Mecha Manufacturing

"Let's go with this one!"

Lin Xuan noted down the mecha's serial number, then followed Xu Xiaoyan back to the warehouse entrance.

"Hummingbird! You've got a pretty good eye. If this mecha were sold outside, it'd cost at least four million."

Xu Hao spoke to Lin Xuan with a faint smile. As he looked over the mecha's information, a trace of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

"Alright, I'll go handle the paperwork first. Xiaoyan, you can take him around and have a look at the other places."

Xu Hao closed the warehouse. After speaking to the two of them, he turned and left.

Operating a mecha required registration with the Federation. Otherwise, it was considered illegal driving.

"Come on, I'll show you the mecha manufacturing process."

After thinking for a moment, Xu Xiaoyan spoke to Lin Xuan. There was not much else to see in this factory anyway.

Next, Xu Xiaoyan led Lin Xuan through the entire mecha production workshop before finally bringing him to a studio.

"I'm exhausted! Lin Xuan, let's take a break!"

Xu Xiaoyan sprawled unceremoniously across a chair and said breathlessly.

"Then let's wait here. No need to keep looking around."

Lin Xuan found himself a seat as well. The mechas produced here were standard-issue white- and yellow-tier mechas, basically made through assembly-line operations.

"This studio is a mecha manufacturing room?"

Lin Xuan looked around the studio before asking.

"Mm! This is Second Uncle's studio. He sometimes comes here to calibrate mechas."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded.

Xu Hao was not only a Mecha Manufacturer, but also a Mecha Designer. That black mecha of his had been designed and manufactured entirely by himself.

After sitting for a while, Lin Xuan got up and began looking around the studio.

The walls of the studio were covered with mecha design blueprints filled with markings, while several miniature machine models sat on the workbench.

"This is a Soul Tool Formation Array?"

Lin Xuan picked up an engraved component from the table and examined it closely.

The component had been forged from a piece of Thousand Forging Water Blue Gold. It emitted a faint blue glow, and fine lines could vaguely be seen upon its surface.

Those lines were like the blood vessels and meridians within a human body, fully stirring the innate spirituality of the Water Blue Gold.

If Forging was the process of awakening the spirituality within a piece of metal, like a newborn infant—

Then the component in his hand used array patterns to guide that infant into learning the laws of this world and forming its own unique character.

"Spirit Infusion Array..."

Lin Xuan glanced at an open Notebook beside him. It contained notes and insights regarding this component. After setting the component down, Lin Xuan did not dare flip through it carelessly and merely studied that page from a distance.

Only after a long while did Lin Xuan come back to himself. Compared to Forging, mecha manufacturing seemed to require not only talent, but also an immense reserve of knowledge.

"Xiaoyan! The things written here..."

Lin Xuan turned to speak to Xu Xiaoyan, but before he could finish, he discovered that she had somehow fallen asleep with her head resting on the table.

Lin Xuan:...

He had wanted to ask Xu Xiaoyan whether he could use one of the blank components here. After reading that page of notes, an idea had suddenly come to him.

He wanted to verify the guess in his heart.

"These scraps should be fine, right?"

Lin Xuan's gaze swept over the components on the table. He definitely could not touch those. He walked over to the waste bin behind the workbench and picked out a small piece of Water Blue Gold scrap.

This piece of Water Blue Gold was diamond-shaped, clearly an offcut from trimming.

Lin Xuan used his sword to shave down its uneven protrusions, then sat to one side and began engraving it with a knife according to the contents of the Notebook.

As stroke after stroke fell, the Water Blue Gold emitted blue light. The gentle radiance rose and fell as though the metal itself were breathing.

Without realizing it, Lin Xuan became immersed in the engraving. The spirituality contained within the Water Blue Gold was gradually stirred and molded by him bit by bit. As a Spirit Forging-level Forger, the metal's spirituality could not have been more obvious in his eyes.

"Phew!"

Lin Xuan let out a long breath as the final stroke fell. The array patterns on the Water Blue Gold connected into a whole, and pale blue radiance immediately blossomed. The light upon it gathered and swirled toward the center of the array patterns like a nebula.

Mecha Manufacturing: Level 1 (1/300)

Just as expected!

Ignoring the system, a flash of understanding passed through Lin Xuan's mind.

There were actually two most important aspects to mecha manufacturing.

The first was grasping the spirituality of metals. Every piece of metal was a different life, requiring the manufacturer to make targeted adjustments to the formation array they engraved.

The second was that the manufacturer needed exceptionally precise control when engraving the lines of the array patterns. A tiny deviation could lead to a vast error. This was quite similar to practicing the sword.

As it happened, he lacked neither of those things.

"Have you studied mecha manufacturing before?"

A calm voice came from behind Lin Xuan. At some point, Xu Hao had silently appeared at his back.

"I'm sorry!"

Lin Xuan hurriedly stood and apologized. Touching someone else's things without permission, even if it was only scrap material, was still not polite.

"It's fine. These aren't worth much. Lin Xuan, did you learn mecha manufacturing from someone before?"

Xu Hao waved his hand, then asked again.

He had actually arrived half an hour ago. He had simply been surprised to see Lin Xuan engraving a formation array and had not wanted to disturb him.

"No! I'm a Forger."

Lin Xuan shook his head.

"I see. What a pity..."

Xu Hao sighed regretfully. Since Lin Xuan was a Forger, he could not possibly devote too much effort to mecha manufacturing. Forging itself demanded plenty of attention.

Otherwise, Xu Hao would have wanted to take Lin Xuan as his disciple. Although it was Lin Xuan's first time engraving a formation array, the result was far better than that of apprentices who had immersed themselves in it for years.

"This Notebook contains some of my insights on mecha manufacturing. I'll give it to you."

After thinking for a moment, Xu Hao handed the Notebook on the table to Lin Xuan.

Even if he could not take him as a disciple, he could still cultivate his interest. Lin Xuan was still young. What if he changed his mind later?

"Uncle Xu, this..."

Lin Xuan said awkwardly, but Xu Hao directly interrupted him.

"It's nothing. It's useless for me to keep it."

The younger generation of the Xu Family had no interest in mechas and were unwilling to put effort into them. This Notebook would only gather dust in his possession.

"Then thank you, Uncle!"

Lin Xuan accepted the Notebook and gave a slight bow in thanks.

"That's more like it! If you have any questions about this in the future, you can come find me anytime."

Xu Hao smiled when he saw Lin Xuan accept the Notebook. Then he handed Lin Xuan a document and a Glass Sphere.

"This is the mecha registration document, along with the mecha itself. I'm giving you this Mecha Containment Soul Tool too."

"Thank you!"

Lin Xuan nodded and accepted the Glass Sphere. Inside was a bluish-white mecha.

"It's nothing! You deserve it anyway. Alright, let's go. That girl Xiaoyan is getting more and more outrageous, sleeping there by herself and leaving a guest behind."

"Lin Xuan! See you!"

At the School Gate, Xu Xiaoyan waved to Lin Xuan before getting into a car and disappearing down the street.

Only after watching Xu Xiaoyan leave did Lin Xuan return to school, humming a little tune.

This time, he had not only obtained a yellow-tier mecha, but also gained another skill.

He had recently been worrying that continuing to grind Forging was becoming rather pointless. Expanding his skill set was not a bad idea now.

Even if he did not pursue mechas in the future, it would still be extremely helpful for Battle Armor manufacturing.

After all, no matter how talented someone else was at design and manufacturing, they would never understand you as well as you understood yourself. The Battle Armor they designed could never perfectly bring out your own strengths.

As for biting off more than he could chew, Lin Xuan did not have that problem.

This chapter might feel a little abrupt, but spending too much time setting up such a trivial matter would make it feel like filler. It might be better if everyone just treated it as the protagonist picking up a secret manual by the roadside. This was only to light up a skill in advance for what comes later.