“Whoa, a Gundam?”
Candy exclaimed.
“You’ve seen Gundam? Wasn’t that something from our generation?” Little Tiger looked at his girlfriend in disbelief. Only he could be so out of touch at a moment like this.
Candy responded with a well-executed eye roll.
“What’s a Gundam?” Le Dayuan looked confused.
“Nothing, Master Le. Please continue, don’t mind them.” This came from Xia Lei, who was already captivated by the mechanical warrior before her.
This was no Gundam. Its appearance was different, and in essence, it was even more so. Looking at the exposed parts with familiar wires, everyone knew this was another product powered by crystal energy.
Upon closer inspection, the massive robot exuded an intimidating presence. Its proportions were designed entirely based on the human form. This wasn’t to say other forms were inferior, but humans had the deepest understanding of themselves, and principles of mechanics could be better applied to humanoid devices, making the technology relatively mature.
“This is a combat robot jointly developed by me and Sister Hong.”
Although it took a while—over half an hour—no one grew impatient. They were all discussing what this thing was and what it could do.
“You can think of it as a simplified version of a war fortress.”
Le Dayuan operated a machine nearby, and the robot’s interior made a series of sounds. Then, the massive body took a step forward, followed by another, and soon it walked out of the metal box.
After stopping, the assistants returned to the lift and removed the tubes connecting the robot to the metal box.
“This is a combat robot powered by life and crystal energy.”
Le Dayuan looked at his creation with shining eyes.
“Its weapon system is powered by crystal energy, and I’ve applied the micro-engraving conversion principle to it, allowing for elemental attacks.”
“Look here.”
Le Dayuan pressed a few buttons, and the combat robot raised its arms. Everyone saw that the robot’s hands differed from human hands—it had fifteen fingers. These fingers curled into fists, and then the front part flipped down, revealing thirty firing ports.
“You can think of these as two rotary machine guns, but instead of bullets, they fire energy beams.” Le Dayuan’s voice rose slightly, clearly proud of this creation. “That’s not entirely accurate. The attack mode can be selected—it can fire energy spheres or energy beams of varying lengths. Naturally, the longer the beam, the more powerful it is, but there’s an upper limit.”
After saying this, Le Dayuan operated the controls again. The fists closed, returning to their normal state, but then the forearms folded down from the elbows, revealing two dark cannon ports on each side.
“Crystal cannons, or elemental cannons—an enhanced version of the hand attacks. They’re incredibly powerful but consume a lot of energy.”
“And here.” Le Dayuan moved his hands, and a device rose from the left shoulder while another emerged from the back. The two parts combined in a few seconds to form a strange gun over two meters long.
The robot took the gun with both hands and assumed a shooting stance.
“This is based on Zhongming’s sniper rifle. It’s for long-range attacks. Naturally, it’s not as powerful as when Zhongming uses it, but it can withstand the energy impact of up to twenty micro-engraved bullets. However, if it reaches the limit, it will damage the entire body and need to be brought back for repairs immediately.”
After storing the gun, Le Dayuan had his assistants bring over a nearby box.
Inside were various weapons clearly designed for the robot—swords, shields, halberds, hammers, and clubs. It seemed these were prepared for different types of combat.
“Um…” Tong Hu was a bit nervous. “Master Le, this robot seems a bit slow. Is that intentional?”
Little Li quickly tugged at her husband’s sleeve.
How could someone who failed middle school physics and math even think of questioning Le Dayuan? When would her husband’s single-mindedness ever improve?
“It’s not intentional. If I’m controlling it, this is the robot’s speed.”
Huh?
Everyone was dumbfounded.
This robot moved slower than the much larger war fortress. How could it be deployed for combat? And what was the point of those melee weapons? Even ordinary people could easily dodge them, let alone evolved.
Le Dayuan chuckled. “Let me finish before I answer that question.”
“In the creation of this combat robot, aside from the core components, I’m most satisfied with the energy armor.”
Everyone perked up their ears. This energy armor sounded impressive.
Le Dayuan didn’t elaborate much. He simply activated the ability.
A light appeared at the robot’s head, then, like flowing water, it instantly covered the entire body. The robot was now enveloped in a layer of energy.
“This is energy armor. It can be activated throughout combat without affecting battle.” Le Dayuan was clearly proud. With the dual advancements in evolved physical and mental capabilities, he had transformed from a mechanical engineer and micro-manufacturing expert into a true master of technology in an incredibly short time.
“I’ve tested it. As long as there’s enough energy, this layer of energy armor can provide defense equivalent to gold-grade equipment.”
His words were shocking, and everyone was stunned.
Earlier, they thought mass-producing level-three gene lifeforms was terrifying. Then, they thought micro-engraved bullets were incredible. Now, this combat robot seemed the real deal—a true killing machine.
“Master Le, you said ‘as long as there’s enough energy’?” Xia Lei asked. She didn’t interfere with the two labs, so like everyone else, this was her first time seeing this new product.
“Yes, Xia Lei, you’ve hit the nail on the head.” Le Dayuan stopped operating the controls and pointed upward at the robot’s body. “As I mentioned earlier, this robot is powered by two types of energy. The weapon system uses crystal energy because, with our current technology—or rather, with our current level of wealth—crystal energy can barely support the weapon system. Even so, it requires level-seven demon crystals as the energy source. Do you know how many energy supply hubs are inside this robot? Twelve. Each hub requires three level-seven demon crystals, totaling thirty-six. If this robot activates its energy armor and goes all out, it can only last for three minutes before running out of energy!”