Chapter 71

Joe also felt his body getting stronger day by day, gradually increasing from one kilometer to five kilometers. He went from being out of breath and pale to being able to breathe evenly. The feeling of progress made him feel very accomplished.

Qiao Ye had always been very interested in mechas. That day, he actually saw Ji Fang's sister, Ji Rong, at the camp. Ji Rong was from the technical department and was instructing the soldiers on how to disassemble mechas. Qiao Ye went over to watch the spectacle. The mountain-sized mechas were quickly disassembled into individual parts by the soldiers, which greatly impressed Qiao Ye.

Because he often passed by while exercising, Qiao Ye would stop every time to watch the soldiers disassemble, repair, and maintain the mechs. This became a source of enjoyment for Qiao Ye. He even bought e-books about mechs on his terminal and began to identify each disassembled part. He also learned a lot by listening to Ji Rong's teaching and training on site.

Qiao Ye became Ji Rong's student in the classroom. When Ji Rong saw Qiao Ye, she recalled the scene of Qiao Ye playing chess with the old man and the scene of Qiao Ye opening the door and leaving. She did not object to this new student coming to audit the class, but every time she saw Qiao Ye concentrating in class and nodding from time to time, she began to have doubts: "Can it really understand the class?"

But everyone thought Qiao Ye was just there to have fun. During breaks, Ji Rong would pat Qiao Ye and mutter to himself, "Big brother has taken such good care of you. Look how smooth and shiny you are, and how bright and intelligent your eyes are. You look very smart."

Then Joe smiled sheepishly.

Ji Rong looked at him carefully: "Did you understand? You know I'm praising you? My dear, you're not allowed to cause trouble here. You need to behave yourself during my class, or I'll kick you out, understand? Nod if you understand."

Joe hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

Ji Rong was pleasantly surprised by Qiao Ye's reaction and smiled, instantly stunning the soldiers below.

Ji Rong was a woman, and there were few women in the army. She was technically skilled, and her teaching was strict and rigorous. In addition, she was Ji Fang's younger sister, so the soldiers both respected and feared her.

Because of Ji Rong's personal charm, many soldiers only dared to secretly admire and like him. However, Ji Rong was serious and earnest, which made people afraid to get close to him. They had seen videos of Colonel Ji's martial arts competition, and his beatings were extremely fast, accurate, and ruthless.

Unexpectedly, Ji Rong had a playful side. Her smile was like the sunshine on a snow-covered mountain range, bright and cheerful, making the soldiers feel warm and gentle, and touching their hearts.

As Ji Rong's teaching progressed, Qiao also understood the types, structures, basic logic, basic operations, mental connection principles, and containment folding principles of the mecha.

Watching the soldiers piloting the mechs, Joe felt a surge of excitement; he wanted to pilot a mech too.

Qiao went back and started pestering Ji Fang: "I want a mecha, can I play with one?"

Ji Fang disagreed: "If you cause trouble in class, Ji Rong will kick you out."

Joe disagreed: "No, she'll only criticize the soldiers, saying they're not even as good as Ibara."

Ji Fang was speechless. The two stared at each other for a while, and finally Ji Fang gave in. After all, he couldn't do anything about his own pet!

Ji Fang searched through the cabinet and found a mecha chain. He handed it to him and instructed, "Don't open it casually. Listen to Ji Rong in class, or it will be confiscated!"

Qiao grabbed it happily and immediately hung it around her neck, repeatedly assuring, "I won't cause any trouble, don't worry, I won't let Ji Rong contact my parents!"

Hearing Qiao Ye say this, Ji Fang's eyes curved slightly, and he tapped Qiao Ye's forehead: "Naughty."

Qiao rubbed his face against Ji Fang's hand, feeling a sense of happiness from his master's doting affection.

Joe also took the mecha his master gave him to class. Today happened to be the class on the analysis of the mecha's mental link structure. Everyone had to go to a spacious area to link with the mecha and experience learning.

As soon as Qiao arrived, the mecha swaying around his neck drew everyone's attention. Trainee A exclaimed in a low voice, "Damn, is the treatment of an admiral's pet this good? He's equipped with a mecha. This brand is a cutting-edge light mecha from many years ago, right? This kind of antique is already a collector's item, worth a fortune, at least fifty million. God, I'm jealous!"

Trainee B whispered in his ear, "Is it too late for me to become the general's pet right now?"

Trainee C was certain: "This is definitely the general deliberately playing a trick on his sister to see how our Colonel Ji would react."

Ji Rong tapped the mecha. The sound wasn't loud, but everyone quickly quieted down. She looked at the original person who had caused the discussion, pointed at him, and gestured for him to come over.

Qiao Ye thought to himself, if he pretended not to understand, wouldn't that be disrespectful to her teacher? Just as he was thinking this, the soldier next to Ji Rong noticed Qiao Ye and moved to come and arrest him.

Never mind, I can't let my master's sister lose face.

Qiao also walked towards Ji Rong from behind.

As soon as he reached Ji Rong, Ji Rong hooked his hand and took the mecha away.

Ji Rong looked at the design of the mecha. This was the first mecha her older brother had ever received when he was a child. She only remembered that it was a birthday gift from her father to her older brother. She must have been about nine years old at the time. Looking at this latest high-performance mecha, she was extremely envious. She begged to have one too, and then when she was ten years old, she received a mecha from the same series.

At that time, her older brother's mental strength was naturally not fully developed, or even unstable, but he was already able to control this S-class mecha. When she was ten years old, her mental strength was not enough, and she could not connect to the same series of mecha that she had been clamoring for. She was very unwilling about this.

Later, her elder brother's mental strength grew stronger and stronger, and he grew rapidly, becoming someone Ji Rong could never catch up with. She admired her elder brother from the bottom of her heart and stopped comparing herself to him in everything.

My brother is too strong; there are few people in this world who can compare to him.

Qiao saw Ji Rong looking at the mecha and thought she was going to confiscate it, so he tried to snatch it away, but Ji Rong dodged him and asked him while holding the mecha, "Did your master give this to you?"

Joe nodded.

Ji Rong was worried that this person had taken Ji Fang's things without permission and was refusing to give them back to him, so Qiao had no choice but to send a message to Ji Fang, asking Ji Fang to speak on his behalf.

Soon, Ji Rong's terminal received the following information:

The mecha was a gift for Qiao Ye; if he wants to attend the class, let him go.

Ji Rong was a little suspicious. He had just acquired Qiao Ye's mecha, and now he had received a message. Could it be that his older brother was bored and observing his pet taking classes?

Ji Rong glanced around but didn't see her older brother. Her looking around caught the attention of the other students, who followed her and looked around as if something was amiss.

A strangely funny and quiet atmosphere suddenly filled the classroom.

Ji Rong noticed nothing amiss and returned the mecha to Qiao Ye. She coughed twice to bring the class back to their attention and continued today's outdoor practical training session.

Qiao listened attentively in class, and when she successfully activated the mecha during the actual operation, Ji Rong and her soldiers were all amazed.

Operating a mecha requires mental energy; I never imagined that the original human also possessed mental energy.

Ji Rong immediately realized that her new research needed to be tested by people, but it was somewhat dangerous. Wouldn't it be much safer to use native people instead of soldiers?

Ji Rong then sought Ji Fang's permission, but Ji Fang flatly refused: "No, you can ask Zhang Zhenyun for the original man, but not Qiao."

Ji Rong stated the facts: "No one is more suitable than Qiao. He is intelligent, understands human nature, and has mental strength. Only he can control the mecha."

Ji Fang objected: "Humans are humans, and animals are animals. If you really want to conduct experiments and tests, it's best to use human data. Why must you use Qiao Ye?"

Ji Rong understood what her older brother meant: "You're reluctant to part with Qiao Ye? Although the test experiment has some risks, the probability is not high. He is small and can be perfectly wrapped in 100% safety equipment to enter the mecha. If I can use soldiers, why would I need to find Yuan? If I use soldiers, if danger occurs, it's a matter of human life. Is Yuan's life more important than human life?"

Ji Fang calmed down: "Qiao is just like any other person in my heart. His life is also a life. If this test is really dangerous, then we should improve it until it is safe before we test it again."

Seeing that Ji Fang disagreed, Ji Rong knew her plan had failed. She glanced at Qiao Ye and said sarcastically, "Protecting him so tightly, so reluctant to part with him, anyone who didn't know better would think he was your partner! He's just a Yuanren, and besides, I wouldn't really let him get hurt!"

Ji Fang picked up Qiao Ye, unconcerned: "Qiao Ye is much better than the Cohen people. He's smart, quick-witted, loyal, and caring. If he were a Cohen, I'd marry him immediately!"

Ji Rong began to mock him, her anger rising: "Ha, a general like you actually wants to marry a primitive human as a partner? Aren't you afraid of being laughed at? If you won't give it to me, then so be it, I'll find a way myself."

Ji Fang warned: "Don't be unreasonable."

Ji Rong, not to be outdone, immediately retorted: "Listen to who's being unreasonable! You have to have limits if you like pets. It's a leopard, not a person!"

Ji Fang, with a stern face, glanced at Ji Rong: "Apart from not being able to speak, Qiao Ye is just like a person. In my eyes, he is just as important as a person."

Ji Rong no longer wanted to listen to his brother, and waved his hands impatiently, saying, "Fine, fine, if you don't want to give it to me, then don't!" With that, he took a long stride and walked out of Ji Fang's office.

Listening to the siblings arguing, Qiao felt awkward, but Ji Fang protected him and didn't let him take any risks. This feeling of being valued and cared for made Qiao feel happy.

Only his master treated him as a human soul, as an equal. If he were Zhang Zhenyun's battle pet now, Zhang Zhenyun would probably let Ji Rong do whatever he wanted without batting an eye. If the battlefield ahead required the sacrifice of a battle pet to clear the way, Zhang Zhenyun would definitely choose to sacrifice the battle pet without hesitation.

They train battle pets for special missions. The Cohens, at the top of the food chain, have absolute dominance over other animals and will not hesitate to sacrifice them when their lives are threatened. Joe can understand this.

However, Ji Fang gave him special treatment. He treated him like family, developed feelings for him, and couldn't bear to see him in any danger. How could this not move Qiao Ye?

The snowy mountains are cold all year round, and Qiao has almost forgotten the warmth of spring and the heat of summer. He asked his master when he could return to Lixi. He likes excitement and wants to go out and play, but his master has not received any orders and cannot leave without permission.

Eight months later, Ji Fang suddenly received news that the king was critically ill and the second prince urgently summoned Ji Fang to lead troops to guard the capital city of Lizhou.