Chapter 19: Aerial Combat Mech—Tempest

[Skill Book: Aerial Combat Mecha: Gale*1]

When Luke studied this skill book, an unprecedented surge of pain filled his mind. Countless streams of knowledge flooded into his brain all at once. It felt as if, in a single instant, he had absorbed every course from university to the professional engineering level—covering electronic engineering, mechanical engineering, ergonomics, and a vast array of other disciplines.

Because of this, Luke spent a full two weeks digesting it all.

He didn’t idle away those days, either. Building a real mecha required extensive preparation.

First and foremost, he needed a proper workshop.

Constructing Christina in his bedroom had been challenging enough, and that was only possible because her most complex aspect lay in the AI programming—there wasn’t much hammering or assembling involved.

Assembling a mecha in a bedroom? Out of the question.

What if his foster parents saw? “Extracurricular activities” could hardly serve as an excuse anymore.

What elementary school teaches mecha construction, after all? “Hey, are you from the Federation too? I’m Kira Yamato!”...

Ultimately, Luke rented an old warehouse not far from home. The landlord lived in Ottawa and barely ever returned, so the warehouse had gone unattended for years, making the rent very cheap. Most importantly, everything could be settled online—payment made with a casual tap.

With his own secret base, Luke could hardly contain his delight.

Now he could let his imagination run wild, inventing all sorts of strange things without fear of discovery. If he had the nerve, he could even secretly build a nuclear bomb here and no one would know.

With the venue settled, the next issue was equipment.

As the saying goes, even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice.

But having rice without a pot is just as useless.

Even someone as monstrously skilled as Tony Stark, with his hands-on abilities maxed out, couldn’t build anything in Afghanistan without the proper tools. Under those extreme conditions, all he managed was the Mark I—a rickety suit that fell apart at the slightest knock.

Luke wasn’t as arrogant as Tony. He understood his own limits. The gap between himself and Tony, well… maybe just a finger-width apart.

To build the Aerial Combat Mecha Gale, he would certainly need all sorts of specialized equipment.

His starting point was higher than Tony’s in Afghanistan—he had Christina as an assistant.

Tony didn’t have Jarvis by his side back then, only Yinsen, who was a doctor. Materials were all makeshift.

Luke believed he could do better than Tony did at that time.

It was another Saturday. Luke used the excuse of playing basketball with Peter Parker, grabbed his skateboard, and made his way to the warehouse. After confirming no one was watching, he took out his key, slipped inside, and locked the door behind him.

With a clatter, he released a mountain of gear from his storage space: hammers, wrenches, pliers—every tool imaginable; screwdrivers of every size; a brand-new oxygen welding torch with matching tanks; a nearly new electric forge; a second-hand computer for CNC work.

Last but not least, a small lathe—also second-hand, but Luke had checked it and found no problems.

“No wonder this is a money-burning endeavor. For now, I’ll have to make do with second-hand tools. Brand-new ones are available online but cost a fortune.”

The fifty thousand dollars he’d laundered was almost gone after this round of purchases.

He had obtained all these items through online shopping.

Luke preferred buying online since it saved a lot of trouble. On the internet, you could never tell if the person bargaining with you was an adult or a seven-year-old child.

Or perhaps a dog?

You couldn’t rule it out!

Quantum theory tells us that all possibilities exist simultaneously until observed!

“Master, your order of liquid nitrogen has also arrived,” Christina reminded him as she floated over.

“Alright, got it. Christina, how far along are you with the data transfer to the mainframe?”

“The data transmission is complete.”

“Excellent. Everything is ready—let’s begin!”

...

The engineering challenges proved easier than Luke had anticipated.

After absorbing the skill book, his grasp of engineering had reached the level of a true master. Like the one-inch punch or energy shield, it had become an instinctive part of him.

With Christina’s AI assistance, the entire manufacturing process was highly efficient.

Luke spent four to five hours every day working at the warehouse. When he wasn’t there, Christina handled all the tedious, routine tasks.

As an AI, Christina even provided frequent suggestions and advice, texting them directly to Luke’s phone.

From school, Luke would send instructions back to the warehouse for Christina to execute with precision. Man and AI worked together in perfect harmony.

Ten days later—

It was another weekend. Using the same excuse of visiting Peter Parker, Luke rode his skateboard to the warehouse, his heart brimming with excitement.

“Christina, how is it?” he asked eagerly as soon as he entered.

“The paint job on the mecha’s exterior is ninety-five percent complete. It will be finished soon.”

Luke’s eyes were ablaze.

He went to the workbench, watching as two mechanical arms, guided by Christina, put the finishing touches on the mecha’s appearance.

The main body of the aerial combat mecha was now complete.

What stood before him was a robot, 1.2 meters tall and 1.2 meters wide, its appearance reminiscent of a chibi Gundam.

Luke had poured all his mechanical engineering prowess into its design. The chassis was sleek and sharply contoured, exuding an aggressive aura. Its color scheme paid homage to his favorite Gundam: Strike Freedom.

Thus, the mecha gleamed in silver and white, accented perfectly with blue and red—pure sci-fi brilliance.

For the armor, he used the best materials he could find. Layered, it could shrug off close-range fire from small-caliber firearms.

The propulsion system was jet-powered, akin to Iron Man’s suit.

In the DNF world, the Aerial Combat Mecha Gale is an unmanned combat unit deployed by a Mechanic, armed with machine guns and missiles for both air and ground attacks.

Luke, however, added a manual piloting function to the unmanned design.

He modified the mecha to be rideable: still 1.2 meters tall, but hollowed out inside, with circuitry slightly relocated, so that only his seven-year-old body could fit. An adult wouldn’t even fit one leg inside.

Once again, his seven-year-old physique proved advantageous.

A small mecha had many benefits—smaller target, easier to hide, harder to hit in flight, more difficult for radar to track—all obvious advantages.

It’s worth noting that the mecha used an energy source unlike any common type: it was powered by the colorless crystals provided by the system.

Luke had drawn quite a few of these colorless crystals from the magic box, now numbering in the thousands in his storage space.

To his surprise, these were not only reserved for casting colorless skills, but could also serve as fuel for the mecha.

According to Christina’s calculations, a single colorless crystal could power the mecha for five hours of long-range flight. In combat mode, one crystal would last about two hours.

Truly a relief—nothing less from a system-produced item!