Chapter 29

“What!? No way, can this actually work???” The students below, especially the mecha technicians, were dumbfounded by Ji Fu’s operation.

Even Shi Xueying, who was particularly rigorous in this regard, couldn’t hold back.

Though she was young, she came from a family of mecha technicians and had been exposed to all kinds of mecha since she was sensible.

But she had never seen anyone repair a mecha like this!

Liu Can took a long time to regain his voice. Sometimes he was furious, sometimes he found it ridiculous: “Absurd! Simply absurd!”

“How is this repairing a mecha? Isn’t this just nonsense?”

Wan Die, who had been watching the whole time, glanced at him and said calmly, “Then you can say it’s not fixed.”

As a fellow mecha technician, Wan Die actually appreciated Ji Fu’s unconventional approach.

Among the students below, opinions were varied.

“Some know it’s repairing a mecha, while others might think it’s sabotage!”

“Her method of repair is indeed unconventional, but she herself is also extremely eccentric. The most basic thing in repairing a mecha is to understand all aspects of its values. When we operate in the base, we check the values countless times, mechanically inspect repeatedly, but mistakes are inevitable…”

“But the way she did it, it actually perfectly matched. What do you make of this?”

Who could you reason with?

“Maybe she’s just lucky…”

When some mecha technicians heard this, they became even more angry and exclaimed, “Luck? That’s an S-class mecha. What kind of luck can make the values of an S-class mecha perfectly match?”

“…If there really is such good luck, I think she shouldn’t study to become an alchemist anymore. She should just sit there and become a Buddha, and we can all pay homage to her at the end of the semester!”

“But if it’s not luck, what else could it be?”

Since the establishment of the Interstellar Academy, there had never been such an intense simulation exam.

Not to mention those inside, just the students outside were making a commotion.

This situation arose because Ji Fu’s method of operation was too unconventional, and also because before this, when Ji Fu asked Zhou Lu Hai to discard the problematic right arm, no one expected her to fix it herself.

Mainly because she was an alchemist, who knew she could repair mechas, and in such a way!

Because of this, these usually rigorous mecha technicians were stirred up.

Du Ming looked at this lively scene, not quite understanding. He turned to look at the mecha teacher of Class S and asked, “What does this mean? Does Ji Fu really know how to repair mechas?”

For the first time in his life, Du Ming saw such a complex emotion on the face of this respected teacher.

His expression was so colorful that he hesitated for a long time. His hand rose and fell in the air, fell and rose again.

After a long delay, he squeezed out a sentence: “She does know how to.”

Even though her methods were extremely aggressive and unreasonable, at the moment the mecha arm reconnected, she did indeed access the deep sea’s internal system and activate the connection port.

Even the material dissolved around the mecha arm was optimal, with every value matching perfectly. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have achieved such a seamless state.

But if you wanted the teacher to praise Ji Fu’s approach, he really couldn’t do it.

This, this is just outrageous!

Who repairs a mecha in such a violent and direct manner?

Starting off with a confrontation.

Fortunately, Ji Fu wasn’t in his class now, otherwise he might have been scared out of his wits by her.

That’s an S-class mecha. If the operation went wrong, it could directly cause a short circuit in the lines, system malfunctions, or even the complete scrapping of the mecha arm.

Whichever the case, it would be considered a major accident.

But Ji Fu succeeded, and she even achieved a perfect fit that not even the designer Deep Sea could necessarily achieve.

The teacher couldn’t hold back any longer and said in a low voice, “It’s just plain reckless.”

It’s more than just reckless, it’s outrageous.

What this teacher didn’t know was that both teachers and students present were all from scholarly backgrounds.

Whether they were commoners or from noble families, anyone who could come into contact with the profession of mecha pilot had to have undergone formal schooling.

But Ji Fu was different.

During her time in Yun Chi, she had never been accepted by any school. The traditional threshold for studying mecha piloting was an insurmountable barrier for her in this lifetime.

All her knowledge was self-taught; she was a very typical self-taught person.

For her, repairing mechas was not a formulaic process; any method that worked was valid.

She had never made a mistake in frame repairs.

Since there were no mistakes, then the method must be correct.

But for the traditional scholarly types, it was simply absurd.

Not to mention the commotion outside, even the parties involved were taken aback.

Zhou Lu Hai turned his head and looked at her with a complex expression. “What method is this of yours?”

In the brief minutes, Ji Fu had already reconnected the right arm circuit, checked the overall status, and made some adjustments.

Her hands were busy at work, and without even lifting her head at his words, she calmly said, “It’s like how a barefoot doctor in the village treats a puppy.”

Zhou Lu Hai: ?

So his Deep Sea is a puppy?

Ji Fu raised her gaze, looking calmly at him. “Your arm could be treated like this too.”

Zhou Lu Hai: …

Alright, alright.

He shut up then and there.

When he reconnected with the mecha, he realized the benefits of violent mecha repair.

The previously severed right arm was now in excellent condition. With a slight clench of his fist, he could feel the surging mechanical power.

Forget about the previous stiffness and blockage; with just this move, it was as if it was brand new.

He even vaguely felt that it was more usable than when Deep Sea had just come out of the factory and hadn’t been deeply adapted to him yet.

…Are village barefoot doctors this skilled?

Ji Fu sat on the side, drinking a carton of milk she had opened.

The constraints of talent were still too great.

Activities like repairing severed limbs could only be considered fragmentary.

But because of the vast difference in talent, she had only repaired his right arm, and her talent had been completely drained.

Even in this simulation cabin, there was a painful sensation of talent overuse.

It could be imagined that with her current level of talent, she probably couldn’t handle the repair work of an S-class mecha if it were severely damaged.

Meanwhile, Tan Xi had reacted quickly, activating the defense system and retreating to a far distance.

But just in those few minutes of delay, when he looked back, the deep blue mecha in front of him was already as good as new.

The severed right arm had been completely repaired.

Tan Xi’s expression darkened.

Since entering the school until now, he had encountered many mecha pilots, even outside of school, there were high-level star-rated mecha pilots within the Third Army.

But to repair a severed arm so quickly, and it was only a C-class!

This Ji Fu was truly beyond his comprehension.

And it didn’t stop there…

With Deep Sea repaired and Ji Fu currently safe, she sat leisurely on the side, watching Zhou Lu Hai’s performance.

Zhou Lu Hai indeed had remarkable combat talent.

And the most formidable aspect about him wasn’t just his talent, but his ability to learn from various battles.

It was like fighting someone who was constantly leveling up, the terrifying rate of growth only increased the pressure on his opponents.

So when he flew in with an extremely terrifying speed and engaged in close combat with Tan Xi, it was the first time Tan Xi felt the pressure.

This kind of pressure, if placed before, Tan Xi might still have been able to handle it.

But…

After two S-class mechas clashed again, the noisy classroom finally quieted down.

But within just five minutes of combat, Li Yunyi had noticed something was wrong.

His expression darkened slightly. “Hongyan seems to be malfunctioning.”

There was a hush around.

“No way, just a simple exam, and there’s so much scheming?” Someone couldn’t help but say.

As soon as the words were out, they were nudged by the person beside them.

After all, Zhou Mo was still in the classroom.

Zhou Mo’s expression was okay; it was just a small exam, and he had said it wasn’t intentional. Whether others believed it or not, it didn’t concern him.

But he also noticed the unusualness of Hongyan and hesitated slightly.

Since entering this classroom, he took a good look at Ji Fu for the first time.

Before, when he knew that Zhou Lu Hai had invited Ji Fu to team up, he even privately mocked a bit, thinking Zhou Lu Hai was inexperienced, pulling a C-ranker as a teammate.

But now, he finally understood.

Shi Xueying also noticed and said in a deep voice, “Hongyan has been burned.”

Hongyan was a mecha prepared by the school, so naturally, there shouldn’t be any problems.

Its current state was purely due to Ji Fu’s bomb just now!

When the flame exploded, Tan Xi had already avoided it in the first instance.

But even so, Hongyan was still burned.

Shi Xueying whispered, “Judging by its current state, the mecha can’t heal itself, and the burns severely affect Hongyan’s performance.”

Li Yunyi nodded. “Zhou Lu Hai also noticed this, so he didn’t use any weapons and chose to engage in close combat.”

The locations struck were all points where the Hongyan reacted poorly when burning!

From the picture, you can see the huge fists of the Abyss, constantly striking the Hongyan’s waist, legs, and left arm.

Each strike contained tremendous explosive power, hitting hard.

Boom!

Boom!

The immense shock of the mech clash could make one’s heart pound even through the screen.

The Hongyan quickly fell into a passive state, and Tan Xi could only retreat after activating the wing.

Fortunately, the wing part was not affected by the burning, and even after activating the wing, the burning sensation decreased.

Watching the various values gradually stabilize, Tan Xi’s expression slightly eased.

Currently, it seemed that there was still a fight to be had.

But only he knew that the burning sensation that lasted for twenty minutes just now had not only burned off numerical values but also energy.

The Hongyan’s energy was running low, leaving him with few opportunities.

He didn’t hesitate at the moment, only activating the berserk mode in the moment of ascent, preparing for one final attempt.

At this moment, the crimson mech under the sunlight seemed to glow all over.

Berserk mode.

Ji Fu glanced at Zhou Lu Hai.

The school still had some tricks up its sleeve. This mech, after activating berserk mode, had a strength close to S+. In the moment of eruption, the values were largely cleared, basically removing the burning effect on the mech.

But whether Zhou Lu Hai’s strength could defeat this S+ mech remained to be seen.

Just as he was thinking, he looked up and saw Zhou Lu Hai’s posture change.

The deep blue mech suddenly retracted its huge fist and instead lightly glided in the air, squatted down, and raised its fist.

The simulated classroom was already filled with gasps.

“The Whispering Fist?”

Among the various categories of mech combat, aside from various types of artillery, the most top-notch were the martial arts techniques of prestigious families.

Among the three major families, the most famous mech martial arts of the Zhou family was the Whispering Fist.

Although the Whispering Fist was powerful, it caused significant damage to the mech, and not everyone could learn it…

At least, among the Zhou family where Zhou Mo was from, no one could learn the Whispering Fist.

He looked up, his expression slightly solemn as he saw the dark-colored mech in the picture.

Inside, Tan Xi also noticed the change in the deep blue color. His expression slightly froze, almost without hesitation, he activated the berserk mode all over, and the power of that eruption merged into a huge light wave.

The red mech held the light wave, with thunderous momentum, slashing towards the top of the Abyss.

However, this violent blow, under berserk mode, was directly intercepted by the Abyss in midair.

In berserk mode, this mech named Abyss shed its outer layer of dark color, revealing a pure sky blue color.

And within this sky blue, there was immense explosive power.

Zhou Lu Hai clasped one of the Hongyan’s wings, and in the collision between the two mechs, his fists slammed down violently, delivering dozens of punches within a second.

Every fierce punch landed on the Hongyan, leaving deep scars.

Amidst these shattered scars, in the astonished gazes of everyone, Zhou Lu Hai raised his arms heavily and brought down the force generated by those dozens of punches.

With a loud crack!

He tore the Hongyan in front of him into two halves!

The scene fell silent.

All the students present were stunned.

Even Wan Feng, who had been relatively calm from start to finish, changed his expression directly.

Including the students from the Special Class A and S classes around him, all fell silent.

Before today, no one had expected Zhou Lu Hai to be so strong.

When the Hongyan erupted at the end, it already had the strength of S+, which theoretically exceeded the content of this class promotion exam.

And then they watched as the Abyss tore apart the Hongyan.

Li Yunyi took a while to react and said in a deep voice, “Truly the pride of the three major families.”

Before this, Zhou Lu Hai had always been hiding his strength.

It wasn’t deliberate hiding, but he hadn’t encountered an opponent who could make him use the Whispering Fist.

There were some careless aspects in today’s exam, such as the fact that the Hongyan was not the most suitable type of mech for Tan Xi, and it was not as good as the superb craftsmanship of the Abyss.

But even if we put aside these factors, Zhou Lu Hai definitely achieved a crushing victory in terms of strength.

Passing the promotion exam perfectly was also a matter of course.

Beep beep beep.

The exam ended, and the simulation cabin opened.

“Special Class A, Ji Fu, Zhou Lu Hai, passed the exam.” At the same time, the announcement sounded throughout the entire simulated classroom.

Immediately, cheers filled the room.

This exam, regardless of who won or lost.

It contributed to an especially exciting competition for the students below.

Tan Xi sat up from the simulation cabin, his expression calm, and shook hands with Zhou Lu Hai.

After Zhou Lu Hai unleashed the Whispering Fist, he was actually already exhausted. Now that he came out, he was somewhat tired.

He lit a cigarette to refresh himself, while shaking hands with Tan Xi.

Tan Xi said softly, “Welcome to the S class.”

Zhou Lu Hai raised an eyebrow lightly, “Thank you.”

Just as he finished speaking, he saw Bai Mao sitting up in the other simulation cabin.

Ji Fu, with her frail body, just coughed after coming out.

Zhou Lu Hai extinguished the cigarette in his hand and walked over a few steps, “Are you alright?”

But he saw her putting her hand in front of him.

“What’s this for?”

“Repair fees.” Ji Fu’s expression was incredibly candid. “Five hundred thousand, thank you.”

Zhou Lu Hai:…

He was about to burst into laughter.

She repaired his mech in the simulation cabin, not in reality. It’s still broken in reality.

Moreover, does she think he doesn’t understand anything? She just blurted it out.

Five hundred thousand?

It’s amazing she could come up with that.

But when Zhou Lu Hai lowered his head and saw her pale face, those black grape-like eyes just looked at him quietly.

He: “… Alright.”

Just consider it a good deed for the future.

Seeing him nod, Ji Fu slowly came down from the simulation cabin by herself.

When she raised her eyes, she saw the mech teacher from Class S looking at her with a complex expression, hesitating for at least five minutes before finally saying, “Ji Fellow Student, do you want to change majors?”

Although she’s a bit reckless, she’s indeed a rare talent.

Ji Fu paused for a moment.

The things in this world are quite humorous indeed.

The unreachable aspirations of her youth are now reappearing before her in a ridiculous form.

It’s a pity that she’s no longer the little girl of six or seven years old who eagerly hoped to change her fate by entering school.

Ji Fu only hesitated for a moment before decisively refusing, “No.”

Countless eyes were on her, but she spoke cheerfully, “My dream is to become a great pharmacist.”

Everyone present: …

Du Ming, who stood behind the crowd, was moved to tears. Someone still insists on becoming a pharmacist even in the face of such a great opportunity.

How touching.

The teacher sighed lightly, regrettable.

But considering that Ji Fu is only C-grade and changing majors would also be difficult to cope with various exams, he had to give up.

Thus, this class promotion exam came to a close.

Before Ji Fu and the others took the exam, Wan Feng Wan Die had also successfully passed the exam.

The two of them, along with Ji Fu and Zhou Lu Hai, were promoted to Class S at the same time.

Once the announcement was made, the forums of the Interstellar Academy were buzzing.

The names of Ji Fu and Zhou Lu Hai were discussed for several days.

As for these matters, Ji Fu didn’t pay much attention.

She only received the S-grade Illusory Sea Clouds from the Zhou family’s airdrop via Zhou Lu Hai, took his fifty thousand interstellar credits, and then disappeared.

Externally, she claimed to be conducting research.

In reality, she had purchased a large batch of materials online for the third time and made another batch of testing machines.

The special medicine she obtained from An Zaiyang before, after a long period of processing, was finally about to yield results.

Despite having only a small sample, several of the machines she made were rendered useless.

When the final results appeared in her hands, most of the instruments she had made were almost destroyed.

Fortunately, although the process was difficult, the results obtained were very accurate.

However, the results…

After looking at them, she ran them through the simulation system again.

But just to be cautious, she took the results and went to find Du Ming.

Since she enrolled, Du Ming had been quite supportive of her, and this special medicine was of a very high level.

Du Ming’s personal background was quite simple. He was just a student of the Interstellar Academy who stayed on after graduation to continue working there.

He didn’t have much interaction with the Alliance, and even within the Interstellar Academy, he was relatively unknown.

Du Ming’s talent in pharmacology wasn’t particularly high, but he had been deeply involved in this industry for many years.

The more experienced a pharmacist is, the more insights they naturally have compared to a novice like her.

When she said she was conducting experiments, Du Ming didn’t inquire much.

But when she suddenly brought out such a long report, Du Ming was a bit taken aback.

He didn’t ask much, just picked it up and glanced at it.

Unexpectedly, as he continued to read, it took almost three hours, and the longer he read, the worse his expression became.

Ji Fu sat beside him, watching as he finally looked up, his expression no longer relaxed as before, just asking her with a strange look, “Where did you get this thing from?”

“It’s a medicine that a friend from my hometown is currently using. What’s wrong? Is there something not right?”

When Du Ming heard it was her friend’s medicine, his expression became even stranger, “Your friend… is he still okay?”

Ji Fu honestly replied, “Not too good.”

Even after upgrading his talent, he still couldn’t survive more than half a year. That could hardly be called “not too good.”

Du Ming immediately said in a deep voice, “Remember to inform your friend that this medicine must never be used again.”

Ji Fu hesitated for a moment but didn’t answer.

“.”…Gold and Silver Thread, Soft Rabbit Sanchang, Earth-twisting Beast Core…”…” Du Ming lowered his head to look at the list of ingredients in the report. The more he looked, the more shocked he became. “Each of these is a top-quality material, but at the same time!”

“Each of them is highly toxic.”

In other words, the drug that could activate her talent was itself a poison.

So, when Ye Ping said that a person using this drug would die within one or two injections, it made sense.

“But to combine all of them into one potion, it’s unusual.” Du Ming stood up, pondering over the results of the combination of these drugs. Finally, he came to a conclusion:

“All these ingredients are highly toxic substances, but the concoction made from them seems like an antidote.”

As Du Ming voiced this contradictory conclusion, even he wasn’t entirely sure.

But his conclusion happened to coincide with Ji Fu’s.

She played with the test tube in her hand.

Du Ming didn’t know what this thing was used for, but she did.

And assuming their conclusion was true.

Then…

Ji Fu lowered her head and glanced at the talent mark obscured by the Light Brain.

This meant that her talent wasn’t created by this drug.

And, it was highly likely that she already had the talent in the first place.

But this talent has been concealed, which is what Du Ming calls poison.

She was poisoned, so although she has talent, she cannot use it, nor can the talent be detected.

Only by refining an antidote from this highly toxic material can her hidden talent be activated.

In other words.

Before her talent was first tested at the age of six, someone had poisoned her.

…Or rather, this poison had already been planted before she was born or even conceived.

The purpose was to conceal the talent within her.

And at the right moment, to completely extract that talent.

Like livestock raised for slaughter, just waiting to mature before being slaughtered.

Ji Fu closed her eyes.

So, those people not only suppressed her spine with talent but also leaned over her, sucking on her flesh and blood to survive.

Perhaps her talent had been chosen from the beginning to become a stepping stone for others to ascend to greatness.

She suddenly opened her eyes.

The world is not their playground, and people are not materials they can raise.

To build their own path to greatness on the foundation of others?

Fine.

Then she’ll destroy everything for them, including their ladder to heaven, their playground, and their garden of gods.