Cannon fodder in the Interstellar

For a mech manufacturer, being unable to complete assembly due to missing parts is nearly unbearable, akin to how someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder would feel under similar circumstances. Once immersed in this state, it’s the same for Ruo Manni.

Although many mech manufacturers are known to suffer from obsessive-compulsive tendencies, they had never seen Ruo Manni in such a state before, assuming she was not like that. However, Dean Atchison soon realized he was mistaken and did not dare to protest.

After Dean Atchison placed all the mech fragments he had collected while leveling up into the warehouse, Ruo Manni immediately checked them over and frowned again. “We’re still missing two pieces.”

The two boys, seeing Ruo Manni, who was usually calm, now agitated because of the missing parts, did not dare to speak up. They felt uncomfortable with this side of her and didn’t want to see her so distressed.

Dean Atchison, feeling uneasy about Ruo Manni’s agitation, finally said, “How about I buy the missing parts from the shop for you?”

What does he mean? Does he think she can’t afford it? It’s not that she can’t buy them; she just doesn’t want to spend the money. Ruo Manni furrowed her brows, about to respond to Dean Atchison, when the world channel chimed in: “Congratulations to player Yuanmumu for being the eighth to reach level ten. Reward: an upgrade gift pack…”

“…”

“…”

“Who is this Yuanmumu?” Hua Deli asked with a worried frown. According to the rankings and experience points, it should have been Su Forty-Three who leveled up next. How did a completely unfamiliar player suddenly appear?

Hebrew Adam went to help Su Forty-Three personally, so why hasn’t he leveled up yet? Their first guild is just one person short, and they don’t want to be beaten by the Whirlwind Guild.

The urgency of wanting to seize every second, while feeling that the control is out of their hands, left the three partners in the guild hall feeling somewhat heavy-hearted.

Fortunately, at this moment, the guild channel announced that His Highness the Emperor had invited Yuanmumu into the guild, and the three partners breathed a sigh of relief. No matter who this player was, he was now one of their own, and they finally had five people to start their dungeon exploration.

The three of them looked at the avatar, and the newly joined player turned out to be Su Forty-Three.

“Su Forty-Three’s new ID is Yuanmumu. What a strange name,” Dean Atchison remarked with a laugh.

“Hey! Wasn’t his name Tianxia Swordmaster yesterday? Why did he change it to Yuanmumu today?” Ruo Manni asked in surprise.

“Must have paid to change it,” Hua Deli said.

“Must have too much money and no place to spend it,” Ruo Manni said, puzzled, as Su Forty-Three usually didn’t have any particularly eccentric traits.

“Tianxia Swordmaster was cooler; it sounded so impressive,” Dean Atchison commented.

That would indeed have been more flamboyant.

“Well, one wants to become an immortal and the other wants to become a king; both have lofty goals. Dean, how can you laugh at someone else?” Ruo Manni criticized Dean Atchison for his audacity in mocking others.

As soon as Ruo Manni finished speaking, Hebrew Adam entered the guild hall with Su Forty-Three. Dean Atchison’s retort was just about to come out: “So tell me, who are you trying to be the sweetheart of?”

“My own sweetheart!” Ruo Manni rolled her eyes at Dean Atchison, disregarding her image. “You’re just a minor, thinking too much.”

“As if you’re an adult,” Dean Atchison retorted playfully.

With the arrival of a new member, there were new parts available. Ruo Manni had no interest in continuing the banter with Dean Atchison. She approached Su Forty-Three with an authoritative demeanor, demanding the mech parts. Faced with such a commanding partner, Su Forty-Three, without any rebellious attitude, handed over the parts obediently.

Fifteen minutes later, Ruo Manni, excited, emerged from the mech assembly room and handed Hebrew Adam a mech component. “Since everyone’s mech parts are different models, I made some data adjustments and assembled a low-config mech with a hundred points each in defense and damage, but with negative agility. Try to see if it works for you.”

With both defense and damage each at a hundred points, Hebrew Adam, who already had high damage output, found it to be a significant boost. He eagerly headed to the mech room to test it out.

“Ruo Manni, you can’t be biased. You assembled the mechs and only gave them to your team leader,” Dean Atchison said, a bit envious and resentful.

Ruo Manni glanced at him and said, “Later, when we go to the dungeon, you should pray for some good luck and collect more mech parts. Based on your stats, I’ll assemble a mech that’s more suitable for you.”

Dean Atchison’s eyes lit up. “You can do that too?”

“Didn’t you know that Rick Amber, the head of the Mech Manufacturing Department, is my senior? So it’s not surprising that I know this,” Ruo Manni thought, trying to resist rolling her eyes at Dean Atchison. It would be too impolite.

“Then make mine second. If you don’t have enough parts, just let me know,” Dean Atchison immediately put himself in line, realizing that his earlier questions were actually aimed at this.

“Third comes after me, and I definitely prioritize myself first,” Ruo Manni said firmly. She had no intention of self-sacrifice.

“I’ll be fourth,” Su Forty-Three said, not holding back. Being polite would just lead to delays.

As for Hua Deli, whose face was not as thick-skinned as Dean Atchison’s and who didn’t have the same connections as Su Forty-Three, he ended up in fifth place without contesting with the two.

The boys all went to the mech room to check out the mechs.

Ruo Manni continued assembling mechs with the remaining parts.

Soon, Hebrew Adam came out and gathered everyone together. He first spoke to Ruo Manni, “It’s acceptable. It’s much stronger than relying on physical strength when fighting the Boss.”

“We now have five people, and it’s still early. Let’s go out and start clearing dungeons.”

Hebrew Adam generously allowed everyone to choose suitable equipment from the warehouse and used guild funds to purchase potions and other supplies needed for dungeon clearing from the shop.

Ruo Manni was surprised when Hebrew Adam bought a piece of blue equipment from the game shop— a longsword with a 50+ damage bonus—and gave it to her as payment for assembling the mech.

Seeing that the other three boys had no objections, Ruo Manni accepted it without hesitation. With this longsword, her sword skill damage reached 350 points, ensuring her contribution in the dungeon wouldn’t be at the bottom.

Under Hebrew Adam’s lead, the five of them used the teleportation array and arrived at a forest.

Although Ruo Manni had the “prophet” ability from the novel perspective, there wasn’t much description of dungeon clearing in the novels. Especially when it came to dungeon battles, the depiction was often fragmented and focused more on emotional conflicts, with little coherent detail, and with emphasis on the romantic entanglements of the main characters.

In the real world, Mina-Olli had her ranking drop due to injury, and her role in the initial dungeon clearing was nonexistent, and Sheila no longer clung to Hua Deli.

It can be said that the dungeon-clearing scenarios involving the male and female leads in the novels have little reference value in the real world.

Since the emergence of Hebrew Adam, a major variable, many things have changed, with Hua Deli being the most significantly affected.