Chapter 26: Chapter 24 Part-Time Job of a High-Rank Mecha Pilot (1)
In this world, renting a house.
Bai Ying had already cleaned the room spotlessly, completing all the work.
She stood motionless by the sofa, maintaining absolute quiet.
It wasn't until the rift opened and a figure fell from it that she started to speak with a smile.
"Welcome...?!"
Wait a second?
At this moment, in Bai Ying's view, time seemed to come to a sudden stop.
She could see Jiang Chen, who was falling, was not dressed in his Mecha as he would have been when entering the abyss, but was instead bare-chested, his body smeared with copious amounts of dark red bloodstains and flecks of flesh.
However, Bai Ying's scan revealed that these dark red bloodstains and flecks of flesh originated from the monsters of the Age-Old Shadow, now dissolving into abyss atmosphere.
Not a single wound could be found on his body.
Having confirmed Jiang Chen's safety, Bai Ying relaxed and slowed down part of her thought processes.
Time seemed to flow once again.
Jiang Chen landed in the room, hearing Bai Ying's voice.
"Welcome home, sir."
"Let's talk later!"
Jiang Chen immediately entered the bathroom, washing all the filth away and changed into clean clothes.
Even though these blood and flesh stains were the product of the Age-Old Shadow.
After returning to this world, they would naturally disintegrate and disappear, leaving no residue.
But theory aside, it was still disgusting.
Taking a shower upon return made one feel more comfortable.
"As strong as my talent is, tearing apart monsters with bare hands all day is a bit unsanitary."
Jiang Chen, drying his hair, walked out of the bathroom.
He noticed Bai Ying's gaze in the living room and casually explained.
"My mecha pilot talent is quite special, allowing me to gain strength equivalent to a Mecha, so I tend to fight quite boldly..."
"You don't need to worry about it, you'll get used to it."
All mecha pilots knew that an SSS-class rookie possessed an exceptionally superior talent far beyond ordinary people.
This was something that couldn't possibly be concealed.
Furthermore, after Jiang Chen absorbed the power of a Mecha and enhanced his physical strength, there would be many obvious characteristics that also couldn't be completely hidden.
He simply spoke of it openly.
After all, talent was different from the Supercharge Module.
It was a personal, absolutely unstealable characteristic of the soul; others knowing about it could only lead to envy and jealousy, not other ideas.
Of course, just like all mecha pilots.
Jiang Chen would only show some characteristics of his talent and wouldn't fully reveal his talent information to others.
Like now, his words merely confirmed Bai Ying's thoughts.
He didn't reveal any additional information; rather, he concealed the upper limit of [Undying Barehand].
"I understand, sir. Your mecha pilot talent is of the physical enhancement type."
Bai Ying nodded.
Mecha pilots with physical enhancement talents tended to have a more unrestrained fighting style and didn't care much about damage to their Mecha.
As an SSS-class rookie, Jiang Chen's strength was probably much greater than that of a Mecha, so it was quite normal for him not to wear one.
There was no need to be surprised by this in the future.
Talent belonged to a mecha pilot's personal privacy.
Bai Ying had no intention of prying further.
Jiang Chen also didn't continue explaining but brought up another matter.
"Bai Ying, does Senior Ruan know any high rank enhancement engineers?"
"Could you tell Senior Ruan to introduce me to one? I would like to enhance my Mecha... It's too weak right now."
Jiang Chen had originally planned to clear the abyss first, to accumulate more contributions before looking for a high rank enhancement engineer to enhance his Mecha.
But after experiencing the simple difficulty of the Endless Demons Realm dungeon, he changed his mind.
It was too slow.
Although as a future warrior, Jiang Chen had an infinite future ahead,
his current combat effectiveness was far from being as strong as the Symbol of the Alliance of the same period.
The latter could just load a set of modules, become supercharged, and start overpowering the Nightmare difficulty level.
Jiang Chen, facing just the simple difficulty, had to spend dozens of minutes.
The difference was too glaring.
Moreover, the output from the lower levels of the abyss just wasn't worth much.
Even with Jiang Chen's almost infinite growth potential, his start-up speed was significantly slowed down as a result.
I wondered how many times the armor would have to be expanded before it could withstand a solo journey into the abyss.
"Although the loot from copies on the simple difficulty level is already sufficient for me to repair the Mecha, theoretically speaking, as long as I keep cycling through, I can grow..."
"But the increments are just too small."
"Even as a repair engineer, fixing a Mecha takes time, especially one that's completely broken—it requires several hours of repair at least."
"With the attributes of a 0th Rank Mecha already so high, I can only add so few points in a day."
"In comparison, if I enhance the Mecha to the pinnacle of 0th Rank, doubling its attributes, it's as though I've also doubled the speed of my growth."
"If I achieve a Mecha upgrade, improving the attributes and quality of the Mecha, one instance of expanded armor could give me tens of times the attributes I'm getting now!"
"Isn't one bout of expanded armor, which is equivalent to tens of regular increments, much faster than piling up attributes bit by bit?"
Therefore, Jiang Chen planned to first find an enhancement engineer to enhance his Mecha and then continue to accumulate attribute growth.
As for the issue of payment...
He had initially planned to pay normally.
But now, he was ready to find an angel investor.
I am an SSS-class rookie in urgent need of resources to grow. As long as you enhance my Mecha for free, once I become a 1st Rank mecha pilot, I will definitely assist you in creating a Supercharge Module and set you on an invincible path!
Should be more believable than "I am Emperor Qin," right?
All these were considerations Jiang Chen had while showering.
Just as he had finished thinking, he heard Bai Ying's response.
"Master, you are an enhancement engineer. All these Mechas have been maintained and enhanced by you."
...
"You want to enhance your Mecha? You should have said so earlier."
"You've already prepared the materials. If I help you enhance to the limit first, it wouldn't get so damaged in the abyss."
"That's not right either. You major mecha pilots who focus on yourselves in battle don't really care about the feelings of the Mecha. Even if I enhance it for you, it's likely to get damaged anyway..."
Bai Ying established contact with Senior Ruan.
Soon, her appearance changed from a little girl to a woman wearing a bright yellow long dress, signaling that the account owner was online through a remote connection.
When Senior Ruan heard the request, she couldn't help but make a few teasing remarks.
Jiang Chen felt a little embarrassed.
"I've already spent all my contributions to purchase materials."
"And I didn't know that Senior Ruan was an enhancement engineer..."
"No, I'm just doing it part-time."
Ruan Mingyu shook her head.
"Furthermore, you might not know this, but nearly all high rank mecha pilots also work part-time as enhancement engineers and repair engineers."
"Among them, a number of high rank mecha pilots even double as smiths, specially crafting equipment for themselves."
"What?"
Jiang Chen was somewhat surprised.
Ruan Mingyu said seriously.
"You should know that during Mecha Enhancement, in order to bring out the full potential and effect, one must have a deep understanding of the characteristics of both the Mecha and the materials..."
"In this world, who could know a Mecha better than the mecha pilot him or herself?"
"Secondly, Mechas might seem like inanimate objects, but they actually have souls."
"Including Bai Ying, she herself has a mecha soul. The intelligence module has merely released her soul and provided a means of expression."
"Therefore, the process of mecha pilots repairing their Mechas is also the process of communicating with the mecha soul, which can balance the state of the Mecha and meld with the modules..."
"All of these are required courses for high rank mecha pilots."
"For other rookies, perhaps they don't need to worry about these."
"But you are different."
"Although it might be a bit early for you now, it would be best for you to learn about repair and enhancement in your spare time, to prepare for enhancing your own Mecha in the future."
Are all high rank mecha pilots supposed to enhance their Mechas themselves?
Jiang Chen nodded his head.
It made sense. Even the most skilled enhancement engineer wouldn't understand a Mecha as well as its pilot, and their ideas would be different.
It's better to do it yourself rather than telling someone else how to do it.
However, Jiang Chen's thoughts hadn't changed.
As Senior Ruan said, he was not even a 1st Rank mecha pilot yet, and considering these matters was too premature. At most, he would just observe and learn.
If he were to start directly, he would waste the potential of the Supercharge Module.
Besides, the trait [Origin of Life], although it has the effect of Mecha Soul Perception, is not the best choice.
Otherwise, as a mandatory trait for high rank mecha pilots, it wouldn't be valued at just thirty thousand contributions.
If Jiang Chen were to take on enhancement and repair as part-time jobs, he would choose the best traits!
"Let's fix and enhance your Mecha first."
"Come to Xuntian City to find me. We have suitable grounds and equipment here."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone