Chapter 34: Salted Fish Lying Flat, Chapter Thirty-Four

Calling it a mecha was a bit of a stretch; the machine Siming and the others had built didn’t actually conform to standard mecha regulations.

A typical mecha, depending on its intended use, usually possessed five to seven different forms.

There was the basic humanoid form; the streamlined vehicle form for ease of travel in cities or on Habitable Planets; the aircraft form for navigating outer space; the spherical form for warping; and one to three beast forms, such as snake, insect, or tiger forms, used for various specialized environments.

In theory, such a mecha could adapt to any environment and complete almost any mission requirement in the universe. Whether it was a small-scale, city-level skirmish or a galaxy-scale war spanning the cosmos, a mecha was up to the task.

In the military, mecha units served as the special forces of modern warfare. They were known as Mecha Maneuver Teams, emphasizing their mobility, adaptability, autonomy, and versatility.

The Mecha Maneuver Teams were deployed directly by the Marshal. Their formations were flexible, and they completed missions autonomously upon receiving them. When not on a mission, they were freely dispersed across various battlefields and were permitted to refuse assignments from any officer below the rank of Marshal.

Simply put, this was a unit that found its own way to complete a task once assigned, and found its own tasks to do when none were given.

To ensure the completion of these diverse missions, every individual in the unit possessed a unique, custom-made mecha. The performance, appearance, materials, and forms of these mechas were all subject to strict standards and limitations.

But there was no way Siming and Zhu Rong could build a mecha like that.

In fact, the mecha they had built was extremely simplified. Not only were the materials cobbled together from scraps, but even the forms were reduced to just three: the basic form, the aircraft form, and the warp form.

Actually, in Siming’s opinion, even the basic humanoid form wasn’t strictly necessary.

Unfortunately, the basic form was a requirement, as it served as the transitional state for switching between different modes. And the basic form of all contemporary mechas was humanoid.

Siming had wanted to design a mecha that used the aircraft mode as its base form and could transform into a warp state. But without existing blueprints, he couldn’t design such a thing himself.

This was only natural. After all, Siming’s requirements… weren’t exactly normal.

Under normal circumstances, if a person wanted to travel long distances through space, they would board a large passenger starship. Such starships had ample fuel and comprehensive shielding; they could complete a warp without needing to transform into an energy-saving spherical mode.

Of course, there were people who needed to travel the stars alone or in small groups. But such people were usually wealthy enough to buy civilian mechas. And anyone who could afford a civilian mecha certainly wouldn’t mind having those extra forms and functions.

People like Siming, who were poor, needed to travel alone, and had no way to board a large starship, were too rare. They were so rare that no one was interested in catering to that market demand, so naturally, no designer had ever created that type of “mecha.”

Thus, Siming had to compromise, stripping away the other “useless” forms and leaving only three.

But even with such a mecha, Siming was still overjoyed when it was finally completed.

As the last part was assembled, Zhu Rong sat inside the mecha and flipped the ignition switch.

The massive mecha slowly stood up, wobbling a few times before gradually steadying itself.

Zhu Rong controlled the mecha to take a single step forward.

The entire room instantly erupted in intense applause and cheers.

Siming, Old Fourth, and the Captain along with his four crewmen were all present, every one of them looking extremely excited.

Yes, besides Zhu Rong, Siming, and Old Fourth, the Captain and his four subordinates, nicknamed Captain One, Two, Three, and Four, were also here.

They were here to help.

Being forced to stay on the Desolate Planet was an unexpected turn of events for them, but the group had adapted quickly.

Of course, this might have had something to do with Lu Yuan’s reputation. Although Lu Yuan himself didn’t know why, the group displayed a strong sense of certainty, firmly believing that Lu Yuan would never truly mistreat them or leave them stranded on a Desolate Planet for the rest of their lives.

In any case, once they decided to stay temporarily, the five of them spent a few days getting settled and then quickly began looking for things to do.

That was how they ended up at Siming’s place.

Although they were more familiar with Goudan, they really couldn’t understand Goudan’s TV drama career. On the other hand, what Siming was doing seemed quite interesting.

So, the group volunteered their services to help dismantle the starship and build the mecha. While they weren’t professional engineers, they were trained personnel and thus possessed basic maintenance skills. According to their own claims, they had also watched quite a few videos related to mechas.

Siming, of course, never turned away anyone who could help. Thus, the mecha-building squad unexpectedly grew by five members.

Originally, Old Fourth’s two apprentices were also here.

However, other people also had a great need for blacksmiths. Furthermore, Old Fourth’s apprentices had no intention of learning high-end skills like building starships or mechas; they just wanted to be ordinary blacksmiths and earn a living.

So, most of the time they weren’t around, only coming by occasionally to help. At this moment, they weren’t among the onlookers.

Before their eyes, the massive mecha took two more steps before stopping. Zhu Rong flipped the switch to change forms.

However, this time, things didn’t go quite so smoothly. The mecha emitted a strange grinding sound, and the entire chassis began to vibrate visibly. Zhu Rong quickly flipped the switch back.

Then, she hopped out of the mecha.

“Unstable,” she said succinctly. “Still needs adjustment.”

“It’s fine,” Siming said, still very happy. “At least the prototype is finished! And it moves! That’s a huge step forward!”

In his excitement, he grabbed Zhu Rong’s hand and started running toward the exit. “Come on, let’s go tell Lu Yuan!”

He was a tall, large man with a long stride. When he ran at full tilt, his speed was much faster than Zhu Rong’s. Being pulled along, Zhu Rong stumbled after him, practically being dragged like a sack.

Zhu Rong: “…Hey!”

Siming didn’t react at all.

Zhu Rong extended her Mental Power and gave his backside a sharp poke. Siming let out a howl. Zhu Rong took the opportunity to break free.

“Too fast,” Zhu Rong complained.

“Oh, oh, oh, ow, ow, ow, right, sorry,” Siming shouted. He simply picked Zhu Rong up and ran toward Lu Yuan’s place.

The distance was actually quite short.

In just a few strides, Siming reached Lu Yuan’s door. Pushing it open, he shouted, “The mecha is finished!”

–

After dinner was the usual entertainment time for the circle of people around Lu Yuan. Goudan had opened his tablet early to watch a drama on the side, and Lu Yuan was half-heartedly watching along while waiting for Siming and Zhu Rong to come over and play games.

The awakening of Mental Power would improve a person’s thinking speed and reaction time. Consequently, since her awakening, Zhu Rong had become better and better at games. Although she still posed no threat to Lu Yuan, if she teamed up with Siming, they could manage a thirty-seventy win rate against him.

Because of this, Lu Yuan’s passion for gaming had recently been reignited.

Truth be told, he had never been this hooked even when he was piloting real mechas or fighting real star wars.

In reality, no one could fight him on equal terms.

Although he had tried his best to simulate real mecha combat and interstellar battlefield scenarios when making the games, they were ultimately fake and simplified. These simplified scenarios were easier and more relaxed for others. But for Lu Yuan, they acted as a restriction and a nerf.

However, it was precisely because of these restrictions that it felt like a game.

In particular, there was no need to calculate messy casualty or loss rates in a game; the only goal was victory. This allowed for more variety and flashy maneuvers, making it much more satisfying than real combat.

Siming and Zhu Rong were also very enthusiastic about gaming.

Lu Yuan could actually tell that besides simply playing games, Siming had another goal:

Training Zhu Rong.

A sparring partner like Lu Yuan was hard to find. Even if it was just playing games, playing with Lu Yuan allowed one to learn a great deal of tactical thinking and awareness.

Siming intended to train Zhu Rong to enter the military, so he hoped she could learn as much as possible from Lu Yuan.

But today, the two of them were late.

Just as Goudan was starting to get confused, the door was suddenly pushed open.

Accompanied by a gust of wind blowing into the room, Siming’s joyful voice rang out: “The mecha is finished!”

“…”

The room fell silent for a moment, then Goudan looked up in surprise. “It’s finished?”

“Yeah!” Old Fourth followed a half-step behind, still covered in dust and grease from the workshop, but the expression on his face was incredibly invigorated. He grinned. “There are still some issues, but the initial build is done.”

“Holy crap, how are you guys so fast!” Goudan’s eyes widened in shock. It took him a couple of seconds to remember to congratulate them, and he gave a thumbs up. “Awesome, seriously awesome!”

When they had chatted before, everyone had shared their plans for the winter. Aside from Lu Yuan, who just wanted to lie flat, everyone else had their own tasks.

Siming, Zhu Rong, and Old Fourth were focused on building a mecha; Geshu Qing and Lao Tong were organizing the memories of the Desolate Planet; the five teenagers in the band were learning their instruments; and Goudan was busy editing his television drama.

However, as of now, Geshu Qing’s memory organization was only ten percent complete. The band’s progress was limited to making noise—whether it sounded good was another matter entirely. Goudan’s drama was even further from completion, though he had already started brainstorming the script for his “next project.”

In short, while almost every other endeavor had yielded little result, the task of manufacturing a mecha was the first to reach completion.

“At the start, we all said your task would be the hardest to pull off,” Goudan remarked. “I never expected you guys to be the first to finish!”

Siming grinned and patted Zhu Rong on the shoulder. “It’s all thanks to Zhu Rong!”

Zhu Rong remained calm. “Don’t brag. It can’t transform yet.”

This meant it was already operational.

Lu Yuan was genuinely surprised.

Two months.

Their progress was so rapid that even Lu Yuan hadn’t anticipated it.

Initially, he thought it would be impressive if Siming could learn to build a mecha within two or three years.

Even after he taught Siming and Zhu Rong how to use Mental Power to assist in manufacturing, he assumed it would take them at least half a year to produce a functioning machine.

This was why he had previously mentioned sending them out in the spring.

On one hand, the winter climate here was far too harsh. A standard mecha wouldn’t be affected, but their simplified model… it wasn’t suitable for a winter departure.

On the other hand, his current location was in the northern part of the Desolate Planet’s northern hemisphere. The latitude was high and the winters were long; the period from the onset of winter to the return of warmth happened to be about six months.

Lu Yuan had calculated that for Siming and Zhu Rong to master basic manufacturing methods, build high-precision machine tools for processing delicate parts, manufacture the components based on those tools, learn the assembly and function of various parts by referencing the starship, and finally combine everything into a complete mecha—it should have taken at least half a year.

As for Old Fourth, though he had experience, he lacked Mental Power. He could offer almost no help in the production of precision instruments.

Yet, they had managed to complete a preliminary mecha in just two months.

While refining the details and making modifications would still take time, the frame was built. Completion was not far off.

Lu Yuan remembered that the graduation internship for mecha manufacturing students at the Imperial Defense University was to build a mecha by hand, and the school gave them four months to do it. Furthermore, they reached that task only after three long years of intensive study.

Granted, the university’s graduation requirements were more stringent and the task had to be completed individually… but Zhu Rong and Siming had started with absolutely no foundation!

To finish so quickly…

Lu Yuan looked at Zhu Rong.

There was only one possible reason the actual progress had exceeded his estimates: Zhu Rong’s talent was even greater than he had imagined.

Based on this timeline, she likely spent almost no time practicing Mental Power control or studying the theoretical aspects of mecha manufacturing. She had achieved near-perfect control of her Mental Power almost immediately after awakening, and her grasp of theory was just as swift.

Combined with the skill she displayed in gaming, which demonstrated her reaction time, judgment, combat intuition, and absolute control over details…

She was another polymath.

Such talent, excluding himself, was virtually unheard of in the entire First Legion, or even the Imperial military.

Who were her parents to produce such a child? Did being on a battlefield while pregnant have some positive effect on a child’s talent? Or perhaps, on the journey to the Desolate Planet…

Lu Yuan’s thoughts drifted far afield, and for a moment, even he didn’t know what strange things he was imagining.

Zhu Rong felt Lu Yuan’s gaze and tilted her head. “Gaming?”

Lu Yuan: “…Let’s do it.”

There was no point in dwelling on those things; gaming was more important.

Zhu Rong walked over to the shelf with practiced ease and picked up three handheld consoles. She shoved one into Lu Yuan’s hand, one into Siming’s, kept one for herself, and then retreated to a corner to sit down.

Siming was baffled.

“Holy crap, the mecha is finished! Aren’t you two excited at all?”

“Eh…” Goudan made a face. “Don’t you know them by now? Nothing in the world is bigger than gaming.”

“…”

Zhu Rong looked up, confused. “Aren’t you playing?”

Siming was speechless. After a long pause, he sighed. “I’m playing!”

Goudan laughed, picking up a tablet and leaning in toward Old Fourth. “Come on, let them play. We’ll watch a show.”

“The Wise Ruler¹… a fifty-year-old classic…” Old Fourth felt a wave of numbness just looking at the title and the picture quality. “I watched this when I was in my teens…”

“Is that so?” Goudan gave a simple laugh. “Heh, it’s actually pretty good.”

Old Fourth: “…It’s not very realistic. The Emperor of the Empire… that guy is actually quite ugly.”

“?” Goudan froze. “You’ve seen the Emperor? No, wait, what does this show have to do with the Emperor?”

“I’ve seen him. Back then, my case was quite a big deal. The Emperor was present when the court was in session,” Old Fourth replied, then asked, “You didn’t know? This show is based on the Emperor’s story. The Emperor’s name is Nan Hui… though I don’t know if the current Emperor is still him.”

“It’s him,” Lu Yuan answered casually, having already started his game.

“I see…” Goudan was a bit surprised. “The Emperor allows a show like this to be broadcast?”

“It was likely filmed under his instructions,” Old Fourth mused. “I remember when it was being promoted, they said it was to show the people the ‘real’ Imperial family and the Emperor… I don’t know about ‘real,’ but you can tell from the title alone that the Emperor is quite narcissistic.”

“It sounds like you don’t have a very good opinion of him.”

“I did when I was young. The version of him in the show is decent—diligent in administration, loves the people like his own children, respectful to scholars… and he treats the Empress very well. Many people envied their romance,” Old Fourth said sincerely. “But ever since he attended my trial and believed the nonsense those people were spewing, I haven’t had much of an opinion of him.”

“That would certainly make it hard to like him,” Goudan nodded. “A pity. I actually thought the show was quite good.”

“It doesn’t stop you from watching,” Siming chimed in from the side. “Just pretend there’s no real-life prototype.”

“True.” Goudan smiled, then suddenly realized something. “Wait? You actually have the spare focus to listen to us today?”

Siming was the weakest of the gaming trio. Usually, he had to concentrate intensely just to ensure he wasn’t instantly killed by Lu Yuan. He typically lacked the capacity to chat while playing.

“Hmm… now that you mention it, I just realized it too.” Siming looked up at Lu Yuan and Zhu Rong. “The pace today is surprisingly relaxed.”

Today they were playing a mecha game.

The games they played most often were the two Lu Yuan had created: one space warfare sim and one mecha combat sim.

Normally, the space warfare game was slower since it was strategy-based, requiring consideration of resource allocation, logistics, fleet composition, and so on.

The mecha game, however, was fast-paced.

One person, one mecha. The entire process was just mechas blasting each other. With no worries about consequences, it was pure catharsis, testing combat intuition and reaction speed.

But today, this match had already lasted twenty minutes, and all three mechas were still in good condition—there had been almost no intense fighting. This was extremely rare.

Lu Yuan glanced at Siming. “Zhu Rong is familiarizing herself with the mecha.”

“Huh?” Siming was stunned. “She still needs to familiarize herself?”

“Well…” Lu Yuan thought for a moment.

Zhu Rong looked at him, knowing he didn’t want to give a long explanation, so she took the initiative to explain: “Actual mecha operation is different from the game. In the game, you see the whole mecha. In reality, what you see is… the view looking out from the mecha. You can’t see the mecha’s own movements, and there are massive blind spots. Plus, the field of vision shakes along with the mecha’s movements.

“I’m playing while imagining how to fight from that awkward perspective.”

Siming blinked, gradually understanding.

Simply put, the game used a third-person or “god’s eye” view. The player’s line of sight followed behind the mecha, allowing them to see the mecha’s back, its entire body, and everything in front of it. By adjusting the camera, one could change the range and angle of sight.

But when actually using a mecha, one sat in the cockpit, looking at the outside world through periscopes and sensors.

In that situation, the field of vision became very strange. It was as if the person had become a giant the size of a mecha, with the perspective aligned with what a giant’s two eyes could see.

“Tracking cameras for games are hard to program,” Lu Yuan said. “It was originally just for fun, so I made it simple. But if you want to pilot a mecha for real, you need to adapt to the mecha’s perspective. In fact, there are quite a few other things you’ll need to adapt to as well.”

Siming thought for a moment and asked, “Speaking of which, since this field of vision is so awkward, why not just install a screen in the cockpit and convert the actual Mecha’s view into…”

He pointed at the game console screen. “This perspective? Wouldn’t that be much more convenient?”

“The time lag,” Zhu Rong answered for Lu Yuan. “In combat, the time lag is critical. Converting the perspective requires processing by the Optical Computer.”

By now, she had already read several books and theories on mechanical engineering, giving her a concrete understanding of concepts like Optical Computers and the StarNet.

Zhu Rong continued, “Even if the Optical Computer is fast, it still takes a certain amount of time to collect the images, process them, and display them. Seeing the Mecha’s perspective through refracted light only adds the time it takes for light to travel a short extra distance, which is practically negligible.”

Siming understood. “And in battle, that time difference is vital.”

“Exactly.” Zhu Rong nodded. “I think that’s also why Mechas generally have a separate Mental Power control system installed. Although we have no way of making one, and I haven’t tried controlling a Mecha with Mental Power yet, I imagine it eliminates the delay between pressing a button and the Mecha performing the action, saving a bit more time.”

After speaking, she looked toward Lu Yuan for confirmation.

Lu Yuan nodded. “Yes, though controlling such a massive Mecha with Mental Power is quite difficult. That’s why manual control is still recommended most of the time.”

Siming sighed. He had possessed Mental Power and studied Mecha manufacturing for longer than Zhu Rong.

Yet, when it came to understanding many of these principles, Zhu Rong’s insight was already deeper than his.

As they spoke, all three had stopped their movements. On the game screen, the three Mechas stood facing each other, looking somewhat comical.

Zhu Rong glanced at the screen and was about to start again when she paused.

“Something on your mind?” Lu Yuan asked.

“Yes,” Zhu Rong nodded. “Is there anything else I need to adapt to?”

Lu Yuan had anticipated she would ask this the moment he spoke, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“There’s quite a lot,” he said with a laugh. “Simply trying to start one up on this planet won’t let you experience the true difficulties of piloting a Mecha. It’s the various complex environments that are the greatest test for a pilot.

“Weightlessness and high-gravity environments, the differing resistance of a vacuum versus high-density air currents, emergency repairs after taking damage, the loss and shifting of vision during the transformation process…

“Reality isn’t as idealized as a game. If you truly want to learn how to pilot a Mecha, you still have a long way to go.”

---

Translator’s Notes

---

1. The Wise Ruler: The Chinese title Mingjun (明君) refers to an idealized ‘enlightened’ or ‘brilliant’ monarch. It is a specific historiographical term used to describe rulers who are diligent, just, and receptive to advice, contrasting with a ‘faint-hearted’ or ‘tyrannical’ ruler. ↩