Ke Yunyao first inspected the mecha model provided to her. Her eyes gradually brightened, and she could not help but exclaim inwardly: My god! Isn’t this an A1-type basic mecha?
She was already slightly tempted to dismantle it.
The A1-type mecha was a standard combat model used by military mecha specialists. Due to its special status, it would not appear on the open market. Before this, she could not even buy one even if she wanted to.
She had never expected that during an entrance examination, the A1-type mecha she had been unable to obtain would appear so vividly right in front of her.
It seemed that attending military school was not entirely without benefits.
At this moment, Ke Yunyao’s resistance toward military school dropped sharply, and she even felt a faint sense of anticipation.
…
On the other side, the examiners were also reviewing the candidates’ basic data and the results from the previous stage.
“Tch, both spiritual potential and spiritual level are quite high,” said the red-haired examiner in the center.
“The foundational knowledge is also solid. No points deducted,” added the female examiner beside him.
At this, all three examiners’ eyes lit up.
The male examiner beside the red-haired one clapped his hands. “If her mecha improvement isn’t completely disastrous, I’m taking this student.”
“Why should she go to you? I can be her instructor too!” the female examiner immediately protested. A student with such solid fundamentals was highly desirable.
The red-haired examiner in the center spoke coldly, “What are you arguing for? Even if you argue all you want, it’s still up to her choice in the end.”
“….”
Silence followed.
All three fell quiet and turned their attention back to Ke Yunyao in the laboratory.
Ke Yunyao, of course, was unaware that a dispute had just broken out over her. At the moment, she was completely absorbed in the elegant structure of the mecha.
However, she still retained a certain degree of rationality.
She did not rashly dismantle the model. With her current ability, she could not guarantee that she could disassemble it and then restore it perfectly. Even if she managed to reassemble it, the spiritual energy link circuitry might not function properly afterward.
If her reckless dismantling caused the circuitry to fail and her improved functions could not operate, it would all be pointless.
So the safest approach was to modify the existing model directly.
That meant she could only work on external materials and rune inscription.
She decided to examine the materials first.
Forcibly suppressing her urge to dismantle the mecha, she reluctantly shifted her gaze away and looked at the experimental materials instead.
Seeing the various expensive materials, she almost drooled.
She could hardly obtain any of these in real life. Although the StarNet simulation labs did provide them, those labs were extremely expensive and time-limited. Her savings were being drained.
Could she extract and refine all these materials using spiritual energy?
There were quite a few she had never even seen before. Because she had previously avoided expensive experimental labs, she had never encountered them.
She really wanted to try everything.
However, that was only a thought.
Not only might her spiritual energy not last long enough, but the exam itself would probably not allow her to spend too much time either.
Fine. She should focus on selecting the necessary materials first and pass the exam.
She had heard that the academy provided dedicated simulated labs that did not require StarCoins, though they required points. According to StarNet guides, entrance exam results would also be converted into points.
Thinking of this, her motivation surged again. She would do her best in this exam and earn as many points as possible.
She extended her spiritual senses toward the materials on the table.
This one has good ductility.
This one might work as a coating.
And this one…
After inspecting everything, she selected several materials and prepared to begin modification.
…
“Not bad. This candidate actually has some sense,” one examiner remarked.
Or rather, self-awareness, the female examiner thought approvingly.
In fact, the purpose of providing a mecha model for modification was not to encourage students to dismantle it. It was essentially a trap.
Before the age of eighteen, students were generally not taught how to inscribe spiritual energy linkage circuits. It was considered classified knowledge and not circulated online, except for family inheritances.
As a result, in previous years, some students from mecha aristocratic families would attempt to prove themselves by dismantling the model.
Unless they were truly capable of restoring it to 100%, this usually ended in failure.
Most of them ended up performing worse than students with no prior experience at all, because the internal spiritual linkage circuits could no longer function properly after improper reconstruction.
Thinking of this, the examiners shifted the topic to aristocratic families again.
“By the way, are there any candidates from the Li family or the Mengqi family this year?” the red-haired examiner asked.
These two were top-tier mecha families on the main star.
“There are no main branch candidates,” the male examiner replied. “Only a few from branch families in other star regions.”
“I heard the Li family branch has a mecha genius. Why wasn’t he brought back to the main star for assessment?” the female examiner asked.
The male examiner sneered. “Genius? So what if he is? As long as he’s from a branch, the main family won’t tolerate him. Bring him back so he can compete for power?”
The other two fell silent.
Over the past decade, the Li family had indeed shown signs of decline. They had occasionally produced promising branch talents, but most faded into obscurity within a few years.
Everyone understood the reason, even if it was not spoken aloud.
As instructors, they valued talent, and they could not really evaluate such self-destructive behavior.
“Forget it. Let’s focus on the candidates,” the red-haired examiner concluded.
Their attention returned to the exam.
By now, many candidates had already entered the second stage.
Ke Yunyao’s modification was proceeding normally. The examiners only glanced at her briefly before shifting their attention elsewhere.
…
Should creating a new weapon count as a modification?
Ke Yunyao pondered this question.
She had already completed the coating on the mecha’s exterior. It was a formula she had developed herself in her previous lab, capable of enhancing structural hardness and defense.
Fortunately, it was compatible with the model’s material, so she used it directly.
After strengthening defense, she wanted to improve offensive capability.
The current problem was whether to fabricate a weapon, or modify the mecha directly.
She wanted to inscribe runes directly onto the mecha, but her rune inscriptions were… unpredictable. Even when following diagrams, the results often diverged in unexpected ways, and she herself could not predict the final outcome.
That made her very frustrated.
She was also worried that a failed inscription might ruin the mecha entirely.
So she considered making a separate weapon and inscribing it instead, which would avoid damaging the mecha.
But a standalone weapon did not seem directly related to the mecha system.
Could that still count as a mecha improvement?
She fell into hesitation.