Marvelous Mecha

Despite Gandalf's deceptively saint-like appearance and eloquent sage-like talk, he's truly an outrageous scoundrel who refrains from no misdeed—be it stealing my barbecued meat, peeping at refugees' bathing, or engaging in all manner of scams and swindles. Countless more offenses have been committed, but these shall be omitted here...

Alas, Feng Yi, victim to the whims of the world, had no choice but to begrudgingly hail a taxi and rush on. As the ticking clock marked time, a few hours had already passed by the time he arrived at his destination in his first-ever hovering car ride. Despite its high speed, the journey had been a long one.

"The Ancient Martial Arts Hall, huh…" After he disembarked from the car, Feng Yi's gaze swept over the awe-inspiring six characters on the plaque, murmuring to himself. The hall occupied a large area of the city's downtown district, spanning at least a few thousand square feet—it seemed the old devil had quite a deep pocket.

As he approached, Feng Yi could faintly hear the sounds of sparring emanating from within the Ancient Martial Arts Hall. From the sounds alone, he could ascertain their abilities. Their movements were rigid and images, they seemed to be only at the phase of making forms. It was a bit of letdown for him, no burning surge of fighting spirit arose within him as he walked in with dismissive precedence.

"Halt." A disciple clad in a white robe blocked Feng Yi's path, hand outstretched. "Please present your disciple credential."

Feng Yi, of course, had no such credentials. "I'm here by invitation of the old devil…" He abruptly self-corrected, remembering the old devil also happened to be the head of the martial arts hall. "My name is Feng Yi. I'm here to see the old master. He must have notified you?"

No messages received," replied the man with a shrug.

"Uh-huh — hey, buddy. Would you mind letting them know I'm here?"

The still air was his only answer. Feng Yi grumbled under his breath about the uncommunicative imbecile, and turned on his heel.

Psst…

The next moment, he vaulted over the outer wall and swiftly strolled around the Ancient Martial Arts Hall. Moving at such speed, nobody was able to perceive him.

What surprised him most were the lingering gazes from the passing people. Everyone from good-looking men to beautiful women, everyone he passed had a smile in their eyes. Sir Feng was more than a little lost. He was quite handsome, why were they behaving like this?

Even Feng Yi, who usually remained oblivious, started feeling a bit self-conscious. He looked down at himself, could he have accidentally stepped on dog shit? But that didn't make sense; dogs were rare in the Alpha system.

Little did he know that the Ancient Martial Arts Hall has two wings – Martial Arts Practice and Mental Cultivation. According to strict regulations, Martial Artists must wear their uniform. Feng Yi, in his civilian attire strolling casually inside the compound is sure to spark some curiosity, especially among the mostly female cultivators.

Unamused, Feng Yi could tolerate it no more and roared: "Old devil…"

Silence completely took over the scene, and countless eyes focused on him.

A burst of laughter came from the courtyard: "Hahaha… youngsters nowadays have no patience." An elderly man with white beard appeared, his eyes holding a saint-like radiance. His laughter was robust and his movements swift like he was gliding through wind. However, due to his speed, he accidentally tore his pants.

With a quick reaction, he quickly covered up. The disciples, unaware of the mishap, flocked to the elderly man when he appeared, chirping incessantly as though they were talking to a family member.

But Feng Yi would not be fooled by the elder's appearance. He shrugged and said, "You ugly old man, you purposely played with me." His words carried a strange undertone that was barely audible, yet it reached directly to the heart.

The old man blinked frantically, asking Feng Yi to hold his tongue. At such a distance, only a warrior of the elder's caliber could hear Feng Yi's words.

The elder jumped right next to Feng Yi and told his inquisitive disciples that Feng Yi was a distant relative who came to learn martial arts and find a job. Everyone then breathed a sigh of relief – so that's why the youngster had been shouting so loudly – he was a spoiled rich kid. But his clothing seemed a little shabby.

"Kid, let's go."

"Hey, I said, old ghost..." The kindly old curator, so enthusiastic, didn't wait for Feng Yi to open his mouth before he dragged him off, half pulling and half lifting him, and scampered off to the inner room.

"What are you being guilty of."

"Rogue boy, I am a grandmaster, wouldn't I be guilty if my pants fly open?"

"Well, that's true." Feng Yi glance around and said, "Tell me, what can I do here?"

"Of course, it's waiting for the army to draft, aren't you always dreaming of becoming a mobile suit soldier and dominating the battlefield."

Upon hearing this, Feng Yi's eyes flashed a trace of subtle sadness... Actually, he was simply longing for freedom, discarding hollow, flaunting things, meeting things without humility or arrogance, pointing to the heart is Feng Yi's credo, but, everyone has fetters destined to be unable to get rid of, which is the redemption of the military spirit mission.

How insightful was the curator? He knew very well that there was a story in his heart that he didn't want to reveal, so he casually tossed the room key and meal card to Feng Yi, and then said a lot more, telling him to go out and wander around. As for the problems of living in the Ancient Martial Arts Hall, they agreed to be familiar, but they could not live for nothing. They had to work...

After calming his mind, Feng Yi almost spat out old blood when he heard these words. Work was not a problem, but the problem was that there were no good jobs. How could he be a janitor with his abilities? He is not simply a traditional martial artist, as a soldier, Feng Yi's aim was the battlefield and even the sea of stars, only that, the present time has not yet reached the recruitment requirements of Wind Thunder Military Academy, it turned out that the friendship between life and death of two old ghosts is worth so little money.

Forget it, forget it, there was nothing to turn about in the Ancient Martial Arts Hall, Feng Yi habitually jumped out of the encircling wall.

He planned to use the little money he had left to buy some military magazines for reading, but when he came to the bookstore, he unintentionally daydreamed.

Perhaps everyone has a few hobbies, and Feng Yi was no exception. He had a fondness for ancient martial arts, mecha, and military life since he was a child. Although he was unwilling to express his emotions, it was caused by his living environment. No one in this world understood the truth beneath his relaxed exterior.

That year, amid a drizzling rain, the ground troops of the enemy army suddenly attacked the 103rd colonial planet. He, scrounging on the battlefield, almost died under the bombardment. It was the two brave federal mobile suit soldiers on patrol who noticed him and both blocked him with their bodies.

Feng Yi was lucky to survive. One Phantom Knight exploded on the spot, and another beast mecha was bombed into pieces. Even if the soldier didn't die on the spot, he would definitely not survive for minutes without gravity field protection.

The dying soldier opened the hatch, barely took out a letter from his chest, and then opened his mouth...

Feng Yi leaned in his ear, only to hear three intermittent words: "Kill... me..."

Feeling the icy rain hitting his cheeks and the gradually cooling body, it was another burning heart that propped up the sky. They had never met before, but the federal soldiers fulfilled their mission as warriors, and their towering images were permanently etched in Feng Yi's memory.

Feng Yi's teardrops suddenly slid down his eyes, laboriously lifted the rusty dagger, and then stabbed it into the soldier's chest. It was to alleviate his pain, but the guilty feelings in his heart had reached an unbearable degree! That was the first time Feng Yi cried. He swore it would also be the last time he cried — perhaps, it was just like that?

After this incident, Feng Yi no longer wanted to see the scene where the brave Federation soldiers were destroyed one by one, but had to witness it every now and then, with himself helpless — it was him who had killed the soldier with his own hands! For the redemption of the sinful soul; for inheriting the lofty mission; for commemorating the brave in heaven; he would continue to fight for those warriors who could not fight. Inadvertently, he had already fallen in love with mobile suit soldiers. Once the seed of the burning soul began to sprout from his heart, he couldn't control it anymore...

The body of the first deceased soldier was nowhere to be found, so there was no way to find any information. The other first-class soldier was named Zhou Yujia, from the Asia Zone of the Earth in the Solar System. The exact location pointed out in the letter has long been branded in Feng Yi's heart, even the coordinates are not wrong at all, north latitude 51 degrees 23 minutes, east longitude 131 degrees 2 minutes. This letter that failed to be sent had always been treasured by Feng Yi, and he would personally bring it with that yearning to the family.