Assembly Successful

Huadun's class schedule allowed for an early dismissal, with classes ending around 4 PM.

"Zhou Zhou, want to go check out the club recruitment fair? They're recruiting new students, and if we join the same club, we can hang out together from now on! Hu Manduo, you should come too."

Lu Xiaoxiao enthusiastically pulled Zhou Yi and Hu Manduo along.

"I'm not going. I have to go to my part-time job. You guys go ahead."

Zhou Yi had waited all day for class to end, her mind filled with the pile of Mech parts she still needed to assemble. She had no interest in looking at any clubs.

"A part-time job? Zhou Yi, you have a part-time job? We're only sixteen, can we even work?"

Hu Manduo's eyes were full of confusion. Why would someone still in school need to work?

"At our school's library. I need to earn some money for Nutrient Solution. I won't talk anymore, I'm heading off. See you tomorrow."

Zhou Yi was too tired to bother with them anymore. She quickly said goodbye and dashed away.

"Poor Zhou Zhou, working so hard just to earn money for Nutrient Solution, running so fast..."

Lu Xiaoxiao, her maternal instincts kicking in, felt even more sympathy.

Hu Manduo wore the same expression as Lu Xiaoxiao, even showing a hint of guilt.

So, the Nutrient Solution he had previously looked down on was something Zhou Yi couldn't afford and had to work part-time to buy Star Coins for.

How pitiful...

Meanwhile, Zhou Yi, unaware that her two good classmates now saw her as a pitiable figure, arrived at the library as quickly as possible.

Even though the semester had started, the library was as empty as ever, with no one there.

Zhou Yi got cleaning tools from Aunt Lan and took them to the third floor.

The dust in the storage room was too much. She hadn't noticed it yesterday when she was engrossed in the Mech, but when she went back to the dorm to change clothes that night, she realized her clothes were incredibly dirty.

She took out the key, opened the door, and the large pile of Mech parts she had disassembled yesterday lay quietly in the most important spot, as if waiting for Zhou Yi's arrival.

Zhou Yi didn't want to waste any time and quickly cleaned the floor and walls of the storage room.

Although the storage room was large, it was thankfully spacious and relatively easy to clean.

She didn't have the energy to deal with the scattered Mech parts piled around the perimeter, but the preferential Zhou Yi at least tidied up the few large ones that could still stand.

After all, she hadn't even had the chance to study them yet, so they had to be protected well.

While cleaning, Zhou Yi discovered a complete set of tools next to those standing Mechs.

She had seen these tools in her Mech Master books!

"I didn't expect such a pleasant surprise!"

Seeing the tools, Zhou Yi threw down her broom.

Earlier that day, she had been worried about whether she could assemble it herself without tools and was planning to ask Aunt Lan for help.

Everything had fallen into place effortlessly.

Zhou Yi tested each tool one by one; they still worked.

Although they had all been stored for a long time and showed signs of aging to varying degrees, they were still a thousand times more convenient than assembling a Mech with bare hands.

One shouldn't be too greedy.

With everything in order, Zhou Yi went to the pile of parts in the center, ready to reassemble them into their original form.

It was important to remember that Mechs, as large and complex combat machines, had an extremely large number of small and intricate parts.

Assembly was always more difficult than disassembly.

Facing this large pile of components, Zhou Yi truly felt a bit lost at first.

She pictured the Mech in its complete, unassembled state from yesterday and began to sort the parts before her into main body and limbs.

Soon, the large pile became five smaller piles.

First, assemble the main body, then the limbs and head.

Assemble the large components first, then connect the smaller ones.

However, even though she had tried her best to remember the position of each part when disassembling yesterday, she still encountered many difficulties during assembly today.

Especially the intricate internal parts; many were small and similar, making it difficult to determine which part belonged where.

Zhou Yi repeatedly assembled and disassembled, trying over and over.

When she was completely confused, she would open her books again, find various Mech blueprints, and compare them piece by piece.

Zhou Yi had absolute patience when it came to Mechs.

She felt immense satisfaction every time she correctly assembled a part, a feeling that nothing else could match.

Fortunately, during this assembly, Zhou Yi had to move around constantly instead of sitting in one place, allowing her body to get some exercise.

As she moved more, she drank two more bottles of Nutrient Solution.

"No, there's something wrong."

After an unknown amount of time, when the main body was about halfway installed, Zhou Yi suddenly frowned.

"If I install it like this, the parts inside the energy device won't fit. The position is wrong."

Zhou Yi had a habit of checking while installing, so she quickly discovered the problem.

Such issues usually arose because a small part inside was installed incorrectly, with similar parts being swapped. While it could still be assembled, once completed, the massive Mech would turn into a useless hunk of scrap metal that couldn't move.

When it was time to cut her losses, Zhou Yi immediately abandoned the sunk cost. She dismantled all the parts she had already installed and started everything anew.

Day turned to night, and then gradually back to day.

The warehouse had no windows for the sake of concealment, so Zhou Yi had no idea what was happening outside.

She was completely immersed in the process of installation and learning, having completely forgotten the passage of time.

When she finally snapped out of it and wanted to check the time, the main body of the Mech had already been completely installed.

"Seven o'clock??"

Zhou Yi couldn't quite believe the time displayed on her Star Brain. She clearly felt that not much time had passed, so how could it suddenly be the morning of the next day?

However, looking at the already formed main body of the Mech before her, Zhou Yi felt very satisfied.

With the main body installed, the limbs were much simpler. It was like the frame was already out; all that was needed was to patiently fill in the details.

Her stomach growled again, and Zhou Yi casually chugged two more bottles of Nutrient Solution.

Having gotten used to drinking Nutrient Solution from the tube, Zhou Yi felt a little unsatisfied after drinking another one, always feeling an emptiness in her stomach.

"As expected, it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality!"

Looking at the remaining piles of Mech parts, although Zhou Yi really wanted to assemble the entire Mech in one go now, she didn't have enough time.

With just over an hour left until the first class of the morning, Zhou Yi, who happened to have the textbook she received yesterday with her, simply locked the warehouse door and prepared to head to the teaching building for class.

Although Zhou Yi had no interest in the knowledge taught in class, as someone who was accustomed to being a good student, being late for class on the second day made her feel slightly unaccustomed.

Good food is worth the wait, so she'd rather wait until tonight.