Half an hour later, Cheng Li took a hovercar from the Cheng family villa and crossed nearly half of Alpha Star before arriving at the mech shopping mall.
Hovercar fares were charged according to travel time. Anything under five minutes was free, while rides over five minutes incurred a fee. Cheng Li had ridden for half an hour and spent five hundred star coins.
The mech shopping mall was built on an astonishing scale. The building towered over a thousand meters high and covered hundreds of thousands of square meters. Standing beneath it, Cheng Li had to tilt her head back just to see the enormous advertisement boards. The rooftop vanished straight into the clouds.
Even the mall entrance alone stood thirty meters tall. Watching the mech striding toward her from the front, Cheng Li instantly understood why the doors needed to be that high.
It was a humanoid mech over twenty meters tall. As the massive black-metal body drew closer, reflecting a cold metallic sheen, the crystal core inside Cheng Li’s body stirred.
The abilities throughout her body nearly lost control, surging out all at once as they pounced toward the gigantic mech.
Meanwhile, Cheng Li herself stood frozen in place. The expression on her face looked almost drugged, dazed and intoxicated, with even a faint trace of satisfaction.
There were two ways for her abilities to advance. The first was absorbing energy from crystal cores of the same attribute. The second was absorbing the “source” contained within all kinds of metals. Both methods required combat to accompany the absorption.
Crystal cores were out of the question for her. Those were products unique to the apocalypse.
As for the source within metals, the less refined the metal was, the more source it contained. Even refined metals would slowly regenerate source again after a very long period of time.
This humanoid mech that stood over twenty meters tall had every inch of its body repeatedly smelted, refined, compressed, and reshaped. There was only a tiny trace of source left inside it.
Better than nothing, Cheng Li comforted herself.
“Please present your identification number.” A gatekeeper robot stopped Cheng Li.
Cheng Li raised her smart terminal and scanned it before the robot’s eyes. A beep sounded, and the robot spoke again. “Respected Miss Cheng, as an ordinary person, your access privileges are limited to the first and second floors. Floors three and above are not open to you. Please comply with the regulations.”
“Why?” Cheng Li immediately felt dissatisfied.
In a completely emotionless voice, the robot explained, “The mechs on the third floor and above can only be piloted by sentinels and guides with mental power. To prevent ordinary people from forcibly operating mechs and damaging their nervous systems, the mall established this regulation.”
Cheng Li: “……..” This was outright discrimination! Discrimination against ordinary people!
There was no point arguing with a robot. First and second floors it was, then. They might be able to stop her body from entering, but they could not stop her abilities.
Mechs were divided into beast-type mechs and humanoid mechs. They were also categorized into manual mechs and mentally controlled mechs. Manual mechs could be operated by ordinary people, while mentally controlled mechs could only be used by sentinels and guides.
As a disabled person missing an arm, Cheng Li did not even qualify for a trial run.
Even though she could not touch them personally, her abilities had already felt their way over every single mech, not even sparing the tiniest components. Cheng Li thought shamelessly like a hooligan.
When Wen Zhao, Li Jing, and Song Yulan entered, the sight that greeted them was Cheng Li looking utterly delighted.
“Sister-in-law, what’s got you so happy?” Wen Zhao clasped his hands together as his beautiful fox-like eyes swept up and down over Cheng Li.
“You really look stupid,” Li Jing said with a roll of his eyes.
Although Song Yulan wore his usual cold expression, he was also quietly observing Cheng Li.
“Seeing so many mechs just makes me happy for some reason,” Cheng Li answered Wen Zhao directly, completely ignoring Li Jing.
“If I remember correctly, sister-in-law, you’re a student in the Mech Manufacturing Department, and your professional grades are among the best. Did you come here today planning to buy a mech?” Wen Zhao asked.
The original host had been a Mech Manufacturing Department student?
And her grades in the major courses had even been pretty good?
Cheng Li instantly felt pressure mounting on her shoulders. She secretly decided that once she got back today, she would immediately start studying everything related to mech manufacturing. She absolutely could not let herself slip up.
“No. Just looking around. I can’t afford one,” Cheng Li admitted openly and honestly about being poor.
Wen Zhao choked for a moment. “Sister-in-law really is straightforward.”
Li Jing, however, let out a cold snort. “What a pauper.”
Cheng Li did not even spare him a glance. She lifted her foot and walked away. “I’m going to look around. You guys do whatever.”
“Don’t go, sister-in-law.” Wen Zhao called after her. “We came today to buy a mech for Ah Mu as a wedding gift. Since you’re here too, why not join us? You could even give us some suggestions.”
The moment she heard the mech was for Yuan Mu, Cheng Li immediately became interested. “Sure.”
“Sure what? She’s only been studying for one semester. How could she possibly tell whether a mech’s performance is good or bad?” Li Jing objected.
“If she can’t judge performance, she can judge appearance. She’s Ah Mu’s partner.” Wen Zhao deliberately stressed the last two words.
Cheng Li raised a brow in surprise. She noticed that ever since she stabbed that sentinel at the engagement banquet, Wen Zhao’s attitude toward her had become much friendlier.
“Sister-in-law, Ah Mu will be in your care from now on.” Wen Zhao’s expression turned unusually serious.
“Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Yuan Mu.” ‘For the mining planet.’ Cheng Li silently added the second half in her heart.
Wen Zhao smiled after receiving her assurance. For some reason, despite having only met her twice, the girl before him gave him a strange sense of reliability.
Wen Zhao’s group of three did most of the mech selection. Cheng Li quietly followed behind them, listening as they discussed various mech performances and materials, learning quite a bit along the way.
Thanks to Wen Zhao and the others, Cheng Li successfully gained access to the third floor and above. Compared to the practical everyday mechs on the first and second floors, nearly all the mechs above the third floor were combat models. Combat mechs used more expensive materials, and the metals emitted far more “source.” Cheng Li practically “fed” to her heart’s content.
In the end, Wen Zhao’s group selected a mech that combined manual operation with mental control. The mech’s frame was lightweight and stood under ten meters tall, making it appear especially compact among the other combat mechs. This was mainly for Yuan Mu’s sake, since they were worried that large-scale mechs would place too much strain on his body.
By the time they finished touring the entire mall, the crystal core inside Cheng Li, which had originally been no bigger than a grain of rice, had now doubled in size to roughly two grains of rice. She had also advanced from the initial stage to Ability Level One.
Wen Zhao’s group had driven a flyer there, so they brought Cheng Li along on the way back.
The flyer was oval-shaped, and the interior space was not particularly large. Its passenger capacity was seven people. Cheng Li’s abilities drifted silently through every corner of the flyer, secretly exploring each part of its structure.
Thunk.
A muffled impact sounded.
“What was that?” Li Jing asked.
“No idea.” Wen Zhao immediately activated the 360-degree external display.
On the screen, an enormous insectoid race creature with a hideous appearance was clinging to the flyer’s hull.
“Fuck! It’s the insectoid race! How could something like this appear on Alpha Star?!” Li Jing cried out in shock.
Wen Zhao had no answer for him. His expression turned grave as he maneuvered the flyer into a sharp roll, trying to shake the insectoid creature off.
The flyer began to rock violently. Cheng Li was thrown straight out of her seat. Before she could even get back up, she was hurled through the air again and slammed hard into the cabin wall.
“If this keeps up, the flyer’s going to crash. Land it now!” Song Yulan shouted. One hand gripped a support rail while the other tried to catch Cheng Li, who was being tossed around the cabin like a ragdoll.
With a deafening boom, the flyer smashed into the ground. Cheng Li’s eyes rolled back as she lost consciousness.
“Get out of the cabin, now!” Wen Zhao roared as he forced the hatch open with brute strength.
Li Jing charged out first, pulled the newly purchased mech from his spatial button, and instantly entered the mech.
“Ugly bastard, your grandpa’s right here!” Li Jing shouted at the giant insect.
But the creature merely glanced at him before continuing to cling to the flyer. Its enormous body coiled tightly around the hull while its gaping maw clamped onto the flyer’s front end, as though it intended to swallow the entire vehicle whole.
Li Jing spat in disgust. Controlling the mech, he grabbed one of the insect’s slick tentacles and yanked hard.
“Get the hell down here!” Li Jing roared.
A sizzling sound erupted as the giant insect secreted a highly corrosive liquid. The mech, brand new fresh out of the box, instantly had an entire layer of its outer shell corroded away.
Li Jing’s heart ached at the sight. He released the tentacle, clenched his fist, and smashed it toward the giant insect.
Inside the cabin, poor Cheng Li was once again flung violently from side to side, bruises blooming blue and purple all over her body. Fortunately, Song Yulan finally managed to catch hold of her and carried her out of the flyer.