“What’s there to be afraid of? At worst, we just won’t take the exam!” Granny Lin said angrily.
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes were red, but she shook her head firmly. “No! They don’t want me to get into the Central Military Academy? Well, I’m going to pass! I’ll show them what it means to be a member of the Lin family!”
The Lin family applauded.
Her spirit was admirable, but the problem wasn’t solved by that alone.
Xinbao, Doudou, and Tiantian were indeed powerful.
But Lin Xiaohe couldn’t just take the three of them and walk into space on her own two legs, could she?
Lin Xiaohe fretted. Where could she find a reasonably priced mecha?
Just then, Father Lin cleared his throat loudly.
“Dad?”
Father Lin’s demeanor shifted completely, becoming as imposing as a towering mountain.
In a low, solemn voice, he announced gravely, “Xiaohe, it’s time I told you my true identity!”
Grandpa and Granny Lin stood up, their expressions serious.
The solemn atmosphere made Lin Xiaohe hold her breath, her mind racing with guesses.
Could Dad be a hidden big shot? A persecuted officer? The young master of a reclusive family? The leader of a resistance force?
Father Lin steered his wheelchair, leading the whole family into his bedroom.
With some effort, he bent down and pulled out from under his bed a large, silver-white box, roughly one meter long and one meter wide.
A look of nostalgia on his face, Father Lin carefully wiped the dust from the box. “Xiaohe, the truth is, I am a mecha operator.”
Huh?
Lin Xiaohe’s gaze on the white box became as intense as a laser beam. “Dad, is there a mecha inside that box?”
“Correct.”
Wow!
Nowadays, the standard mecha storage hub was about the size of a palm.
But Father Lin’s mecha storage hub was an entire box! How large must the mecha be? How many weapons could it hold?!
“Dad! You’re my savior.”
Surrounded by her family, Father Lin carried the box to the backyard.
It was spacious here, with few people around.
Father Lin placed the box in the middle of the yard, backed up about ten meters, and only then pressed the button on his key. “Come on out, old friend!”
Lin Xiaohe’s eyes shone with excitement, but that anticipation turned into a sigh of disappointment the moment the mecha appeared.
Even though Lin Xiaohe wasn’t very familiar with mechas, she recognized the one before her as a second-generation standard Beetle-type mecha.
She knew about it because it often appeared as a negative example in Federation Military History.
Designed as a two-meter-tall, seven-to-eight-meter long and wide beast-type mecha, its original purpose was to serve as a tank, violently plowing through enemy lines.
However, its beetle-like design, while offering high defense, allowed for very few compatible weapons and left rear-guard mechas unprotected.
Especially thirty years ago, when mecha materials underwent a qualitative leap, even lightly-armored mechas could enhance their defense by using new metal alloys. The second-generation Beetle mecha completely lost its strategic purpose and was phased out.
The mecha before her had a pitted and dented hull, rust at its joint mechanisms, and looked utterly worn out.
Lin Xiaohe doubted if it could even move. Would it just fall apart if it tried?
Father Lin was displeased. “What’s with that look? Little Beetle here is just a bit rusty from being cooped up for so long. Its core energy is nearly depleted, the network connector is damaged, the weapon modules are shattered… but its engine is perfectly fine! With some energy, it can walk, jump, and even fly!”
Lin Xiaohe…
Dearest Dad, would you care to listen to what you just said?
“Language truly is an art.”
Father Lin gave an awkward laugh, trying to save face. “If simply relying on a mecha’s superior performance could win wars, then what would be the point of having excellent mecha operators?”
“You’re my dad, so you’re right,” Lin Xiaohe said with a deadpan expression. “Dad, Little Beetle’s storage hub is so big not because it’s large, but because it’s outdated, right?”
Father Lin looked pitiful. “Don’t say that, Little Beetle will be sad.”
Alright, you win. I’ll zip it.
Lin Jingqiu ruffled Lin Xiaohe’s hair and gestured, [Don’t worry. I’ve seen several second-hand mecha energy cores at the scrapyard. They’re not expensive, very affordable.]
Lin Chiyang directly transferred 180,000 star credits to Lin Xiaohe. “My finals are in a few days. I’ll give you all the prize money to modify the mecha. Whatever others have, our Xiaohe will have too!”
Sensing her family’s concerned gazes and Father Lin’s furtive, guilty, and apologetic look, Lin Xiaohe let out a bright, cheerful laugh.
“Have you all forgotten? I still have Xinbao and the others! With them, I don’t need weapons or equipment at all. I just need to install a few spots for them on Little Beetle.”
Father Lin raised his hand high. “Me! Me! I’m not just a mecha operator, I’m also a mecha technician! Leave the modifications to me!”
With everyone in the Lin family having their tasks, Lin Xiaohe naturally couldn’t stay idle either.
First, she ran to her school to find Teacher Li, to see if she could apply for a student loan.
Teacher Li shook her head regretfully. “The education bureau is auditing accounts right now; it’s a fund freeze period. Even if you applied and got approved, the money wouldn’t reach you before your exam.”
Lin Xiaohe took her leave.
Most likely, this was more meddling from that mysterious opponent behind the scenes.
She then hurried to several banks in a row, hoping to see if she could apply for a loan using her status as a Federal Central Military Academy special admission student.
The banks didn’t refuse outright, but they told her that going through the process would take about half a month to learn the approval result.
Lin Xiaohe didn’t give up because of this.
If she couldn’t get money, she’d go get skill points.
Lin Xiaohe rented a set of safety protective gear—800 star credits per day, with a 5,000 deposit—from a shop that also bought mutated plant and mutated beast carcasses.
She chose to start her exploration from Doudou’s birthplace.
Those towering trees seemed to have grown even taller.
Walking through the forest felt like a tiny ant walking through a wheat field.
Lin Xiaohe didn’t dare challenge these giant trees, only picking on some mutated grass by the roadside.
“Doudou, watch me go biubiu!”
Green beans poured onto the grassy ground, splattering green juice everywhere.
A pleasant system notification sounded in Lin Xiaohe’s ears.
*[Skill points +1, +1, +1…]*
Lin Xiaohe wasn’t sure why the system hadn’t cataloged these mutated grasses. Perhaps there were differences even among mutated plants.
Setting that question aside, Lin Xiaohe contentedly became a weed-remover.
Picking the easy targets felt great!
Lin Xiaohe felt like a melon-field weasel stumbling into a feast, or a mouse falling into a grain silo—utterly delighted.
What kind of restricted zone was this? This was clearly her personal treasure trove!
…
At the Sixth Stellar Ring military base, a lieutenant colonel with one circle and three stars on his shoulder was smiling amiably at the person on the video call.
“Lieutenant Colonel Wan, you want to enter our defense zone for a live combat exercise? Haha, of course, no problem!”
The person in the video wore a military uniform, had handsome features, and a pair of blue eyes that were both gentle and expressive. “Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Steve. Sorry for the trouble.”
“What trouble? It’s nothing! Besides, the Federal Central Military Academy’s special admission student will also be participating in this exercise.”
“Special admission student?”
“Yeah, a young girl.”
“I look forward to meeting her.” After hanging up, the previously polite and handsome officer instantly turned cold. He glared at the group of military academy students behind him and spoke icily.
“I am ashamed of your performance in the [Steel Star Sea] exercise! Our academy has a command genius, yet the execution was left to a bunch of idiots!”
“This time, if your performance is still lacking, you can all pack your bags and leave!”
He tilted his head slightly, threatening, “You’re all second-year students. Surely you won’t be outdone by a single special admission student, right?”
