A Chemist's Interstellar Saga

Chapter 76: Errand Girl
Chapter 76: Errand Girl

Before long, Magen brought Arix to a repair room that was clearly larger than the previous one.

Stopping at the entrance, Arix curiously looked inside and saw a 6-meter-tall dark blue mecha in the center of the room. The mecha’s paint was almost completely peeled off, and its body was in terrible condition.

Just one look made Arix think that this mecha was one step away from being scrapped.

However, even though it looked like junk, it was still a precious treasure for the army.

Arix thought about how she would soon get to work on the mecha up close, and her excitement made her fingers tremble slightly.

Magen noticed Arix’s excitement and raised an eyebrow. ”I haven’t asked yet, what’s your major? Are you from the Department of Mecha Manufacture?”

Arix nodded vigorously. ”Yes.”

”Good. I’ll leave this mecha to you. Make sure to clean it thoroughly. Remove the damaged parts and, if you can, try to replace them. There are new parts in this Space Button. I’ll leave it to you. I have other things to do.” Magen said, tossing a Space Button to Arix before walking away casually.

Arix stood there, thinking, ’Why do I feel like I’ve been brought here to go on errands?’

But such kind of errands was just what she needed. She wouldn’t mind doing it even if there were more.

Meanwhile, Magen ran into a mecha technician coming out of another repair room.

Surprisingly, Magen, who looked like a janitor, did not eagerly greet the technician. Instead, the technician placed his right hand over his chest and gave a respectful salute. Magen nodded in return.

”Director, is there something wrong with the cleaning again?” the mecha technician guessed, seeing Magen holding a vacuum.

”I’m about to talk to the head of cleaning. They keep adding strange functions to the cleaning robots. I want them to clean, not go out and fight insectoids!” Magen said, gritting his teeth with anger.

Magen wasn’t some neat freak, he just couldn’t stand seeing dirty or messy places.

The mecha technician almost laughed but held it in. Pretending to agree seriously, he said, ”Right, who thought it was a good idea to put missiles on cleaning robots?”

”Exactly! Don’t they have anything else to do? I’ll give them more work to do, and they’ll lose their monthly break.” Magen said fiercely.

”Why not dock their pay?” the mecha technician asked curiously.

Magen rolled his eyes. ”With the salaries we get in the Mecha Department, it’s barely enough to live on. Docking pay would be too cruel.”

The technician nodded in silence.

”Alright, alright, I’m off. Oh, by the way, about Bernanke’s repair room. He’s off today, right? When he comes in tomorrow, let him know I found him an assistant, but he should also double-check the mecha himself,” Magen quickly added, almost forgetting.

’An assistant?’ The mecha technician didn’t quite understand what the director meant but decided not to think too deeply about it. He nodded and said, ”Alright, sir.”

”Good,” Magen replied, then headed off to find the head of cleaning.

In the repair room, Arix stood in front of the battered mecha, carefully examining the various terrifying scars on its body for a long time. Despite its severe damage, the mecha still gave off a cold, powerful, and reassuring feeling.

Arix stared at it with fascination, placing her hand on the mecha’s body, as if she could feel the brutal battles it had endured before being brought here.

After a moment of excitement, Arix finally tore her eyes away from the mecha.

She spoke softly to the mecha, regardless of whether it could hear her, ”I will fix you up well. I guarantee you’ll return to the battlefield, strong and brave!”

With that, Arix rolled up her sleeves, grabbed a cloth and a bucket. She decided to start by cleaning the mecha’s dirt and grime.

Before beginning, Arix released Cupid and the others from her Space Button. She then instructed the three little ones, ”I’m going to start working. You guys can hang out, but remember not to leave the room.”

”Okay, Arix. Are you going to clean this big guy? We can help you,” Cupid asked sweetly.

”No need, I can do it. Cupid, if you’re bored, you can keep gnawing on the Insectoid Cores,” Arix said, handing her Space Button to Cupid.

”Yay!” Cupid nodded excitedly.

Carefully holding the Space Button in its mouth, Cupid hopped onto a nearby table and happily started eating the cores.

”Arix, let me help you. It’ll be too slow with just one person,” Vita insisted.

Seeing Vita’s determined expression, Arix didn’t argue and instead responded fondly, ”Thank you, Vita.”

As for Sophia, she didn’t return to the psychic world this time but also didn’t seem interested in helping with the cleaning. She had climbed onto the mecha and was walking around, occasionally stopping to use her psychic powers to probe something.

Arix assumed she was just having fun and didn’t say anything. After wetting and wringing out two cloths, she handed one to Vita.

Vita firmly gripped the cloth with her furry paws. Then she jumped onto the mecha and began diligently cleaning the dirt.

Watching Vita adorably cleaning, Arix felt her heart melt. She secretly opened her opticomputer and took several photos before finally smiling in satisfaction.

Closing her opticomputer, Arix then focused seriously on cleaning the mecha’s dirt and grime.

The mechas were such complex technology, yet the way to clean them was surprisingly raw. Arix, after a busy morning, started to dismantle the damaged parts inside the mecha.

After spending an hour taking it apart, Arix heard Sophia’s calm and steady voice.

”The converter is broken too,” Sophia said.

Arix looked at Sophia in surprise. Then, without questioning, Arix went to the center of the mecha on the lift.

Opening the outer layer of the mecha, Arix took out the converter. Then Arix used psychic power to scan inside carefully.

Arix saw a small wire was broken inside the converter. Although it was a minor issue, it could make the mecha’s movements less smooth.

”Sophia, you’re amazing!” Arix confirmed, giving Sophia a thumbs up.

”Hmph!” Sophia lifted her head proudly, pretending not to care, but her little tail wagged happily behind her.

”The driver is old, though not broken. I suggest replacing it,” Sophia said.

”Alright, take it out,” Arix agreed immediately.

Then, Sophia pointed out a few more hidden places, and Arix took them apart one by one.

When Sophia finally stopped talking, Arix breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t realized she missed so many places.

If Arix scored 90, Sophia added 10 more points.

That was impressive.

Now Arix started to take Sophia’s words seriously. Sophia might not be able to build a mecha, but her understanding of them was no less than Arix’s.

Arix mainly relied on Old Arix’s memories and her own recent studies about mechas.

But now it seemed Sophia, who had never actually worked with mechas, was better.

It was like Sophia had a natural talent for mechas.

Arix looked at Sophia with increasing excitement, scheming in her mind.

Sophia felt a chill for no reason. Then she noticed Arix watching her. Sophia nervously swallowed and asked, ”Why are you looking at me?”

Arix quickly changed her eager expression to a harmless smile. ”I just think you’re really amazing, Sophia. There are so many things I don’t understand. Would you mind teach me?”

Arix put on a scared-to-be-rejected face, looking at Sophia with a pitiful expression. She even blinked her eyes, like a teenager’s rough attempt to hit on a guy in a bar.

Sophia rolled her eyes and cringed a bit. Unable to bear it, she quickly said, ”I’ll teach you, just act normal, or I’ll puke.”

With that, Sophia gagged a bit.

Arix secretly rolled her eyes and huffed, silently accusing Sophia for not recognizing her charm.

Despite her thoughts, Arix showed a deeply moved expression and sweetly added, ”Sophia, you’re the best! I like you the most, mwah...”

”If you keep talking, I won’t teach you anymore!” Sophia said fiercely, but her tail was wagging like a happy fan, and even her fluffy face had a shy blush.

Arix raised her eyebrows, understanding but not commenting on it, and obediently replied, ”Okay, I won’t say anymore.”

”Hmph!” Sophia snorted coldly.

Then she started carefully guiding Arix on installing the new components on the mecha. For some parts that were missing, Arix even got them from her Space Button and installed them.

They worked busily the whole afternoon. When the last part was in place, Arix applied a layer of anti-radiation paint to the mecha. Only then was the repair officially finished.