On the third day at the sanatorium, Ye Jiu finally met the legendary Pei Zhiyu.

With the moon, frost, and stars shining eternally, a gentle breeze carrying warmth caressed Ye Jiu's face, and she contentedly closed her eyes.

The weather is so nice, and the sun is shining brightly.

On a whim, she moved her desk from inside the house to the yard, and spread out her drawings and work in the sun, slowly refining them.

Today's task is to refine the mecha drawings we submitted last time. We need to be so detailed that we can analyze what materials were used in each part, draw the internal assembly structure of the frame in detail, and also hand-draw it.

So even though the weather was nice today, there weren't many people in the courtyard; everyone was huddled inside. Even those who did come out only glanced at Ri Chi briefly before leaving. They couldn't exactly start disassembling it themselves; they could only rely on their imagination and past theoretical analysis, perhaps adding Ri Chi's personal habits as a factor, to combine their findings. Ultimately, they were just miserable college students.

To avoid getting distracted, Ye Jiu didn't even bring a stool and stood outside to paint.

After drawing with her head down for a long time, Ye Jiu suddenly realized that there was someone next to her when she moved her neck.

Ye Jiu rubbed the back of her neck and turned her head to look at the person sitting in the chair reading a book.

After a closer look, they realized it wasn't her classmate. They compared the face with the medical staff, but none of them matched.

Then it could only be Pei Zhiyu, whom she had never met...

Perhaps Ye Jiu had been staring at him for a while, because he looked away from the book in his hand and turned his head to meet Ye Jiu's gaze.

He smiled gently. "Is there something you need?"

This smile brought his model-like face to life, and the sickly look in his eyes and brows disappeared, making him look nothing like someone who had been on the battlefield.

Su Huo is the kind of guy who looks tough and like he's served in the military, while Pei Zhiyu is the complete opposite.

Pei Zhiyu looked too frail and scholarly, especially with the book in his hand.

Ye Jiu slowly shook her head, "It's nothing, I just suddenly noticed someone was there and was curious to take a look. On the contrary, I'm sorry for disturbing your reading."

Pei Zhiyu closed the book. "It's alright, my eyes were tired from reading anyway. Have you finished your design?"

"Hmm?" Ye Jiu glanced down at the blueprints on the table. "It's almost done, but there are still many parts I'm not sure about."

Can I take a look?

Although Ye Jiu was puzzled by the request, she still handed him the paper. "Of course, it would be even better if you could give me some suggestions for improvement."

"Do you know who I am?" Pei Zhiyu asked, taking the blueprints.

Ye Jiu answered honestly, "In this courtyard, you and I are the only unfamiliar faces. You must be Major General Pei Zhiyu."

"But I'm just a mecha soldier, why would I think I can give you advice?"

Ye Jiu: ...

Polite words...do you understand...?

Ye Jiu smirked, "...Do you want to hear the truth?"

Pei Zhiyu looked up at her, puzzled. "Why should I listen to lies?"

"Okay, I was just saying it offhand. It doesn't really matter whether you give me advice or not."

Pei Zhiyu chuckled, "It was I who asked the question."

Ye Jiu didn't respond. Seeing that Pei Zhiyu didn't seem to care about the details and didn't look at her, she slipped into the room, brought out a stool, and sat down at the desk to wait for Pei Zhiyu to finish looking at the drawings.

The clouds in the sky overlapped, as if painted by a brush, falling lazily onto the blue canvas of the sky.

Ye Jiu stared at the clouds, completely mesmerized.

"This is labeled incorrectly," Pei Zhiyu suddenly said.

"Where?" Ye Jiu immediately stood up, walked over, and squatted down next to him to look at her drawings. These were materials that she had conceived and speculated about more than ten times, so they should be very reasonable!

Pei Zhiyu pointed his long, slender fingers, with distinct knuckles, at the mecha's flight engine. "Ri Chi's flight engine is the X-005."

Ye Jiu was stunned when she heard the model number. "Huh? But the 005 is so heavy, wasn't it obsolete a long time ago?"

"Yes, this is the last time 005 has used it on a mecha in recent years."

"But why?" Ye Jiu looked up into Pei Zhiyu's eyes. "006 is clearly more suitable."

"Theoretically, 006 would be more suitable, but Ri Chi is too heavy. It is the heaviest heavy mech in recent years. 006 would wear out very quickly on Ri Chi. On the contrary, the heavier 005 is a perfect fit."

Ye Jiu's mouth opened slightly, and she suddenly realized, "So, my thinking was limited. Most mechs pursue lightness. I have never encountered a super-heavy mech like Ri Chi before. I was just assuming it."

"If you change this part, it will be perfect. It's very close to Ri Chi's original design." Pei Zhiyu handed the blueprints back to her.

Ye Jiu put away the blueprints and scratched his head. "May I ask you how you know these things?"

Pei Zhiyu smiled and said, "I'm not as amazing as you think. It's just that Su Huo showed it to me, and he's the one who told me about this flight engine."

"I see."

Ye Jiu continued, "We'll start watching your annihilation the day after tomorrow. Can you tell me about annihilation?"

Pei Zhiyu was taken aback upon hearing this, a hint of sadness flashing across his face. He quickly regained his composure and slowly spoke, "Annihilation is very good. It's a medium-sized mech, weighing 5 tons and standing 4.5 meters tall. It excels at stealth and surprise attacks, and its weapons include a sniper-type laser gun and a short sword..."

I never expected him to say those data that I knew so well, and he ended it with the sentence, "I want to return it to the Federation."

Ye Jiu was taken aback. "Why?"

Pei Zhiyu laughed out loud, seemingly mocking Ye Jiu's naiveté.

"Why are you so surprised? You should know why I'm here."

Ye Jiu was speechless. "That's true."

Ye Jiu remained silent for a long while, then asked, "Is it very uncomfortable to have your mental energy in disarray?"

Pei Zhiyu pondered for a moment and replied, "Hmm... I felt terrible at the time, and I've been feeling terrible ever since."

Seeing that Ye Jiu's expression remained unchanged, he asked, "Why aren't you crying?"

Why...why am I crying?

She just wanted to check on his current situation, assess whether it was urgent, and help him and Su Huo resolve the issue when the time was right.

"It's quite interesting. The people from the Federation who came to visit me before all cried after hearing my answer. I don't know why they acted as if they empathized with me, or... felt sorry for me?"

"Is that so? Then I'm rather cold-hearted and can't cry."

"I don't mean to say you're bad, I'm just expressing my opinion."

Ye Jiu couldn't fathom his motives, but sensed that he wasn't in a good mental state.

Has it already damaged his brain?

"I'm sorry, did my comment seem strange to you? It was just a slip of the tongue, I hope you don't mind." Pei Zhiyu didn't want to continue the conversation; Ye Jiu's gaze made him feel like a lunatic.

He didn't quite understand why he suddenly said such a thing...

It's strange, but when I'm near her, I unconsciously relax.

Perhaps that's why Su Huo is like this too?

Pei Zhiyu found this even more interesting; this Ye Jiu was more interesting than he had imagined.