Hunter Academy, Engineering Bureau. Mecha Hunters are produced and assembled by manufacturers and main factories all over the world, but as for the design, the technology comes from three design institutes. One of those institutes is right here at the Hunter Academy, and Jill Young had already come looking for them.
She went straight to the lead designer to give her feedback, and the design department took it seriously, gathering the whole team to hear this "user experience" firsthand.
"Your Mecha is really inconvenient. How can such a high-tech thing still need to go hand-to-hand on the battlefield? Just slap on a weapon—heck, even one scaled-up gun—and even if five monsters pop up at once, I’ll blast them to kingdom come." Jill mimed aiming and shooting, don’t forget, she’s a sharpshooter.
"Well... there are a lot of challenges. Alloy strength is one thing, but aiming systems are another. Mecha Hunters have so many systems to mount, and aiming with mechanical arms that are dozens of meters long is just too hard. If the target’s far, you can’t hit it; if it’s close, you don’t need to shoot. So..." The designer gave an awkward laugh and scratched his head, clearly not convinced by the whole brawling thing either.
"Fine, I’ll give you that. Then at least boost the Mecha’s performance a bit. Right now, the fighting style is way too stiff—basically just punching. The pilots are pretty skilled, you know. If they could really go all out, even with a third-gen Mecha’s power, they could beat those monsters." And that’s the truth—piloting a Mecha is like Donnie Yen playing Super Mario. You’ve got all these ways to win, but in the end, you’re stuck with a couple of clunky moves.
"We’re working on that, actually, and we should have results soon." The designer gave a look that said, "I’d tell you, but you’re not most people," and added, "There’s good news from the European design institute: the sixth-generation Mecha is taking shape. It’ll be stronger, smarter, and way more balanced and coordinated—basically able to do anything a human can do. Well, except for moving as fast as a person. You won’t see a Mecha spin around in half a second, not happening."
Jill Young was surprised: "Already got a sixth-generation Mecha in the works?"
"The fifth and sixth generations were always being developed by different research teams at the same time, and with all the hype for upgrades lately, we’ll be lucky to produce ten fifth-gens before it’s time to switch. Plus, the European institute’s got a genius—Dr. Octopus. His work has given us a ton of new ideas, so you can expect a real surprise soon. For now, though, we’ll just have to bear with it. We’ll run a careful balance check and tweak Berserker’s stability, which should help a bit."
"No need, just hand me Berserker’s schematics—I’ll show you exactly where to add the balance weights."
"Oh?" The designer was surprised. "You know mechanics too?"
"I know a thing or two."
As the conversation went on, the designer realized Jill Young was way above "knows a thing or two"—not quite a professional designer, but definitely no amateur. He was thrilled, because it meant they could actually talk shop instead of the usual "scholar meets soldier" headache. Since Mecha Hunter pilots are picked from the general population, knowledge levels vary wildly, and most folks can’t really communicate with these bookworms.
Actually, this had a lot to do with Jack Young’s first job—he used to work in mechanics. Sure, it wasn’t Mecha Hunters he built, but the principles were the same, so he could hang out with the designers just fine.
"By the way, we’ve developed a new weapon. Want to see if it’s any use to you?" The designer pulled out a blueprint, looking all mysterious.
Jill glanced at it, then couldn’t help but laugh, "What is this? There’s no way to use it in a real fight, right? You’d have to knock the Kaiju flat first—kind of defeats the purpose, doesn’t it?"
"I know, but this is just a prototype, not a finished product." The designer was a bit embarrassed—the thing he brought really wasn’t battle-ready. Still, he kept pitching: "Every time we hunt Kaiju, the Mecha Hunters need tons of repairs—wear and tear is huge. That’s why I came up with this idea. It’s not ready now, but maybe someday it’ll be the main tool for Kaiju hunting! Just give it a try, and we’ll tweak it later, how about that?"
He had good reason to push the idea—there are three design institutes: Asia did the fifth-gen Mecha, Europe’s about to launch the sixth, so their team really needed to deliver something or risk losing status.
"Alright, fine, stick it on Berserker. But hang on—there’s no such thing as a free lunch. You’ve got to do me a favor too." Jill pulled out a stack of blueprints—actually, this was her real reason for coming today. After all that small talk, she finally got down to business: "I see your metallurgy tech is pretty solid, so make me a set of this."
The designer unfolded the blueprints and took one look—his eyes went wide and he let out a surprised, "Huh?!"
Jill grinned and gave him a friendly slap on the shoulder: "You get this done for me, and I’ll test your new weapon. I want the best materials, top-notch craftsmanship, and a finished product in one week—deal’s set!"
Ten minutes later, Jill Young walked out of the Engineering Bureau with a spring in her step. She’d spent ages designing what was on those blueprints, and if it could be built and equipped, even facing a foe like the Alien Queen wouldn’t be so hopeless. Two weapons, plus a suit of armor, each with its own strengths—she’d finally patch up her biggest weaknesses.
Turns out, if you want to fight big monsters, you need god-tier gear. If this world can make Mecha Hunters, it can definitely make something that’ll satisfy her.
"Feeling good—time for a stroll!" Jill was just thinking this when she spotted something that ruined her mood: Blue Wolf. Yep, that young military guy, standing there like everyone owed him money, staring right at her. Obviously waiting.
Jill pretended not to see him and kept walking, not missing a beat.
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Blue Wolf came closer and muttered, "You went to the Engineering Bureau? Did you get what you wanted?"
Jill rolled her eyes and kept walking.
Blue Wolf fell half a step behind, sticking close, his voice edged with impatience: "It’s been almost a month, and you haven’t contributed a thing!"
Jill curled her lip, still moving forward.
Blue Wolf’s brows furrowed, and he added a hint of threat: "Don’t forget, we’re just passing through this world—our original world is what really matters. No matter how much you achieve or how much trouble you cause here, it’s all meaningless. But back home, it’s a different story. Don’t let all the praise here go to your head! You promised to help—don’t think you can slack off!"
Jill paused, suddenly turned around, and squinted at Blue Wolf. Instinctively, Blue Wolf took a step back—facing Jill Young like this always made him a little jittery.
"Let me make this clear: what I agreed to was ‘if it’s convenient, I’ll help out,’ not to be your workhorse." Jill held up two fingers. "Two things, and I’ll only say this once, so listen up. One, helping or not is my choice—depends on my mood. Two, I don’t much like you, so if you want me in a good mood, stay out of my sight."
With that, Jill turned and walked away, her tall figure quickly disappearing down the corridor. Blue Wolf just stood there, stunned, then his face twisted in anger as he clenched his fists and growled under his breath, "Damn woman..."
"What’s got you so worked up?" Suddenly a voice startled Blue Wolf. He turned to see King Kong.
"Oh, it’s you." At least it was a friendly face. After calming down, Blue Wolf glanced in Jill’s direction and mused, "She’s just one person—what’s she gonna do with all that tech? Military-grade stuff isn’t your average gear, it’s worthless in private hands. You think she’s just trying to hold out for a better offer?" Then he sneered, "If that’s her plan, she’s about to find out what state power really means..."
"Hold out for a better offer? Ha!" King Kong, standing behind Blue Wolf, laughed too, but his grin was even more menacing—and there was something else behind it that Blue Wolf didn’t catch.
Then King Kong wiped the smile off his face, eyes glinting: "But soon, she won’t even have time to worry about high-tech gear. She might not even keep her spot as a pilot."
"What happened?"
"Just heard something explosive—turns out that fool she’s always protecting? Killed someone."
"Huh?" Blue Wolf was stunned. "Killed someone? Even that fool can kill someone?"