When Immortal Ascension Fails Time Travel to Try Again

AFS: Piece 3 - Making Mechs?!

When I opened my eyes, all I could think about was making a sword… so I could murder a bitch (my cheap brother).

But…. My cultivation was stable. I no longer felt the pressure of the universe crushing down on me. And I was… clean?

But my golden core wasn’t perfect! I was missing the last symbol! Okay, technically it was fine and I could still reach immortality with a golden core that didn’t have the maximum amount of carvings at the beginning of cultivation.

But cultivating wouldn’t go nearly as smooth without a perfect core.

I hurriedly put “Research a new Perfected Core Dan,” on the list of important things I had to do. Right in front of “Switch majors to Mech Forging.”

Yeah, I was looking forward to seeing what I could do to improve this technology using the advanced spiritual weapon forging masteries I acquired in my past life.

Plus, almost dying during an attack was the perfect chance to switch majors. Also, I had a better chance at surviving if I wasn’t sent to the frontline.

But before I did all that. I had to slap a bitch!

And before I did that, I had to incinerate the disgusting clothes I was wearing and put on something else.

***

I marched into my apartment’s living room, where my cheap brother was sitting.

He looked up, his face appeared relieved.

When I reached him, I used one Qi strengthened arm to grab his collar and lift him into the air.

Okay, I was shorter than him, so I could only get him an inch off the floor… but his eyes still went wide!

To show I meant it, I narrowed my eyes at him.

“You dare to come into my apartment when I specifically told you to stay away, and open my bedroom door?! You better have a good excuse, or I might end you.”

“A line of middle fingers pictures isn’t what I call ‘specifically telling me to stay away.’”

Did he just?!

He grabbed my hand and attempted to use his spiritual energy. I felt it gently try to push me away from him. It failed. “How are you this strong?!”

“I’ll give you five seconds. Five.”

“Four.”

Jumped backwards onto my coffee table so I could lift him higher.

“Three!”

“Stop! Stop! It’s because your mother was worried about you. She had me check on your vitals each day to make sure you were doing okay.”

I blinked. Right, this world had a system attached to each apartment, but I didn’t realize that the information wasn’t private. But regardless, “There should have been no problems.”

“According to the alerts I received, your vitals were all over the place! Didn’t you feel your heart beating erratically? Not to mention you hadn’t had anything to eat or drink for a week! You hadn’t even moved from your spot!” He sucked in a breath. “I thought you might have tampered with your apartment's sensory data. Sometimes people do that when they want to—“

“—It’s a bit late to act like you care at this point!”

I released his neck and he dropped to the couch. Then I took a seat on the recliner across from him and folded my arms.

“So, how were the results of your blood test?”

He blushed. “We... haven’t tested it yet. I thought knowing might upset you more than you already were.”

I scowled at him. While that was shockingly considerate for someone I suspected to be Bloodsword reincarnated, that concern was wasted on me. I wasn’t Victoria. “Again. It’s a little late to be concerned now.” The original was already dead. “Don’t be an idiot and find out the truth.”

He blinked.

Ugh. I couldn’t do this. This whole, pretend to be someone I wasn’t bullshit. I needed at least one person who knew the truth, and this guy seemed weak enough that I might be able to get away with telling him the truth. Worse case, he could tell people what I said, I’d deny it and people would think he was crazy.

“Listen, I am not Victoria Lin, your adopted sister and heir to a duchy. I am Lin. Though to call me properly, you should say, ‘Fairy Lin.’”

He looked at me, worry clear on his face.

“I am a cultivator from a time period so long ago that there are no mentions of it in your history books.”

One of his hands secretly crept towards his light brain. I rolled my eyes and sent a strand of spiritual energy over to break his device. “I don’t need you to call a psychiatrist. I don’t have a hidden multiple personality disorder.”

He coughed. Yeah. I see you.

“What you just interrupted was my cultivation process. The reason I was injured was because of you!”

He didn’t look like he believed me.

I sighed and spent a few minutes explaining the different levels of cultivation. Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, Immortal Bone Creation, and Immortal Ascension.

Every time I thought he wasn’t listening, I would send a harmless thread of Qi to flick him on his forehead.

He looked like he wanted to ask me, ‘How do you keep doing that’ but he didn’t have the guts to interrupt me.

“What you did was interrupt me right before I could perfect my golden core. Fortunately, I finished my second-to-last carving… but this still leaves my core incomplete and will make reaching immortality that much harder.” I pointed my finger at him. “You owe me!”

He scowled. “So, what do you want me to do?”

I considered it. “Go figure out whether you’re related to Miss Liu or not.”

His face darkened. “I’m not going to hurt Miss Liu. I’m also not going to convince her to stay away from Prince Chad.”

“Fine.” I sighed deeply. “I didn’t expect you to believe me anyway. You don’t have to. You just have to do what I say to pay me back.”

“And how am I supposed to do that?”

“I’m going to write a list of ingredients that your real sister might have. I want to buy them from her, but, considering Victoria’s relationship with her, it will be impossible. So I need you to be an intermediary. Purchase them for me and give them to me.”

Now, how the hell was I supposed to get that list and description to him without a jade slip?

I glanced at the device on my wrist and grimaced. That wouldn’t do. I'd have to use this StarNet thing. And I’d have to write and draw everything by hand. Annoying.

“I’ll send you the list later.”

“How do you know that Miss Liu would have the plants you need?”

“Don’t worry about that. Just know that as a cultivator from the past, I know more things about life and this universe than you realize.”

He nodded. “If I’m going to contact Liu YaoYao, I'll need you to order me a new light brain.”

I coughed and quickly ordered him a replacement that would arrive in a convenient 15 minutes.

Ah, the future was nice for some things.

***

After he left, I researched the things I would need to switch majors. Fortunately, Mech Engineering, Design, and Repair (unlike the Mecha Warrior major, which most started training for at age 14) could be learned at any time. Those who succeeded when they were younger, didn’t always succeed when they were older.

With my powerful mind, my background in spiritual tool and weapon creation, as well as access to the resources Victoria’s family provided, I could take some time to catch up within the next three weeks.

It also helped that, as a master of weapon and item forging, I already knew the reasoning behind the forging process of my past life. It wouldn’t be too hard to extrapolate from previous knowledge when it came to similar materials.

One of the first things I did, and one of the first things any good craftsman did, I learned about the tools. The ones that were used to put mechs together.

Like the massive assembler robot arms that helped carry and place each piece into position. This allowed for rapid assembly and repair without the wasteful use of spiritual energy which was saved for making the parts that required it.

Giant presses, used to help stamp out a lot of small parts.

Of course, the most generic parts were made off site using assembly lines and machines, then shipped to the locations that ordered them. Though, during battle, (if they ran out of those parts) a 3D printer could print out temporary replacement parts. But 3D printers didn’t always produce quality work.

Then there were the specific parts that mech designers with strong spiritual energy needed to mold into shape — usually, this used a 3D printed mold, so the mech engineer could focus on processing the materials. This was apparently a very complicated process that took every ounce of concentration.

Considering how fluffy and hard to control the spiritual energy these people had was, I believed it. It had been hard fucking work to drive that mech using my spiritual energy at that time. Now that I had a core, imperfect as it was, I could likely last all day in that state.

The second thing I did was to review all the known and available materials. They had ranks from F to SSSS that quickly let people know what level of spiritual power one had to use to work with that material.

So an SS material would be limited to a Mech engineer who had SS spiritual power and a warrior who had both mental and physical abilities at the SS level.

Those drivers who tried to use higher materials than their level often found that they couldn’t control their mechs properly and attempting to do so would give a driver headaches.

Hmm. Frankly, it would be easier and less time-consuming for me to make a mech using the tools I had in my past life.

I once again cursed Bloodsword for accidentally killing me and getting me thrown into the goddamn future.

However, this didn’t mean that I couldn’t make them myself. I recalled that Victoria’s father was a mech designer of SS rank. He was the one who built her original mech. But the important thing here was that he had the materials and tools that I could use to make my own set of forging spiritual items.

I should also probably inform them of my decision to change my major.

It was strange thinking that I was going to school again. I mean, I had always been learning something new or improving my craft, but schools in the previous realm were more like sects than the schools I’d been used to from my past life. If it weren’t for whatever entity allowed me to keep the original owner’s memories, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to live in this futuristic world right away.

It also made me wonder if some entity had pulled me into this universe to begin with. And then, when I was about to die, that entity pulled me here and gave me the original novel and the memories I’d been missing in my last life.

What, exactly, was their goal by sending me here?

Well, it wasn’t like I could figure it out if I thought about it. And even if I knew what their objective was, I’d just ignore it and continue to live my life the way I wanted as a big ‘Fuck You’ for bringing me here.

Of course, before I left, I made a quick stopover at Victoria’s bedroom and entered StarNet.

I spent two hours drawing the plants I needed, then listing their properties and characteristics. And once I was done with that, I created three-dimensional models of the tools I would need to make the tools I would need and sent them to my light brain.

***

When I reached the mech design studio of Victoria’s father the robots guarding the place moved aside, bowed and called me, “Young Miss!” They looked almost eerily like actual people aside from the glowing lights artistically placed to highlight their android-ness.

Honestly, I was digging this futuristic aesthetic. It was a nice change from a thousand years of ‘Super Cool Fantasy Ancient China.’

I mean, I liked that aesthetic too, but seeing it for a thousand years when I came from a world with many cultures and a fashion industry that drastically changed every ten or twenty years... Well, people would still feel their favorite food get old if they had it every day.

I walked into the studio. The smell of metal and grease hit me. Victoria’s father, Wang Chen, kindly talked to a younger man who took notes with a fervent passion.

When he saw me, he completely ignored his student, jumped to his feet and rushed over, arms wide.

I had to review what I knew of how the original greeted her father before I opened my arms and accepted the hug. It was warm.

“Ria! Your papa missed you so much!”

Oh shit. How could I tell this kind father that I wasn’t his real daughter and had taken her place? It was one thing to tell MingRen who hadn’t cared about the original Victoria to begin with… but this guy? A guy who didn’t care about how he looked in front of his subordinates and just wanted a hug from his daughter who he hadn’t seen in weeks? Yeah...

It didn’t help that I had years of memories of how sweet and kind he was to the original.

Ah, the air in here must be a bit dry, right?

The hug ended, and I cleared my throat.

Wang Chen spoke up first, concern in his eyes. “I heard from MingRen that you’re considering switching your major from Mech Warrior to Mech Engineering.”

I grinned. “That’s right!”

“Are you sure? I know this most recent attack was difficult for you, but you always wanted to be a mech warrior just like your mommy.”

“I’m sure that I want to learn Mech Engineering.” I mean, my Dao had always been Unlimited. Why wouldn’t I want to learn and master something so fascinating?

His eyes sparkled. “Then let me show you around.”

“I also had a few schematics of tools I wanted to print out here. I thought it might be interesting to learn some ancient forging techniques and apply them to mech engineering.”

“You can try absolutely anything you want. I’ll support you in any way that I can.” He leaned in. “Don’t tell your mom, but I’m secretly glad you’re switching majors. It’s much safer to be a mech engineer than a Mech Warrior.”

I wasn’t so sure about that. “Mech Warriors have the ability to defend themselves.”

He snorted. “Even a triple S Mech Warrior can get overrun and die if they face too many enemies. We live in a society with many very talented people. One less SS rank Mech Warrior won’t hurt the Empire.”

Well, the man had a point. Victoria hadn’t been the best SS rank warrior anyway.

“Now, about those tools you want me to print. Let me see them!”

***

It didn’t take long to print out the tools I needed. These included a furnace and the various mundane tools that would help me create spiritual tools.

Then I spent several hours at the studio forging a few of the correct spiritual tools using the metals there that were still familiar. I had wanted to keep going and build a spiritual furnace and alchemy cauldron, but the people in this universe didn’t spend weeks straight on a task the way cultivators did.

A work-life balance! What a concept.

Then again, work-life balance was for mortals.

I exited the studio with Wang Chen and practically jumped as a massive mech landed a few yards in front of us. The chest of the mech opened revealing a thin woman in a combat bodysuit. She had red hair similar to Victoria’s.

She also crossed her arms under her chest and had a lit cigar hanging out of the corner of her lips.

Without considering the effect it would have on her knees, she stepped down from her cockpit and fell. Her knees barely bent as she landed on the concrete in front of us.

“Ria!” April Lin practically shouted with her scratchy smoker’s voice. “So you finally showed up? Do you know how worried we were about you?”

“Darling. It’s fine now that she’s visited.” She briefly hugged Wang Chen, sending him a look that was definitely exclusive between intimate lovers before taking a drag of her cigar and blowing a cloud of smoke with the wind.

“And what’s this nonsense about switching your major? Aren’t you the best sniper in your class?”

I raised an eyebrow at this strange woman. Seriously, I knew she was Victoria’s mother and a duchess... but seriously, who was she?

“I’m going to learn Mech Engineering,” I said simply.

She laughed and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “I believe it. Now, tell your mommy how much money you need to start? Also, let’s get you a new studio where you can work without your papa breathing down your neck.”

I almost coughed up blood by the sheer amount of gifts they gave me just because I said that I wanted to learn Mech Engineering. No fucking wonder Victoria ended up as spoiled as she had. But honestly, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that it was nice to be spoiled for once.

Oh, I could be prideful and say that I’d make the money on my own and struggle to earn it myself, so I didn’t owe this couple anything. But, I wasn’t that dumb. If someone offered me million dollars to fund my business, I’d fucking take the money, use it wisely and pay them back with the amount of money I’d earn. Only idiots thought it was possible to make millions through only hard work.

After all, rich people didn’t get rich by spending their own money.

Okay, it was technically possible. But also unlikely. Like winning the lottery.

“I’ll send you a list!”

“That’s not exactly right... It’s ‘send me a list...’”

Oh god. This was too embarrassing. Whatever. I’d done stranger things to earn cultivation resources. “Mommy.”

“Good girl. Now, don’t be a stranger. I heard you’re taking a month off of school for a mental health break. Do spend some of that time with us.”

“We love you. And we want to see you healthy and happy.”

Unable to respond naturally, I just nodded.

These two were so fucking caring. I thought only saving Victoria’s brother would be enough of a payment for taking over this body. But now I would need to spend some of this life taking care of these caring parents of hers.

I mean, I certainly didn’t have to since I never asked to be shoved into this body. But since I was here, I would live life the way I wanted. And part of that, was repaying the kindness of others to sever strings of karma.

There was too much built between this body and this couple for me to ignore them completely.

“Oh, by the way. Wang MingRen found his long-lost sister. Probably.”

The two looked at each other with excitement.

I crossed my arms under my chest.

“Don’t be upset, Ria,” April Lin said.

“We’re just excited because MingRen was my friend’s son. We saved him from that planet when the Star Bugs raided it, but we thought we lost the girl.”

“We had looked everywhere.”

“If I’d known that she was still alive—”

“Hey, if MingRen found her, then we can at least try to help her now. It’s late, but she could still use our help, I’m sure.”

“I hope so.”

Eh? Had I just activated another golden finger for the protagonist? Well, whatever.

“I better get going. Thank you for your help.”

“Don’t be so formal!”

Wang Chen dug around in the pocket of his white lab jacket and held out a beautiful gold necklace. “Even though you’re planning on switching majors, you shouldn’t go out unprotected. Besides, your papa already made this for you as back up.”

I took the necklace and quickly realized that it was a mech. I grinned, “Thank you!”

Maybe I would practice how to use this mech so this dear man didn’t have to make me another one.

From here on out, no more mech scrap heaps.

***

Wang MingRen sat in the genetics testing office with Liu YaoYao.

Even though his nervousness kept him on edge, he hid the normal signs, not giving anything away. It didn’t help that Victoria had gone crazy and put impossibilities into his head.

Though, he admitted that she’d somehow gotten much stronger. And it wasn’t from her hiding her strength all these years.

Ever since the day of the attack, she felt more solid and real than any other person he’d met. But he still couldn’t believe anything she said.

Not without proof.

A man in a lab coat walked out of the door MingRen had been watching. He smiled gently at him and Liu YaoYao and sent their results directly to their light brains.

He glanced over the report. His brain burned and his blood raced. “She was right.”

He’d suspected it ever since he saw Liu YaoYao at school. But the fact that Victoria, no Lin, saw it as soon as she changed. Was she really a different person? No, why was he thinking of his adopted sister when he’d finally found his long-lost sister?

“Congratulations to you both!” The employee said before leaving them to themselves.

“This changes nothing,” Liu YaoYao said.

His eyebrow twitched. “Of course it does. We’re family.”

“We’re related biologically. That doesn’t make us family.” She paused. “But, I wouldn’t mind getting to know you a bit more.”

“I know that you’ve been struggling financially.”

She glared at him. “I will not accept handouts.”

He held up his hands. “I’m not offering. I remember that our family had a rare garden that you might have received. If you have it, I’d like to purchase a few of the herbs.”

She blinked but neither confirmed nor denied the existence of the garden.

“I’ll send you a list of the ones I’m looking for. If you have them, I’ll pay a fair price. And if not, then don’t worry about it.”

“I didn’t know that you knew medicine.”

“I don’t, but I do have a use for those herbs.”

She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. “If you’re not willing to disclose why you need them, then I’m not sure if I’m even willing to talk about any herb let alone garden.”

“Your brother made a mistake. I hurt someone important and I need those herbs to heal them. They are someone who claims to know how to use them.” Of course, he wasn’t even sure they were telling the truth anyway.

Her eyes narrowed. “I refuse to promise anything.”

***

It had been weeks since I last saw Wang MingRen. I hadn’t heard a word from him so I assumed that he’d failed his mission. Well, whatever. That was one less person I had to care about in my life. My goal was immortality. That was a lonely path to choose.

The people I knew now would grow old and die, while I would stay young and ascend. It was a concept I’d already accepted. I was just going to go through it in a different timeline. One where I would be the only cultivator unless I became the first master and spread cultivation throughout the galaxy.

Which didn't sound fun.

Being alone wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Whatever. There was plenty of time to think about how I wanted to live in this new world. Before I changed anything or introduced a nuclear bomb like cultivation, I first needed to understand how this place worked. And Victoria’s memories weren’t helping me with that.

What was helping me, was working on mech parts using the ancient techniques I’d mastered. So far, I’d created enough parts to build half a mech. There were some things that couldn’t be created with this method. Like the more advanced engines that had so many parts that I’d rather just let the damn machines create them and put them together in a timely fashion. Of course. I didn’t, because I needed to know how shit worked. But still.

Automation was awesome. But, it didn’t give the thing a spirit. And, that, really was the end goal. Creating a spiritual mech that had a nascent spirit that would eventually grow into a full spirit.

Similar to the sword I’d made for myself. It was so close to gaining sentience! Goddamn Bloodsword! I was going to kick his ass if I ever saw him again!

I finished the part I was working on and checked the time. Fuck. Was it the day I was supposed to return to class already? Well, switch majors I guess. And I was late.

I quickly changed into the school’s uniform and grimaced at myself. I was a 1000-year-old monster going back to class. Goddamn it!

And I was still late. I ran outside to the designated area for flying vehicles outside of my apartment.

From my new storage ring, I threw out the hover vehicle that Victoria owned and jumped inside. After programming it to send me to the front of the school, I relaxed and focused on spreading out my divine sense to make sure that no one would crash into me. Like fuck would I trust a piece of hackable technology again.

Of course, I smoothly landed at the drop off area outside the school, collected my car into the ring I made and made my way to the admission’s office. Out of politeness, I retracted my divine sense.

And of course. Of fucking course, I ended up turing a corner and physically running into Liu YaoYao, despite my efforts to use martial arts to avoid her.

And Prince Chad, the Chad, was right behind her.

Since my body improved a lot through my actual cultivation, I’d sent Liu YaoYao sprawling along with whatever tool she’d been using.

“YaoYao!” Chad yelled and crouched down. He looked at her with an emotionless face. Seriously, why were guys like this popular in fiction? I mean, at least fucking show on your face that you give a shit. “Are you okay? Did this bitch hurt you?”

Hey, I was right fucking here. Besides, Liu YaoYao had a potential SSS physique. She was fine.

Whatever. These people were too extra.

I sighed and picked up the tool she’d been carrying. I quickly recognized it and put it back together using spiritual energy.

Liu YaoYao noticed that and her eyes grew wide, even as Chad helped her to her feet.

“I apologize for running into you, Miss Liu,” I said, and handed her the device.

She swallowed and took it. “Thank you, Lady Victoria.”

“Just call me Lin. I told you, I’m a changed person.”

“How did you fix it so fast?”

“I spent a month contemplating my life choices. I decided that it might be good to switch majors to Mech Engineering.”

They both looked at me like I was crazy. I grinned. Let them think what they want.

“Oh, by the way, Prince Chad.”

He stiffened and narrowed his eyes at me.

“Miss Liu is my dear adopted brother’s sister. That means that she’s my sister. If you dare harm her or press her into anything she isn’t ready for...” Because I knew some Shoujo male leads were scumbags like that... The author hadn’t written him like that, but after being in a Xianxia world for a thousand years, I wasn’t taking any chances. “Be ready to get a beating from me.” Muahahaha.

The confused looks on their faces were priceless. Also, the blush on Prince Chad’s face didn’t bode well for Miss Liu.

And with that, I winked at YaoYao and walked away.

***

As I made my way to the Admissions Office, this time I kept up my divine sense. Fuck people’s privacy. They wouldn’t know I was invading it anyway. And it took a back seat to accidentally running into someone again.

And, of course, I found a familiar presence waiting for me at the admissions office. Did he end up getting the herbs or was he trying to start a fight?

I opened the door and pointed to Wang MingRen. “What are you doing here?”

“Can we talk for a moment?”

“Can it wait?”

“Absolutely not. It might affect your decision.”

Whatever. If it was so important that he waited for me inside the office, then I’d better listen.

He pulled me over to a bench in a picturesque part of the campus. Though I could see a few mechs flying around one of the various training yards far in the distance.

“I spoke with Liu YaoYao. It took some convincing and almost all of the money I’d saved up... but I bought all but one herb.”

I jumped to my feet and grabbed his collar. “Your ass better not be lying to me.”

“I’m not! She only just gave them to me yesterday, so they’re still fresh.”

Horror struck me that these people might not know how to preserve them so their spiritual energy didn’t evaporate. I couldn’t help but shake him back and forth. “Tell me how you’re storing them!”

“In these ancient white boxes that I have to return when I’m done. They’re very expensive and family heirlooms.”

I sighed and released his collar. “Tell me which one you weren’t able to find.”

“The Glimmering Wind Spiral Mushroom.”

I groaned. That one was one of the main ingredients. It would be very difficult to find a replacement for it.

“But... I think I know where you can find one.”

I smiled. “And where is that?”

“Um... the thing is. The only place they grow is inside the room where the Star Bug Mothership’s Master Brain is located.”

I knew where this was going. “Let me guess. Every time people tried to collect them, they dissipated into the air. Or if they were lucky and pulled them out with a chunk of the ground, they quickly deflated.”

“That’s it exactly! How did you know?”

“That is what happens when amateurs collect rare herbs they know shit about.” That means I’ll have to collect it myself. But if I wait too long, the herbs that we gathered from Liu YaoYao will go bad. While the space storage option in this world was advanced enough, they still haven’t figured out how to store things with a significant amount of time slowing.

And I didn’t have any of the spirit stones I would need to create something like that.

Mother fucker.

Not believing him fully, I pulled up information about the mysterious mushroom found inside the Mothership. The videos were just as I described and the mushroom was the exact one I needed. Though I couldn’t be entirely sure from the video alone.

“So, why would this information cause me to hold off on switching my major?”

“Because this year’s finals requires all of the Mech Warrior students to attack a Star Bug Mothership.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Wouldn’t it be better if I just hire an army of mercenaries to attack one for me, then tag along once they’ve finished cleaning everything up?”

“I already looked into that. There is no mercenary team willing to do that, even if we gather an army of them.”

“So you’re suggesting that I don’t follow orders during the finals, enter the Mothership first, fight off all the little bugs inside until I reach the brain and then collect the mushroom? Because I think that might land me a court martial.”

He cleared his throat. “I suggest we volunteer for the infiltration mission. They’ll send us to kill the Mothership’s Master Brain. There are always a handful of them each year they do this, and if we turn in our applications now, they’ll change our schedules so we can work on our close combat and infiltration skills.”

“You know that the original Victoria was a sniper, right?”

“But you’re not.”

I grinned. “Have you finally accepted the truth?”

“I’m… willing to give it a shot.” Meaning that he still didn’t believe. Well, whatever. As long as we could work together, I didn’t need him to. “You were right about these strange herbs. Victoria would never research knowledge like that. She had been obsessed with finding out everything that had to do with Prince Chad.”

Ugh. The original antagonist was so fucking braindead. She was just as bad as Bloodsword’s dumbass wives.

“So, what do you want to do?” MingRen asked.

“I need that mushroom, and you need training.”

He blinked. “I think I’m doing well in all my classes.”

“Well, isn’t good enough. Not if we’re basically going in alone.”

“There will be other people helping us. We’ll have to train with the other infiltrator volunteers.”

“If we’re not better than all of those other volunteers, then how do you expect us to reach the Motherbrain first?”

“It’s not actually called mother brain. And what do you mean, get there first?”

“Do you expect me to trust our comrades to know not to step on the mushroom while fighting inside the Motherbrain’s chamber?”

“Again, it’s not called a mother brain—”

“See? You didn’t automatically say yes. If you want to collect earthly treasures like this mushroom, you have to be so good at fighting that you can attack fiercely while keeping the smallest plant alive.”

“We’re going to be in several story high Mechs. I don’t see how that’s possible.”

I snorted coldly. “Then you need to watch and see.”

I stood and started walking back towards the admissions building.

“Wait! I thought you weren’t going to switch your majors.”

With a flick of my wrist, I brought out the part I’d finished just before coming here. It was a knee joint that I’d strengthened using my knowledge of spiritual weapons. Then I threw it at him.

He caught it, and his eyes grew wide.

“You honestly think I should give up learning how to make Mechs?”

“S-Sister Lin! This...” Although this cheap brother of mine wasn’t a mech engineer, he at least knew a good part when he saw one.

I clasped my hands behind my back like the master I was and grinned. “I’m going to be this school’s first but not last dual major!” Muahahaha!

***

Although the kind people in the administration office tried to convince us not to sign up for the infiltration assignment based on Victoria being a sniper who was shit at everything else and MingRen’s young age, but we still managed to sign up for it.

I also successfully dropped half of my more useless Mech Warrior training classes and replaced them with intro to Mech Engineering courses.

Frankly, my status as a lady and heir to a dukedom was the only reason they let us do something that would be ridiculous if anyone else tried.

When I reviewed my new schedule, it looked something like:

Early Mornings: Physical Training

Breakfast

Mornings: Various Mech Training classes

Noon: Lunch

Afternoon: Mech engineering classes

Evening: Dinner

Night: More Training, only for Infiltration

It was a good thing I didn’t need sleep at Golden Core, or this would be a grueling schedule.

As we were leaving the office, MingRen Peered over my shoulder and frowned. “You should remove some of those training courses. If you keep to that schedule, you’ll only hurt yourself.”

I reached up and flicked his glabella. His eyes grew wide.

“Who am I?”

“Fairy Lin?”

“That’s right.” I smirked. “This isn’t even that bad. I even get four breaks a day!”

He looked at his own schedule, and I glanced at it, too. It had him starting the day at 10 AM and ending the day at around 10 PM.

I knew exactly what he was thinking. “Listen. You’re not me. So don’t worry about keeping up with someone who could kick your ass in her sleep.”

His jaw hardened, and he turned to run back into the office.

Brat.