Bai Sha followed her advisor to the mech engineering department's training building.
Compared to the straightforward, rough-and-tumble setup of the mech pilot training grounds, the engineering building was far more refined. The four-story structure exuded an air of ancient grandeur, with external columns and arched domes connecting the floors. Most strikingly, the building's exterior lines subtly formed the silhouette of an upright humanoid mech, blending the sleekness of steel technology with an epic sense of weathered history.
Bai Sha paused in front of the building, marveling, "This design is impressive."
The advisor beamed with pride. "Isn't it? The architect said his inspiration came from Master Jiang Gui's legendary mech, 'Yangslayer,' designed a few years back."
Bai Sha: "…" No wonder it felt so familiar.
She raised an eyebrow and followed the advisor inside.
As they reached the entrance, the glossy black metal doors slid open automatically. The first floor's ceiling soared high, while the second floor was semi-open. Light strips embedded along the second-floor corridor cast soft blue and warm white glows. Students in sharp uniforms bustled about like bees in a hive, some trailed by small hovering drones.
The moment you stepped inside, the intense academic atmosphere was overwhelming.
Mech engineers, unlike regular mechanics, were the Empire's elite technological minds—revered and prestigious. They might curse the heavens and lose hair in labs or workshops, but in public, they were the epitome of intellect and composure—utterly sophisticated.
A stark contrast to the rowdy chaos of the mech pilot side.
Bai Sha, walking through, was glad she hadn't shown up in a training tank top and casual pants.
Following her advisor, she took the elevator to the third floor. She thought she was keeping a low profile, but several students still recognized her.
"That's Bai Sha Ronin…"
"Heard of her—Tianquan Academy, right? The one who crushed that instructor!"
"She's dual-majoring and topped Tianquan's mech engineering assessments—don't tell me she's here to snatch the first-year engineer slot?"
"No way, she's already that strong as a pilot!"
"What's the point of guessing? Let's go see for ourselves…"
Sharp-eyed students noticed Bai Sha heading toward the indoor mech modification testing arena. The news spread quickly within a small circle, and a few curious engineers exchanged glances, deciding to follow and spectate.
Entering the third-floor arena, the overhead lights blazed to life, bright as daylight yet gentle on the eyes. The space was lined with worktables, and holographic projectors hung above, capable of displaying real-time holograms.
These holograms could scale up an entire mech to several times its size or magnify a centimeter-sized component to hundreds of times its volume.
In short, once you stepped into the arena, every move you made was laid bare under the holographic surveillance, with nowhere to hide.
"When the joint military exercise begins, the arena will have similar monitoring equipment," the advisor said, turning to Bai Sha. "Some students are skilled but used to working in quiet isolation. Under this kind of high-pressure environment, their thinking speed and technical precision can suffer. We set up the arena this way for fair rankings and to screen for performance under real conditions."
"Are there really students who struggle in this setting?" Bai Sha asked curiously.
The advisor paused, then sighed. "Of course there are."
"Alright, head to the check-in machine over there and swipe your student card to register for the test. Then just follow the instructions with the others."
Bai Sha complied, swiping her card at the machine. After a brief hum, it dispensed a metallic badge—adhesive, easy to stick on her clothing. The badge listed her name, academy, age, and number: "81."
Eighty first-year mech engineering students had been selected for the exercise team, and Bai Sha's number, "81," marked her as the extra one.
Realization dawned, and she looked up at her advisor. "If I switch roles, doesn't that mean we'll have one extra engineer and one fewer pilot?"
The joint military exercise had strict team size limits—no more, no less.
"No big deal," the advisor said with a calm expression. "We're selecting main team members for the five-on-five team competition. Even if you join the exercise as a pilot, what's stopping you from competing as an engineer in the team match? No rule says a pilot can't know how to repair a mech."
He continued, "When we told you to think it over, it wasn't about completely changing your role—it's about the main team slot. Sigh, if you insist on competing in the engineering modification test and don't take first, you won't secure the engineer slot—and there's no pilot slot reserved for you anymore."
"No problem," Bai Sha said with a smile. "We agreed on this from the start."
Suddenly, a hesitant voice called from behind, "…Bai Sha?"
Turning, Bai Sha saw a friend from the mech engineering department.
"You're here for the modification test too? I knew it—with your skills, being just a pilot is such a waste," the friend said enthusiastically. "You're definitely going to take the top spot!"
Bai Sha had once helped this student through a tough spot, and ever since, they'd developed an almost superstitious admiration for her.
Bai Sha chuckled softly. "Don't you want to give it a shot yourself?"
"No way! With all the talent from the four academies, someone like me—who agonizes over a blueprint for three days—is just here to make up the numbers," the student said, waving a hand. "The others aren't much to worry about, but I heard Dongluo Academy has this guy, Ying Chen. Young, but he's already got a senior mech engineer certification. Of course, he's not the only one with that credential, but his work's famous—he designed an Exceptional-grade mech himself!"
"Exceptional-grade?" Bai Sha raised an eyebrow, impressed. "That's solid."
The student's tone shifted, and they let out a low chuckle. "But I bet he's no good."
Bai Sha: "Why's he no good now?"
The student: "The competition's about speed, but Ying Chen's mental entity is a sloth."
Bai Sha: "…" Can you guys stop stereotyping people based on their mental entities?
"I heard Ying Chen's a loner, never bothers with anyone. No one's seen him draw blueprints or modify parts in public," the student said, shaking their head. "For classes requiring public demonstrations of the crafting process, he skips them outright, opting to retake the exam privately with the instructor rather than work with others. Gotta be because his hand speed's too slow, right? Probably scared of being laughed at."
Bai Sha held back from dropping a harsh truth.
Her mentor, Jiang Gui, had done the same back in the day. Group demonstrations were large classes, with students presenting in batches, dragging on for an entire afternoon. Jiang Gui found it a waste of time and preferred showing his work directly to the instructor afterward for efficiency.
Bai Sha was similar, though less obvious since she was juggling both combat and engineering classes.
"There, that's Ying Chen," the student said, stepping closer and pointing at a boy already stationed at a worktable.
He was on the shorter side, with shoulder-length black hair and a somber aura.
Perched on his shoulder was a translucent sloth, squinting lazily, one paw gripping his shoulder while the other reached slowly into the air, doing… something. Ying Chen, unfazed by his mental entity, stared at the worktable's holo-brain, his eyes unmoving.
…He looked like he was spacing out.
"It's starting already?" the student beside Bai Sha snickered softly. "See, I told you he's no good. With all these bright lights and holographic cameras, he's probably freaking out inside."
"Let's not worry about others," Bai Sha said, putting some distance between herself and the student. She glanced at Ying Chen from afar, then turned back. "The test's about to start. Shouldn't you get to your station?"
The student clammed up, checked the time on the big screen, and hurried to their worktable.
Bai Sha stepped into her own workspace, finding it fully equipped with modification tools. The holo-brain even had a parts catalog, listing nearly every component available on the market. As expected, they'd be using these parts for a hands-on mech design soon.
A closer look at the holo-brain revealed a lengthy, detailed document outlining the competition rules, including scoring criteria and bonus mechanisms.
Beep, beep—
A mechanical countdown echoed through the air.
"Time's up. All eighty-one first-year mech engineers, please take your positions. The mech modification test will begin in three minutes."
The faint buzz in the arena fell silent. Everyone listened intently to the mechanical voice's announcement.
"This competition consists of two phases: the design evaluation phase and the timed modification phase."
"When all mech engineers are in position, each of you will receive the test's theme via your holo-brain. You will have forty minutes to draft a blueprint, which will be submitted to the advisors for scoring…"
Forty minutes!
Several students' faces paled.
They'd come prepared for a grueling ordeal. Modifying a mech was no small feat—designing one from scratch could take days. They'd braced for a shortened design phase, estimating maybe two hours, but forty minutes?!
Forty minutes was barely enough for a single class period.
The mechanical voice, unmoved by the students' reactions, continued its calm, relentless recitation of the rules:
"After submitting your blueprint, in the practical phase, advisors will evaluate based on the submitted design concept, operation time, and final product performance."
"All actions will be recorded via holographic perspective. Please give your all and uphold the Empire's honor."