Ziye had become a third-class citizen in the household; the first class belonged to Little Sprout, whose word was law, and the second to An Junlie, who simultaneously spoiled her with delicacies and piled on the frost. As a miserable third-class citizen, she had absolutely no room for resistance.

The training was excruciatingly tedious. In the past, she probably would have either jumped off a building or completely broken down, but after nearly two years on Silver Talisman Star, her temperament had settled considerably. Having endured so many hardships, what was the pain of training in comparison? She reassured herself internally while pushing her pace.

Only by meeting the requirements as quickly as possible could she escape this existence.

Once Ziye solidified her resolve, the training felt less agonizing. She would rise at five every morning for three hours of drills, and immediately after leaving the training space, she would rush to clean up before starting her work.

As June 9th loomed closer, the number of visitors increased daily. Even Red Hair temporarily set aside the challenge of battling An Junlie, sending daily silver-messages to press Ziye about the execution status and results of the aspects of Project 69 under her responsibility.

Project 69 involved intercepting particles from the airship's fuselage during the window between the deployment of the new prisoners by the interstellar battleship and its detonation, aiming to shoot down the battleship. Analysis would be a task for later.

Compared to downing the battleship, harvesting particles from the airship hull was easier, but airships were usually kept within the ship's hangar before being deployed, making external access difficult, thus limiting their utility. Therefore, the two-pronged approach was necessary: even if they couldn't destroy the battleship, they would at least secure some analyzable particles.

For this endeavor, the entire globe formed the 69 Alliance, pooling all resources for the annual battleship downing initiative. Ziye was primarily responsible for robot modification and equipment maintenance. Red Hair, as the Alliance Executive Officer, constantly harassed her.

However, Ziye had her own priorities.

The time left before the interstellar battleship deployed its new prisoners was shrinking, and she needed to prepare everything required in advance. As for robot modification, as long as she followed the procedure daily, it shouldn't be a major issue.

Whether they could achieve their goal on June 9th was uncertain, but regardless, afterward, they would be swamped analyzing all the newly acquired data and readjusting strategy based on the latest findings. By that time, she would have no time whatsoever to repair An Junlie's mech, X0007.

X007 required significant effort. This was her first time independently maintaining a large humanoid mech, and her practical experience was limited. She needed to complete the repair and performance testing early so that if any issues arose during the trial run, she could disassemble and rework it.

No matter what, she would be unable to divert her attention to An Junlie’s affairs then.

There was another reason: perhaps on the day of '69,' An Junlie and his mech might prove useful—an extra contingency offered more insurance. Therefore, she spent several consecutive days engrossed in the mech, waiting until all components were serviced before proceeding to reassembly. Mech assembly was a basic skill for a technician, but Ziye hadn't had much chance to practice, so it still took her half a day.

Looking at the mech standing tall again in the yard, Ziye pressed her temples and sighed. The mech's outer shell was still pitted and scarred with traces of gunfire. She couldn't be bothered to fix the aesthetics, so externally, the reassembled mech looked no different from its pre-repair state, except for the missing left arm.

Ziye stood before the mech's toes and pointed at the left arm. "The left arm's disassembly was for the quantum engine. The fractured area has been reinforced with folds. The left arm is newly fabricated from 99% similar synthetic metal and fitted with a resonance blade for close-quarters combat. Also, I discarded the deformed barrel of your built-in laser cannon; this is a replacement. You should test its performance shortly."

An Junlie listened, nodding thoughtfully.

Theoretically, this modification was quite sound; at the very least, it ensured he could safely return to the mercenary guild headquarters.

After spending several days together, An Junlie was too embarrassed to continue looking down on the technician before him. Although he had doubted the skill level of this repair shop on the first day, the more familiar he became, the more he realized that Ziye, or rather, the people on this planet, were experts in their respective fields.

He secretly made a resolution in his heart: upon returning to the legion, he absolutely had to thoroughly investigate the true origins of the so-called 'S-class prisoners' as labeled by the Interstellar Federation.

While An Junlie was lost in thought, Ziye climbed the lift and entered the cockpit.

The cockpit itself was quite satisfactory. Ziye stretched contentedly inside the seat, settled in, and initiated the optical computer’s self-diagnostic: "Energy remaining 99%, engine integrity 86%, left arm synchronization 79%, cockpit integrity 97%... Now commencing pilot scan. Please remain seated. Pilot match rate 40%..."

Ziye froze. Then, the optical computer blared a fierce warning in the righteous, stern voice of an old man: "Non-designated pilot. Operation forbidden. Please depart politely!"

Damn it!

Ziye was so furious she almost laughed. After all that hard work repairing it for so long, she wasn't even allowed to test the machine? How outrageous! She reached out and poked Little Sprout, who was fast asleep draped over her head. "Help me modify the optical computer settings to allow me to pilot it."

"Understood!" Little Sprout sprang up, hopped to the right corner of the optical computer, and extended the tiny sprout from its head to connect with the mech's optical system. It sailed through unimpeded, encountering no resistance in the computer. Little Sprout zipped to the core program, took a look, then retreated, shaking its small leaf. "No, I cannot tamper with it."

Ziye frowned, displeased. "Why? Didn't you say there was no technical problem you couldn't handle in this area?"

Little Sprout shook the leaves on its head, squinting. "It has nothing to do with technique. The optical computer and the mech are synchronized. This mech’s performance is exceptional, demanding a very high caliber pilot. If a pilot who doesn't meet the standard forces a ride, it could cause the pilot's spirit and body to overload, resulting in fatal vascular rupture."

Ziye stared blankly for a long moment before finding her voice. "After all my training, did it have no effect at all?"

Little Sprout giggled, flying up again to perch on her head. "Not at all, not at all. If you hadn't done that training regimen, your pilot match rate would probably only be 15%."

Ziye didn't want to say anything more.

Comparing oneself to others was maddening!

Little Sprout felt none of her resentment or anger, saying cheerfully, "Don't you remember what Teacher Tang said? After a mech is manufactured, it needs performance testing and the assignment of a matched pilot? Humans choose mechs, but mechs also choose humans."

Ziye naturally remembered.

The teacher had also said the best mech wasn't one created to screen pilots, but one custom-made for a pilot. Clearly, An Junlie's mech was tailor-made for him.

"Hmph!" Ziye slapped the system optical computer in dissatisfaction, ordering Little Sprout to collect all the data. She climbed out of the cockpit and said to An Junlie, "You can try it now. But you are absolutely forbidden from using this thing in a PK against anyone else." If 007 were to appear, never mind her house—the entire Silver Talisman Star would likely descend into chaos!

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