From this date on, Renault officially became part of the Belgard Mechanic Factory.

The old man's name was Bell, and he also had a partner named Gard, and the names of the two men together were Belgard.

The entire machine shop was supported by these two people, so much so that when Renault learned about the situation, he once had the feeling that it was not a pie but a discus that fell from the sky.

In addition to Bell and Gard, the machine shop had two apprentices, plus Renault, for a total of five.

There's no finance, no operations, no security, and everyone in the machine shop wears multiple hats. Bell is in charge of technology, and almost all the mechs are handed over to him. Gade is responsible for picking up work outside, and in his free time, he also does the accounts for the factory.

This is a middle-aged man with a bushy mustache with two glances, and his full name is Imogen Gad.

He always wore a big shiny back, kept himself spotless, ironed every fold in his clothes, and smoked a pipe, as if he were a man living in the nineteenth century.

He still attaches great importance to his two-handed, and every day he takes care of his beard very carefully, and puts a beard sleeve on his beard while sleeping.

In the words of old Bell, the best way to provoke Gard is to mess up his beard.

There were two apprentices in the workshop, one named Alexander Radmore and the other Ik David.

Radmore was a somewhat shady-looking young man, but David was noticeably smarter by comparison. Radmore was always dictated by David to do that, and the upright Radmore never cared.

Still, Ike David was never satisfied.

He was always complaining, complaining that he had come to the wrong place. With his talent, he should have gone to those better repair companies and learned more advanced technology, instead of staying in this place, repairing some outdated and old mechs, and doing all kinds of clumsy and untechnical jobs.

"Old Bell is so stingy that he won't even hire a handyman." David said to Renault: "Always let us do this kind of untechnical work. ”

This is the twelfth time that Renault has heard the same complaint in the three days since it entered the factory.

Young people always complain about everything.

"If you don't want to do it, let me do it." Renault smiled and took the large wrench from David's hand and dismantled parts from a discarded mech.

Dismantling parts from discarded mechs and replacing them with mechs to be repaired is one of the most common maintenance methods in Belgard.

Because the factory was too dilapidated and not well-known, Gard had to pay for the work at a very low price, and in order to save costs, they got some discarded mechs from the outside as a source of spare parts. Although the result of this is that the repair result is not too ideal, after all, the price is cheap.

In fact, Old Bell's maintenance level is still quite good, no matter what kind of mecha it is, as long as it is in his hands, it can be rescued. It's just that due to the lack of high-quality parts, even if he repairs the mecha, it can't maintain a long-term high-intensity use, which makes it difficult for the factory's reputation to be established.

A vicious circle.

Renault commented in his heart.

In terms of technology, Old Bell can be regarded as a master, but in terms of results, he can't create miracles.

The machine shop is always half-dead, it will not go out of business, but it will not bring wealth, so it is no wonder that David always looks dissatisfied.

Quickly and neatly dismantled the parts that Old Bell needed, and Renault sent them to Old Bell's side.

The old man is battling an X350 mech.

This kind of old-fashioned model is rare on the market, and God knows where Gard got it, and the most rare thing is that the owner of the mecha even has the luxury of repairing it.

"The flow controller you want, Mr. Bell." Standing underneath the mech, Renault shouted.

The six-meter-tall mecha poked out Bell's white head from the shoulder: "It's Renault, David's kid is lazy and asked you to do things again?" ”

Renaud smiled: "It's okay, Mr. Bell, you've done what you told me." ”

"Okay then." Bell waved his hand: "Come on, young man, for the sake of your diligence, I will give you a reward." This mech's back thruster has a serious failure, and let me teach you how to get the thruster back into service without replacing the thruster's core engine, which is my mastery. ”

"Come on, old man, there is no point in this kind of stunt. That thruster can be repaired by replacing it with a spark engine, and it doesn't cost much. The way you do it doesn't save you a lot of money, but it takes a lot of time. With this energy, you can repair three similar mechas. David summed up dissatisfiedly: "It may be a gate technology, but it's been eliminated." ”

"Young man, you can never guarantee that you will always get the parts you need on the battlefield." Old Bell replied: "Technology will not be eliminated, it is only temporarily dormant and waiting." ”

"Thank you, Mr. Bell, I'd love to learn this technique." Renault has climbed onto the mech.

Taking the flow controller from Renault's hand, Old Bell had a smile on his face: "Good boy, then come on, look at this thread ......"

He began to explain in detail to Renault the structure and operation principle of the entire thruster, and how to solve the problem.

The technical means required to restore the power of the thruster without replacing the core engine are very complicated, and the old Bell is very patient to operate, while Renault listens carefully and learns.

Time flies.

In the blink of an eye, it was almost dusk, and Old Bell finally repaired the mecha.

He wiped his hands and asked Renault, "How is your mastery?" ”

Renault thought for a moment and replied very seriously: "If there is another mecha like this, I think I can try to repair it." ”

"Really? Then you're a really fast learner. Bell laughed a few times, then sat on the back of the mecha and sighed: "But that's useless, this is a technology that has been eliminated." ”

Renault was puzzled.

He looked at Bell, "I don't understand, sir. You've also said before that if you're on the battlefield, you can't guarantee that you'll always get the parts you need. ”

Bell laughed, "That's just me trying to make sense." On the interstellar battlefield, each soldier has his own repair kit and maintenance robot, which can automatically and quickly carry out repairs. In addition, the repair robot contains a miniature 4D printing device containing more than 300 kinds of coagulable colloidal materials, including liquid metal. By printing through a pre-existing program, the vast majority of parts can be synthesized and thus used as a temporary replacement. It's only when all the basic materials are used up that my technology comes in handy. But that doesn't make any sense, because in that case, the battle is usually over, or simply scrapped, and there is no need for repairs. ”

He sighed: "David is not wrong, my skills are outdated and no longer adapted to this era. Being able to repair faster, on a larger scale, and more easily and conveniently is the foundation of modern maintenance, and my technology is like an ancient craftsman, which has long been replaced by scale and mechanization, and has been defeated by the fast, simple, and direct market demand, which is why I am getting more and more depressed. ”

He shook his head and let out a helpless and slightly sad sigh.

Renault looked at him and thought for a moment before he said, "That doesn't matter to me, sir." I'm just here to understand mechas, control mechas, become proficient in mechas, and finally increase credits. With you, even though it's only been three days, I feel like I've learned a lot. This kind of contact and understanding from the most primitive level is exactly what I need. So sir, you see that you are still extremely valuable, you are making a young man's dream come true. ”

Bell was slightly stunned.

He looked at Renault and suddenly asked, "Do you want to drive a mecha?" ”

"Yes." Renault replied: "I can't afford it though, so I'll have to start with an apprenticeship." ”

Renault pointed to the mecha in this one: "Every time I repair one, I can go up and drive it, in the name of inspection." ”

"But that's not enough." Old Bell said. He thought about it and suddenly said, "What if I give you a mecha?" ”

This time it was Renault's turn to froze.

He looked at Bell.

Bell smiled and said, "Come on then, kid, I'll take you to see something." Believe me, even though I'm just an old man, I still have some family background. ”