Chapter 52: Outskirts Market

Words : 1245 Updated : Sep 10th, 2025

Chapter 52: Outskirts Market It was Luca’s first proper weekend. Although he had been here for a while now, he spent those weekends either in the infirmary or waiting for the double that never came. So, when Luca learned that the students were allowed to venture outside the school, provided they abided by the curfew, he decided to head out with Ollie, who was planning to search for materials. When Ollie got stressed, he liked word vomiting, particularly reciting mecha materials and parts like a mantra. Luca didn’t really know much about mechas since they didn’t have them back in Tesseris, but with Ollie’s ranting, even he started to familiarize himself with the common parts. But why was there sudden chaos in the manufacturing division? Apparently, it was because of the manually operated mechas. The materials weren’t exactly difficult to find. If anything, they were readily available because most were scraps. But that wasn’t the problem. The issue was how they had to build these mechas manually with power tools instead of spiritual abilities. This was to ensure that the mechas were free of any energy that could possibly be contaminated with corruption. According to Ollie, the corruption was heavily attracted to energy and sought even the smallest amounts. So, by using fully manual mechas and making them without using spiritual energy, they would be able to lower corruption’s aggressiveness toward our combatants. However, doing this would also decrease our fighting ability. Manual mechas can only do so much and can’t compare to the regular builds that utilize spiritual energy. Most of them felt like they were regressing instead of improving. Many of the students hated the idea, and some decided to just be private builders once they finished serving as per the conscription. Luca could only nod at the explanation since Ollie was right about the difference in offensive and defensive abilities. Both items were sacrificed to avoid being immediately detected by the corrupted beasts. But he couldn’t tell if the sacrifice was worth it because he hasn’t actually fought them. "Where are we going today?" "To the Outskirt Marketplace. We need to look elsewhere for the materials of the manually operated mecha, so it’s not advisable to visit the main marketplace." When they rode the hover shuttle from the military academy going outside, Luca wasn’t sure what he was about to see. And he really was surprised at how different it was from their school. When Luca was learning about the major planets of the Empire, he specifically looked for Planet Nova. The planet was famous as it served as the Empire’s Base station. Here, they have the Military Headquarters and the Royal Military Academy. While the days were supposedly longer here, the large dome encompassing the habitable areas allows us to control the skies and seasons. This allows them to match the Capital’s time and season. It would have been difficult to arrange the working hours of important government departments differently, so they were arranged this way. Luca finally understood what it meant to live in a technologically advanced world. But then he saw what the outside looked like and realized that this was the trade-off. What was greenery? Seems like people had no idea. It was building upon buildings of varying sizes with attached or floating signboards. The buildings only decreased in height as they moved further away from the school and the city center. "Are you sure it was right for us to come out in our uniforms?" asked Luca, who had wanted to change earlier but was told not to bother. "Yeah. The military has a good reputation within the Empire, and the vendors wouldn’t want to cheat the people who were supposed to protect them." "Okay, then." Well, he just asked because the other students in the same shuttle all wore casual clothes, while only the two of them wore their uniforms. Ollie didn’t even change when he splattered some watermelon juice on his uniform when Luca shared some with him. As usual, Ollie was just too happy and noted that his sworn brother was such a capable pilot, with hand speeds fast enough to fight off at least millions of people vying for the products of that extremely popular shop. Thanks to Luca, Ollie got to taste both products. So stains like that wouldn’t bother him, not when they left a great scent on him! The guy only used a stain marker to cover up the color of the stain and then bolted out of the school with Luca. In the future, he was likely to beat himself up because of this oversight. Although the shuttle bus could accommodate many people, Jax, whose nose was like that of a hound, still smelled something very unusual. "Captain. Do I smell like watermelon?" Xavier wondered what this guy was thinking of again, asking something like that out of the blue. But then he smelled it too, although he was sure it wasn’t coming from Jax. As the one who slept with the giant watermelon next to him for fear of an all-out assault, Jax was most familiar with its unique scent. They were going to visit the dwellings of some soldiers who needed the watermelon, so they went out alone. But how could he smell that glorious scent inside the bus when his watermelon was safely stored in his space? Jax tried to seek out the smell, but the Captain seemed to have found the source before he did. It was easier for Xavier because he had been eyeing two people when they boarded the bus. Xavier kept his eyes trained on the chipmunk and that guy who seemed like his friend, Ollie Mylor from the Mecha Manufacturing Division. The guy was from a very affluent family that dealt heavily in trade. Was it this guy? Since they discovered that the seller may be in Planet Nova, they have not found any other leads. But other than them, this was the first time he’d seen anyone else with access to the fruit. According to his file, Ollie was an aspiring mecha maker. So, how could he compete with others in hand speed to snag such a coveted product? "Kyle, get me more information on this guy." Xavier passed a file over to Kyle’s terminal rather than telling him, so Kyle figured it was something covert. The two people in uniforms remained oblivious even as multiple parties looked at them differently. This time, Noah was going home to help with their store. As a scholar who lived nearby, he opted to use his weekends to help his father and grandmother. But then he saw two people who had no business going to the outskirts skip the main city center stop. Were they going to the outskirts, too? Tsk. Although he recognized that Luca may have a bit of skill, he still looked at such rich people differently. Well, maybe that was his past experiences creating such a bias for him, but to Noah, having these rich kids close to the normal people of this planet didn’t feel all too nice. Then, his suspicions were confirmed when the two guys excitedly got down from the shuttle. Noah didn’t exit right away, not wanting to let them see that he was going there too. What if Luca was vindictive enough to hurt his family? If that average noble was able to do it, what more could stop someone of Luca’s caliber?

Chapter 52: Outskirts Market

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