Chapter 3 The Third group of trainees began their one-on-one tests, with Gu Ya and the scrap mecha being transported to the hangar by the aerial crane mecha.
"Hmm, in terms of my own real strength, I'm still not there," Gu Ya mused, stroking his chin as he gazed at his mecha, now a pile of scrap. "I was so well protected by the system before, relying on it too much. I lacked ability but loved to show off, always challenging the impossible."
"The power of self-reflection is immense. Let this sense of tension and shame flood your mind, transforming all negative emotions into motivation."
Gu Ya lowered his head, murmuring, "For the school, a sudden new student would definitely arouse suspicion."
"And continuing to use the dilapidated trainer mecha would eventually raise suspicions too."
"I can't just wait for death; I must proactively change reality."
"If that's the case then..."
Gu Ya scanned his surroundings. The two trainees from the first group of matches had parked their mechas and were leaving the hangar, chatting amongst themselves.
At this moment, the outer armor of the Amber mecha's cockpit was opened, and a well-built girl in a snug amber pilot suit jumped out.
She removed her pilot helmet, letting her waist-length brown hair cascade down. With slender fingers, she tidied her bangs, glanced at Gu Ya, then turned and left on her own.
Afterward, no one remained in the hangar.
Gu Ya watched her walk away before slowly approaching a semi-automatic hoisting control panel. His fingers lightly touched it. "Code Tampering."
In less than half a minute, Gu Ya had stolen the entire academy's map.
"Find the scrap mecha storage depot and build a custom mecha first."
Twenty minutes later, Gu Ya arrived at the storage depot.
Even as a storage for scrap, it was impeccably clean and organized.
Within the vast hangar, piles of small mountains of parts were arranged on either side of the aisles. Dismantled mecha parts were sorted by size, type, and condition.
Each pile of spare parts had a holographic nameplate floating above it, indicating its purpose.
The entire storage depot was orderly, aesthetic, and clean.
This saved Gu Ya considerable effort, being far more orderly than the scrap yards of the Proletariat Alliance.
Furthermore, deeper within the storage depot lay a mecha repair hangar.
Gu Ya looked up, seeing several mechanics busy at work. Repair mechas were in operation, emitting sparks and noise.
Working alone wouldn't suffice. The fixing bolts for a mecha's outer armor were as thick as a child's arm, some...
Lu Hua waved his hand and said, "I didn't expect that. You're more professional than I am in some areas. I'm ashamed and need to learn from you. Come back again tonight!"
"I definitely will," Gu Ya replied earnestly.
The morning training ended, and Gu Ya faced Amber again, with another defeat.
However, this time, Gu Ya noticed that his opponent's combat patterns were surprisingly consistent with yesterday's.
Hastily bidding farewell to the combat arena, Gu Ya quickly ran to the academic building. He needed to refine his information before the academy noticed him.
Finding that woman would suffice.
She always kept her head down, never looking up to see who was in front of her.
Quickly exiting the elevator, Gu Ya arrived at the woman's workstation from yesterday and gently tapped her shoulder from behind.
"Ah! It's... it's you..." the woman yelped in surprise. Upon seeing the "secret personnel" from yesterday, she became even more flustered.
Gu Ya put on a stern face and said softly, "Give me your workstation for a moment, I have something to check."
The woman obediently stood up.
"You can go now. Come back in ten minutes."
The woman lowered her head and obediently walked out of the office.
Gu Ya watched her leave the office before seizing the opportunity to hack into the computer and input his new "custom" mecha's information into the academy's system.
Additionally, he refined his own information, including his birthplace, hometown, academic history, and admission channel.
He forged a series of procedural documents for his admission, along with his entrance examination and scores.
He also secured a single dormitory room for himself.
Of course, he also copied the holographic textbooks into his wristband.
After all, it was a matter of copy-pasting, which was incredibly easy with the elite mechanic skill, "Code Tampering."
Having completed everything, Gu Ya stood up and left through the back of the office.
The afternoon was dedicated to theoretical classes.
This batch of students had also only recently enrolled.
Since everyone was a freshman, it was normal for them not to know each other.
Gu Ya found a quiet, secluded spot and sat down, summoning the holographic courseware in advance to preview it.
One had to admit, the elite textbooks were different.
They contained many convoluted and difficult-to-understand theoretical concepts, as well as in-depth research into mecha piloting.
For instance: when a mecha rotates its body in flight, how can one utilize the vortex airflow to rapidly decelerate the fuselage.
If it were before, Gu Ya would have activated the auxiliary thruster's reverse thrust function to decelerate, never considering that vortex airflow could also be used for deceleration.
Another example: when flying at speeds exceeding Mach 3, with fuselage vibrations exceeding 1.13%, the relationship equation between the mecha's ramjet kinetic energy curve angle and the downward shear.
Gu Ya's face was etched with question marks: "Do you need to know these things to pilot a mecha?"
Questions like these were ubiquitous, making Gu Ya feel as if he were in a research institute.
Closing the holographic system,
Gu Ya closed his eyes, quickly adjusting his mindset. Since he was here, he shouldn't fear difficulties. Whether studying or training, he had to strive to complete it.
At this moment, the teacher finally entered the classroom.
Standing on the podium, he said somewhat timidly, "C-classmates, I will be substituting for this class..."
Gu Ya found the voice familiar. He opened his eyes and his pupils instantly widened.