After the tailor finished taking the two women’s measurements, Bai Qiu finally had the precise data he needed and began manufacturing the External Powered Armor through the system.
To extend the armor’s service life, Bai Qiu replaced some of the standard materials with higher-grade alternatives.
For example, he upgraded mithril to the superior crystal silver, and mixed portions of star iron into the crystal iron.
Before long, the system completed the two suits of External Powered Armor.
These were magical-technological creations far more complex than the Wind Spirit Hoverboard.
Bai Qiu could analyze roughly eighty to ninety percent of their structure, but he still could not replicate them.
It was much like the difference between theory and practice.
Understanding how something worked was one thing; actually reproducing it was another.
There were some things that Bai Qiu simply could not copy.
Of course, if he completely dismantled the armor and then reassembled it piece by piece, he might uncover some of its secrets.
But that was merely wishful thinking.
After all, these suits were extraordinarily expensive.
Since the External Powered Armor was custom-tailored to its user, Bai Qiu could not test it himself first.
The only option was to have Wang Shiyun and Feng Yuling try it out in person.
External Powered Armor (C++ Grade)
Strength: C++
Magic: C++
Endurance: C+
Agility: C
Power Crystal Grade: C
Energy Capacity: 100
Control Modes: Voice Commands or Thought Control
Attack Methods:
- Melee Combat: Consumes one Attribute-Free Energy Crystal every 30 minutes.
- Ranged Magic Output: Consumes one Attribute-Free Energy Crystal per attack, dealing massive magic damage.
The External Powered Armor stood nearly five meters tall.
By opening the cockpit hatch located in the chest, the designated pilot could enter and activate the suit.
Its primary weapons were a pair of greatswords forged from crystal iron mixed with star iron.
Each greatsword measured 5.5 meters in length.
Combined with the reach of the mechanical arms, the armor’s attack range extended to approximately 8.5 meters.
For a purely melee-oriented combat platform, that was already considered quite a long reach.
Mounted on its head was a magical cannon constructed from crystal silver.
The turret could rotate a full 360 degrees without blind spots, with the only area it could not target being directly beneath its own feet.
The torso, formed from interwoven black crystal iron and star iron, was incredibly durable.
Even attacks from Lord-class monsters would do little more than scratch the armor’s surface.
These two suits of External Powered Armor were designed to contend with King-class monsters.
The only real limitation was the Attribute-Free Energy Crystals used as fuel.
C-rank Attribute-Free Energy Crystals were difficult to obtain because they could only be exchanged using Lord’s Proofs.
The exchange rate was one Lord’s Proof for ten Attribute-Free Energy Crystals.
In other words, the proof dropped by a single Lord-class monster could power one of these suits for only five hours.
If they possessed enough King’s Proofs, they could exchange them for C++-grade Attribute-Free Energy Crystals.
With the higher-quality energy source and increased output, the armor’s Agility attribute could also rise to C++.
At that point, the upper limit of these two mechs would be sufficient to solo King-class monsters.
Although the blueprint itself was only C-rank, Bai Qiu had forcefully raised the armor’s quality to C++ by proportionally replacing many of the original materials with superior ones.
Well, considering the blueprint had dropped from the Hydra Serpent on the 45th floor, its quality ceiling was about what one would expect from equipment obtained by killing a monster like the Hydra.
Bai Qiu brought the two mechs to an open area outside the Safe Zone and deployed them.
“Go ahead and try them out,” he said.
“Until you’re fully familiar with operating the mechs, I’ll be watching from here.”
Naturally, he needed to keep an eye on them.
It wasn’t because he feared that players from Zone 2233 would covet the armor.
In Bai Qiu’s opinion, equipment with a maximum potential of only C++ wasn’t worth hiding.
His real concern was that the two women might not be able to control the mechs properly and accidentally injure other players from Zone 2233.
After all, the mechs had no friend-or-foe recognition system.
As expected, once Wang Shiyun and Feng Yuling activated their respective armors, they struggled to operate them at first.
Sometimes they staggered around and could barely walk in a straight line.
Other times they accelerated too quickly and failed to react in time.
But it was much like teaching a child to walk—after falling enough times, they gradually got used to it.
Fortunately, Bai Qiu was present.
Several times, just before they crashed into someone, Bai Qiu stepped in and physically stopped the massive machines with his bare hands.
Otherwise, a few unlucky onlookers who had gathered to watch the excitement might have been flattened on the spot.
After witnessing several near-fatal incidents, the surrounding players no longer dared to stand too close.
Instead, they remained inside the Safe Zone, watching from afar as the two mechs—while not particularly flashy—displayed undeniably formidable power.
After practicing for more than ten minutes, the two women gradually adapted to the movement and combat systems of the External Powered Armor and quickly became proficient with it.
Soon, they began slaughtering the monsters spawning nearby.
Even minor enemies like Dragonfang Soldiers were cut down with a single sword strike.
After confirming that they could operate the armor skillfully and farm monsters on their own, Bai Qiu gave them a few final instructions before leaving.
This time, while organizing his inventory, he still had other matters to attend to.
As for the opening of the Shattered Celestial Realm seven days later, Bai Qiu had already made most of his plans.
First of all, before entering realm, he would still have time to challenge the Tower of Heaven one more time.
Then there was the matter of equipment and weapons.
For the time being, the Skyward Battle Armor was still highly effective.
There was also no need to discuss the usefulness of the Concealment Cloak and the Dragon-Slaying Star Breath Spear.
However, his ranged attack method—the bow Fallen Dragon’s Bow—could no longer keep up with the increasing difficulty.
If he were simply farming Dragonfang-type monsters in the open world, it would still perform perfectly well.
But after climbing the Tower of Heaven, especially from the 50th floor onward, both the bow itself and its arrows had become severely underpowered.
Forget injuring monsters—it could not even suppress them temporarily.
Because of this, Bai Qiu planned to craft a new bow and produce a batch of specialized arrows to strengthen his ranged combat capabilities.
As it happened, he currently possessed a large amount of extraordinary materials, making it entirely feasible to create a B-rank bow with extraordinary properties.
Under special conditions, Fallen Dragon’s Bow could indeed instantly kill extraordinary creatures possessing the “Dragon” trait.
However, doing so required stacking passive effects and performing various cumbersome preparations.
In one-on-one combat, the weapon was practically useless.
Bai Qiu had realized this very clearly inside the Tower of Heaven because there were no extra monsters available to help him stack those passive effects.
When he arrived at the blacksmith’s shop, countless private messages from his friends bombarded him like an online harassment campaign.
Curious, Bai Qiu opened them and discovered that every single person on his friends list was asking about the External Powered Armor.
Clearly, a piece of magical technology like this was still far too advanced for most people’s understanding.
But Bai Qiu remained completely unconcerned.
He simply compiled a list of the armor’s production costs and required materials and sent it to everyone in a group message.
Almost instantly, all the inquiries stopped.
A short while later, everyone—including Li Zhongjun—sent the same reply:
“Sorry to bother you.”
What a joke.
The resources required to build one suit of armor were enough to cultivate a first-rate expert.
And they were supposed to spend all of that on a mech that could only be bound to a single user?
Perhaps ten years in the future, if the son or daughter of some influential figure developed an interest in it, the External Powered Armor might actually find a market.
But right now?
Everyone was still focused on quietly developing their strength and conserving resources.
Who would waste such valuable materials on manufacturing an External Powered Armor?
After dealing with all the private messages, Bai Qiu was finally ready to begin his real work.
To him, every matter demanded urgent attention.
Just then, however, Zhang Shiyao came looking for him…
— The end of the Chapter–
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