Chapter 95

Chapter 95

The mentor who had led Bai Sha into the arena took a seat at the judges' panel.

From his vantage point, Bai Sha's operations were too distant to see clearly, but his gaze remained fixed in her direction.

"What do you think? The psychological quality of this batch of students is not bad. We've thrown a tough challenge at them, but most are still calmly proceeding with their tasks. Not bad at all," another mecha pilot, wearing optical mechanical glasses, chatted with him.

"You say that, but giving them just forty minutes for design? Is this how we test students? For the upcoming military exercises, we should prioritize selecting students skilled in mecha repair," the mentor complained quietly, though keeping a composed face, "What's the use of testing their speed at this stage? If they end up designing something impractical... Do you really trust them not to embarrass us?"

The pilot with the mechanical glasses raised an eyebrow slightly: "It's a competition, after all. The winner is naturally highlighted by the performance of their peers."

Even if the output is subpar, when everyone is on the same level, there's nothing to be ashamed of.

The mentor: "..."

True, but today's attendees include not only mentors from the four major military academies but also several top-tier mecha designers from the Imperial Mecha Design Institute. Shortly, these experts will also be judging the students' design concepts and modification skills.

Hopefully, the students won't end up in tears later.

The mentor sighed and shifted his gaze to the floating holographic screen above.

All the contestants in the arena had received the theme for this modification round—

"Racing Shooting Mechas"!

"Racing Shooting" is a common subtype of offensive mechas, primarily relying on speed and firepower for victory. The main weapons are, unquestionably, firearms and projectiles like bullets and shells.

A very common type of mecha.

It could be said that every military academy student present had designed an entry-level Racing Shooting Mecha and was familiar with this category.

Some students even speculated that due to the limited forty-minute design time, the mentors chose a relatively simple topic. This way, even if the students lacked originality, they could still design decent mechas based on their past experience.

With a loud bell sound, the modification test officially began!

A timer screen suddenly appeared beside each contestant's station, and the numbers, glowing blue, began to count down silently.

The students quickly bowed their heads and started drafting their mecha designs.

The holographic projection screen in the air transformed into a huge sphere, slowly rotating and occasionally projecting some students' ongoing work.

The arena fell into a prolonged silence.

Suddenly, a student activated a welding device. Donning protective goggles, he spread out mechanical parts in front of him. His hands moved fluidly, swiftly assembling and welding components at the station. A flash of cold blue flame flickered as he inspected the quality of a part before moving on to the next.

The whole process was seamless, astonishingly fast!

Some students, hearing the noise, looked up and were instantly captivated by the sight, forgetting they were in the midst of a test.

"...That's Ying Chen from Dongluo Military Academy," someone whispered from the judges' panel, "He just earned his advanced mecha pilot certification and is a standout among these students in terms of ability."

"To pass the advanced mecha pilot certification at his age is undoubtedly a sign of genius. But what does this mean now? Starting modifications without even submitting a design?"

"Does it mean he's confident?"

"No, quite the opposite," a mecha designer squinted and said, "Perhaps, he's making a risky attempt."

This top-tier mecha designer could see what Ying Chen was doing.

He was—attempting to modify the mecha engine provided at the site!

If the modification succeeded, the new engine would significantly boost his mecha's speed. He didn't draw the design first precisely for this reason. If the engine modification proved unfeasible, any design he made would be pointless, and he'd have to start over.

Many mentors switched their holographic videos to Ying Chen's channel, observing his step-by-step operation.

"Interesting... but such modifications are quite dangerous. Even if the mecha is successfully built, any careless operation by the pilot could lead to accidents," someone commented, shaking their head.

"This isn't a custom mecha. The pilot should adapt to the mecha's characteristics. Expecting mecha pilots not to make mistakes during operation isn't a significant flaw," another mecha designer argued in Ying Chen's defense, appreciating his unconventional approach.

"—Master Shi Rong, what do you think?"

The woman seated at the head of the judges' panel, clad in a white dress and the uniform of the Imperial Mecha Design Institute, exuded elegance and grace. She raised her eyebrows slightly, a smile gradually appearing in her eyes.

"Master Shi Rong?" someone called out again, leaning in to see that she was watching another student's live channel.

At a glance, the mecha designer's attention was glued to the screen.

There, a student was calmly drawing, the electronic pen smoothly gliding across the light screen. With the other hand, they were lightly tapping in the air, gradually forming a complete holographic model—

The competition only required submission of a flat plan, which could also be interpreted as a design or concept sketch. Given the forty-minute time limit, it was impossible to expect students to submit a detailed design with perfect lines.

Yet, this student's work was meticulous, detailing every line and fitting of each component with precision. The design was so accurate that it could be directly input into modeling software to generate a model without errors—meaning the design was completely viable for physical creation.

And the design itself?

Their concept surprisingly coincided with Ying Chen's—starting with the engine and complementing it with a perfect full-body energy circulation system.

Whether it was the design concept, component assembly, or detail work, it was all near perfection.

"…Artistically perfect. Textbook standard!" The mech pilot standing beside Tai Shi Rong exclaimed involuntarily, then fell into a contemplation, "But this cyclic system design, where have I seen it before?"

He looked up, saw Tai Shi Rong, and said in surprise, "Tai Shi Rong, this is…"

He suddenly remembered, Tai Shi Rong, as a distinguished mecha engineer, was particularly renowned in lightweight mechas, especially in the area of racing engines.

"A bit like my methods, right?" Tai Shi Rong, with her arms crossed, sighed, "She saw it just once in front of her and managed to grasp the essence."

Despite her tone of grievance, she couldn't hide the smile on her face. It was as if the person who drew the perfect design was her own student.

A mech designer nearby, suspecting this connection, asked, "Are you her teacher?"

"I wouldn't dare compete with Master Jiang Gui for talent," Taishi Rong said meaningfully, "But today's event is indeed a coincidence..."

The theme of this modification competition was her suggestion. As an expert in this field, she was also one of the chief examiners of the event.

Unexpectedly, Baisha had decided to participate in the competition at the last minute.

However, half a year later, White Sand's designs had completely shed the last traces of immaturity.

Tai Shirong looked down, seeing White Sand's profile as she worked through the screen. The cold ambient light couldn't entirely erase the softness in her features. Inheriting the Luo Ning family's looks made her appear distinguished and striking, but her focus and tranquility while drawing made one unconsciously overlook her appearance—only the profound and unfathomable sense of everything taking shape under her hands was stunningly impressive, enough to send a shiver down one's spine.

Tai Shirong had felt this way when she first saw Jiang Gui's designs.

Both master and disciple were exceptionally talented.

As Shi Rong was lost in her thoughts, the mecha designers huddled around her suddenly burst into excited chatter:

"He did it!"

"I can't believe Ying Chen actually managed to modify the new engine..."

"How much time is left? Does he have enough to complete a full design?"

"You haven't seen this kid's hand speed. He’s definitely got time. His design might even be good enough to be rated by the Mecha Association and displayed as an official work."

"Hahaha, watching him modify the mecha has really fired me up."

Ding.

Just then, the judges' holographic computers alerted them that a student had submitted their mecha design.

Shi Rong thought to herself: Now, here comes the real excitement.

"Still eight minutes and forty-two seconds left. Plenty of time. Aren’t they going to revise it?" a judge commented in surprise.

While submitting the design early did offer extra points, as detailed in the bonus rules, they hadn't expected anyone to actually turn in their design ahead of time.

In their eyes, such a person was either a slacker or just giving up.

That was until they opened the submitted mecha design—

The entire panel of judges fell into a moment of stunned silence.

"Whose design is this?"

A tutor from Tianquan Military Academy opened the name of the submitter and burst into laughter, "Hahaha, I knew it—gentlemen, it seems like there's no suspense left about who scored highest in the design drawing phase, right?"

"Can a student really achieve this level?" someone skeptically began reviewing the playback.

"Last name Luo Ning, and a disciple of Master Jiang Gui. What’s so surprising about this level of skill?" retorted the tutor from Tianquan Military Academy, rolling his eyes, "If she wasn't confident of victory, why would she give up a lead position in single-soldier combat to come here?"

"Jiang Gui, ‘that Jiang Gui’? When did he start taking disciples—"

Shi Rong watched the designers around her erupt into a new round of chatter, shaking her head slightly.

Others might be envious of Bai Sha for having a great teacher like Jiang Gui, but Shi Rong was more envious of Jiang Gui for having a student like Bai Sha.

Bai Sha was a mecha pilot herself. Her mecha "Liu Ting" had never been sent back to the Imperial Mecha Design Institute for repairs since its manufacturing... probably because Bai Sha handled everything herself. This deprived Shi Rong of any opportunity to get closer to her.

Perhaps this was the innate charm of being a "Luo Ning" – always making people look forward to what she would become.

People's eyes were drawn to her, like moths to a flame.