Chapter 52: Wrong Scene?

Jiang Hui did not know whether she had lost her mind or what had happened. By the time she came to her senses, she had already submitted the application form at the museum front desk and was now on her way home.

What on earth was she doing?

Jiang Hui's rational side told her that she was merely a humanities student who drew circles worse than anyone else, and delicate handcrafts like mecha crafting were simply asking for public humiliation.

However, human nature being what it is, people are always drawn to unfamiliar fields and often experience moments when they wish to break out of their comfort zones.

Perhaps it was a sudden whim; at that exact moment, Jiang Hui had not thought of anything at all. Suddenly, she felt a strong surge of curiosity toward the mechas soaring across the starry skies in countless futuristic novels. She wanted to take a closer, much closer look at these epoch-making weapons that gradually endowed interstellar humans with limitless combat capabilities.

And that was why she had gone out today to participate in this event.

Although the experimental class was co-hosted by the Library Museum and the Dongbo Group, the museum's financial resources and influence could not compare to those of a major conglomerate. Consequently, the museum took the lead in inviting prominent figures from various social sectors, scholars, and even professional masters from across the planet, while also providing a vast amount of reference materials and data. Meanwhile, the Dongbo Group was responsible for the venue and other physical arrangements.

The experimental class was scheduled to take place at the headquarters building of the Dongbo Group's planetary branch.

The Dongbo Group was a well-known cross-galaxy consortium in the interstellar era, involved in the manufacturing of starships, interstellar spacecraft, and various types of automated transport vehicles. It had also made remarkable achievements in the field of specialized smart products. Yet, this was not even the group's most prominent industry. Currently, the group was primarily renowned throughout the interstellar community for manufacturing giant composite mechas. Manufacturers with the capability to produce such mechas were few and far between across the entire galaxy, and the Dongbo Group stood out as a leader among them.

This sounded comparable to the high-tech industries of Blue Star, yet it was vastly more advanced. Jiang Hui had not yet encountered any of this group's products in her daily life, though there were certainly many things she had yet to encounter.

The Dongbo Group's headquarters on Planet 732 was located in the First Ring, quite far from the Heluosi Group, but remarkably close to the Library Museum. Jiang Hui vaguely remembered that the museum did indeed house a considerable number of books on mechas. Thus, it was not difficult to understand why two such seemingly unrelated organizations had joined forces to host an event.

Having frequently visited the First Ring these past few days, her travels were no longer obstructed, and she easily located her destination.

The Dongbo Group's headquarters building on this planet was a bizarrely shaped circular structure, its exterior decorated with vast expanses of reflective metallic material that gleamed brilliantly under the daylight, making it effortlessly the most dazzling "star" in the entire district.

Jiang Hui roughly calculated the time and decided that entering now would likely be appropriate. Consequently, she joined the flow of people and boldly strode toward the bustling corporate entrance.

Because the headquarters building looked massive from the outside, Jiang Hui had no intention of wandering around the building to search for the venue herself, and naturally sought out a receptionist for directions.

Yet... was there something strange or inappropriate about what she was wearing today?

Jiang Hui, who had already convinced herself internally that her appearance was indistinguishable from that of an interstellar native, felt a flicker of doubt. She should not have given away any flaws.

So why did the young receptionist immediately look at her with a somewhat peculiar gaze? Although it was very restrained and fleeting, Jiang Hui's acute sensitivity had caught it instantly. She could not figure out what about her had prompted the other person to observe her with such a strange expression.

At the same time, she knew her background was far too bizarre. Even in an interstellar era that had long since achieved the crossing of time and space, it would still be considered an unbelievable anomaly—something few people would believe if spoken aloud, let alone actively suspect.

Having figured this out, Jiang Hui no longer acted like a frightened bird, weighed down by the differences in her inner soul and constantly worried that others might discover she originated from Blue Star millions of light-years away.

Human flaws often emerge precisely through excessive explanation and concealment. If she wanted to remain steady, she needed to learn patience: speak less, act less, care less about external opinions, and avoid giving others any leverage, thereby retaining the initiative.

Therefore, even after detecting the somewhat strange attitude of the receptionist, Jiang Hui did not casually speak up or probe. She simply pretended not to know, observed the other person casually along the way, and secretly heightened her vigilance.

Of course, she did not believe that dangerous incidents would randomly occur in this interstellar society where regions outside active battlefields were generally safe—at least, people wouldn't harm others so openly. Yet, driven by an instinctive sense of caution, Jiang Hui's internal guard remained very high.

However, until she was led to the doors of the grand conference hall where the experimental class was being held, nothing happened. The receptionist's actions and expression remained entirely normal, making Jiang Hui's worries seem rather superfluous.

Jiang Hui offered a polite expression of gratitude and pushed open the heavy doors of the conference hall. A wave of bustling noise rushed toward her. Judging purely by the sound, the number of people inside was substantial, reminding Jiang Hui of the large lecture halls back at her university on Blue Star, which were always just as lively before class began.

Ah, she never expected that even after living a second life, she would still start out as a student.

With these thoughts, Jiang Hui took a few steps inward. As the distance closed and the brightly lit interior illuminated the scene in crystal-clear detail, Jiang Hui, having just stepped through the threshold, experienced a severe disruption to her self-assured pace, stumbling slightly.

Suddenly, Jiang Hui understood why the receptionist earlier had looked at her with that slightly peculiar gaze. She hadn't been overthinking things at all; the receptionist meant no harm, but her reaction was entirely justified.

As she drew closer, Jiang Hui realized that this so-called "mecha handcrafting class" was a playground exclusively for children.

Within the massive conference hall, looking past the entrance, there was an endless sea of humanity stretching out endlessly, far too vast to see the end. It looked capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people at the very least. Such a magnificent scale was something Jiang Hui had rarely witnessed during her lifetime on Blue Star; only an interstellar society with highly developed technology, human resources, and financial power could achieve this degree of scale.

Moreover, that was not even the main point. Glancing across the room, nearly everyone here consisted of children with short statures and youthful faces compared to adults. People of all racial backgrounds were present, and even among those whose height rivaled that of teenagers, their immature expressions clearly distinguished them as significantly younger.

Especially the children in the front few rows—upon seeing Jiang Hui enter, they all displayed varying degrees of mild curiosity, casting gazes very similar to the one the receptionist at the front desk had given her earlier.

So, had she unknowingly wandered into a kindergarten science outreach class? If she turned around and walked out the way she came right now, would it look terribly awkward?