Chapter 235: Reorganization I
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lian Yue was a genius in mechanics - such was Shang’s conclusion. Rarely did Shang offer such high praise for any one person, so Lian Yue must be the real thing. Ye Chong no longer concerned himself with Coxcomb’s engines. Better to let the expert onboard handle it rather than someone amateur like him.
Ye Chong was trying to figure out how to improve Han Jia. While Han Jia performed well, it was only on par with Darklight. Shang mentioned that there were many other more powerful mechs. More importantly, Ye Chong noticed the disparity between Overwing and Han Jia.
This made Ye Chong feel a great sense of urgency and danger.
Ye Chong believed that full-skeleton mechs could do so much more, and there should be space for improvement. For starters, the mech should have better automotive power. Without a good engine, Ye Chong would be limited in the mech. Han Jia was now using the engine from Yu Di. In fact, the engine had performed well, but compared to Overwing, it was still not good enough.
Speed was crucial, often deciding the fate of the mech pilot.
However, this was not an easy problem to solve. Ye Chong was not familiar with engines. It was an entirely different field for him.
In other aspects, like the mech’s structure, reaction speed and protective armor, Ye Chong could offer more improvements. In reality, Black Cove’s mechs were the simplest amongst the Three Forces. However, this did not mean that they were less powerful, since that was a matter of the mech’s battle capacity.
Ye Chong’s experience fighting with the Darklight mech told him that experts were more well versed with their weapons. The Darklight mech had blocked almost all of his own attacks with that pair of crescent blades. Ye Chong’s strategy was decidedly different - he would often block attacks with different parts of his mech. This was related to the training he grew up with. On the trash planet, before he found Mu and Shang, all his combat strategies were self taught from experience. They continued to heavily influence him today. Luo Wei, on the other hand, received training from Black Cove’s system since young, so he was already used to that combat strategy.
To Ye Chong, after a certain level of proficiency, mech pilots would be differentiated by their physical prowess and combat insights. Advanced mechs moved faster, and required advanced maneuvering skills. The stress on the human body would also be heavier. For example, Han Jia’s high speed abrupt direction adjustments could squash the heart of an ordinary mech pilot.
Hand speed was also another factor. When a mech changed course, the mech pilot must be able to enter the commands fast enough. In reality, this was an important barrier that prevented mech pilots from advancing further.
Of course, these were all skills. Having them did not mean that the mech pilot was excellent. Making the right calls based on the circumstances, predicting the opponent’s next step, quick strategizing for battle and so on were all inner qualities of a good mech pilot.
Ye Chong possessed all these qualities. His body was strong, and he had never really reached his physical limit. At least, Ye Chong never had any bad experience from piloting mechs. As for Ye Chong’s hand speed, it was mostly the mechs he used that limited his piloting. Ye Chong would only move his hands at his fastest when in danger, and often in those cases, he would find his mech unable to keep up with him.
In terms of skills, Ye Chong possessed enough of them to warrant him for a more advanced mech.
However, Ye Chong could not for the moment think of any other mech better than Han Jia that was suitable for him, other than the ones from Black Cove.
Would Black Cove give one to him? That would be laughable. Black Cove would not negotiate, but Ye Chong himself was also not someone keen in using words to solve problems. If there was any way to procure a Black Cove advanced level mech, Ye Chong would definitely strive to achieve it. However, Black Cove was too strong for him.
For some reason, he had offended all of the Three Forces. It seemed that only the Freedom Alliance was the only power that he was not involved with.
Ye Chong shook his head and dismissed all these impractical ideas. Better for him to make his own modifications on Han Jia. It was a pity that the mech was limited by its skeleton materials. Skeletons were in some sense a one-time material - once it was shaped, there was not much room for adjustments.
If Ye Chong was not satisfied with Han Jia, he would have to redesign and rebuild the mech. He still had many skeletons materials, and most of them of high quality, with excellent properties. After such a long time, he had many new ideas. However, without a good engine, all of them would be worthless.
In the end, Ye Chong reluctantly set aside his project.
These days, Lian Yue seemed to have received some kind of shock. Every day, he would stare sharply at the holographic screen with reddened eyes, mostly in a trance. Ye Chong took a glance, and found the holographic screen to be filled with all sorts of engine schematics.
Lian Yue would occasionally laugh madly, his handsome features distorted into a pitiful state. Even his gleaming, delicate eyes were now often in a daze. Saliva would drip from the edge of his mouth without him noticing.
The man was obviously not normal. Aside from Shang occasionally entering the room, Ye Chong and Zhu Ling kept away from him. Fortunately, whether it was the mech or the humans onboard Coxcomb, they were all psychologically strong, else the intermittent eerie laughters coming from metals laboratory would have scared the living daylights out of them.
Ye Chong considered his next steps.
First, he must fix Coxcomb’s engines, or they would not be able to go anywhere. Now, he must wait for Shang to lay out the general reparation and modification plans.
Ye Chong believed that Lian Yue was definitely capable, but he also knew that what Shang had in his database was very little compared to the vast amount of information available in the Five Galaxies. No matter how good Lian Yue was, he might not be able to do much in the meantime.
As for how Shang managed to convince him to cooperate, Ye Chong believed it would not be an issue. No one understood better than him of Shang’s prowess in the realm of psychology. In this field, Shang was definitely far superior than Ye Chong. Ye Chong did not know what Shang had offered to Lian Yue, but he would not waste time to find out more.
Once Coxcomb was repaired, Ye Chong planned to head straight to planet Ming Hong, and find out the truth about Papa.