IMAO Chapter 18

Jiang Yuan’s first time piloting a mecha could be described as effortless. Besides Alphonse’s assistance, the fundamental reason was that Jiang Yuan used to pilot spaceships!

In his later years, after acquiring Alphonse, he often traveled and explored space alone. With Alphonse’s help, he could single-handedly pilot a spaceship, let alone operate a mecha.

After flying a round inside the research institute and becoming fully familiar with the mecha, Jiang Yuan finally brought it back.

When Jiang Yuan disembarked, Ji Yang and the others stared at him. Surely Jiang Yuan must have piloted a mecha before? How else could he possess such terrifying control?

No, that’s impossible.

If he could pilot like this without prior experience, wouldn’t that be godlike?

“Jiang Yuan, have you really never piloted before?” Liu Zheng asked, his voice trembling slightly.

Jiang Yuan shook his head and said, “Well, I can’t say I’ve never piloted at all…”

Liu Zheng smiled faintly, “I thought so…”

Before Liu Zheng could finish his “so,” Jiang Yuan continued, “If the Star Wars game counts, I actually pilot this model quite often.”

Jiang Yuan thought to himself that the original owner had played games featuring this mecha model, and many operations were indeed similar.

Liu Zheng was rendered speechless upon hearing this. How could the game, with all its assisted operations, compare to piloting a real mecha?

Star Wars was developed to familiarize soldiers with combat weapons like mechas and warships. Real battles were rare, but everyone needed some practical experience, hence the creation of Star Wars.

Initially, Star Wars was designed to replicate real mechas precisely, but as the mecha craze swept in, it entered the public eye as a game.

In-game, ordinary people struggled with high-difficulty operations, so Star Wars eventually simplified its controls to make it accessible to the general public.

However, Star Wars’ fundamental purpose remains valid today. Soldiers with special privileges, after information verification, can forcibly activate a second mode during training hours that fully simulates real operations.

This approach allows Star Wars to introduce more opponents for the country’s soldiers beyond just the military, while also allowing the country to profit from this massive game investment. It could be called a highly meaningful initiative.

Before entering the military academy, Jiang Yuan’s identity information hadn’t been verified, so his access was always set to standard, using the first mode. Hearing Jiang Yuan’s explanation, Liu Zheng felt at a loss for words and sighed inwardly, thinking this must be what talent looks like.

Meanwhile, the people in Liu Zheng’s group were all smiles, their eyes curved into slits. This year’s graduation was definitely in the bag!

The school’s requirements for their graduation project included not only the mecha’s modifications but also a combat performance evaluation. They needed an average score of at least 85 points in both areas to pass.

Some students tried to game the system by finding skilled mecha department students. If the mecha wasn’t up to par, they’d rely on the pilot’s skills to make up for it! However, finding capable mecha department students to help was extremely difficult unless you had a particularly close relationship.

Generally, weren’t mecha department students quite arrogant? Who would help you test unless you were close friends? Although their mecha engineering department ranked second at the First Military Academy, how many could actually produce a renowned mecha?

Liu Zheng was secretly delighted. His group hadn’t left school all year due to their experiment, so when the semester started, they helped welcome some new students. When asked about graduation, he’d casually mentioned it.

Initially, when Adelman said a mecha department student was willing to help with testing, Liu Zheng hesitated because they were freshmen. But he figured it was better than the school’s arrangement, and even if it didn’t work out, the few tens of thousands spent wouldn’t be too painful.

Who knew they’d strike gold! It felt like they’d picked up a bargain!

This year’s graduation was as secure as an old dog!

Liu Zheng looked at Jiang Yuan again, his eyes brimming with even deeper joy.

“Jiang Yuan, if your hands feel uncomfortable after piloting the mecha for the first time, you must tell your senior,” Liu Zheng said, genuinely concerned about Jiang Yuan. He had no ulterior motives; he just saw Jiang Yuan as his hope for graduation this year. After all, piloting a mecha was intense on the hands, so his tone was particularly earnest.

Liu Zheng suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He instinctively touched his back, feeling goosebumps all over. Turning his head, he saw the male student from the mecha department who had come with Jiang Yuan smiling and chatting with someone nearby. He scratched his head, wondering if the air conditioning was too cold.

After testing the mecha once, Jiang Yuan indeed discovered some minor issues. He asked Liu Zheng for their graduation design report before leaving with his classmates.

The research institute was closer to the mecha engineering department. After Ji Yang and some classmates left, Jiang Yuan returned to the dorm with Ji Rong.

Back at the dorm, Jiang Yuan took a shower first. Just as he finished, he noticed several new messages on his phone.

Song Yirui had sent quite a few messages asking about his recent situation. Jiang Yuan thought for a moment before replying to each one. They exchanged information about recent events at school before Jiang Yuan ended the chat.

At Red Star University, in a dimly lit dorm room.

One of the male students put down his communicator and suddenly spoke up.

“Yirui, aren’t you going to mark your little omega? His pheromones are always unconsciously leaking out. Damn, just a whiff of his scent, and I can barely control my own pheromones!”

“Yeah, Lao Song, you’re not incapable, are you?”

“Hey, were you chatting with him just now?”

The three alphas in Song Yirui’s dorm were all itching like cats had scratched their hearts after seeing Qiu Jingming today. Undeniably, Qiu Jingming had a tremendous attraction for alphas. However, the three were also resigned, seeing that the little omega had obviously been claimed by Song Yirui, carrying his pheromone scent. Though faint, they could still detect it.

“You misunderstood. We’re not in that kind of relationship!” Song Yirui’s expression changed slightly upon hearing his roommates’ words, and he quickly explained.

“Not? We can smell his scent! If I hadn’t smelled your scent on him, I’d have pursued Xiao Qiu myself,” one of the boys teased with a grin.

Song Yirui laughed awkwardly.

Today, when Qiu Jingming came to find him after class, and they went out together, Qiu Jingming pinned him against the bathroom door and kissed him again. He had also guided Song Yirui’s hand, and with the faint sweet scent of omega pheromones Qiu Jingming had been emitting lately, they ended up embracing in the bathroom, even locking themselves in a stall.

Compared to their previous kisses, there were naturally many more actions this time. He was really about to take Qiu Jingming right there, but then his communicator beeped once. That single beep saved him – he had been so close, so close to sleeping with Jiang Yuan’s brother!

Hearing the communicator’s sound, he snapped back to reality. Seeing Qiu Jingming, clothes already off and arms around his neck, leaning in for a kiss, he was terrified. He instinctively pushed Qiu Jingming away, leaving the disheveled omega in the bathroom as he pulled up his pants and ran!

Later, reflecting on it, he felt he hadn’t handled it properly. But at that moment, he was truly terrified and also afraid Qiu Jingming would tell Jiang Yuan about the incident. So he found Qiu Jingming and begged him not to mention today’s events to Jiang Yuan.

At that time, Qiu Jingming had just left the bathroom and had obviously cried. Upon seeing him, not only did Qiu Jingming not blame him, but he even took responsibility.

Recalling how Qiu Jingming softly insisted it was his own fault, that it had nothing to do with Song Yirui, and promised not to tell Jiang Yuan, Song Yirui could only sigh silently. Jingming truly liked him too much, acting this way solely out of affection. It filled Song Yirui’s heart with sympathy, even making him forget his earlier fear.

The responsibility was entirely his; as an alpha, he had full capacity to push Qiu Jingming away. Yet Qiu Jingming protected him like this, without a hint of blame.

Thinking of this, Song Yirui sighed helplessly. He now both feared and pitied Qiu Jingming.

He didn’t know what to do, but he truly couldn’t have anything with Qiu Jingming. Given Jiang Yuan’s personality, he would never forgive infidelity.

Having grown up together, he believed he understood Jiang Yuan well.

Qiu Jingming, who had returned home to rest, lay in bed, his mind full of the afternoon’s bathroom incident. His face was pale as he bit his lower lip tightly, only releasing it when he tasted a faint metallic flavor.

The moment Song Yirui pushed him away and fled, he was really stunned. Looking at himself, clothes off and covered in kiss marks, he didn’t know how he managed to dress, compose himself, and walk out.

Seeing Song Yirui run back, hearing him beg not to tell Jiang Yuan, Song Yirui’s humble plea all for Jiang Yuan’s sake – it made his heart bleed.

At that moment, he wanted to go berserk, to lash out, to curse! That gentleness and pitifulness were just his protective coloring; he wasn’t inherently a gentle person! But he couldn’t. He could only endure, force a smile, and take all the blame to reassure Song Yirui.

“Knock knock knock.”

Just then, there was a knock at the door, followed by Jiang Tianze’s voice, “Jingming, your mom says you’ve locked yourself in your room since you got home. Did something happen?”

Hearing Jiang Tianze, who had just returned from work, Qiu Jingming replied, “I’m fine, just a bit tired.”

Hearing this, Jiang Tianze didn’t press further and went downstairs.

Fang Shi, seeing him come down, asked about the situation. After hearing Jiang Tianze’s response, she raised an eyebrow and said, “I see it clearly now. You and Jiang Yuan are truly father and son, exactly the same. You don’t understand how to care for people at all. Just because Jingming says he’s fine doesn’t mean he is! He just doesn’t want you to worry!”

Jiang Tianze scratched his head and asked, “Should I go up and ask again?”

Fang Shi waved her hand, “Never mind, let him be alone for a while. I’ll talk to him in a couple of days.”

Meanwhile, the subject of Fang Shi’s complaints, Jiang Yuan, rubbed his nose. Who was talking about him?

Anyway, better focus on the mecha design!

Lying on his bed, Jiang Yuan opened the modification design documents he got from Liu Zheng. After careful examination, he realized there was only one area of modification in the mecha design.

He had to admit, Liu Zheng was quite capable. The added design structure was very intricate.

Jiang Yuan thought for a moment. It seemed that Liu Zheng’s designed structure might not be entirely suitable for the Thunder Fighter…

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