Make money by hiding in the interstellar battlefield!

Within days of the negotiations with Windsor Louise concluding, the outcome of the arms purchase order was announced, much to everyone's surprise. The biggest winner of this arms deal was none other than the Fujiwara family. Ostensibly, each of the Fujiwara, George, and Windsor families received two team captain positions. However, the Windsor family, through Jian Sheng's defection, secured the procurement rights for three teams. The Church, having obtained three captain positions, ultimately chose to award the entire equipment procurement for those three teams to the Fujiwara family.

Logically, the Church should avoid offending anyone and stick to one side or one team, which aligns with the Church's past practices. Because the Church has never been deeply involved in the military forces of Seven Rings City, they lack top-tier combat power, namely S-class mech warriors.

Their advantage and foundation have always stemmed from the people; 70% of both the outer city residents and ordinary inner city dwellers are believers in the Mother Goddess Church, so there has been no direct conflict of interest between the church and the nine great families. The nine great families have also always tolerated the church's development, and the church has always played a balancing act, but this sudden and complete shift in allegiance to the Fujiwara family is somewhat unexpected.

The Windsor family secured equipment purchases from three teams, a modest achievement. Meanwhile, the initially favored George family suffered a crushing defeat, only managing to secure equipment purchases from two teams.

Why didn't the George and Windsor families overthrow each other? The answer is quite simple: with powerful enemies outside, humanity's most pressing need is survival, not infighting. If the nine families fought independently, establishing their own strategic systems and combat forces instead of through the Officer and Mech Academy, they would be embroiled in internal strife before even dealing with external threats.

Everyone competed through the sergeant mecha school, the city defense army, and numerous seemingly fair rules. Victory and defeat depended on individual ability; losing meant you couldn't overturn the table, because doing so would break the rules, undermine the underlying power structure, and make you a public enemy. Therefore, although the George and Windsor families were extremely angry, they ultimately swallowed this bitter pill.

As for the agreement between the church and the Fujiwara family, Kenji had no way of knowing. Perhaps the upper echelons of the Windsor and George families had access to such information, but they wouldn't explain it to a servant with even a little bit of influence like him.

In Jian Sheng's view, the Church is still playing the balance game. Among the three major clans, the Windsor family has become somewhat dominant. Although each clan has two S-class mech warriors, Percival Windsor's strength is clearly superior to the other S-class mech warriors. Because of this, the Windsor family has developed rapidly in recent years, far ahead in the development of resource outposts outside Seven Rings City.

With the emergence of a rising star like George Thorne in the George family, it's highly likely he'll reach S-rank through genetic optimization. If this happens, the power balance among the three major clans will be disrupted, potentially leading to a single dominant force. And such a dominant force would not tolerate the existence of a behemoth like the Church.

Many of the Church's current actions have already made the nine major families deeply wary. Although military power is still in the hands of the nine major families, it is undeniable that public opinion is controlled by the Church. If the Church were to gain control of military power in the future, the entire balance of power would be completely disrupted. However, everyone understands now that they are surrounded by powerful enemies, and survival is the top priority, so fighting without breaking apart is the main theme. This is none of Jian Sheng's business, and he doesn't care much about it.

However, with the equipment procurement plan finalized, Jian Sheng's image as a loyal dog of the Windsor family was basically accepted by everyone. This was the second label attached to him; the first was naturally the outer city's dual-C captain with no background, and the second was the Windsor family's loyal dog. Is there anything wrong with being a dog? No, as long as the dog's master is powerful enough.

Before long, Jian Sheng's team was fully staffed, mainly consisting of an alliance of three families, with the Windsor family at its core. The team consisted of 30 people, with only Jian Sheng and Lin Zhizhi being relatively independent individuals.

Every day, during the training courses and team affairs management at the mecha officer school, Jian Sheng never asked a single question, only symbolically signing his name. Because of his patch system, he possessed superhuman learning and memory abilities, and basically never listened to any of the teachers' lectures. Lin Zhizhi, on the other hand, was completely different. Jian Sheng forced her to attend every class, and before leaving, he would stuff her textbooks into her bag, then reach out and ruffle her hair, complaining, "The early bird catches the worm. If you skip class again, you'll be punished by copying the mecha parameter table." Fortunately, Lin Zhizhi was quite diligent, and it seemed she didn't resist studying. However, what left Jian Sheng speechless was that every time Lin Zhizhi went to class, she would bring Xiao Baisheng, this burden, with her. Jian Sheng couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Do you even understand what I'm saying, you little brat!" Even though he said that, when passing by the classroom window, he would still stop and glance at Xiao Baisheng, who was dozing at Lin Zhizhi's feet, to make sure it wasn't causing any trouble before leaving.

Jian Sheng's daily activities were quite regular. Besides exercising and adjusting his physical condition, his body, which was relatively weak due to years of malnutrition, needed a long period of gentle nourishment to gradually recover. Moreover, during this process, with each use of his abilities and recharging, the integration of his two brains slightly improved again. He discovered that with each degree of increase in the integration of his two brains, the ability to use the patching system became smoother. In the past, he needed to look at and analyze numerical values, but now he could basically understand them instantly without any hesitation.

His second most frequent activity now is playing cards. Because of the patch system and his current status as a loyal follower of the Windsor family, he regularly engages in various forms of gambling and entertainment with the wealthy young masters of the Windsor family's various branches. This is also part of his money-making plan.

His strategy was always to win and lose, accumulating small wins to steadily climb towards victory. With the aid of the patching system, his win-loss curve was remarkably balanced, allowing him to relentlessly exploit and accumulate wealth according to his own will. He could earn around 30 Blue Crystals per month through card games. Thinking back to the days when he risked his life for 3 Blue Crystals, at the card table, it only took a few clicks.

Returning home after playing cards that evening, with his winnings of blue crystal coins tucked into his pocket, he hadn't even stepped inside when he heard Lin Zhizhi muttering to herself. He knew without a doubt that she was fretting over her mecha textbook again. One thing was always on his mind: dealing with Lin Zhizhi's endless barrage of "whys."

Although she was eager to learn, she was undeniably slow-witted. She couldn't understand many of the questions the teacher discussed in class, while the other students seemed to grasp them all. So she was too embarrassed to ask, afraid of bothering the teacher, and could only accumulate all her questions until Jian Sheng returned home in the evening, asking them one by one. Jian Sheng would sit on the sofa, and she would move a small stool beside him, clutching a sheet of densely written draft paper. Sometimes, after asking so many questions, Jian Sheng would get a little annoyed and blurt out, "Is your mother a monster? How could she have given birth to such a stupid child?" He'd grumble, but still take her draft paper, pointing to the formulas, patiently explaining them to her a second time. Jian Sheng's state was like the helpless rage of countless parents helping their children with homework—he was practically on the verge of a heart attack, his system constantly alarming.

As for the equipment for the mech team, it will be gradually completed within six months. It is said that the three major clans have made breakthrough progress in the joint development of B-class mechs, and it is expected that trial deployment and small-batch testing will begin within six months.

Three months of this decadent and carefree time passed in the blink of an eye. Today, I was notified to go to the Windsor Armory to select the weapons and equipment for the mechs and to debug the weapon parameters. The Windsor Armory is located in the Third Industrial Park, north of the Fifth Ring Road.

"Reporting to the captain, the personnel have been counted and are ready to depart at any time."

Marcus Windsor was the de facto commander of the team, but in daily work and interactions, he showed absolutely no arrogance. He trained the entire team exceptionally well, which made Jian Sheng quite content with his leisure time.

Compared to some second and third generations during peaceful times, the second and third generations of the nine major families in the Seven Rings City who have always been on the verge of life and death are so outstanding that even "excellent" is not enough to describe their high quality.

"Set off!"

An electric car and a military truck slowly drove toward the Fifth Ring Industrial Zone.

When they passed through agricultural areas, Jian Sheng felt like he was dreaming, as if he had simply arrived at a large farm on the central plains of some beautiful country. It wasn't until the distant city walls appeared in front of him that Jian Sheng came to his senses; this was not a dream.

Upon entering the industrial zone, we quickly arrived at the Windsor Industrial Park. The first thing we saw was a steel plant, with huge cooling towers still belching out steam. The iron ore from the southern valley is of extremely high quality, with an iron content of 66%. This is almost entirely natural iron, one of the fundamental reasons for the survival of Seven Rings City.

There are also several heavy industry supporting factories within the industrial park, but they are all very small in scale due to insufficient raw materials and energy. The nine major families each have some presence in the industrial system, but most of them are related to the resources that their own resource points can deliver.

The group was taken to the Windsor Armory, which not only produced mechs but also various types of firearms. However, the general characteristic of these weapons was their simple composition of raw materials. For example, firearms were primarily made of iron and copper. As for humanoid mechs, due to the numerous materials involved, their manufacture was much more difficult, and the nine major families had to cooperate to complete them.

The core advantages of mechs are their flexibility and speed. In siege warfare, they are actually inferior to large-caliber artillery. However, outside the city, in complex environments lacking infrastructure, only mech warriors can achieve rapid maneuverability.

The fact that everyone was taken directly to the manufacturing plant was a sign of high trust. This team was a three-race alliance team with the Windsor family as its core, meaning they were one of their own—that was a matter of attitude.

The technicians began to work in groups to introduce and record the weapon parameters and configurations.

Because Jian Sheng is the team leader and the sniper mech is the most expensive, the chief engineer is in direct contact with him.

"Hello, Captain Jian Sheng. My name is Billy, and I'll be customizing your weapon system."

This person has the appearance of a tech-savvy engineer and doesn't even have the surname Windsor.

"Hello, let's get started then."

The two arrived in front of Jian Sheng's still unfinished mecha. The three-meter-long mecha shimmered with the unique texture and luster of metal, giving the impression that it was omnipotent.

"First, my energy tank capacity and power are double that of the standard 10kg, so there's no need to worry about my body overloading!"

"Um, Captain Jiansheng, according to the data, your talent is C+. Doubling your energy bar requires at least a B-level talent to withstand it."

"I know, just do as I say. I'll take responsibility for any problems that arise."

In truth, while Jian Sheng's Blue Beast Crystal's energy sensing power was only C+, it could actually amplify 100% of the energy of a soldier-level Blue Beast Crystal. Judging solely from the power output of a C-level mech, no matter how high the opponent's talent, they would find it difficult to compete. Originally, he intended to triple the power, but this inevitably aroused suspicion.

"Secondly: My mech doesn't need to be equipped with melee weapons. The spare weight and space can be used to set up two things. The first is to add an auxiliary compartment connected to the main compartment, with about 2 liters of space. My combat partner is a meerkat. The other thing is to increase the ammunition capacity. One magazine on each shoulder is too few."

Engineer Billy seemed to be considering the feasibility, remaining silent for a long time. He first licked his lips, then looked at the mech and asked, "Captain, how much more ammunition would you like to increase?"

"The more the better, even if it means sacrificing some protection. I'm a sniper; too much defense is meaningless to me."

Jian Sheng is certainly not so naive as to want everything. Anyone who says that is a fool!

Jian Sheng's mech ultimately had 30% less armor and six more ammunition magazines, located on either side of the mech's waist. The entire mech became a "high-HP, low-HP" powder keg.

The last thing to do is to coat the mech and name it.

After all, the mechs in Windsor's batch are not second-hand standard mechs from the mech officer school, but a brand new generation of products.

"Paint my main body black, and name it White Meerkat!"

Upon hearing this, Billy took a deep breath; the mecha's configuration and name were driving him a little crazy.

After Jian Sheng finished configuring his own mecha, he turned around and saw Lin Zhizhi peeking out from the hatch of another mecha. He went over and looked at her mecha configuration, and took a deep breath.

Two hot blades, energy bar capacity increased by 4 times, armor increased by 20%!

Jian Sheng called Lin Zhizhi to his side, pointing at the thermal blade parameters on the configuration sheet with his finger, his brows furrowed so deeply they could trap a mosquito.

"Is your mech designed for long-range sniping, or close-quarters combat?"

Lin Zhizhi looked up at him with a confident expression, her eyes sparkling.

"After my thermal blade is infused with crystal energy, the temperature can rise by a thousand degrees, increasing cutting efficiency several times over. If I encounter the same situation again, I'm sure I can solve it. Anyway, you and I fight together, and we can't afford to lack close combat skills."

"You've got the priorities backwards."

"What do you mean? Bro, you're using words I don't understand again."

"You just didn't grasp the sniper's key points."

"But we're the only two people in the whole team who're on the same side. Who knows when we'll be betrayed?" Lin Zhizhi muttered softly, her fingers unconsciously tugging at the hem of her clothes, her eyes filled with a stubbornness.

Jiansheng understood what she meant, and his heart softened. He was helpless against her! He raised his hand and ruffled her hair, making her already messy hair even messier.

"What's the name of your mecha?"

"I haven't thought of one yet, how about you come up with one for me, brother!" Lin Zhizhi's eyes lit up, and she instantly forgot about the argument from earlier.

"Let's call it Libra!"

Why?

"There was once an incredibly awesome mecha warrior. His mecha was made up of various weapons, and his mecha was called Libra!"