Locke

Su Ming and Warren were thus invited onto Temporary Army No. 32's spaceship by Lieutenant Walker.

"Zhong Li, two new Planet-level mechanics have arrived. Please help arrange things for them!"

After boarding the spaceship, Walker spoke to a girl standing nearby.

This girl, Zhong Li, had healthy, tanned skin and neat, short hair that gave her a brisk appearance.

She walked over, her eyes lighting up when she saw Su Ming and Warren. She immediately smiled and said to them, "That's great! We're really short on mechanics right now, so you've come at the perfect time. Follow me, I'll show you to your accommodations."

Su Ming and Warren nodded and followed behind Zhong Li as they walked into the spaceship.

They hadn't walked far when a slight vibration could be felt throughout the spaceship. Su Ming looked out the window and saw the buildings of Planet Nop gradually shrinking.

Clearly, the spaceship had taken off and was leaving Planet Nop at an extremely high speed.

"This is the mission hall, you can take a look!"

Just then, Zhong Li's voice rang out.

Hearing Zhong Li's voice, Su Ming and Warren turned their attention to a large hall beside them.

Inside the hall, a massive LCD screen stood in the center.

On either side of the LCD screen, a large number of missions were scrolling by.

"Planet Zilin is under attack by Star Bandits. Mission: Annihilate the Star Bandits. Recommended personnel: 10-20 people. Recommended level: Level 3 Gene Warrior and above. Mission merits: 100 points/person."

"Repair 20 Planet-level weapons. Requirement: Complete within 10 days. Personnel limit: None. Recommended mechanic level: Capable of repairing Planet-level weapons and above. Mission merits: 400 points/item."

"Planet Nop is suspected to have an Interstellar Black Merchant passing through. Mission: Capture the Interstellar Black Merchant and escort them back. Recommended personnel: 5-10 people. Recommended level: Level 4 Gene Warrior and above. Mission merits: 300 points/person."

These were just a few examples. There were likely tens of thousands of similar missions.

An alarmingly terrifying number!

Throughout the hall, many soldiers could be seen wandering around, seemingly contemplating which mission to accept.

Su Ming and Warren were a bit stunned by these missions.

Zhong Li, standing beside them, explained with a smile, "The temporary army has relatively loose management. As long as you earn more than 200 military merits per month, you're good. These are the sum of all missions in the entire star system. Not only can we accept them, but other temporary armies can too. Whoever completes it first gets the reward."

"The spaceship has small shuttles available for soldiers to use on missions. When you have a mission, you can go to the mission center to borrow a shuttle, and then you can leave to complete the mission alone!"

Zhong Li said with a smile.

Su Ming and Warren immediately looked enlightened.

They had been wondering how a temporary army of a thousand people could possibly handle over ten thousand missions.

So, it turned out everyone in the star system was competing for the same missions, which explained why there were so many!

Just then, a man's voice sounded from nearby.

"Zhong Li, I heard two mechanics joined this time. Are these two young men them?"

The three of them froze and turned around, seeing a man in a military uniform walking towards them. He was looking at Su Ming and Warren with a look of pleasant surprise.

"Locke?" Zhong Li blinked, asking in surprise.

"You two, are you the new mechanics?" Locke smiled and nodded at Zhong Li, then turned to Su Ming and Warren and asked with a smile.

"Uh... yes..." Su Ming found the man's enthusiasm a bit overwhelming.

Upon hearing that Su Ming was a mechanic, the man's face lit up with joy.

"That's great! Temporary Army No. 32 finally has other mechanics!" After saying that, the man excitedly took out a Mechanical Battle Saber and looked at Su Ming with anticipation, asking, "Young masters, this is a Planet-level Over-Temperature Battle Blade. Can you help me repair it?!"

Su Ming and Warren blinked, completely bewildered by this man's situation.

Why are we encountering such an overly eager requester right after arriving?

Seeing the confusion in Su Ming and Warren's eyes, Zhong Li let out a wry smile and then said to them:

"Please don't mind him. We only had one Planet-level mechanic on the ship before, so all Planet-level weapons had to be repaired by that mechanic. Everyone had to queue up, and it usually took days for their turn to come. But with your arrival, the pressure on that mechanic will be greatly relieved, and everyone won't have to wait anymore!"

Hearing Zhong Li's explanation, the man named Locke nodded repeatedly and then said with a wry smile, "Please don't take offense, young masters. I was just too anxious. I can't even go on missions without getting this battle blade repaired, so that's why..."

After hearing their explanation, Su Ming and Warren looked enlightened. Su Ming then asked in surprise, "Are mechanics really that scarce?"

"It's not that mechanics are scarce, it's that Planet-level mechanics are scarce!"

"Surface-level mechanics are a dime a dozen, but such mechanics rarely get the chance to work on Planet-level machinery. They might spend their entire lives repairing only Surface-level equipment, which is why there are so few Planet-level mechanics!"

After Zhong Li finished speaking, Locke added, "That's not entirely true either. The main reason is that Planet-level mechanics usually come from wealthy families who can afford to invest a lot of resources in practicing mechanical disassembly. That's how they have the opportunity to become Planet-level mechanics!"

Hearing their words, Su Ming and Warren both felt a strange sensation.

As it happened, Su Ming came from a prominent family. Although he had been kicked out, he had indeed disassembled a lot of mechanical parts. Warren was even luckier; on Planet Nop, he had accidentally become Su Ming's assistant and, as a result, had gained invaluable Planet-level mechanical knowledge. Therefore, they didn't quite grasp the preciousness of Planet-level mechanics. Hearing them say this now, they finally understood how rare Planet-level mechanics truly were.

"Alright, Locke, these two young masters have just joined the legion. According to the rules, you have to wait until their military merit system is activated, and then you can spend military merit to have them help you with repairs. If you have them repair it now, aren't you taking advantage of them!"

Zhong Li stepped forward, helping Su Ming refuse Locke.

Upon hearing Zhong Li's words, disappointment appeared on Locke's face, and he said with a wry smile, "I was too hasty... Sorry to have bothered you!"

He picked up the battle saber in his hand and prepared to leave.

But just then, Su Ming suddenly spoke, "It's fine, repairing a battle saber doesn't take much time. I'll repair it for you now!"