Chapter Fifty-Five: Does the Mecha Girl Come with a Status Bar?

"Here it is." Perhaps due to her own oversight, with a hint of embarrassment, Zhuang Xiaosi kindly pointed to her left wrist to give Zhuang Xiaoyuan the correct answer.

"This is... a watch?" Following Zhuang Xiaosi's guidance, Zhuang Xiaoyuan glanced at her own left wrist. How had she never noticed before? The wrist guard on her left was noticeably thicker than the one on her right. As Zhuang Xiaoyuan touched the guard with her right hand, a small window opened, revealing a tiny touchscreen inside. With the touchscreen exposed, the wrist guard now looked like a uniquely designed electronic watch.

"A watch?" The green data of 01 flashed again in her eyes; Zhuang Xiaosi swiftly searched her database for the origin of the term. Millennia ago, the prehistoric creatures known as "humans" used this device to keep track of time.

Although it was odd that Zhuang Xiaoyuan always preferred to use words from ancient civilizations to describe modern things, Zhuang Xiaosi had no intention of probing further. "Not a watch. This is a body status monitoring device. It can only be used when the main body is confirmed to be awake." As she spoke, Zhuang Xiaosi pressed her finger to the touchscreen on her left wrist. A transparent light screen appeared before her.

"Is that so?" Mimicking Zhuang Xiaosi, Zhuang Xiaoyuan pressed her finger to the touchscreen. A similar light screen appeared above her left hand. The information displayed resembled the status bars from the online games she had played in her previous life. Upon seeing it, Zhuang Xiaoyuan quickly grasped its general functions and contents.

At the center of the light screen was a depiction of Zhuang Xiaoyuan's current appearance. In the upper right corner, her status was indicated: "No anomalies / No injuries." On the left side of the character portrait, three virtual buttons were arranged vertically, labeled "Weapon Equipment," "Power Modules," and "Auxiliary Functions."

She tapped "Weapon Equipment" at random. As expected, the weapon equipment interface was completely empty—not a single bullet or knife, only the word "Empty" floating alone.

Closing "Weapon Equipment," she opened "Power Modules." This time, something appeared. The interface displayed a simple line drawing of Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s form, devoid of color or detail. Several virtual buttons were positioned at different parts of the body: "Information Link Device" atop the head like cat ears, "Fire Propulsion Device" on the back, "Direction Switching Device" on the hands, "Secondary Propulsion Device" on the feet, and "Gear Grading Device" in the lower right corner.

She tapped "Fire Propulsion Device." Immediately, a flood of technical data appeared: thrust, acceleration, burst speed, sustained propulsion capability, and so on. The dizzying stats overwhelmed her, and she quickly closed the window. Without exploring the other buttons, she selected "Gear Grading Device."

The "Gear Grading Device" interface resembled a computer’s volume control. It was divided into four stages: Novice Level 9, High-Speed Level 5, Ultra-Speed Level 3, and No-Gear Mode at the end. Zhuang Xiaoyuan's current setting indicated No-Gear Mode.

No wonder she'd accelerated so abruptly earlier, launching herself into the air with no transition—an unguarded roller coaster ride, terrifying beyond words. The memory alone brought tears to her eyes.

Without hesitation, she adjusted from No-Gear to Novice Level 9, finally allowing herself a sigh of relief before closing the "Gear Grading Device" interface. Just as she was about to check "Auxiliary Functions," Zhuang Xiaosi’s voice sounded: "All set? Try again. Deploy your wings and ignite propulsion."

"Yes, Instructor Xiaosi." The status bar could be checked at any time; learning to fly was the priority now. Zhuang Xiaoyuan quickly refocused, extending the wings from her back and preparing to ignite.

Concentrating on the fire propulsion unit behind her, she exerted force in that direction. With a soft "puff," pale blue flames emerged beneath the propulsor. This time, the flames were not as intense as before. The fire gently sprayed downward, gradually lifting Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s body into the air.

"Good, keep it like that and slowly accelerate." Zhuang Xiaosi’s wings unfurled as she ignited her own propulsion unit, skillfully flying to Zhuang Xiaoyuan's side. She reached out her right hand, grasped Zhuang Xiaoyuan’s left, and gently led her upward into the sky. This was the true teaching mode—the earlier mishap was merely an accident.

Following Zhuang Xiaosi’s movements, Zhuang Xiaoyuan ascended smoothly. With the gear limit in place, she no longer accelerated to extremes in a single burst. Her control over the fire propulsion unit improved markedly; as her thoughts directed, the flames behind her gradually intensified. The increased thrust translated to greater speed.

Under Zhuang Xiaosi’s guidance, Zhuang Xiaoyuan began circling through the air. As she flew, the strength of the flame propulsion increased layer by layer. Whenever she wished to slow down, she could reduce the output in increments. With each cycle of acceleration and deceleration, her mastery over the fire propulsion device grew.

Once Zhuang Xiaoyuan could adeptly control the propulsor on her back, Zhuang Xiaosi released her right hand, hovering midair. She began instructing Zhuang Xiaoyuan to use the miniature propulsion units on her hands to adjust her flight direction.

Listening to Zhuang Xiaosi’s commands, Zhuang Xiaoyuan practiced smoothly. The hand propulsors operated much like those on her back. With her prior experience, activating and deactivating them was effortless. However, direction control was far trickier; her hands moved freely, and their position when activating the propulsors affected the resultant direction.

To coordinate her hands and their propulsion units, Zhuang Xiaoyuan suffered a few hardships. Fortunately, she didn't crash catastrophically this time. Instead, she merely executed dozens of front flips, back flips, and somersaults in midair due to incorrect force or direction—highly challenging maneuvers. In the end, she managed to grasp the technique for adjusting her direction before nausea overwhelmed her.

With the skill of aerial direction change mastered, the final step was the secondary acceleration using the leg propulsors. Normally, the leg propulsors could remain inactive, but whenever she needed to break through the limits of the back fire propulsor, they provided an extra boost.

Moreover, the leg accelerators also allowed for a degree of directional adjustment. In crucial moments requiring a burst of speed, they were invaluable.