Just as she was trying to figure out how to turn down Borton, Li Chunyu interjected, "Even if we looked for upperclassmen, they might not agree to help. Since someone has volunteered, why don't we let him try? If it doesn't work out, we can always find someone else."

Because this competition spanned two years, the older students would have already graduated by the end and wouldn't qualify for any significant awards, making many unwilling to participate.

The twins paused in silence for a moment. "Fine, once Bo* logs on, we'll ask his opinion."

As if summoned, Bo* replied instantly, "I just checked his records on the school system; it’s all legitimate. He’s in the Armor Forging department, with above-average grades. Passable, just barely."

That settled it. With unanimous approval, Borton officially joined the Out of Sheath team.

To integrate him quickly, the five of them invited him out and meticulously explained the details and the division of labor. The period from the holiday until the end of the next semester would be dedicated to mecha fabrication.

Kaja organizers provided each approved team with 100,000 coins for mecha construction funds, currently held by Bo*. Aixbent had prepared a financial budget of 85,000, and he was tasked with overseeing its expenditure.

The primary figures for armor forging were Ziye and Borton, working in conjunction with Li Chunyu.

Bo*, keen to expose his teammates to the Interstellar Federation, proposed, "The forging site and equipment are crucial for the mecha. I could apply for a large laboratory at the Interstellar Federation Research Institute; it happens to be in Colette, making material acquisition convenient too. What do you all think?"

Borton exclaimed in delight, "That’s fantastic! Bo*, you’re amazing!"

The other four remained silent.

Borton turned to Ziye and asked, "Isn't having a large laboratory a good thing?"

Ziye shook her head. "No need for such trouble. We can just apply for a forging room here in Kaja."

The twins gave an approving nod. "Right, this is our team's competition; there’s no need to rely on the Legion."

Only Li Chunyu hadn't voiced an opinion. All five pairs of eyes turned to him. He smiled at the twins and said, "+1."

Four to two. The minority yields to the majority. The twins immediately went to apply for the forging room.

Borton muttered under his breath, "I don't see anything wrong with it. Why wouldn't you use available resources? That’s just foolish."

Bo* overheard and responded calmly, "It’s nothing. Relying on personal ability is fine too. At least while we are still students, we can strive with our own capabilities. When we look back later, we won't feel like we wasted the journey."

From birth, he had always operated under the banner of the Interstellar Federation; anything he desired was provided. To achieve a goal like this, without relying on anyone, alongside friends, felt genuinely good.

Borton rolled his eyes, silently thinking two words: poser.

In reality, Ziye also found Colette more convenient; it would allow her access to a lab while still enabling her to build her own robots at the Sprout Villa.

However, she wasn't accustomed to depending on others.

Especially not the Interstellar Federation, which had caused Tang Wen such distress.

After securing the forging room, Ziye distributed the list of manufacturing materials to everyone and stated, "These are the material requirements for forging. Can everyone complete their portion within 15 days? I’ve divided the materials into six parts; everyone handles one section."

Upon inspection, the figures were all listed in tons, and the required purity levels were extremely high.

Aixbent exchanged glances and spoke in unison, "The requirements are so high, the quantities so massive... this looks very difficult." As a pair, they had to complete double the amount.

Li Chunyu also nodded. "Fifteen days might be too tight for me. I know too little about metals and have trouble distinguishing purity levels; I feel like I'll easily be cheated."

Ziye sighed in frustration.

After all, they were all from major Legions; they could acquire any material they needed without needing to navigate the open market themselves.

She sighed again. "Alright, twenty-five days. I can only extend it to twenty-five days at most."

The summer break was only thirty days long. This timeline meant they couldn't start fabrication until the next semester, but since the mecha was due at the end of that semester, it should still be manageable.

No one dared to make bold promises this time. They all nodded and dispersed to find external help or consultation.

In truth, Ziye felt comfortable letting them proceed this way because, aside from the Super-Devouring Ore, the other metals were common market materials. Furthermore, she had Iron Hand nearby; if all else failed, she could just buy directly from him.

Since purchasing everything would take time until the start of school anyway, and she wouldn't need to stay in Kaja during the break, Ziye happily instructed F431 to pack her belongings.

But Li Chunyu didn't understand metals, Aixbent wasn't familiar with them, and Bo* was only mediocre—only Borton had some familiarity. What if they were tricked?

Funds were limited; once spent, they were gone!

She rested her chin on her hand, watching F431 bustle about, when a brilliant idea suddenly struck her. She could install the detection system into the robots, letting them help identify the materials?

Ziye shared the idea with Little Sprout. Little Sprout flapped its wings, uncharacteristically cheerful, its voice sweet and melodious enough to make Ziye want to smack it.

It chirped, "You're only thinking of this problem now? Don't you think it's a bit late?"

Ever since the transport ship incident, Red Hair had approached Ziye, requesting ship-captain-class robots that could operate the vessel autonomously even if she left the bridge.

At that time, it had already reminded her that she could construct functional robots.

Unfortunately, her focus had been consumed by other matters, causing her to completely ignore the suggestion.

Now, she was finally catching up with belated realization!

Ziye chuckled sheepishly. "I'll start making them right away."

The Mengya Group was now highly skilled in robot manufacturing. Robot bodies were basically scaled up or down according to the golden ratio, with appearances determined by the pervert who provided the designs.

Ziye didn't need to expend any effort on anything from raw robot materials to the final product.

Basic functions and systems were already mass-produced using assembly-line methods.

Ziye's only task was specialization: defining the robot's role.

For instance, if she designated it as a metal material detection robot, she would have Little Sprout write a suitable metal testing system for the robot's use, and that would complete the process.

Returning to Colette, Ziye retrieved four newly modeled units from the warehouse and asked Little Sprout to help implant the systems.

Aixbent would share one unit, Li Chunyu would get one, and Bo* one. Three were enough; she would turn the last one into a prototype to show Black Beard and gauge market viability.

Little Sprout hadn't built a system in a long time and was so excited that it neither ate, drank, nor played around. After half a day, all four robots were complete and passed testing.

Ziye happily hugged it and kissed it, checking the robot's system designation: CC-class.

She logged onto the shared data, located this specific robot model, inputted the function into the blank function field, and then sent an instant message to Li Chunyu: "Chun-er Senior Brother, send me an address, and I’ll courier over an assistant for you."

Li Chunyu was puzzled. "A courier assistant? Can you mail a person?"

Ziye laughed softly. "It’s a robot, capable of testing metal materials. It will help you out considerably."

Li Chunyu waved his hand. "I can't let you spend money buying me a robot, no way. I'll just find an expert to help me."

Ziye shot him a side-eye look. "It already belongs to you. I branded a 'Chun-er' mark on its lower back. Well, if you don't want it, forget it; I'll just have it follow your coordinates to find you."

Li Chunyu tried to say more, but Ziye had already disconnected the communication.

Heh, she finally had a chance to repay him for the guqin he gifted her!

Ziye felt quite pleased. She opened her optical computer screen, connected to the robot's system, found Li Chunyu’s signal, and activated the tracking function. Then, she sent the robot out to find him.

As for Aixbent, she would just let them borrow theirs.

She had given them a pair of robots recently when they shared hotpot, and they had insisted on stuffing money at her. If she offered them robots again now, they would surely storm Colette.

She sent Bo*'s robot off as well and let out a sigh of relief. Turning to Little Sprout, who was busy tempting newcomers on the forum, she declared, "Dou-dou, I want to learn the guqin."

The tiny sprout atop Little Sprout's head froze, then dropped off. Douzai happened to be crawling underneath and was suddenly hit by the falling sprout, causing it to look up in surprise at Little Sprout.

Little Sprout turned its head sideways to look at Ziye. "Are you serious?"

Ziye nodded. "Of course I'm serious. Do I look like I'm joking? Shall we go find Bran tomorrow to teach us?"

Little Sprout didn't answer, but as if seeing through her mind, it flashed a sly smile and turned back to the forum to continue tricking newbies.

Ziye felt a surge of irritation. She absolutely refused to admit she was only going to see Tang Wen!

Lately, for some reason, she found herself thinking of Tang Wen frequently.

Perhaps it was the barely contained, faint sadness in his masked smile the day he returned to Kacher Planet, or perhaps it was because she used to see him weekly, but now it had been two months, or maybe...

She pretended to muse aloud, "That guy is like a child; I was just worried he’d starve to death if I didn't go!"

As soon as she finished speaking, she noticed Little Sprout intensely focused on the optical computer. She suddenly felt an urge to slap it.

Since the break was idle anyway, she opened her optical computer and logged onto the forum herself, incidentally bumping Little Sprout down the feed. The forum was buzzing; the pinned post listed the teams for the Kaja Top Ten University Mecha Competition quarterfinals.

The first thing she saw when she opened it was Ling Si’s team.

Excellent Teams (Ranking Order Not Implied): War Wolf Universe, Out of Sheath, Flying Leap Team, Heavenly Steeds Soaring Free...

Ziye gasped. They were ranked quite high!

No wonder Borton came knocking.

But that was good too; one more person meant one more helper.

Team requirements ranged from a minimum of five members to a maximum of fifteen. War Wolf Universe had fourteen, and Flying Leap Team had eleven. Among the excellent teams, Out of Sheath was the smallest, with only five members.

Borton had applied to join after the results were out, so his name didn't appear on the list.

Watching Out of Sheath listed second, Ziye felt a sweet satisfaction, like having eaten a Ginseng Fruit—a great sense of accomplishment! Although the rankings were listed without order, theirs was the smallest team among the excellent ones.

Of course, there was a sliver of tension too.

When drafting the proposal, they had mainly negotiated internally, barely considering other teams. Now, seeing so many strong contenders, she realized she absolutely had to achieve something significant in armor forging, or they risked being eliminated easily!

-RS