Vicious male counterpart isn’t competing anymore [Rebirth]

Chapter 117.1 Old Pang’s request

Editor: Jodi

At five in the afternoon, He Shao finally made it back to the dorm, completely worn out, and collapsed onto his bed as soon as he walked in.

“I’m so wiped out.” He Shao mumbled, face buried in his pillow. With a little kick, his shoes tumbled onto the floor.

“What happened to you? Why are you so exhausted?” Yan Hao asked with concern, walking over to him.

“I was helping them test their mech.” He Shao responded.

Them?

“How many partners did you pair up with?” Yan Hao questioned.

He Shao lazily lifted a hand, showing five fingers.

“But didn’t you say you’d pair up with at most three?” Before leaving, He Shao had mentioned to Yan Hao that he was rather lazy and would prefer to pair up with just three partners. Any more than that would be too much to handle.

“They said that they’re part of a small squad and that they go on missions together, so they wanted to pair up with the same mech builder.” He Shao explained.

“Then why didn’t you switch?” Yan Hao asked, puzzled.

“Because… their squad leader is just too handsome.” He Shao grumbled. “Alluring faces are the death of me.”

“….” Yan Hao.

“Have you had dinner yet?” Yan Hao asked.

“Nope.”

“They didn’t invite you to dinner?” Yan Hao asked, surprised. Usually, a mech warrior would have dinner with a newly paired mech builder on the first day to build rapport. Even more so considering how worn out He Shao was from testing their mech.

“I turned them down.” He Shao complained. “Do you know how terrifying they are? They had already rented a maintenance room before pairing, and as soon as lunch was over, they had me start working on their mech. I only managed to get through three this afternoon. If I had gone to dinner with them, I wouldn’t have been back before midnight.”

He regretted letting his guard down and signing up with a five-person team.

Hearing this, Yan Hao couldn’t help but smile. “Do you want me to help?”

Cheng Wenkang’s mech was brand new and had no damage, and Sheng Heng was still stationed with the War God Legion, so he was a little free.

He Shao’s eyes lit up at the offer, then he shook his head, “There’s no need. If I rely on your help now, what will I do during real combat assessments when you’re not around? I need to try and adapt on my own.”

“Then I’ll go and get you some food.” Yan Hao offered, seeing how utterly exhausted He Shao looked.

“Xiao Hao, I love you.” He Shao shouted dramatically.

Yan Hao’s ears turned red at that, a hint of envy tugging at his heart. How could He Shao casually toss around such passionate words? Even when confessing his feelings, all he had managed to say was that he liked Senior Sheng.

Am I, not passionate enough?

Lost in thought, he went to the cafeteria, bought food, and went back to the dorm to have dinner with He Shao and by the time he returned, He Shao was up and about, freshly showered, and looked much more refreshed.

“Right, how much are you planning to sell your energy block converter for?” He Shao casually asked while they were eating.

“I did some calculations this afternoon. The material cost isn’t very high, so about 20,000 starcoins.” Yan Hao replied.

“That cheap?” He Shao’s eyes widened, forgetting about his food. “Did you forget to include your labor and development costs?”

“I’ve been thinking about that. I’m not sure how to price it yet.” Yan Hao admitted.

“What’s so hard about that? Just price it as a level seven component.” He Shao suggested.

“The energy block converter is just a common metal box, and not even a rare metal at that, with some circuits arranged inside. Isn’t pricing it as a level seven component a bit too steep?” Yan Hao wondered.

“What you have is something that’s priceless. Its value isn’t in the raw materials, but in your creation. Besides, you’re a disciple of Old Zhong and Old Pang. Given your status, pricing it as a level seven component isn’t expensive.” He Shao reasoned, before adding, “Oh, and before you start selling it, register a patent to prevent others from plagiarizing your design.”

It had to be said, He Shao had a much better business acumen than Yan Hao.

After considering in silence for a while, Yan Hao shook his head, “Never mind, I won’t register a patent.”

He Shao looked at Yan Hao in confusion.

Yan Hao smiled, asking, “Do you want to learn?”

“Learn what?”

“The method of making the energy block converter.”

“!!” He Shao felt that Yan Hao’s idea wasn’t right. “You’re not only refusing to register a patent to prevent others from plagiarizing, but you’re also thinking about actively teaching me? You’re not thinking about contributing for free again, are you?”

He Shao had seen Yan Hao do something like this before, with the advanced sedative formula model and Master Pharmacist Little Cutie.

“I told you before, when I was coming back from the front line with Master, we encountered a zerg siege.” Yan Hao started.

He Shao nodded. The video of Sheng Heng coming to their rescue had been trending on Starnet, how could he not know?

“That battle affected me greatly. The professors have always told us in class that mech builders are the protectors of mech warriors. I remembered it, but I didn’t really understand it until I witnessed the battle myself.” Yan Hao continued. “Like how I could only wait inside the spaceship for someone to come to the rescue, once mech warriors enter the battlefield, the only thing they can rely on is the mech they’re piloting. The stronger the mech, the higher their chances of survival.”

“Actually, the conversion rate of the energy block converter isn’t high, and high-level weapons are very expensive. I initially thought this thing wasn’t practical. But I changed my mind later. Whether it’s practical or not isn’t important. As long as it exists and it can help even one person, it’s valuable.” This reminded him of the mimetic mech. Old Zhong didn’t think it was practical, so he didn’t sell it. But who could have imagined that he himself would be saved by that seemingly impractical mimetic mech?

And there was a fundamental difference between the energy block converter and the mimetic mech: the difficulty of creation. The mimetic mech required high technical support and systemic knowledge to produce, but for the energy block converter, one only needed to understand the circuit diagram inside, then any other mech builder could produce it.

“So, I don’t want to price it too high. I want everyone who can afford it to be able to use it.” Yan Hao stated.

He Shao listened, silent for a long while, and then murmured, “Is this the difference between ordinary people and great people?”

Why did he only see money? Their perspectives were so different.

“What are you talking about? I just think I’m not short of money, there’s no need to sell it at such a high price.” Yan Hao was struck by He Shao’s comment about ‘great people’.

“Your explanation makes it much easier for me to understand.” Although he was still being shown off to.

“So, do you want to learn it?” Yan Hao asked.

“I want to.” He Shao was now partnered with mech warriors as well. Although he didn’t think as broadly and far ahead as Yan Hao, for the sake of his five mech warriors, he had to learn.

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