TL: Hua
Sunlight fell upon the alloy doors of the warehouse, its cold halo reflecting into the depths of Ji Xuan’s eyes.
Shen Que recalled the person he had seen through the window earlier, walking toward the warehouse; his skin was so pale in the sunlight it was nearly translucent, and the shadows cast by his eyelashes fell like thick raven feathers.
The engagement between him and Ji Xuan was common knowledge within the Mecha Department. Many surrounding onlookers cast ambiguous, gossiping glances, but due to his status and temperament, none dared to speak up and ask.
Thus, Shen Que sat in silence at his workstation for a long while before finally stepping out to intercept him just as Ji Xuan reached the door.
He was certain that Ji Xuan had come looking for him.
It had happened many times before, sometimes to bring him breakfast, sometimes to deliver a gift. He didn’t know where Ji Xuan had learned those cliché flirting techniques; they were nothing but outdated, unrefined tricks.
Shen Que did not like him coming here. Because every time he appeared, it served as a reminder that from now on, he could only be paired with this low-grade Omega.
He also didn’t want his classmates in the Mecha Department to see Ji Xuan. Those probing, curious, and suggestive gazes darting between them were repulsive, as if he himself had been stained by some unspeakable blemish.
Except—
He looked at the person before him. A few days ago at the banquet, Ji Xuan had acted completely out of character toward him. He likely couldn’t hold back today and had come to the door to offer an apology.
The low hum of mecha operations was blocked by the alloy doors. Seeing that Ji Xuan neither answered nor moved, Shen Que stood like a wall blocking the entrance and urged coldly, “What exactly are you doing here?”
Ji Xuan lifted his eyelids and sized him up, as if scanning a piece of uninteresting roadside junk. The corners of his lips curled up slowly: “To see the mechas, of course. It’s certainly not for the sole purpose of finding you.”
Shen Que’s expression darkened as he frowned. “The Mecha Department’s warehouse isn’t a place you can just enter as you please.”
Ji Xuan was in no rush to answer. Instead, he leisurely pulled his name tag out of his pocket and waved it in the sunlight. “Combat Department students can apply to participate in mecha testing. You should be clearer on the rules and regulations than I am, Chief Shen.”
His pronunciation was light, the end of his words drifting upward. The word “Chief” was uttered with a lingering cadence, yet it didn’t sound like flirting but rather like a provocation.
Shen Que certainly knew the regulations. It was just that every time Ji Xuan came to the Mecha Department, he could always concoct many excuses. He believed almost without a doubt that the other’s goal today was himself and that this was merely some new trick he had devised.
Thus, he spoke even more coldly, “Even for a simulated test, you should have an invitation from the relevant personnel.”
“And how do you know I wasn’t invited?”
With those words, he didn’t bother to prove anything. He moved to bypass Shen Que and head into the warehouse.
Shen Que moved quickly to block him with his hand, only to see Ji Xuan raise his hand and flick it away, just as he had at the banquet, pushing his palm back.
“Tugging and pulling in public doesn’t look very good, does it?” Ji Xuan said.
Shen Que’s jaw tightened slightly. “Either have that person come out to meet you, or go back yourself. Ji Xuan, we don’t need to waste each other’s time.”
However, just as he finished speaking, the alloy door of the warehouse suddenly opened. A student from the Mecha Department wearing glasses poked his head out; his messy hair looked as if it had just been swept by a gale, and his sleeves were stained with oil.
He froze for a moment when he saw Shen Que but quickly turned to Ji Xuan, his eyes shining with a bit of light. “You’re the one with the ID that’s a string of gibberish, right? I was getting breakfast at the cafeteria and didn’t have time to check my terminal.”
“Hey, didn’t I say to just come in once you arrived? What are you doing standing at the door? Hurry up, time is tight.”
Ji Xuan gave Shen Que a playful, sidelong glance and said to the student, “I was just about to head in.”
With that, he stepped right past Shen Que with a light stride, as if he truly had only come for the test, without even a trace of lingering attachment.
“You invited him?” Shen Que asked, looking coldly at the student who hadn’t had time to follow yet.
“Not entirely.” The person pushed up his glasses and said lazily, “I couldn’t sleep last night and posted a random thread on the forum; he found his way to me.”
As he spoke, he seemed to suddenly realize something and looked at Shen Que suspiciously. “No way, Chief. You can invite any kind of tester you want. You’re not trying to snatch this one from me, are you? I booked this one first!”
Snatching Ji Xuan?
Shen Que felt as though he had heard an absurd joke. The reason a low-grade Omega was considered low-grade, aside from their pheromone grade not being high, was the major factor that their mental power was extremely poor, making them completely unsuitable for piloting mechas.
“Who wants to snatch him from you?” Shen Que snorted and said coldly, “I wish you a successful test.”
—
The lights inside the warehouse were bright, with massive metal supports propping up the entire space. Over ten partially disassembled mechas lay across the open ground in the center, their metal shells gleaming with a cold, sharp light.
The student who invited Ji Xuan to test the mecha was named Lai Zhou, and his workstation was in the furthest corner of the warehouse. Unlike his unkempt appearance, his workstation was organized and tidy, standing in sharp contrast to the others.
Noticing Ji Xuan’s slightly curious scrutiny of the finished mechas in the center of the warehouse, Lai Zhou pushed his glasses up and explained, “Those are 7th Gen models. Most of the Alliance’s active-duty mechas are 7th Gen, so I haven’t been able to find a test subject for this one for a long time. After all, mechas below the 5th Gen are basically only used as ceremonial objects during major and minor holidays. I don’t know how many invitations I’ve sent out, but you’re the only one who replied. Everyone else doesn’t even bother to give it a look.”
Ji Xuan withdrew his gaze.
Lai Zhou asked cautiously, “You’re not going to back out too, are you?”
Ji Xuan shook his head and said with a smile, “No.”
In any case, whether it was 5th Gen or 7th Gen, he didn’t know how to pilot either. It’s the same to him no matter which one he tested.
“Then let me explain the precautions. Although it’s modified based on a 5th Gen model, many functions have been adjusted…”
Ji Xuan followed close behind Lai Zhou toward the silver-white mecha in the corner.
Meanwhile, in the center of the warehouse, a jet-black mecha finally came to a halt amidst its chaotic operations. The ion engine emitted a soft hiss as it shut down, yet when the massive steel beast touched the ground, it was as light as a feather, causing not a single vibration.
A second later, the cockpit door opened, and Pei Yingye walked out leisurely, leaping down from the hatch.
Upon landing, his fluid thigh muscles instinctively tensed; he looked like a swift and graceful leopard.
“How was it?” The team leader responsible for this mecha stepped forward and asked excitedly.
He lazily pulled off his gloves and tossed them onto the table. “Basic functions are alright, I guess, but the shock absorption is terrible. Made me dizzy.”
He then sat down in a chair in front of the monitoring station, legs spread wide in a confident stance.
“Come on, bro, who tests a mecha by driving it like a tumble dryer? If you’re not dizzy, who is?”
Pei Yingye glanced at him and joked with a grin, “Didn’t you install those swing arms just for people to spin?”
As he spoke, his gaze traveled across dozens of meters to the corner of the warehouse, and he said curiously, “Has Lai Zhou’s masterpiece of the century finally found a tester?”
The team leader followed his gaze. The silver-white mecha was slowly starting up, the glow of the engine reflecting across half the space. “Don’t know. I think I heard him say this morning that he found someone from your Combat Department.”
“With that kind of complete mental control he’s using, does he really think everyone in the alliance is Ying Xun?” Pei Yingye grinned and said nonchalantly, “Looking back over the past ten years at the military academy, besides me, no one else can last half an hour under that thing.”
The team leader rolled his eyes. “Go on then, keep being a show-off.”
—
Ji Xuan’s mental power entered the mecha through the interface. The cold metal instantly transmitted a faint sense of electric current, as if countless tiny silver threads were entering his mind.
“Connection 30%… 50%… 100%!”
The mechanical voice in his ear suddenly became very distant, replaced by a strange resonance. Mental power flooded like a tide through every pipe and every metal texture of the mecha. His senses seemed to magnify infinitely at this moment; the empty warehouse instantly shrank several times. Whether it was the cracks on a distant broken wall, the dust floating in the air, or all the internal operations of the mecha, everything was presented before him with the clarity of slow motion.
What did it feel like?
It felt like when he first broke through his cultivation. It’s as if the mountains, rivers, and trees were breathing.
He suddenly had an illusion of being symbiotic with the mecha.
And within this, he also clearly sensed an unusual sensation.
It wasn’t any part of the mecha’s interior. It didn’t have the cold hardness of metal nor the scorching heat of energy. It was like a cluster of mist hidden within his body, within the crevices of his consciousness.
Usually, no matter how he tried to probe it, he couldn’t detect it, but under the amplification of the mecha’s mental network, it revealed a blurred outline.
This connection between this thing and him was more profound than any mecha neural link. Without even thinking deeply, Ji Xuan guessed its identity.
The System.
The moment the address left his lips, the system responded: [I’m here.]
It also emitted a vibration of a similar frequency.
So it really was.
Ji Xuan cautiously released his mental power, silently gathering it around the edges of this manifested silhouette.
He had thought of a way to settle things once and for all.
This method required neither reaching the story’s conclusion nor sacrificing his current body; it would allow him to regain control of his freedom.
Although the system hadn’t forced him to correct behaviors that were vastly different from the original owner’s, Ji Xuan still couldn’t rest easy.
After all, no one could tolerate an entirely alien voice residing in their body, one that could potentially dominate their emotions, influence their memories, or even one day control them into performing actions against their own will.
How can I let another sleep soundly beside my own bed?
Having received no further words from Ji Xuan, the System asked tentatively: [Host? Host?]
It was entirely unaware that the mental power originally diffused throughout the mecha had suddenly reversed direction. Like countless venomous snakes baring their fangs, it rushed to surround the system!
However, at the very split second when the mental power coiled and tightened into a steel-like web, just as it was about to touch or even strangle the entity, a piercing alarm suddenly erupted from within the mecha—
“Mental power overload! Mental power overload!”
A tearing pain instantly shot through Ji Xuan’s consciousness. The mecha that had been symbiotic with him actually suffered a brief loss of control! The left arm rose uncontrollably, and the shift in gravity made it difficult for the massive metal frame to maintain its balance, causing it to stumble to its knees.
Ji Xuan didn’t even have time to think; he simply subconsciously diverted more mental power, trying to regain control of the out-of-control mecha.
—
Outside the Mecha, in the Warehouse
Lai Zhou was startled by the mecha’s sudden collapse. Every value on the monitor had turned red. He scrambled to handle it, but to no avail.
The vibrations of the mecha carried into the distance, startling the group who had been discussing design improvements. Pei Yingye snapped to his feet.
“I knew this unlucky design of his would go off the rails sooner or later!” Pei Yingye muttered as he strode toward Lai Zhou.
However, upon seeing the cause of the warning on the monitoring page, his expression changed drastically, and he let out an incredulous curse.
“Stop pressing buttons; a forced shutdown won’t work. Who’s the unlucky bastard testing inside? Tell him to slowly transfer the mental control permissions to me!”
Lai Zhou stared blankly for a long moment before raising his head as if waking from a trance, saying tremulously, “…I, I can’t contact him.”
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Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152