown away, and the cloudy sky had turned clear. He suddenly became firm, looked at him seriously, and said, “Chu Rong, can we get engaged later? Let’s wait until the competition is over. It should be the holidays by then.”
“After the game?” Chu Rong straightened up with a frown as he touched the youth’s face. He asked, “Are you sure?”
After all, that means it would be pushed back by a couple of months. In fact, he hoped to get engaged as soon as possible.
“Well, I want it at that time.” Qiao Zhiya nodded, smiled at him, and explained, “I will have a gift for you then. You gave me a ring, so it is only fair that I also give you something.”
Chu Rong saw his expression gradually become cheerier, so his worry finally eased. He deliberately asked, “Are you going to prepare a love token for me?”
Qiao Zhiya was stunned for a moment, then stepped forward and hugged him. He didn’t actually answer him, and instead said, “I’m going to school now.  See you next weekend.” After saying that, he nuzzled against Chu Rong’s chest.
Then, he finally let go and ran towards the hover car waiting by the door.
Chu Rong thought he was shy so he only watched him leave, squinting his eyes slightly and raising the corners of his mouth – in hindsight, waiting until the holidays for the engagement is good. He could have more time to prepare.
After arriving at school, Qiao Zhiya and Chu Yan said goodbye at the school gate. They took out their school-issued vehicles and sat on them. Once the blond youth lowered his head – so, when his face was obscured – the smile he maintained on their face disappeared. He turned on the navigation and automatic driving, sitting blankly.
There is no doubt that he likes Chu Rong. Now he even dreams of being with him forever.
But his mother once said that lovers must trust each other and be honest. He agreed with this statement and felt that if a relationship wanted to develop in a long-term and healthy way, concealment and deception must be avoided as much as possible.
The words of the Imperial High Advisor today reminded him that he was hiding the biggest secret from Chu Rong. Chu Rong had the right to know the truth before he and Chu Rong agreed to be with each other for life. He didn’t want this matter to become a weapon that anyone could use to shake their relationship, such as today’s Imperial High Advisor.
Confession is necessary, but before fully confessing, he wanted to do something more for Chu Rong.
He had promised to build Chu Rong a purely manually-driven pilot mecha that was tailored for him. He gave himself three months to complete the detailed design of this kind of mecha in this competition. After he finishes in three months’ time, he will confess. At that time, whether Chu Rong accepts him or not, he will accept the result calmly.
‘If Chu Rong didn’t accept me in three months’ time
’ He looked at the brightly-lit military academy campus outside, his eyes dimming little by little. ‘Then it was probably time for me to leave.’
Life is an unpredictable, hateful thing, always pushing him into the mire of trouble again whenever he manages to fly freely in happiness.
Sang Bu found that Qiao Zhiya suddenly became much calmer after returning from the weekend. Although he was still gentle and friendly to others, he spoke less and less and didn’t smile much. It was like he had gone from being the pampered and cared angel, to growing up into an adult with a subtle smile.
Only when someone loves and protects you can you remain innocent. When suffering is staring at you, there’s only two choices ahead: adapt and grow up, or die.
He frowned, thinking about the rumor that was gradually spreading in the school, and felt a little worried.
“Qiao, you
” He couldn’t help but say.
Hearing this, Qiao Zhiya looked sideways at him. He smiled at him first, and then asked, “What’s wrong?”
Sang Bu glanced at the unfamiliar part that was about to be formed in his hand, so he swallowed his words. He shook his head and replied, “Nothing, I just want to ask you what this part is. I haven’t seen it before. Are you preparing for tonight’s game?”
“Well, the game will involve parts modification, so I have to practice more,” Qiao Zhiya replied. His tone was still full of energy, but his expression and demeanor were completely different from before, lacking any semblance of pure joy.
“Then come on, I will cheer you on during the game,” Sang Bu replied, suppressing his worries in his heart, and decided to wait until after the game to ask him about the rumors.