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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.
In the contestant’s room, Qiao Zhiya looked at the parts and accessories on the table. He recalled the mecha design drawings in his mind, and let out a shallow breath. Finally, he  took out his hammer – it was a customized item he made for VR –  picked up a material and started to hammer it carefully.
From now on, every part he made will be slightly different from its traditional counterpart. In other words, from this game on, all the parts he makes are modified parts – in order to complete his unique mecha, he can only do this.
During this period, as long as he incorrectly makes a part, his mecha will fail. So he must treat every game with 120% concentration.
The knowledgeable audience were stunned when they saw him like this. They looked at the material in his hand repeatedly and frowned – what’s going on? That material has obviously been processed and does not need to be processed anymore. What is Qiao Zhiya doing?
Luo Li, who was sitting in the corner, raised his eyebrows with interest in his eyes, “Junior brother, are you planning to make a big move?”
Master Shang waved his hand to silence him. “Look carefully, he is more agile than you in this aspect of modification. Go learn from him.”
One material after another, time passed unknowingly. After the audience discovered that Qiao Zhiya had reprocessed almost 30% of all the provided materials, the mutterings became louder, and they even thought that Qiao Zhiya already knew he couldn’t advance to the next round, so he directly gave up with this move.
The audience who bet on his elimination were happy, and the fans who bet on his promotion were nervous. The audience gradually became quiet, all staring at Qiao Zhiya’s beautiful and flexible hands and the very primitive tool hammer in his hand.
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Chu Rong, who came in with his side account to watch the game, heard the audience’s discussion. He frowned in impatience, then directly muted the audience.
After all, how could the person he fancied so readily give up on this kind of problem?
Modifying materials was a time-consuming job. By the time Qiao Zhiya put down his hammer, half of the two-hour game had passed. Some spectators in the audience chose to leave one after another because they were impatient to watch him mess around with the hammer.
Qiao Zhiya did not look at the auditorium. He put down the hammer, cracked his fingers, and officially started assembling his part.
Luo Li in the audience subconsciously sat straighter.
The parts needed for today’s game were more complicated than those for the last game. It would take an average person about an hour and twenty minutes to successfully assemble them. Originally, the two-hour game time was more than enough, but Qiao Zhiya wasted a full hour on parts modification. With this duration, it’s unclear whether he could complete them on time. Not to mention that he has changed so many materials, so most viewers have given up hope on his promotion.
Chu Yan, who had always been confident in Qiao Zhiya, couldn’t help but become worried, leaning forward with a nervous expression.
After picking up the first material, Qiao Zhiya never stopped moving.
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He skillfully installed the materials into the appropriate position one by one, just like a machine with a preset process. There was no pause or adjustment. Every step was the most suitable and perfect installation angle.
He was like in a trance, flowing freely like a cloud, or maybe, a clear stream. The impetuous mood of the audience gradually calmed down.
Five minutes passed before he knew it, and he finally picked up the first modified materials. The knowledgeable audience couldn’t help but become nervous, and then watched helplessly as he put the unrecognizable materials into a place they had never thought before.
However, it fit perfectly in place.
They seemed to hear a soft click when the modified material was perfectly installed, and then without giving them time to react and digest, another modified material was picked up and installed in another position that they had not expected at all.
The subsequent installation process became completely unfamiliar. Qiao Zhiya’s movements were still smooth and even faster, as if the part itself was meant to be installed this way, but the audience was already confused.
‘What are you doing? Have you really given up the game?’
The audience was in commotion again, and soon they realized they were wrong.
The parts gradually became complete, its rough outlines became clearer, and it really vaguely became more familiar-looking.
The audience stared wide-eyed at the parts in Qiao Zhiya’s hand. It obviously had a strange installation process, but it was gradually changing towards a familiar shape. They were speechless in shock – Qiao Zhiya was preparing to use completely unfamiliar materials, with a strange installation method, but it became something familiar?
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Before they knew it, more than 40 minutes passed, and the last material was inserted and the part was formed. The shape was no different from the one they were familiar with, but they knew clearly that the internal structure of this part was completely different.
The system prompt pops up at the right time:
[Round complete. Parts value: special-grade. Contestant has successfully advanced to the round.]
Qiao Zhiya let out a long breath then laughed. He then no longer muted the audience, stood up, bowed to the stunned audience, and said with a smile, “Thank you everyone for your support. See you next time.” After saying that, his eyes swept across the audience, but he still couldn’t find Chu Rong, so he directly chose to log off.
Chu Rong, who couldn’t make eye contact with him, frowned and followed him in logging off.
The audience looked at the empty crafting table, lonely materials scattered about. They were stunned for a few seconds, and suddenly burst into loud cheers–
They must watch today’s game video several times! Amazing! Surprisingly, after modifying so many materials, this familiar part can be put together in a completely unfamiliar way! The value is still special-grade!
Genius! This Exoplanet Native boy who skipped grades continuously within one year and successfully entered the Federal Military Academy is indeed a genius!
In a corner of the auditorium, Chu Yan smacked his mouth and said, “It’s over. Everyone has discovered that Qiao is very good. The odds of the next game will be ruined.”
Yuan Xiu looked at his arrogant and smiling face. He rolled his eyes and went offline.
On the other side, Xiang Kun looked at the parts on the table with complicated eyes and clenched his fists–
He really has to work harder. Qiao Zhiya is definitely better than him, and he knows that there are many people way better than them. If people who are smarter and more talented than him are working hard, then what about him? He can no longer take things easy as before.
In the dormitory, as soon as Qiao Zhiya walked out of the star network cabin, Chu Rong’s communication request popped up. He rubbed his face and answered the call. When Chu Rong appeared, he immediately said happily, “Chu Rong, I have entered the third round!”
“I saw it.” Seeing how happy he was, Chu Rong’s expression softened. “You are great, I’m proud of you.”
Qiao Zhiya’s ears fluttered, and his smile became brighter.
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“Proud of you”
–He really likes this phrase.
Seeing the pure joy in his face, Chu Rong’s lips upturned in a gentle smile.
The next day, the news that Chu Rong and the Emperor were attacked and disappeared suddenly broke out. The atmosphere in the Federation immediately changed. People began to worry and pray for blessings, and several conflicting public opinions arose.
The President, who had been low-key for a while, suddenly became high-profile and took the initiative to contact an Imperial Prince and dispatch an additional rescue team.
The people became more and more worried after seeing this. Some opinions twisted, saying that Chu Rong had long been doomed.
Chu Yan and Qiao Zhiya in the school fell into the center of public opinion. People they knew or didn’t know kept coming to “give their condolences”. This annoyed them very much, but they couldn’t show it.
Sang Bu finally asked about his worries and reassured Qiao Zhiya.
Qiao Zhiya was surprisingly calm. After thanking him for his comfort, he firmly stated that he believed that Chu Rong would be fine.
Some people heard him say this, and thought that he was only comforting himself, or that he was too naive. Some looked at him with even more sympathy, while some gloated in his perceived misery – Qiao Zhiya’s current identity was all given by Chu Rong. If Chu Rong was gone, could he live as comfortably as now? Of course not! He’ll fall off his high perch, into being just “another Exoplanet Native”.
Qiao Zhiya ignored all the malicious speculation from the outside world and concentrated on perfecting his design. He became more and more “shut-in”.
Two days later, the President’s relationship with the Imperial Prince suddenly became good because of this incident, he also had been trying to build an exalted image of himself and win the hearts of the citizens under the banner of worrying about Chu Rong. Then, the news that Chu Rong had been found came out.
The news came back from a checkpoint at the border. They reported that a few days ago, the detection equipment had tracked traces of Chu Rong’s mecha near the B07 planet, and they speculated that Chu Rong might have fled back to the Federation with the Emperor.
The Empire and the Federation sent search and rescue teams one after another, but only found Fan Xiangnan, who was seriously injured and unconscious on planet B07. They found no trace of Chu Rong or the Emperor.
Hopes were an all-time low. Everyone increasingly believed that Chu Rong and the Emperor might have encountered something unexpected, resulting in their demise. Fan Xiangnan was Chu Rong’s most trusted subordinate. Now that the subordinate has been found but not his superior, the outcome was almost foreseeable.
A few days passed like this, and when the weekend arrived, Qiao Zhiya returned to the main house under his classmates’ sympathetic and gossipy eyes. When he arrived home, he enthusiastically greeted Chu Rong and said goodbye to him.
“How long will this trip be?” He handed Chu Rong the potion he took the time to make and asked with visible concern.
Chu Rong took it, kissed his forehead as he cradled the youth’s face. “I will come back as soon as I send the Emperor back. It won’t be long.” After all, he still needed to get his warship back, including Zhuang Yu and all his other subordinates. Otherwise, he wouldn’t make this trip.
Qiao Zhiya nodded, stretched out his arms to hug him. He tilted his head back and said seriously, “Don’t rush, safety is the most important thing. I’ll wait for you to come back.”
Chu Rong looked at him for a few seconds, suddenly showed a slight smile, then lightly pulled his ear. “I know, I know. You’re a grown-up Bald Chicken now.”
Qiao Zhiya, who hadn’t been called that for a long time, was stunned for a moment. He buried his head in his arms, nuzzled against it, and muttered in a low voice, “You are the Bald Chicken. Plus, I have grown up since a long time ago.”
After saying that, he remembered that he had cried several times recently, so he hid his face in Chu Rong’s face in shame. After that, he let go of him, waved, and said, “Have a good trip.”
Chu Rong patted and rubbed the youth’s head. Then, he brushed against his ear, and found that he was no longer stiff. He felt relieved and gently kissed him on the lips. After a pause, he turned and walked towards the guest house next door – in order to avoid unnecessary trouble, he was not prepared to let the old Emperor see the Chu family members except himself.
The black mecha soared into the sky, and Qiao Zhiya leaned against the window as he watched him leave. The mecha’s shape design, which he had been unable to imagine for a long time, was suddenly perfected in his mind.
In the past, he only thought green and brown were the most beautiful colors in the world, as they were the colors of nature. But now he has added two more colors, white and black, to his list of stunningly beautiful colors.
A new week has arrived, and the midterm exams at the military academy have begun.
Qiao Zhiya got the first place in the grade with perfect scores in all subjects, putting a strong blow on those malicious speculations that he was “overly sad and would fail the midterm exam”. At the same time, news came from the empire that Chu Rong returned with the Emperor and the Imperial High Advisor. Arriving at the Empire’s capital planet, the Emperor was safely sent to General Neitaxi’s office.
The rumors proved to be self-defeating. The melon-eating people cheered happily, and the Imperial Prince was shocked. The President quickly cut off contact with the Imperial Prince and canceled the subsequent press conference planned to win the hearts of the people.
The old Emperor, who returned to the Empire, immediately deposed his eldest son. He bluntly stated that the attack was done by him in the name of rebellion. He sincerely thanked Chu Rong for his rescue, gave him many priceless treasures, and took the initiative to give him his blessing. He mentioned that for Chu Rong’s marriage, he would attend to congratulate him in person.
Afterwards, Chu Rong set off back to the Federation under the escort of the Emperor’s personal guards; and at the same time, the Empire began a secret purge of its political officials.
On the day Chu Rong arrived in the Federation, the third round of the Star Network Mecha Manufacturing Competition began.