Fortunately, Brian Walker had a deep theoretical understanding of mechas in her original world, but lacked special materials like Youjin over there. That’s why today she was making a mini mecha—not only with a complete mecha appearance, but also capable of attacking. The only problem was limited funds, so the finished product would probably be only a dozen centimeters tall—a true mini mecha.

Sitting at the table, Brian Walker quickly assembled the mecha shell she had prepared. The assembly sequence was deeply ingrained in her mind; she could do it with her eyes closed. The most important part was in her left hand: a laser gun she had spent a year making, capable of penetrating ordinary metal and guns, though ineffective against Youjin.

Once everything was assembled, Brian Walker carried the mecha out of the workshop and pressed the control switch, making the mini mecha fire at the wall.

The laser gun hit the wall, instantly creating a hole.

Brian Walker pressed again, and another hole appeared in the wall. But when she pressed it a third time, the mini mecha’s gun no longer responded.

Brian Walker clicked her tongue—just two shots, and the laser energy was already depleted.

This poverty-stricken life seemed endless.

She sighed, turned, and prepared to return to the workshop.

‘Crack—’

Hearing a faint sound, Brian Walker: “……”

No way, just two holes—the wall shouldn’t collapse, right?

Just as Brian Walker finished comforting herself, she immediately heard countless ‘crack’ sounds. Then, the wall behind her crashed down, shaking the entire floor of the abandoned building. The dust kicked up made her cough.

Brian Walker raised her arm to cover her mouth and nose, turning to look behind her.

At that moment, cold sweat broke out all over her body.

—Behind the wall was a red-eyed monster about three meters tall.

In that instant, Brian Walker thought of a word: insect beast.

This thing looked like a mutated, enlarged wolf, panting heavily, its blood-red eyes fixed on Brian Walker.

There was no time to wonder why such a thing would appear here—Brian Walker immediately took off running, but the mutant beast quickly caught up.

Hearing the sound of something slicing through the air behind her, Brian Walker suddenly stopped and instinctively rolled on the ground, successfully dodging the attack. But in the next second, the mutant beast’s other claw swiped at her. She couldn’t dodge in time and was scratched on the back.

Brian Walker didn’t have time to feel pain—she desperately ran toward the workshop and grabbed a knife.

By now, the mutant beast was closing in. Brian Walker had nowhere left to retreat. As it lunged to bite her, she seized the moment, jumped up using the wall, and stabbed the knife into the mutant beast’s eye.

“Roar—”

The mutant beast roared at Brian Walker, a foul stench hitting her in the face, and its paw sent Brian Walker flying.

Brian Walker felt like her whole body was about to break. She tried to get up but failed, forced to lie on the ground, watching helplessly as the mutant beast approached.

If only she’d trained harder back then—Engineer Walker rarely felt regret.

The mutant beast lunged to bite again. Just as Brian Walker thought she was about to die, the beast’s head suddenly fell off, splattering her with blood.

Brian Walker: “……”

Damn, this thing’s blood really stinks!

Author’s note: Brian Walker: Not only is my road to riches gone, now I’m about to die too.

Chapter 5

First, Brian Walker was covered in dust, and now her face was splattered with blood. Add to that three deep claw marks on her abdomen—lying on the ground, she was barely distinguishable from a corpse.

At that moment, a cold silver mecha flew over from midair and landed near the mutant beast. A blond youth jumped out, glanced at the mutant beast, and, seeing Brian Walker lying on the ground, showed no reaction—like a superior seeing a dying ant, utterly indifferent.

“There might be gray crystal here.”

Another youth arrived in a mecha. Unlike the blond youth in a combat suit, this one had calm eyes and long black hair draped down his back like the finest silk. His skin was frosty and jade-like, and his beautifully shaped lips were tinged with paleness.

If Brian Walker weren’t paralyzed on the ground, she’d have whistled and praised him as a truly handsome young man.

With just a glance, Brian Walker could tell: the first person’s mecha was a real combat mecha, while the second’s probably wasn’t strong offensively, but had extremely high defense.

On Star 3212, even ornamental mechas were rare. That shop had displayed three mechas back in the day, and after seven years, only one had been sold.

These two were definitely not from Star 3212.

The blond youth walked over, smashed open a wall, and pulled out a fist-sized gray crystal, putting it in his waist pouch. “No wonder it came here.”

“Time to go,” the black-haired youth said coolly.

“I thought insect beasts were supposed to be tough—turns out they’re nothing special.”

“That was a juvenile, less than twenty percent of full combat power.”

The blond youth glanced at his light brain, took out a handkerchief, and wiped his hands. “They’re looking for us over there.”

The two re-entered their mechas and left. From start to finish, neither paid any attention to the severely injured Brian Walker lying on the ground.

Brian Walker really wanted to pass out, but the stench around her was overwhelming.

After running through her options, Brian Walker gritted her teeth and dialed her teacher Peter Thompson’s light brain.

“What the heck?”

As soon as Peter Thompson answered, he saw a blood-soaked person lying on the ground, and his accent slipped out unconsciously.

“Teacher, cough… help…”

“Brian Walker? Where are you? What happened?”