Mei, I Absolutely Won't Let Go (Continued)

"Click!"

The cabinet door opened.

It really was black technology! Xin An felt her worldview taking a tremendous blow!

The end of the mechanical arm transformed again. It was no longer a wire, but something resembling a copper-wire guide cable, which it inserted into the empty slot on the relay.

On the display panel at the rear of the mechanical little person, the electrical circuits of the entire train began appearing one by one for inspection.

"This is..."

Xin An crouched down and leaned over beside Elysia.

"It's checking the train's entire electrical system!?"

"That's right. Once the inspection is complete, subsequent train checks will be significantly faster. This is the third-generation Klein, the MKⅢ Model, jointly developed by Vil-V and the professor!"

What kind of terrifying technical capability was this...

"Can it be mass-produced?"

"No."

"Oh." Xin An's expression immediately turned cold. Any product that couldn't be mass-produced was incapable of bringing about any major change to the industry.

"What about the other three?"

"The other three are MKⅡ. They don't have the MKⅢ's powerful performance, but they share data over a network. Once this one finishes reading the entire train's circuit principles, they'll have received the information as well."

"What about the pneumatic system? Electrical signal transmission is only one aspect. If there's a problem with the pneumatic system, it can just as easily prevent the brake shoes from engaging and cause the brakes to fail."

"Don't worry. Leave it to Klein."

Xin An stood up. Although the little thing in front of her couldn't be mass-produced, it was still futuristic enough...

She even began to wonder whether she was really dreaming.

Perhaps if she closed and opened her eyes, she'd still be looking at the ceiling of her home instead of being at the company at three or four in the morning, taking part in some inexplicable inspection plan!

Xin An sat down in one of the passenger-compartment seats and sighed.

So... why exactly had she agreed to such an outrageous plan? Was it merely to repay the other party for saving her life? Give her a break. Perhaps people might have believed in that sort of thing twenty years ago.

But now...

The world was cold, and human relationships were fickle. Profit was the most enduring theme of this era. Everyone living in this age was nothing more than a refined egoist.

They cursed Hu Shi online every day, as if they themselves weren't that kind of person.

So—why?

If this matter were investigated afterward, dismissal wasn't impossible. At best, her career would basically be over.

Yet she had still helped them. Surely it wasn't because she actually believed what he had said, that Xia Ya was going to carry out a terrorist attack?

I really am noble... sacrificing my career prospects for something like this.

Even if it were true, what did the deaths of other people have to do with her? It wasn't as if she would be the one affected.

Wouldn't affect... me...

Xin An's brows knitted tightly together. She thought of that day again, of the white figure that had charged fearlessly onto the railway tracks in that moment of utter despair...

Was he an idiot!? Anyone could see that he might have gotten himself killed!

Just as Xin An was getting worked up, a clear sound of a pneumatic cylinder venting outside the train pulled her back to reality. What was going on? That sound... Were the brakes being tested?

Xin An looked at the pink-haired girl in confusion. Then she saw Elysia awkwardly scratch her head and say,

"Well... didn't you say so yourself? There's still a pneumatic system that needs to be verified."

"..."

Xin An understood. She covered her face with one hand and said, "So your method of verification is to release the brake pressure once?

Do you have any idea how much noise that makes? Didn't Xu Qi tell you?"

Then, while they were sitting inside the train, they heard three more pneumatic cylinders vent.

"All right. I see you really didn't know."

Elysia tapped her head with one hand, winked in the blink of an eye, and stuck out her tongue.

"Hehe..."

"What do you mean, 'hehe'!?"

Xin An stood up. Through the window, she could already see the day-inspection personnel, awakened by the noise, heading this way!

They were screwed...

"You'd better pray that the matter with Xia Ya is true! Otherwise, I'm going to lose my position!"

Xin An took several deep breaths—she was waiting for the inspection personnel to board the train. At the same time, she organized her thoughts, wondering how she should explain these people's identities.

If all else failed, she could only use her status as the on-site engineer to suppress them for the time being...

But the fact that she had appeared here tonight and allowed several people of unknown identities onto the train would almost certainly spread. She was practically dancing on the red line of safety...

Heh... Xu Qi... after this, I shouldn't owe you anything anymore, right?

"Huh? Engineer Xu!?"

"Master Wu, what's the matter?"

"Oh, oh. I was sleeping soundly in the work group when I suddenly heard the train venting, so I hurried over to take a look."

"Oh, Supervisor Xia assigned us some temporary tasks. I have to bring the supplier to recheck the pneumatic cylinders on these trains and collect some data."

"All of them?"

"That's right—don't worry, the dispatch center knows about it. I'll keep an eye on the supplier. You should go back to sleep."

"Ah, all right... But Engineer Xu, I remember you weren't..."

"Hm? Ha! I'm healed now, aren't I? Look, I came straight back to work as soon as I recovered. That's dedication."

"Get out of here! Haha, then I'll go back to sleep?"

"Yeah. Don't worry, I'm here."

"Got it!"

Xin An and Elysia simultaneously let out a huge sigh of relief and sank back into their seats.

When Xu Qi entered the train, he happened to see them gasping heavily, still shaken from the fright. Both women also had figures that were top-tier among top-tier.

Their impressive chests rose and fell unevenly as they slumped in their seats and breathed deeply, allowing Xu Qi to feast his eyes.

Nice...

"I'm saying, if I'd arrived any later, how were you planning to deal with this?"

Xin An replied viciously, refusing to back down. "I'd have thrown your name out there! I'd have said you were the one who told us to do it!"

Xu Qi shrugged.

Elysia was much more adept at this. She immediately threw herself into Xu Qi's arms!

"Waaah! Xu Qi! You should've come sooner! I almost made a mistake!"

Xin An clicked her tongue when she saw this and turned her head away, as though she could purify her eyes by not looking.

Xu Qi hadn't expected her to react so strongly. But when he heard the grievance in Elysia's sobbing voice, he no longer wanted to bother with anything else and only wanted to comfort the girl in his arms.

Of course... he still had to pay a little attention to the situation.

"Ahem! Ahem, ahem!"

Coughing came from behind Xu Qi. Elysia seemed startled and sprang away from his embrace, standing to one side with her lips pursed. She looked no different from someone caught cheating.

Xin An's gaze passed over Xu Qi.

At that moment, she saw...

Delicate charm hid at the corners of her eyes and brows, while gentleness showed in her voice and smile. After only one brief encounter, the girl's graceful and beautiful face made Xin An feel her own dullness intensely.

Was she... Mei?

30, MSN-04 Sazabi

"Elysia, try to restrain yourself a little..."

Mei walked behind them, her face filled with helplessness. It seemed she really had to move to the Golden Courtyard soon. They had actually been counting on Elysia to help keep an eye on Xu Qi, but this woman...

Not stealing from the guard herself would already be good enough!

Elysia scratched her head awkwardly. She really hadn't noticed that Mei was following behind her.

Otherwise... well, she still would have thrown herself at him!

Xu Qi walked straight over to Xin An. To be honest, at Jiuting Base, he had imagined that many people might help him, but the name "Xin An" had never been among his candidates...

He had contacted her purely with the intention of giving it a try. Who would have thought that she would actually agree?

"Thank you... for this."

What a thoroughly straight-man thing to say. Thinking this man would know how to flirt with girls made me as foolish as an idiot, hopelessly stupid.

Xin An shook her head and stood up. "Time should be pretty tight for you, right? Four trains at a time... There are at least forty trains in this huge garage. You'd better hurry."

"Of course."

······

At the same time, in a place that looked like an abandoned air-raid shelter, Xia Ya drove here alone at three or four in the morning.

After getting out of the car, the handsome middle-aged man sensed several hidden gazes fixed on him.

He paid them no mind and continued forward with a calm expression.

He entered the underground air-raid shelter, turned left and right, and walked for quite some time before finding a highly concealed stone door that seemed to be embedded in the wall.

"Iris verification successful."

After opening the stone door, he took an elevator down to an even deeper level. When the gloomy stone walls no longer surrounded him, Xia Ya felt as though he had entered another world...

Bright fluorescent lights illuminated the entire underground kingdom.

Countless staff members operated all kinds of equipment here. These people were Anti-Entropy.

As Xia Ya stepped out of the elevator, every employee who encountered him couldn't help but give him an excited salute. Yet they were clearly members of the Anti-Entropy organization, while Xia Ya was merely a collaborator.

After passing through the workshop area, Xia Ya arrived at an outdoor testing platform. On the projected phantom of the finished product displayed above it, Xia Ya finally saw what he had dreamed of obtaining.

A suit of armor—a suit of Exoskeleton Armor!

"Hm? Heh, Mr. Xia Ya, you've finally arrived."

The flirtatious voice made Xia Ya shift his gaze away. It belonged to a woman—a woman wearing a black inner layer beneath a white lab coat, but with an unrestrained manner.

She had a lollipop between her teeth. Who knew who she was putting on that childish act for?

Of course, Xia Ya didn't dare underestimate her. After all... everything here could be said to have been created by this woman alone. Xia Ya had merely provided the location.

But by this point, no one could say for sure whether this place counted as Xia Ya's secret base or whether it was still under Anti-Entropy's control.

After all, the original intention had been to make it a secret weapons-development base for Anti-Entropy. But now...

The entire underground factory was actually dedicated to manufacturing one thing: the object drawn on the blueprint before the woman named Chang Guang—Exoskeleton Armor.

Not an auxiliary armor like the GD-78-2.

But a military Exoskeleton Armor that could truly be used for combat.

"I hope you have good news for me."

"Of course. Your plan is starting today, isn't it?"

"You're right, Chang Guang." Xia Ya's face showed no excitement. It seemed that nothing could move this man anymore.

"Then... I need to see the results."

"Of course. That's what you deserve."