Chapter 451: I suppose that brother also endured quite a bit of hardship

The exact identity of Qiong is not to be discussed for now; at least Zhang Jie doesn't know it currently.

He is currently renovating the old warship together with Xiao Jiu.

Most of the ships in the competition are small warships, with a portion being micro single‑soldier warships, but the number of Ship Lives in the competition remains very scarce.

As long as the opponent's hull isn't scrapped, it's impossible to acquire it at this price; the Space Component is simply too expensive—adding a bit more money could buy another one.

Xiao Jiu silently helped Zhang Jie from the side, muttering something with her small mouth, as if she were gossiping about Zhang Jie behind his back.

But actually, she was gossiping about herself.

At this moment, Xiao Jiu was mentally calculating her own unique advantage.

In terms of personality, she lacks Qiong's calm and reliability; in terms of strength, without Zhang Jie's Position Shield she cannot match the military‑born Qiong.

As for knowledge, there's no need to say more—she is just a dull‑witted Ship Girl who only knows how to forge iron.

It's just that she is slightly cuter in appearance, but compared to this newly arrived Ship Girl....

Gazing at the Ship Life on the other side, curled up like a kitten, although it was hanging on a rack, its quiet, sweet visage still made Xiao Jiu feel somewhat hard to bear.

Compared to that newly arrived Ship Life, she is just as cute!

She even feels that the other side is a bit cuter....

But this world has no political correctness; aside from differing aesthetics, every Ship Life is crafted to be extremely good‑looking.

"I seem.... to have no advantages left...."

"If this continues.... I will surely be driven away by humans? I will definitely be!"

"Aside from having accompanied humans a bit longer, aside from being his first Ship Life, aside from having gone through life‑and‑death together with humans—!"

"I have no advantages left at all!!!"

Xiao Jiu's mind involuntarily recalled the image of being abandoned by Zhang Jie—lonely and destitute, with no relatives, only able to scrape a living by picking up trash outside, not even able to afford a small cake...

Finally, watching Qiong, another Ship Life, and Zhang Jie living happily together, she then left in dejection, ultimately shutting down in some obscure corner....

What a miserable Xiao Jiu!

Xiao Jiu almost burst into tears, but she finally held back, merely gazing wistfully at the busy Zhang Jie beside her.

"?"

Noticing Xiao Jiu's pitiful puppy‑dog eyes, Zhang Jie was completely bewildered.

After a moment's thought, Zhang Jie took out something tasty from a nearby bag and tentatively offered it to Xiao Jiu.

"Want some cake?"

"No! I won't eat it!"

"You keep telling me to eat more, human.... Xiao Jiu will eat less from now on..."

"Zhang Jie:??"

Zhang Jie looked at the cake in his hand, seriously suspecting it might be expired.

Otherwise, given Xiao Jiu's gluttonous nature, she would have already snatched it and devoured it.

Earlier, Zhang Jie even saw Xiao Jiu pay no attention to the oil on her hands after repairs, directly grabbing the cake with her dirty claws to eat.

Never mind the oil or bacteria—let my strong stomach acid deal with it!

So what's going on now?

"Xiao Jiu? Did you eat something bad?"

Xiao Jiu startled, Xiao Jiu said nothing, Xiao Jiu just kept hammering away....

"The following days were the same; I don't know what stimulus Xiao Jiu received, but she constantly, intentionally or not, displayed her obedient persona, leaving you utterly puzzled."

"Including competing with you for work, wanting to replace Qiong in protecting you, even refusing to look at her favorite cake and erotic books."

"These are enough to see that this Ship Girl really encountered something; instantly many bad thoughts popped into your mind."

"Could it be that Xiao Jiu was threatened? Or suffering from a fatal illness? Or perhaps.... planning to do something bad?"

"But after thinking for a while you came up with nothing useful; going up to ask Xiao Jiu also yielded no answer—this little Ship Girl clearly has something on her mind, yet she stubbornly refuses to speak."

"This little thing, when annoyed by Zhang Jie's questioning, would even show its teeth! But as long as it grinds its teeth, that's fine—you'd still worry if it didn't grind its teeth!"

"Later on, Xiao Jiu ultimately couldn't resist the cake's temptation and began sneaking bites behind your back; only then did you relax, guessing that this little fellow was just feeling down during that period."

"Now, with your prior two experiences, you quickly repaired this poor Ship Girl, just as before you rigged a charging port by hand and activated her...."

"....."

"......."

"This is.... where?"

"A scrap recycling station."

"?"

"Simply put, you were sold as scrap."

"......"

"As expected... still like this...."

The other party appeared very dejected; having experienced the peak and trough of Ship Life on the battlefield, even having ridden in a Mercedes‑Benz.

Yet in the end, she flipped over in this seemingly insignificant place and was sold as scrap.

"Is this my life....?"

"Did you repair me?"

"Yes, your Space Component is broken; the original hull has been sucked into space and may now have been randomly sent to some corner of the universe."

"......"

"Thank you, but I have a question."

"Are you the best mechanic on this planet?"

Zhang Jie:?

The Ship Girl's face was filled with unwillingness; Zhang Jie always felt the other party had to say something that would be hard for him to answer.

"Yes, you can understand it that way."

"Then could you tell me, on this planet, who is manufacturing ship fittings that possess a Position Shield?"

".....?"

"You..... why are you asking this?"

Xiao Jiu's gaze suddenly became curious, constantly wandering between the two of them; she of course knew who was manufacturing these fittings.

"It's not Zhang Jie, who else could it be?"

Xiao Jiu suddenly showed a gloating expression, cheeky, yet rather cute.

"I just came here... to participate in a Performance Match."

"But I don't know why, here there appeared ship technology that completely exceeds cognition!"

"And the ship structural strength comparable to a High-level Competition! This is completely impossible to be the technology this planet should have!"

"......"

"You mean you just came to blast a fish, but the fish smashed you to pieces with one hit?"

"......"

"You you you, how can this human be so straightforward!"

This poor, unlucky Ship Girl completely blew up in anger; unlike her surface appearance of a pitiful, tearful little cat, her temper seems extremely violent.

Her small body, hanging on the iron rack, began to brandish its claws and fangs,

"I will find that mechanic! I will tenderly kill him!!!"

"Don't stop me!! Let me.... come down!!"

"Well.... Zhang Jie withdrew his prejudice against that guy...."

"Such a violent Ship Girl, indeed should be sold...."

"I suppose that brother also suffered quite a bit...."

"Just thinking about how the other party not only spent all their savings to buy a violent Ship Girl, wanted to repair it but lacked the skill, wanted to get it for free but lacked the acting ability, and in the end was still ripped off by a profiteer who recycled the Ship Life at scrap value, Zhang Jie was left speechless...."