Ziye waved her hand dismissively at the executives present. "I need to speak with Jiunian alone." With that, she took Jiunian and walked out of the conference room.

Jiunian followed her like a hapless puppy, his expression pitiful. "Ziye, are you really going to abandon me?"

Seeing his look, Ziye had a sudden urge to deliver a swift thrashing, something severe enough to leave him half-dead if not worse.

She clenched her fists, restraining herself repeatedly, finally swallowing the words she wanted to say and heading downstairs. "Come with me to the lab. The two mechs I designed cost too much, and their performance isn't outstanding. I need your help to optimize them, alright?"

Jiunian had expected a lecture, so her silence on the matter made him incredibly happy. "Fine, let's go right now. I've already studied your two mechs; they're easy fixes."

Chatting as they walked, the two boarded an airship heading toward the laboratory.

Mengya Group had leased a small space station to set up their factory, and the lab was located within it. Upon entering, every production line and every specialized area was meticulously organized and clearly demarcated.

Arriving at the factory floor, Jiunian activated the portable optical computer he carried, projecting the mech's virtual schematics. A series of precise data points immediately populated below the model.

Ziye couldn't help but gasp.

This was the first time she had witnessed Jiunian working with such focused intensity. Outside of Tang Wen, he was the only truly professional designer she had encountered (Li Chunyu was merely a student, whom she had relegated to the non-professional cohort by default).

She asked in surprise, "Is this a cost estimation system?"

Jiunian continued manipulating the data. "No, this is the material trimming system."

Meow?

Ziye paused in confusion, feeling an instant surge of new knowledge.

Jiunian explained, "Trimming means calculating how much raw material needs to be cut away. I have precise material standards here; exceeding them leads to an unacceptable cost burden."

Ziye’s eyes widened.

In that moment, she finally realized with stark clarity where her own problem lay.

When she originally fabricated the Queen-type and Monarch-type mechs, her intention was purely for her own legion's use; thus, she had been entirely unsparing with materials.

Jiunian, however, operated in the market. His fundamental consideration was how to reduce costs to the maximum extent while boosting profit margins.

Jiunian pulled on gloves and commented, "Your design philosophy is excellent; it emphasizes one core trait: toughness. The metal characteristics are superb; the shields crack but do not shatter under heavy cannon fire, and the cockpit's vibration dampening is exceptional. If we could strip away all the non-essential components, the profit margin on this mech would certainly surpass anything I design."

Ziye found his reasoning sound. She opened her optical computer to take notes and asked, "Are these material standards accumulated experience from long practice?"

Jiunian gave her a knowing look. "As expected, you don't know about this either."

Ziye looked puzzled. "Meow?"

Little Sprout immediately hopped out of her arms. "Stop imitating my son!"

Jiunian looked between the two of them and suddenly burst into loud laughter, nearly rolling on the floor. "You two... look alike."

Ziye and Little Sprout simultaneously glared at him. His expertise was top-notch, but his judgment of aesthetics was clearly skewed. How could they possibly look alike?

Jiunian finally caught his breath after laughing for a long time. "Where were we?"

Ziye’s face darkened with exasperation; she genuinely wanted to punch his nose until it broke, but she restrained herself!

Jiunian pondered for a moment, finally recalling the main topic. "Every designer in this field must be paired with an actuary. The actuary handles cost computations and all the precise data modeling for the mechs."

Ziye blinked in confusion. Jiunian continued, "These figures were done by my previous actuary. Generally, an actuary and a designer function as a single unit, much like a singer and a music producer—they are inseparable."

Ziye felt a flush of shame. "Our group doesn't have an actuary."

Jiunian complained, "It’s not just actuaries; there’s no materials analyst, no test engineer, no seasoned master technician—nothing. In any reputable corporation, manufacturing mechs is never a solo endeavor. The team I was on previously had sixteen people, which was considered the smallest in the industry."

Ziye: ...Indeed, Mengya Group still had a long way to go before becoming truly massive and powerful.

Jiunian vented his frustration. "I hired an actuary just last month, but we didn't mesh, so I let him go. I can only say, you founding members are ridiculously capable; every single one of you is a jack-of-all-trades."

Ziye weakly offered, "I haven't visited other corporations, so I don't know the external situation, but Teacher Tang Wen... he always works entirely alone."

Jiunian snapped back irritably, "Don't compare me to a genius!"

Ziye froze for a second.

Had she just hit a nerve?

It really wasn't fair to blame Jiunian for this.

Jiunian had been coddled and raised as a prodigy in his youth, something he had always taken immense pride in. But one day, his mentor abruptly told him there was someone even more brilliant than him, and younger, too.

Jiunian was enraged, and from then on, he fixed his attention on Tang Wen, engaging in a silent, competitive rivalry.

Yet, he still watched helplessly as Tang Wen surpassed him.

His mentor tried to comfort him, "You are a genius selected from one in a hundred thousand; he is one in a million."

Jiunian's heart suffered a severe blow.

Seeing his constipated expression, Ziye shrugged and turned her attention back to her mech's cost data.

Jiunian, unable to release his pent-up frustration, continued grumbling, "He was already an actuarial genius, not to mention he has an all-around assistant—someone who served as a special forces operative, fought in actual combat, understands warfare, knows mechs intimately, can act as a master instructor, and is an excellent test pilot. One man acting as ten. Not long ago, the Fia family even offered him a monthly salary of five hundred thousand to poach him."

Ziye: "..."

Yi Yi—Tang Wen had once asked her to teach her piloting skills, and she had dismissed the offer rudely.

Thinking back now, she realized she had been completely blind to true value.

Putting the painful realization behind her, she pointed at the mech. "Let's focus on the real work. We need to surpass them as soon as possible."

This was exactly what Jiunian wanted to hear. "Right! To surpass them as soon as possible!"

The two began trimming the mechs from the outermost layer, refining the shield geometry, hacking away non-essential sections, and aggressively scaling down layers of armor plating. Half an hour later, the overall shape of the mechs hadn't changed significantly, but their weight had dropped by more than a ton.

Jiunian operated his optical computer while explaining which components were absolutely necessary and which could be omitted, drawing heavily on combat knowledge.

Ziye asked in astonishment, "Have you been on a battlefield?"

Jiunian shook his head. "That's what the master technician on my former team told me."

Ziye meticulously recorded every piece of knowledge and silently resolved that she must find some experienced master technicians to hire later. Jiunian was right; old wood burns best. For true development, they needed seasoned veterans.

They spent the entire day trimming the two mechs. After testing and confirming the improvements, they updated the blueprints and sent them to the production line for sample assembly.

Once that was done, Ziye clapped her hands, revealing her true objective. "Jiunian, you are too professional. The position of Design Director belongs to you, no question. From now on, you will have extensive freedom in recruiting anyone you need to collaborate with you, correct?"