by <unknown>
Gritting their teeth, many guys were rolling up their sleeves and planning to have a nice talk with Li Yao.
Some girls even shed resentful tears for Zuo Feijing's failure.
"Shaoyang, I am starting to know what you were feeling back then."
Supernova Jiang Sheng was sitting peacefully. The metal ring before his eyes lost all its brightness. After a long time, vague greenish color crept out.
His lips curled, he couldn't help but put on a self-mocking smile.
"Since the very beginning, Li Yao has successfully deluded everyone into thinking that he was on a furious rampage. Zuo Feijing, Sha Yucheng, and Feng Kai all fell into his trap and danced to his rhythm, only to be led to a ditch by him in the end.
"Everything has been within his calculation. 'Vulture' deserves his name."
Many experienced Exos were also talking to each with their faces flushed red in embarrassment.
Before Li Yao walked out of the fireball, they had been fooled and failed to recognize that the self-explosion was but an act.
"Li Yao…"
Exhaling a long breath in relief, Yuan Manqiu lost all her strength and leaned against the back of the chair. She covered her face with his hand. Joyful tears flowed out from the gaps of her fingers, as her plump body was shivering.
"What happened? What on earth has happened?"
Many ordinary tourists did not understand the situation. They looked at each other in confusion and dragged those around them asking for explanation.
"Breaking news! In the competitive test of the 21 MP crystal suit models, the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit, the cheapest of all, defeated the high and mighty Tiger King Battlesuit of Deep Sea University and laughed last!"
"With his dumbfounding performance, Vulture Li Yao has blown the horn in the war against the Refining Department of Deep Sea University."
"After this Flying Crystal race, no one will dare to look down upon the Refining Department of the Grand Desolate War Institution anymore!"
The reporters were thrilled, too. Countless articles were written on their light beams with telepathic thoughts and spread through the Spiritual Nexus out to every corner of the Star Glory Federation and the Cultivation world.
…
Half of an hour later, inside a med bay, Li Yao was soaking in a pool that had been filled with bright green recovery liquid.
Wounds and bruises could be found in every part of his body.
The game just now had not been as easy as he showed everyone to be.
Out of pursuit of a lower cost, the buffer and defense systems of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit were far from those of Tiger King, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist.
The high-intensity collision left many wounds that were deep to the bones.
However, as he recalled the moment when he returned from the inferno to the racetrack and accepted the homage that the audience on the spot paid to him, he felt from the bottom of his heart that the pain was worth it.
The Soul Condensing Pendant before his chest shivered with his breath.
Li Yao sensed that the power inside the Soul Condensing Pendant was significantly greater than before the Flying Crystal race.
Maybe, it wouldn't take long before the Phantom Entities hiding in it broke out of the cocoon and returned to reality.
Right then, a middle-aged man, wearing a colonel shoulder board, strode into the med bay.
He was wearing a badge on his chest. It was made of a cracked skull with crossed red lightning bolts in the background, which looked cold and cruel.
The middle-aged man stopped beside the pool.
The dreadful injuries on Li Yao's body made the corner of his eyes twitch. Shock and appreciation appeared in his eyes.
"It seems that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit does not protect the Exo as well as it should," Colonel Guan Chao, captain of 'Red Lightning', observed unemotionally.
Although unaware of who he was, Li Yao had guessed that he must have something to do with the military order. He stated, "Maybe. But I stood to the end and I won."
Guan Chao squinted and said, "Your performance in the Flying Crystal race was indeed an eye-opener. However, the key to your victory was not free of cunning tricks.
"In a match, you can pretend that your crystal reactor has exploded by taking advantage of the inattentive blindness of your opponents, which can buy you the most crucial ten seconds for your victory. It's completely understandable.
"But what significance does this approach have in a real battle?
"What the military need is not a crystal suit that can win a Flying Crystal race with fancy disguises, but a killing machine that can slaughter the enemies in a battlefield!"
Li Yao smiled, his sharp teeth glaring. He tried to lift one of his fingers as he said, "Firstly, since the high-level demons are as intelligent as human beings, if Zuo Feijing and the other two Exos are fooled, the high-level demons might be fooled by the trick, too. In a real battle, if a high-level demon gets distracted by the idea that the crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is going to explode, maybe for a single second, it will be the opportunity for the Exo to reverse victory and failure, or even life and death!"
Guan Chao remarked coldly, "Such deception can only be used once. You won't fool anyone a second time."
Li Yao slowly lifted a second finger.
"The second point, and also the more important point, which I didn't tell Zuo Feijing just now because he might be scared, is that this is not deception.
"The Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit can truly set itself off if I really want to."
Guan Chao's pupils constricted violently. "What did you say?"
Li Yao said, "The crystal reactor of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is devoid of any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, which makes it the most unstable crystal reactor of all the crystal reactors in the federation.
"The high-pressure valve is far from enough to fix the issue thoroughly.
"After all, the valve might malfunction or even break down in a ferocious battlefield.
"My ability is too limited for me to change that. So, on second thought, I added a detonator power rune array on the crystal reactor.
"With a telepathic thought, the crystal reactor can be turned into a massive crystal bomb and unleash the power that equals to the explosion of a hundred Hellfire-Lightnings.
"So, don't presume that I was deceiving them just now.
"If I wanted, I had countless opportunities to die with Tiger King just now.
"In front of a world-shaking big bang, the performance gap between the two crystal suits is negligible.
"Of course, it's just my personal modification.
"But the modification process is not complicated and does not require any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. The self-destruction system can be added to the standard Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit easily."
Guan Chao was dazed for a long time. He stared at Li Yao in a perplex way, before he opened his mouth after a long time. "Do you think it's necessary to include the self-destruction system in the standard Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit?"
Li Yao nodded.
"If a final war between human beings and the demon clan is to break out, I believe a self-destruction system is of paramount importance for every crystal suit.
"I don't know about other people, but for me, I would prefer dying with my enemies than being captured by the demons and tortured to death."
Guan Chao didn't reply. He stared at Li Yao deeply before he walked out of the room without saying anything.
Li Yao was ill at ease, wondering whether or not his answers had satisfied the mysterious colonel.
Five minutes later, Yuan Manqiu walked inside, her eyes reddish.
"We've received the official invitation from the military to join with Tiger King, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist in a special bidding meeting for the order of standard crystal suits."
Yuan Manqiu briefly paused after every word, trying to calm herself down.
But Li Yao was able to hear the passion that his professor had been burying under the tranquility for twenty years.
"The military thinks highly of the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit. The final competition will be between Mystic Skeleton and Tiger King. Mournful Mist and Sword Torrent would serve as supplementary equipment because they are too lopsided in their performance. The military will most likely buy some of them for special forces. But they will not be purchased as the standard crystal suit to equip the federal army."
Yuan Manqiu couldn't control herself anymore. Her voice was shaking in anxiety and excitement.
"However, the challenge that you will be faced with in the bidding meeting will be hundreds of times more difficult than the Flying Crystal racing.
"Your opponents are not just the Tiger King, Sword Torrent, and Mournful Mist.
"A crystal warship on active service in the federal army will be your enemy, too!"
Chapter 321: Evening Glow Warship |
Half a month later and the unprecedentedly splendid Magical Equipment Exposition was still underway.
The Flying Crystal race, in which Li Yao exceled, was played and replayed to hundreds of thousands of visitors every day on the giant light beam floating in the air.
Discussions as to whether Mystic Skeleton was stronger than Tiger King or the other way around continued unabated on the Nexus, too.
Many people insisted that Tiger King was the best MP crystal suit model whose specifications were far higher than any of its competitor's. Li Yao's victory in the Flying Crystal race boiled down to his cheating. If the race were to be held one more time, the Tiger King Battlesuit, driven by Zuo Feijing, would certainly beat it to ash.
But more people believed that since one of the two crystal suits was three times as expensive as the other one, it would be too unfair to simply compare their specifications.
Li Yao may have resorted to tricks in the final period of the Flying Crystal race. But before that, Mystic Skeleton and Tiger King had confronted each other face-to-face multiple times. It even blew Tiger King to the ground twice, which was evident enough of its toughness.
After all, moneywise, three Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit equaled one Tiger King Battlesuit.
What would the outcome be if three Mystic Skeleton Battlesuits had fought the Tiger King Battlesuit in the race just now?
Every netizen, especially those who were interested in crystal suits, took part in the furious quarrels regarding these trending topics.
But Li Yao, the center of the discussion, had vanished yet again from public attention.
Right now, he was on an unmarked crystal airship which was flying to the base of the Fifth Fleet of the federal army deep inside the mountains.
"Your Refining Department finally got its day. I'm told that you've received almost a hundred orders of Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit from major sects of the federation in the past ten days. Well well well. After all of them are refined and shipped out, the profit will be more than ten billion. Such a big fortune!"
Ding Lingdang exclaimed joyfully in the spiritual crane messenger.
"Not that much."
Li Yao counted his fingers as he was running the calculations. "As you know, our Refining Department does not have a magical equipment factory. We can refine three to five pieces by ourselves. But the hundred orders are too much a workload for us and will have to be outsourced to eligible sects. Our profit will plunge because of that.
"Besides, to increase our sales, we quoted a low price for the hundred orders with a lot of complimentary post-sales service. Taking that into consideration, there's barely any profit now."
"But it's great that the brand is finally out. You're not in the school these days. But the Refining Department has been getting more and more attention. Every corner of the school is discussing the news about the Refining Department. I also heard that leaders of the school were planning to further increase the budget for the Refining Department to build it into a special major of our school. There was a floating mountain that was supposed to belong to the Combat Department upon refinement, but it is going to be transferred to the Refining Department after modification. Our dean Old Xia nearly choked himself out of anger."
Ding Lingdang smiled. "Besides, you were quite bold in the Flying Crystal race. Many girls in the school regard you as their idol now. They know that we are very close to each other and you've been calling me sister. A few days ago, a lovely girl even came to me asking whether or not you had a girlfriend."
Li Yao raised his eyebrow. "Then what did you say to her?"
"I was quite in a dilemma, since I'd never been in such a situation before. After pondering for a long time—"
Ding Lingdang said, as if it were nothing, "I brought all of the girls that were interested in you to the front of a giant rock, blew the rock into pieces with a single punch, and told them that you are, in fact, my boyfriend and whoever hits on you will end like that rock."
"Okay."
Li Yao scratched his head. It was truly as expected of a tyrannosaur.
While they were talking, the crystal airship slowed down after a bump.
Brightness shined in Li Yao's eyes. He stood up suddenly.
"I've arrived!"
"Go for it! Be they crystal warships or star fortresses, blow 'em to pieces!"
Ding Lingdang waved her fists and cheered for him.
Li Yao smiled. He turned off the spiritual crane messenger and walked out of the cabin to the front deck.
The scenery in front of him stopped him from breathing for a moment.
In the middle of the lofty mountains, against the bloody sunset, dozens of ragged warships were floating in the air. They did not seem to be made of metal, but rather looked like pupas billions of times larger. Bones and flesh could be found through the holes on their surface which was full of dreadful warts and scars.
They were the remnants of the devil warships of the demon clan.
Different from the crystal warship of the human beings, every devil warship was a gargantuan living creature and an ultimate biological weapon that came into being after thousands of years of crazy evolution.
Such warship creatures possessed enormous brains whose computational ability was as good as the mainframe crystal processor of human beings.
By telekinesis, they could be connected to the brain of the high-level demons who then could control them at will and make best use of their firepower.
The devil warships had been wrecked by the federal army and towed to this airborne graveyard as a presentation of the might of human beings.
Passing by the devil warship graveyard, there were dozens of crystal warships in the front that were equally dilapidated and full of rust.
They were the retired warships of the Fifth Fleet of the federal army during the five hundred years of bloody battles. Floating in the air, they were ineffaceable monuments.
Behind the monuments were two steep mountains which pierced into the sky like two sharp swords. A narrow and thin valley lay between the two mountains.
This place was named Monument Valley, which was where the Fifth Fleet of the federal army was stationed.
The Fifth Fleet was one of the best troops in the federal army.
Against the spectacular sunset, dozens of crystal warships were emitting blazing brilliance that was hundreds of meters long. But they were as agile as shuttles while they danced in the sky knitting nets in sophisticated and unpredictable patterns.
Above the Monument Valley, a titanic floating fortress the size of a small city was floating in the air. Countless armed shuttles were flying in and out, humming like busy bees.
Enjoying the view in front him, Li Yao's understanding of 'war machine' grew much deeper.
He felt very proud that he belonged to such a great species.
However, when he realized that his opponent might be one of the crystal warships flying over his head, Li Yao's head immediately started aching.
"Crystal warshi
ps have been the main forces of the federal army all the time."
Yuan Manqiu walked to his side and watched the magnificent parade of the crystal warships for a while with her hands behind her back. Then she observed, "For five hundred years, the military has been focusing on warship technology and has developed countless formidable crystal warships. When a beast tide breaks out, the crystal warships will be deployed to extinguish it.
"As for high-level demons and the scattered demons hiding in forests, underground, or city ruins, they will be dealt with by Cultivators whose individual combat ability is much higher.
"The military are in charge of clearing the 'sphere', while the Cultivators are responsible for clearing the 'spot'. That's how battles have been fought in the Star Glory Federation traditionally.
"Therefore, there are many warship advocates in the military who insist that railguns and warships can solve all our problems.
"If the problems can't be fixed, that's because the railguns and the warships are not large enough.
"Now that the military is planning to endorse standard crystal suits in the federal army, the resources of the warship advocates will, of course, be greatly diminished. The budget that goes to warships will shrink, too.
"So, it's easy to conceive how much pressure there will be.
"That's also exactly why this special bidding meeting is being held. Frankly speaking, this is more about the debate of war methodologies in the military and the quarrels between crystal suit advocates and warship advocates.
"In the bidding meeting, not only do we need to prove that the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit is the best MP crystal suit model, we also need to prove that crystal suits boast irreplaceable advantages compared with crystal warships.
"How about it? Are you confident?
"According to the bidding rules provided by the military, Exos of the crystal suits in the bidding meeting are not necessarily our own candidates. The military can arrange skilled and experienced Exos to drive the Mystic Skeleton Battlesuit for the final test. If you feel that there's too much pressure, we can still change you to someone else."
Li Yao turned to the side and looked at Yuan Manqiu. Then he smiled.