Chapter 67: O'Shea's perspective (top)

Xie Ruhang lies in the deserted wilderness, holding a mech fragment in his palm as he gazes out into the starry night sky.

Perhaps it was the fact that he had been injected with a camouflage potion for so many years that he had known his own mortality for so long that when the day came, he had less fear and more regret.

Regrets not seeing the light at the end of that long night, not seeing the military ministry lift restrictions on omega enlistment, many schools open to omegas, research institutes announcing the start of research into artificial wombs ......

It is most unfortunate that he did not see Tang Bai shine in this new era.

Thinking of Tang Bai, a little light suddenly appeared in the dull phoenix eyes.

Life is rushing by in this overstretched body, memories of the past are flashing like a lightning rod, and Tang Bai is the only colour in a black and white memory.

He saw their first encounter.

It was a noisy Federal Military Academy canteen, and he sat diagonally behind Tang Bai, whose eyes were drawn to him.

The noble little omega was like a proud and reserved kitten, with a sly frown on her face as she held her jewel in her hands.

The daylight embraced him through the clear glass, gilding the curled hair.

From the first moment he met Tang Bai, he felt that this was a well-protected omega, with a bright and innocent indulgence, like a rose in a garden watered with love.

He saw Gu Tunan turn down Tang Bai's lunch, who shrugged and walked away with his backpack.

Everyone in the cafeteria was watching the omega's departure without moving, as if the whole world was making way for him.

When Gu Tunan returned to find Tang Bai gone, he frowned and casually ate a few bites of the canteen food and got up to leave.

Only the bunny bento is left alone on the table, casting a shadow.

Xie Ruhang comes from a slum background and has an unimaginable obsession with food, which he cannot afford to waste.

By some miracle, he took the bento.

He opened the bento and saw roast pork, broccoli and shrimps, with a love-shaped deviled egg on top of the rice.

Lovely.

Xie Ruhang picks up the bento and smells it gently, it smells good.

He sat on the gazebo, watching the swimming fish bobbing in the water, and finished his bento carefully, one bite at a time.

A beautiful, dainty, articulate, aristocratic omega who cooks well, that was his first impression of Tang Bai.

That night he had a dream in which his mother had not died and cooked for him every day, and the food was delicious and smelled good.

He grows up according to his parents' expectations and grows up to work as a servant in a nobleman's house, and on his first day he cooks for his master, in which he makes a deviled egg, only to hear his master's soft, prickly voice when he brings it to the table, "Oops, I like the deviled egg in the shape of a heart eh?"

He looked up to see a silver fork resting on his lips and the young nobleman biting into it with a slightly distressed look on his face.

It was a nonsensical dream in which Tang Bai's demands were always so numerous, yet he was not at all angry, even as he was dressing Tang Bai and the pleasure of dressing the doll bubbled up inside him.

The second time I saw Tang Bai was during the cheerleading performance at the entrance ceremony.

He looked over to see Tang Bai at the front of the procession, carrying a basket full of rose petals and wearing the pure white uniform of the School of Etiquette, with her head held high and elegant.

Sunlight poured through the clouds on the teenager's body, making him dazzle to the point of being a luminescent figure.

How can there be a teenager with a smile like a cat?

He saw the beautiful hand grab a handful of rose petals and sprinkle the rich, thick red in a flurry in mid-air!

Xie Ruhang reaches out and catches a flower petal.

When he returned to his dorm room in the evening, he stuck the petal in the pages of his book and listened in silence to his roommates discuss Tang Bai.

"I heard that Tang Bai picked up his rose petals one by one from his garden yard and that he also collected the dew from the petals in the early morning to make some kind of rose cake ......"

"I envy Gu Tunan for having such a good-looking fiancée."

"But Gu Tunan doesn't like Tang Bai and I know a friend who is on duty at the janitor's office who often sees Gu Tunan and Tang Bai late for dates and makes Tang Bai wait half a day."

"No way, if this was my fiancée, I'd spoil him rotten ......"

Xie Ruhang rolled over and lay on his back to read the rose petal stuck in the pages of the book, which happened to have the following passage written on the page.

"I can see her, she is not an unusual rose, she is the only rose in the whole universe."

The third time he saw Tang Bai was in the library of the Federal Military Academy, where he saw him standing in front of a bookshelf with a book, reading a book on mechanical principles and construction with great attention.

He subconsciously held his breath, the only sound around him was the turning of the pages, Tang Bai closed the book and raised her eyes to meet his.

Those amber eyes were smiling like they held a pool of clear water, "Classmate, could you help me with the Energy Vibrations at the top of the bookshelf?"

These were the first words Tang Bai spoke to him.

He took Tang Bai's book for him and Tang Bai smiled and said thank you. Tang Bai had two dimples when she smiled and was very cute.

He stood at the window and watched Tang Bai bouncing along with a stack of books in her arms, not looking at all dignified for the entrance ceremony.

That night, he dreamed again.

I dreamt that Tang Bai asked him for help with the books and when Tang Bai said thank you, he did not remain silent but asked Tang Bai, why do you want to take books on mechanics.

Then they opened up the conversation and he and Tang Bai walked out of the library together, with Tang Bai laughing and talking to him all the way ......

The dream wakes up and it's a new day.

He said to himself that if he ever saw Tang Bai again, he would say one more word to her.

Why are you so obsessed with talking to Tang Bai?

At this time he was not aware of it.

All he knows is that he did not meet Tang Bai again for some time afterwards.

The Etiquette College and the Federal Military Academy were so close together, a block away, that he would walk down that street every day and wonder if he might run into Tang Bai by chance.

But it never was.

He put away that inexplicable anticipation and threw himself into the chief's campaign. The etiquette exam was the part he was least sure of, he had spent the whole day reading books and instructional videos on etiquette, a lot of them, but more parts he hadn't seen.

Sometimes he forgets to eat because he is preparing for exams, and when his stomach starts to feel a bit queasy, he unconsciously remembers Tang Bai's bento that day.

I heard that Tang Bai is a culinary student.

He turned a page of the book and suddenly went off on a tangent for a moment.

If he hadn't hidden his identity, if he had also attended the College of Etiquette, wouldn't he have seen Tang Bai every day?

The mind is full of impractical thoughts.

The chief examination is heavily weighted towards the specialist examinations and one of the tests requires students to prepare their own mechs.

The stronger the mech, the better. For example, Gu Tunan had a custom-made mech made by a master mech builder, and even his roommate, who was a civilian, had a second-tier mech builder create a special mech design.

This caused him some anxiety.

In fact, he had an advanced mech, the Long Night, but it was the special mech of the Rat, the underground arena, and if he used it, he would have revealed his identity.

The status of underground arena racer is not on the table and is not conducive to the chief's ballot session.

By chance, he learned of the existence of the Mechanical Coffin and went to the black market to buy an account to see if he could find a suitable mech drawing on the Coffin.

After browsing around, he could not find a better mech drawing than the Long Night, so with the intention of trying it out, he chose to post in the Mechanical Coffin's internal communication forum, looking for a mech with a high degree of freedom in the free operation mode.

He was contacted by a mech builder.

The mech builder's use of neural link technology in the free mode of operation was very appealing to him, but at the same time the mech design drawings were too expensive for him to afford.

He tried to haggle with the mech builder and the other man said stinkingly, "I wouldn't want to sell you such an excellent piece of work for that price if I wasn't worried that it would never see the light of day for the rest of my life."

For a moment, he actually heard petulance in the passage? Must have been a hallucination from the rabbit shape he saw ......

Xie Ruhang replied, "The price is really out of my price range, plus if you make the actual mech according to this drawing, the production cost is also far more than the same level of mech, can you cut out some parts, such as the mech auxiliary mode can be completely discarded, and some parts are not really necessary to use high grade materials, such as the rabbit shape you designed, the piece of rabbit tail It's useless except for aesthetics ......"

Opponent: "You can't discard the mecha assist mode, and you can't remove the rabbit tail, it's not as cute if you do."

Xie Ruhang lapsed into silence.

He just wants a mech, why does he care if it's cute or not, does it affect his ability to drive it and beat people up?

He tried to turn the mech builder's mind around by telling the other man that the most important thing about mechs was not their appearance but their performance, and that most mechs like those in the underground arena were plain and simple and could fight.

Like a curious baby, the seller inquired about the existence of a black market in his underground arena, but in the end, he still insisted, "I designed it originally to build a cute mech that could be used by omega, the mech assist mode can't be discarded, and neither can the cute bunny shape, sorry."

A mecha that even omega can use?

He froze.

It turns out that the mecha assist mode is designed to allow most omega's to pilot mechs as well, so is the rabbit shape also a challenge to the mecha stereotype?

"Is this your philosophy of weapons? Of all the weapons created for combat, only you have designed them from the perspective of all humanity, regardless of gender or sexuality. You are the first designer in interstellar history to link the omega to the mech, and you deserve respect. Perhaps I have had the privilege of witnessing the birth of a mech design worthy of the history books, and your ideas will surely bring about a sea change, a landmark sea change, in interstellar mech manufacturing."

There was a moment of silence on the other side and suddenly he said, "Even if you blow rainbow farts I won't budge! At most, I'll give you a 10% discount!"

Rainbow farts?

Xie Ruhang said seriously, "I'm not bragging about you, you are the one who deserves such a rating. I believe that only the most fraternal of people could design such a mech, and you are setting a new example for the world of interstellar civilisation."

"Okay, okay, okay, okay, I'll give you 20% off, okay?"

"Don't blow it off don't blow it off, I'm really going to lose money on the sale if I discount again."

"Huh, no, I gave you so much of a discount, you should have complimented me more or I'd have lost my blood."

......

This is how he met the maverick mech builder, they had a lot in common, they could talk all night and he saw other creations of the mech builder, such as an energy gun in the shape of a sunflower.

Although the other party did not reveal personal information, he guessed that the other party should be a noble omega.

How could an omega be a mech builder when this speculation might not be believed by others?

But he believed.

Because he is an omega, he is an omega mech and he believes in the abilities of omegas.

The other party does not actively mention gender, and he does not deliberately ask about it; he treats this mech builder as a close friend.

The fourth time he met Tang Bai, he did not actually recognise her at first.

He had just come out of the ring that day, his human mask still on his face, and he was walking alone in an alley when he saw someone sneaking around following a man in a dark blue cloak.

The man looked like a fat sheep, his clothes were of good material, his shoes were clean, and he was so unfamiliar with the slums that he had to look around after a few steps.

Not one to meddle, Xie Ruhang gave a faint look and was about to withdraw his eyes when he suddenly saw the man take a few steps and bounce across in front of a puddle of water.

Unexplained familiarity.

When the attacker raised his energy gun, a light flashed in Xie Ruhang's mind, and the figure in front of him was exactly the same as the one he had been looking at in the library that day.

He saved Tang Bai.