Chapter 37
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The Inter-Collegiate Mecha Combat Competition is a joint event held by the Galactic Empire and the Kale Federation.
The participants in this competition include students from ten mecha academies on several planets under the Galactic Empire, plus students of mecha combat in eight mecha academies within the territories of the Kale Federation.
The number of participants in the competition will reach several thousand, even tens of thousands. Billions of spectators from both the Empire and the Federation will watch the live broadcast. For both parties, such a competition is a grand event. It also serves as an opportunity for the Empire and the Federation to covertly assess each other's military strength.
Because of this, the Imperial Mecha Academy takes this competition very seriously and encourages all students from the mecha combat department to actively enroll.
Paired with the mecha combat students are the students from the Mecha Repair Department. Before the competition, they need to inspect the mechas for their assigned mecha combatants. After the competition, they must check the degree of damage to the mechas and provide repair suggestions.
Typically, a mature mecha combatant will have a designated mecha repairer who is responsible for regular maintenance and repair of the mecha.
Therefore, after the final exams this semester, Mu Cai can't immediately go home to visit Shi Xue Zhen. He has to join the mecha combat students of the same grade for an internship.
While it's called an internship, it's really a direct confrontation between first- and fifth-year students from the Mecha Combat department, allowing the first-year students to identify their deficiencies. Meanwhile, students from the Mecha Repair Department can truly experience the maintenance process of a mecha.
The Imperial Mecha Academy focuses on practical teaching. Mu Cai and his classmates have examined mechas several times this term already. However, they only worked with stationary mechas, ones that were not operational, which didn't provide the opportunity to go through the entire process in full.
Now, during the internship, they're finally getting the chance.
On the first day of the internship, Mu Cai bid farewell to Ruan Jia and walked to the mecha combat venue alone.
Ruan Jia is studying in the Floral Arrangement Major at the Imperial Mecha Academy. This major has no connection to the Mecha Academy at all. It’s a bit like having a humanities major in an engineering school: it's somewhat awkward.
Ruan Jia originally planned to attend a comprehensive university but changed his mind because of Mu Cai. At this point, his major has already been on break. But Ruan Jia didn't leave; he decided to wait for Mu Cai.
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Mu Cai went to the venue directly in his Mecha Repair Department uniform. However, once he reached the first floor of the venue, he realized that his situation was a bit awkward.
Before the internship, the teacher had told them that if they know any students from the same year in the Mecha Combat department, they should find a partner in advance. When the internship starts, if there are any students without a partner, the teacher would assign one.
Mu Cai was not acquainted with anyone from his grade in the Mecha Combat department, and no one had approached him before. He had planned to see who was left without a partner once he got to the venue, and then try to find a pairing.
Now, Mu Cai found that everyone he knew or barely recognized had already formed two-person teams. He felt a bit uncomfortable.
Normally, students from two departments would often have lectures together, and many school activities would be accomplished by students from both departments. Mu Cai rarely took the initiative to make friends, but surely he wasn't the last one left without a partner, was he?
Apart from dealing with Mu Feng recently, he had been treating his classmates normally. When had his popularity declined to such a low point?
The young man stood in front of the crowd. He pursed his reddish lips, furrowed his brow, and his pair of large black eyes hurriedly swept over every person present. He looked rather upset.
Many greedy and fervent eyes gazed at him.
In fact, Mu Cai had already attracted attention among the first-year students in the Mecha Combat department. Most people who entered the Mecha Combat Department were alphas, with the others being strong betas. The majority of these students had omegas as their prospective partners, so they naturally paid more attention to them.
Although the omega rights movement was becoming more and more intense now, many people professed to appreciate omegas who could stand as equals with alphas. However, when an omega - who appeared obedient, emitted a soft aura all over, and interacted politely with others - appeared in their sights, of course, the alphas from the Mecha Combat Department were all attracted.
But this batch of first-year students hadn't gotten a chance to do anything when they heard that the person was already under the protection of Senior Claire.
What a shame!
Even though they had just entered the Imperial Mecha Academy, and hadn't seen Claire before, the vast majority had heard the name of the future head of the Léon family. They wouldn't dare cross him lightly.
Even those who hadn't heard of Claire and attempted to get close to Mu Cai were soon "cared for" by the senior students in their fifth year.
So this time, practically all of the first-year students in Mecha Combat found their partners early, fearing to be marked by Claire.
However, seeing the young man looking upset now made some people feel a spark of regret and indecision.
The number of students in the Mecha Combat and Mecha Repair departments is always the same for each grade at the Imperial Mecha Academy. This is a tradition of the academy, intended to foster a rapport between Mecha fighters and dedicated Mecha repairers from their student days, enabling better cooperation in the future.
Therefore, no matter how the pairs are formed during this internship period, someone will eventually have to team up with Mu Cai. Although Senior Claire is dominant, surely he wouldn't be so unreasonable? If they had waited a bit longer to find a partner before, they might have ended up being paired with Mu Cai now!
After feeling wronged for a while, Mu Cai heard the teacher call his name.
He walked over among numerous eager eyes and saw Mu Feng standing next to the teacher.
Had Mu Feng not found a partner? Mu Cai was a bit surprised.
He remembered in the original story how Mu Feng, as the only omega in the Mecha Combat department of the Imperial Academy, was highly sought after. The Mecha Care students were quite happy to partner with him, so he should have found a team from the start.
However, the host body did not end up alone in the original story. As Mu Cai recalled, he hadn't done anything, so the storyline must have veered off track due to some irresistible factors.
Surprisingly, it's Mu Feng!
The surrounding eager gazes instantly turned into envy and discontent.
Such a good thing as partnering with Mu Cai fell on him!
Although Mu Feng had passed the Mecha Combat test with high scores, the physical differences between omegas, alphas, and even betas became evident once they started long-term training at the academy.
While Mu Feng wasn't exactly the weakest, his performance wasn't particularly outstanding. His lack of favor with Mu Cai naturally meant he wasn't popular with most alphas either, making his situation in the department rather awkward.
But who would have thought that such a usually uncomfortable person in the department would have the lucky chance to partner with Mu Cai!
The moment Mu Feng saw Mu Cai, his eyes lit up.
He had initially prepared himself to be teamed with someone who was as unpopular as he was, but he was unexpectedly paired with Mu Cai!
This person frequently discussed within the Mecha Combat department was none other than his own brother!
Just as Mu Feng wanted to greet him excitedly, he remembered Mu Cai's warning against him calling him 'brother'. Moreover, Mrs. Shi and their father had recently successfully divorced. Mu Cai and Mrs. Shi had managed to break free from his father, and hence, had nothing to do with him anymore.
When Mu Feng thought about this, it made him feel upset.
As he was feeling down, an ethereal and pleasing voice rang out, "What's with that expression? You should feel honored to be partnering with me!"
The young man in front of him was glaring at him sharply. However, his soft black hair drooped over his ears, and a pair of round eyes were on his pale face. Mu Cai's pupils were deep black, seeming to hide a bundle of light, reflecting two tiny images of himself. Even in anger, he seemed to glow.
Mu Feng felt the surge of attention focusing on his brother intensify.
After barking out those words with an imposing demeanor, Mu Cai felt rather guilty in reality. His current situation was not much different from Mu Feng's—both of them were awkward characters no one wanted to pair with. However, being the malicious supporting male character, Mu Cai naturally had to raise himself and belittle the other to hit Mu Feng's morale.
Even though he himself didn't find it very convincing.
With just a little thought, Mu Feng could refute him.
Thinking about this made Mu Cai even more apprehensive, and he couldn't help but covertly observe the other person's expression.
The man in front of him blinked with his long eyelashes, his bright black eyes quietly watching him, seemingly waiting for his response.
Mu Feng felt like his heart was pierced with an arrow.
He was somewhat overwhelmed by the cuteness.
He hurriedly said, “I understand. For the upcoming battles, the inspection of 'Vermilion Bird'... will be up to you, Mu Cai.”
'Vermilion Bird' is the name of Mu Feng's mecha.
Mu Cai sighed in relief internally—thankfully, the protagonist is a rather upright person and didn't expose him.
He nodded condescendingly, “That's more like it.”
Seeing that the group assignments were completed, the teacher immediately signaled towards the fifth-year side.
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With everyone prepared, the mecha combat between the two year levels could now begin.
Since this internship was designed to get first-year mecha combat students quickly acquainted with mecha warfare and gain experience in order to participate in the mecha combat league in the future, the matches were arranged following the roster in the teacher's virtual mentor, with the first-year students taking the stage and the fifth-year students following with challenges as they pleased.
Mu Cai stretched out his hand and stroked the icy, dark red exterior of Vermilion Bird, casually closing his eyes and guiding his spiritual power into it.
His spiritual power is exceptional, rated S-class. Although it doesn't match the terrifying 3S-class spiritual power of Claire, it's more than enough to deal with mechas of all league grades.
The 'Vermilion Bird' was a brand-new A-class mecha which, in theory, shouldn't have any problems. Nonetheless, Mu Cai took care to thoroughly explore the mecha's interior.
Everything was normal within the mecha, except that near the cockpit, a screw was slightly loose.
This was something Mu Cai could handle. He concentrated his spiritual power more intricately and welded it together, tightening the loose screw.
Claire was intently watching Mu Cai, who had his eyes closed while inspecting the mecha.
The hand tending to the mecha was fine and delicate, the wrist looking as if it would break at a bend. Against the backdrop of the dark-red mecha exterior, the hand looked as white as accumulated snow atop a mountain.
Such a pair of hands was caressing someone else’s mecha.
Hanging in a downsized form as a necklace against his chest, Bai Ze, the mecha that had been with him for years, suddenly emitted a faint glow.
Mechas, being man-made, are devoid of feelings. However, due to their unique material composition, they can sense the spiritual energy radiated by humans. As Claire's emotions fluctuated, his usually stable spiritual energy began to ripple, duly affecting Bai Ze.
The previous mecha duel had just concluded, with the defeated first-year student leaving the arena disheveled.
The teacher announced the next participant's name:
"Mu Feng."
Finally, that snow-white hand moved away from the glaring red surface.
Bai Ze, on his chest, was starting to grow faintly warm.
Through his clothes, Claire could feel his own mecha.
He yearned for those hands to linger on his mecha, for the other's spiritual energy to probe in, and scan Bai Ze from head to toe.
That hand was so white, it would definitely look even better placed on Bai Ze.
At this thought, Claire's gaze deepened.
Mu Feng climbed into the cockpit of Vermilion Bird and maneuvered the red mecha into the arena.
Given his achievement of entering the mecha combat system with an omega constitution, his presence was widely recognized by everyone in the school.
Just as some people got excited and wanted to challenge this omega to test his skills, Claire, who had been silently standing by, suddenly spoke up:
"I'll go."
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Author's note:
Claire: I have a friend, his mecha likes you very much, could you please give it a touch?
Mu Cai: ...
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