Chapter 157: A Heart-to-Heart Between Siblings

Watching Mei laughing and chatting with the others, and seeing her showing no hesitation toward the intimate gestures of the man beside her, Galor grew increasingly unsettled.

"Mei, can we talk?" Galor finally blurted out, unable to hold back any longer.

Mei, who was in the midst of describing her experience piloting a mecha to Mo Chen, paused slightly at these words and then replied, "Of course! Where shall we talk?"

"Come with me!"

With that, Galor took Mei by the hand and led her toward his private quarters.

Stepping into the simple, uncluttered room—which was far less opulent than the one prepared for her—Mei felt a wave of surprise, and her guarded expression softened slightly.

"Sit here. Would you like something to eat?" Galor asked, settling Mei onto the sofa.

"No thank you! I ate plenty in the dining hall just now!" Mei shook her head, genuinely not hungry.

"Mei, you seem to really like meat!" Recalling the food she had ordered in the restaurant—where both main courses and snacks were meat-based—Galor could not help asking.

"Yes! Everyone says I'm a carnivore! Whenever conditions permit, I like to have meat at every meal!" Mei made no attempt to hide her preferences.

Could this be some sort of genetic mutation?

Clearly, the people of the Holy Spirit clan vastly preferred vegetables and fruits!

Even he, with only half-blood Holy Spirit heritage, preferred vegetarian food to meat. Why was this younger sister of his so distinctly different?

"Do you think I'm strange?" Mei asked, reading the thoughts in his expression.

In this regard, she certainly appeared somewhat unusual.

Yet there was no helping it!

In her childhood, when she had been imprisoned within the ancestral lands of the Light Elf clan, they had never intended to starve her to death, but the food they provided consisted mostly of leftovers discarded by other elves: shriveled fruits and rotting vegetables. Consequently, after escaping that place, the first time she tasted meat, she instantly felt it was the most delicious thing in the world.

Later on, even though she learned that the true taste of vegetables and fruits was not what she had experienced in her childhood, she still believed meat tasted better, stubbornly remaining an elf who ate meat!

"It is a bit unexpected, which is why I want to understand you better. Also, regarding what happened a few days ago—what happened in the training room—I am truly sorry. Although I did not order it, the Royal Guard's actions were related to my attitude to some extent. I must admit that I really do not like your friends, and I did intend to isolate you from them!"

Mei had not expected him to lay bare his true thoughts so openly. Along with her surprise, a look of confusion crept onto her face.

"Why?"

"How should I put it? After learning what you suffered on that planet all these years, I felt truly angry and guilty, yet utterly powerless to exact revenge. Because of that, I couldn't help but redirect my anger—directing it toward everyone else on that planet, and toward your friends who came from there as well. Aside from that, I suppose I was also a bit jealous. Jealous that they knew you better than I, your brother, did, and that they possessed more of your trust. That's why I disliked them, and in my desperate urge to have you accept your new identity, I wanted to separate you from them. Yet my way of thinking was far too self-centered, completely disregarding your feelings. I am deeply sorry. Please forgive me, will you?"

Galor walked up to Mei, crouched down, looked directly into her eyes, and spoke with utmost sincerity.

Hearing these words, the resentment Mei had initially felt dissolved to a great extent.

Looking at the face that bore such a striking resemblance to her own, Mei suddenly wondered if she had been too harsh in her demands of him.

Because her expectations had been so high, she had subconsciously hoped he would handle everything perfectly, forgetting that essentially, they were still two complete strangers to one another.

By what right did she expect him to invest so much?

In all fairness, he had never given up searching for her all these years, and the moment she was found, he had rushed to welcome her personally, meticulously preparing a room for her, stocking it with various daily necessities, and planning for her future. He had truly done more than enough.

And what had she done while making demands of others?

With this realization, Mei lowered her head slightly, an apologetic expression appearing on her face.

"Actually, I'm the one who should apologize! I threw a tantrum the other day! I'm sorry!"

"Your temper that day was indeed quite something," Galor said, seating himself beside her with an objective tone.

At his words, Mei shot him a quick glance before looking away.

"Actually, I don't know why I got so angry either. I'm usually not like that."

"Are you feeling unwell in any way? Shall I take you for a medical check-up?" Galor seized the opportunity to suggest.

Yet Mei shook her head. "No need, Cyrill has already examined me! He said I just had too many negative emotions built up, and letting them out was good for me!"

Though she suspected Cyrill might not have told her everything, Mei did not press further. She believed that if her body were truly suffering from a serious condition, Cyrill would never keep it from her. Since he hadn't brought it up, it meant the problem was negligible.

Recalling what Cyrill had said that day, Galor realized the extent of his sister's trust in that man had reached an absolute peak. Unwilling to risk fracturing their newly mended relationship, he did not push the matter.

"So, you spending the last three days inside the virtual pod wasn't just out of an interest in mecha, but also to vent?"

"Mm-hmm! Even though I got thoroughly beaten these past two days, my mood feels much more stable now!"

"That silver-gray mecha—do you want your brother to teach him a lesson for you?" Remembering what she had mentioned earlier, Galor felt deeply displeased by the sudden appearance of the silver-gray mecha and made his offer.

"Ah? There's no need! I'll settle that score myself! Besides, even though these past few days have been rough, I haven't come away empty-handed! At the very least, I feel my progress in mecha operation has been extremely fast. Without that person's provocation, I'd probably still be fumbling around in the exploration stage. So, frustrated as I am, I don't harbor any strong resentment toward that silver-gray mecha." Surprised by his proposal, Mei paused before hastily shaking her head.

"Since you say so, very well then!" Seeing that she disagreed, Galor did not force the issue.

"However, while operation is crucial in mecha combat, a mecha's performance cannot be overlooked either. Constantly using low-tier mechas is ultimately detrimental to your future development. After all, muscle memory and handling feel are vital. Once you grow accustomed to that half-beat lag in operation, changing it later will be extremely difficult."

Hearing his advice, Mei thought it over seriously and found it made a great deal of sense.

However, mechas were dreadfully expensive!

She had checked the price quotes for various mecha materials, and the endless strings of digits were enough to make her head spin.

Moreover, the monthly maintenance costs for a mecha alone required vast sums of money.

Mei concluded that her top priority should be figuring out a way to earn money!

After all, she desired a top-tier demonic armor mecha. Without money, where were the materials supposed to come from?

As for Galor's mention of the large sum already deposited into her account, she hadn't paid it any mind. Even if he gave her spending money, how much could a mere allowance possibly be?

Therefore, if she wanted to spend money, earning it herself was the only true path.

Galor, who had never once had to worry about money, had no inkling of what Mei was fretting over. Seeing her fall silent, he assumed she was troubled about choosing the right mecha, and continued, "The most suitable mecha naturally has to be custom-built for you. However, I didn't bring any senior mecha-crafters with me this time, so we'll have to wait until we return home to have one custom-made. Until then, you can choose an existing mecha whose combat style matches yours to use in the meantime!"

"One with a matching combat style? Do you have any suggestions?" Mei snapped back to her senses, blinking with some confusion as she possessed very little knowledge of mecha classifications.

"From watching your combat style, you lean toward agility and finesse. Power-type mechas definitely won't suit you because they're far too bulky! Since you favor close-combat agility, I would suggest the Whirl-Dance series of mechas. That particular model is very well-suited for women, though its drawback is low defense." Galor thought for a moment before making his recommendation.

Hearing his suggestion, Mei tapped open her optical computer, searched the network, and quickly found the promotional diagrams and performance specs for the Whirl-Dance series.

The Whirl-Dance series was a line of mechas specifically marketed toward women. Thus, its immediate visual impression was gorgeous and stunning!

The color schemes were vibrant, and the mecha's silhouette strongly resembled a female form—with a slender waist, accented chest, and an overall abundance of graceful curves!

Yet in terms of performance, aside from high mobility, all other metrics for this series were quite ordinary.

"I'm not very satisfied with this! Do you have any other suggestions? Actually, I'm quite skilled at ranged attacks as well. Given enough space, I actually use a bow more often than a blade!"

"Ranged?" Seeing her dissatisfaction with the Whirl-Dance series, Galor carefully racked his brain for mechas suitable for women.

However, he did not know many mechas specifically designed for females, and finding one that met all of Mei's requirements took him considerably longer this time.

"It doesn't necessarily have to look like that. I think standard-form mechas look quite nice too!" Mei prompted, seeing him struggle.

"Is that so? Then you might want to look at the Knight series. Both its mobility and defense are quite good, and it has variants for both ranged and close combat. Take a look and see if you like it!" Hearing her words, Galor quickly offered an alternative.

Mei followed his advice and searched for the Knight series, discovering that these mechas looked remarkably similar to the ones used by the Royal Guard she had seen in Nation A a few days prior. She immediately looked up at Galor.

"Is this the kind the Royal Guard uses?" Mei pointed at the light screen and asked.

"That's right. The St. Casticavia Royal Guard uses precisely this series of mechas. To be precise, this series is a military model our country produces specifically for mecha troops. Currently, the standard-issue model for the troops is the Knight RS427, while the Royal Guard uses the PN643."

"Do we have any spares on our spaceship?" Mei immediately asked.

"Of course we do! In interstellar navigation, there are many potential hazards, so we naturally carry backup mechas in case of emergencies."

"Can you give me one, then?" Mei looked at Galor with bright eyes filled with eager anticipation.

Galor was instantly charmed by her adorable expression and agreed without a second thought.

"Of course you can!"

"Wow, thank you, brother!" (To be continued.)