“Contact Kaino.“
“Connecting to Kaino's communicator， please wait…“
Ninth Prison， T Section. Simon's presidential cell.
Simon sat on the sofa in the living room and softly issued the command. The communicator's smart program quickly dialed out， and after a few rings， a pale blue holographic image appeared above the device.
“Oh， my dear uncle…“
The image showed a young man with meticulously styled hair， wearing a shirt and bow tie， sporting a short circle beard， leaning on a desk. He was holding a coffee cup in one hand and greeted Simon with the other:“Uncle， how are you doing in prison these days? I watched the live broadcast of the last Death Island flag capture. Mammoth got pretty badly damaged， right? Can it still participate in the upcoming battles? Well， no matter what， don’t get discouraged， and don’t do anything rash… Of course， if you really do want to die， I suggest not using that electronic collar. Its power isn’t enough， and you might not die completely. If needed， I can have some drugs sent in. Just one milligram will ensure there’s no chance of survival.“
Simon looked at Kaino， his expression gradually turning grim. His full name was Simon Lier， and this young man， Kaino Lier， was his nephew， his own sister's son. This kid perfectly inherited the Lier family's cunning and deceitful genes， yet never bothered to disguise himself as a humble gentleman like his father. Even with his own uncle， he always acted in a way that was quite infuriating.
“Enough， Kaino. I'm not here to fool around，“ Simon scolded Kaino， then continued，“I need you to look up someone for me. Thomas Lane， twenty-three years old， a commoner with Carl Star Nation cosmic citizenship. He was imprisoned in the Ninth Prison recently and might be a high-level mechanic.“
“Thomas Lane... alright， I'll give it a try...“
Noticing Simon's seriousness， Kaino's expression briefly became more earnest as he fiddled with a tablet. However， as a photo appeared on the screen， his seriousness quickly vanished. He turned the tablet towards Simon with a look of surprise，“Wow， a handsome young guy. Uncle， did you take a fancy to him? I never thought just a couple of years in prison would change your tastes...“
“Your jokes are not funny at all， Kaino!“
“...Okay， okay， don't always be so stern， my dear uncle. It'll cause hair loss， you know. Tell me， why are you looking into this guy?“
“Do I even have any hair left to lose?“ Simon touched his shiny bald head， deciding not to banter with his nephew any further. Instead， he recounted his encounter with Thomas to Kaino in detail. While he had accepted Thomas， it didn't mean he completely trusted him. The coincidences– Thomas being a commoner who ended up in prison， encountering danger shortly after， and Simon's mech being damaged at the same time Thomas， a mechanic， arrived– made Simon suspicious of Thomas’s identity and whether he was an undercover agent sent by the Carl Star Nation government. This was why he had asked Kaino to investigate Thomas.
With the Lier family's resources， checking someone’s records was a matter of minutes.
“So that's the case...“ Kaino listened while lightly browsing his tablet， his face suddenly breaking into a smile:“Uncle， this Thomas is quite interesting. His file is encrypted. I can only access basic information; I can't see his detailed background.“
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Encrypted?“ Simon frowned.“It seems he really is an undercover agent.“
“No， uncle， I think this actually proves that he is not.“
Kaino quickly countered Simon's view， tossing the tablet onto the desk:“If I were to plant an undercover agent near someone， I would definitely fabricate a flawless， detailed life record for people to investigate before the operation， rather than completely hiding someone’s past like this.“
“You make sense...“ Simon nodded， then looked at Kaino again:“What do you think we should do now?“
“Our mechanic had an accident， and since there's one who's come to us， I suggest you collaborate with him for now. As for his true identity， I'll arrange for more investigation， but it will take some time... Of course， if you're not comfortable with it， there's another way. You could drug him. With the electronic collar， he's just an ordinary person and can't resist， you...“
Snap!
Simon abruptly ended the call， leaning back on the sofa in silence， while firmly resolving something in his mind. If he managed to get out of prison this time， he would definitely take care of his bothersome nephew as a favor to his late brother.
...
“This helmet is not bad. The neural connection helmet of Mammoth is damaged， and the visual transmission module isn't working properly. This can be a replacement. Here， let's see if it fits.“
Death Star， a garbage area
Thomas placed a helmet he had just removed from a scrapped mech onto LCH's head.
A perfect fit.
After a brief inspection， Thomas nodded slightly， deciding to keep the helmet on LCH’s head as they continued to search for other needed parts.
LCH glanced at the guards observing them from a distance and also started to search earnestly alongside Thomas. Although this was a garbage area filled with scrapped mechanical wrecks， it was still possible to find some useful parts， much like salvaging usable parts from a scrapped car. Additionally， as infantry-level mechs were basic models with low-value modules， few traders bothered to dismantle and reuse parts from old mechs. So， in just a short while， Thomas and LCH found quite a few useful components.
Unfortunately， the most crucial part， the main control chip， was still nowhere to be found.
“The main control chip is valuable， and if it's still usable， it's usually taken by others. We don't know if we can find it， but the only good news is that we still have plenty of time.“
Thomas casually tossed aside a broken mechanical arm and turned to LCH， who was diligently searching:“Tell me about yourself. What’s your mechanical synchronization rate， and what level are you currently?“
“My synchronization rate is 64%. Before imprisonment， my mental power had just reached the level of a General， but I haven’t piloted a General-level mech yet.“
“64%?“ Thomas looked back in surprise.“With a synchronization rate of 64% and being a near-General level Iron Rider， you could have lived well outside. Why did you choose to come to prison and work for Simon?“
In this universe， the cultivation system is graded from weak to strong， mostly in the order of E， D， C， B， A， with Iron Riders being an exception. The classification of Iron Riders is based on the level of mechs they can pilot. The level of mech an Iron Rider can control determines their rank. A General-level Iron Rider is already quite high-ranking.