Chapter 42

In the eyes of many, this pile of destroyed mechs would be viewed as some scrap iron to make a quick buck out of, but in Ajax's eyes, they were a treasure. Obviously, Ajax would view them this way since what he did in the repair shop before escaping was repairing mechs and after rebuilding his current mech, the Reaper, one could say that he is good at turning waste into treasure.

Now Ajax wanted to disassemble the mechs and take their useful parts and accessories and then try to repair some of the least damaged mechs so that he could have more than one mech in a couple of days.

Although there certainly won't be any mechs that are stronger than the Reaper, an extra mech can be sold or driven. If he is lucky enough to repair two or three mechs, then Ajax could get a good payday...

For half a day only the sound of "ding ding dong dong" could be heard coming from Ajax's tool room as he gradually dismantled the damaged mechs into parts. Monkey had also come around and although he was quite skinny, he helped Ajax carry a couple of heavy things.

Just as Ajax had finished dismantling a mech and was pawing at the boxed lunch that Monkey had just bought, he noticed a little girl hiding the door and peeking at him secretly. She looked to be about ten years old. Children around the camp was a normal sight and being the new guy here, Ajax didn't heed it any mind.

But Monkey looked at the girl and then at Ajax and sighed before saying softly: "Ajax, this is kid....this kid is that man's child..."

Ajax knew who was the man that Monkey was talking about. It was the Pilot who sacrificed himself and took the brunt of the attack by blocking the missile during the attack at the camp. Subconsciously, he stared at the little girl and after a few seconds, he took a deep breath and squatted down with the box lunch.

He waved to the little girl to come over, causing her to look around and realize that he was calling her, so she walked in without hesitation.

"Hey there kiddo... do you....do you want something to eat?" Ajax asked as he handed over his leftover lunch to the little girl. He immediately realized that it would be impolite to let others eat what he had eaten, so he shrank back, "Let me see if I have something to give you.."

Ajax hadn't seen the man's family after the battle, so he didn't know what to say. He let Bomen give all of his rewards for this battle to the man's family as it was the only thing he could do. Now that he suddenly met the man's child, he felt an inexplicable sense of tension.

"Mommy told me not to take food from strangers... People said you are the hero who saved us. I wanted to see what our hero looks like." The little girl said in a sweet and soft voice. Her hair was adorned with two pigtails, she was very skinny and wore a dress that had cartoon characters of two mice, and small yellow shoes made out of cloth that seemed old but was kept clean. Her big beady eyes looked at Ajax quietly with a look only an innocent child can give.

Ajax was embarrassed as he was shirtless, his body bathed in mech oil, and his face bandaged.

"A hero you say..." Ajax looked at her with a somber smile. "*Sigh* I'm no hero... but your Daddy was." Ajax wiped his hands clean and patted the little girl's head.

"You know Daddy!?!" The little girl's eyes suddenly lit up, and she looked at Ajax with a smile.

It was a heartwrenching sight for Ajax, and he hesitated before nodding: "Yeah... I knew him... he was a very brave pilot and a person worthy of admiration."

"But Mommy said he went to a very nice place far away. I miss Daddy, he left me and Mommy." The little girl's eyes suddenly dimmed and turned red as tears started to roll down her cheeks, and her voice became lower and lower.

"Hey, hey, hey, don't cry now, don't cry." Ajax realized that he shouldn't have brought the matter up, so he quickly tried to diver the little girl's attention and said: "Tell me, what's your name?"

"My name is Lily," the little girl stopped crying and shook her head before asking "What about you Mr. Hero? What is your name?"

"My name is Ajax."

"Ajax, hehe, ok, you are my friend now." Lily smiled before asking "Can I take a bite of your chicken leg?" Lily suddenly pointed to Ajax's lunch that he had yet to eat.

"Sure, here you go. It's all for you. Eat up!" Ajax was amused by the little girl and how she dared to become friends with him just to eat some chicken...

"Thank you." Lily picked up the chicken leg carefully, sat on the ground next to Ajax, and started eating.

"Where... where is your mom?" Ajax could tell that Lily was really hungry.

"She went to work outside. Yesterday she was working with Grandpa in his store. Today she said she has to work overtime and she hasn't come home yet." Lily quickly finished the chicken drumstick in her hands.

"Did no one give you any eddies?" Ajax frowned slightly.

Bomen promised to give the Pilot's family a sum of eddies, if Bomen hadn't done so, then Ajax would no longer see Bomen in the same light.

"Yes, a scary uncle with very long hair gave Mommy 20,000 eddies yesterday." Lily gestured with her greasy little hands.

"Only Twenty thousand?" Ajax frowned even more.

"This can't be right." Monkey who was eating next to him interrupted, "As far as I know, the pension of a pilot in the camp is more than 20,000."

"My Mommy said the same thing, but the long-haired scary uncle said that the camp has no eddies right now, only 20,000. He also said that if we tell others, we will be kicked out of the camp. I heard him say it to Mommy." Lily described it vividly.

This made Ajax's and Monkey's faces change. The pension from Lily's family, as well as the extra remuneration given by Ajax, were undoubtedly embezzled. The young man with long hair must have been Alex, without a doubt, it was entirely possible to do such a thing if one took a close look at his character.

"Contact Bomen and ask him if the camp really has no eddies." Ajax suppressed his anger as he ordered Monkey without looking back.

"Yes, sir..." Money hurriedly took out his Vox with slightly trembling hands, he could feel Ajax's anger about to erupt.

"How did your family come to this place?" Ajax casually asked Lily as Monkey tried to contact Bomen.

Lily is around 10 years old, it was obvious that she had not been born here, and it was uncommon for a family of three to come to such a dangerous place.

"Daddy lost a lot of money in business. Then people came to our house every day to smash our things and beat him and Mommy up. Daddy brought us here and always said that he would take us back when he made enough money and let me go to school." Lily's voice became bleak. Then she suddenly pointed to the tool room, "Why do you have so many mechs?"

"Are you also interested in mechs?" Ajax glanced in the direction of Lily's finger.

"Yes, I want to be a pilot just like Daddy, I want to be a hero like you, and to protect those who want to be protected." Lily raised her fist, and quickly put it down in frustration, "But Daddy always said I have to read first, good pilots need to know how to read. He said that he would teach me when I grow up..."

"Don't worry, one day you'll be stronger than me," Ajax said as he looked at Lily seriously.

This little girl reminded Ajax of when he was a child. He also had the dream of becoming a pilot, and it was this dream that had edged him on.

"Really? Then can you teach me about mechs?" Lily's eyes lit up.

"Sure, why not? Come over when your mom is not at home, but not now, we still have a couple of things to do." Ajax stood up as he spoke, with an extremely stern expression on his face.