Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Silver-white, shoulder-length hair, with a calm expression, paired with the upright posture typical of military academy personnel—even while holding repair equipment—he gave off an unapproachable vibe.

But... does Bai Xingshu care about such a sense of distance?

"Teacher Song!!" Bai Xingshu waved directly at Song Xiyan in the distance, greeting him, "I'm your assistant student, Bai Xingshu. Need any more help?"

At the sound, Song Xiyan paused and glanced down at the approaching figure.

A face full of bright smiles appeared before him.

Just like the expression on that note—full of life and energy.

A stark contrast to him.

Song Xiyan gazed at Bai Xingshu for a moment, then quietly looked away.

Bai Xingshu didn't mind that Song Xiyan only glanced at him once and then ignored him. He wasn't self-absorbed enough to think the world revolved around him.

After all, Teacher Song didn't kick him out after he greeted and announced his presence, which meant he was tacitly allowed to stay and move around.

With perfect logic, Bai Xingshu confidently headed to the warehouse.

As soon as he stepped in, he spotted the old login device hanging almost unchanged right in front.

Only the note he had stuck on was missing.

Was this a yes or a no answer?

Bai Xingshu reached out, grabbed the login device, and hit the power button.

The indicator light lit up.

Bai Xingshu was taken aback.

Before this, Bai Xingshu had pretty much assumed the login device hadn't been fixed.

But now it seemed...

Bai Xingshu checked again, and sure enough, the login device in his hand powered up just fine.

Now it was Bai Xingshu's turn to light up with excitement.

Instantly, Bai Xingshu's opinion of Teacher Song shot up.

What a great guy!

Attitude? Who cares? Bai Xingshu had seen his share of quirky researchers at the science academy.

These folks are gems!

Bai Xingshu hurried back with the old login device, waving it at Song Xiyan: "Teacher, can I take this?"

Song Xiyan paused his movements again, looking at Bai Xingshu, who was still smiling brightly at him, even more so now: "..."

"That is an asset of your Combat Department," Song Xiyan calmly stated a fact.

Bai Xingshu understood what Song Xiyan meant and quickly caught on: "Alright, I'll go talk to the teacher at the asset office."

"Thanks, Teacher Song!"

Song Xiyan fell silent again, but Bai Xingshu kept talking. He glanced at the mech being repaired and continued enthusiastically, "Teacher, once this mech is repaired, will you need someone to test-drive it? I can do that as a part-time job too."

"...Alright."

"Teacher, you're the best!"

"Then, Teacher, do you know if students can buy used old-style login devices from the school?"

"...Yes."

"Teacher, do you think I could..."

"…………"

Bai Xingshu peppered Teacher Song with a bunch of questions—about part-time jobs, mechs, and coursework. Teacher Song patiently answered each one.

He stayed patient the whole time.

Serious and patient.

[He's really a good teacher.] Bai Xingshu asked the system, [Are the cultural classes in the Combat Department the same as those in Mechanical Engineering?]

The system quickly checked the information: [The Combat Department has three cultural classes: Data Analysis, Combat Plan Analysis, and Stellar Geography. Only the Data Analysis class overlaps with Mechanical Engineering.]

Bai Xingshu jotted this down and then went to the department's asset office.

The teacher at the asset office gave him a bit of a resentful look.

Knowing why, Bai Xingshu... acted like he didn't notice.

After some back-and-forth, Bai Xingshu finally got the old-style login device for 2,400 star coins.

The rest was taken out of Bai Xingshu's future pay.

Seeing his balance drop to two digits, Bai Xingshu felt like he got the short end of the stick.

Not that 2,400 star coins was too much.

Bai Xingshu had checked the price of login devices, and used ones like his often go for over 3,000 star coins.

After all, the old and new models didn't differ much in function; it was mostly about the look.

At the end of the day, it was just a login device.

But if he'd known he'd have to buy it himself, the broken login device would've been way cheaper.

Its value shot up after Teacher Song fixed it.

He should've bought it first and then had Teacher Song fix it.

Bai Xingshu sighed.

But it was what it was, and Bai Xingshu didn't sweat it. After all...

He finally had his very own login device!

Bai Xingshu quickly explained the situation to Shen Geng and returned the borrowed login device.

"Once I pay off my debt and get my new paycheck, I'll treat you and Lin Lie to a big meal!" Bai Xingshu said cheerfully. Despite still being in debt, he had already planned what he would do once he had money.

Shen Geng hesitated as he took the login device: "You want to invite Lin Lie?"

Didn't he just get dumped by Lin Lie?

Bai Xingshu felt that his roommate was too quick to jump to conclusions: "What's wrong? He's a good guy."

"He's just not into Betas, but he doesn't hate me."

"Lin Lie and I are still on good terms, and he just sent me a friend request." As he spoke, Bai Xingshu showed Shen Geng the chat window between him and Lin Lie.

Shen Geng: "..."

His confusion wasn't because of Lin Lie, but because of the person in front of him... he was moving on way too fast!

Just at noon, he was pale and devastated after the breakup.

Although he couldn't help but complain in his heart, Shen Geng instinctively looked down at the chat window Bai Xingshu showed him.

The chat window was blank.

After adding friends, it was clear that the two hadn't exchanged a single word.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was...

Shen Geng looked at the chat window, under Lin Lie's name... the 'typing...' indicator kept appearing and disappearing.

The indicator kept flashing, but no message appeared.

Shen Geng: "..."

"What's wrong?" Bai Xingshu noticed that Shen Geng's expression seemed a bit off.

Shen Geng asked thoughtfully: "You know... about Lin Lie not being into Betas... are you sure about that?"

Bai Xingshu shot him a 'what are you talking about?' look, tapped on the screen, and a list of more than ten names popped up in front of Shen Geng.

"How could you think that adding a friend means he's interested in me? Does that mean they all like me?"

After saying that, Bai Xingshu didn't feel like discussing this with Shen Geng any further.

Bai Xingshu immediately pegged him as a total newbie when it came to love.

He had thought that Shen Geng, with his impressive build and good looks, must know a thing or two about this stuff.

But he was wrong.

Indeed, given how Shen Geng was always buried in his notes and studies whenever he was around, it made sense that he hadn't been in a relationship.

Back in the apocalypse, Bai Xingshu was too busy figuring out how to get stronger every day, and he never had time to think about that kind of stuff.

Romance would only slow down his sword draw!

Bai Xingshu's thoughts were pretty much written all over his face.

Shen Geng, realizing he was being looked down on: "..."

No... This... I can handle others.

But what right does Bai Xingshu have to call him a rookie!!!

Bai Xingshu brushed off Shen Geng's frustration. Deciding there was nothing more to discuss, he shot Lin Lie a message about grabbing a meal and then slapped the login device onto his head.

Mecha BattleNet, boot up!

He landed in his personal space.

Unlike the barren scene from his last visit, now the entire space was lit up with a barrage of notifications, all showing 999+ unread messages, no big deal, and still flashing non-stop, with alerts buzzing around Bai Xingshu's ears.

Bai Xingshu's head was pounding: [Mute.]

[Got it.] The system snapped into action.

With the alerts silenced, Bai Xingshu felt a lot better: [What's with all these messages?]

The system was reliable in handling info: [Your last battle video blew up, with fans, haters, friend requests, battle invites...]

After a quick listen, Bai Xingshu concluded: [All junk, block 'em all.]

[Done.] The system complied, and poof—all messages vanished, no new ones in sight.

Bai Xingshu was pretty pleased with that.

Eyeing the weapons that came with his free mecha, Bai Xingshu tapped open the mall interface.

Loader Gun, filter by price, low to high.

Bai Xingshu eyed the standard Loader Gun on sale for 9.9 star coins, wincing as he clicked 'buy.'

This Mecha BattleNet is a cash grab!

The cheapest one's still 9.9? That's highway robbery!

Watching his already thin wallet take another hit, Bai Xingshu opened the battle matching interface with a murderous aura.

He had to make the most out of this expense!

—That 'Xing Ze Jiang Zhi' is online, aren't you going to check it out?

Lin Lie, seeing a message from Zhao Gao pop up on his communicator, finally stopped his action of opening the chat window with Bai Xingshu every ten seconds to check the meal invitation message.

He had been agonizing for several hours over whether to explain his actions to Bai Xingshu and how to explain them.

It seemed strange whether he explained or not.

But Lin Lie also didn't want Bai Xingshu to misunderstand and think he disliked him.

Fortunately, Bai Xingshu sent him a message first.

Bai Xingshu had never thought that way.

And... he even offered to treat him to a lavish meal.

As a child of the Lin family, Lin Lie was no stranger to gourmet dishes and initially felt indifferent about feasts.

But after seeing Bai Xingshu's message, he suddenly felt a bit of anticipation.

Feeling upbeat, Lin Lie suddenly remembered that this "Xing Ze Jiang Zhi" seemed to be someone Bai Xingshu had been pretty interested in earlier that morning.

Lin Lie rarely replied to Zhao Gao.

—I'm coming online.