Meng Huai was unaware of the immense stir she had caused, nor that a dean was willing to make an exception for her.
For the past few days, Meng Huai had been attending classes with considerable success, feeling as though she had gained some basic understanding of mecha construction.
A few days later, she returned to the training room to continue her practice. Ju Yiqiu was pleasantly surprised to see her.
"Meng Huai, you're finally attending class! I was so bored without you."
Ju Yiqiu had not integrated into any other small groups since the start of the semester, making her close only to Meng Huai. With Meng Huai spending her days in the Mecha Engineering department, Ju Yiqiu had been utterly bored.
Li Wei would naturally not pay her any mind. He was already a taciturn and aloof individual, and in his determination to be admitted into Class One of the single-soldier program again, to prove his doubters wrong, Li Wei was pushing himself to the limit.
"Isn't the test date approaching soon? We have to practice well," Meng Huai said with a smile.
Ju Yiqiu nodded. Although she wasn't as diligent as Li Wei, she also wanted to give it her best shot.
"By the way, how have you been learning recently? Is it very difficult? Are you finding it hard to persevere?"
Li Wei, having finished a round of practice, overheard their conversation and interjected, "I heard from Gu Ping that the teacher in the engineering department has a pretty high opinion of you?"
Ju Yiqiu's eyes widened in astonishment. "Really? Oh my, Meng Huai, you're amazing!" she exclaimed excitedly.
Meng Huai felt it was nothing significant and simply waved her hand. She then said to Ju Yiqiu, "How has your practice been recently? Want to spar and test your recent training results?"
Ju Yiqiu felt she had been practicing diligently and agreed, thinking she could give it a try. "Sure."
Meng Huai walked towards an A-grade mecha. Ju Yiqiu, thinking Meng Huai hadn't practiced much in the past few days, assumed she was mistaking it for a B-grade mecha.
"Meng Huai, this is an A-grade mecha. The one next to it is the B-grade," Ju Yiqiu reminded her.
Li Wei, seeing the two preparing for a mecha duel, watched them with great interest.
"I know," Meng Huai replied. "I can operate this A-grade mecha too."
Her statement left both of them in disbelief. "What?"
"Are you kidding me?"
Meng Huai nonchalantly said, "No, I tried it a few days ago. The B-grade mecha's response was too slow, so I tried the A-grade mecha. As it turns out, my sensory perception wasn't damaged as you all said."
Meng Huai's words overturned years of their understanding. Li Wei exclaimed excitedly, "That's impossible! No one can operate a mecha beyond their grade."
Meng Huai walked to the A-grade mecha and said, "Let me try it for you. There's no problem."
With that, Meng Huai easily sat inside the mecha and began to operate it. Even simple movements like walking or waving required sensory input. Therefore, completing such basic actions indicated that Meng Huai could indeed operate the mecha.
Ju Yiqiu covered her mouth in astonishment. "Meng Huai, are you really B-grade in perception? Are you sure the test wasn't wrong?"
Li Wei nodded in agreement. "I think so too."
Although Li Wei was present when Meng Huai was tested, he now felt it must have been a problem with the sensory test when he saw her operating the A-grade mecha. "That must be it, it must be!"
Meng Huai, unsure of what was happening, scratched her head. "Is that so?"
Meng Huai pondered. The original owner of her body had tested as B-grade during her perception test. Could her arrival have changed something? Or had some of her actions upgraded her perception?
Never mind.
Meng Huai said to Ju Yiqiu, "Don't worry about it. Let's practice first."
Ju Yiqiu nodded. "Alright, but we still need to test it again sometime. However, the school's machines are usually only available to new students upon enrollment, and there's no regulation allowing older students to test."
Li Wei suggested, "Why don't we go to the hospital to get tested?"
Meng Huai, ever the frugal one, asked, "Does it cost money?"
Li Wei thought for a moment. He wasn't from a top-tier wealthy family, but he never lacked money. Li Wei searched for hospitals on Capital Star that could test sensory perception and their fees.
He quickly found a result. "The closest hospital to our school can test perception. Let me see how much it costs."
Li Wei continued, "It's ten thousand star coins."
Upon hearing the price, Meng Huai blurted out, "Never mind, I won't get tested then. It's fine as it is."
Ju Yiqiu and Li Wei, knowing Meng Huai's disposition, didn't try to persuade her.
Ju Yiqiu also sat into a mecha, operated it casually, and said, "Let's go."
Meng Huai made a nodding motion with her mecha, indicating she was ready. Seeing that Meng Huai had no intention of initiating the attack, Ju Yiqiu stepped forward and charged at her.
The training room was quite spacious, designed for students' practice. Ju Yiqiu had not only touched mechas after entering school, so she was full of confidence. She felt she had more experience than Meng Huai and that with Meng Huai not practicing much recently, defeating her would be a simple matter.
However, as she approached Meng Huai's mecha and extended her arm to throw a punch, Meng Huai executed a shoulder throw, sending her flying.
How to describe it? The difference in skill was too vast; there was no challenge.
Ju Yiqiu's movements appeared to Meng Huai in slow motion.
Without much effort, Meng Huai threw Ju Yiqiu to the ground. She instinctively softened her movements, so Ju Yiqiu didn't feel much.
Of course, mentally, she was still quite defeated.
Meng Huai helped Ju Yiqiu, along with her mecha, to stand up and asked, "Are you alright?"
Ju Yiqiu sat there, covering her face, and whispered, "Let me have a moment."
...
After a brief moment of composure, Ju Yiqiu, realizing she was no match, dismounted from the mecha.
She ecstatically hugged Meng Huai's mecha. "Meng Huai, how are you so powerful! Oh my goodness."
Meng Huai didn't want to discourage Ju Yiqiu, so she didn't reply. In her opinion, Ju Yiqiu was far too weak.
Even the simulated combat soldiers were about ten times stronger than Ju Yiqiu, Meng Huai thought. She patted Ju Yiqiu's shoulder and said, "Keep practicing diligently, and you can do it too!"
Hey, isn't that psychological manipulation!
Li Wei, seeing Meng Huai's actions and unaware of her true capabilities, also wanted to test her.
He said, "Shall we try each other?"
Meng Huai was thrilled to have Li Wei want to spar with her. She had been looking for someone to practice with.
Li Wei also selected an A-grade mecha. For sparring, if he used the Double S mecha, it would defeat the purpose of practice. Moreover, there were no Double S mechas in the training room. Regarding the upcoming test, he had to figure something out.
While the school provided mechas for students who didn't own one, he was currently in the logistics department. The logistics department could only provide him with A-grade mechas. If he participated in the test using an A-grade mecha, forget about Class One of the single-soldier program.
After all, even if everyone had Double S-grade capabilities, if others used Double S mechas while he used an A-grade mecha, the competition would be uneven.
Although strength could overcome everything, the mecha was also a part of one's strength!