After that war, many broken mechs were abandoned. Due to the chaotic situation at the time, these abandoned mechs were quickly utilized by homeless people. By the time the authorities wanted to clean up, it was already too late. Of course, the fundamental reason was that these discarded mechs had no economic value anymore. If they were to be recycled, the cost would far exceed that of purchasing a new combat mech.
In the slums, owning an abandoned mech as a residence was actually quite luxurious. Liu Fei was an orphan who was adopted by an old scavenger when he was very young. A few months ago, the old man passed away, and Liu Fei inherited this "vast" wealth.
This ancient heavy combat mech was covered in scars, scratches, and marks, making for a distressing sight. However, it still maintained its overall integrity. Liu Fei climbed onto the rusty mech like an agile monkey and entered the engine room. The engine had long been dismantled, leaving the room clean. Liu Fei converted the engine room into a comfortable bathroom, and the facilities in this bathroom cost him a significant portion of his savings.
The bathroom facilities were eco-friendly; waste could generate electricity, and the devices could collect and recycle water from the air. Besides providing Liu Fei with basic living necessities, this bathroom also allowed him to enjoy a luxurious hot bath every three days.
Climbing into the cockpit from the engine room, Liu Fei found the instrument panel completely removed, leaving only two narrow beds: one for him and the other for the old man. The old man's bed no longer had a quilt; instead, it was adorned with various wooden carvings and blocks of wood of different colors.
Once inside the cockpit, Liu Fei had a simple nutritional liquid and compressed food before turning on the cockpit lights. The small cockpit immediately became bright.
Under the bright lights, Liu Fei picked up his carving knife and began his work for the day.
This job was a chance find for Liu Fei: crafting handicrafts for a small shop with a long history. These "handicrafts" involved carving pieces of wood into various shapes of art pieces. In today's flourishing mechanical civilization, this had become a forgotten profession.
With the carving knife in hand, the coldness on Liu Fei's face disappeared, replaced by an intense focus. His eyes also became exceptionally bright. The sharp and nimble carving knife in his hand was extremely skilled. Every time the blade passed, the lines left on the wood seemed to come alive...
As time passed by, the fist-sized piece of wood gradually took shape, becoming a majestic eagle about to take flight. Although it was still incomplete, it exuded a profound charm.
Satisfied with the piece in his hand and checking the old watch on his arm, Liu Fei set down the wood carving.
Although Liu Fei could quickly complete a piece of carving, it didn't mean he could work continuously. In fact, Liu Fei's daily workload was basically fixed because the sales volume of that small handicraft shop had constrained his workload.
However, Liu Fei was still content. Each of the carvings he completed fetched a high price, and his commissions were quite good. Based on his current workload, a year's time would be enough for him to earn more than enough for four years of tuition and living expenses, with plenty to spare.
Today, he should be delivering his goods.
Liu Fei's gaze fell on the wooden carving of a tiger on the bed. It was a majestic tiger perched on a rocky hill, exuding a powerful aura of dominance. Although small in size, it displayed the kingly demeanor of the ruler of beasts.
In reality, Liu Fei had never seen a real tiger. He relied solely on the data provided by the handicraft shop to carve it. It was said that these animals grew on the distant mother planet of Earth in the solar system, known for their ferocity as the kings of beasts. Unfortunately, Liu Fei could only imagine what a real tiger looked like based on his own carvings.
Carefully wrapping the wooden tiger in plush cloth and placing it in a paper box, Liu Fei packed it into his backpack and climbed down from the mech, heading straight for the commercial district of Zor Star.
Liu Fei wasn't worried about someone intruding into his mech. In any civilized society, protecting private property was taken very seriously. Without the owner's permission, the law permitted the owner to shoot intruders.
Of course, the slums weren't as particular. In the slums, the law was merely a joke. For a meal, murder and robbery happened every minute. In the slums, might was law.
Liu Fei didn't rely on the law; he relied on his fists. Liu Fei's adoptive father had a fearsome nickname: "Iron Fist." Iron Fist wasn't physically strong, but he was ruthless. At least half of the trash cans at Zor Mech University were labeled with Iron Fist's name. Anyone daring to rummage through the trash cans risked being attacked at any moment, as Iron Fist, though frail, was merciless and would fight to the death. Even some small gangs in the slums didn't dare to easily offend him.
When Liu Fei was five years old, he had a tooth knocked out by a young thug. Iron Fist waited outside the thug's haunt for three days and nights, then used a hammer to knock out all the thug's teeth.
Six months ago, after Iron Fist's death, the scavengers in the slums celebrated for three days straight. The trash cans at Zor Mech University were emptied within minutes. The intimidation of Iron Fist in the slums was evident.
Liu Fei didn't inherit Iron Fist's scavenging business. It wasn't that Liu Fei didn't want to, but rather Iron Fist didn't want him to. Iron Fist said Liu Fei was destined for greater things and wouldn't allow him to scavenge. Throughout Liu Fei's childhood, Iron Fist never allowed him to scavenge, not even to follow from afar.
Although Liu Fei didn't inherit Iron Fist's business, he did inherit his ruthlessness. From a young age, Iron Fist instilled in Liu Fei the idea of showing no mercy to enemies. Don't make a move unless necessary, but once you do, make sure the opponent submits.
Everyone in the slums knew about Iron Fist and Liu Fei, the two ruthless father and son.
Actually, there was one thing Liu Fei did in the slums. When he was five years old, he used a hammer to knock out all the teeth of a thug. Of course, it was done with the help of Iron Fist. After that, no one dared to harass Liu Fei anymore.
Another noteworthy fact is that Liu Fei was able to enter Zor Mech University entirely thanks to Iron Fist. Legend has it that in order to give Liu Fei the opportunity to work at Zor Mech University, Iron Fist spent five years pestering the university president. During these five years, Iron Fist suffered countless beatings, as a university president was not like a thug in the slums, always surrounded by bodyguards.
Perhaps out of sincerity, or maybe because the university president was tired of Iron Fist's persistence, Liu Fei eventually entered the school, even managing to bring Li Meng along.
Iron Fist protected Liu Fei like a combative mother hen. However, Iron Fist was not as gentle with Liu Fei as outsiders might imagine. In fact, Iron Fist had very high expectations and strict demands for Liu Fei.
Iron Fist lacked formal education, but he had his own way of teaching. His method was simple: he made Liu Fei memorize scavenged books within a specified time limit. Liu Fei always remembered the time he failed to complete Iron Fist's assigned memorization task and was punished by standing on top of the mech for a day and night without food or drink.
Liu Fei glanced back at the towering mech, as if a pair of cold, icy eyes were watching him from the cockpit. He sighed. Iron Fist had been dead for nearly half a year, but he always felt like Iron Fist was still alive beside him, constantly urging him on, leaving him no room for slack.
...
The sky had completely darkened, enveloping the entire slum in darkness. Occasionally, lights dotted the chaotic buildings, appearing particularly dazzling amidst the night.
Contrary to expectations, the slum wasn't quiet under the cover of night; instead, it became livelier. Aside from some poor workers returning home, suspicious groups of people began to emerge. Small groups of thugs gathered in corners, the air filled with the scent of drugs. Some prostitutes, their faces caked in cheap makeup, lurked in dark corners, soliciting clients. The pungent smell of inferior perfume made one nauseous.
Liu Fei navigated through the crowd, undisturbed. In the slum, he was an outsider, because Iron Fist never allowed him to associate with the slum's residents. Li Meng could approach Liu Fei only because he had helped Liu Fei knock out that tooth.
Apart from Li Meng, anyone trying to get close to Liu Fei would incur Iron Fist's hostility.
For Liu Fei, Iron Fist was a mysterious figure, unlike the short-sighted poor and scavengers. Though illiterate, Iron Fist seemed educated, knowing many things the poor didn't. He was adept at understanding others' psychological activities, and most importantly, he knew how to protect himself and Liu Fei in the complex slum.
The strength possessed by Iron Fist's frail body had always intrigued Liu Fei. In Liu Fei's memory, Iron Fist had never lost a fight, although most of the time, both parties ended up injured. However, Iron Fist's opponents always ended up more severely injured, which was the main reason people in the slum feared him.
Unfortunately, until Iron Fist's dying moments, Liu Fei never fully understood what kind of person Iron Fist was. Because of Iron Fist, Liu Fei was viewed as mysterious by the residents of the slum. Ordinary people feared getting involved with Iron Fist, thus avoiding Liu Fei. In the absence of friends, Liu Fei had developed a habit of being reticent. If anyone approached him, they would immediately feel a distant and indifferent aura emanating from him.
The slum was vast, covering tens of thousands of square meters. If viewed from the sky, Zor Mech University and the slum were separated only by a wall. However, in reality, the university's gate and the slum were more than a kilometer apart.
It is said that the first generation of residents in the slum district were the mech warriors who protected the Zor Mech Academy. After the battles with the extraterrestrial xenomorphs ended, many disabled soldiers stayed behind, forming the initial inhabitants of the slum district. Later, with the development of interstellar travel, more and more impoverished people gathered, thus forming the current scale.
The corrupt street stretches about two hundred meters, lined with teahouses, restaurants, and small inns, among which hidden brothels operate. The school has closed this entrance at least a hundred times, but each closure lasts no more than two days before being violently destroyed. After a prolonged tug-of-war, the school eventually accepted the existence of this entrance, acknowledging its impact on the livelihoods of hundreds or even thousands of people. Guided by humanitarian principles and the concept of a harmonious society, keeping this entrance open is deemed necessary.