The Mech That Ran Away

After hearing what Yun Ming said, Guan Yue nodded as well.

"What you say makes sense, Senior Brother, but is it really okay to let this child wander outside all by himself?"

Yun Ming replied.

"You don't need to tell me that; I naturally know what I'm doing when it comes to my own child."

"There won't be any problems on your end. Once he leaves your place, I have naturally arranged for people to keep an eye on his movements, and I even gave him a level-9 soul guidance device capable of autonomous defense."

Guan Yue asked, puzzled.

"Aren't you afraid that the brat will use the level-9 soul guidance device to court death, and then end up unable to maintain the soul power required to sustain it?"

Yun Ming said smugly.

"How could I not be afraid? Do you think I don't know my own son's temperament? That's why I didn't tell him the device has a defensive function at all; I only told him it was for tracking."

Guan Yue couldn't help but shrug, then said to Yun Ming.

"As expected of you, Senior Brother, you certainly have plenty of devious ideas."

"How else would I be the Senior Brother while you can only be the Junior Brother?"

On the other side, Yun Ze had already gone to the Ning Capital Manufacturing Center. With Guan Yue's introduction, his mecha permit was processed very quickly, and the next step was to take a look at the mechas he was interested in.

After Yun Ze walked into the lobby of the Mecha Manufacturer Association, he was naturally greeted by a receptionist.

The Mecha Manufacturer Association did not look down on Yun Ze just because he was young.

In fact, children from many local noble families in Ming Capital often liked to come to the Mecha Manufacturer Association to study mechas.

"Hello, young sir, is there anything I can help you with?"

The receptionist politely ushered Yun Ze to the reception area on the side, while simultaneously pouring him a cup of warm water.

Yun Ze didn't drink the water; he simply instructed the receptionist.

"I am planning to purchase a mecha. Show me the catalog of ready-made mechas you have here."

The receptionist was not surprised by Yun Ze's request. After nodding at him, she placed a catalog in front of him.

As the capital of the Federation, things here were not much worse than in Shrek City. Rather than saying one was better than the other, it was more that their focuses were different.

Most of the mechas provided by the Mecha Manufacturer Association in Shrek City were specialized mechas geared toward combat.

The mecha styles provided by the Mecha Designer Association in Ming Capital, however, were mostly more suitable for civilian use, with their greatest feature being their capacity for secondary modification.

In other words, what was called "customization" in his previous life, with the main selling point being the scarcity of the materials themselves.

Yun Ze flipped directly to the black-colored section, which was the section for black-grade mechas.

These were the most luxurious and top-tier mechas one could buy.

By this time, the receptionist had left, replaced by a sales representative for mechas.

She was also a woman, but her attire appeared much more conservative than the receptionist's, as if being in a professional field granted her more dignity than the ordinary greeters.

The saleswoman walked up to Yun Ze and said.

"Hello, sir. Would you like me to introduce these mechas to you?"

Yun Ze had already flipped to the last page of the black-colored section, then closed the catalog and asked.

"Besides those in the catalog, are there any mechas that haven't been listed yet?"

As the son of Yun Ming, Yun Ze's perspective on the world was much broader than the average person's, and he naturally knew about some of the special circumstances within the mecha designer and manufacturer associations.

The mechas depicted in the Mecha Manufacturer Association's catalog were only a small fraction of what the association could provide, because to be included in the catalog meant that they had to pass every safety test.

It required sufficiently complete, or even cumbersome, procedures to be listed in the catalog. But this did not mean these mechas were the association's best.

In reality, the Mecha Manufacturer Association was quite miserable. Unless they took on custom jobs, every time they produced a standard mecha, they had to pay bribes just to get it into the catalog.

Custom mechas, however, presented another problem: order cancellations. The lives of soul masters were full of ups and downs, and even though this era was much more peaceful, those fluctuations still existed.

It was very possible that someone was a wealthy soul master when they placed the order, but within a few days, they offended someone formidable, and between paying bribes and begging for mercy, they exhausted their assets and were unable to pay the final balance.

In such cases, the previously customized mecha would end up stuck in the hands of the Manufacturer Association.

Customized mechas basically had no possibility of being qualified for general sale, because when a soul master customized one, they would inevitably have special requirements for certain parameters; otherwise, there would be no need to customize it at all.

And nine times out of ten, those special parameter requirements could not align with the Federation's normal parameters for civilian mechas.

When Yun Ze said this, the salesperson's expression became a bit more serious, and she gave Yun Ze a meaningful look before saying.

"Naturally, there are. Please come with me."

Once they reached a more luxurious reception room, the warm water was replaced with fine tea, and the salesperson said politely.

"I wonder what kind of mecha you are looking for?"

After taking a sip of tea, Yun Ze said.

"A mecha that is fast and capable of multi-directional adaptation to cities, mountains, ground, and sky, satisfying multiple mobility requirements."

As the salesperson listened to Yun Ze's requirements, the light in her eyes grew brighter and brighter, and she said to Yun Ze.

"If your budget is not an issue, we happen to have the perfect option for you."

Yun Ze narrowed his eyes and immediately replied to the salesperson.

"Can you take me to see it?"

The salesperson nodded, stood up, and said to Yun Ze.

"Of course, please follow me."

Deep within the warehouse of the Mecha Manufacturer Association, a purple mecha floated above the foundation.

Yun Ze frowned and said.

"A Purple-grade mecha? Isn't this rank a bit too low?"

The salesperson adjusted his glasses and said.

"Take a closer look."

Hearing this, Yun Ze narrowed his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, he produced a touchstone hammer from his storage soul device.

Seeing the hammer, the salesperson's confidence in Yun Ze grew even stronger. Yun Ze stepped forward and gently tapped the mecha with the touchstone hammer.

One strike produced nine echoes, a sound so ethereal it was as if the noise were painting the starry sky. This made Yun Ze's eyes widen in surprise.

"Which noble family's young master is this? To actually use Purple Star Cloud Crystal Gold to craft a mecha? This material would be more than enough to serve as the heart-protecting armor for a Battle Armor."

A hint of astonishment leaked into Yun Ze's voice. Following this, the salesperson couldn't help but offer a bitter smile as he spoke.

"Originally, there was no possibility of this mecha being left unclaimed, as it was crafted by the Xu Family of yesteryear—the surname of the last emperor."

"Although it was a collateral branch of the Xu Family, it shouldn't have reached the point of being left behind..."