Li Xiaotian and his group arrived at the weapon research and development base in the east of the city. Upon entering, they were dazzled by the variety of firearms displayed.
Qin Zhu led them directly towards the depths, passing through several checkpoints before entering an elevator that descended into the earth.
"Director Qin, what exactly is this thing? It's so mysterious?" Long Yi asked curiously. The elevator had reached the fifteenth underground level and was slowly coming to a halt.
"Don't rush, you'll see it soon. I guarantee you'll be satisfied," Qin Zhu said with a smile. He then opened the elevator door and led them out.
As soon as they stepped out, they saw that the entire fifteenth underground level was filled with all sorts of colossal beast skeletons.
Even though the beasts were long dead, their skeletons still exuded a pressure, giving everyone a slight feeling of being targeted by a hunter.
"Director Qin, King Long." An old man with white hair, wearing reading glasses and a white research suit, approached them.
"This is Old Man Chen, the chief person in charge of extraordinary weapon development," Qin Zhu explained with a smile.
"Extraordinary weapons?" The eyes of the group flickered. Extraordinary? Could it be weapons designed for martial artists?
"Director Qin, current firearms pose little threat to martial artists at the late King stage and above. We have no shortage of King stage martial artists in Great Qin now. What we desperately need is top-tier combat power. The good thing you mentioned, could it be an extraordinary object that can solve this problem?" Long Fifteen said, his eyes filled with suspicion, but also a hint of anticipation. After all, being modern people, they had a peculiar fondness for firearms.
"Heh heh, let Old Man Chen introduce it to us," Qin Zhu said with a mysterious smile.
Old Man Chen cleared his throat upon hearing this, a hint of pride appearing on his face, and then spoke with a smile.
"Everyone, since the great changes in heaven and earth, under the order of Director Qin, I have gathered all the weapon research and development personnel of Great Qin to attempt to develop weapons that can deter powerful martial artists."
"As everyone knows, once a living being breaks through to the King stage, its speed and physical strength increase qualitatively. Current firearms either have speeds that can match King stage beings but lack the power to inflict damage, or they possess the power but cannot keep up in terms of speed."
Old Man Chen explained as he led the group down a long corridor. On either side of the corridor were research rooms. The walls facing the corridor were transparent, allowing everyone to see the scenes inside.
They walked to the very end of the corridor, where the transparent walls were covered by something, obscuring the view within.
"So mysterious, could it be nuclear weapons? This thing could solve the speed and power issues, but it's prone to friendly fire," Long Yi muttered softly. Although his voice was quiet, his naturally boisterous personality meant everyone present could hear him.
"Long Yi, shut up!" Li Xiaotian admonished softly, then looked at Old Man Chen and said,
"Old Man Chen, please continue."
At the same time, Li Xiaotian glanced at the covered room nearby. He could sense a powerful energy emanating from within, comparable to that of an Emperor stage being.
"It's alright. Commander Long Yi is generally correct. The weapons we've developed this time are also related to nuclear energy," Old Man Chen said with a smile, then continued.
"After the battle of the capital ended, we obtained a large number of beast emperor level skeletons. At that time, someone suggested whether modern technology could be integrated with these beast bones to develop a weapon."
This statement immediately piqued everyone's curiosity. Although the people present were not experts in weapon research and development, they understood that such a concept seemed far-fetched.
Beast bones were only used for artifact refining, and the methods were arcane, which Li Xiaotian and the others did not understand, nor did Great Qin have the time to delve into it.
Beyond that, beast bones could be directly used as weapons, but even then, they were merely armaments. The beast emperor skeletons themselves possessed an inherent pressure, usable only by Emperor stage powerhouses, and their destructive power was ordinary.
Old Man Chen looked at Long Yi and then asked with a mischievous grin,
"Commander Long Yi, do you like mechs?"
"Cough, cough, Old Man Chen, don't look at me like that. What man doesn't like mechs? But this is something from science fiction movies. With our current technology, we can't possibly build them," Long Yi grinned, then subtly retreated, feeling that the old man's gaze was ill-intentioned.
"Indeed, with current technology, we can't build them. That's because we lack good metals. Even if we managed to build one, its power would be ordinary, and it would only serve as a decoration."
Old Man Chen nodded, then a flicker of excitement flashed in his eyes.
"However, now, we have built one! And it's even more powerful than the mechs in science fiction movies!"
"What?!?" Everyone was shocked, as if they hadn't fully grasped Old Man Chen's words.
"Damn it, Old Man Chen, don't spout nonsense. We're not filming a movie here. You just said this thing was a decoration, and now you've suddenly built it?" Long Yi couldn't help but curse, unable to keep up with Old Man Chen's pace.
Old Man Chen smiled and stopped talking nonsense. Instead, he knocked on the glass behind him.
The object blocking the glass wall was moved away, and at the same time, the scene inside appeared before everyone's eyes.
The scene inside was different from other rooms. It was filled with segmented skeletons scattered everywhere. A long-haired woman in white stood amidst the skeletons, her hair messy. She held an instrument in her hand, and her messy hair and pale, bloodless complexion suggested she had been in a research environment for a long time. However, her appearance was quite striking.
However, everyone's attention was focused on the colossal object behind the woman in white, which was over three meters tall and more than a meter wide.
It was a mech made of metal and bone, looking like a humanoid ferocious beast's skeleton, but with a metallic sheen, giving it an unusual aesthetic of technology and savagery.
"This... this is a mech! You've built it!" Long Fifteen exclaimed in shock. The others were stunned into silence.
"Made from beast bones?" someone asked, then shook their head. The mech's outer shell clearly incorporated beast bones, but also a large amount of metal, the two mixed together.
"Hmm, this woman is not bad," Long Yi murmured, his eyes fixed on the woman in white inside the room.
Upon hearing this, everyone's gaze turned to him, as if to say, "Haven't you noticed the mech yet?"
Long Yi was nudged by Long Fifteen and suddenly snapped back to reality. Seeing everyone's eyes on him, he felt a little embarrassed. He coughed softly, then shifted his gaze, only to see the mech behind the woman in white.
"Holy cow! What is this? Old Man Chen, you've actually built it?"
"Heh heh, Commander Long Yi has a sharp eye. Xiao Zhang is the flower of our research team, and she also designed this mech," Old Man Chen said with a smile, his eyes slightly narrowed. The others looked at Long Yi with peculiar expressions, as if they understood something.
"No, why are you all looking at me? Look at it, the mech!!!" Long Yi shouted, feeling a bit awkward.