Hearing that it wasn’t a gas chamber, Big Guy finally let out a sigh of relief and quickly entered the room to wash thoroughly under the showerhead, then put on an oversized anti-bacterial suit.

Seeing Big Guy move so quickly, Old Man nodded in satisfaction and said, “Hmm, you’re pretty fast.” After waiting a minute and seeing the other mechanical repairman still slowly putting on his clothes, Old Man roared at him, “You ought to be shot! Hurry up and get dressed! Don’t waste my time.”

Finally, when that repairman finished dressing and came out, Old Man led the two of them through the last door, which was an automatic alloy door. As soon as they entered, a vast hall appeared before William Carter. The hall was piled high with mechanical parts, mechas, weapons, and all kinds of equipment. In the center of the hall, a massive central computer was flashing with tens of thousands of electronic signal tubes. A group of people in white dustproof work clothes were bustling about. There were also some corridors and doors around the hall.

Big Guy was a bit confused; this didn’t look like a prison, but more like a giant laboratory.

Old Man pointed to a pile of things in a corner—so jumbled it was impossible to tell if they were mechas or just parts—and said to William Carter and the soldier, “Hurry up and fix these for me. The blueprints are in the computer; if you don’t know how, look it up yourself! All the tools and parts are here, and food will be delivered regularly—just take it yourself. I have only two requirements: speed and quality! This is wartime, and our experiments are racing against the clock. If you can’t keep up with my pace, you’ll be shot! If you break any of this equipment, you’ll be shot! If you can’t fix it, you’ll definitely be shot!”

As soon as Big Guy heard this, his face turned pale on the spot!

Old Man glanced strangely at the pale, sweating Big Guy, then continued, “If you understand, get to work!” With a wave of his hand, he went straight into a room further inside, muttering as he walked, “Wasting so much of my time! All should be shot, all should be shot!”

It seemed that, even without a military tribunal, he’d already been judged guilty, and now this was his only chance to redeem himself and save his life. Thinking of this, Big Guy became like a toy rabbit powered by a nuclear battery, rushing to the pile of parts and burying himself in work at top speed, determined to earn a commutation from a death sentence to life imprisonment with his best performance.

Watching this desperately hard-working repairman, the lab staff exchanged glances; they had rarely seen such a diligent mechanic. Usually, those sent here to help were soldiers being punished for mistakes made outside. The workload was huge, there was no freedom, and the repairs were deep and complex—everyone complained bitterly. Someone like Big Guy was a rare sight.

Two days later, everyone in the lab realized they’d struck gold this time. This Big Guy worked longer hours than even the most fanatical researchers, moved at an incredible speed, and could repair some of the rarest mechas or weapons almost without consulting the blueprints. By the time the other repairman received orders to leave, the mountain of junk had been almost completely fixed by Big Guy alone.

This Big Guy—what a talent!

……

Big Guy quickly became familiar with the researchers in the institute. This guy, so desperate to survive, volunteered for almost everything. Repairing mechas and weapons damaged during research and experiments was Big Guy’s specialty, and with his sweet talk and easygoing personality, everyone in the lab liked him very much.

Since the establishment of this military laboratory, there had never been a mechanical repairman who stayed here, working day and night, without being transferred out. Coincidentally, this person was also extremely easy to manage. This fact made everyone feel lucky.

Occasionally, they would wonder what mistake Big Guy had made outside to end up locked up here for so long.

This laboratory belonged to the Galliparan Military Academy. Around the academy, there were military bases responsible for training cadets and strictly protecting the academy. Everything in the academy was related to the military; all instructors and researchers were soldiers, each with a military rank.

The most feared person in the academy was not the principal, who held the rank of general, but the head of the academy’s Seventh Laboratory—the very Old Man who brought Big Guy in—James Cooper. This eccentric Old Man was not a soldier and had no military rank, yet he led the academy’s largest military laboratory and was the top mentor in mecha and weapons design. Before the war broke out, due to academy policy, mechanical engineering students could be assigned to help with repairs and such. After the war began, all students became junior officers, and the academy adopted wartime protocols—no more students were sent to help with odd jobs. This made James Cooper very annoyed! In this Old Man’s eyes, nothing mattered except research.

The dire wartime situation had already left the frontline command center in the academy overwhelmed and in chaos—who had time to deal with a cranky Old Man? And Old Man’s bad temper had offended quite a few mid-level officers in charge of assignments, so this place became a de facto punishment site for disciplinary soldiers. Whenever a soldier made a mistake, he’d be thrown into the lab to do odd jobs.