Maria Hospital.

Third floor of the inpatient department, Room 311, single ward.

Wang Shunli was typing away furiously on the enhanced controller.

As one of the five students from Mushroom Forest Primary School recommended for admission to Dragon Palace, Wang Shunli wasn't the best academically nor the strongest inventor. But his strength was in a balanced application of theory, graduating with the second-best grades and ranked second in achievements.

Originally, he should have reported to Dragon Palace in September to begin his advanced studies. It's well known now that Dragon Palace is formally named Zhongshan University, but due to years of convention, people are still accustomed to calling it Dragon Palace instead of the university.

Because of an issue with his father, Wang Shunli applied for a month's leave from Dragon Palace via the electric cat, intending to go later.

Dragon Palace was quite accommodating and only required him not to fall behind academically, allowing him to start online classes through the internal network built within the school—this is a new type of educational network constructed with the company's electric cat system.

Online classes not only require listening throughout but also completion of assignments, extracurricular literature reading and notes within specified times.

Dragon Palace grants a high degree of freedom but also imposes a high intensity; without self-learning abilities, it's hard to keep up with the semester's progress.

Fortunately, Mushroom Forest Primary School emphasizes the combination of learning and application, with many teachers having advanced education experiences at Dragon Palace.

Math teacher Nian Gao, chemistry teacher Liang Xing, and biology teacher Xie Dongshan are all Dragon Palace graduates who continually guide students to think independently and cultivate quick learning abilities.

Now, Wang Shunli appreciates the value of these cultivated habits.

If not for this foundation, he would find it extremely challenging now, as there is so much new knowledge to learn.

His major is in Light Imprint Computing, requiring not only proficiency in programming languages but also the ability to invoke and debug various light imprints—a field most closely related to mechanical life.

Teacher Nian Gao even discussed with him: "You need to understand that although this direction has a high ceiling, it heavily relies on proficiency and foundations, with no shortcuts available. It might require tens of thousands of hours to continuously code and explore in this domain to achieve success."

"By comparison, in the Light Imprint Domain, humans have a natural disadvantage compared to mechanical life. They may take only an hour to complete data synchronization, whereas humans might take a week, a month, or even a year. Can you accept this inherent gap?"

Wang Shunli had hesitated before.

In Dragon Palace, the areas where humans have the most advantage are philosophy, sociology, and education.

Philosophy has a long history since the old human era, representing a field of extreme human contemplation of the world.

The renowned mechanical monks are philosophers among mechanical life.

Due to the scarcity of philosophers, major mechanical cities are now formally recruiting full-time philosophers, both humans and Guangna Species, to contemplate and research for the cities, with very generous treatment.

Sociology analyzes and observes the communities formed by settlements, exploring how globalization, urbanization, and technological progress influence social structure and culture.

It holds significant importance for urban governance, risk prevention, and disease control. The profession aligned with this discipline is the earth official, needed in every city.

On the other hand.

The increasingly well-known concept lives are an external manifestation of social change across different eras. To further understand their dynamics and coexistence, one must grasp the meaning behind their prototypes. Sociology does this.

In terms of education, due to the large human population, the inherent educational demand is significant.

While humans are not as efficient and straightforward as mechanical life, they emphasize strong interaction and feedback, understanding the limitations and innate physical weaknesses of flesh life. Whether teaching humans or Guangna Species, humans are more suitable than mechanical life.

In the natural sciences, however, mechanical life has the advantage, and humans struggle to compete against these naturally knowledgeable groups. The basic accumulation alone presents a significant gap.

Nevertheless, Wang Shunli ultimately resolutely said: "Teacher, I want to learn this."

"I want to design the most advanced wasteland armor."

Teacher Nian Gao immediately smiled: "Indeed. Light Imprint Technology and programming languages are unavoidable elements in wasteland armor. But from a positive perspective, if you can endure the foundational courses and master the basic tools and paradigms, creation based on existing fundamentals becomes a human advantage."

"Set a small goal first, complete the first stage of advanced studies, and graduate normally."

"By the way, has your wasteland armor modification been completed? The first arena is on the first of next month; I will watch it on time and cheer you on."

Back then, the teacher already knew that he and his father would participate in the Mecha Master Competition together.

Initially, Wang Shunli thought it was just an ordinary dream-chasing journey.

It would quickly dissolve like a wave of foam, leaving only a bit of beautiful memory.

But who would have known?

It turned into a raging fire that couldn't be stopped.

...

"Your dad is really... I told him not to go, but he just wouldn't listen. Now look at what happened?"

"At his age, still thinks he's a teenager? Those mechanical lives are all strong and unyielding, while we are flesh and blood. You win, only to end up lying in the hospital..."

His mother's nagging brought Wang Shunli back to his senses.

"It's fine if he liked watching matches before, but he insisted on going up himself. I shouldn't have let you both go back then, all because I was soft-hearted."

As she spoke, tears began to flow, and she wiped them with her fingers.

"If he never wakes up, what will we do..."

"Mom, it's not that serious."

Wang Shunli quickly reassured, "Dr. Sun Hao said Dad's consciousness is intact, he won't remain in a coma for long, and his physical condition is good..."

"That's what they say, but why hasn't he woken up? Who knows if it's worsened?"

His mother said worriedly, "Not just ordinary people; even with the recent A2 virus infection, those Guangna Species initially seemed fine, but within days, they were gone..."

"It's really okay, truly okay."

Wang Shunli said, "Mom, you should head back; my sister's probably getting out of school soon."

"Oh, I lost track of time. I'll go pick up your sister and bring you dinner later."

His mother hurriedly left.

Wang Shunli closed the door and looked at the hospital bed.

His father still had his eyes closed, breathing evenly.

Wang Shunli sighed, "Dad, it's about time. Mom's gone home."

The man on the bed suddenly opened his eyes and sat up cross-legged, stretching lazily: "Your mom keeps coming here every day. It's tiring to keep pretending. Find a way to stop her from coming."

Wang Shunli was a bit helpless: "Isn't the real question why you're pretending to be in a coma in the first place?"

"The way your mom is, if I'm not pretending, she'll nag me into a real coma when I wake up. Just wait a few more days. Once she's done complaining, then when I wake up, she'll only feel relieved."

His father smiled slightly, as if he had everything in control.

"Shunli, go call for some takeout. Today, I want fried chicken and fries."

"... The hospital doesn't allow takeout."

"Just go buy it from outside."

Wang Shunli both admired and was speechless regarding his father.

Sometimes it felt like his father was less mature than himself, a student.

Perhaps it's this immaturity, casualness, and capriciousness that make his mother constantly scold him. But it's also this act of doing as he pleases that led to this wonderful mecha master journey.

Placing the enhanced controller in his backpack, Wang Shunli slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out of the inpatient department, heading down the street to the takeout street.

He then found the familiar fried chicken shop, fished out some coins, and queued up to order takeout.

With the fried chicken still hot, Wang Shunli jogged all the way back to the hospital.

A person at the hospital entrance called out to him: "Wang Shunli?"

He turned at the sound and found a young woman with her hair in a bun, wearing an oversized sweater coat.

"Ms. Nian."

Wang Shunli quickly greeted her.

"You're holding fried chicken, going to eat it in the hospital? Haven't had lunch?" the math teacher asked.

"Umm..."

Ms. Nian said at this time: "Let me introduce you to someone."

She gestured to the person beside her.

Standing next to Ms. Nian was a young man, wearing a baseball cap and a black mask, dressed in a simple white down jacket.

The man had a gentle and calm gaze, yet carried a restrained authority.

Ms. Nian softly said, "The chairman would like to have a word with you."

The chairman?!!

Wang Shunli was taken aback.

The black-haired man beside him nodded slightly, a smile in his eyes: "Congratulations on winning the Mecha Master Championship, impressive. I've come to understand the specifics and to give you a reward. You're surely going to win the Wasteland Invention Award."

"Thank you, Chairman..."

Wang Shunli fumbled with his words.

The company has grown larger over the years, but the chairman's official appearances have become fewer. Originally, he would appear during the Mushroom Forest Primary School graduation season, but due to the outbreak caused by the virus from 404 City leading to a major winter infection, the chairman had to focus entirely on managing the epidemic response.

When he graduated, Ms. Yuan Xiao represented the chairman in giving out awards to everyone.

"As I understand it, fried chicken is hard to take into the hospital. Let's chat outside."

The chairman said, "Go ahead and eat, we can talk while you eat. It doesn't taste good once it's cold."

Wang Shunli could only muster up the courage to eat a piece.

The three of them sat on a long bench nearby. Fortunately, it wasn't snowing today, and although the weather was cold, it was still bearable.

"Tell me about your participation."

The chairman showed a great interest: "I've been following this competition closely. Whenever I have time, I watch it. Winning the C-level group championship isn't easy. I remember it's a double-elimination format, so there are barely any upsets, which speaks to its value."

"I think the best result by a human participant before was the top 32, right? I believe it was a registered craftsman from the Craftsmen Guild named Solon, but now you've clinched the first championship, a truly historic breakthrough."

Upon hearing this, Wang Shunli knew the chairman really watched the competitions, a true fan!

He could readily talk about the competition format and participants.

"Chairman, in fact, we had planned to participate five years ago."

Wang Shunli hesitated a bit before saying, "Back then, my dad was still at the Heavenly Kingdom Fourth Locomotive Factory, mainly responsible for designing mechs. His idea then was to create a new type of mecha for the competition... But we never found an operator. Operators are expensive, so my dad had to operate them himself."

"Later, he left for the company, also because he heard there were Wasteland Armors here, so he came to modify the Wasteland Armor for the competition."

"The outside world always said my dad participated because of me... But actually, he has always been a super enthusiastic fan of the master tournament. I grew up liking to watch because of him. Rather than saying it's my dream to compete, it was his wish. However, to convince my mom, my dad and I used this excuse..."

The chairman laughed: "You've been preparing for at least five years, so this plan should have been in your father's mind for even longer. Indeed, success is never a coincidence."

He waved his fist in the air: "What man wouldn't want to pilot a mecha? I'd love to give it a try too."

Wang Shunli nodded vigorously.

The chairman understands us.

"So, after becoming an Armored Engineer, my father integrated the mecha technologies he had privately developed into the Wasteland Armor, which featured the Sealing Fist made from the Light Imprint of the Forbidden Altar. As long as the fist could keep hitting the opponent, it could lock the Light Imprint abilities of the Mechanical Life."

Wang Shunli opened up and began to speak at great length.

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