Chapter 434 – A Mecha Engineer

“Damn, this kid still dares to run?!”

The speaking youth quickly caught up and kicked the fleeing timid youth to the ground.

“Let… let me go! I don’t want to go down… Why should I go down? You were the ones who insisted on bringing me here…”

The timid youth was dragged back by his hair.

He struggled desperately, but his height and build were far inferior to the person grabbing him, making it impossible to break free no matter how hard he tried.

As he was being dragged, the bag he held protectively in his arms was yanked open, scattering several books.

“Thud!”

The timid youth was dragged in front of the two and thrown heavily to the ground.

The leading youth looked down at him expressionlessly without a word.

Instead, another person squatted down and reached out to poke at the scattered books.

“Introduction to Machinery Theory, Mecha Construction, Basics of Energy Sources…”

“Tsk tsk…”

The follower, with a lock of green hair over his forehead and protruding cheekbones, looked at the timid youth amusingly and said, “Xu Mingguang, are you still thinking of becoming a Mecha Engineer by reading these books?”

The timid youth quickly snatched up the books on the ground and hugged them to his chest, lowering his head in silence.

He was indeed secretly preparing for the Level 1 Mecha Engineer Qualification Certificate and had come out at night to attend a tutoring class.

Unexpectedly, he ran into the school bully, who took pleasure in tormenting him, and was forcibly dragged into a car, leading to this situation.

By now, his tutoring class was almost over.

“A Mecha Engineer? Him?”

The other follower who had previously kicked him walked up from behind, casting a scornful look at the timid youth, then grabbed his hair again, pulling his face up high and said coldly, “Hurry up and obediently put on the protective suit to fetch the meteorite for Young Master Lu, or else I’ll kick you down there myself.”

The timid youth’s face turned red, and he bit his lip tightly, looking defiant despite the coercion.

“Are you asking for a beating?”

The follower whom he glared at twitched his face and was about to slap the timid youth hard when a voice stopped him.

“Enough.”

The speaker was the leading youth.

Previously called “Qiyuan” and also referred to as “Young Master Lu,” the leading youth cast a cold glance at his two followers. Seeing both of them turn their faces away guiltily, he finally frowned and looked at the timid youth in front of him.

“Xu Mingguang.”

He thought for a moment and then spoke, “You want to take the exam for the Level 1 Mecha Engineer Qualification Certificate, right?

A Level 1 Mecha Engineer can’t pass with just theoretical knowledge and no practical experience.

You know, I have a genuine Level 1 Mecha.

If you’re willing to go down and fetch the meteorite for me now, I can lend you the mecha for some research later…”

Hearing the youth’s words, the timid youth, Xu Mingguang, visibly brightened, and the stubbornness on his face began to waver.

The person in front of him wasn’t wrong. The knowledge required for the Level 1 Mecha Engineer was still too complex and obscure for him.

Many concepts couldn’t be understood just by reading books.

He had bitten the bullet and enrolled in an expensive after-school tutoring class outside of school because sometimes, real mecha parts would be displayed during the lessons.

But with dozens of students in a single class, the time allocated to each individual to examine a single real part was only about a minute, or even just a few seconds.

What could be done in a few seconds?

Nothing could be researched.

Moreover, the mecha parts provided by the tutoring class were outdated components discarded from extremely old models, incomparable to the latest Level 1 combat mecha mentioned by Lu Qiyuan.

If Lu Qiyuan was really willing to let him study his mecha for a few days, his chances of passing the Level 1 Mecha Engineer exam would greatly increase.

The flicker of excitement in the timid youth’s eyes indicated he was clearly interested.

The leading youth accurately caught this spark of interest, and without wasting any more time, prompted, “If you’ve decided, get on with it. I don’t have time to waste here…”

The timid youth gave a heavy nod. Once he had made up his mind, there was nothing to hesitate about.

He truly put down the books and bag he had been holding protectively, got up from the ground, hastily wiped his face with his hand, and began donning the protective suit from the ground.

Seeing Xu Mingguang fumbling with the protective suit, the leading youth became a bit impatient again. He glanced at the two followers beside him and commanded, “You two, go help him!”

The two followers, relieved to have avoided risking themselves, dared not say a word and hurriedly went to assist.

With their combined efforts, they soon helped the timid youth into the protective suit.

Encased in the bulky and sturdy suit, Xu Mingguang walked step by step to the edge of the meteorite crater. He hesitated for a moment, but finally gritted his teeth and decisively jumped in.

“Whew-“

Watching Xu Mingguang actually descend into the crater, the green-haired youth among the followers let out a sigh of relief, “That fool… actually went down…”

“Qiyuan, when Xu Mingguang brings up the stone for you, are you really going to let him study your mecha?” the other follower couldn’t help but ask Lu Qiyuan.

Lu Qiyuan snorted disdainfully, “Let him study it? No chance!

Last time, I dueled that idiot Bokalye, and my mecha got 70% damaged, had to go back to the factory for major repairs.

My dad was so angry he banned me from touching it again for three months…

If he wants to see it, he can go ask my dad. If he manages to see it, that’s his problem.”

Hearing Lu Qiyuan’s words, the two followers couldn’t help but laugh, looking in the direction of the meteorite crater as if Xu Mingguang were a fool.

The green-haired youth suddenly spoke up, “I heard Xu Mingguang’s ancestors were from the Duoling nobility. I wonder if that’s true?”

The other follower snorted, “Him, a noble?

Both his parents are just factory workers at the Mecha Factory. What kind of nobility ends up like that…”

“I heard Xu Mingguang has an elder sister who’s quite pretty.”

“Well, then we should get this kid to introduce his sister sometime…”

The two followers stood by the crater, chatting idly and occasionally letting out mischievous laughter.

Meanwhile, Lu Qiyuan was focused on the virtual screen in his hand. The screen was connected to the probe built into the protective suit, allowing him to monitor the situation inside the crater in real time.

“Alright, enough! Everyone shut up!”

Lu Qiyuan suddenly cursed, causing the two followers to instantly fall silent and turn to look. They noticed a cluster of golden light appearing on the once-dim virtual screen in Lu Qiyuan’s hand.

They could hear Xu Mingguang’s labored breathing, mixed with suppressed groans of pain, indicating that the Level 1 protective suit was insufficient to fully block the various unknown radiations within the crater.

Despite this, the image on the screen was gradually drawing closer to the source of the golden light.

“A meteorite that emits golden light… If crafted as an art piece, it would be stunning. Vinia would definitely love it…”

Lu Qiyuan’s eyes were fixed on the golden glow in the video, filled with anticipation.

As the trio watched eagerly, waiting for the true form of the meteorite to be revealed, a faint rumbling noise arose overhead.

“Dammit!”

The three looked up, vaguely seeing a speck of blue light rapidly approaching.

“The patrol Mecha is coming!”

“Damn it!”

Lu Qiyuan instantly grew anxious.

Seeing success within reach, the thought of losing it all was unbearable.

“Xu Mingguang, hurry up! Get over there quickly… you idiot, is it really that hard to cover a few more steps?”

He frantically urged Xu Mingguang from the bottom of the crater through the virtual screen, unable to hold back his curses.

Xu Mingguang remained silent, only responding with increasingly heavy breathing.

Just when the screen appeared to be closing in on the golden light source…

“Boom!”

A thunderous explosion echoed from within the meteorite crater.

The ground shook, nearly causing the three at the edge of the crater to lose their balance.

Flames shot skyward from the crater’s interior.

As the three looked on in shock at this sudden upheaval, a figure sprawled on the ground near the crater’s edge caught their attention.

The protective suit was in tatters, once white but now charred black from the flames.

It couldn’t be anyone other than Xu Mingguang, who had earlier descended into the crater.

Thrown out by the blast’s shockwave, Xu Mingguang lay curled up on the ground, seemingly clutching something tightly.

“He… he hasn’t been blown to bits, has he?”

The three of them stared fixedly at Xu Mingguang lying not far away, dazed by the sudden development.

Suddenly, Lu Qiyuan glanced at the increasingly close blue light and seemed to make a firm decision.

He gritted his teeth and sprinted towards Xu Mingguang with lightning speed.

“Start the car now!”

He shouted as he reached Xu Mingguang.

Ignoring the scorching heat from the surface of the protective suit, he gritted his teeth and turned Xu Mingguang’s curled-up body over.

In Xu Mingguang’s hands was a charred stone the size of a human head. The spots where the outer layer had fallen off revealed a beautiful golden color.

Lu Qiyuan’s eyes lit up, and he swiftly reached out to grab it.

“Let go!”

With a fierce expression, he pressed his foot hard onto Xu Mingguang’s chest, pulling at the stone to pry it from Xu Mingguang’s grasp.

The stone started to shift, almost within his grasp.

But at that moment, the outer layer of the stone suddenly fell away completely, and brilliant golden light burst forth from underneath.

Before Lu Qiyuan could even see what was radiating the golden light, a thick black liquid surged out from beneath it, splattering directly onto his face.

“Ahhh!”

Lu Qiyuan’s face was completely covered by the sticky black liquid. He screamed in agony and fell straight backward.

The two followers, who were just starting up the off-road vehicle, looked over in panic. Just as they were about to get out of the car, they heard a resonant hum of displacing air.

A towering black Mecha, about ten meters high, descended from the sky.

Its imposing presence enveloped the area around the meteorite crater.

The Mecha’s eyes projected powerful beams of blue light, sweeping over the two terrified followers and the motionless Xu Mingguang lying on the ground.

Finally, the light rested on the unconscious young man’s face.

That face was clean, without a trace of the sticky black liquid.

A cold, mechanical voice reported in the low hum of the scene.

“Arrived at the target location.”

“…Four individuals present, one unconscious, one severely injured.”

“No unidentified energy fluctuations detected.”

“Report complete.”

…