In the second month of Chu Rong and Qiao Zhiya’s honeymoon, the Federal Military Academy resumed classes.
Chu Yan was feeling troubled. With the school’s practical training coming up, he no longer had his assigned mecha maker, and [Knight] was too specialized, with very few people able to repair it. He was worried that his task might fail.
“Why not ask Master Ren or Master Shang?” Yuan Xiu suggested, though it was a completely unrealistic idea.
Chu Yan gave him a look of disbelief and said, “The practical training task lasts for half a month. Do you think your suggestion is feasible?”
Unrealistic. Very unrealistic.
Seeing his friend’s genuine distress, Yuan Xiu put away his nonchalant attitude, furrowed his brow, and continued, “What about Professor Roni? Or get an assistant from Master Ren? Don’t tell me you don’t have any mecha engineers trained at your place.”
“Professor Luo Li is leading a team, and Master Ren’s assistants are all busy with the comprehensive mecha popularization project. As for the mecha makers trained in my family… forget it, I’ll just bring an extra mecha. [Knight] can wait for now.”
Chu Yan dismissed all his suggestions, sighed deeply, and laid his head on the table.
Yuan Xiu then recalled that the mecha makers trained by the Chu family had all perished in the initial Zerg-human war along with Chu’s mother. In recent years, the Chu family had focused on the military, and aside from Master Ren and Qiao Zhiya, new mecha makers had not yet been selected and trained.
Thinking about how his friend’s situation had only improved in the past two or three years, Yuan Xiu couldn’t help but sigh as well, saying, “How about sharing a mecha maker with me? I’ve invited Ning Kongran this time. His skills are very reliable.”
After the great war, Ning Kongran had returned to continue his studies, still in mecha manufacturing. However, there were rumors that he had applied to switch to a niche and specialized spiritual research program connected with the Exoplanet Native Rescue Department.
In the past years, the environment had been poor, and no one was recruiting for specialized spiritual research. He was the first to take the plunge in recent years.
Remembering Ning Kongran, Chu Yan frowned, then quickly shook his head, saying, “My task is different from yours. I’m also training in command, and my task will follow the command major, not in the same place as you.”
Yuan Xiu was at a loss. Just as he was about to suggest having a teacher randomly match him with a mecha engineering student who hadn’t found a teammate, he caught sight of Xiang Kun walking by outside the window. An idea struck him, and he excitedly gave Chu Yan a nudge, saying, “There’s still one more person! Xiang Kun! He also knows how to repair [Knight] and is in the same year as us! You’re on good terms with him now, so invite him!”
Chu Yan was about to cry out in pain but swallowed the sound upon hearing this. He sat up, rubbing his shoulder, and suddenly became awkward and evasive, waving his hand and saying, “Forget it, I’ll look for someone else. Maybe Sang Bu hasn’t found a teammate yet…”
“But Xiang Kun just walked past us. This is a rare opportunity. I still think inviting him would be better.” Yuan Xiu pointed outside. Despite their poor relationship as children, he still believed Xiang Kun was the most suitable candidate.
“What? He just walked past us?”
Chu Yan immediately stood up and looked out the window, but didn’t see anyone. Hesitantly, he sat back down, saying, “He might have already found a mecha driving major teammate. Forget it, I’ll find someone else. Besides, I’m not on good terms with him. Every time I talk to him, he’s cold and seems to dislike me…” His voice trailed off, barely audible.
Yuan Xiu only heard the first part and looked at him with confusion, frowning, “Why are you being so indecisive now? This isn’t like you. What’s wrong? Did you hit puberty late?”
Chu Yan had already slumped back, listlessly waving his hand at Yuan Xiu, his thoughts clearly drifting elsewhere.
Seeing this, Yuan Xiu felt even more concerned. Recalling Xiang Kun, who had just left, he thought for a moment and then took out his communicator.
In the mecha driving system’s combat building, Xiang Kun was politely thanking some classmates who had helped him. Just as he was about to turn to leave, his communicator rang. He looked at it and saw a message from Yuan Xiu, feeling a bit surprised, and opened it.
[Come to Cafeteria B after school. Chu Yan needs to talk to you.]
‘Oh?’
Xiang Kun squinted, recalled the instructions Qiao Zhiya gave him before leaving, tapped a response to acknowledge receipt, then turned off the message and walked out of the building.
After school, Chu Yan was pulled to Cafeteria B by Yuan Xiu, who then left under some pretext and was gone for a long time.
Chu Yan, feeling puzzled, was about to get up and look for him when the area in front of him suddenly darkened. Xiang Kun, with a blank expression, sat down across from him and extended his hand.
“Give me the [Knight].”
Chu Yan’s eyes widened. His previously lifeless expression immediately came to life. Just as he was about to smile, it was forcefully suppressed. Xiang Kun deliberately leaned back in his chair and coldly said, “Why should I give it to you? It’s my mecha.”
Xiang Kun frowned, guessing that Chu Yan was just trying to play games with him. He gave Chu Yan a disdainful look and got up to leave.
The person who used to bite back whenever provoked now walked away at the slightest provocation. Chu Yan stiffened, then, without thinking, got up and blocked Xiang Kun’s way. Finding something trivial and childish to argue about, he said, “You just sat across from me and ruined my appetite. You have to buy me a meal!”
Xiang Kun stopped, frowned even more, glanced at him up and down, then pulled out a nutrition pack from his space button and shoved it into Chu Yan’s hand before turning and walking away without looking back.
“???”
Chu Yan looked at the nutrition solution pack in his hand, then turned to watch Xiang Kun’s cold, indifferent back. Feeling a pang of frustration, he wanted to yell at Xiang Kun but noticed the students around and swallowed his words, sulkily sitting back down.
Yuan Xiu, who had been secretly observing from around the corner, didn’t expect the two to part on bad terms. After a moment of shock, he hurried over, sat down across from the sulking Chu Yan, and asked anxiously, “What happened? Didn’t you ask Xiang Kun for help? And why has your relationship deteriorated again? Didn’t it get better before?”
Chu Yan was taken aback and looked at him suspiciously, asking, “You knew he was coming?”
Yuan Xiu nervously looked away.
Having grown up together, Chu Yan could tell what Yuan Xiu was up to just by his expression. Realizing something, he grabbed Yuan Xiu and asked through gritted teeth, “Did you invite Xiang Kun? What were you up to behind my back? Since you invited him, why didn’t you tell me sooner!”
“Let go, let go. Watch your image.” Yuan Xiu quickly tried to calm him, pressing down on his shoulders. Seeing that Chu Yan was genuinely upset, he chose to come clean and said, “I was just worried about you, and he came too quickly for me to inform you. So, what exactly did you say to him? He seemed okay when he came, but you managed to make him leave right after you spoke. Did you yell at him?”
“Yell at him?!” Chu Yan couldn’t help but curse, feeling more frustrated as he thought about what he had said. He scratched his head irritably and said, “I might as well have yelled at him!” With that, he stood up and strode out of the cafeteria.
Yuan Xiu hadn’t seen Chu Yan so frustrated and upset in a long time, and he became even more concerned, frowning in worry.
Cafeteria B was connected to several campuses. By the time Chu Yan chased outside, Xiang Kun had long disappeared. He stayed in place for a moment, then decisively headed towards the Mecha Manufacturing Department, dialing Xiang Kun’s communicator as he walked.
Rejected, rejected, rejected… Do Not Disturb.
“Damn it!”
He grew increasingly frustrated, his eyes sweeping over the passing personal transport vehicles around him. It dawned on him that he had foolishly been chasing people on foot. He slapped his forehead, quickly retrieved a transport vehicle, and headed towards the Mecha Manufacturing Department.
It was already after school, and the streets were filled with students. Yet, he immediately spotted Xiang Kun’s fleeting figure in front of the practical building of the Mech Manufacturing Department. He stopped the transport vehicle and hurriedly ran towards the building, managing to wedge his hand into the elevator door just before it closed.
Inside the elevator, Xiang Kun was startled and quickly opened the door. Seeing Chu Yan, who was out of breath, appear at the doorway, Xiang Kun was initially stunned, then frowned and asked, “What are you doing?”
“I’m sorry.”
Chu Yan immediately apologized as he squeezed into the elevator, catching his breath while explaining, “The message this afternoon was sent by Yuan Xiu behind my back. I didn’t know he made the appointment with you. I didn’t mean to upset you before. Here, [Knight].”
He pulled out the mecha’s space button and handed it to Xiang Kun, even holding his hand to ensure he grasped the space button firmly, showing that he had no intention of withholding [Knight].
As the elevator doors slowly closed, Chu Yan’s breath was warm against Xiang Kun’s ear due to their height difference.
In the confined space, the senses were magnified: the warm breath near his ear, the presence of Chu Yan’s body, the overwhelming assertiveness surrounding him, and the mech’s space button still carrying the warmth of Chu Yan’s hand.
Everything was magnified, and Xiang Kun’s pupils contracted. Seeing Chu Yan’s profile reflected in the elevator doors brought back the anxious feeling he had when Chu Yan piloted the mech towards the Zergs. His heart pounded, and he quickly withdrew his hand, using the action of pressing the floor button to move to the side. He lowered his head and replied, “I understand. I’ll repair [Knight] as soon as possible. It won’t delay your mission.”
Chu Yan was taken aback by how easily he had received forgiveness. He looked at Xiang Kun’s neck, which looked quite attractive in its curve, and felt an inexplicable sense of joy. He unconsciously moved a bit closer and said, “No rush, take your time with the repairs. By the way… do you have any free time recently? I’m about to start a mission, but I haven’t found a suitable mecha maker. You know, [Knight] is a bit special. Umm, can you…?”
“I’m not available.” Xiang Kun flatly rejected, stepping out of the elevator as the doors opened, eager to escape the confined space filled with Chu Yan’s presence. He turned to face Chu Yan, explaining with a slightly distant tone, “The only reason I’m willing to help repair the mecha is because Qiao asked me before leaving. Don’t get the wrong idea. I wish you a successful mission. Goodbye.”
With that, he turned and walked away without looking back.
The elevator doors closed, and Chu Yan looked at his reflection in the door, feeling foolish and stunned. After a moment, he frowned deeply, grabbed his disheveled hair, and muttered under his breath, “Damn!”
As for what he was damning, he didn’t know. He only knew he had been a fool today.
Chu Yan became distracted, accepting the randomly assigned teammates from his teacher and preparing the spare mecha, focusing on getting ready for the mission.
Yuan Xiu felt guilty for causing him to miss the last suitable mecha maker and apologized. Chu Yan, however, seemed slightly distracted, then patted his shoulder with a smile and said, “It’s not your fault. Good brothers don’t hold grudges. Want to practice at the combat arena tonight? I haven’t used a purely spiritually-piloted mecha in a while and need to get used to it.”
Seeing him return to his usual self, Yuan Xiu breathed a sigh of relief and readily accepted the invitation.
That night, Chu Yan played fiercely, even destroying the spare mecha. Yuan Xiu grew worried, but Chu Yan claimed he enjoyed the practice and wasn’t bothered by the spare mech being damaged, as he had another one at home.
After a few more days of practice, Xiang Kun sent [Knight] over through someone, not showing up in person.
Chu Yan’s expression stiffened for a moment, then quickly brightened into a warm and polite smile as he sent the delivery person away, not even glancing at [Knight]. He took out another spare mecha and signaled Yuan Xiu to continue their practice.
Yuan Xiu frowned, wanting to say something, but considering that the mission was about to start, he swallowed his words and continued to practice with him.
By the time the mission officially began, and all students boarded the ship to the mission site organized by the school, Chu Yan hadn’t touched [Knight] again. It seemed like he was planning to use the spare mecha for the mission.
To celebrate the end of the great war, the military academy had prepared an exceptionally difficult training task this year. With Chu Yan studying two majors, his task was even more inhumane. Although his strength had greatly improved in combat against the Zergs, the mecha he used limited his performance, significantly lowering his task completion rate.
Before departure, his randomly assigned teammate was very worried about the mission’s success, fearing that it would affect Chu Yan’s usual performance.
Chu Yan, however, remained calm, guided his teammate into the mech, and reassured him, “Don’t worry, I guarantee I’ll bring you back safely.”
Half a month later, Chu Yan did not break his promise – he indeed returned safely with his teammate, though he himself had sustained injuries, and they were quite serious.
“It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been slow in getting into the mecha, Chu Yan wouldn’t have gotten hurt trying to cover for me.”
The teammate felt very guilty. After reporting this to the team leader, the leader was stunned and asked in surprise, “Wait, are you saying that Chu Yan didn’t use his main mecha but completed the mission entirely with the spare mech?”
The teammate didn’t understand why the leader reacted this way and nodded, replying, “Yes, Chu Yan never took out his [Knight] at all. It’s a pity that the repair and maintenance information Xiang Kun gave me for [Knight] was not used.”
Hearing this, the leader was distraught and quickly took out a communicator to report the matter to the school.
The difficulty of the tasks assigned by the military academy is set according to the students’ overall strength. It is well known that Chu Yan’s [Knight] is a special-class mecha made personally by Qiao Zhiya. Considering this, the school had increased the difficulty of Chu Yan’s task slightly, so he would gain the proper experience and growth from it.
But who would have thought that Chu Yan didn’t even use [Knight]!
The teammate and the leader were left confused and shocked, respectively, not noticing that Chu Yan’s eyelids twitched slightly on the hospital bed, briefly opened his eyes, and then quickly fell back into sleep due to the medication.
When the students returned to the Capital Planet, Chu Yan’s family all rushed to the port to welcome him.
At this point, Chu Yan had already recovered enough to move around on his own. Seeing his family waiting for him, he exaggeratedly hopped a few times to show he was fine, which startled Gu Yan’an, who quickly held him down and scolded him to behave.
In a corner of the port, Xiang Kun, who was sitting in a hover car, saw Chu Yan bouncing around and felt relieved. He leaned back in his seat, tiredly pressing his forehead, and gestured for the driver to leave.
The driver, puzzled, didn’t understand why Xiang Kun came all the way but didn’t greet the Third Young Master of the Chu family. Seeing Xiang Kun’s exhausted face, he didn’t dare ask more, turned around, and left.
On the other side, Chu Yan, while talking to Gu Yan’an, suddenly glanced over and with a slightly smug smile, muttered under his breath. Then he cheerfully ran over to where Chu Huai was holding Chu Pangpang and started playing with his little nephew.
One week later, in a certain laboratory of the Mecha Manufacturing Department’s practical building.
Xiang Kun stood at the control station, finishing the final installation procedure for the driving system of a small silver-gray mecha. After a moment of distraction, he shook his head vigorously and went up to put the mecha away.
“Xiang Kun!”
Chu Yan’s voice suddenly came from the door, full of hostility.
Xiang Kun was startled and hastily shoved the space button containing the silver-gray mecha into his pocket. Seeing Chu Yan storming in angrily, he defensively said, “What are you here for? Looking for a fight?”
Chu Yan didn’t answer. He approached and swung a punch. Xiang Kun quickly closed his eyes, feeling the rush of the punch, then felt a familiar presence envelop him as Chu Yan’s annoying voice came to his ear, “What’s there to hit with your little frame? Let’s go, let’s go. I’ve been drinking nutrient solution every day for so long while injured, and I’m sick of it. Today, I’m finally allowed to eat real food, so let’s go for a big meal.”
As his body was involuntarily moved forward, Xiang Kun snapped out of his daze and quickly pushed Chu Yan away from him, saying, “Why should I go out to eat with you? I’m not free, no—”
“You’re just all bark and no bite, always putting up a front. Fine, fine, I’ll treat you. Let’s go, let’s go. I’ve already made a reservation at Jinlai Restaurant, the same place where we fought when we were kids. This time, we won’t fight, we’ll have a good meal.”
Chu Yan didn’t give him a chance to refuse and dragged him out the door, looking like the best of buddies.
With the disparity in physical strength, Xiang Kun couldn’t resist him. Mentioning their childhood, he got a little distracted, and that moment allowed him to be dragged onto Chu Yan’s “ship” and go for a big meal.
During the meal, Chu Yan kept chattering about the training and constantly served dishes to Xiang Kun.
Xiang Kun kept a cold face, and Chu Yan pretended not to notice. If Xiang Kun didn’t respond, Chu Yan could talk all night. When Xiang Kun refused to use his chopsticks, Chu Yan simply filled his bowl with food, then called the waiter to refill water and rice, forcing him to pick up his chopsticks under the waiter’s puzzled gaze.
“Sigh, if you had come with me on the mission back then, I definitely wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
Chu Yan ended his monologue with a slightly flattering comment, then naturally cleared out the cold dishes from Xiang Kun’s bowl and replaced them with a fresh bowl of soup. “Here, your favorite soup. Drink more,” he said, standing up to adjust the heating device on the table to warm the dishes.
Xiang Kun was stunned, looking at the steaming soup in front of him. He remembered the time he had deliberately spilled soup on Chu Yan during their childhood, which led to a big fight between them. His expression softened as he picked up a spoon.
Chu Yan, observing from the corner of his eye, smirked and sat back in his chair, happily swaying his head.
He knew it. Xiang Kun was someone he had beaten up since they were kids. How could his character have changed so drastically as he grew up? Despite being just a dumb kid who used silly methods to achieve his goals, he insisted on putting on a cold front, which was really a concern.
The atmosphere naturally softened. After the satisfying meal, Chu Yan even bought a stuffed toy from the restaurant’s surroundings and gave it to Xiang Kun, calling it a souvenir of their first meal together.
Xiang Kun made a face of disdain but put the silly stuffed toy into his space button.
The two returned to school, parting ways at a crossroads. Chu Yan got into his hover car, and just as he was about to start it, he suddenly remembered something, poked his head out, and said, “Thanks for the [Knight] repair and maintenance info. For the end-of-term training exam, make sure to be my teammate. I’ll come find you. Good night.”
After saying that, he pulled his head back, humming a tune as he drove away.
Xiang Kun was stunned, listening to the distant humming. His ears felt a little warm, but his expression darkened as he started his hover car and grumbled, “Stop singing, it’s terrible! It’s really ear pollution!”
