“Disassemble, disassemble the mecha?” Edward Harris Sr. stammered, clearly having wanted Brian Walker to modify such a mecha, but now she was actually saying she wanted to take one apart?!

“I’ll take it apart and put it back together, I guarantee not to damage the mecha.”

As a former top engineer, being able to reassemble dismantled items without any damage is a basic professional skill.

Edward Harris Sr. stared at the mecha in front of him, struggling for a while, and finally gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll try, I’ll do my best to get the school’s approval.”

Author’s note: Brian Walker: What’s so great about being heaven’s chosen one? Even I, the chosen of destiny, have to scavenge for scraps to eat (-_-)

Chapter 9

Things were easier than Edward Harris Sr. had imagined.

At first, when the school heard that a student wanted to borrow a mecha to take apart, they flatly refused, saying it was absolutely impossible. There were only a few mechas, and the school needed them all; how could they possibly spare one?

Later, Edward Harris Sr. brought his father to the school, saying they would donate the family’s mecha, but it was a display model. That’s why he wanted to take apart a school mecha to study it, then modify the family’s mecha into a combat model.

The school hesitated.

If the modification succeeded, the 3212 Academy would have one more mecha. But if it failed, or worse, if the school’s mecha was damaged in the process, it would be a huge loss.

After some hesitation, the school proposed another plan: they agreed to lend a mecha, but the people dismantling and modifying it had to be school teachers.

Edward Harris Sr. disagreed: “Which teacher at the school can turn a display mecha into a combat mecha?”

He had only said he’d take the mecha home for a mecha engineer to modify, without mentioning that person was Brian Walker.

In the end, the school compromised: they agreed to hand it over to Edward Harris Sr., but would assign teachers as assistants.

The school was being cunning: first, the teachers could help and prevent problems; second, if the Tai family’s mecha engineer really had the skills, the teachers might learn something by watching.

Edward Harris Sr. excitedly contacted Brian Walker via the optical computer, saying he’d secured the school’s mecha. The two discussed and decided to work on it every night.

The night the mecha was delivered to the Tai family, Brian Walker immediately took it apart, and the two teachers assigned as assistants were so shocked at the sight of Brian Walker that their eyes nearly popped out.

Watching Brian Walker’s skilled dismantling, one teacher hesitantly asked, “Aren’t you a student from Class B?”

Brian Walker nodded, still working without slowing down. She carefully removed several main components, which were indeed much more complex than those of a display mecha—practically two entirely different systems.

She had originally thought the modification would be quick, but now it looked like it would take at least a month to finish.

“Combat mecha engines are almost impossible to buy on the market, and if you can find one, it’s outrageously expensive. Modification is basically impossible,” another teacher said as Brian Walker took out the parts.

Brian Walker happened to be carrying the engine to a side table. Hearing this, she replied, “I’m not buying one. I’ll see if I can make it myself.”

The two teachers exchanged glances, unable to hide their disappointment and ridicule.

At first, seeing how skilled this student was, they thought she might really know something. But after hearing that, it was obvious she didn’t understand mechas at all. Did she think engines were that easy to make?

Brian Walker neither knew nor cared what the two teachers were thinking. She worked through the night dismantling the school’s mecha, leaving no part untouched. The several-meter-tall mecha was reduced to piles of components.

“I’ll give you a shopping list. Buy everything on it,” Brian Walker spent an hour writing down all the parts she needed and handed it to Edward Harris Sr..

Edward Harris Sr. reached out to take it and was startled—damn, the list was two meters long! Wouldn’t buying all this bankrupt him?

Looking more closely, he cursed again in his heart.

Every part on the list, from tiny screws to large metal joints, had the purchase address and price noted next to it.

Was Brian Walker a maniac?

Edward Harris Sr. picked up the list and, seeing the total price at the end, couldn’t help but exclaim. The total was only two million star coins, and that included ten grams of floating gold, meaning all the other parts only cost a million star coins.

Two million star coins was certainly a lot, especially on Star 3212, but if they could really modify a combat mecha, that money was nothing.

“That’s it for today. Get all the materials on the list in the next couple of days,” Brian Walker pointed at the piles of parts. “Don’t touch anything here.”

“Okay.”

……

After returning home, Brian Walker told Peter Thompson that she might not be coming back in the evenings for the next month.

Peter Thompson looked her up and down. “You really can modify a mecha?”

The school didn’t know yet, but by tomorrow morning they’d definitely find out that the person modifying the mecha was Brian Walker.

“I took apart the mecha the school sent over,” Brian Walker said, taking a sip of the hot soup her shimu handed her. “It’s fine, just the engine is a bit tricky. I should be able to finish the modification in a month.”

“Even the academy teachers can’t do it, and you talk about it like it’s as easy as eating,” Peter Thompson scoffed at her boasting. “Finish your soup and go to bed.”