Xu Le cautiously reached out a finger to touch the mechanical arm that was facing him. His fingertips were immediately covered in dust, and the three-section alloy finger at the top of the mechanical arm also showed its original colour. It glowed faintly with a black light, but the black light was somewhat dim. This dust-shrouded mecha had been placed here by some unknown person for many years, like a sword quietly waiting for its owner. Although covered in dust, it was immortal.
The cold sensation traveled from his fingertips to his brain, and Xu Le exhaled softly, his eyes filled with suppressed excitement. This was the first time in his life that he had seen a real mecha with his own eyes, and at such a close distance too, within reach. In that instant when he touched it with his finger, he was even worried that this mecha would come to life on its own.
Of course, Xu Le had already seen quite a number of pictures of mecha in the related periodicals and magazines in the library. A month ago, on the treetop of the hill, he had also seen 11 of the latest model black mecha besieging Uncle Feng alone. However, in the end, it could not compare to the shock of being able to touch one right now. This was the most powerful close-combat weapon of the Federation military, something that usually only existed in the fantasies of the average Federation youth. Xu Le looked excitedly at this worn-out mecha, but found that this mecha was not only old, its design was also particularly clumsy. It was only because its height was almost touching the ceiling that it showed a bit of deterrence. The weapon loading system on the mecha had long been stripped away, and the connecting parts of the alloy components were also damaged. He did not know if it could still move.
Xu Le found a nameplate somewhere inside the mechanical leg of this worn-out mecha. Wiping away the dust on it, he stared blankly at the words written on it. He did not understand when the Federation had produced this type of mecha. Little Watermelon, who had been quietly letting him hold her hand, also poked her little head out curiously. After a few glances, she said, "Big brother, M02."
M02, the first generation of mecha from the Federation's 37th Constitutional Era. It was considered a semi-finished product, but the subsequent mecha designs basically followed the design of this model, including the current Federal military's most advanced M52 series mecha. They could all be considered its descendants. Xu Le raised his head and sighed as he looked at the shabby mecha. Who would have thought that he would actually have the chance to see such a legendary antique?
"It's broken." Little Watermelon noticed the excitement and eagerness in Xu Le's eyes, so he cautiously reminded him, "I've taken it back."
Xu Le scratched his head and chuckled. He also felt that his impulse at this time was somewhat unreasonable. He forcibly suppressed his desire to continue watching the mecha. After all, compared to his own interests, solving Little Watermelon's problem was more important at the moment. He held the little watermelon's hand and continued to walk to the other side of the room. He pulled out the toolbox on the wall, removed the screws for the air conditioning channel, and went in. Without looking back, he said directly, "Wait for me here. Don't run around."
This garbage collection cabin, or rather, waste storage cabin, was very remote. No one would come here for many years, so Xu Le was not worried about the little watermelon's safety. However, not long after he went into the channel, he crawled back with a dusty face. Panting, he squatted in front of the little watermelon and said angrily, "Why didn't you remind me? I couldn't even crawl over!"
Yes, although there were no monitoring electronic devices installed in the air conditioning channel, the channel itself was very small at some junctions. An adult would not be able to pass through at all. Probably only a child like the little watermelon could pass through these channels and freely crawl around the spaceship. Looking at the dust on Xu Le's face, the little watermelon covered his mouth and laughed.
...
...
The idea of finding the little watermelon's room to confirm the truth was dashed. Although Xu Le had learned all sorts of skills from a random mechanic for a long time, he was not confident that he could be a spy in a high-tech spaceship. Perhaps it was because of his selfishness that he did not know, but in the next few days, he became quiet. He just played with the little watermelon in the room and ate the synthetic beef that was actually not bad, just a little monotonous. The little watermelon was really a very well-behaved child. There were no children's books or even a TV in Xu Le's remote and quiet room, but she was not noisy or bored. She just sat quietly on the bed and listened to Xu Le tell her a story, or she told Xu Le a story.
"Little watermelon, don't you think it's boring to stay with me?" Xu Le seemed to be normal these days, but in fact, he was getting more and more worried. How should he deal with this little girl who suddenly appeared beside him like a fairy? Although the journey was long, there would be a day when they arrived at the capital ring. He could not take her away under the noses of so many people, and... the little watermelon's family must be very worried about her. The problem was, could her family really be trusted?
"As long as you don't play the piano or draw, it'll be fine." The little watermelon looked into Xu Le's eyes and nodded seriously. Perhaps in the little girl's heart, these days of idleness was her greatest joy.
Xu Le shrugged. He really did not understand the mindset of children. While the little watermelon was enjoying the joy of idleness, he kept feeling that something was wrong somewhere in his heart. The long period of space travel was surrounded by silence, the eternal silence. No matter how beautiful the scenery of space was, at this moment, it became boring and repetitive. Xu Le looked out the window at a certain dim star in the distance, and suddenly understood that the strange feeling in his heart was because he longed for something.
...
...
Still covered in dust, Xu Le crawled for a long time through the pipes of Cleanup Area 32 before he finally reached the waste storage compartment with the heavy alloy door. He did not have time to be proud of his memory and not get lost in the dense network of pipes in the spaceship. He could not wait to once again lift up the army green tarpaulin, and let the worn-out and abandoned old mecha appear in front of him.
In this instant, Xu Le confirmed that his judgment was correct. These past few days, he had been longing to return here, longing to see this worn-out mecha again. At this moment, his entire body was filled with satisfaction and a faint excitement. He longed to return here and see this mecha, not because he had a strong desire to operate a mecha, although this was the desire of most of the youths in the Federation, but because... he wanted to fix it.
He had passed the first round of the Department of Defense's mecha maintenance officer exam. Although he could no longer continue on this path, his life's ideals, or rather, the interest deeply rooted in the depths of his mind, had never diminished. From a very young age, Xu Le had a strong interest in fixing things. After following Uncle Feng for four years, this interest did not diminish, but instead grew stronger and stronger. In the mining operations room on the outskirts of Hexi State's capital, in the repair shop at Fourth Street of Xianglan Avenue, whenever the youth saw the electrical appliances brought over by his neighbours, such as broken crystal TVs, hard-to-adjust electric car axles, and all sorts of damaged life chips, he would be as excited and impulsive as a vulture seeing rotten meat. He wanted to fix these broken things at the first possible moment.
It was just like this worn-out mecha he was looking at now, except this mecha... was not quite the same as anything he had fixed before.
Xu Le was a man of action. Since he had crawled through the pipes to come here, he naturally would not leave just like that. He did not have the slightest bit of confidence that he would be able to fix this worn-out mecha to anything. In fact, he did not even know if he would be able to reconnect the three sections of metal, but he still began to work. Before he began, he maintained his good work habits. After rummaging through the dusty surface of the worn-out mecha for a long time, he finally found a vacuum plastic bag. He gave a low cry of surprise, confirming that it was just as the book had said. The bag contained the manual for the M02 mecha.
Holding the manual, Xu Le began to read with great interest, going from standing to leaning against the wall to finally sitting down. The starlight outside the spaceship did not change, and so did his gaze. He earnestly and greedily read through all the parameter values and component construction patterns, throwing himself into it. He did not know how much time had passed.
Back in Donglin district, the mechanic Uncle Feng had not taught him anything about mecha. Xu Le had even expressed his indignant protest and ridicule. He had painstakingly found a piece of mecha central control chip in the junkyard, but in the end, Uncle Feng had said that he did not know how to fix it... the present Xu Le naturally knew that his boss was no ordinary person, and it was impossible that he did not know anything about mecha. However, it was already impossible for him to ask his boss any more questions about the technical aspects of mecha. Thus, he could only immerse himself in the dry manual, learning endlessly.
After a long time, Xu Le finally put down the manual. He lowered his head and thought seriously for a long time, and then began to get up to search for the tools and materials he needed in the waste storage compartment. At the same time, he raised his head from time to time to observe where the worn-out M02 was truly damaged.
His gaze swept over the mecha's shoulder, and suddenly stopped at a hole in the ceiling outside the cabin door. He smiled guiltily. The little girl's head poked out of the hole, her black hair completely covered in dust. She looked very pitiful. Looking at Xu Le on the ground, she said, "Big Brother, I'm hungry."
Xu Le pushed the toolbox on the wall back to its original position, chuckling as he said, "Then I'll go get some food from the cafeteria first."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
