The Disciplined Mech

The old man took his form, gave it a casual glance, and spat out two bits of tea leaf.

"Xu Jiang, right? Are you sure you need vocational training?"

"Of course. I just changed classes, so there are a lot of professional techniques I don't understand." Seeing the strange look on the man's face, Xu Jiang asked, "Is there some problem?"

"There's no problem. I'm the training instructor for the Mech-type."

The old man took a deep drag of his hand-rolled cigarette and blew out a ring of smoke. "This may be discouraging, but I'd advise you to find a job at a factory. Hmm, food delivery isn't bad either."

Food delivery!

I'm a dignified Mech Warrior, and I'm supposed to go from piloting a mech to riding an electric scooter? You really look down on my SSS-Rank Talent that much?

Of course, Xu Jiang understood that a tall tree caught the wind. He had hidden General's Order and only revealed Mech Overload.

But even so, he had successfully changed classes. Did he really need to compete with ordinary people for jobs?

Seeing Xu Jiang frown, the bored old man began chatting.

He pulled out a beautiful silver revolver from his waist and coolly spun it around his finger. Just as Xu Jiang thought he was showing off, the old man removed a bullet from the cylinder and held it up before him.

"This is an Armor-Piercing Bullet. With just one of these, I can pierce the shield of any Qi Practitioner below Level 50."

Xu Jiang's eyes immediately lit up.

This was exactly what he needed!

A powerful bullet paired with the explosive power of his overload would definitely be...

"One costs thirty thousand. Can you afford it?"

"..."

What a brutal blow. Forget thirty thousand—even three hundred was beyond him. In the three months since he had transmigrated here, he had survived entirely on odd jobs.

Seeing how devastated Xu Jiang looked, the old man decided to hit him even harder. Pointing at the deserted surroundings, he asked, "Do you know why it's so quiet here?"

"Why?"

"Because anyone with a promising class gets snapped up by talent scouts from all kinds of factions the moment they complete their class change. And you... don't have much value for cultivation."

Was the Mech-type weak?

No. It was simply incredibly, incredibly expensive.

Almost all of a Mech Warrior's combat power came from equipment: ammunition, power cores, parts, shells, and so on. Everything was a consumable, while upgrading and modifying weapons and mechs was a bottomless pit.

Forget Xu Jiang's background as an orphan. Even a moderately wealthy family would struggle to support a powerful Mech Warrior.

As he spoke, the old man handed him a training brochure.

"Take a look. These are the training courses for Mech Warriors."

Mech Warrior Crash Course: Three years of mech construction, three years of precision weaponry, three years of programming and modification.

Clearly, this world had no such thing as nine years of compulsory education. The tuition for this nine-year training program totaled 1,888,888 Credit Points.

As for the free classes run by this old man, they only lasted three days. Learning how to pull a safety pin would already count as decent progress.

Looking at the price, Xu Jiang could not help asking, "Does anyone actually study this?"

"Of course not. Why would anyone with money study this crap? I already told you, it's a crash course. It doesn't even include combat techniques. What the hell can you do after studying for nine years?"

The old man was quite blunt. Anyone with talent would be noticed by major factions and trained separately.

Those without talent would spend millions of Credit Points and still fail to learn anything useful.

Do I really have to reveal my SSS-Rank Talent? Xu Jiang hesitated.

Living in this place, hiding at home all the time was useless. Improving his strength required vast resources, and only outstanding achievements could earn him more support.

But there were different kinds of outstanding achievement.

Success through diligence and hard work earned recognition. Success through extraordinary talent only invited jealousy.

He did not want to become a tall tree that caught the wind. Before he had the ability to protect himself, he had to be careful.

Seeing Xu Jiang's lost expression, the old man patted him on the shoulder and comforted him.

"Alright, classes start tomorrow. If you're interested, come take a look. Maybe after you see it, you won't be confused anymore. You'll just be hopelessly despairing."

The old man really knew how to comfort people. Xu Jiang trudged home, dragging his mech case behind him.

The ten-square-meter private room was the little bit of aid the upper districts gave refugee orphans like him. As for the Credit Points needed for daily life, he could only earn them through odd jobs.

Looking at the bare walls and his miserable finances, Xu Jiang flopped onto the bed in despair, feeling utterly lost about life.

But the moment he lay down, the handgun and mech floated out by themselves.

The Desert Eagle hovered in midair, raised its barrel, and stood at attention. In a loud voice, it asked, "Commander, please issue the next training orders."

This one was certainly full of energy. It actually wanted more work to do.

Xu Jiang waved his hand. "You two just got here. Rest tonight. Tomorrow, I'll figure out a way to get some bullets, and then we can train."

He was tactfully saying that he was poor—so poor he could not even afford bullets. The seven rounds it came with were enough for self-defense, but training was out of the question.

But Little Deagle had no intention of giving up.

It pulled back the firing pin, chambered a round, and readied itself to fire. Like a soldier saluting, it shouted, "Reporting, General! Since the day Little Deagle enlisted, I have never considered resting."

What an employee of the year. Its spirit was admirable.

But the problem was, I really don't have bullets for practice! How am I supposed to train?

Just then, the mech spoke. "Little Deagle, the General's logistical supplies are still being allocated. We will temporarily forgo live-combat training today."

Her voice was as pleasant as wind chimes, calm and composed. Like a valiant female general, a single sentence was enough to suppress the handgun's excited fervor.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The mech walked over. Her black tactical suit and dark gray alloy shell made her look like nothing more than an empty suit of clothing, yet she moved as naturally and smoothly as a human.

She stopped before Xu Jiang, brought her legs together, raised her right hand in salute, and declared, "General, please permit us to conduct tactical self-training tonight."

It was a good thing that they had developed spirits, but seeing this headless thing suddenly salute him was still rather creepy.

"Uh, this mech..."

"Reporting, General. My model is the T-1000 Mech. If you do not assign me a new name, you may call me Qianji."

"Qianji... yes, that's a good name. I'll call you Qianji from now on. If you want to train, go ahead. As long as you don't damage the furniture, do whatever you want."

"Yes. Thank you for your permission, General."

Judging from Little Deagle and Qianji's voices, they seemed quite happy. It felt as though they had found a wise master who would not restrict their abilities.

But in the end, Xu Jiang simply did not understand any of this.

His home was tiny anyway, so he was not worried about them causing too much trouble. Carrying his little bucket, Xu Jiang headed for the bathhouse.

After three months in this world, Xu Jiang had already adapted to life here.

He definitely could not use his former identity. Fortunately, this fragmented world had no one who would investigate a refugee's background too closely.

With aid from the upper districts, he had obtained a private room in the Slums beyond the Seventh Ring. Facilities like bathhouses and toilets were shared.

Fortunately, the people in the refugee slums were fairly easygoing. As soon as Xu Jiang came downstairs, he saw a group of people gathered around and chatting.

"Little Gong has really made something of himself! His talent is so good. Looks like you'll be leaving this place soon."

"Yeah! Little Gong, don't forget us neighbors when the time comes!"

"Little Gong, you don't seem to have a girlfriend yet, right? My eldest daughter, Zhenzhen..."

The uncles and aunties surrounded a young man, chattering nonstop. His face had turned red from being boxed in, and he looked utterly helpless.

When he saw Xu Jiang, Little Gong's eyes lit up. He happily waved. "Xu Jiang! You're back! Did you successfully change classes? I got a pretty good talent."

The young man was Gong Zhiwei, Xu Jiang's neighbor. He was quite honest and straightforward, someone Xu Jiang got along with rather well.

But familiar or not, don't greet me right now!

That shout instantly drew everyone's attention to Xu Jiang, and the uncles and aunties swarmed over.

"Xu Jiang! Did you successfully change classes? What class did you get?"

"Little Jiang, you don't seem to have a girlfriend yet, right? My second daughter, Aiai..."

Xu Jiang could barely handle the enthusiastic concern of the uncles and aunties. Trapped in the corner, he hurriedly said, "I changed classes successfully, but my talent isn't very good. I became a Mech Warrior."

Poor people playing with mechs was simply overestimating themselves.

But the neighbors did not care at all. Instead, they eagerly began offering advice.

"Mech Warriors are great! You learn to drive quickly. You can go outside the city with Little Gong to haul cargo. That counts as making something of yourself."

"Right, right! I heard one trip can earn up to two thousand!"

Listening to the heated discussion around him, Xu Jiang had gone from delivering food to hauling freight. That counted as a promotion, right?

At the same time, Xu Jiang learned from everyone that Little Gong had become a Combat Master, with a C-Rank Strength Enhancement Talent.

Although the rating seemed low, Gong Zhiwei considered it very good. After all, Strength Enhancement was perfect for carrying things and doing manual labor. He would not have to worry about finding work in the future.

Seeing how completely unambitious Gong Zhiwei looked, Xu Jiang quickly reached out and held him back.

"Don't get ahead of yourself. I'm not planning to haul goods yet. I want to become a combat-class professional."

Xu Jiang's words quickly sobered Little Gong. A combat-class professional would definitely earn more than a laborer.

"But becoming a combat-class professional isn't easy! I heard buying equipment and learning skills both cost a lot of money."

Right! Besides upgrading his mech, he also needed to learn a huge number of skills. Xu Jiang's head began to ache again.

Without money to learn skills, he would be weak. If he was weak, he could not earn money. It was a vicious cycle.

Given their situation, all they could do was pray for skills to fall from the sky.

Congratulations. Admiral Qianji has comprehended the skill **Robust Physique Lv.1** through diligent training.

What! Skills really could fall from the sky!