The Fu Hua Training Plan That Has Probably Already Been Shelved... / Maybe Fu Hua Is a Late Bloomer?

Fortune amid misfortune...

"Oh, right, Hua."

Her guardian spirit spoke again.

"Do you ever get your fortune told?"

"...No. Why?"

She considered herself a rather practical person. She kept her distance from things like fortune-telling, which were half scam and half theology.

"Then why do you believe what I, a spirit that suddenly appeared, am saying?"

Liu Bai chuckled, closed the book in his hand, and put it back where it belonged.

"Is there a chance that I'm lying to you? That I'm not some guardian spirit at all, but just a ghost that feeds on the life essence of the living and happened to latch onto you?"

"...?"

Obvious confusion appeared on Hua's face.

"No, I can't find any reason why I would be haunted by a ghost."

Although Hua did not believe in ghosts and spirits, as someone living in Shenzhou, she could still understand what Liu Bai meant.

"Well, what reason would a ghost need to harm someone?" Liu Bai laughed. "Whatever you do, don't believe a ghost's nonsense, Hua. Doesn't Shenzhou have an old saying? Man can shape his own destiny, and man can conquer heaven."

"...I understand."

Seemingly having thought of something, Hua, who was sitting on the bed, dropped her guarded posture and nodded thoughtfully.

Then, Hua cupped her fists toward Liu Bai.

"In the days ahead, I hope Teacher Liu will guide me well."

"Teacher?"

Liu Bai was taken aback when he heard that word.

"Uh... It's just that the way you speak, Mr. Liu Bai, makes you sound a little like a schoolteacher."

For once, a trace of embarrassment appeared on the usually serious girl's face.

"If you mind..."

"No, I don't mind that. It's just a little embarrassing..."

After all, this was the first time someone had called him "teacher," and "Teacher Liu" was especially embarrassing...

Hua Training Plan, Probably Stillborn...

"Ah, damn it, it's already four thirty!"

The two had been chatting quite pleasantly, but by the time Hua came back to her senses, half an hour had already passed.

Hua sprang off the bed in a panic.

"Teacher Liu, you..."

"I get it, I get it. Avoiding suspicion."

Sigh, morals were declining and hearts were no longer what they used to be. Back then, I, Liu Bai, had looked down on Mobius's pair of massive balls. That little bit of yours... sigh.

Still, Liu Bai glanced at their compatibility. In merely half an hour, it had already reached 20%.

The immortal maiden of today was still just a slightly stubbornly serious girl.

Although she lived a disciplined life, when she woke up, she would still be groggy and want to sleep a little longer.

Whether she was happy or sad, she would not hide it in her heart. Every emotion showed on her face.

Though that made her quite unsuitable as an adult, it was just right for a girl.

That's what a girl should be like.

Liu Bai slowly retreated outside the door. Hua moved even faster than he had expected. Less than five minutes later, Fu Hua had changed into her training clothes and stood before Liu Bai, full of energy.

And so, Hua's fulfilling yet monotonous day began—

You became Hua's—future Fu Hua's—guardian spirit

You became increasingly accustomed to life as a guardian spirit, and thus had a very successful exchange with Hua, who was still just a girl

Perhaps because you both belonged to Shenzhou culture, the two of you were clearly quite compatible. You quickly gained Hua's trust, and she began calling you "teacher"—you felt more and more like one of those old grandpas living inside a ring.

You learned from Hua that she had not yet started high school—which also meant that there was still quite some time before the Honkai outbreak in Canghai City

You had to find a way to let Hua quickly gain the ability to protect herself during the Honkai outbreak in Canghai City. After all, placing all hope of survival in the hands of strangers was not a wise choice.

No wonder the immortal maiden's face looked a little young. Liu Bai had thought it was because of the Previous Era, but it turned out that Hua had not even gone to school in the city yet.

"Hua, do you want to learn how to build Gundams?"

Watching Hua stir-fry vegetables and cook porridge, Liu Bai suddenly asked.

"Gundams?" Hua was first startled by Liu Bai's sudden voice, then looked at him in confusion.

"Those steel robots." Liu Bai explained as plainly as possible. "Do you want to learn, Hua? Even though you call me teacher, this is about the only thing I can teach you. I know nothing about martial arts and such."

Well, although he had not learned mecha construction in his previous skill selection, so theoretically, he could not build mechas either.

However, Liu Bai's foundation was solid enough. He had reached Level 8 in the basic subjects needed for mecha construction: physics, mechanics, and engineering.

In other words, Liu Bai already possessed the prerequisite skills for mecha construction. Moreover, he had watched Tesla assemble mechas and seen the Honkai Energy conversion formulas in the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Liu Bai already had every prerequisite.

All he needed was to spend some time properly integrating those skills, and he would meet the standard for building mechas.

As long as Hua was willing to learn, Liu Bai was willing to teach.

"Robots... Hmm."

Hua, still a country girl at heart, clearly could not quite understand things like robots.

Most of the Previous Era's black technology—such as God Keys, Armed Dolls, Stigmata, Hypermutation Surgery, and Honkai Energy conversion formulas—had emerged alongside the Honkai outbreak.

In terms of civilian technology, the Previous Era at this point was not much different from 2017 CE. Nuclear weapons were still the ultimate weapons of mundane warfare—and nuclear weapons were also what ultimately destroyed every city of the Previous Era, ironically proving the rule that "Honkai grows alongside civilization."

But regardless of the future, mechas still had potential at this point. If they were phased out in the future, that was a problem for the future.

Liu Bai felt that becoming "Dr. Hua" would surely offer far more options than becoming "Soldier Hua."

If Hua's aptitude was good enough and she learned quickly enough, perhaps he could make Hua catch Moth Chasers to Fire's attention in advance.

However, after a brief period of thought, Hua asked a question that left Liu Bai speechless:

"Robots... If they're made of iron, they must cost a lot of money, right?"

"...True."

Hua had directly revealed a fatal fact to Liu Bai.

They had no money.

During his last simulation, Liu Bai had conducted various experiments with Einstein and Tesla for more than a year. He had nearly forgotten that experiments were expensive, much less research into large-scale mechas like this.

Back then, Einstein's assessment of mecha research had been:

"If we want this mecha to possess real practical value, the equipment, materials, funding, space, and even manpower required are beyond what a single laboratory can bear. We would need support from experts in other fields as well. At the same time, this would also be a very long process."

Liu Bai might be able to replace those other experts by himself, but money...

Hua's family merely ran a martial arts school. Although they had been fairly well-off before Hua's father was injured, attempting this kind of mecha experiment was simply wishful thinking.

Even Mobius had first found a way to acquire startup capital, then used it to conduct experiments and produce results, sold those results, and formed a virtuous cycle.

"...Anyway, I'll teach you first. Machinery... at least counts as knowledge, as a trade. If nothing else, you could repair cars to help support the family."

Liu Bai felt rather dumbfounded. He had originally thought that if this plan failed, it would fail because of Hua's learning ability. Who would have thought it would die for the simple, unadorned reason of money?

What the hell...

"In that case, I'll set aside time in my daily schedule to learn from you, Teacher Liu."

Although Liu Bai's remark about "repairing cars to help support the family" had mostly been a joke—like asking someone studying computer science, "You're learning this so you can fix computers, right?"

For Hua, who was frugal by nature, that reason was indeed difficult to resist.

"If it really comes down to it, we can take another step back..."

Liu Bai muttered, but Hua did not catch the latter half.

"?"

Hua tilted her head, confusion appearing on her face.

Of course, what Liu Bai meant by taking another step back... was scamming for research funding!

Just like Einstein and the others had done back then: find someone foolish with deep pockets, paint them a grand vision, get the funding, spend a little of it buying sesame seeds to sprinkle over the pancake, and naturally, the rest would become discretionary operating funds!

Still, it was better not to let good kid Fu Hua know about that.

"Hua, the porridge and vegetables are about to burn."

"Eek—!?"

Maybe Fu Hua Was a Late Bloomer?

You began planning Hua's future

After some thought, you discovered that what you were best at was the various scientific skills you had learned from the two doctors

This allowed you to see a shortcut where "knowledge changes fate"

—Unfortunately, turning a middle school student into a great scientist during high school was very difficult—not everyone was called Mei, and not everyone could encounter a powerful recommender like Mobius

So, you were defeated by money.

The training plan was declared stillborn. Congratulations, congratulations.

Perhaps you could revise the plan into a "car mechanic training plan"?

That damned system...

Looking at the simulation text on the system, Liu Bai could not help cursing inwardly. But the next moment, he noticed a piece of information.

"Recommender."

Mobius... If he could contact her, the snake would definitely be willing to act as a recommender.

But the problem was... he could not find her.

Although Mobius did not seem particularly old, she was actually among the older members of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers. There was a reason Gretel called Mobius Auntie.

Children's intuition was always sharper. Laugh.

By the time Mei and Kevin were in high school, Mobius was already a top scientist with immense authority in Moth Chasers to Fire.

Liu Bai found a calendar in the living room. Sure enough, quite a long time had passed since he had parted ways with Mobius.

Come to think of it, what had Mei done to gain attention?

It seemed to have been a paper on Quantum Mechanics?

Quantum Mechanics?

Liu Bai stroked his chin. He knew this stuff. Level 8 physics covered the vast majority of physical theories, including Quantum Mechanics. Besides, he also had Level 8 quantum cognition... though the "quantum" in that skill seemed to refer to the Sea of Quanta.

In any case, theoretical research did not cost money. This was it!

Even if he could not reach Mei's level, it would at least be somewhat better. At the very least, when Moth Chasers to Fire recruited Hua, she could count as specialized talent.

When Mei had first been recruited, she had been brought in as a strategist.

But... would this waste Hua's potential in combat? Could it even change the future?

"Hua... scientific research or martial arts, which do you prefer?"

Liu Bai looked at Hua, who had just finished putting away the meal.

"Eh? Scientific research and martial arts... If I had to choose, of course I'd want to inherit Father's martial arts school."

Hua honestly voiced her thoughts.