Chapter 2

There were a total of four mechas in front of Ajax, three of which were ordinary Knight-Class ones, and one was a superior Parallax-Class model; tools were scattered on the ground.

The Parallax-Class mecha had obvious traces of modification. The weapons and accessories were all of high quality, making the value of the several Knight-Class mechas pale in comparison to the Parallax-Class.

The rules were also straightforward: two people chose a Knight-Class mecha, disassembled it, and then reassembled it within fifteen minutes.

If the Parallax-Class mech can be disassembled and assembled within the specified time, there would be an additional reward.

Three groups of students about Ajax's age were busy on the field. The clock was ticking as 13 minutes had already passed, and it was obvious that their speed wasn't fast enough.

In the end, only one group of students completed it in 14 minutes and 30 seconds and were qualified to join the school maintenance team tomorrow.

"Anyone else wants to come try their luck?" At this moment, a tall male student shouted, as if he was in charge of hosting the competition.

He had blond hair, sharp eagle-like eyes, and a thin nose. He held quite the temperament, and there was an unconcealable arrogance between his brows.

Ajax asked the person next to him if people from outside the school could participate, and the person responded "Yes, the school maintenance team won't have enough people by tomorrow, so anyone qualified is welcome."

After getting the answer he was looking for, Ajax glanced at the crowd beside him, took a deep breath, and walked up slowly. He wanted to try his luck with the Parallax-Class mech.

Not to mention the reward of several hundred eddies, just being able to experience tomorrow's large-scale event is also a blessing for Ajax.

The eyes of the crowd quickly fell on Ajax, and the blond student also leaned over: "You there, what class are you in?"

He could tell at a glance that Ajax was not from Apollo Academy at all; after all, there was no one dressed like him in the academy.

"I..." Ajax tightened his grip on half a toast and sixty eddies in his left hand and pointed to the Parallax-Class mech in front of him. "I'm not a student, I just wanted to try to disassemble this mech."

As soon as this remark came out, the crowd looked at Ajax more. Some of them watched here for nearly two hours and Ajax was the first person to try the Parallax-Class mech.

Because the structure of the Parallax-Class Mech is more complicated, it takes about sixteen minutes for two skilled maintenance workers to complete the disassembly and assembly of the parts, and Ajax didn't look like he knew how to do maintenance.

"You? By yourself? Oh please, it's not the time to be joking around." The blond student frowned.

"I'm serious," Ajax stated with a deadpan face.

He's always worked alone in the repair shop. In the past few years, Ajax has received about 80-100 Parallax-Class mechs repaired, let alone simple disassembly and assembly of parts.

The crowd gazed at him, some in awe and others with disdain. It was common sense that it takes about three times as long for one person to do what two people can accomplish and in the eyes of the crowd, Ajax was either ignorant or arrogant.

"Do you even know what type of mech this is? It was funny at first, but please quit pulling my leg. Apollo Academy welcomes all non-campus personnel to come and visit, but please don't act out of line."

After the reprimand, the blond student stopped looking at Ajax and continued to ask if there were any students in the crowd who wanted to try.

Ajax could feel the contempt in the eyes of the blond man and hesitated for a second before deciding to display his knowledge: "This is a Parallax-Class ground-attack mech, code-named the Landshield by its pilots. Standing at 3.12 meters tall and weighing 9.31 tons fully stock. It took two years for the Ashlin Group to develop it, after which it entered mass production three years ago. Characterized by its high durability and sturdy armor, this baby has a starting market price of 460,000 eddies."

"However, the Ashlin Group cut corners and used cheap black steel as the basic material of the body, which sacrifices speed for armor. When equipping one should focus on increasing its speed; otherwise, you will fall into a situation where you can't even scratch the opponent's paint in one-on-one battles of the same level."

"The shit you've equipped this mech with is....well how do I say this, shit. Its core, auxiliary, and armor accessories should be replaced with speed-enhancing accessories. At least it would perform better than slapping expensive accessories like it has now."

When Ajax said these words, the surrounding crowd fell silent, and everyone was stunned. It was hard to imagine that someone could recite such detailed data in one breath. But soon they looked at Ajax, some with worry in their expression, while others sneered at him because the owner of this mech was the blond student next to him, Charles, a senior student and the vice president of the Campus Mecha Association. He was also one of the contestants who had the highest odds of winning tomorrow's competition.

It was hard to imagine that there would be an outsider questioning Charles' equipment at this time, and sure enough, Charles' expression turned sour in an instant. He had just bragged in front of everyone about how excellent his assembly ideas and the parts he used were. Now they were being reduced to nothing by someone who, to him, lacked knowledge.

It was like someone threw a bucket of ice-cold water at his face. And more importantly, the Ashlin Group that Ajax mentioned was his family's business. What Ajax said just now was an insult to him and his family.

In the next second, Charles walked over with a dissatisfied face and spoke directly to Ajax: "What? You a designer? Do you have your own mech? How do you plan to prove that what you said is true? After memorizing two sets of data, you think you know everything, huh?"

At this time, Ajax also realized that he had said too much, so he decided it was about time to make his way out.

He was indeed not a designer, and he didn't have his own mech, so it was pointless to continue arguing.

When Ajax passed by a male student, Charles winked at that person, and that person bumped into Ajax's shoulder.

It took a moment for it to register to Ajax that the half toast and sixty eddies fell out of his hand and scattered around. The most regrettable thing is that the small cake he just bought also fell out of the box.

Regardless of who bumped into him, Ajax quickly bent down to pick up three twenty-eddy bills, and then quickly slid through the crowd to find the small cake on the ground. This caused the crowd of people to laugh, only increasing Ajax's embarrassment as it provided them with amusement.

Some students with more positive views couldn't stand it, but due to the crowd, they refrained from saying anything. They didn't want to offend Charles for a stranger but int he end, a girl helped Ajax pick up the cake.

"Here." She said in a soft and warm voice.

She wore a white school uniform paired with a blue dress, a light yellow shawl, and a head adorned with long curly hair. She was white with a beautiful face, a smile that could warm the coldness of space, a small nose, and freckles adorned her face.

After making eye contact for a second, Ajax lowered his head and blushed. He took the cake hurriedly, putting it back in the box. "Thank you," he said in a voice that only the two of them could hear before attempting to head out not wanting to spend another second in here.

"Wait." The girl called out, "You can come to my team as a maintenance worker tomorrow, we're short-staffed."

As soon as this remark came out, the crowd was left in awe once again because they also knew the girl in front of them. Alana, who was in her senior year, was also a strong contender for tomorrow's competition. If Charles' group was the best among the guys, then Alana's group was the best among the girls. The two of them are known as the rising stars of the Apollo Academy this year.