Everyone harbors a curiosity for gossip; the less one sees, the more intrigued they become. As Little Sprout stared intently at the ranking board, several busybodies had already drifted toward the assembly area to watch the commotion.

Little Sprout’s bright eyes tracked the competitors being teleported down to the assembly zone. With a chuckle, it extended the tiny sprout growing from its head and poked at the name on the board, preparing to check the associated data.

It poked at empty air.

Huh? What gives?

Little Sprout grew even more curious. Deploying its super-detection technology, it scanned the entire assembly area, quickly pinpointing the individual: Room F-1322 in the assembly zone. It drifted lazily over, pausing at the door, and peeked inside...

It was Ziye!

She was completely engrossed in assembling a Flying Phoenix-type mecha, utterly oblivious to the stir outside. Little Sprout sighed like a tiny old man, shook its head, and pulled up the list of mechas Ziye had previously assembled.

Assembly Rate: 100%; Excellent Assembly Rate: 80%; Victory Rate: 93.1. The Victory Rate was the ratio of a mecha's wins in the combat zone; mechas assembled by Ziye’s hands almost always won.

Only a handful had been lost.

Little Sprout pulled up the data for the two lost battles. They had little to do with Ziye; either the pilot was a novice and didn't know how to control the machine, or they had encountered an overwhelmingly powerful opponent.

At the Pilot Training Base, everything hinged on winning or losing. Pilots assembling a mecha within the required time was merely the prerequisite; sending it to the battlefield and winning there was the true measure of success.

Since her Victory Rate reached 93, far surpassing everyone else, she undoubtedly occupied the top spot on the board.

Luckily, the assembly area was vast, leaving the busybodies completely lost. They hadn't found Ziye’s location yet. Little Sprout swiftly slipped into the room. "Ziye, let's go to another sector."

Ziye, busy with the task at hand, ignored it. "I haven't finished this one yet."

Little Sprout grew anxious, firing three or four weak electrical jolts to prod her. "Come on, hurry up! Someone will be here soon."

Ziye looked up, bewildered. "Why would they come?"

Why was she so obtuse at a critical moment? Little Sprout didn't want to explain; it forcibly initiated an exit sequence. Ziye, still halfway through assembly, was teleported out. Emerging from the virtual system, Ziye snatched it up and gave it a shake. "What was that for, dragging me out?"

Little Sprout squirmed, slipping out of her grasp, then bounced back up, making itself into a ball and slamming heavily onto her head. It shouted, "Idiot, idiot! If you don't leave now, I can't protect you. Haven't you seen how fast your ranking is climbing?"

Ziye looked at it with a mix of confusion and grievance. Not appeased, it smacked her head again. "Haven't you seen? Your victory rate of 93.1 for mechas sent to the battlefield—how could you not attract attention?"

Ziye blinked. Little Sprout hopped onto her head. "If we force an exit, they can't match the data to a person, and you can stay a Gray Collar. Otherwise, you’ll become a Pink Collar."

At the Pilot Training Base, the ratio of Pink Collars was 6%, making them extremely rare. Consequently, Pink Collars were highly sought after, especially those ranked high—they boasted tens of thousands, if not thousands, of fans.

If Ziye became a Pink Collar, being constantly watched by a crowd, she would find it incredibly awkward and restrictive to operate. Little Sprout preferred her current state: quietly working, diligently learning, undisturbed by anyone.

"So we can’t go back in?" Ziye weakly asked, realizing she had only completed half of the assembly. "I promise I'll be more careful in the future."

"Right now, it's not entirely impossible," Little Sprout said enigmatically, seeing her expression brighten before pouring cold water on her hope. "But we can't go to the assembly sector."

Ziye glared at it in dissatisfaction. "Then I’m not going."

Little Sprout fluttered its wings urgently behind her. "Hey, hey, don't be like that."

Ziye pretended to ignore it and walked straight ahead. Reaching the door, she suddenly spun around, catching it in her arms with a swift backward movement. "You little rascal, let’s go study."

Outside on the balcony, Ziye placed it on the desk to play while she activated her optical computer to organize the data gathered from the assembly zone. Little Sprout had collected the mecha fundamentals, and Ziye enriched this base data, quickly gaining a thorough understanding of the entire machine.

By synthesizing the strengths and weaknesses of various mecha models, she compiled a table to pinpoint the exact machine she desired. Although there were many mecha types on the market, they all followed a line dictated by major factions, resulting in obvious strengths and equally obvious weaknesses.

Ziye didn't rely on factions and had a very clear idea of the mecha she favored. She liked heavy equipment, powerful frontal armor, and especially machines that could charge into any battlefield like an irresistible steel torrent, resolving enemies with lightning speed.

To achieve this, the first necessity was speed.

On the battlefield, speed was one of the primary factors determining victory.

Ziye filled out her requirements as she drafted the table.

In the 'Top Priority' field, she entered Speed, specifying the desired warp and cruising speed range in the drop-down details box. Second, Firepower. Ziye always felt that taking damage was unavoidable in battle; unless the enemy could be eliminated at maximum velocity, even the strongest armor was futile. Thus, she relegated Armor to the 'Less Important' category and moved Firepower to 'Crucial.' She added the ideal cannon range to the drop-down detail menu.

Having listed all the important factors, Ziye turned the optical computer screen toward Little Sprout. "Take a look."

Little Sprout pondered for a moment. "Overall, it's decent. You can reference assault-type, scimitar-type, and doomsday-type heavy mechas. However, your firepower range is a bit precarious. Firing at maximum speed inevitably means sacrificing range; 20km will be difficult. Even if you achieve both range and speed, what percentage of firepower will remain upon impact?"

"Also, while armor isn't the top priority, it can't be too weak either. Otherwise, you’ll be blown apart by one shot before you even reach the enemy."

Ziye opened the simulated mecha system built in Silver Rune, inputting the maximum attainable energy value and mecha capacity. Then she entered what she considered the most vital factors—speed and firepower. The result showed meager remaining energy and capacity. She sighed and began adjusting the ratios of the various parameters until they reached a relatively rational distribution.

Little Sprout glanced over, used a balance coefficient analysis, derived the optimal equilibrium point in three seconds, clicked it, and sent it to her optical computer.

Ziye couldn't help but feel a flush of shame.

She, a human who had studied for over a decade, couldn't even compare to a piece of optical software. Little Sprout pretended not to notice her cold sweat, flapped its little wings, and hovered in front of her. "Listen here, Ziye classmate, your recent mindset is quite unbalanced."

The mechas she built back on Silver Rune Star, though simple, were highly efficient because there were fewer variables to consider, leading to better balance. Now, she was obsessed with becoming powerful, with dominating the eight directions, and this was clearly reflected in her design philosophy. However, this was a process of diminishing returns; eventually, she needed to return to the origin point.

Ziye dropped her stylus and ran off to take a cold shower.

The water, in 14° weather, chilled her to the bone, but the shower cleared her head. She reopened her optical computer and brought up the blueprint for the Raven model.

The Raven was her earliest mecha. Back then, she knew nothing; she just wanted to build one herself. She hadn't considered armor thickness or sub-armor structure; even the materials used were the most readily available. Yet, the Raven became one of the most widely used mechas on Silver Rune Star.

Ziye looked back and realized that while learning so much, she had also discarded many precious treasures.

She saved the blueprint and re-examined the chart she had just created, revising it until she was satisfied. Only then did she carefully save the file.

Things conceived during a burst of inspiration are often idealistic and rarely stand up to real-world tests. Therefore, one must wait a few days until calm descends before revisiting and refining the design. Generally, creating a complete blueprint took at least a month.

Ziye finished tidying up and looked at the mecha on the simulation assembly system, feeling the itch to build again. It was a pity that in the assembly zone, she couldn't dismantle every single component for reconstruction.

She truly wanted to buy another mecha as a toy—one she could take apart and reassemble at will. Unfortunately, she was short on funds lately. Bran had already confiscated her modified Warrior-type under the guise of "testing," leaving her only the Peace model.

While searching for mecha models on her optical computer, Ziye pondered her future direction. Aside from the breakthrough in her studies, her online shop remained stagnant.

She currently lacked both blueprints and capital. What should she do?

She had never worried about funding before, but now she was struggling. If she couldn't resolve this issue, she'd be trapped. Ziye dejectedly pressed her face against the cool desktop and asked Little Sprout, "How about we start by making robots? We can make mechas once we earn money."

She was an expert at building robots. Many bizarre robots on Silver Rune Star originated from her hands, and robots were much cheaper than mechas, with much better sales prospects. Kitchen and multi-purpose robots, especially, were needed by nearly every household.

Little Sprout pouted its little wings adorably before pouring another bucket of cold water on her. "Ziye classmate, do you really think the robots you build will be popular?"

Ziye puffed out her cheeks indignantly. "Are the robots I make that bad?"

Little Sprout chuckled coldly. "Don't forget who gave you the design schematics for the robots. Don't forget who implanted their skin and bodies!"

Its words struck Ziye’s head like hailstones, one after another.

The design schematics were drawn by the drone master, Xiaoxiao. That guy wasn't a great guitarist, but he was quite skilled at drawing cartoons and humanoid figures. All those beautiful Lolita appearances and various tsundere 'uke' body types were his creations. The skirts were the result of A-Tui’s perverse tastes, and implanting the skin was the specialty of the great pervert. Without the assistance of these three, her robots would undoubtedly have the same angular look as her mechas.

Most robot buyers were housewives, independent students, or single white-collar workers. They didn't like cold, hard metal. Furthermore, since robots lived alongside people, sharp angles were a hazard for accidental bumps.

In summary: nobody would likely buy them.

Waaaah... RS