The desolation remained cloaked in his black robe, his hat still worn on his head. He was sitting on the ground, half of his robe had fallen onto the ground, forming a semicircle.

The scene looking deceptively warm.

That’s what Gregory Lawrence thought.

The desolate figure didn’t move, only glanced towards Gregory Lawrence then coldly said, "Not cold."

"That’s nice," Gregory Lawrence muttered, "I should have brought a cloak with me."

It’s both windproof and warm.

Unaware of Gregory Lawrence’s thoughts, the figure simply looked down at the fire pit.

After a while, Gregory Lawrence fell asleep, his body largely leaning on the black robe of the desolate figure.

Outside the mountain cave, the rain continued intermittently through the night.

Amidst the rain, the battle roars of mutated beasts gradually decreased.

*

Friday, the three-day holiday at the Mech Academy officially ended.

Almost all the students returned on time.

When someone pushed open the dormitory door from the outside, Jay Brown was sitting at the desk, earnestly wiping down his silver-white weapon.

It was the spare weapon kept in all mechs.

It served as a safeguard for pilots when their mechs were severely damaged and immobile.

Jay wiped carefully, skillfully disassembling each component and making sure each was cleaned before conscientiously reassembling them.

"Jay, Jay, why are you still sitting here?"

A boy rushed in, his backpack casually thrown onto the bed as he came over and put his arm around Jay’s shoulders. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Undisturbed, Jay continued his task, "It’s not time for class yet."

Tonight, there was a last-minute simulation battle class added.

The instructor was Wayne Lane.

Wayne Lane rarely taught classes at the academy, but whenever he did, the classroom was always full.

"I’m not talking about classes," the boy drank water before continuing, "I’m talking about Emma, remember her?"

Jay said, "The first princess?"

"Yes, the princess, she’s here at our academy," the boy patted Jay’s shoulder, "Want to go see her? She’s currently in the simulation battle room. I hear her skills are not bad at all; she once even led mechs to quell border unrest..."

Emma’s public image had always been favorable, dubbed as "Star Sector’s Guardian," "Genius Mech Pilot," and "Elegant First Princess"—labels like these had always been abundant.

Thanks to royal propaganda, even though she seldom appeared publicly, she was still considered a "goddess" in people’s hearts.

Kind, noble, elegant.

Jay was uninterested, "I’ve seen her already."

"You’ve seen her?" the boy widened his eyes, "When did you see her? I didn’t know, you don’t know her, do you?"

"I don’t know her," Jay said, "Two days ago, at the training ground, she came with Wayne Lane."

Jay generally showed little interest in royal affairs; what he truly cared about was how to enhance his own skills and how to become a strong player like Hannah.

Or even stronger.

Ever since he learned of Hannah’s achievements, he had an idea.

—He wanted to battle with Hannah.

To spar with such a powerful figure, even if he lost, he would learn a lot.

Jay thought to himself.

Meanwhile, the boy beside him continued to lament, "It’s such a shame, I should have registered for the simulation battle training with you, then I could have met Emma too. You don’t know, just now, outside the battle room was swarmed with people; I couldn’t even squeeze in."