BXBX NOVEL Chapter 27
This area occupied nearly one-fifth of Xuntian City, with several large buildings over a hundred meters tall, very conspicuous to the eye.
Jiang Chen followed Bai Ying here, and finally, at the entrance, he came face to face with Senior Ruan in the flesh.
Compared to the bright yellow-dressed woman in Bai Ying’s holographic projection,
Senior Ruan’s true self wore a black shirt with a white coat draped over it, her hair somewhat disheveled, her face showing intense fatigue and dark circles under her eyes.
She looked more like a weary researcher than a formidable 7th Rank mecha pilot.
Is this the discrepancy between online deception and the actual person in real life?
“Hey, star of tomorrow!”
Senior Ruan greeted him and said,
“Repairing mechas doesn’t require much from the environment, you could just prepare a few repair tools and do it at home…”
“Enhancing a mecha, however, is more demanding.”
“Especially when using top-grade materials, if you want to utilize their effects perfectly, you need the appropriate environment—”
“For example, old Chen went into a star to establish a private enhancement field just to enhance his Blazing Sun Mecha.”
“I have a few enhancement fields as well, but they are for my personal use, unless you plan to follow my path, they’re not suitable for you.”
“For now, make do with what’s here in Xuntian City.”
“Even though the enhancement environment here is inferior, the variety is rich, and mechas of any inclination can find an appropriate setting.”
“It should suffice until your mecha has gone through its second sublimation.”
Instead of taking care of everything herself, Ruan Mingyu explained the intricacies in detail to Jiang Chen.
After all, with the growth rate of an SSS-class rookie,
it wouldn’t be long before he encountered these issues.
Jiang Chen nodded, taking her words to heart.
Ruan Mingyu asked,
“By the way, have you already decided on the first enhancement path for your mecha?”
“What’s the inclination?”
“Life, vitality.”
…
Jiang Chen did not conceal anything and detailed his concept for a “Life Force Mecha.”
Ruan Mingyu didn’t offer an opinion.
After all, there were fewer than ten Supercharge Modules still existing on Planet Blue Star.
Even as a 7th Rank mecha pilot, she had only heard of such an extremely rare module and had never actually seen one.
How could she offer advice under those circumstances?
She was just a dispassionate enhancer.
Of course, as a 7th Rank enhancer, Ruan Mingyu fully understood Jiang Chen’s concept and led him into the Enhancement Zone to find a suitable site—
Within a space the size of a soccer field, lush shrubs and vines abounded.
In the midst of these plants was a clear pond, exuding an aura of life.
“The Spring of Life, a product of Enigmatism.”
“It contains the divine power of the Mother of Life, the nature deities; even a trace of their power is enough to serve as a catalyst for the enhancement of your mecha.”
Standing by the pond, Jiang Chen felt every cell in his body invigorated and his physical strength burgeoned.
He exclaimed in surprise,
“Is this thing also effective for humans?”
“Of course,” Ruan Mingyu said calmly.
“As the Spring of Life, a single drop of its water can provide an outpouring of life force, repel illness, and heal injuries.”
“Consumed in large quantities, it can even mend bodily harm and extend one’s life to the human limit.”
Such a precious treasure that could cure diseases and extend life
was being used in the Enhancement Zone as a consumable for mecha strengthening?
Wasn’t that too extravagant?
After his initial shock, Jiang Chen remembered the earlier words from Ruan Mingyu.
This enhancement environment is considered poor…
This is poor?
Well… in the end, all of this is produced by the abyss.
Perhaps the high rank mecha pilots could obtain even more precious things within the abyss.
However, no matter what, the value of the Spring of Life was there, and it couldn’t possibly be used recklessly.
“Senior Ruan, how much contribution does it cost to use the Spring of Life?”
“The cost is not calculated per use but based on the consumption of the water,” she said.
“Enhancing a 0th Rank mecha, even with high-grade materials, won’t require much, at most costing twenty or thirty thousand contributions.”
Twenty or thirty thousand contributions…
Another price akin to that of the Origin of Life.
Seeing Jiang Chen’s expression, Ruan Mingyu couldn’t help but laugh.
“To fully tap into the potential of a mecha, you naturally have to pay an extra price, just get used to it,”
“Merely twenty or thirty thousand in contribution, I’ll cover it for you in advance.”
“As for the fees for enhancing the mecha, we’ll go by the market rate, ten enhancements for a total of five thousand contribution.”
“The repair fees for a 0th Rank mecha are just a trifle, I’ll waive it for you.”
“Just pay me back when you have the contribution.”
“The bigshot is wise!”
Jiang Chen decisively offered his blessings to the bigshot.
With the support from Senior Ruan, he could improve himself at a faster pace, collect attributes while clearing high-difficulty abyss levels, and earn contributions.
The first wave of funding from an angel investor is the most precious.
“Bring out the mecha and let me help you fix it first.”
…
Ruan Mingyu wasn’t just repairing the mecha.
She also took the opportunity to slow down the repair speed deliberately to teach Jiang Chen about mecha repair.
She demonstrated step by step how to convert Abyss Coins back into abyss atmosphere to mend a completely damaged mecha and reawaken the injured mecha soul.
Jiang Chen also studied seriously beside her, committing the steps to memory.
The whole process took a full five hours, longer than using some advanced repair tools.
However, according to Senior Ruan,
once you master the technique, you can complete the repair work within three hours.
On this basis, if you grasp the trait of communicating with the mecha soul, you can even reduce the repair time to an hour.
An hour’s repair speed, even if Jiang Chen was a bit slow, would allow him to have at least a dozen or so expanded armor incidents a day!
But it’s impossible for Jiang Chen to spend the whole day without eating or drinking, caught in a cycle of expanded armor, repair, and expanded armor again.
That would not only turn him into a boring expanded armor person, but it would also be highly inefficient.
After all, the attributes greatly increase during a mecha rank upgrade.
The limit of a 0th Rank mecha is only around a dozen points of attributes.
A 1st Rank can reach over a hundred.
Considering the quality bonus, one instance of expanded armor is worth dozens of instances at 0th Rank!
This kind of attribute improvement will only get more exaggerated over time.
Therefore, enhancing the quality and attributes of the mecha is the best way to grow, and the mere cycle of expanded armor and repairs is just an auxiliary part of this process.
After Senior Ruan had repaired the mecha, she began the mecha enhancement.
In this process, she devoted all her energy to mecha enhancement, without further communication, only allowing Jiang Chen to watch and learn on his own.
As one material after another merged into the model Zero Mecha,
Senior Ruan’s mental state gradually deteriorated, her eyes darkening slightly.
Witnessing her change, Jiang Chen came to a realization.
To ensure the mecha perfectly absorbed the materials’ effects, mecha pilots had to invest a tremendous amount of mental energy during enhancement, presenting a severe challenge to their psyche.
Mere enhancement of a 0th Rank mecha was already such a drain on energy.
Senior Ruan had only recently broken through and had dedicated herself entirely to her own mecha’s third metamorphosis and enhancement, which must have taken a long time.
It was only natural for her to appear so fatigued.
Under such circumstances, she still accepted his invitation, taking out time to enhance his mecha…
Jiang Chen felt moved.
Once he reached 1st Rank, he would grind a few more materials for Senior Ruan as a way to return the favor.
As for the five thousand contribution mentioned by Senior Ruan…
Jiang Chen didn’t take it seriously at all.
Market price, five thousand contribution?
Find another person and tell a 7th Rank mecha pilot this price, and see whether they even bother with you or not.
“It’s been enhanced; have a look for yourself,”
The enhancement consumed even less time than the repair.
Ruan Mingyu packed up her tools, unable to suppress a yawn.
Eagerly, Jiang Chen extended his hand to touch the purple and white mecha lying in the spring of life.
[Code: model Zero-Type 3]
[Type: Full-coverage Light Armor]
[Quality: Ordinary]
[Rank: 0]
[Enhancement: 10]
[Attributes: Strength 7, Agility 7, Defense 8, Enigmatism 0.]
[Armor: 100/100, Recovery Rate 0.13/s.]
[Energy: 50/50, Recovery Rate 0.03/s.]
[Core Module: Roots Core (Supercharged)]
[Auxiliary Modules: Crystal Rock Carapace, Primordial Essence Enhancement, Blood Demon Transformation.]