There were four days of rest between the third and fourth rounds, which meant that the fourth round would take place on November 10.
Aside from training with Cheng Yi during this four-day break, An Yan also found time to have a few discussions with Ren Bo and Zhang Lei on mecha design and manufacturing.
Normally, the mecha builder would come in only when the mecha design was almost complete. This was because the division of labour between the mecha designer and the mech a builder was very clear.
Before the mecha design is complete, there is always the possibility of making adjustments and changes, so it would be useless for the mecha builder to work on the mecha too early.
But the situation was different this time. Although Ren Bo is a very famous mecha builder, he also had a deep and unique insight into mecha designing.
In just three or four days, a complete mecha design was presented to An Yan.
It was so rich, clear and detailed that An Yan could not help but feel a strong admiration in his heart and exclaimed, “You two are amazing!”
Zhang Lei said with a smile, “The designing went so smoothly and efficiently because of senior Ren Bo’s guidance. Otherwise, I would only have come up with a design full of holes even if I was given another ten days”
Ren Bo raised his chin haughtily, “You are too modest. I just gave some personal opinion, which is nothing.”
The two men exchanged a few more modest words before moving on to the next topic.
“Now that the work on the mecha design has been completed, the next step of manufacturing will be hard on Mr. Ren. Your willingness to take on this order is appreciated.” An Yan said.
Ren Bo waved his hand, slightly putting on airs but still kind, “There’s no need to say such empty words. I will do a good job since I have decided to take on this order. It should be me who should be thanking you. I wouldn’t have received such an interesting order if it wasn’t for you.”
He meant what he said. Although he had occasionally come across some orders that were slightly interesting in the last few years, or even a decade or so, none of them were as interesting as this one.
He would be willing to help build this beast-shaped mecha even if An Yan didn’t pay him anything.
But of course, An Yan couldn’t possibly not pay him. Since the mecha building was to start, all the materials had to be prepared, so An Yan transferred a large sum of money to Ren Bo’s account for him to use.
After transferring the money, An Yan added, “If these funds run out, Mr. Ren, please contact me immediately.”
The beast-shaped mecha will be made of very expensive material. This alone was a huge expense, not to mention all the other aspects of the design.
Ren Bo nodded with a smile, “Don’t worry, little friend, I won’t be polite with you.”
The three quickly parted ways after everything was concluded.
An Yan returned home by airship. As soon as he pushed the door open, he smelled the strong aroma of food.
An Mu would not be home at this time, so it was self-evident who was cooking.
An Yan walked with brisk steps to the kitchen. Sure enough, he saw Cheng Yi busy in there. His heart warmed up and he could not help but take two steps forward and hug Cheng Yi from behind, even rubbing his face against his back as he called out softly, “Senior.”
This word trailed off with a slight upturn at the end, sounding coquettish.
Cheng Yi put down the tools in his hand and put both hands on the little one’s hands, softly saying, “Yan Yan is back?”
An Yan nodded “Mmm!”
Cheng Yi slowly turned around, turning into a picture of the two cuddling face to face, “It’s almost noon so you must be starving, right? Let me cook one more soup and we’ll have lunch.”
An Yan felt both joy and satisfaction at this moment, but he also felt guilty. He has been going out a lot lately and could not accompany Cheng Yi. He quickly refused, “Let me make this soup. You have been in the kitchen for so long You should go and rest.”
“It’s my honor to prepare lunch for Yan Yan and I don’t feel tired,” Cheng Yi rubbed the little one’s hair and said in a gentle voice, “It’s you who should take a good rest after being busy outside for so long.”
An Yan hurriedly said, “I’m not tired, and I wasn’t busy with anything ……”
He was gagged by a light kiss before he could finish his sentence and was then gently pushed to the living room sofa: “Sit here and watch TV, lunch will be ready soon.”
An Yan blushed and looked at Cheng Yi’s back as he walked back to the kitchen. He felt that his heart was filled with sweetness.
Because of this sweetness, silly An Yan even took the initiative to give Cheng Yi a lot of small benefits after lunch. He looked both cute and sticky, which was simply delicious.
The two spent the rest of the afternoon together, and Cheng Yi reluctantly left when An Mu returned.
An Mu looked at her silly son’s flushed, shy with exasperation, “Cheng Yi’s mother contacted me this afternoon, wanting to discuss the engagement date between you and Cheng Yi. I think we shouldn’t rush this, not so?”
An Yan didn’t understand his mother’s expression and said stupidly, “I don’t think there’s any need to rush either. It doesn’t make any difference to Cheng Yi and me whether we’re engaged or not.”
An Mu became even more depressed, “Since you feel that there is no need to rush into an engagement, then I will communicate with Cheng Yi’s mother. It is better to first wait for a while.”
“Wait,” An Yan hurriedly called out to An Mu, “Is Auntie Lin’s side very anxious to get engaged? Did she say the specific date she had in mind?”
An Mu no longer knew what expression to put on and she said helplessly, “According to what she said this afternoon, she wants to get you engaged as soon as the Academy Mecha Competition is over. That’s less than a month away.”
An Yan said with a silly face, “If Auntie Lin’s side is in a big hurry to get engaged, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with getting engaged earlier.”
An Mu poked An Yan’s head with a finger directly, “Why are you in such a hurry to get yourself married off?”
An Yan covered his head and blinked, defending herself, “It’s not marrying myself off. Cheng Yi said that he will be the one moving in with me after the engagement, and Auntie Lin and the others have agreed to it.”
An Mu could not help but freeze for a moment, and then said uncertainly, “Did Cheng Yi really say that?”
An Yan nodded affirmatively, “Yes, he also said that he could sit with us in the living room and watch TV during weekend evenings, so we won’t be in a hurry to leave every time.”
An Yan paused for a moment and added after a moment’s pause “He also said that we could let him cook all the time. Since mom really likes his cooking too.”
An Mu looked at her silly son with a complicated expression. In the end, she could only sigh softly, “It doesn’t make any difference if you get engaged early or late anyway, so we might as well do it early.”
“I think so too!” An Yan nodded in agreement, before being poked in the head again.
An Mu first urged An Yan to go to the kitchen to prepare dinner, and then took the initiative to contact Cheng Lin. Both sides chatted amicably for a while, and the engagement date for An Yan and Cheng Yi was soon confirmed; December 2nd.
Cheng Yi was so happy to receive the news that he almost couldn’t resist sneaking over to An Yan, but he thought of the competition the next day and he held back.
An Yan didn’t react to the news that much. He felt that he and Cheng Yi were fine as they were, it didn’t make any difference whether they were engaged or not.
So with one side sleeping peacefully and the other excited, the night passed quickly and the next day’s competition came as scheduled.
Only three thousand contestants were left after the first three rounds of elimination.
After arriving at the venue, everyone went into their respective preparation pods to prepare for the competition round that was to follow.
Ten minutes before the tournament, the competition officials announced the detailed rules for the round.
No mechas were provided for this round, nor attack methods. All the rules and settings were based on spiritual power.
In other words, the contestants had to create mechas using their spiritual power. They also had to transform their spiritual power to launch attacks.
On this basis, this round was based on a simple attack elimination system. The contestants will be considered eliminated when they come into another contestant’s spiritual power.
There was no time limit for this round and the competition will be declared over when the number of contestants remaining on the field reaches 100.
Many of the contestants were outright confused as soon as these rules were released, and the live streaming rooms exploded.
Viewer 1: Holy crap! What does it mean when the competition organiser doesn’t provide mechas and attack methods? Is this to make the contestants completely self-reliant?
Viewer 2: I just want to know how to form a mecha using my spiritual power.
Viewer 3: There’s no time limit for this round, so if everyone is left to fend for themselves but no one can find anyone, will the competition never end?
Viewer 4: The organisers are getting better and better at this. I can’t even understand their rules anymore!
Viewer 5: I don’t understand the rules either, but I’m looking forward to the next round for some reason. I think something interesting is going to happen.
