"What? Kid, you’re not joking, are you?"

  When Yun Yi walked into the company and explained his intentions to the receptionist, she was skeptical but still did her job by taking him to the mech repair area and introducing him to the head of the repair department, Tomson.

  Tomson, nearing seventy but looking much younger—perhaps due to his martial arts training—looked at Yun Yi with suspicion after hearing from the receptionist that he was here to apply for a mech repair position.

  "Just graduated from high school, huh? Looking for a summer job? Part-time work? Eighty bucks a month, take it or leave it?"

  Eighty bucks? Yun Yi quickly calculated in his mind. In places like Iserlahn, Tairsey, or Shilfanst, this wage would be what a mid-level mech repair technician could earn. But on Chang’an Four Star, it was just the monthly salary of a high school student working part-time during the summer. Considering the living expenses over the past few months, this eighty bucks would barely cover two months of living for him and Zhao Xiyue, and that was only if Xiyue didn’t go shopping.

  "Um, I think you might have misunderstood… I’m not here for part-time work. I’m here to apply as a mech repair technician."

  Tomson looked at the overconfident young man with amusement. Although Yun Yi’s demeanor had momentarily made him think he might be a runaway from some aristocratic family, he still followed the standard hiring process. "In that case, please show me your mech repair certification."

  "Uh…" Yun Yi had no such certification. All his repair knowledge was self-taught, and he didn’t even know such a thing was required for the job.

  It seemed finding a job was going to be harder than he thought.

  Yun Yi shook his head. "I don’t have a certificate. I learned everything on my own. Could I perhaps have a trial period?"

  Tomson patted his shoulder and laughed. "Kid, no certificate, no job. That’s the company’s rule, and I can’t make exceptions for you."

  Well, that was that. Yun Yi glanced around the repair shop. In the corner of the workshop were a few Red Mane Chargers and some mechs of models he didn’t recognize. Looking at the Red Mane Chargers, Yun Yi couldn’t help but think of the one he had sent drifting into space, his eyes filled with nostalgia.

  "Sorry for taking up your time," Yun Yi said apologetically. "But would it be possible for me to take a look around your workshop? I mean, I really love these mechs…"

  Seeing the longing in Yun Yi’s eyes, Tomson didn’t mind. "Sure, go ahead. Just don’t touch anything. Some of the mech parts aren’t secured, and we don’t want any accidents."

  Yun Yi was thrilled. After quickly thanking Tomson, he rushed to the nearest Red Mane Charger and began examining it from top to bottom, recalling the times he had piloted one to great effect. Sadly, now he didn’t even own the cheapest mech, let alone a place to practice.

  He stared at the mech greedily, from top to bottom, front to back, as if he could never get enough. His love for the Red Mane Charger had led him to memorize all its data, but for some reason, every time he saw a mech, he couldn’t help but get excited.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Lost in his fascination with the mech, Yun Yi didn’t notice that the workshop staff had all disappeared into a nearby repair bay, leaving him alone.

  "Boom!"

  The sound of something heavy hitting the ground snapped Yun Yi out of his trance. He looked up to see a large hover truck, nearly ten meters tall, parked at the entrance of the repair bay. As the rear door of the truck slowly opened, a Red Mane Charger was carefully lowered to the ground.

  "Hey, come over here and take a look! What’s wrong with my mech?"

  A balding old man jumped out of the truck’s cab and shouted at Yun Yi.

  "Me?" Yun Yi pointed at himself, confused.

  "Yeah, you! Come here and take a look. Damn thing just stopped working all of a sudden." The old man grumbled as he walked to the back of the truck, his eyes filled with worry as he looked at the mech.

  Yun Yi glanced around. The Swift Mechanics staff were nowhere to be seen. Since he had nothing else to do, he decided to take a look at the mech.

  With that thought, Yun Yi walked over, running his hands over the mech while asking the old man detailed questions.

  According to the old man, he had been piloting the mech during a small movement exercise when the computer suddenly froze, and the engine stopped working.

  Yun Yi thought for a moment and asked, "Do you remember what commands you were inputting at the time?"

  The old man scratched his sparse hair and finally said, "I don’t really remember. I think I was trying to perform a diving maneuver."

  "Right foot half-step back, left foot lift one meter, engine output 60%, left foot move seven meters to the right and land, engine output 90%, center of gravity forward 43.9 degrees, right foot thruster ignition…"

  Yun Yi rattled off a series of commands. To anyone familiar with piloting a Red Mane Charger, it was a standard diving maneuver. The old man was left dumbfounded.

  "Tell me, how did you execute these movements…"

  The old man thought hard for a while before finally saying, "I think I didn’t input the command to move the left foot to the right…"

  Yun Yi nodded. "The problem is simple. Because you didn’t follow the standard procedure, the right foot thruster was overloaded, causing the energy conduit on the lower right side of the mech to overheat and fuse. As a result, energy couldn’t be transmitted properly, and the main engine shut down."

  The old man was stunned by Yun Yi’s explanation. After a long pause, he asked, "So how do we fix it?"

  "Simple. Just replace the energy conduit. It’s not an expensive part."

  "Ah, that’s great!" The old man rubbed his hands together happily. "Then hurry up and replace it for me."

  Yun Yi spread his hands and smiled wryly. "Sorry, I’m not an employee of this company."

  Only then did the old man notice that Yun Yi wasn’t wearing a Swift Mechanics uniform. He laughed awkwardly. "Kid, you’re really good at this. You found the problem so easily. When my mech had issues before, they’d take two days to diagnose and three more to fix it."

  Yun Yi smiled. "It’s not always this problem. Sometimes it’s something else that’s harder to diagnose."

  "True." The old man looked thoughtful as he examined Yun Yi more closely. Suddenly, he pointed at him. "You’re here looking for a job, aren’t you?"

  Yun Yi nodded, scratching his head with a smile. "Yeah, but I don’t have a mech repair certification, so they wouldn’t take me."

  "Is that so…" The old man patted his shoulder and laughed. "Don’t worry, I’ll introduce you to someone. You’ll definitely get into this company. By the way, with your skills, why haven’t you taken the certification exam?"

  Hearing the old man’s words, Yun Yi guessed he might have some connections at the company and felt grateful. When asked, he replied, "I don’t know where to take the exam. I just moved to this planet from somewhere else, so…"

  "The certification exam is a bit tough, but if you’ve studied properly, you should be able to pass the beginner level. The main issue is that it’s only held once a year, and the next one is in about six months. Don’t miss it. Alright, come on, I’ll take you to meet my friend."

  Without giving Yun Yi a chance to refuse, the old man dragged him toward the Swift Mechanics office, leaving his mech and hover truck unattended at the entrance.