“The mecha’s energy is almost exhausted.”
At noon the next day, Rong Zhiting looked at the remaining energy gauge, which was on the verge of hitting empty, and sighed.
Sure enough, relying on just this single mecha to get through these few days was still too far of a stretch.
He turned his head to look at Bai Jinqiu.
“Brother, without a mecha, we cannot walk out of this wasteland. I have an idea right now. See if you think it is feasible.”
Bai Jinqiu looked at him without speaking, that pair of eyes whose sight had not yet fully recovered appearing murky and unreadable.
Rong Zhiting quietly averted his gaze, his face growing somewhat warm from being looked at.
Both of them had been utterly exhausted the previous night, especially Rong Zhiting, who did not fall asleep until dawn near daybreak, resulting in him sleeping all the way until noon today before waking up.
The moment he opened his eyes today, he locked gazes directly with Bai Jinqiu.
He was still half-asleep at that time, and he had even rubbed against that person’s neck and shoulder, muttering a groggy good morning while waking up in a daze while resting in that person’s embrace.
A few minutes later, when he became fully awake, he instantly felt awkwardly at a loss. His face burned with heat, and if they were not inside a narrow mecha cockpit, he definitely would have fled in panic.
Rong Zhiting never expected that his sleeping habits would be so untamed now, actually burrowing his entire body right into Brother Bai’s arms.
Fortunately, his brother had a good temper, actually holding him the whole time without moving until he woke up instead of ruthlessly pushing him away, or else he certainly would have died of embarrassment.
At that time, Bai Jinqiu only smiled very lightly, saying softly, “Good morning. It was a bit cold last night, so I could not help holding you while sleeping. I hope you are not angry.”
“No, absolutely not! It was a bit cold last night.” He instantly recalled the excuse he had thought of the night before, hurriedly nodding and then shaking his head, nearly causing his Brother Bai to laugh out loud.
“Why did you stop talking? What idea do you have?” Bai Jinqiu asked in a warm tone, carrying a hint of confusion.
Rong Zhiting only then snapped back to reality, realizing that the other person was waiting for him to continue. Thus, he gave a light cough and said:
“Your mecha should still have quite a bit of energy left. Although the propulsion system is damaged, I brought repair tools, and during this period I have also collected quite a few high-grade mecha materials. We can try to see if we can fix the propulsion system first.”
Carrying basic repair tools along was a fundamental virtue for a battlefield repair technician, and Rong Zhiting maintained this habit in this lifetime.
Staying in the black market mecha shop for extended periods during this time was partly to earn stellar coins, and partly to collect those high-grade mecha materials.
“Are you serious?” Bai Jinqiu was somewhat surprised. He frowned slightly, hesitating as he said:
“Although I do not want to dampen your enthusiasm, there is still quite a significant gap between the internal systems of old-school mechas and new-model mechas.”
“The internal system circuits of my mecha are far more complex than old-school manually operated mechas. Without professional mecha structural knowledge and repair experience, failing to fix it is a minor issue, but in case something goes wrong during the repair process, you lack protective measures and will very likely get hurt.”
Rong Zhiting smiled and said, “You can rest assured about that. I have plenty of repair experience with new-model mechas as well. I still know which parts inside cannot be casually touched.”
Especially since Mihuang was an old friend anyway. In his past life, he had escorted Mihuang and its pilot for over a decade, making him far too familiar with the internal structure of the mecha. He dared to dive right inside with his eyes closed.
Although the Mihuang of the present would probably differ somewhat in its internal system from the one he was familiar with in his past life, and fixing it by hand without dedicated repair-assisting equipment was indeed impossible, not to mention his materials were insufficient, just getting Mihuang moving again was absolutely not a problem.
Bai Jinqiu still remained uneasy, but he also had no idea how to tell Rong Zhiting that his mecha differed from ordinary new-model mechas. Unless one was a repair technician with exceptionally high standards and abundant experience, no one would dare to touch Mihuang lightly.
Yet they had no other options right now, and coupled with Rong Zhiting’s repeated assurances that he would definitely mind safety, he still released Mihuang.
A lifetime apart, being able to touch Mihuang once more made Rong Zhiting feel somewhat excited.
Seeing his expression, Bai Jinqiu could not help breaking into a sweat for both him and Mihuang.
He had originally thought Rong Zhiting might not even manage to open Mihuang’s outer armor, but to his surprise, this step proved unexpectedly effortless, with movements so crisp they could even be called practiced and seasoned.
Seven hours later, Bai Jinqiu was truly astonished.
He saw that Mihuang had actually moved.
Rong Zhiting stepped back out from inside the mecha, wiping away the machine grease smeared on his body, and said to him, “Brother, there are no diagnostic devices here, so we cannot see specific data. Can you cooperate with me to test how well the propulsion recovery went? My mental power is too weak to interface with your mecha, and I do not have authorization for manual operation.”
“Alright.”
Mihuang’s cockpit was filled with uncleaned bloodstains, and the air still lingered with the smell of blood.
Bai Jinqiu minded it not at all, sitting in the pilot’s seat. Once the cockpit closed naturally, Bai Jinqiu’s mental power naturally interfaced with the mecha piloting system. The scene before his eyes abruptly shifted, his three-hundred-sixty-degree field of vision instantly expanding as various data panels unfolded before his eyes.
His eyes had not recovered yet, but relying on his familiarity with Mihuang and the mental power linkage, he could still judge the mecha’s status.
He tried having Mihuang execute a few movements, which proved unexpectedly smooth and seamless. Next, he began checking Mihuang’s various data metrics, and the more he checked, the more astonished he felt.
How could this be possible? All the metrics of the propulsion system had reached a complete state, with not a single one falling below the warning lower limit or exceeding the upper limit.
Every exclusive mecha possessed different attributes. Unless one held absolute familiarity with this mecha, only those top-tier mecha repair technicians who spent their entire lives dealing with high-grade mechas could possibly achieve this degree under such conditions.
And this took only a few hours?
Rong Zhiting operated virtually barehanded without auxiliary tools, could not see the data panels, and the materials used were not the absolute top-tier ones. If he were given top-tier materials, wouldn’t Mihuang’s propulsion system have already recovered to its peak state?
Had Rong Zhiting’s mecha repair proficiency really reached such a level? Where on earth did he learn all of this?
“Brother Bai, how is the mecha’s status? Does it still need tuning?” Rong Zhiting asked from below.
Bai Jinqiu remained silent for a moment before responding to him, “No need, it is already very good.”
Rong Zhiting let out a sigh of relief, rolling his stiff shoulders.
Very well, it seemed he had not grown rusty.
The position of exclusive mecha repair technician to General Bai Jinqiu was not something easily secured simply through his relationship with Brother Bai. War was ruthless, and without strength verified by actual combat, he could never have become Mihuang’s exclusive repair technician.
It was just that if it were any other mecha, he certainly could not have repaired it this fast. He was simply far too familiar with Mihuang.
The sky had gradually grown dark by this time.
To conserve energy, after Bai Jinqiu came down, the two returned to the cockpit of Rong Zhiting’s mecha, which had very little energy left, turned on the air filtration circulation system, removed their protective masks, and took out nutrient solutions to settle dinner.
Afterward, taking advantage of the opportunity while helping Bai Jinqiu change his bandages, Rong Zhiting cautiously spoke to him:
“Brother Bai, in five days, the Seventy-third Military Academy will send a starship to pick up examinees for the entrance assessments on Sahomors Star, and family members can also accompany them at their own expense. Come with me, I have already bought the ticket for you. We can head directly to the spaceport when the time comes.”
“So fast?” Bai Jinqiu blinked, somewhat surprised, and then asked, “Is it not only family members who are allowed to accompany them?”
Rong Zhiting coughed and said in a low voice, “I obtained a fake identity for you in the black market. You are not in a convenient position to use your real identity right now, are you?”
“So you have everything arranged for me,” Bai Jinqiu said slowly.
“I…” Rong Zhiting shrunk his neck, helping him rebind the bandages while lowering his head and stammering, “It is just that I have been too busy these past few days and forgot to tell you.”
Not a chance.
He had actually been agonizing over how to bring this up with him all along.
His relationship with Bai Jinqiu right now was quite delicate; he realistically had no reason to make Brother Bai follow him.
Yet.
He took a deep breath, raised his head to look earnestly at Bai Jinqiu, and said, “Brother Bai, I know you will leave EQ952B3 sooner or later.”
“There is only one spaceport on this fringe star, and if you want to leave, you certainly have to go there. There are exceptionally few civilian starship flights docking here, with the recent ones being only the single starship sent by the Seventy-third Military Academy. Of course, you could definitely leave here through other means as well, but that would inevitably bring a lot of trouble. You are injured right now, so you should not torture yourself like that anymore. Come with me.”
This was a good opportunity to leave the fringe star, and he believed Brother Bai would not refuse.
Sure enough, after listening to him finish, Bai Jinqiu mused for a moment and smiled lightly, saying, “You certainly considered everything for me.”
Given his current physical condition, it was not impossible for someone to leave this fringe star alone, but it would ultimately prove somewhat difficult. Leaving this place together with Rong Zhiting in the capacity of a military academy examinee’s family member was the most convenient and safest choice.
This counted as tacit approval.
Just as Rong Zhiting let out a sigh of relief, he heard Bai Jinqiu’s warm voice ask him with a trace of helplessness:
“Zhiting, why are you helping me like this? You do not even know what kind of person I am. If it is purely out of good intentions, what you have done for me is simply too much, and I do not even know how to repay you.”
This statement sounded half-true and half-false, inexplicably carrying a hint of ambiguity to Rong Zhiting’s ears, making his face heat up involuntarily.
In his heart, he thought, I certainly know what kind of person you are.
You are the future corps commander of the Second Federation Corps, the Omega War God Bai Jinqiu.
And also my lover.
If we are truly talking about repayment, you might as well promise yourself to me!
Of course, he could never voice these words aloud.
“You can just pretend I like you, and want you to be my brother, alright?” Rong Zhiting averted his gaze and said quietly. In a place where Bai Jinqiu could not see, his ears quietly turned red.
As expected, words like liking someone were still rather difficult for him to utter right in front of the person himself.
As for confessions, let his Brother Bai handle that in this lifetime as well.
Bai Jinqiu froze for a moment, then burst into laughter, an uncontrollable kind of laughter.
He could not help reaching out to ruffle Rong Zhiting’s hair.
“Alright. Then I will just be your older brother from now on.”
This little fellow genuinely liked him; even without clear vision, Bai Jinqiu could still discern that much.
Moreover, for some reason, Rong Zhiting’s words made it completely impossible for him to suppress the joy welling up from the bottom of his heart.
Rong Zhiting blinked with complete innocence, thinking to himself, just wait and see; before long, you will definitely not be satisfied with merely being my brother.